Gigabyte’s G5 (2023) is our favorite price range gaming laptop computer, so when this Gigabyte G6X 9KG 2024 mannequin arrived at my workplace, I used to be actually trying ahead to testing it out. It has an identical similar worth because the G5 did when it first launched however the {hardware} inside has been given a bunch of updates to modernise it.
Nevertheless, it isn’t fairly a good comparability, because the G5’s true successor is basically the Gigabyte G6. So what precisely are we getting with the added X? Put merely, extra CPU cores, extra energy for the GPU, and extra battery capability. All of us like getting extra for our cash.
The 9KG variant below overview sports activities an Intel Core i7 13650HX processor, which has six P-cores and eight E-cores, for a complete of 20 threads. That is greater than sufficient for gaming—maybe an excessive amount of, because it has a most energy restrict of 155 W. Gigabyte has paired the CPU with a 105 W GeForce RTX 4060 and it is probably the most highly effective model of that chip we have examined thus far.
Gigabyte G6X specs
CPU: Intel Core i7 13650HX
GPU: Nvidia RTX 4060
Reminiscence: 32GB DDR5-4800
Storage: 1TB NVMe SSD
Display measurement: 16-inch IPS
Decision: 1920 x 1200
Refresh price: 165 Hz
Battery: 73 Whr
Dimensions: 36.1 x 25.9 x 2.51~2.89 cm
Weight: 2.5 kg (5.67 lbs)
Value: $1,350 | £1,198 (16GB)
Rounding off the remainder of the essential specs are 32GB of dual-channel DDR5-4800 RAM and 1TB of Gigabyte’s personal PCIe 4.0 NVMe storage. It appears that evidently the UK is just getting 16GB, which is why the value in Blighty is a contact decrease, however it’s approach higher than the 8GB nonsense you used to get not that way back.
These specs are all fairly respectable and I am glad Gigabyte wasn’t tempted to attempt to jam extra highly effective stuff in there. That mentioned, the mixed most powers of the CPU and GPU come to 260 W—that is a number of warmth for a comparatively slim laptop computer to shift, so that you in all probability guess what which means.
I will come to that in a second however for now, let’s speak in regards to the display. It is a full 16 inches in measurement, with a 16:10 side ratio, 1920×1200 pixels, and a refresh price of 165 Hz.
My speedy impressions of the show weren’t nice. It appeared fairly uninteresting and overly darkish, even at most brightness, and in graphics exams that ran below 30 fps, there was a number of inverse ghosting current. Testing the panel confirmed it had a peak brightness of 350 nits, with a color gamut of 66% sRGB.
So not nice, not horrible, to paraphrase a sure HBO present. The very best I can say is that the display is completely common. Simply do not examine it to a pleasant desktop monitor and you will be nice with it.
Anyway, this can be a gaming laptop computer, so let’s get on with some benchmarks. We have examined fairly a couple of RTX 4060 in latest months, so evaluating the G6X to a few of these is smart. Nevertheless, it is the one one with a 105 W energy restrict on the GPU—the others are a lot decrease, so it ought to lead to a noticeable efficiency lead.
General, not one of the outcomes are surprising. You’ve got obtained a 14-core CPU and an RTX 4060 working at near-maximum energy, so it could have been stunning if the G6X wasn’t quicker than the others. That mentioned, it wasn’t massively higher than the Lenovo Legion LOQ, regardless of its RTX 4050 having 512 fewer shaders. Solely in Cyberpunk 2007 does the G6X present its actual {hardware} benefit.
Operating the identical exams on the native 1200p decision produces some fascinating outcomes. In some exams, the common body charges and 1% low values dropped by as a lot as 12%, however in others, the laptop computer really carried out higher. A number of retests of those produced the identical consequence, and whereas we’re solely speaking by a few fps, all of it factors to how nicely the laptop computer is managing the CPU’s warmth.
All the exams have been carried out utilizing Gigabyte’s Efficiency mode, which units the bottom energy restrict of the i7 13650HX to 135 W and the utmost restrict to 155 W. Mixed with the 105 W restrict for the RTX 4060, that is a complete of 260 W for the laptop computer’s motherboard to handle and provide.
