68 TECH ADVISOR • NOVEMBER 2019GAMING SPECIALenough power to play the most demanding games
at 4K resolution.
As for criticisms, the only annoyance we’ve noticed
is that the 15X switches briefly, and awkwardly, between
its native colour mode and the calibrated Pantone one
on boot-up. Much like the keyboard, it’s the Gigabyte
software that lets the 15X down, if only in a small way.Performance
This is the first gaming laptop we’ve reviewed to have
one of Intel’s Core i7-8750H CPUs. This is part of the
Coffee Lake-generation of processors. It has six cores,
where until now most top-end gaming laptops used the
last-generation quad-core Intel Core i7-7700HQ CPU.
Is there a huge difference? Here’s where it gets a bit
complicated. Since we reviewed the 2017 15X there
has been a hit to laptop processors caused by updates
designed to combat the Spectre and Meltdown
insecurities. That said, we’ve not seen a huge change in
the benchmarks results of our reviews.
The new 15X scores 16,976 points (4814 single-core)
in Geekbench 4, compared to the 14,502 (4353) of
last year’s Aero. That’s a healthy upgrade, if not a 50
percent improvement.
In PCMark 10, the laptop scores 4,274 points,
which is actually lower than we saw in last year’s
version. However, that laptop’s score was a somewhat
anomalous result. More recently we reviewed the Asus
ROG Strix GL703VM (with Core i7-7700HQ) laptop,
which scores a closer 4,390 points.
We don’t see the kind of radical gains of Intel’s
U-series processors in this latest generational upgrade.68 TECH ADVISOR • NOVEMBER 2019
GAMING SPECIAL
enoughpowertoplaythemostdemandinggames
at4K resolution.
As for criticisms, the only annoyance we’ve noticed
is that the 15X switches briefly, and awkwardly, between
its native colour mode and the calibrated Pantone one
on boot-up. Much like the keyboard, it’s the Gigabyte
software that lets the 15X down, if only in a small way.Performance
This is the first gaming laptop we’ve reviewed to have
one of Intel’s Core i7-8750H CPUs. This is part of the
Coffee Lake-generation of processors. It has six cores,
where until now most top-end gaming laptops used the
last-generation quad-core Intel Core i7-7700HQ CPU.
Is there a huge difference? Here’s where it gets a bit
complicated. Since we reviewed the 2017 15X there
has been a hit to laptop processors caused by updates
designed to combat the Spectre and Meltdown
insecurities. That said, we’ve not seen a huge change in
the benchmarks results of our reviews.
Thenew15Xscores16,976points(4814single-core)
in Geekbench4,comparedtothe14,502(4353)of
last year’s Aero. That’s a healthy upgrade, if not a 50
percent improvement.
In PCMark 10, the laptop scores 4,274 points,
which is actually lower than we saw in last year’s
version. However, that laptop’s score was a somewhat
anomalous result. More recently we reviewed the Asus
ROG Strix GL703VM (with Core i7-7700HQ) laptop,
which scores a closer 4,390 points.
We don’t see the kind of radical gains of Intel’s
U-series processors in this latest generational upgrade.