The Gigabyte Aero 15X
I recently purchased the Gigabyte Aero 15X v8 (click to view on Amazon).
I have been using a Macbook for the past five years when traveling, but as a gamer, a MacBook will let you down if you try to run any of the latest video games.
I started looking at Windows laptops for the first time in my life, and I fell for the Aero.
With an impressive CPU (although hot, literally) and a 1070 Max Q design graphic card from Nvidia, it’s hard not to be curious about the performance.
On top of that, it comes with a whopping 94Wh battery and a 1080p screen with a 144Hz refresh rate.
In my battery test I have been able to get about six hours of regular internet usage from it.
When it comes to gaming, it can last 1-2 hours depending on the game and the processing power required. Not bad for a gaming laptop.
If you’ve already solved every issue and your only problem is high CPU and GPU temperatures, go to the bottom of the article.
TLDR: Reinstall Windows from USB drive, download drivers from Gigabyte, underclock CPU, upgrade touchpad, get a laptop cooling pad, HAVIT 5 Fans (click to view on Amazon) is currently the best one.
So what’s the problem with the Aero 15X?
I’ll start by saying that the Aero 15X problems are fixable because it’s about software and not hardware, at least in my case, and if you buy this laptop you can fix the issues too.
It did take a few hours of work, and it wasn’t like when I bought my MacBook which worked great right out of the box.
Some basic knowledge about computers is recommended before you attempt the steps below, but if you’re buying this kind of laptop, it’s probably not your first one.
I will also try to help you as good as I can, and if you run into any issues you can send me an email through the contact form or leave a comment down below.
See Also: How To Keep Your Aero And Electronics Charged When Traveling
So the problem is the way this laptop is set up when it comes out of the box.
When I started it up, it acted like a new windows installation and it let me set it up with my Microsoft account and settings.
But there are bloatware and old nasty drivers that could make one believe that the hardware has issues.
A touchpad that froze every other minute and a slow restart to name a few.
An unpleasant experience to say the least, for a computer that just cost me over two grand.
I thought that it was just old drivers causing issues so I did what everyone else would’ve, I updated the drivers.
Unfortunately, it didn’t fix all the problems. I will let you know what I have done to my computer to get it running the way it should’ve from day one.
Reinstall Windows completely, don’t just do it through Windows 10.
There’s a feature in Windows 10 that lets you remove all the files and programs.
It’s accessible through the “Update & Security” in Windows Settings. I thought this would create a clean install of Windows 10, but it didn’t.
I still had issues and I still don’t understand why because it’s supposed to do a clean install this way.
I had to do a real clean install. If you have access to a .iso file of Windows, you can use a program called Rufus USB. If you don’t, Windows can help you as long as you have a valid Windows 10 license.
I used Rufus USB to create a bootable USB drive, you must set the partition scheme to GPT.
I tried MBR but the USB drive wouldn’t show up as a bootable drive on the Aero 15x.
Part of doing a clean install is deleting everything on your hard drive and installing a fresh copy of Windows on it.
This way, no bloatware (except Windows new crap) will be installed on your computer.
If you’re doing a clean install through the Windows app linked above, Windows will help you go through the steps of doing a clean install.
If you want to use Rufus, Groovypost has a quick tutorial on how to set it up (remember GPT instead of MBR) if you have the Aero 15x.
Then all you have to do is boot holding F8 on your keyboard with the USB drive plugged in and choose the USB drive.
Then you will have the option to go in and delete your hard drive completely and then you can install Windows on it.
This is the only way that ended up solving all the issues for me.
Go to Gigabyte’s website to download drivers
Gigabyte has a bunch of programs that let you manage everything.
Fans, RGB, temperatures, updates, charging settings and even built-in brightness and volume controls. All of these drivers and programs can be found here for the Aero 15X v8 version.
