WEBVTT

00:00:00.120 --> 00:00:07.640
the first thing I did after seeing this notebook at Pax was fire an email over

00:00:05.480 --> 00:00:13.000
to Gigabyte asking for them to send me one it is no great secret how much I

00:00:10.160 --> 00:00:17.640
love the Razer Blade 14 and small powerful gaming machines in general and

00:00:14.920 --> 00:00:22.920
I was floored by how much Hardware Gigabyte packed into the new aorus X3

00:00:21.080 --> 00:00:27.480
but after my experience with the bricks gaming and its impressive looking specs

00:00:25.439 --> 00:00:33.079
that were spoiled by thermal throttling I told myself not to get too excited

00:00:30.320 --> 00:00:40.120
until I'd actually seen it perform so here we go welcome to my

00:00:35.800 --> 00:00:40.120
review of the a X3 from

00:00:44.399 --> 00:00:52.719
Gigabyte Corsair gaming RGB keyboards feature Precision cherrymx RGB key

00:00:49.640 --> 00:00:54.800
switches for 16.8 million color per key

00:00:52.719 --> 00:00:59.440
backlighting for virtually unlimited customization click now to learn more

00:00:57.320 --> 00:01:06.119
the first hint that this device has some serious horsepower under the hood is the

00:01:02.320 --> 00:01:07.400
included massive 180 W power brick I

00:01:06.119 --> 00:01:12.640
wish they'd include something a little bit more elegant like what Razer does

00:01:10.560 --> 00:01:15.360
but while you will have to carry it it's not the thing you'll actually be

00:01:13.720 --> 00:01:20.439
spending your time interacting with so let's move on to the good stuff the

00:01:17.680 --> 00:01:25.159
exterior of the X3 is as beautiful as the first notebook Gigabyte released

00:01:22.040 --> 00:01:27.479
under the aorus brand the X7 on the top

00:01:25.159 --> 00:01:33.520
cover we find their bird of prey logo on an otherwise just plain sexy matte black

00:01:31.119 --> 00:01:39.159
anodized aluminum finish then on the bottom we find two as expected somewhat

00:01:36.479 --> 00:01:42.720
tiny stereo speakers that for as empty as they sound at least go reasonably

00:01:40.560 --> 00:01:48.759
loud without Distortion rubber feet to keep the device in place lots of vents

00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:51.240
to hopefully keep things cool and torque

00:01:48.759 --> 00:01:56.960
screws that can be opened up to reveal the actually stunningly upgradable

00:01:54.240 --> 00:02:02.960
interior for a gaming rig that while not as thin as the Razer Blade 14 is

00:01:59.560 --> 00:02:05.640
actually lighter at only 1.8 kg to

00:02:02.960 --> 00:02:10.599
complement the core i7 4710hq quad core you get 8 gigs of DDR3 with two slots

00:02:07.880 --> 00:02:19.360
total for a maximum of 16 gigs of RAM you get a GTX 870m with an Overkill 6

00:02:14.840 --> 00:02:22.959
gigs of GDDR 5V RAM and two m.2 slots

00:02:19.360 --> 00:02:25.400
each supporting up to 512 gig ssds and

00:02:22.959 --> 00:02:30.040
capable of being configured in raid Gigabyte keeps this up and they may just

00:02:27.280 --> 00:02:33.720
make the X3 my next laptop back to the outside we'll start at the left where we

00:02:31.560 --> 00:02:39.680
find a Kensington lock a mini DisplayPort port with support for 4K HDMI a

00:02:36.879 --> 00:02:43.319
usb2 port headphone and microphone jacks and an air intake on the front are

00:02:41.599 --> 00:02:46.760
indicator LEDs for Bluetooth wireless drive activity low battery and power and

00:02:45.480 --> 00:02:52.040
then on the right there's more ventilation and SD card reader two USB 3

00:02:49.519 --> 00:02:56.800
ports and the power button finally moving around to the back we are greeted