Within the video games the place the CPU was the limiting issue within the recorded efficiency (e.g. Horizon Zero Daybreak), it seems just like the i5 13650HX is not given sufficient energy to keep up its workload. At 1200p, the additional pixels imply the GPU turns into extra of a restrict, giving the CPU a better time of issues, and so it requires much less energy which the laptop computer can readily provide.
That is my idea, no less than, however my try to confirm this by recording energy utilization throughout all these exams did not present overwhelming proof to help it.
Essentially the most disappointing result’s that for the 3DMark Storage take a look at—a 22% decrease rating than the Legion LOQ’s is just not nice, particularly contemplating that it is a ‘correct’ PCIe 4.0 NVMe drive. Nevertheless, as we’ll shortly see, it was completely nice in one other storage benchmark and working some peak efficiency checks confirmed nothing amiss.
Happily, it by no means felt gradual in day-to-day use and the Gigabyte G6X booted in a short time. One good function of this laptop computer is that it has a spare Gen 4 M.2 slot that is very straightforward to entry. Gigabyte deserves no small quantity of reward for designing the physique to be easy to take away. Positive, there are many tiny screws concerned however the rear case clips off very simply. Disgrace it is product of nasty-feeling plastic, although.
Pulling off the rear shell additionally exposes the laptop computer’s RAM slots and our overview pattern got here with 32GB of DDR5-4800. There aren’t any free slots however it’s not laborious to swap the DIMMs, which is lucky for PC players within the UK, as it seems that Gigabyte is just promoting 16GB fashions for that market.
Anyway, the 1080p gaming efficiency is basically good, though you will in all probability need to persist with the show’s native decision and simply flip down the graphics high quality settings a notch or two. Alternatively, you possibly can activate any in-game upscalers or body technology to nix the drop in body price, although it will not look as good.
The remainder of the laptop computer provides, somewhat than detracts, to the general gaming expertise. Sure, the show is not all that nice however it’s serviceable sufficient. The keyboard and trackpad are nice to make use of, albeit with an absence of suggestions and the textual content on the keys does appear like it has been created by a generative AI.
Even the two W audio system are fairly respectable, although I ought to think about most G6X customers will choose a gaming headset.
Talking of gaming, Gigabyte has been comparatively discrete with the standard ‘gamer options’—the keyboard is backlit, albeit with a single zone set of RGB LEDs, and there is a pleasing lack of aggressive styling to the laptop computer’s total design.
I may dwell with out the odd-looking strains on the again of the show, although, and the plastic materials attracts mud and fingerprints like an industrial vacuum cleaner. Attempting to get clear pictures of the laptop computer close-up was a critical problem.
If you wish to use your laptop computer for extra than simply gaming, that Core i7 13650HX is greater than able to churning by way of content material creation workloads. In our common batch of Cinebench, Blender, and X264 encoding exams, the G6X produced outcomes nearly as good as any similarly-specced laptop computer and even comes shut to some actually costly ones.
And it makes a nice change to see a gaming laptop computer that does not run with temperatures bouncing off the boundaries, even when set to Efficiency mode (aka max energy). Gigabyte’s cooling resolution could be very stable, however like all trendy laptops, it principally achieves this by having the followers screaming away.
Utilizing the Gigabyte Management Heart software program, you are given one in all three choices: Efficiency, Leisure, and Quiet. These settings modify the ability limits for the CPU and GPU, together with the general fan curves. It isn’t potential to find out what the GPU’s values are, however the CPU runs with its PL1/PL2 limits at 135/155 W in Efficiency, 55/115 W in Leisure, and 25/35 W in Quiet.
The followers are insufferable in Efficiency mode, not simply loud however shrill and piercing. You actually would not need to sport on this mode, so to see what the opposite settings have been like, I performed some video games in every mode, recording the common and 1% low body charges over 10 minutes.
