GIGABYTE launches new laptops every year. Let’s take a look at the 2024 AORUS 16X.
With the launch of Intel 14th Gen and Intel Core Ultra series processors, various laptop brands have successively launched corresponding products to attract consumers’ attention.
In principle, Intel 14th Gen is an updated version of Intel 13th Gen. There is not much difference in architecture between the two. If the 13th Gen model is cheaper, it can be considered a good option. However, some laptops with 14th Gen processors have some design differences. The specifications may be better than those of the 13th Gen, so if the price is similar, it is more appropriate to choose the 14th Gen.
The 13th Gen and 14th Gen belong to the Raptor Lake platform, and Intel Core Ultra is a Meteor Lake platform.
The biggest difference between the two generations of processors is that Raptor Lake does not have a built-in NPU, while the Intel Core Ultra generation begins to introduce NPU, paving the way for AI PCs.
GIGABYTE launched several new generation AORUS gaming laptops at CES 2024, including AROUS 17X, 16X and AORUS 15. The series of laptops have been sold in Taiwan in February. Among the laptops in the series, the GIGABYTE AORUS 16X (2024) has been in testing for some time. Let’s take a look at this gaming laptop powered by Intel 14th Gen processor.
The laptop we tested uses an Intel Core i7-14650HX processor with 8 P-Cores + 8 E-Cores, and is paired with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 (ASG) independent display chip with 8GB VRAM; in addition to the Intel Core i7 option, the GIGABYTE AORUS The highest options for 16X (2024) are Intel Core i9-14900HX and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 8GB (ASG) options.
This laptop supports NVIDIA Advanced Optimus technology.
AORUS 16X (2024) provides 2x DDR5 slots. The factory default is 8GB x2 configuration. It can support up to DDR5-5600 MT/s 48GB x2. This part can be seen in our other test; in addition, the laptop also You can see 2x M.2 slots, the factory setting is 1TB, users can install another M.2 SSD for use.
We used DDR5-5600MT/s 48GB x2 provided by V-Color for testing.
The battery part of GIGABYTE AORUS 16X (2024) is 6,215mAh configuration.
The laptop uses an 84mm dual-fan WINDFORCE Infinity cooling system, and is equipped with 4x heat pipes to assist in cooling the CPU and GPU; the heat pipe size configuration is 1x 8mm + 4x 6mm, and the middle 8mm + 3x 6mm is for the CPU and GPU ( Each has a 6mm one for the CPU and GPU), and the last 6mm one is for the power supply components of the CPU and GPU.
Intel 14th Gen series processors have built-in Wi-Fi 6E CNVi, but the GIGABYTE AORUS 16X (2024) gaming laptop has been upgraded to the latest Wi-Fi 7, using Intel Wi-Fi 7 that complies with the 802.11be specification. BE200 wireless network chip is very helpful in improving the user experience.
There are still few Wi-Fi 7 sharers on the market. From our past tests, we can find that TP-Link is the most active brand in Taiwan in deploying Wi-Fi 7. TP-Link’s flagship Archer BE800 has recently been officially launched in Taiwan. For users who want to experience Wi-Fi 7, this Wi-Fi 7 will be a very good choice.
TP-Link BE19000
Extended reading: Wi-Fi 7 tri-band wireless router, TP-Link Archer BE800 speed experience
After introducing the key mechanisms of GIGABYTE AORUS 16X (2024), let’s take a look at the appearance and I/O configuration of this machine.
GIGABYTE AORUS 16X (2024) uses a 16-inch, 16:10, WQXGA (resolution 2560 x 1600), 165Hz update frequency panel; in addition to 3ms (GtG), 400nits, 100% sRGB wide color gamut, it also passes Pantone and TÜV Rheinland Low blue light certification, and supports Dolby Vision and G-Sync.
The laptop itself adopts a 3mm ultra-narrow bezel design, with the entire screen viewing ratio being 91%.
The keyboard part uses a 3-zone RGB lighting effect design. As for why it does not use a Per Key RGB design, this is of course due to certain considerations of the overall cost.
The 7-key translucent keycaps, 1.7mm long key travel and full-area anti-ghosting key design can also meet the daily needs of gamers.
In addition, GIGABYTE AORUS 16X (2024) also increases the Touch Pad area. Compared with the previous generation, the touch area of the new generation Touch Pad has increased by 26%.Although we still think… a good mouse is the best choice for any game, but there will always be situations where you can’t use the mouse, so
Touch Pad enhancement is also a very important link.
The I/O configuration of the machine is also quite rich. On the left side you can see RJ-45, HDMI 2.1, USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A, and USB-C with Thunderbolt 4 function (supports DP 1.4, PD 3.0 and USB4). As for the right On the side, there are USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A, USB3.2 Gen2 Type-C (supports DP1.4), MircoSD card reader (UHS-II) and 3.5mm combo Jack.
Thunderbolt 4 is provided because Intel processors are built-in. Although Thunderbolt 4 peripherals are not cheap, they are much more stable than ordinary USB devices.