00:02:53.480 --> 00:02:58.400
by power in two very large cooling vents

00:02:56.800 --> 00:03:02.920
jam-packed full of heat sink fins to leverage as much of the total thickness

00:02:59.959 --> 00:03:08.519
of the notebook as possible and what's this A Hardline landport now we're

00:03:06.560 --> 00:03:13.200
talking I mean sure it's a killer landport rather than an Intel based one

00:03:10.440 --> 00:03:18.159
but damn it it's an RJ45 connector so I'm going to give big kudos to Gigabyte

00:03:15.400 --> 00:03:24.239
for including this when the x3's thin and light competitors rely solely on

00:03:21.680 --> 00:03:28.200
Wireless in fact I think the io on this notebook is the best balanced I've ever

00:03:26.200 --> 00:03:33.200
seen from a gamer's perspective I mean how many gamers use four four pole

00:03:30.280 --> 00:03:38.640
single Jack headsets razor Gigabyte includes dedicated headphone and mic

00:03:35.400 --> 00:03:41.599
Jacks also why do all Ultra books

00:03:38.640 --> 00:03:46.319
considers SD card slots optional this is super handy and then finally I

00:03:43.959 --> 00:03:50.360
personally like having a single usb2 port these days they offer better

00:03:48.239 --> 00:03:56.079
compatibility especially outside of the OS and it's not like devices like mice

00:03:53.239 --> 00:04:01.400
are going to be bottlenecked by USB 2 anyway so gold star Gigabyte for the io

00:03:59.519 --> 00:04:07.319
now let's crack this baby open there's that screen I can't believe

00:04:05.159 --> 00:04:16.040
I made it this far and failed to mention the 13.9 in display on this notebook is

00:04:10.159 --> 00:04:19.560
a 3K one yeah 3200 by 18800 60 HZ matte

00:04:16.040 --> 00:04:21.720
finish exop panel boom it delivers

00:04:19.560 --> 00:04:25.440
stunning contrast acceptable enough backlight bleed that Gigabyte had the

00:04:23.400 --> 00:04:29.840
coonies to ship the notebook with a black desktop background by default and

00:04:27.840 --> 00:04:34.720
viewing angles that are strongly reminiscent of the Razer Blade 14 so not

00:04:32.680 --> 00:04:39.840
as good as IPS but a heck of a lot better than TN and with very good motion

00:04:37.280 --> 00:04:44.560
blur characteristics to boot one thing that's missing though and it's the first

00:04:41.639 --> 00:04:49.759
thing to really give me pause about this notebook so far is touch some people

00:04:47.440 --> 00:04:53.000
won't care and good for them but this is lonus Tech tips and you can tell me how

00:04:51.600 --> 00:04:57.680
touch is stupid when you've got your own YouTube channel with Blackjack and

00:04:55.199 --> 00:05:01.680
hookers I've gotten used to touch and particularly on Windows 8 going back to

00:04:59.720 --> 00:05:07.000
not having it is quite an adjustment for me I also didn't find the robustness of

00:05:05.000 --> 00:05:11.280
the hinge mechanism particularly a inspiring but this has become a common

00:05:09.039 --> 00:05:16.160
complaint of late with screens getting so thin and on that somewhat complaining

00:05:14.360 --> 00:05:20.280
note let's head into the mixed bag that is the keyboard and touchpad the

00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:25.960
keyboard's white backlight is strong or less strong or off if you prefer and the

00:05:22.680 --> 00:05:28.639
layout is mostly pretty good with long

00:05:25.960 --> 00:05:33.759
shifts Backspaces Etc five programmable G keys with five cyclable profiles and

00:05:31.120 --> 00:05:38.240
support for text input Mouse input and macros and only the gimpy for no

00:05:36.280 --> 00:05:43.840
apparent reason arrow keys for me to really complain about but typing on it

00:05:41.039 --> 00:05:48.600
didn't feel good in spite of the pretty nice slightly slick feel to the top of

00:05:46.400 --> 00:05:53.160
the key caps the keys have a fairly decent travel distance but they're just

