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Gigabyte is the latest major PC maker to suffer a ransomware attack
Gigabyte has fallen prey to a ransomware attack just months after its rival Acer.
Gigabyte Aero 17 HDR review: A big, bright content creation machine
With its Aero lineup, Gigabyte has developed a reputation for powerful, slim, long-lasting laptops with low-key designs that don’t scream “gaming.” The $2,800 Aero 17 HDR XB is a great example of that philosophy -- it has plenty of power, but is more aesthetically restrained than rival models from Razer, Alienware and ASUS.
Gigabyte's Aero 17 has a 4K HDR display and Intel's 8-core i9 CPU
Gigabyte has launched its latest lineup of Aero laptops for creators, and its latest 17-inch model has some nice features if you're into HDR. First off, both the new 15- and 17-inch models look considerably more powerful than the last models. They offer up to the latest 10th-gen Intel Core i9-10980HK 8-core laptop processors with boost speeds as high as 5.3 GHz, along with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070/2080 Super graphics.
The best gaming PCs and accessories for students
PC gaming is serious business. This is where video game fans go when they want the highest resolution, lowest latency and most precise experiences available, from first-person shooters to top-down team-based strategy titles and beyond. In a word, PC games are slick -- and so is the gear. It's easy to break the bank in this world, especially for a student on a budget. With gaming laptops starting at $1,000 and towers priced even higher, it's important to get equipment that's durable, high-quality and as affordable as possible. That's why we've compiled the following list of laptops, PCs and accessories that make the most sense for students in 2019. PC gaming is perfect for streaming, marathon play sessions or making new friends (dorm-wide tournaments, anyone?). To accomplish all of these things, you'll need more than just a laptop. On top of processing power and graphics cards, there are mice to consider, headsets to mull over, keyboards to test and streaming boxes to put through their paces. And if you need to justify the cost to anyone (ahem, mom), simply put it this way: You'll be able to use most of these things for homework, too.
Gigabyte's next-gen SSD shows the incredible potential of PCIe 4.0
When AMD launched its third-gen Zen 2-based Ryzen processors, it also introduced the next generation PCIe 4.0 controllers. Now, Gigabyte has launched one of the first PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs that shows the incredible speed potential of the new tech. The AORUS NVMe Gen4 SSD can hit up to 5,000MB/s read speeds and 4,400 MB/s write performance. That's about 56 percent faster read and over double the write speeds of Samsung's 970 EVO, currently one of the fastest NVMe SSDs on the market.
Gigabyte's Aero 15 OLED laptop is made for video editors (updated)
In 2019, OLED laptops are nothing new. ASUS even took this feature to the next level on its dual-screen ZenBook Pro Duo. At Computex, Gigabyte is the latest company to join the trend, with a refreshed Aero 15 featuring a Samsung 4K AMOLED panel, wrapped in a 3mm-thin bezel. Inside, you get up to a Core i9-9980HK octa-core CPU, up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q GPU, DDR4 2,666MHz RAM and a speedy SSD. It's quite the beast. But what Gigabyte has been focusing on is the fact that every Aero 15 OLED has its screen tuned by X-Rite Pantone before leaving the factory, and with its 100-percent DCI-P3 gamut plus DisplayHDR 400 certification, this laptop is clearly designed with video makers in mind. Likewise, this is one of the very few laptops that feature a UHS-II SD card slot. This means you no longer have to whip out a dedicated card reader to reach full speeds -- up to about 300MB/s or at least three times faster than UHS-I cards. For on-the-go video editors and creatives, it's a very tempting feature.
NVIDIA's GTX 1660 lowers the high-performance gaming price barrier
NVIDIA has unveiled its cheapest Turing-based card yet, the $219 GeForce GTX 1660. Much like the $279 GTX 1660 Ti, it offers Turing performance that bests the GTX 1060 by around 15-30 percent. At the same time, it lacks the RT (ray tracing) and Tensor cores on NVIDIA's RTX series cards, making it about a third cheaper than its RT doppleganger, the $349 RTX 2060.