The 2.34kg GIGABYTE AORUS 16X (2024) is not only equipped with mid-to-upper specifications hardware, but also has improvements in appearance, such as the iris phantom logo plate, micro-nano laser (NIL) name plate and AORUS projection light .
The matched transformer weighs about 720g, which is not too light, mainly due to the wattage; the transformer supplier for GIGABYTE AORUS 16X (2024) is Chicony, with 20V x 12A specifications, and the maximum power consumption can reach 240W.
After roughly introducing the internal and external appearance of GIGABYTE AORUS 16X (2024), let’s take a look at the performance of Intel Core i7-14650HX + GeForce RTX 4060.
The first step is of course to look at UL’s 3DMark performance.
3DMarkIntel Core i7-14650HX + GeForce RTX 4060
TIme Spy11358
Graphic score10806
CPU score15994
Time Spy Extreme5340
Graphic score5084
CPU score7473
Fire Strike25396
Graphic score27366
Physics score36666
Combo score12694
Fire Strike Extreme12687
Graphic score13138
Physics score36108
Combo score5689
Fire Strike Ultra6346
Graphic score6153
Physics score36235
Combo score3172
Port Royal6041
Ray Tracing25.93
Speed Way2676
Storage Benchmark19971
Follow us to take a look at 1440p and 1080p gaming performance.
1440p1080p
Assassin Creed Vahalla74103
Avata Frontiers of Pandora（Ultra）3648
Avata Frontiers of Pandora（FSR 3 Performance）4969
Cyberpunk2077（Ultra）56.8482.16
Cyberpunk2077（RT Ultra）20.4433.67
Cyberpunk2077（OverDrive + DLSS3 / FSR2 + AFMF）77.94112.7
Guardian of Galaxy（Ultra High + RT）93116
F1 22（Ultra High）4568
F1 22（Ultra High + DLSS2）8792
F1 22（Ultra High + DLSS3 / AFMF）117160
Forza Horizon 5（Max）8195
Horizon Zero Dawn86102
Rainbow Six Siege252332
Shadow of the Tomb Raider（Highest）96134
Total War: Three Kingdom53.687.6
After the game performance, let’s take a look at the CPU performance of the Intel Core i7-14650HX.
Intel Core i7-14650HX
Cinebench R23
Multi Core20035
Single Core1945
Cinebench R24
GPU9449
Multi Core1061
Single Core113
Geekbench6
Single2622
Multi15279
CPU-Z
Single794.6
Multi9709.9
CPU Profile
3DMark CPU Profile
Max Threads9646
16 threads8723
8 threads7045
4 threads4027
2 threads2113
1 threads1085
Finally, there is a comprehensive performance test of the creation software and PCMark and Crossmark.
GIGABYTE AORUS 16X（2024）
Blender
Monster1650.23
Junk Store898.71
classroom849.78
Pugetbench Photoshop
overall7041
general74
filter67
Pugetbench Premiere Pro
overall score7902
LongGOP102
Intraframe84
RAW111
GPU Effects41
Stable diffusion
SD 1.5 (50 steps)
512×512 images/minute15.78
GIGABYTE AORUS 16X
PC Mark
Essential10245
App start-up score14206
viceo conferencing score7320
web browsing score10342
Productivity8929
spreadsheets score11913
writing score6693
Digtal Content Creation11525
photo editing15370
Rendering and visulization15070
Video editing6609
CrossMark
overall2083
productivity1940
creativty2252
responsiveness2041
Using the Video test item in Battery Life in PCMark 10, the GIGABYTE AORUS 16X (2024) can have a battery life of 7 hours and 34 minutes.
In addition, we also used the thermal imaging analyzer in our hands to look at the temperature distribution of GIGABYTE AORUS 16X (2024); the test conditions were conducted in standard mode.
GIGABYTE AORUS 16X（2024）- Thermal
In terms of specifications, GIGABYTE AORUS 16X (2024) has added Wi-Fi 7 and also uses Intel 14th Gen NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 with Ada Lovelace GPU architecture. Basically, there is nothing to be picky about.
Also because of the use of the latest hardware specifications, this generation of GIGABYTE has better performance in heat dissipation than the previous generation. At the same time, some details that we disliked in the past have also been improved in the 2024 version of AORUS 16X.
It can be upgraded to a single 48GB SO-DIMM, which is a very important environment, and allows users to install another M.2 SSD by themselves, which is of great help to many players. After all, the original configuration of 1TB M.2 SSD is basically unable to meet the numerous game installation needs of most players. At this stage, new games are basically comparing how much storage space they need, and each one is larger than the last.
Overall, the GIGABYTE AORUS 16X (2024), which uses Intel Core i7-14650HX + GeForce RTX 4060, may be a little unappealing in appearance, but the addition of AORUS projection lights highlights its differences, and the overall performance can satisfy 1440p or 1080p gaming requirements, and during the test, its cooling performance made us feel that it has made considerable progress, so we gave the GIGABYTE AORUS 16X (2024) a bronze medal recommendation.
