Aorus X5-CF1 G-Sync Gaming Laptop Intel Core i7 5700HQ (2.70GHz) 16 GB Memory 1 TB HDD 512 GB SSD NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M SLI 8 GB GDDR5 15.6" Windows 8.1

Pros: -Beautiful, sturdy, and sophisticated packaging -The laptop itself looks great...very high quality -The screen and its colors are beautiful, 3K resolution is outstanding -Ran Witcher 3 on Ultra/High Settings 1920x1080 with 50-60 fps -Excellent cooling job; played for 3 hours and the keyboard and palm rests stayed relatively warm -Tons of storage between the SSDs and HD -Command center feature is very convenient -GSYNC is a must -Extremely fast bootup, about 5-10 seconds to Windows 8.1 login screen -NO BLOATWARE! Very few bloatware programs, very clean/nice out of the box

Cons: -One color on keyboard back light -Quite heavy for a 15 inch laptop, but to be expected -Fans are loud, but also to be expected

Overall Review: An overall incredible bang for the buck if you are looking for a powerhouse 15 inch laptop for both gaming and portability.

Pros: Initially, I was going to purchase the 3k variant. But ended up going with this one for the 120Hz. Mainly because I feel 1080 is perfect for this screen size. Many others will prefer the 3k resolution, so you'll have to consider which works best for you. They're both amazing panels. Go to Best Buy and see if they have any 3k laptops to have a hands-on feel of what feels best for you. As you would expect, game performance is amazing on this. I've been playing Overwatch on epic settings and the game runs smooth. Fan noise gets loud when fan mode is set to gaming. Customizing this will let you lower this, so the fans aren't blaring so loudly. Fans will ramp up more if you're running gamecast to record footage. Other than that, there's only 2-3 fps loss when running this alongside games. The keyboard software is nice and simple. I like how it allows you to create profiles that will automatically switch the lighting configuration to match the game/application you opened. It's nice to see Aorus adding the individual RGB keys to their laptops. This laptop also comes with little folding stilts you can attach anywhere on the bottom of the laptop, lifting it for better airflow. They flush nicely to the height of the rubber feet when folded closed. I only wish they were easy to fold out, since you have to flip the laptop around to get a good grip to unfold them. Overall, the laptop is snappy. butter-smooth display movement. I work with 3D programs like Lightwave and CAD, this laptop has no issue running these programs (simultaneously) while also playing music.

Cons: Unfortunately, I believe this is a TN panel. Color shifting doesn't occur much on left/right/top view, but adjusting the screen back, the image will darken. Also the killer wifi NIC is junk. I have gigabit speeds at home and transferring a 200mb file from my personal server at home, was taking over an hour. I can feel the browser throttling due to the file transfer. I will be looking into upgrading the NIC to an intel 8260NGW and see if that makes a difference. Keyboard switches aren't anything to write home about. They're pretty standard and pressing keys feels a little spongy. I previously had x7 v5 SLI and really liked the jewel caps for the G keys that came in that model. USBs could have been spread out more. They're all on the right side (and one at the back) and being right handed, it gets annoying having wires/USBs getting in your way when you're using a lap-desk on the couch.

Overall Review: I initially had an issue with the screen flickering and submitted an exchange request. Fortunately, I discovered this was an issue with nVidia's software. I went into nVidia control panel and set power consumption to maximum and ensured v-sync was off and no more screen flicker. Also major shout-out to Dakota from the Newegg Facebook page. I sent a FB message, but didn't get a response. So I initiated live-chat here on Newegg.com, about the Aorus bundle that didn't come with my laptop. The guy I spoke with basically said I was out of luck, because I had ordered this laptop two hours before the bundle went up for inclusion. Then comes Dakota who responded to me on FB, later in the evening asking for my order number. Her next message was that she's corrected this and two days later I received my bundle.

Pros: Great Machine! Fast, quiet when not gaming. Great screen.

Cons: The killer wifi card in this.... Drops my connection constantly when I'm playing games. The range of it is really small. Capped speed? I have wired 40mb but it gives me 5mb max. On wifi, I get 3 when I'm next to my router and 1 when I'm literally one room away where my 6 year old laptop does better getting like 20mb+. Have done a fresh windows install, uninstalled/reinstalled the drivers as well the suite. No fix.

Overall Review: Would recommend if it had a different wifi card like intel or something. Shame killer network cards have never been good for me.

