Hands-on with the world’s lightest gaming laptop

Gigabyte's Aorus unveils the X3 at Computex 2014

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Gigabyte’s gaming brand Aorus has taken the wraps off the world’s lightest 13.3in gaming notebook, the Aorus X3, at this year’s Computex in Taiwan. The stunning notebook introduces top-end specs in a form-factor ideal for mobile computing, and will be making its way to Australian shops shortly.

There’s a lot to like about the Aorus X3, starting with its look and feel. The notebook weighs a paltry 1.87kg, earning the title of the world’s lightest gaming notebook. It’s also slim, with a thickness of only 25mm.

Technically, two X3 variants are offered by Aorus. The first is the 13.3in X3, which comes with a 2560x1440 display, while a 13.9in X3 Plus comes with a 2560x1440 or a 3200x1800 resolution screen. Both X3 units use a Sharp IGZO panel, which is renowned for its ability to deliver punchy colours without draining battery.

Inside the notebook are impressive specs. The processor is a 4th generation Intel Core i7 running at 2.5-3.5GHz; two slots can accommodate 16GB of DDR3 RAM; there’s a powerful NVIDIA GeForce GTX870M graphics adapter with 6GB of graphics memory, and a pair of 512GB solid state drives working together in a RAID 0 configuration for 1TB of storage. All of this inside a perfectly portable 13in notebook that can be used daily.

Hardware this powerful demands some serious cooling technology, particularly when it's integrated into a confined form-factor. Aorus has fitted the X3 with dual vents, dual thermal pipes and dual fans for this reason.

Read more: Gigabyte P34G gaming laptop

The X3 is also well equipped for connectivity, with features including dual-band wireless 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.0, and a Killer Gigabit Ethernet chip that optimises network connection quality.

During our hands-on session at Computex, company representative, Hanif Wang, told Good Gear Guide that the Aorus X3 will be coming to Australia in Q3 of 2014.

Aorus X3 Australian pricing

• X3-870-4701S: 13.3in, Core i7-4860HQ, 16GB, 6GB GTX870, 2x 256GB SSD, W8.1 — $2599
• X3-870-4702S: 13.3in, Core i7-4860HQ, 16GB, 6GB GTX870, 2x 128GB SSD, W8.1 — $2399
• X3-870-4701P: 13.3in, Core i7-4860HQ, 8GB, 6GB GTX870, 256GB SSD, W8.1 Pro — $2299