Before I get into it, I will state that all the tests results in the graphs were taken with the default fan profile, which was set to gaming mode by default. With that out of the way, I will commend Gigabyte for doing an exceptional job with the AORUS 15G XB as CPU performance was solid, and the same goes for gaming. In part because of their cooling design, the unit was operating way beyond its specified base clock while technically throttling. Intel lists the Core i7-10875H as having a 2.3 GHz base clock and a 5.10 GHz boost clock. During most workloads with the default fan profile, the system stayed roughly between 3.5 GHz and 4.15 GHz.

To stress test the system, we placed it under unrealistically high loads (AIDA64 + Unigine Valley). For starters, I tested using gaming fan mode, which gets fairly loud at 53 dBA from a typical sitting distance. At those settings, the CPU averaged around 90°C in the torture test, while the GPU sat at 75°C. Upping the fans to 100% dropped temperatures to 80°C and 70°C on average respectively, but noise levels shot up to 58 dBA. If you are using headphones and just don't care about it, you can keep temperatures well below that while also getting the maximum performance of the system. During lighter workloads, the built-in software will let you swap to a more balanced or noise-optimized fan profile. These profiles dropped noise levels to 50 dBA and 45 dBA in the same stress test. That said, you can also configure a custom profile; however, the software could be better designed to make it a bit easier, as moving 10–15 dots on an RPM graph is a bit tedious. Still, Gigabyte covered all bases here, and did so in an accessible way for a great deal of customization in dialing in the performance you want at noise levels you find acceptable.

In regards to clock speeds, the CPU maintained an average clock speed of 3.7 GHz with all cores loaded while using the gaming fan profile. Pushing the cooling fans to the maximum resulted in CPU clock speed averaging out at 3.9 GHz. It should be noted that with the CPU so heavily stressed, GPU performance did suffer a bit. It averaged around 1200 MHz on the core, but with a more realistic CPU load, it happily boosted up to nearly 1400–1500 MHz according to GPU-Z and only stopped there due to power limits. Regardless, these results are exceptional, and unlike the XPG Xenia 15, the keyboard and surrounding area stayed nice and cool, so no sweaty hands. Using the normal or quiet profiles will have CPU performance tank in extreme work loads, but does offer a much more enjoyable user experience. Under typical daily workloads, the quiet or normal modes are fine. When gaming, I would definitely suggest using gaming mode or a custom profile to get the most out of the system during longer sessions.

As for gaming performance on battery power, I was surprised. Running games at 1080p, I was able to get a consistent 30 FPS in most games, including Battlefield V, Civilization VI, and GTA V. The Witcher 3 ran at 25 FPS. Dropping settings had that title running at 30 FPS as well. This is something the XPG Xenia 15 wasn't capable of without drastically dropping the resolution and settings. While still not an amazing experience, it's a huge step up and means more casual titles will run just fine. I feel there is still a great deal more room for improvement here, but at least it is possible to game, and while battery life won't be great, the AORUS 15G XB should be able to last a bit over an hour when running these titles, and with CPU usage and clock speed optimizations via various power-plan settings, pushing it further should be possible. While some will say these results are meaningless, keep in mind that more often than not, the GPU is now leveraged in more and more applications to accelerate various tasks; thus, if GPU performance on battery power is better than expected, you can also expect it to perform better in those particular applications.

In regards to actual specifications, the unit feels well balanced. The 16 GB (2x 8 GB) of memory is a nice middle ground. While the 512 GB SSD may feel a bit small, the system can easily be upgraded with a second M.2 SSD for more storage should you need it. Better yet, opening the unit up is very easy, making any upgrades a simple process, which is fantastic. As for the overall build quality, it feels quite good. The display has some flex, but the hinges feel solid, and the aluminium chassis is rigid enough to avoid any serious flex. Meanwhile, the mechanical keyboard actually feels nice to type on, and the trackpad is responsive as well—while it may not be the best I have used, it is far from the worst. The per-key ARGB lighting on the keyboard is not overly distracting and works well. As for other ARGB components, only the rear logo is illuminated. This is rather nice to see as gamer-centric ARGB lighting on everything gets old and feels misplaced on expensive laptops. The fact that Gigabyte reigned that in and didn't go overboard is a nice touch. Essentially, this is a unit that feels like it can legitimately be used for work and play.

As for the display, Gigabyte went with an ultra-high refresh rate 1920x1080 display. The panel itself is an IGZO offering that has a maximum refresh rate of 240 Hz and is X-Rite Pantone certified and factory-calibrated. Based on my testing and editing of photos, the default settings were nearly spot on compared to my Dell UltraSharp desktop display I use daily for review photo editing. Simply put, it's a damn good display. While it's not entirely perfect, it is one of the better-calibrated displays I have seen in a gaming laptop, which can be all over the place in regards to color reproduction. So while it won't replace the high-end display you use daily for content creation, it will at least get the job done. After all, a display is more than just about the resolution and refresh rate, something marketing tends to forget, judging by the black Friday sales this year. It could be the fastest 1080p panel made, but if it has a lot of color banding and is way out of whack calibration-wise, it is not going to be an enjoyable experience. As such, Gigabyte gets a thumbs up from me for delivering a unit with a fairly well-calibrated display out of the box.

Generally speaking, my only major gripe with the unit boils down to its lackluster speakers, other than the less-than-stellar gaming performance on its battery, which is typical for laptops anyways. The sound is somewhat muffled, and the tonal range seems a bit limited. While serviceable, this is another unit where a pair of nice headphones will be a massive upgrade, but that too is to be expected. It is due to the limited space in a laptop to begin with, and the size of laptop speakers and how they are set up will never have the sound quality compare to a nice set of headphones or proper speakers. There is also the webcam—it is a 720p option with terrible image quality compared to dedicated units. At the end of the day, it feels tacked on in order to check off a box on the feature list. It does at least include a sliding cover as a privacy measure, which is a nice touch.

That said, when looking at other laptops that are similarly equipped, it becomes clear Gigabyte's option is not the most affordable or best value. However, with its specifications, exceptional display, lack of excessive thermal throttling, and fantastic performance, it becomes easy to recommend if you can afford it.