Early Verdict
A great gaming notebook with superb portability, the P35X v3 Pro begins to look like an even better value as we consider some of its lower-priced 1920x1080 panel options.
Pros
- +
Supremely thin, light, and powerful by notebook gaming standards, every version of the P35X v3 contains the same powerful CPU and graphics solution as today’s top-model test unit.
Cons
- -
The test unit’s pricey 2880x1620 display seems a little gimmicky for the 15.6” market, with less brightness and contrast than might be expected at this price level. Also, the triple external display output can’t be used in Surround mode, as offered by certain competitors.
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Gigabyte P35X v3 Gaming Notebook Review
Portability means different things to different people, and gamers probably have lower expectations than tablet users when it comes to a device's dimensions. It wasn’t so long ago that the word “slim” applied to any notebook under an inch thick, and it seems almost incredible that today’s manufacturers are able to fit a top-end gaming GPU into that old spec. When Gigabyte came to us offering the latest high-end notebook GPU in a 7/8” chassis, my first question was, “Great, but where did you put the battery?" But the company did so much more than add a battery to a high-end graphics processor!
Underneath its lighted keyboard (the lights are disabled by default) lies the heart of a true portable gaming machine, complete with 16GB of RAM in dual-channel mode, a Haswell-based CPU running at up to 3.5GHz with Turbo Boost, the aforementioned GeForce GTX 980M GPU and even…get this…a 1TB secondary storage drive and DVD writer. All of those parts are squeezed into the bottom ¾” of this machine.
Above that, we find Gigabyte’s optional 2880x1620 WQHD display, which brings us to a brief discussion of part numbers. Different versions of the P35X v3 come with either a 1920x1080 or WQHD display, along with various drive and memory configurations ranging in price from around $1800 to $2400. We got one of the top units.
| Gigabyte P35XV3-CF3 Component List | |
|---|---|
| Platform | Gigabyte P35V3: Intel FCBGA1364, HM87 Express, BGA Discrete Graphics |
| CPU | Intel Haswell-Based Core i7-4710HQ (2.5-3.5GHz, 47W Max TDP) |
| RAM | 2x Transcend TS1GSK64W6H (2x 8GB) DDR3-1600 SO-DIMM, CL11 |
| Graphics | Nvidia GeForce GTX 980M: 1038MHz, 8GB GDDR5-5012 |
| Display | 15.6" WQHD Glossy LCD, 2880x1620 |
| Webcam | Generic HD Webcam |
| Audio | Realtek ALC282 with Dolby Digital Plus software |
| Security | Kensington Security Slot |
| Storage | |
| Hard Drive | System: 2x Lite-On LMT-128L9M mSATA 6Gb/s SSD (Striped, 256GB) Storage: HGST HTS721010A9E630 1TB/7200RPM/2.5" HDD, 32MB Cache |
| Optical Drive | Panasonic UJ8E2 DVD±R 8x DVD±R DL 6x DVD-RAM 5x Reader/Writer |
| Media Drive | RTS5227 SD media card interface |
| Networking | |
| Wireless LAN | Intel Dual Band (2x2) Wireless-AC 7260 802.11a/b/g/n/ac 867Mb/s Wi-Fi / Bluetooth Combo |
| Wireless PAN | Integrated Bluetooth 4.0 Transceiver on Wireless Combo Card |
| Gigabit Network | RTL8111E 10/100/1000Mb/s Ethernet |
| IEEE-1394 | None |
| Telephony | None |
| Peripheral Interfaces | |
| USB | 2x USB 2.0, 2x USB 3.0 |
| Expansion Card | Not Available |
| HDD | (USB only) |
| Audio | Headphone, Microphone |
| Video | Mini DisplayPort, HDMI, VGA |
| Power & Weight | |
| AC Adapter | Delta ADP-180MB 180W Power Brick, 100-240V AC to 19.5V DC |
| Battery | 11.1V 6830mAh (75.81Wh) Internal |
| Weight | Notebook 5.5 lbs, AC Adapter 1.7 lbs, Total 7.2 pounds |
| Software | |
| Operating System | Microsoft Windows 8.1, OEM |
| Service | |
| Warranty | Two years labor, two years parts |
| Price | $2400 |
Newegg calls this the P35XV3-CF4, while XoticPC calls it the P35XV3-CF3. The box says this is a 9WP35XV33-UE-A-003 (CF3), though XoticPC clarifies that it should sport a matte (rather than gloss) version of the display. Since both parts have the same internal specs and price, we’ll leave it to you to read the specifications sheet of your seller.
Getting back to the portability scale, Gigabyte’s P35X v3 is lighter and thinner than even Lenovo’s Y50-70. The AC adapter is a little heavier, but that’s what it takes to run monster graphics. Questions about whether a system this thin can use all that power (without overheating) will certainly be answered by our benchmarks. But let’s first take a look inside to see how Gigabyte makes all of its high-end hardware fit into such a tiny chassis!
