Aorus X9 DT (i9-8950HK, GTX 1080, FHD) Laptop Review

[Redaktion]

Coffee Lake on speed. Gigabyte's Aorus X9 DT is a 17-inch high-end notebook with top-of-the-line hardware and an overclockable processor that should run every game smoothly on its FHD display. Let's compare the desktop replacement to other GTX 1080 laptops - which one will prevail?

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Aorus-X9-DT-i9-8950HK-GTX-1080-FHD-Laptop-Review.299340.0.html

[heraldo_jones]

Fix pros and cons, they are in german  ;)
ps: Would love to see undervolting tests to check cpu/battery improvements.

[Patrick Star]

The stress test picture is only running furmark, not furmark + prime

Please change it thx :)))

[NoOneIsInnocent]

Hi,

Thank for the review.

The stress test picture is only running furmark, not furmark + prime

Please change it thx :)))

You have change the screenshot but the new seems to believe that Prime 95 don't work. Is it an error ?

[Player-One]

Want it so bad....

[Star1]

Strongly disagree with the negative point of design being random. Good God, this is by far the most aesthetically inspired best appearance & design looking gaming laptop since the history of gaming laptops.

Having been a user of the prior Aorus X9 (1070 SLI) version, I can say that the design appearance, form and function is legendary as well as the exceptionally high quality materials and construction employed in the X9. I've never experienced anything like it.

I have been considering the X9 DT, but will instead await its successor which will be a long wait. For someone without the previous X9 (SLI) version, then you might want to look into this fine unit. For me though, the new X9 DT has both good improvements and some step-backs.

Firstly, I prefer the much brighter display and quicker response times of the display in the previous X9; its bright and very quick pixel refresh response is superb and additionally I personally think that the QHD 2569x1440 hits the sweet spot resolution for 17.3" displays for gaming and desktop programs (where as 4K is too much for that size).

Secondly, GTX 1070 SLI in the X9 outperforms a single 1080. This is a step backwards for 3D gaming performance. The answer would have been to have 1080 SLI. A rule of thumb is to have the very best GPU you can get for a gaming laptop and then double it (SLI it), so that if there are a few games that aren't optimised for SLI at least your reverting down to the best available single GPU you can get, but for the majority of games that are optimised for SLI then your getting performance that far exceeds a single desktop 1080 ti which is very welcome indeed for 120hz and 144Hz displays and for Iltra detail settings. So I personally don't like a single 1080 card which is what I had years ago in my then Aorus X7. Of course this ONLY applies to hardcore gamers that strive for high performance on the most demanding AAA title games. For most, a single GTX 1080 card is going to be amazing.

Thirdly, the 64GB RAM that the Aorus X9 CF1 was blessed with was nothing short of fantastic when loading up certain professional applications. It's a shame the X9 DT CF1 has been fitted with 32GB RAM instead. Of course 32GB RAM is more than enough for gaming, but I liked the 64GB RAM in the X9 unit for other apps/programs.

So the different Display, GPU and RAM will personally make me await the next incarnation of X9 which will be some time as this X9 DT has only just been released (as of this post date).

On the plus side, the CPU is now an improvement being Intel i9 six core instead of previous i7 four core. There's now faster 2666 MHz RAM instead of previous 2400 MHz RAM. Those that give preference to wider viewing angles and improved contrast of IPS Panels now have this even if this is preferred against the previous brighter and faster display panel of the previous X9 unit. Latest version of USB 3.1 is now added to the X9 DT.

[PiotrL]

How come this article provides a price for this laptop in euros, but does not provide a link to buy it in Europe? the manufacturer's website sucks, since it provides only contacts to websites (for instance in Germany), where none of the configurations are equipped with Intel Core i9, just the old stuff. where did you take the 3999 euro price from?

[Roland Vo]

This review is biased. The reviewed did not run Prime95 + Furmark for a complete hour to stress test the system (in the stress test picture above, Prime95 is open but not executing the torture test). Yet, the review of MSI GT75 on this website compared the MSI unfavourably to this laptop in terms of the cooling system, even though the MSI was put through a very throughout torture test and this Aorus laptop was not. I suspect this laptop cannot sustain its ability to run properly under heavy load, and that is why the torture screenshot does not show prime95 running. The reviewer did not write any substantial comments on its thermal performance in the emission section of the review.

[Phillip White]

I recently picked this up and note to anyone who wants to know that the M.2 slots do support SATA SSD's and not just NvME.  Also do note that the spot for a 2.5 inch drive does not support anything more than the standard 7mm high drive.  I have the 5TB Seagate in there but it's 15mm thick and have to leave the corner of the case open due to the curvature of the case  getting smaller toward the corners.  I ended up putting Gorilla tape around the corner of the case to secure cooling.