Test Methodology
Comparison Laptops - Part One |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| System Name | ||||
| Form Factor | 13.9in |
15.6in |
15.6in |
15.6in |
| CPU | Intel Core i7-4710HQ |
Intel Core i7-6700HQ |
Intel Core i7-6820HK |
Intel Core i7-6700HQ |
| CPU Base Frequency | 2.5GHz |
2.6GHz |
2.7GHz |
2.6GHz |
| CPU Turbo Frequency | 3.5GHz |
3.5GHz |
4.0GHz |
3.5GHz |
| CPU Cores / Threads | 4 / 8 |
4 / 8 |
4 / 8 |
4 / 8 |
| CPU TDP | 47W |
45W |
45W |
45W |
| Memory | 16GB DDR3 (2x8GB) |
32GB DDR4 (4x8GB) |
16GB DDR4 (2x8GB) |
8GB DDR4 (1x8GB) |
| Memory Speed | 1,866MHz at 10-10-10-32-1T |
2,133MHz at 15-15-15-36-2T |
2,400MHz at 16-16-16-39-2T |
2,133MHz at 15-15-15-36-2T |
| Integrated GPU | Intel HD 4600 |
Intel HD 530 |
- |
Intel HD 530 |
| Dedicated GPU(s) | Nvidia GeForce GTX 970M 6GB |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 980M 8GB |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 8GB |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 960M 2GB |
| Display | 13.9in QHD+ LCD (3,200x1,800) |
15.6in SHP1436 4K UHD IPS (3,840x2,160) |
15.6in MEI96A2 WQHD+ IPS (2,880x1,620) |
15.6in CMN15C4 Full-HD TN (1,920x1,080) |
| Battery Capacity | 73Wh |
73Wh |
94Wh |
48Wh |
| Wireless | Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 |
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260 |
Killer Wireless-AC 1535 |
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7265 |
| Network | Killer E2200 Gigabit Ethernet |
Killer E2200 Gigabit Ethernet |
Killer E2200 Gigabit Ethernet |
Realtek Gigabit Ethernet |
| Primary Storage | 2 x 256GB LiteOn LMT-256L9M mSATA SSDs in RAID 0 |
256GB Samsung SM951 NVMe M.2 SSD |
256GB Samsung SM951 NVMe M.2 SSD |
256GB SK hynix M.2 SSD |
| Secondary Storage | - |
1TB HGST Travelstar 7K1000 2.5in HDD |
1TB HGST Travelstar 7K1000 2.5in HDD |
1TB HGST Travelstar 7K1000 2.5in HDD |
| Optical Drive | - |
- |
- |
DVD writer |
| Power Supply | 150W External |
200W External |
200W External |
120W External |
| Operating System | Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-bit |
Microsoft Windows 10 64-bit |
Microsoft Windows 10 64-bit |
Microsoft Windows 10 64-bit |
| Dimensions (W x D x H) | 330mm x 264mm x 22.9mm |
390mm x 272mm x 22.9mm |
390mm x 272mm x 22.9mm |
384mm x 256mm x 35.1mm |
| Weight | 1.9kg |
2.5kg |
2.5kg |
2.6kg |
| Standard Warranty | Two years |
Two years |
Two years |
One year |
| Date Reviewed | February 2015 |
April 2016 |
September 2016 |
February 2016 |
| Price When Reviewed | £1,799 |
£2,200 |
£2,100 |
£875 |
Comparison Laptops - Part Two |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| System Name | |||||
| Form Factor | 14.0in |
15.6in |
15.6in |
15.6in |
14.0in |
| CPU | Intel Core i7-7700HQ |
Intel Core i7-6700HQ |
Intel Core i7-6700HQ |
Intel Core i7-4720HQ |
Intel Core i7-6700HQ |
| CPU Base Frequency | 2.8GHz |
2.6GHz |
2.6GHz |
2.6GHz |
2.6GHz |
| CPU Turbo Frequency | 3.8GHz |
3.5GHz |
3.5GHz |
3.6GHz |
3.5GHz |
| CPU Cores / Threads | 4 / 8 |
4 / 8 |
4 / 8 |
4 / 8 |
4 / 8 |
| CPU TDP | 45W |
45W |
45W |
47W |
45W |
| Memory | 16GB DDR4 (1x16GB) |
16GB DDR4 (2x8GB) |
16GB DDR4 (2x8GB) |
16GB DDR3 (2x8GB) |
16GB DDR4 (2x8GB) |
| Memory Speed | 2,400MHz at 17-17-17-39-2T |
2,133MHz at 15-15-15-36-2T |
2,400MHz at 16-16-16-39-2T |
1,600MHz at 11-11-11-28-1T |
2,133MHz at 13-13-13-35-2T |
| Integrated GPU | Intel HD 630 |
Intel HD 530 |
Intel HD 530 |
Intel HD 4600 |
Intel HD 530 |
| Dedicated GPU(s) | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 6GB |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 980M 8GB |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 8GB |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 970M 3GB |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 970M 3GB |
| Display | 14.0in LGD049A QHD IPS (2,560x1,440) |
15.6in LGD040E Full-HD IPS (1,920x1,080) |
