Verdict
The Gigabyte Aorus 17H isn’t excellent, however no different laptop computer for this type of cash can run video games on the similar excessive body charges due to a potent GPU, super-fast show and surprisingly low asking value.
Execs
- Quick Full HD gaming
- Good worth for an RTX 4080 machine
- Battery life good for a gaming laptop computer
Cons
- Keyboard backlight solely illuminates most important graphics
- I/O ports not ideally positioned
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Quick Full HD showThe 17.3-inch 360Hz 1,920 x 1,080 show is good for eSports -
Giant batteryAt 99Wh, you gained’t discover a bigger battery on mainstream laptops -
Home windows Whats up Facial RecognitionBiometric safety is scarce on gaming laptops however you’ll discover it right here
Introduction
Quick and low-cost. That’s what I would like from a gaming laptop computer. And by quick, I don’t imply theoretically quick, I imply visually quick. Having a fire-breathing GPU that may run a recreation at 300+ fps is pointless for those who solely have a 165Hz show. That’s what the Aorus 17H is designed to do.
With an Nvidia RTX 4080 GPU, a 360Hz show, and a price ticket of solely somewhat above £2,000, no different laptop computer comes near providing this stage of specification for thus little cash.
In fact, getting the associated fee down can typically end in unacceptable compromises elsewhere in a product, so has Gigabyte managed to punt the Aorus 17H into the Goldilocks zone for highly effective large-screen gaming laptops?
Design and Keyboard
- The physique is manufactured from plastic however remains to be stable
- I/O ports are too close to the entrance
- Strong keyboard with patchy backlight
Gigabyte’s Aorus machines have historically been chunky black angular affairs, and the 2023 Aorus 17H isn’t any exception. In contrast to the costlier steel Aorus 17X, the 17H is a largely plastic affair, however it’s none the more severe for that and feels stable and inflexible with little flex to be felt within the lid except you twist it brutally.
Gaming laptops with 17.3-inch screens are by no means small or mild affairs, however at 398 x 258 x 30mm and a couple of.7Kg it’s noticeably shallower and lighter than the Asus ROG Strix Scar 17.
The keyboard is a standard chiclet affair with little or no in the best way of design optimisations for avid gamers apart from Fn shortcuts to alter the fan pace and “AI Increase” efficiency supervisor, however it’s impressively stable and options per-key RGB lighting. There may be one weird function to it, although.
The backlight solely illuminates the first graphic on every keycap, so the icons referring to any Shift or Fn capabilities are left utterly darkish. This makes performing duties like altering the amount, the show brightness, or the fan pace in low mild a hit-and-miss affair except you’ll be able to recall which FN keys do what.
Given the quantity of free house surrounding it, the 120 x 75mm trackpad may and must be greater, however it works reliably, and the click-action is completely weighted, optimistic and quiet.
All of the I/O ports are on the perimeters of the Aorus H17, and they’re all positioned in the direction of the entrance of the chassis, which suggests you’ll must tolerate quite a lot of cables and dongles protruding of the laptop computer the place you’d usually put your mouse.
There’s a respectable choice, although: On the left, there’s a 2.5G RJ-45 LAN port, HDMI 2.1 and Mini DisplayPort 1.4 video outputs and a USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 knowledge port, whereas on the precise, there’s a Thunderbolt 4 and a second USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 port, a 3.5mm audio jack and the DC-in socket. That final can be higher tucked away on the again.
I’m undecided what the reasoning behind the Mini DP port is; a second Thunderbolt 4 or perhaps a DP Kind-C port would absolutely have been extra versatile, and whereas the Thunderbolt port is credited as supporting PD charging, it didn’t need to play ball with my 65W charger although to be truthful Gigabyte advises you solely use a charger rated at 86W or above.
Getting the bottom panel off the Aorus 17H is the work or moments, accurately with any severe gaming laptop computer. As soon as inside, you’ll be able to simply entry each SODIMM RAM mounts and the 2 2280 PCIe 4 SSD bays. The battery appears to be like like it would come out with out undue drama, and there’s nothing to stop you from blowing away mud from the 2 followers.
Contained in the transport carton, you’ll discover a big styrofoam inlay that protects the Aorus whereas in transit however does little for the setting as a result of it’s not that simple to recycle.
Show and Sound
- Wonderful movement dealing with
- The display is vibrant and colour-accurate
- The speaker system is lacklustre
The Aorus H17 makes use of a Sharp-made 1,920 x 1,080 IPS show with a pixel density of 127dpi. That’s not a very excessive quantity for a £2,000 laptop computer, however it’s the unavoidable aspect impact of a Full HD 17.3-inch panel. In comparison with a 2,560 x 1,440 17.3-inch display with 170dpi, you’ll be able to detect some pixelation with the bare eye whenever you look fastidiously.