What I recommend you download from here are
- Nvidia GeForce Driver – Drivers for your graphics card
- Smart Manager v4 – A program that lets you control and monitor hardware
- Gigabyte Fusion – Lets you control the keyboard RGB
- Smart Update – I don’t use this but it’s good to see what Gigabyte thinks are the latest drivers for your hardware, I will tell you a better way to keep them updated below.
- Thunderbolt drivers
- Card Reader drivers
- Keyboard Firmware under Utility (IMPORTANT!!) The keyboard on Aero 15x have had issues where on occasion letters double type even though you only pushed the letter once. Since downloading this driver, I haven’t had any problems with that.
The reason I don’t recommend downloading the rest of the drivers here is that Intel has a better way of keeping the rest up to date.
They call it the Intel Driver & Support Assistant and can be found here.
What this does it that it scans your computer for your hardware and then tells you what drivers need to be updated.
I can download drivers here that haven’t been recognized by Gigabyte, so they haven’t been added to Smart Update or their Downloads page.
By running this program in the background I can easily see when there’s an update. I recommend using this to update your drivers.
UPDATE
I ran into an issue where the GTX 1070 would not run on battery power.
I solved it by installing Nvidia Graphics Driver 399.24. Now I can game on battery power with high fps.
Remember that when you install the 399.24 driver, do an “advanced” install and make sure the “Clean install” box is ticked before you proceed.
“Upgrade” the touchpad
The Aero 15x comes with ELAN drivers that repeatedly have been critiqued and rightfully so, they’re not very innovative, and they’re missing basic gestures.
Coming from a MacBook it’s especially frustrating to use these drivers, and it makes you realize how Apple has nailed trackpads.
What I recommend doing to fix this is to update to Windows 10 precision drivers, it’s easy to do if you follow a video Dave Lee made on this topic.
So three easy steps, from a disappointment to a very powerful laptop. It takes a bit of time to get each step done, but I promise it’s worth it.
Again, if you have any questions about any of the steps, let me know either through a comment or an email.
GAMERS! Listen up.
We all know that if you’re going to be playing games on this laptop it’s going to run hot, there’s no way around it right?
Well, actually I have solved this issue too.
Let me walk you through what I’ve done to make the temperatures less scary.
Undervolt CPU
First, I’d like to tell you what GPU and CPU temperatures I saw before I did anything about it.
I started playing Rocket League and after 10 minutes my CPU would be at 90°C.
My GPU would be at almost 80°C.
I know this because I was monitoring the CPU temperature through a program called Core Temp, and the GPU temperature through TechPowerUp GPU-Z, both are free to download.
The CPU being at 90°C is fine, but not sustainable because it might shorten the life of it. The same with the GPU.
The first thing I did was download a program called Intel Extreme Tuning Utility.
What this will let you do is undervolt the CPU which will limit the power it can use which leads to cooler temperatures.
The great thing about doing this on this laptop is that it doesn’t lower your performance, but the opposite.
When the CPU runs cooler, it won’t throttle and you won’t see dips in performance because of heat.
I am not an expert on CPUs, so please know that you’ll do this on your own risk. All I do in Intel’s UTX is change the “Core Voltage Offset”.
Mine is set to -0.150 V.
The CPU in your laptop might be able to take a higher or lower value, so you’ll have to try to set it and then stress test it a bit to make sure you don’t get a blue screen.
In case you do, Intel’s UTX will automatically reset your voltage not to damage anything.
This on its own reduced my CPU temperature by almost 10°C which is incredible since it doesn’t lower the performance.
Cooling Pad
The second thing I did is more of a general smart thing to do when you have a laptop, buying a cooling pad.
I found a video on YouTube that goes through a bunch of different ones from Amazon.
But I can save you 13 minutes of your life by telling you that the HAVIT 5 Fans Laptop Cooling Pad gets the most praise and it’s the one I bought. So far it has been great and exceeded my expectations. It brought down the temperature of the CPU under load by an additional 10-15°C.
