Sections
- Page 1 Gigabyte P35Xv5 Gaming Notebook Review
- Page 2 Performance, Battery & Verdict Review
Gigabyte P35Xv5 – Performance
The P35Xv5 is available in a variety of configurations. The model on review features an i7-6700HQ Skylake processor, an Nvidia GTX 980M graphics card and 16GB of DDR4 RAM. The P35Xv5 is a beast of a gaming notebook and, not surprisingly, it blazes through our benchmarks.
It scored 8,390 in the 3DMark: Fire Strike test, compared to 6,526 for the Asus ROG G752 that sports the Nvidia GTX 970M. This is a significant 25% difference and shows just how powerful the top-spec P35Xv5 really is.
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The quad-core Skylake i7-6700HQ (2.6-3.5GHz) processor is equally impressive, scoring 3,657 and 13,425 in the single and multi-core Geekbench tests, respectively. This is par for the course with this chip; the Asus ROG G752 achieved nearly identical scores.
The P35Xv5 looks great on paper and performs well in benchmarks, but how does it fair running some of the latest games?
It achieved an average frame rate of 52fps in Dirt Rally; 59fps in Tomb Raider; and 98fps in Hitman at 1080p. This is pretty impressive, and with a few tweaks to settings it is easy to achieve a consistent 60fps in recent games.
Minimum frame rates were also encouraging, only going as low as 66fps in Dirt Rally and 43fps in Tomb Raider. In Hitman, however, the minimum frame rate was just 9fps, which in my opinion is an anomaly and doesn’t represent the smooth frame rate I experienced while playing the game.
Undoubtedly, the 1080p resolution helps the P35Xv5 achieve far higher frame rates than it would if it had to push four times as many pixels in a 4K display.
Apart from gaming notebooks with desktop-class components, such as the ludicrous Asus ROG GX700, the Gigabyte P35Xv5 is a veritable powerhouse and one of the fastest notebooks you can buy right now.
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Throughout my benchmarks and gaming tests, the P35Xv5 remained impressively cool and quiet. In general use you almost never hear the fan – it only becomes audible, but not distracting, while gaming or running more intensive applications.
One of the most significant differences between this P35Xv5 and the P35Xv3 from 2014 is the addition of Intel’s latest Skylake chip. The older model offered the same Nvidia 980M card, which shows that it’s a little long in the tooth, especially since Nvidia recently launched its GTX 1070 and 1080 cards. Hopefully, it won’t be long before we see mobile versions of these GPUs, which will offer better performance and power efficiency.
As powerful as the P35v5 is, it might be worth holding off a few months until we see a GTX 1080M.
Gigabyte P35Xv5 – Battery
The P35Xv5’s battery life is pretty average, but not disappointing considering the powerful components inside the notebook.
Following a one-hour Netflix test the P35Xv5 had used only 22% of its power, which is impressive considering the competing Asus ROG G752 used 41% during the same test. With pretty typical non-gaming usage – including web browsing, office work and watching videos – the P35Xv5 lasted for around 4 hours with brightness set at 50% and power-saving mode enabled.
It’s highly recommended to have the notebook plugged into the charger when playing games; otherwise, you can expect less than an hour and a half of battery life from the P35Xv5.
Should I buy the Gigabyte P35Xv5?
Probably not. The design of the P35Xv5 is both it’s selling point and Achilles heel. Yes, it’s relatively thin and light, but looks-wise it’s dull, it’s poorly made – and if you’d just spent £1,600 on a new notebook then I can guarantee that you’d be disappointed on seeing the P35Xv5 for the first time.
However, beneath all the cheap plastic is a solid gaming notebook with an excellent screen. Opting for the top-end 980M alongside the Skylake i7 and 16GB DDR4 RAM provides great performance, and you’ll have no trouble maintaining 60fps in modern games at Full HD.
Verdict
The bottom line is that £1,600 for the Gigabyte P35Xv5 is far too expensive since it lacks the premium aesthetics that such an high-end notebook deserves. It delivers on performance, but falls short as an overall package.
How we test laptops
Unlike other sites, we test every laptop we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use industry standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Trusted Score
Score in detail
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Performance 9
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Keyboard 6
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Design 5
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Screen Quality 8
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Build Quality 4
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Value 4
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Touchpad 5
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Features 6
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Heat & Noise 7
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Battery Life 6
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