15.6in SHP1436 4K UHD IPS (3,840x2,160) |
15.6in SDC4852 4K UHD IPS (3,840x2,160) |
14.0in LGD046D Full-HD IPS (1,920x1,080) |
| Battery Capacity | 94Wh |
76Wh |
76Wh |
53Wh |
45Wh |
| Wireless | Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260 |
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260 |
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260 |
Killer Wireless-AC 1525 |
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260 |
| Network | Realtek Gigabit Ethernet |
Realtek Gigabit Ethernet |
Realtek Gigabit Ethernet |
Killer E2200 Gigabit Ethernet |
Realtek Gigabit Ethernet |
| Primary Storage | 512GB Samsung SM951 NVMe M.2 SSD |
256GB Samsung SM951 NVMe M.2 SSD |
256GB Samsung SM951 NVMe M.2 SSD |
128GB Toshiba THNSNJ128G8NU M.2 SSD |
240GB Kingston SSDNow M.2 SSD |
| Secondary Storage | - |
1TB HGST Travelstar 7K1000 2.5in HDD |
1TB HGST Travelstar 7K1000 2.5in HDD |
1TB HGST Travelstar 7K1000 2.5in HDD |
1TB WD Blue 2.5in HDD |
| Optical Drive | - |
DVD writer |
Blu-ray writer |
- |
- |
| Power Supply | 150W External |
200W External |
230W External |
150W External |
180W |
| Operating System | Microsoft Windows 10 64-bit |
Microsoft Windows 10 64-bit |
Microsoft Windows 10 64-bit |
Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-bit |
Microsoft Windows 10 64-bit |
| Dimensions (W x D x H) | 335mm x 250mm x 19.9mm |
385mm x 270mm x 20.9mm |
385mm x 270mm x 20.9mm |
390mm x 266mm x 19.9mm |
349mm x 247mm x 25.4mm |
| Weight | 1.9kg |
2.4kg |
2.4kg |
1.9kg |
2.0kg |
| Standard Warranty | Two years |
Two years |
Two years |
Two years |
Three years |
| Date Reviewed | February 2017 |
December 2015 |
December 2016 |
May 2015 |
March 2015 |
| Price When Reviewed | £1,800 |
£1,700 |
£1,999 |
£1,500 |
£999 |
CPU Benchmarks |
||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HEXUS PiFast | Our number-crunching PiFast test is used to benchmark the computational power of each system's CPU. | |||||||||||
| Cinebench | Using Cinebench's multi-CPU render, this cross-platform benchmark stresses as many cores as possible. | |||||||||||
| HandBrake | Free-to-use video encoder that stresses all CPU cores. | |||||||||||
Memory and Storage Benchmarks |
||||||||||||
| AIDA64 | Benchmark that analyses memory bandwidth and latency. | |||||||||||
| CrystalDiskMark | Popular free-to-use storage benchmark, used to gauge sequential performance and aggregated 4K QD32 speeds. | |||||||||||
System and Gaming Benchmarks |
||||||||||||
| 3DMark | DX11, default Fire Strike test. | |||||||||||
| Gaming | A selection of modern titles are tested at various resolutions. | |||||||||||
Miscellaneous Benchmarks |
||||||||||||
| Display | Datacolor's Spyder 4 Elite professional monitor analyser is used to return a quantitative assessment of display quality. | |||||||||||
| Power Consumption | Noted for system idling, under HandBrake video-transcoding load, and for GPU playing Dirt Rally. | |||||||||||
| Temperature | Noted for CPU idling, under HandBrake video-transcoding load, and for GPU playing Dirt Rally. | |||||||||||
| Battery Life | Measured while looping a high-definition movie clip with 50 per cent screen brightness and flight mode enabled. | |||||||||||
Notes
In the interests of full transparency, readers should note that our Aero 14 review sample arrived with a single 16GB stick of DDR4 memory and Windows 10 Home as the default operating system. As such, memory read and write bandwidth was recorded as just 18,146MB/s and 17,695MB/s, respectively.
Gigabyte has since confirmed that our sample was shipped in a hurry and that the £1,800 retail model will in fact be equipped with Windows 10 Pro and dual-channel (2x8GB) memory as standard. Our memory benchmarks have therefore been excluded, but it is fair to assume that a retail unit will deliver bandwidth in the region of 36,000MB/s.