Conclusion
So by undervolting the CPU and adding a cooling pad, my CPU is running around 15-20°C cooler.
No more throttling and hopefully a CPU that will last longer. I haven’t seen the GPU go over 70°C so I am not worried about that one.
The Gigabyte Aero 15X v8 (click to view on Amazon) has been the machine I hoped it would be when I bought it and I hope that it will last me years to come.
If any other issues show up, I will create another post about it. If there is anything that is unclear, don’t be afraid to send me an email or leave a comment.
I just wanted to thank you for creating this article. I followed your steps to a T and my laptop is leagues beyond better than it was. Earlier today I was at 2 hrs for battery life. After reinstalling windows and drivers like you instructed my battery life jumped to 10 hrs. Thank you!
Glad I could help, Jon. Thanks for leaving a comment!
Hey mate nice write up. On the forums there are a lot of posts where people do fresh installs and run into BSODs and driver mismatch.. Did you have any issues later on after you did this write up?
I’ve seen that too and was worried about it but I haven’t had a single bsod or driver mismatch since I reinstalled everything, about five months ago now. I don’t know if I’m just lucky but I bet installing most drivers through Intel’s program has helped make it stable. I also make sure to do a clean install of every new Nvidia driver.
The only issue I have now is some mouse stutter a minute or two after waking from sleep, but it goes away in a couple of seconds, not sure why, but could be related to optimus.
Hey man, thanks doe the guide. I have two last question. You are mentioning completely whipping the drive. I imagine that there is a recovery partition. Shall I delete the too. Like delete every partition so that there is only one and let Windows repartition?
Second one: can I reinstall windows directly without first going through the stock windows setup? I am asking this in regard of that I don’t know if windows still needs to register the hardware.
Thanks in advance brother!
Hey Mitch,
I deleted every single partition, even the recovery partition. When I reinstalled Windows, it created a new one for my new installation.
Since I am not 100 percent sure how the digital license works, I would recommend going through the initial Windows setup before deleting the partition. Also make sure you install the same Windows edition it came with for the digital license to activate.
Thanks for your comment
Thanks Jesse for your comment =)
and what do you think about repasting? I have some leftover Kryonaut at home.
Did you tried it?
I haven’t repasted yet but I have considered it. It would definitely help if you’re having issues with CPU temperatures. For now I just keep the CPU undervolted and put the fan underneath when I am gaming.
For some reason, I get the “The standard NVIDIA graphics driver is not compatible” when I try to download the Graphics Driver in your April update. I downloaded the GeForce Experience and have it updated. Would that be enough, or how can I fix this? Thank you in advance!
Hello Ken,
That is my fault, I linked to the desktop driver instead of the notebook driver. Sorry about that. I have updated the link with the correct driver that I have installed, it can also be found here: https://www.nvidia.com/download/driverResults.aspx/137729/en-us.
If you’re not having any issues with low framerates while on battery power you should leave it as is, but if you do, the driver above should fix it.
Thanks for letting me know so I could correct my error.
I have had one of these since last August and I hope I only got an absolute lemon because the issues I was having were insane. I had one where literally every time the computer was activated (turned on from being off, turned on from sleep mode, screen closed then opened, everything) the whole keyboard would stop working, only a few keys registered inputs but they would output the wrong value. I had to run the keyboard firmware updater every time to fix it. It also started crashing, not even to blue screen of death, just a complete freeze with blotches of purple and static on the sceen. It did this during a keyboard update and then every key on the keyboard moved one or ttwo across to the left and even with a clean install of windows I couldn’t fix it. Had to send it off for a warranty repair.
I’m wondering if anyone else has had any issues like this that you’ve heard about.
Hello Will,
I have read about a lot of issues with the Aero, but your case might be the most severe I’ve heard. That sounds like a huge pain to deal with and unacceptable. Definitely sounds more hardware related than software to me.
