Laptop makers have largely moved away from the 17.3-inch form factor, but it has not disappeared completely. This is especially true in the gaming sector. To wit, Gigabyte is rolling out the Aorus 17, a fully-loaded gaming laptop with a fast 17.3-inch display.
How fast? Well, in terms of the refresh rate, the panel (produced by AUO) speeds along at 240Hz. It also boasts a 3ms response time (presumably gray-to-gray) to ward off unwanted ghosting. And as an added bonus, Gigabyte claims the panel leaves the factor with X-Rite Pantone-certified calibration.
Gigabyte doesn't mention the resolution, though I'm assuming it's a 1080p panel, as is commonly the case at 240Hz. Whether you'll be able to take full advantage of that speed depends on the game you are playing—on the hardware side of things, the Aorus 17 pairs a 9th generation Intel Core i9-9980HK CPU with GeForce RTX 20 series GPU options.
One of the unique features of this laptop is the use of Microsoft's Azure AI (artificial intelligence) to tweak GPU and CPU performance.
"User preference data will pass through the Microsoft Azure platform to be analyzed by the AI and further determines the best central processor (CPU) and graphics processor (GPU) wattage setting. The optimal wattage is then set in order to achieve the best gaming performance possible while also keeping the laptop cool with balanced and optimized settings," Gigabyte explains.
For storage, the Aorus 17 leans on an Intel 760p M.2 NMVe solid state drive, though Gigabtye does not mention what capacities will be available. Same goes for the RAM allotment.
Other features include a Killer AX1650 Wi-Fi chip for Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) connectivity, Thunderbolt 3 support, an ESS Sabre Hi-fi DAC chip for audio chores (24-bit/192KHz frequency output), and Omron mechanical key switches on the keyboard.
It will be interesting to see what precise configurations Gigabyte ends up offering. For now, unfortunately, there is no mention of availability or a starting price.
