Gigabyte Aero 15-X9 Review – with RTX 2070 Max-Q

Gigabyte has launched five new laptops with RTX 20 Series graphics. There are three X9 models with RTX 2070 Max-Q graphics and two Y9 models with RTX 2080 Max-Q graphics. We think it is telling that Gigabyte sent us the cheapest model priced at £2,399 which is the model they expect will be the biggest seller.

The specification combines Core i7 with RTX 2070 Max-Q and a 1TB SSD. We have a question mark over the 16GB of single channel DDR4 as that looks like a potential bottleneck but other than that it all looks good. As a general rule of thumb we think £2,000 is a sensible budget when you shop for a laptop so £2,399 is pushing the limits slightly. This stack of five laptop goes all the way up to £4,499 which is pushing the limits by any standards.

Our review sample is the Aero 15-X9-7UK0310P which is the entry level model at £2,399 with RTX 2070 Max-Q graphics, an FHD 144Hz IPS screen, Intel Core i7-8750H CPU, 16GB of single channel DDR4 and a 1TB SSD.

If you spend £2,699 for the Aero 15-X9-7UK4410P you get dual channel DDR4 and a 4K display panel.
RTX 2070 Max-Q/4K/Core i7-8750H/32GB dual channel DDR4/1TB SSD

Another big jump in price to £3,299 will get you the Aero 15-X9-9UK4410P with a Core i9-8950HK CPU which is still 6-cores but has considerably higher clock speeds.
RTX 2070 Max-Q/4K/Core i9-8950HK/32GB dual channel DDR4/1TB SSD

The junior RTX 2080 model is the Aero 15-Y9-7UK0410P at £3,199
RTX 2080 Max-Q/FHD 144Hz/Core i7-8750H/32GB dual channel DDR4/1TB SSD

If you push the boat out and spend £4,499 you get the Aero 15-Y9-9UK4720P
RTX 2080 Max-Q/4K/Core i9-8950HK/64GB dual channel DDR4/2TB SSD which combines RTX 2080 graphics with a Core i9 CPU, 64GB DDR4 and 2TB SSD.

It is also worth noting that all of the 5 Aero 15 SKUs come with one SSD pre-installed, but with 1x spare M.2 slot as well if you want to add more storage down the line.

Specification

CPU Intel 8th Gen. Core i7-8750H, 6 cores with HT, 2.2GHz base clock, All Core Boost 3.4GHz, Max Boost 4.0GHz, 45W TDP
Screen 15.6-inch, 1,920×1,080 resolution, 144Hz refresh IPS by LG
Graphics Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q 8GB GDDR6
Memory 16GB Samsung DDR4-2666MHz single channel
Storage 1TB Intel 760p M.2 NVMe SSD
2x NVMe PCIe M.2 slots
Audio 2x 2W speakers
Ethernet Killer Doubleshot Pro LAN
Wi-Fi Killer Wireless-AC 1550

I/O ports
1x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A
2x USB 3.1 Gen1Type-A
1x Thunderbolt 3 Type-C
1x HDMI 2.0
1x Mini DisplayPort 1.4 and USB 3.1 Type-C
3.5mm Headphone jack
UHS-II SD card reader

Battery 94.24Wh 6200mAh, 215W adapter
Dimensions 356mm x 250mm x 18.9mm
Weight 2.09kg plus 720g for power supply and mains cable

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