Are you still waiting to get it back?
hi, i have a problem with Aero 15X. When i play game with power adapter connected, the game is very lag, due to the brightness dimmed itself every 30 second (adaptive brightness has turn off, and power setting to max performance) . But no issue when i remove the power adapter and play with battery alone. anybody encounter the same issue?
Hello
I just bought new areo 15×9 , actually I have issue with the keyboard led light , the led turned off by itself once I click any icon on the desktop, so then I have to back to Gigabyte control center to turn the lights on again
If you know how solve this issue please feed me back
Thank you for your help
Hey Jad,
I don’t have a solution to the issue, but instead of having to go through the control center you can hold the Function (Fn) key while clicking space to turn on the lights again. That’s how I do it on my v8 at least.
Jesse
Hey Jesse,
I’m getting my Aero 15 today and am curious about the fresh install of windows. I was concerned about the Azure AI being taken off the system, as I have seen reports that say it boosts performance by 5-10% (if you aren’t super tech savvy about changing fan profiles and whatnot). I’m guessing the fresh install gets rid of the AI, so should I just go through with the fresh install and try to configure the laptop with my near-to-no knowledge of changing fan profiles and the like, or should I do something else? Can I maybe download the AI again after a fresh install?
Thanks,
Alex
Hello Alex,
If you choose to reinstall, you can download the AI tool from Gigabyte’s website. Choose your specific model here. Then go to Drivers, Utility, and download the AI tool.
I would suggest using the laptop for a while and see how it runs before you do a reinstall. Yours might work great out of the box.
Hey great write up just wanted to know that if wiping the OS will need to have a new copy of windows 10 licence and or can I still use the copy that was pre-installed on the laptop and also does this fix void the original warranty in any way?
Thanks
Rum
Hello Rum,
You won’t need a new license since it’s a hardware license. Mine was recognized and activated as soon as I reinstalled Windows, you just have to use the same Windows version.
Reinstalling Windows won’t void the warranty, but under/overclocking your CPU might void the warranty.
Jesse
Hello ,
I bought the gigabyte aero 15 x9 rtx 2070 around 3 days ago , I worked on 3d modeling and rendering but I think it has some issues, like the control center doesn’t open when i choose the fusion, also it is not full charged when it plugged in just 95%I don’t know it will be solved or makes problem after a period ?! Do you think it is better to refund it ?
Regards,
Fatemeh
Hello Fatemeh,
I think you should contact Gigabyte about these two issues before you return it. Both of them sound like software issues though which could be fixed with a reinstall.
Jesse
Hi,
I’ve had my Aero for just under a year now. About 5 months ago, my boot up drive stopped being recognised by the BIOs, it was intermittently dropping out. I tested the SSD in an external enclosure and it seemed to have failed. I swapped the drive out with a new one and it’s worked perfectly since.
But just recently its gotten stuck in a BIOs loop and noticed the new drive wasn’t being recognised by the boot up, same issue as before. Have you come across this issue before? When researching about it, it seems to be a common issue. Do you know what’s causing it or how to stop it? I’d rather not have to purchase a new SSD every 6 months, doesn’t seem like user fault
Toby
Hello Toby, that sounds like a pain in the butt.
I have heard about that issue with some Samsung SSDs and its software.
The problem is probably in the power circuitry though, like a loose connector or a bad part, which might be sending the wrong voltage to the SSD and killing it.
I assume that you’re still under warranty, so I recommend contacting Gigabyte and have them take a look at it. I wouldn’t put a new SSD in it since it will probably happen again.
Hi,
I have had my Aero 15x V9 rtx 2070, and I had the issue that the battery runs out after 3 and half hours, just by web surfing. I decided that I will try to reinstall Windows but I wonder which drivers should I install from Gigabytes website? I know you posted a couple, but in my version I have the killer drivers for bluetooth, LAN and WLAN, and a software called Nahimic.