Pros: I bought this laptop mainly for being able to work on game development to and from school. My school where I am studying for Video Game Programming has been heavily using Uneal Engine Recently and this only runs on high end gaming systems. So far over the last two weeks or so that I have had this wonderful system it has more than exceeded my expectations. I did install a handful of steam games to play around with and everything runs at the native 3K and mostly ultra settings at 50-60fps. I have experienced no lag anywhere while using this thing. Unreal editor and engine runs like a breeze and I was even able to run unreal and unity at the same time while I was working on two projects. This thing is an absolute beast. It stays a bit cooler than the maxwell laptops did which is nice to see and I have experienced no thermal throttling. Battery life is above what I expected I am able to get through a 2-3 hour bus ride while running visual studio and an engine and get home with 20% or so left. I have not been able to try VR yet but I am definitely excited to have a VR ready laptop since I will be focusing on VR Game development next year. The 3K Display was the perfect choice for the specs of this thing. Higher than 1080p so It looks really good. But not to high that I can't max out everything. Perfect middle ground for resolution. I did have to calibrate the display a bit out of the box because it ran on the warmer side of things and I wanted it to be more neutral. The keyboard is quite good for a laptop. More key travel than I was expecting. Overall this thing has really proven its worth and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a super powerful system in a really slim and portable for factor.

Cons: It can get quite loud when under full load. The fans do their job well but man can they make some noise. They keyboard font isn't my favorite but I have gotten used to it. It would have been nice for them to either make a new chassis or make use of the chassis they had and actual add the port on the back instead of it just being filled in with a plug. I would have also liked to see thunderbolt instead of just a usb type c port but that's no deal breaker either

Overall Review: Overall this has so far been a great laptop and a great experience. It has crushed everything I have thrown at it with flying colors. Well done aorus

Pros: Nice quality, matte IPS 3K display Multiple storage options Sturdy aluminum body Full-size chicklet keyboard with full-size arrow keys and no noticeable flex Loads of additional features with the AORUS COMMAND&CONTROL software Clear sound from speakers, though lacking bass (true for most notebooks)

Cons: Bluetooth connection issues Touchpad has physical buttons beneath the surface; would prefer a clickpad-style touchpad Bottom 1/4 of the touchpad is not usable for tracking; only usable for left and right clicks Fans are very loud when set to the highest setting, which is necessary to play graphics-intensive games at high frame rates

Overall Review: I previously owned an AORUS X3+ v3 and although it wasn't perfect, it was one of the best notebooks for my needs. It was thin and light for carrying around on campus or at work, but could still play modern games without dropping to the lowest display settings. When the X5 was announced, I decided that it would probably be a better fit for me than the X3+. I am a computer science student, so more screen real estate is always better for viewing code, and the option for 32GB of RAM is great for running intense algorithms. I also do quite a bit of data entry for work, so the addition of numeric keypad to the keyboard would prevent me from carrying around a USB numeric keypad. As with the X3+, the X5 is not perfect, but I believe it is the best option available to fit my needs. There are plenty of great gaming notebooks available, but there are few to none that have every feature that everyone would want. If you want a notebook to replace a modern gaming desktop, it's not going to be thin and light. The same is usually true if you're looking for a notebook with numerous storage options. However, the X5 does a great job of finding the balance. Addressing negative remarks: Bluetooth Connectivity - Along with reviewer Helen R., I also experienced issues with the Bluetooth connectivity on the X5, but I did not attempt to use any Bluetooth devices until after upgrading to Windows 10. I have not been able to pinpoint if the issue is a bug with Windows 10, the Bluetooth driver, or some other issue. AORUS did release a new BIOS update today (August 4, 2015) and since that update, I have not noticed any issues with my Bluetooth devices disconnecting. I'm not claiming that the BIOS update definitely fixed the problem, but it seems like it may have. Loud Fans - While gaming with the fans set to the highest setting, they are extremely loud. There are ways around this though. Using the COMMAND&CONTROL software, you can set the fan speed to a lower setting, which will keep the notebook very quiet. You won't be able to higher frame rates with this setting, but with the notebook being so thin, there's just not enough room for efficient airflow without the fans spinning at higher RPMs. If you want a gaming notebook that is quiet, I would advise against any slim gaming notebook. Heat - The notebook can get hot while gaming, and again, it is due to the lack of space for airflow. I purchased a Cooler Master laptop cooling pad to set the notebook on when I want it on my lap. It has a fan inside, powered via USB, to keep your lap and the notebook cool.

Pros: 1. Polished product and packaging. Everything including the box is high end 2. Great display with ideal resolution for this size laptop 3. Ran every game I threw at it on max settings flawlessly 4. G-sync works great 5. Great selection of ports including d-sub, mini displayport, hdmi, and sd card.

Cons: 1. Fans can be quite loud (though there is a fan control app that works great and will throttle performance to meet the spin speed selected) 2. Adobe flash and reader preinstalled with no flash uninstaller (otherwise bloat free) 3. Large heavy power brick in addition to the laptop itself. 4. I would have liked to see usb 3.1 or C connectors, these should be standard on new high end machines by now. 5. Battery life isn't too great as g-sync doesn't allow for Nvidia Optimus tech. But battery life is not why you would get this machine anyway.

Overall Review: First time I received the laptop it had defective ram, after a replacement the machine is working well. Gigabyte support was great in helping expedite the return and answer any questions I had. One of the better customer service experiences I have had.