00:05:50.919 --> 00:06:01.080
kind of mushy without satisfying tactile feedback and they didn't sound good you

00:05:57.400 --> 00:06:03.039
know like they sound kind of rattly

00:06:01.080 --> 00:06:09.800
which leads us to the trackpad not rattly great build quality tracks like a

00:06:06.759 --> 00:06:12.479
dream as long as my hands are dry and

00:06:09.800 --> 00:06:17.280
oil free completely if either of those two conditions are not met the glossy

00:06:14.680 --> 00:06:21.520
surface turns into a smear greasy mess very quickly I would have preferred if

00:06:19.039 --> 00:06:27.000
Gigabyte had gone with a frosted glass rather than a glossy one but lonus you

00:06:24.560 --> 00:06:30.039
might say I won't spend all my time typing on this thing and I'm going to

00:06:28.479 --> 00:06:35.680
plug in a mouse or a control to play my games anyway so how well does it play

00:06:32.560 --> 00:06:39.120
games great question and the answer is

00:06:35.680 --> 00:06:41.560
very well at 1080P or usually 1 1600 by

00:06:39.120 --> 00:06:45.759
900 for an even divider I didn't have the display scaling issues that I

00:06:43.199 --> 00:06:51.800
observed on the Lenovo y50 and I was able to crank up details far more than I

00:06:48.759 --> 00:06:54.520
expected so with that resolution out of

00:06:51.800 --> 00:06:58.680
the way and doing a great job I decided for the lws to take some Modern games

00:06:57.039 --> 00:07:04.879
and dial them into what I felt were playable settings at the native

00:07:00.479 --> 00:07:07.240
resolution of 3200x 18800 and was amazed

00:07:04.879 --> 00:07:12.879
to discover that apart from not thermal throttling I maxed out around 85° on the

00:07:10.560 --> 00:07:20.240
GPU and a little over 90 on the CPU and Tomb Raider I was able to achieve 45 to

00:07:17.080 --> 00:07:22.479
55 is FPS across the board without

00:07:20.240 --> 00:07:26.039
cranking everything down to low and while maintaining reasonable

00:07:24.080 --> 00:07:31.479
temperatures on the outside of the laptop itself too of particular note is

00:07:29.639 --> 00:07:36.000
that Gigabyte avoided putting heat generating components directly under the

00:07:33.680 --> 00:07:40.599
gaming Zone on the keyboard so sweaty Palm syndrome was a nonissue with this

00:07:38.120 --> 00:07:45.440
notebook it should be noted however that it did this by cranking up the fans

00:07:43.120 --> 00:07:51.199
fairly aggressively this is not a quiet gaming notebook and it has a

00:07:49.000 --> 00:07:56.159
fairly high-pitched whine to the fan noise my last comment on gaming per

00:07:53.879 --> 00:08:01.120
performance is regarding battery life as we've come to expect even with battery

00:07:58.400 --> 00:08:06.240
boost frame tank as soon as you pull the plug but the X3 at least managed a

00:08:03.759 --> 00:08:11.919
fairly acceptable battery life and my sort of stare at the fire in crisis one

00:08:09.240 --> 00:08:16.120
test so while it's not revolutionary it at least holds its own against other

00:08:13.800 --> 00:08:20.400
similar sized notebooks although I'd like to see someone cram this kind of

00:08:17.759 --> 00:08:25.960
power into a smaller area within a larger notebook strap a huge battery to

00:08:22.520 --> 00:08:28.120
it and see what we end up with there all

00:08:25.960 --> 00:08:32.599
right so up until now I've focused really only on gaming but what about

00:08:29.840 --> 00:08:38.039
daily use well that's where things get a little bit hairy again I have very mixed

00:08:35.080 --> 00:08:42.200
feelings about 4K even on desktop siiz displays due to poor scaling in Windows

00:08:40.399 --> 00:08:46.600
that causes me to have to choose between either impossibly small UI elements or

00:08:44.640 --> 00:08:51.480
blurry text and applications that don't scale properly and this is still very