Hello Luis,
The battery issue might’ve been due to crappy Nvidia drivers that activate the GPU even when browsing the web. I recommend following this post by Acer, so you easily can determine whether 2070 is active or not. You can also choose in the Nvidia settings which applications should have access to the GPU and not.
So you have Bluetooth, LAN, WLAN, and Audio installed. I would install the chipset, card reader, Thunderbolt, Intel graphics, and the control center drivers. Then download the latest Nvidia drivers from Nvidia’s website.
Thank you very much, that helped me a lot.
Hello,
I bought
GIGABYTE AERO 15-X9-7DE4410P last month, I updated all drivers but I had some problems with that like the battery life ,the control center didnt work.
one day I tried to turn on the laptop but I could not , like it was dead.so I returned that.
I love this laptop for all specs and power that I need for rendering .Now I have questions, do you think does it worth to buy it again?did you hear before about this?
thanks,
Fatemeh
Hello Fatemeh,
That sucks, but I would definitely not hesitate to buy another one since you know it’s the one you want. Hardware issues can show up no matter what laptop you buy, and the software issues can be fixed.
Let me know if you have software issues in the future and I’ll try to help out.
Jesse
Does anyone has experienced the charger disconnecting suddenly while plugged in? Thought it was a software problem so I did a fresh Windows install but didn’t solve it. Also the charger stays at 19.4 Volts (measured with multimeter).
Hey Jesse,
I had problem from a week ago my laptop is Gigabyte Aero 15X-9 RTX-2070max-q version, i had a battery and hot issue, i just used it like normally but it just happend unknowingly. It becomes hotter and the battery draining so fast, usually it takes 8-10 hours screen on time, but after this issue happen it just need 2 hours to shutdown because the battery was 5%. So i decidec to reset windows 10 (Before saw this post) and changing the thermal paste. But it’s still get the same issue. The hot isn’t normal, i just turn on the laptop and on the right top, right besides the power button it getting hotter before opening anything.
Today i want to test to re-installing the windows the way you said, hoppefully it really changed the issue. Do you think it can cause by the control center and others thing update? because it happen after i update a few things in control center including BIOS.
Thanks, Hafizh
Hello Hafizh,
It sounds like a software issue, so reinstalling Windows might fix it. But before you do that, I suggest taking a look at the task manager to see if it’s a specific process that’s causing the computer to work so hard. It could also be a good idea to test a different BIOS version.
The battery issue could be due to the GPU staying active even though you’re not running any graphic intense programs. You should check whether it’s active without anything running.
Hi Jesse,
great post here, thanks 🙂
Last week I ordered a 2020 Razer Blade 15 and the Aero 15 XB (10750/2070 super Max-Q) as I couldn’t decide which to take.
I benchmarked both and decided to keep the Aero (due to the benchmarks).
First I factory reset the Razer to return it and it worked fine. Later I thought also to reset the Aero to make a fresh install for me.
MAD… Windows didn’t boot and I was frozen in a BIOS loop. Ok – googled and found out that the NVME drive couldn’t be recognized by the BIOS until Windows is installed. Hm… so I arranged a Windows recovery USB-Stick and it worked.
Windows was freshly installed (changed some partitions and formated them) without any problems.
Ok… so far so good 🙂
After setting up Windows I started to download the Gigabyte as well as Intel Control Centers.
Also I updated all drivers via the Gigabyte Control Center except the Nvidia which I installed directly via my Nvidia account.
Hehe… this is my story. Coming to the point now 🙂 …
Immediately after fresh install, I noticed that the Aero freezed while using the trackpad. I had to restart it again and again after some minutes. So I linked my MX3 mouse and cutted of the trackpad. It works without troubles now – but without trackpad (mad for a laptop isn’t it?). Will try with another driver today.
I’ll also go with your hint for Intel Driver & Support
BUT… the main part I’m actually struggling with… the fans and their noise. Even with full load, my old Asus G53 doesn’t make that sound as the Aero while just working on the installation.