Nevertheless, whereas most QHD panels max out at 240Hz, the Aorus 17’s display can refresh at 360Hz, which might make fairly a distinction for those who play eSports titles like Apex Legends or Valorant, the place each millisecond counts. The Aorus H17’s display additionally delivers for these of us who are usually not fairly as hard-core as a result of movement dealing with is excellent throughout the board, with just about no ghosting or smearing in proof.
The show has the fundamentals nicely lined: Peak brightness is sweet at 351 nits, and there’s loads of color available with 97.9% sRGB gamut protection (the figures for DCI-P3 and Adobe RGB got here in at 72.3% and 69.9%, respectively). The distinction ratio was a stable 1214:1, whereas the Delta E color accuracy in opposition to the sRGB profile was a really spectacular 1.36.
There was some confusion concerning the Aorus 17H that includes Nvidia’s Superior Optimus and G-Sync know-how. My overview pattern had neither, only a conventional MUX swap that requires a reboot to interact or disengage. For my part, the absence of adaptive sync will not be that large of a difficulty on a laptop computer with a 360Hz show and a strong GPU. The one time I seen any display tearing was after I pegged video games to 60fps to search for it intentionally.
The brace of two.5W stereo audio system relatively let the aspect down. Not solely are they not notably loud, growing 75.1dB(A) as measured in opposition to a pink noise supply, however the sound is considerably raucous and will do with extra bass to underpin proceedings. They do an honest sufficient job for gaming, however listening to music on the Aorus 17H is a relatively tiresome expertise.
The 720p webcam is a lacklustre affair, boring, grainy and colourless, however it helps Home windows Whats up IR facial recognition, so I’ll forgive the two-bob picture high quality.
Efficiency
- Storming Full HD gaming efficiency
- Surprisingly cool and quiet beneath stress
- Quick 1TB SSD
Like most laptops constructed across the 150W TGP RTX 4080 GPU, the Aorus 17H can simply deal with even probably the most demanding video games. This overview mannequin provided the aforementioned GPU, Intel Core i7-13700H CPU, 1TB SSD and 16GB RAM. Working on the highest settings however with out ray tracing, the Aorus 17H averaged 114.2fps in Cyberpunk 2077 and 101fps in Returnal, whereas the Metro Exodus Enhanced Version benchmark ran at 64.1fps with ray tracing set to excessive.
Good although these Triple-A scores are, it’s in eSports that the Aorus 17H actually shines. With all of the element settings at excessive, Apex Legends ran at 240fps, however a fast fiddle within the graphics quickly boosted that to the 300fps most. Overwatch 2, in the meantime, ran at a constant 360fps from the get-go.
CPU efficiency is relatively much less spectacular as a result of the i7-13700 processor contained in the Aorus 17H is the 14-core H model relatively than the 16-core HX discovered within the Medion Erazer Deputy P50, which has two further Efficiency cores. The PCMark 10 rating of seven,365 remains to be excessive sufficient to place the Aorus 17H into the highest quintile of laptops.
The Aorus 17H does all this with out a lot fuss. You’ll be able to actually hear the followers when they’re operating at full pace, however 54.2dB(A) is on the decrease finish of what you’ll be able to count on from a robust gaming laptop computer, and the keyboard deck by no means as soon as bought above 32°C, even after extended stress assessments. The world across the aspect vents recorded a peak temperature of fifty°C, indicating that the cooling system was doing its job effectively.
The 1TB SSD is my overview machine, one in all Gigabyte’s personal make, had its trainers on returning sequential learn and write speeds of seven,018MBs and 4,955MB/s, respectively, which is ideal for shunting giant video games round.
Software program
- Helpful Gigabyte Management Panel
- Audio apps onboard
The Gigabyte Management Panel supplies complete entry to the Aorus 17H’s efficiency settings, together with guide fan management, in addition to the likes of the MUX swap and keyboard backlight supervisor. It’s a relatively clunky and ugly piece of software program, although, and unlikely to maintain the designers of Asus’s Armory Crate or Acer’s Nitro Sense CPs awake at night time.
DTS supplies two audio management panels (Sound Unbound and Extremely:X), and there’s a Dolby Atmos app, however you’ll want to cough up £14.24 to entry the headphones’ performance. That’s it for non-Microsoft software program. There isn’t even a pesky anti-virus suite badgering me to take up a subscription although I can’t assure {that a} earlier reviewer hadn’t deleted it after one too many pop-ups pushed them over the sting.
