Pricing
Currently, the Gigabyte P57X v6 is available to purchase from Scan Computers for £1699.99 including free next day delivery. This particular package comes with Gears of War 4 and a rather fetching laptop bag worth £19.49. Evidently, the product has a certain premium attached to it due to the powerful component selection. When analysing the value aspect, it’s important to compare the laptop to similar creations from rival companies. The only GTX 1070 model sporting a 17.3-inch screen and almost identical hardware I could find was from PC Specialist. The PC Specialist Defiance III X17-1070 is slightly cheaper than Gigabyte’s offering at £1643.00 and has an additional year of aftersales support. Saying that, PC Specialist hasn’t incorporated USB 3.1 connectivity or a 7200RPM mechanical disk drive. Of course, whether you feel it’s worth paying the extra is down to personal preference. Honestly, the laptop is competitively priced and I haven’t got any criticisms to make in this department.
Overview
The Gigabyte P57X v6 is based on an elegant design philosophy and neutral colour scheme. More specifically, the laptop’s matte black finish looks extremely stylish while being suitable for business meetings. This greatly enhances the product’s flexibility and allows you to enjoy the impressive horsepower for both work and leisure. Of course, a basic black coating wouldn’t appeal to those who prefer a more flamboyant appearance and Gigabyte has injected a hint of colour with two orange stripes. These attractive accents help the laptop to have its own distinctive style and evoke a sense of excitement.
In terms of build quality, the laptop is pretty impressive and feels like a sturdy piece of equipment. In particular, the heavy, durable hinges and robust lid should stand the test of time and withstand users who adopt a heavy-handed approach. The downside to this heavy construction is the considerable weight which impacts on the portability factor. As a result, the device is quite difficult to transport without it feeling overly cumbersome. To be fair, a lot of other 17-inch gaming laptops suffer from a similar fate so this isn’t something which you can portion blame directly at Gigabyte. On another note, the laptop’s plastic elements may annoy some who yearn for a luxurious, aluminium finish. While the plastic is extremely strong, it doesn’t feel premium in the hand and this can seem disappointing. Despite this, the build quality is superb and I have no reason to believe the laptop will encounter reliability issues over time.
Gigabyte deployed a 17.3-inch 1920×1080 IPS screen for the laptop which contains an anti-glare coating. The panel has a wonderful colour gamut and 178-degree viewing angles. Not only that, the display is sharp and easy on the eyes. However, the modest PPI rate may seem a little low to users who are accustomed to high-resolution monitors. Saying that, it’s a sacrifice worth making since the graphics solution is tailored towards either 1080p or 1440p gaming. The product’s dual two-watt speakers provide a rich, balanced listening experience at surprisingly high volumes. According to my testing, the speakers don’t have a flat, dull response and exhibit a dynamic sound.
The laptop’s keyboard features a chiclet design which encourages you to adopt a comfortable, ergonomic posture. Despite being an advocate of mechanical keyboards, my typing speed wasn’t inhibited by a significant degree while using the laptop’s keyboard due to the low travel distance. Additionally, the lettering is very clear and useful if you’re not a touch-typist. Even though there is lighting in the form of a white backlight, it’s fairly subtle and lacking in the customisation RGB brings. However, the illumination does tie in rather nicely with the unit’s neutral design. The touchpad is another highlight and responds to user commands in a seamless manner.
Connectivity-wise, the laptop is fantastic and houses a number of ports including USB 3.1 Type- C, USB 3.0, HDMI 2.0 and even an SD card reader. This allows you to attach a number of devices without any problems. The product’s battery life is commendable and fell just short of lasting 3-hours. As a result, it’s possible to use the system for a considerable amount of time without the adapter plugged in. Of course, the duration is dramatically reduced during games and you’d be lucky to reach an hour in this scenario just like other laptops.
The Gigabyte P57X v6’s cooling apparatus is quite potent but it’s not quite enough to uphold the CPU’s maximum 3.5GHz turbo. As previously mentioned, the processor hovers around the 95C while throttling the CPU back to 3.3-3.4GHz. While this seems like a poor showing, it’s actually better than many competing models which tend to scale back to 3.1GHz. During idle conditions, the laptop is extremely quiet and it’s impossible to detect any changes in fan noise. Under stress, the noise levels become quite loud but they’re acceptable when you take the form-factor into account.
When it comes to storage, the boot SSD isn’t a premium piece of hardware and this is reflected in the mediocre read/write results. The drive is serviceable and works perfectly fine but I’d prefer to see some sort of NVMe solution instead like the Samsung SM951. Of course, this would increase the laptop’s price point but I’d argue it’s worth it considering the target cost is already heading towards £1700. On a more positive note, the product’s networking performance is marvellous and easily the best on record. Whether you decide to use a wired connection or 5GHz WiFi, the speeds remain very high and within a tiny, consistent window.
The laptop’s GTX 1070 offers unbelievable performance and absolutely destroys the previous generation mobile chip, the GTX 970M. While using the native 1920×1080 resolution, the frame rate in a number of demanding games is way above 60 and you’re unlikely to notice minimum figures below this number. As a result, the end-user is able to enjoy a smooth gaming experience which feels very stable. Even when an external 2560×1440 monitor is connected, the performance is stellar and 60 frames-per-second remains a viable target. Please note, the odd game appeared to have a slight bottleneck in 1080p testing but it’s not something I’d be overly concerned about. Of course, the 1440p experience results in more substantial frame dips and if these irritate you, it might be worth selecting lower settings. As expected, the laptop’s GPU cannot cope with the huge demands of 4K gaming while opting for the highest quality presets. Saying that, a good 4K gaming experience can be achieved with a few minor concessions in the options menu.
Pros
Cons
Neutral
“The Gigabyte P57X v6 has an elegant, understated design which easily blends into a professional environment. This makes it a wonderful purchase for gaming enthusiasts who require a flexible device which can be deployed in a number of contrasting situations.”
Gigabyte P57X v6 GTX 1070 Gaming Laptop Review
Thank you Gigabyte for providing us with this sample.
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