Gigabyte Aero 15 Y9 review: RTX 2080 performance, at a price
With last year's Aero 15X, Gigabyte managed an impressive feat: putting powerful gaming performance and long battery life into a 4.4-pound body. This year, the Taiwanese company is trying to top itself with the Aero 15 Y9, its new flagship laptop. Weighing just a bit more at 4.5 pounds, it's now equipped with top-of-the-line components: an Intel i9-8950HK 6-core CPU and NVIDIA's RTX 2080 Max-Q GPU. The latter component has become rather controversial. NVIDIA revealed that the portable Max-Q version, while packing the same Turing Tu104 chip, is underclocked by up to half that of the desktop RTX 2080 GPU. It comes in an 80-Watt version with a 735-1,095MHz core clock and a faster, more power-hungry 90-Watt variant that runs at 990-1,230MHz. The desktop RTX 2080, meanwhile, runs at 1,515-1,710MHz -- over double that of the lower-powered Max-Q version. So performance and battery life depend on which chip the manufacturer uses and how much it's overclocked, which brings us back to the Aero 15 Y9. It's the first RTX 2080 Max-Q laptop we've tested, so I was interested to see how Gigabyte handled it. The good news is that performance is definitely better. But it's not that great a leap and, unfortunately, it's much costlier. Some of the other defining qualities of the last Aero have been lost, too.
Gigabyte's Aero laptop uses AI to optimize gaming performance
Gigabyte was one of the first PC makers to introduce practical light and thin gaming laptops, but now that every manufacturer is doing the same, it has to find other ways to stand out. With its latest Aero 15-X9 and all-new Aero 15-Y9 models, it has found an interesting angle. They use Microsoft's Azure AI to figure out the optimal CPU and GPU wattage setting depending on whether you're gaming, editing videos or surfing the web -- a sort of intelligent "overclocking."
The best gifts for PC gamers
For many, PCs are the ultimate way to play games, so we've got plenty of picks to help your loved ones get started or improve their setups in our holiday gift guide. If they're starting from scratch, they'll need a gaming machine. Gigabyte's Aero 15X is our choice, a lightweight laptop that packs a punch with its impressive specs. If your giftee is interested in streaming their gameplay (or at least using a good microphone to let their teammates hear them well), the Yeti Nano from Blue is a great all-rounder, while Elgato's Stream Deck Mini is a solid option for giving broadcasters more control over their streams. Our picks also include important accessories such as headphones and headsets, VR rigs, controllers, mice, mechanical keyboards and, of course, some games. Meanwhile, the Fortnite fans in your life will definitely appreciate some V-Bucks, which they can use to buy in-game cosmetic items such as outfits and emotes.
The best laptops to give as gifts
Even at the cheaper end, laptops make for expensive gifts, and with tons of options out there, choosing the right one can be overwhelming. Let us help simplify things for you. If you check out our 2018 holiday gift guide, you'll see we narrowed our shortlist to just half a dozen machines. Dell's latest XPS 13 is a terrific all-rounder if you're looking to buy someone a Windows laptop. AGigabyte's lightweight Aero 15X, meanwhile, is a solid choice for those who want to play games on the go. Our picks also include Microsoft's Surface Go, the ASUS Chromebook Flip and the updated MacBook Air, which is so new it hasn't even begun shipping yet. Whether you're buying for a gamer, a person with basic needs, or someone overdue for a new ultraportable, we think we've found someone for nearly everyone.
The best lightweight gaming laptops
Over the past few months, a slew of lightweight gaming laptops using this tech have hit the market. But which ones are best? Let's take a look.
Gigabyte Aero 15X review: The best lightweight gaming laptop yet
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang flaunted a Gigabyte Aero 15X at CES as to show how Max-Q tech can make laptops both light and powerful. With the updated 2018 Aero 15X, Gigabyte has shown it's not just about the graphics. It features an all-new eighth-generation Intel 6-core CPU and with a new 144Hz display, addresses the last model's biggest shortfall for gamers. At the same time, it retains the clever design, NVIDIA GTX 1070 Max-Q graphics and huge battery, making the Aero 15X the best lightweight gaming laptop you can buy. That said, there are a host of similar laptops coming soon, so Gigabyte might not retain its crown for long.
Gigabyte made the tiniest GeForce GTX 1080 card yet
NVIDIA has been shrinking gaming laptops with its Max-Q graphics initiative, but what about desktop users who want high-end graphics in a discreet, portable case? Gigabyte has come up with the GeForce GTX 1080 Mini ITX 8G, an unwieldy name for the world's smallest GTX 1080 graphics card. At just 16.9 cm (6.7 inches), it's nearly four inches shorter than a regular model, so it can be tucked into a Mini-ITX case (6.7 x 6.7 inches), as the name implies. Yet, it packs the same power as any other GTX 1080 desktop card, letting you do 4K video, gaming and VR with ease.
Here's the world's 'most powerful and lightest' 13-inch gaming laptop
Following the impressive Razer Blade we reviewed last month, Gigabyte also wants a piece of the portable gaming laptop action with its new Aorus X3 line, a sub-14-inch Windows 8.1 device that claims to be the world's "most powerful and lightest" in its class. In terms of weight, it starts from 4.12 pounds (1.87kg), which is more attractive than the new Blade's 4.47 pounds (2.03kg). The smaller X3 has an impressive 13.3-inch QHD (2,560 x 1,440) LCD, whereas the larger 13.9-inch X3 Plus lets you choose between a QHD panel and a sweeter QHD+ (3,200 x 1,800) version.