Battery Life
- 99Whr is probably the most you’ll be able to legally slot in a laptop computer
- 5 hours 42 minutes within the PCMark10 Workplace check
You’ll be able to’t match a higher-capacity battery in a laptop computer than 99Wh. You’ll be able to, however the US government won’t let you take it on a plane. Working the PCMark 10 Workplace battery check, the Aorus 17H ran for nearly 5 and three-quarter hours, which is sweet for a barnstorming gaming laptop computer. Use it fastidiously, and you’ll eke out 6 hours from a cost.
Newest offers
Do you have to purchase it?
If you need excessive pace for eSports
The Aorus 17H excels at video games like Apex Legends, Valorant and Overwatch 2 when the 360Hz refresh charge provides you an edge within the warmth of battle. Even actually demanding Triple-A video games like Metro Exodus and Cyberpunk 2077 run at over 60fps, and you’ll’t realistically ask for extra from a laptop computer.
If you need a display that appears super-sharp closeup
The mix of a 17.3-inch show and a decision of 1,920 x 1,080 is rarely going to be a recipe for a super-sharp show, so the Aorus 17H’s display simply will not be as crisp because the same-size 2,560 x 1,440 panel fitted to the Asus ROG Strix Scar 17.
Ultimate Ideas
The Aorus 17H is aware of precisely why it’s been placed on this earth: to play FullHD video games as quick as doable whereas nonetheless being fairly priced. It’s an ambition the Aorus 17H fulfils to a tee, so if you would like a laptop computer for severe eSports, that is undoubtedly the place you need to spend your cash.
As for competitors, you may get an Alienware m18 with a 470Hz refresh charge however go for the RTX 4080 mannequin, and you may be spending £2,729 and have an excellent decrease (125dpi) pixel density due to the 1,920 x 1,200 18-inch panel. The Strix Scar 17 from Asus ROG includes a QHD show, an RTX 4090 GPU and AMD’s newest Dragon Vary CPU and might play video games at QHD as quick because the Aorus 17H can play them at FullHD, however it’s significantly costlier, and the show tops out at simply 240Hz.
The Aorus 17H can be extra rounded packaged if the audio system had been higher and if it had Superior Optimus, however the former is well remedied with a headset, one thing most severe avid gamers will regard as de rigueur, whereas the latter solely provides somewhat operational comfort and would presumably contain the additional value of an Nvidia licence.
How we check
Each laptop computer we overview goes via a collection of uniform checks designed to gauge key issues, together with construct high quality, efficiency, display high quality and battery life.
These embody formal artificial benchmarks and scripted assessments, plus a collection of real-world checks, resembling how nicely it runs fashionable apps.
We use overview machines as our most important laptop computer for a minimum of per week.
We check the efficiency by way of each benchmark assessments and real-world use.
We check the display with a colorimeter and real-world use.
We check the battery with a benchmark check and real-world use.
FAQs
Sure, however it’s a standard multiplexer swap that’s activated from the Gigabtye management panel and requires a reboot of Home windows to change on or off. It doesn’t function Nvidia’s automated MUX switching system Superior Optimus.
No. Aorus is actually the premium model from Gigabyte and is reserved for its excessive specification and, thus, costlier laptops, desktops and parts.
Trusted Critiques check knowledge
PCMark 10
Cinebench R23 multi core
Cinebench R23 single core
Geekbench 5 single core
Geekbench 5 multi core
Geekbench 6 single core
Geekbench 6 multi core
3DMark Time Spy
CrystalDiskMark Learn pace
CrystalDiskMark Write Velocity
Brightness (SDR)
Black stage
Distinction ratio
sRGB
Adobe RGB
DCI-P3
PCMark Battery (workplace)
Horizon Zero Daybreak body charge (Full HD)
Cyberpunk 2077 (Full HD)
Cyberpunk 2077 (Full HD + RT)
Cyberpunk 2077 (Full HD + Supersampling)
Returnal (Full HD)
F1 22 (Full HD)
Fan noise beneath stress
Temperature beneath stress
UK RRP
CPU
Producer
Quiet Mark Accredited
Display screen Dimension
Storage Capability
Entrance Digital camera
Battery
Battery Hours
Dimension (Dimensions)
Weight
ASIN
Working System
Launch Date
First Reviewed Date
Mannequin Quantity
Decision
Refresh Fee
Ports
Audio (Energy output)
GPU
RAM
Connectivity
Colors
Display screen Know-how
Contact Display screen
Convertible?
