Gigabyte P57X v6
A speedy laptop that’s taken a bite from Nvidia’s latest desktop GPUs.
It’s safe to say we were excited to get our hands on the P57X v6 here in the APC labs, not just because it’s a hulking great 17-inch gaming laptop, but also because it’s the first we’ve seen to feature an Nvidia GeForce 10-series GPU. That’s not just a cut-down ‘mobile’ GPU either; the P57X v6 features the full version of the GTX 1070, the same as you’ll find in Nvidia’s desktop cards.
Naturally, we were expecting big things from Nvidia’s latest line of cards in a laptop setting, but nothing could have prepared us for just how much of a performance boost the GTX 1070 offers. From the specs sheet, this might seem like nothing more than an iterative upgrade, yet we’re at a loss to think of a configuration that would be better than what’s in the P57X and we’re inclined to believe that the company’s restraint has led to this laptop’s exceptional performance.
As mentioned, the P57X v6 is a plus size laptop, with a chassis using Gigabyte’s trademark black plastic exterior and fluro orange speed-stripe trimmings — the same look that prevails amongst Gigabyte’s other gaming laptops. The casing isn’t the only area Gigabyte is playing to its strengths, though, harnessing a tried and tested 256GB SSD and 1TB HDD storage combo, a glossy IPS 1080p LCD screen and the category-standard Intel Core i7-6700HQ CPU, meaning that much of what makes up the P57X v6 has been seen before. Despite the laptop being notably thinner than we’d expect from a 17-inch gaming unit, it weighs in at a manageable 3.2kg. Those specs would add up to an average result at this price, but we guess when you’ve upgraded your star player, there’s no real pressure to change the rest of the team. And what a star that is...!
When testing a new gaming laptop, we generally compare benchmarks of previously-tested models against the newcomer. But with the P57X v6 doubling every gaming result of the Gigabyte P34W v5 that we tested in April this year, it was clear we needed to put it up against something with a bit more grunt. That said, even when pitted against the high-end console-like PC from Alienware known as the Alpha, which included an additional GTX 980 Ti in the latter’s optional Graphics Amplifier add-on, the P57X v6 still wiped the floor with it. The Alpha banged out an impressive average of 82fps on the tough Batman: Arkham Knight benchmark with the detail settings at Ultra, but the P57Xv6 made that look positively meagre when it managed an average framerate of 113fps. This trend continued across all the gaming benchmarks we performed, with the P57X v6 either equalling or outpacing the Alpha and its Graphics Amplifier unit. Both Nvidia’s 10-series GPU’s and Intel’s 6th- generation Core (AKA Skylake) processors offer a decent reduction in power consumption compared to their forebears, too, so despite the P57X v6s exceptional performance, it doesn’t have the brief battery life that you might expect, lasting 2 hours and 51 minutes in everyday taks. It’s also relatively quiet in terms of fan noise, plus the GPU doesn’t get above 72ºC (with the CPU capping out at a still-acceptable 83ºC).
This exceptionally wellrounded machine really feels like the pinnacle of affordable gaming laptops right now.