00:08:48.880 --> 00:08:56.920
much a problem the reality is though that unless 3K and 4K Hardware starts

00:08:54.440 --> 00:09:01.680
showing up these issues won't get addressed so I'm glad someone is taking

00:08:59.720 --> 00:09:05.079
the first step and I'm sure folks who invest in an X3 will be patting

00:09:03.519 --> 00:09:08.360
themselves on the back when all these issues are behind us and they're

00:09:06.680 --> 00:09:12.640
enjoying their super crisp looking display but it is something that they're

00:09:10.399 --> 00:09:19.000
going to have to deal with for now speaking of dealing with for now

00:09:15.800 --> 00:09:23.600
shopping at the local grocery store for

00:09:19.000 --> 00:09:26.480
your razors something that you shouldn't

00:09:23.600 --> 00:09:30.720
have to do fighting with someone to undo the lock and key and bring it out for

00:09:29.120 --> 00:09:37.480
you and then you go to the counter and pay for it why do you have to deal with all that crap Dollar Shave Club is the

00:09:34.560 --> 00:09:42.920
much faster much easier and less expensive way to shop for razors monthly

00:09:41.160 --> 00:09:49.480
basically all you do is sign up for the club and they will ship you your razors

00:09:45.519 --> 00:09:51.200
once a month for just a few bucks they

00:09:49.480 --> 00:09:55.040
also have other high quality bathroom supplies including their one wipe

00:09:52.839 --> 00:09:57.760
Charlie which are peppermint scented butt wipes for men always makes me a

00:09:56.399 --> 00:10:01.240
little uncomfortable talking about those razors is easy though you know razor

00:09:59.480 --> 00:10:05.160
everyone uses actually razors are kind of gross too because you got all this

00:10:03.320 --> 00:10:08.079
like other people's used hair on them which is why you shouldn't share razors

00:10:06.800 --> 00:10:11.760
which is why everyone should have their own subscription to Dollar Shave Club

00:10:09.839 --> 00:10:15.800
you can also get their Dr Carver shave butter which goes on clear so you can

00:10:13.600 --> 00:10:19.680
see what you're doing and I think that's pretty much all I have to say about that

00:10:17.800 --> 00:10:23.720
thanks Dollar Shave Club for supporting lonus Tech tips and for that matter

00:10:21.600 --> 00:10:27.959
small content producers like us everywhere it's great to see companies

00:10:25.680 --> 00:10:31.959
that care about supporting smaller guys as opposed to blowing all their money on

00:10:29.760 --> 00:10:37.959
developing razors with you know vibrating handles yes thank you Dollar

00:10:34.959 --> 00:10:40.160
Shave Club because Without You small

00:10:37.959 --> 00:10:45.959
content creators like me wouldn't have all these piles of SD cards to use

00:10:43.839 --> 00:10:50.600
whenever you know they need to record things and they're camera people don't

00:10:48.880 --> 00:10:57.360
bother to put any of them into the actual camera so we run out in the

00:10:53.040 --> 00:11:00.240
middle anyway the point is Dollar Shave

00:10:57.360 --> 00:11:05.959
Club go to dollarshaveclub.com lus to start shaving time and shaving money and

00:11:04.160 --> 00:11:10.360
to Support lonus Tech tips so we can have more SD cards that

00:11:08.399 --> 00:11:13.160
we don't use guys thanks for watching like this video if you liked it dislike

00:11:11.880 --> 00:11:16.760
it if you disliked it leave a comment letting me know if your feelings are more complicated than this or this check

00:11:15.519 --> 00:11:20.839
out the link in the video description to support us there's of course the dollar shape Club link there's also a link to

00:11:19.760 --> 00:11:24.680
where you can buy a cool t-shirt like this one give us a monthly contribution or change your Amazon bookmark to one

00:11:23.320 --> 00:11:30.580
with our affiliate code so we get a small Kickback whenever you buy piles of

00:11:26.880 --> 00:11:33.700
SD cards that you don't use new