Gigabyte's dual GPU Aorus gaming laptop is less than an inch thick
To impress us with a gaming laptop these days requires more than just spec-bombing, but Gigabyte's Aorus has grabbed our attention. For starters, the 17.3-inch model is a mere 0.9 inch thick and weighs 6.4 pounds, rather insane numbers considering that it packs a pair of NVIDIA GTX 765M chips in an SLI configuration. In comparison, the 17-inch Razer Blade Pro is almost exactly the same size with a single GPU. To achieve that, Gigabyte made the case out of solid aluminum with a sculpted look only a gamer could love, while packing copious vents and ports to duct away the hot air. The rest of the specs are also top-tier: a 17.3-inch 1080p display, Intel Core i7-4700HQ CPU, up to 32GB of RAM, three USB 3.0 slots, 500GB of mSATA SSD storage max and up to 1TB of 2.5-inch HDD storage. Gigabyte calls it a "powerplant on your lap," and it'll arrive around March for $2,099 - $2,799 depending on options. If you're interested, some heat-proof pants might also be in order.
Here are all of Valve's Steam Machines from CES 2014, in specs
Remember those Steam Machine partners we heard about? Gabe Newell just took the stage at Valve's CES 2014 event and made them official, doling out specs for gaming rigs from Alienware, CyberPower, Gigabyte, iBuyPower, Falcon Northwest, and more. There are thirteen machines in all, varying from $500 to $6000 a piece. Not all of them revealed their full hardware specifications, but skip past the break, and we'll give you a rundown of what we know.
Valve's Steam Machine partners include Alienware, Gigabyte, more
Valve is working with partners to bring Steam Machines into living rooms this year, and our Engadget pals learned of some of those partners at this year's CES trade show in Vegas. Dell subsidiary Alienware and Taiwanese manufacturer Gigabyte are two of the stand-out names among the 12 third-parties in Engadget's list. The dozen comprises Alienware, Alternate, CyberPower PC, Digital Storm Falcon Northwest, Gigabyte, iBuyPower, Materiel.net, Next, Scan Computers, Webhallen, and Zotac, although Engadget notes Valve may unveil other partners at CES, particularly at its press conference later today. Valve revealed the Steam Machines program last year as part of a three-headed march on the living room, along with SteamOS, its customized Linux operating system, and its Steam-optimized controller. Valve's aim is to provide a variety of Steam-centric gaming machines to suit a variety of homes. So far the number of homes is restricted to 300, where the same number of first-party Steam Machines reside as part of beta testing.
Here are Valve's 14 Steam Machines partners (so far)
Valve's Steam Machines initiative is supported by a first-party box that 300 beta users have right now, but 2014 is all about third-party Steam Machines taking that reference box and running with it. Thus far, the only third parties we know of that're making Steam Machines are iBuyPower and Digital Storm -- today, that all changes. Alienware, Falcon Northwest, iBuyPower, CyberPowerPC, Origin PC, Gigabyte, Materiel.net, Webhallen, Alternate, Next, Zotac and Scan Computers are among the first companies signed on to support Valve's initiative, Engadget learned this afternoon. The entire lineup will be on display this week at CES 2014, and we'll have many more details in the coming days. Beyond the dozen companies above, it's totally possible that there are other third parties signed on for Steam Machines -- we'll have to wait and see when Valve unveils everything at its press conference tomorrow afternoon. Update: As seen in the image above, live from Valve's CES 2014 presser, those third-party manufacturers are double confirmed. Maingear is the final addition that makes 14 in total.
Tegra Note 7 gets updated with Android 4.3 and camera enhancements
A few things were missing from NVIDIA's Tegra Note 7 when it launched a month and a half ago, but the company promised that users would get a timely update that filled in some of the holes. That refresh, which includes Android 4.3 and a handful of other enhancements, is coming out to the $200 Tegra 4-powered tablet today. One of the biggest features that should've been offered from the very beginning is Always-on HDR (AOHDR), which does exactly what the feature's name implies -- making sure users can snap a real-time HDR shot without waiting several seconds for the camera to process it. There are a few other nice touches in the changelog, such as left-handed stylus support, improvements in the DirectStylus' response, notifications and the ability to transfer files to microSD from internal memory. Granted, this isn't the latest version of Android (4.4), but NVIDIA is planning on bringing it to the Note 7 eventually. In the meantime, at least users can enjoy the current update as it begins rolling out today around the world, regardless of which market you live in.