So I think about to set the fan speed down.
The previous settings are quite annoying as 5% more fan speed each 3°C… its fluctuating up and down the whole time.
I’m thinking of 10% more fan speed each 10°C… leaving 100% if it goes beyond 90% so I’m aware something is going wrong.
Do you have a recommended setting of fan controls?
GPU and battery I’ll check within the next weeks.
Chris
I admire your patience, Chris. I’m glad you got it to boot!
For the trackpad, I recommend trying windows precision drivers.
When it comes to fan settings, I usually leave it on quiet until I am going to game and turn on the gaming setting. It would probably be smarter to do what you are saying, but I would make sure it’s at least at 50% at 65C, 70% at 75C, and 90% at 80C. Other than that, it depends on your machine and you’re going to have to experiment with the lower settings to find out what levels dont bother you. Also, what has helped me the most with high temps is undervolting the CPU.
Hope you’ll enjoy the Aero!
My aero 15 turns off whenever I put it to sleep, do you know what the cause of this problem could be.
I’ve already checked power options, yes it’s set for sleep after 2 minutes not shut down.
I’ve also gone into device manager and intel management interface, still messed up.
Hey,
Have you updated all the drivers with the Intel Driver & Support Assistant? I would also try “powercfg –restoredefaultschemes” in the command prompt which will reset your power plans, there might be some Gigabyte drivers messing it up.
Jesse
Hi Jesse,
As you have suggested in a previous post I also use to use the Intel Extreme Tuning Utility to undervolt the CPU but the latest Windows 10 update had killed it. Any suggestions for an alternative.
Don
Hey Don,
Throttlestop is a popular alternative, here is a short guide about undervolting CPUs with it.
Jesse
Hi Jesse,
My keyboard driver keeps getting disconnected on my Aero X-9. When it does, it’s always under the hidden devices section in the device manager. I’ve tried doing anything and everything except for physically dismantling the keyboard. I’ve also done all kinds of resets and even a firmware update but it still reoccurs. I have no idea why this is so.
i have the exact same problem :,( did you find a fix ????
Hey Jesse,
I have the Gigabyte Aero 15x 2070 with Max Q design Core I9 and i was just wondering since you did it on the 8 if the same clean istall will work for me?
Thanks.
Yeah, I would do the same on the newer Aero, but you’ll have to get the drivers for your specific model here.
Hi Jesse,
Thanks for this great guide for new owners of the Aero 15x. I have a query from the perspective of an old user.
As the owner of a 2018 Aero 15x, I started experiencing random BSODs (video_scheduler_internal_error(119)) when gaming in June 2021. I tried to remove and install all NVIDIA drivers, tried undervolting, cleaned up the internals, and even repasted the CPU and GPU with Grizzly Kryonaut to no avail. Finally decided to reinstall windows and my machine keeps restarting randomly (not the regular scheduled restarts; like when i’m trying to connect to wifi at the beginning) during W10 installation , interrupting the process and giving an error.
I suspect I did a bad repasting job and was thinking of redoing it and also putting in new thermal pads (Arctic 1.5mm) for the VRM, instead of using the Kryonaut.
Any suggestions before I go down this route?
I built my first PC out of frustration in the meantime, but still want my Aero to return to a functioning state, if possible.
Cheers,
Affan
Hi affan me too,
I am experiancing random BSODs.
So, i tried resetting my pc with the gigabyte backup which compleatlty deleted everything and perevented me from installing any copy of operating system.
Now i installed a cleen version of windows using another laptop and installed the ssd back again and still goimg through with random BSODs cannot even use the laptop
If you find qny solution please let me know.. this is killing me
hello affan,
just an update.
i have checked the RAM for issues and found out that it is not working anymore.
please try this before doing anything to your device.
I just received my new RAM today and the device is working as good as it can with a new windows installation.