Gaming laptops have been in the market for quite some time and normally, price points would start above PHP 75,000 before the actual competitive prices come in versus desktop builds. With the entry of the GIGABYTE G5 gaming laptops in the market, they’ve started to contest this. Let’s find out why this is worth buying!
Design and Construction
To start off, the GIGABYTE G5 is a very plain laptop aesthetically with no RGB strips on the case to keep the appearance minimal without being ostentatious. Looking at the lid itself, we see a bit of a gamer design, but no flashy lights or unnecessary design.
The only gamer flair can be seen on the keyboard with RGB backlight. One thing to note here is that the keyboard isn’t set up in a “per-key” RGB format but as one whole zone giving the fifteen different colors to choose from but users are unable to utilize all fifteen at the same time.
The latest iteration of the GIGABYTE G5 has a high screen-to-body ratio and a thinner and lighter chassis overall.
Personally, we feel that GIGABYTE has taken efforts in keeping everything simple. With all the body panels being plastic with a matte texture, the lid and keyboard are pretty smooth, while at the bottom of the laptop, the rougher texture appears.
It can tend to become quite greasy and easily attracts fingerprints but overall gives that sturdy feel for the confidence boost on the GIGABYTE’s G5 build quality. Being in the “budget gaming” price point, there isn’t really much to complain about when it comes to the overall build.
Something I’m sure we can all appreciate is the way that the connectors are positioned at the rear of the laptop like the USB 3.2 Gen 2, HDMI 2.1, mini DisplayPort 1.4, and DC in ports. Having a cleaner setup when it comes to cable management won’t be a problem.
Additionally, on the right-hand side a microSD card slot is placed alongside another USB 3.2 Gen 2 (Type-C), and the RJ45 LAN port.
While on the other end of the keyboard are two USB-A, one USB 2.0 while the other is a USB 3.2 Gen 1. To add to the mix, GIGABYTE has placed a mic/headphone jack combo port, and another dedicated mic input.
Moving over to the display, the GIGABYTE’s outer design is a standard refresh rate for a gaming laptop of 144Hz on a 15.6-inch FHD “IPS-level” panel. The color reproduction did not disappoint but do note that users must not expect a true wide gamut display.
In terms of sound, it may not be the most remarkable experience but we’re pretty sure users would be either using their own headphones or earphones when playing games or binge-watching. To add, the GIGABYTE G5 supports DTS: X Ultra Audio Technology as well.
Now, let’s talk performance! The GIGABYTE G5 is equipped with an Intel Core i5-12500H accompanied by an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 graphics card. It is mighty powerful and can easily handle video editing, Photoshop, and other applications thanks to the latest hardware from both Intel and NVIDIA. This particular laptop should be used with dominantly CPU-intensive applications versus heavy GPU heavy games.
Here are some benchmarks we’ve done with the laptop:
In terms of performance, the laptop tends to get hot but not too hot to touch. The cooling system isn’t the best there is but as long as the room temp isn’t too hot, it shouldn’t cause any issues with running the laptop as a workhorse.
The GIGABYTE G5 utilizes the WINDFORCE Cooling System and provides a larger intake under the chassis providing better airflow for the laptop. With the cooling system, there are huge fans on both ends of the laptop with 5 heat pipes and 4 exhaust vents.
Users can place their fans to max to minimize the heat but with the fans on full speed, it does provide a lot of noise as well. Aside from this, users are able to customize keyboard light effects, mouse macro functions, and even power modes.
As a gaming laptop, battery life isn’t the priority as most gaming laptops should be plugged in to function at its optimal level but with a capacity of 54Wh, it should do well with basic tasks if needed. It lasts about 3 hours in the Performance profile while lasting almost 4 hours on Power Saving mode.
Conclusion
The Gigabyte G5 will definitely be a seller for fans of the brand and we can definitely recommend this laptop to those on the go. Having the latest internals gives a decent display quality with gaming performance that has a decent price to consider The only qualm we’d definitely have is the speakers but hey, people are likely playing their music off their phones or through earphones.
Overall, the GIGABYTE G5 GE does well when it comes to its price point of PHP 54,995 for an Intel i5-12500H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050, 512GB SSD, and 2 DDR4 slots that can go up to 64GB.
GIGABYTE G5 GE specs:
15.6-inch, FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS-level Display
144Hz refresh rate, 300 nits peak brightness,
Intel Core i5-12500H
Intel Iris Xe Graphics
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Laptop GPU, 4GB GDDR6
Up to 64GB LPDDR5 RAM
512GB
WiFi 6
Bluetooth 5.2
1 x MicroSD Card Reader
2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 (Type C)
1 x RJ-45
1 x Audio Combo Jack
1 x Microphone Jack
1 x USB 2.0 (Type A)
1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 (Type A),
1 x HDMI 2.1 (with HDCP)
1x Mini DisplayPort 1.4
Backlit Chicklet Keyboard, 15 colors
TouchPad
Smart Amp Technology
Built-in array microphone
720p, 1080p FHD camera
IR webcam w/ Windows Hello
Windows 11 Home/Pro
Lithium Ion Battery, 54WHrs