Pros: Apart from the fact that you buy an awesome experience with a 1070 GTX consider the following details: 1. Packaging. You get lots of boxes inside boxes. Nice for a gift. 2. Size. The laptop is as thin as it looks. It is supposedly one of the thinnest laptops in its class. 3. Weight. Again, one of the bests in its class, you have to take into account that the laptop is basically two huge thermal sinks with some mobo and components attached to it. It takes time to get used to handle it like a portable laptop, but it is still doable. 5. Thermals. On the positive side, the thermals are in check and you can turn down the room heating in the coming winter as it is quite cozy around the laptop. There are vent inlets on the bottom and top in addition to the two main side coolers jets. The laptop requires to be lifted a bit from the table to allow for the air to circulate. Aorus provides for this two, glue in, sticker legs that you attach to the bottom. 8. Keyboard. The laptop has an awesome, full keyboard, with an ESC button. The colors are funny and definitely help the marketing and people who cannot touch type yet. The large macro block with "G" keys can only have one color (for all the 6 keys at once). It would be nice if they had miniature OLED displays on them. 9. Memory. G-Skill DDR4 2400 is decent. 14. Touch-pad. It does excellent job at tracking your moves. UPDATE: replacement came with a defective track-pad. This possibly why it did not work properly for others. 16. The support is OK. Aorus seems responsive. 17. Not much bloatware installed by default. 18. Works mostly well with HTC Vive.

Cons: UPDATE: My first one broke. It started to give out loud modem-noises from the speakers even with sound turned off. The replacement that came, had a defective touch-pad and a rattling cooling fan. Returned for a full-refund. While this may be an awesome laptop in paid reviews, the buyer needs to consider the following points before buying and getting disappointed: 2. Size. The actual laptop is 18'' in diagonal and is fitted with a small 15'' screen. The bezels are huge, even when photo-shopped out in the promo material. 4. Noise. More than considerable noise from the fans. As stated before the huge thermal sink needs to exchange all the heat with outside and this requires lots of air going through. UPDATE: my replacement came with a rattling cooling-fan. 6. Frame. This seems to be the aluminum frame reused from earlier models. You will find a few extra holes in the laptop stuffed with rubber decals. E.g. there is a VGA port stuffed with a rubber plug. There is a lot of air inside the frame and the covering is thinned out to reduce weight. This contributes to considerable flex. E.g. if you grab the laptop by the fans they will make a screeching noise while rattling on the frame. The build quality here is arguable. There were some sharp edges sticking out where the covers shoot fit together. 7. Screen. 2880x1620 - is too dense to read anything at that resolution and going to 1440x810 makes everything look too big on the other side. Scaling, at 1.5 does not look that amazing. The huge bezels of the 15'' screen in that 18'' notebook look very dated. 9. To add or replace the RAM you need a certified shop. It is non-trivial even with experience as it requires one to take the mobo out of the frame. The two (of the four) DIMM slots are between the mobo and the keyboard. The BIOS has almost no options. So there is no way to turn on the XMP profile to add some faster RAM options. The fastest you get is JEDEC 18 CL @ 2 x 1333MHz. 10. SSD - there is some TOSHIBA 250 GB MLC in it - unless you are from the paid press. 11. Wireless. Nothing great here. Reception worse then my other 5 devices. 12. Power Adapter. The 200W brick is relatively huge compared to competition. It is still flat enough to get it into a suitcase. 13. There is no Thunderbolt 3. 14. Touch-pad. You get used to it as it requires some workout to press and hold. UPDATE: My replacement came with a broken touch-pad. 15. Audio jacks are designated to output and microphone. They will not choose the function automatically. There is also no support for 4 wire plugs like for headphones with remote and integrated microphone. The Ethernet jack is under a spoiler that make unplugging almost impossible (even with a CC).

Pros: Beautiful 3K screen Extremely nimble Minimal to no bloatware Very slim and lightweight Aesthetically pleasing Ran everything I threw at it

Cons: Fans rarely turn off, can be loud Exhausts hot air to the back and to the right, where my hand usually sits on my mouse Power brick gets fairly hot and is fairly heavy to travel with

Overall Review: Overall, amazing portable gaming laptop. The pros clearly outweigh the cons--I would even go as far to say that the cons are really just minor annoyances that would probably exist with other high-end laptops as well. From the research I had done prior to deciding to purchase this model, it seemed as though the X3 had some issues that are now corrected on the X5 (I also understand that the X3 is a smaller laptop and therefore had additional challenges regarding build quality and airflow). Under stress, the X5 did handle cooling itself very well. The only concern I might have is the fans. They are pretty much running constantly at a high speed, so logic would tell me that they will wear out in a shorter period of time. The computer most likely will not be able to function without this airflow based on the specs and heat production, so the thought is just there in the back of my head at this time. Otherwise, I am extremely happy with this purchase.