As you possibly can see, there is not any want to make use of Efficiency mode when Leisure is simply nearly as good. Higher but, the fan noise on this mode is way extra tolerable with this setting, as the general pitch is decrease, despite the fact that the relative loudness is roughly the identical.
The CPU and GPU do run a tad hotter in Leisure mode, because the followers simply aren’t spinning flat out, however it’s nonetheless nicely inside the most thermal limits for both chip.
Apparently, Quiet mode actually is quiet. Virtually utterly silent, in actual fact. I could not get the followers to spin up a lot in any take a look at. After all, with the chips working on a handful of watts, efficiency will get squashed to a slideshow however for simply common shopping or watching a video, Quiet mode is the best way to go.
I do want that Gigabyte supplied an influence mode in between Leisure and Quiet—the hole is simply too massive and though you possibly can configure the fan curves to something you want within the software program, you possibly can’t override the ability limits. I might be actually to see how nicely the G6X ran if the CPU and GPU have been each capped at 50 W, for instance.
Not that it could do a lot for the battery life, although.
The PCMark battery gaming take a look at ran now not than 51 minutes and even switching to Quiet mode solely prolonged it by one further minute. Nevertheless, the laptop computer was configured to enter sleep mode with round 21% of cost left, so extrapolating that to the purpose the place it is utterly flat provides a lifespan of 65 minutes.
That is fairly disappointing however par course for a 73 Whr battery in a laptop computer. You are by no means going to get a number of hours of gaming with a Core i7 13650HX and RTX 4060 mixture, sadly.
So what to make of the Gigabyte G6X? Let’s ignore any comparisons to the G5 (2023 mannequin) for now and have a look at what you are getting for the cash. It’s, with none doubt, a wonderfully stable 1080p gaming laptop computer. It sports activities a number of the detrimental features of practically all at the moment’s moveable PCs (particularly loud followers and a brief battery lifespan) however it additionally has a smart steadiness of {hardware} inside it.
Purchase if…
✅ You need good gaming efficiency: That 105 W RTX 4060 handles 1080p in most video games with no fuss, and that is earlier than you allow DLSS.
✅ You need numerous storage: The area PCIe 4.0 M.2 slot is straightforward to entry, making it a breeze to throw in a second SSD.
Do not buy if…
❌ You do not like fan noise: Whilst you can set your personal fan curves, it would be higher if they only weren’t so loud within the first place.
❌ You want a luxurious display: This one is nothing particular, simply common, despite the fact that its specs recommend in any other case.
I do assume, although, {that a} Core i5 processor can be a extra good choice, somewhat than the 14-core i7, as it could be straightforward to maintain cool and squeeze a bit extra runtime out of the battery. In gaming, you would be unlikely to note the distinction and in case you’re utilizing this type of laptop computer to do content material creation, a bunch of additional E-cores will not assist all that a lot.
However, Gigabyte’s determination to make use of a 105 W restrict for the RTX 4060 GPU is a very good one. It helps the chip attain its full potential and whereas that is extra warmth to dissipate, the cooling system used manages it very nicely. Maybe too nicely, as a result of there was loads of capability for the chip to run hotter and nonetheless not be thermally restricted.
There are many connectivity choices, too, with one HDMI 2.1 port, a 1G LAN socket, and 4 USB ports—two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Kind-C, one USB 3.2 Gen 2 Kind-A, and one other Kind-A that is USB 3.2 Gen 1. The Kind-C on the rear can present a DisplayPort sign, for hooking up a gaming monitor, whereas the opposite has PD 3.0 help for charging different units.
At $1,300 for the 32GB model, the Gigabyte G6X could be very fairly priced and you may shave off a bit by going with 16GB. Show panel dullness and fan noise apart, you are getting numerous good {hardware} to your cash. It could actually’t knock the Gigabyte G5 (2023) off the highest slot for one of the best price range gaming laptop computer, although. Not but, no less than.
In time, as newer fashions come out, the value will fall and when that occurs, it’s going to be fairly powerful to beat what the Gigabyte is providing with the G6X. Come to consider it, there aren’t many gaming laptops round now, which can be nearly as good as this one at this worth.