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MagyarGigabyte P55W v5 Notebook Review
For the original German review, see here.
As the name suggests, we are facing the fifth version of Gigabyte's P55W. Gigabyte relies on the same casing as in the precursor for its P55W v5. Consequently, the differences between the laptops are only minor. However, there are differences in terms of technology. Rivals of the P55W v5 include laptops such as the Schenker XMG P506 and the MSI GS60 6QE. Basically, all devices listed in our Top 10 Lightweight Gaming Notebooks can be considered rivals.
Since the P55W v4 and P44W v5 feature an identical build, we will not go into details about casing, connectivity, input devices or speakers – unless there are differences. The relevant information can be found in the review of the Gigabyte P55W v4.
What's new?
- A Skylake processor replaces the Broadwell model
- An M.2 connector is found in place of the mSATA slot
- One USB 3.0 port makes way for a USB 3.1 port (Type-C)
- DDR4 working memory instead of DDR3 RAM
The P55W v5 is equipped with the same screen as its predecessor. The rates differ marginally, which is normal. Two identically built panels never correspond one hundred percent. The screen offers a good contrast and only mediocre brightness. Positive: PWM flickering is never an issue.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brightness Distribution: 89 %
Center on Battery: 254 cd/m²
Contrast: 907:1 (Black: 0.28 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 4.28 | 0.5-29.43 Ø5
ΔE Greyscale 2.77 | 0.57-98 Ø5.3
73% sRGB (Argyll 1.6.3 3D)
47% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 1.6.3 3D)
51.2% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
73.5% sRGB (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
50.1% Display P3 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
Gamma: 2.28
| Gigabyte P55W v5 LG Philips LP156WF4-SPH1 | Gigabyte P55 V4 LG Philips, ID: LGD040E, Name: 156WF4 | MSI GS60-6QE4K16H21 Samsung 156FL02-P01 (SDC424B) | MSI GE62-6QD16H11 LG Philips LP156WF6 | Acer Predator 15 G9-591-74ZV LG LP156WF6-SPP1 (LGD04D5) | SCHENKER XMG P506 Samsung 156HL01-102 (SDC324C) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Display | 18% | 7% | 22% | 24% | 33% | |
| Display P3 Coverage | 50.1 | 64 28% | 53.1 6% | 64.5 29% | 66 32% | 66.4 33% |
| sRGB Coverage | 73.5 | 80.6 10% | 80 9% | 85.6 16% | 85.8 17% | 96 31% |
| AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage | 51.2 | 58.9 15% | 54.8 7% | 62.5 22% | 62.7 22% | 68.6 34% |
| Response Times | 7% | 15% | 19% | |||
| Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 44 ? | 40 ? 9% | 31 ? 30% | 31 ? 30% | ||
| Response Time Black / White * | 27 ? | 26 ? 4% | 27 ? -0% | 25 ? 7% | ||
| PWM Frequency | 1316 ? | |||||
| Screen | 7% | -37% | 10% | 5% | -4% | |
| Brightness middle | 254 | 262.3 3% | 212 -17% | 300 18% | 310 22% | 310 22% |
| Brightness | 267 | 265 -1% | 197 -26% | 291 9% | 287 7% | 299 12% |
| Brightness Distribution | 89 | 89 0% | 78 -12% | 88 -1% | 86 -3% | 84 -6% |
| Black Level * | 0.28 | 0.259 7% | 0.49 -75% | 0.32 -14% | 0.36 -29% | 0.35 -25% |
| Contrast | 907 | 1013 12% | 433 -52% | 938 3% | 861 -5% | 886 -2% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 4.28 | 4.29 -0% | 7.8 -82% | 3.51 18% | 3.83 11% | 4.1 4% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 10.6 | 8.72 18% | ||||
| Greyscale dE 2000 * | 2.77 | 2.28 18% | 5.23 -89% | 2.52 9% | 2.53 9% | 5.7 -106% |
| Gamma | 2.28 96% | 2.31 95% | 3.05 72% | 2.38 92% | 2.42 91% | 2.53 87% |
| CCT | 6284 103% | 6350 102% | 6693 97% | 6759 96% | 6934 94% | 7454 87% |
| Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998) | 47 | 53 13% | 50 6% | 56 19% | 56 19% | 63 34% |
| Color Space (Percent of sRGB) | 73 | 80.3 10% | 80 10% | 86 18% | 86 18% | 96 32% |
| Total Average (Program / Settings) | 13% /
10% | -8% /
-22% | 16% /
13% | 16% /
11% | 15% /
5% |
* ... smaller is better
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
| Screen flickering / PWM not detected |  | ||
In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 17933 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 3846000) Hz was measured. | |||
Display Response Times
| ↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
|---|---|---|
| 27 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 7 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 20 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows relatively slow response rates in our tests and may be too slow for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 63 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (21.5 ms). | ||
| ↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
| 44 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 18 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 26 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.2 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 69 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (33.8 ms). | ||
Performance
Gigabyte's P55W v5 is a 15.6-inch gaming laptop. It renders all up-to-date games smoothly. We cannot state an exact price for our review sample since it was not listed in price search engines at the time of testing. It will probably be priced at approximately 1600 Euros (~$1781).
Processor
The biggest innovation of the P55W v5 compared with its predecessor is the new CPU generation. As mentioned above, the Broadwell processor has been replaced by a Skylake model. To be precise, a Core i7-6700HQ is installed in Gigabyte's laptop. It is a premium-range model that looks impressive in all common application scenarios. It is not one of the frugal ULV processors (15 watts TDP). A TDP of 45 watts reveals its relationship to standard mobile processors. The CPU clocks at a base speed of 2.6 GHz, which can be boosted to 3.1 GHz (four cores), 3.3 GHz (two cores) and 3.5 GHz (one core) via Turbo. The Turbo is also fully utilized in AC mode. It is not used as intensely in battery mode. The processor then only clocks at 2.9 to 3.5 GHz (single-thread) and 2.9 to 3.1 GHz (multi-thread).
The P55W v4 came with the Broadwell predecessor (Core i7-5700HQ) of the processor installed here. This calls for a direct comparison. A clear winner could not be determined in the CPU tests that we performed. Sometimes the one and then the other processor had the lead. It can be said that the P55W v5 delivers the same CPU performance as the P55W v4. However, the new Skylake processor improves something else, as we will see later.
| Cinebench R10 | |
| Rendering Multiple CPUs 32Bit (sort by value) | |
| Gigabyte P55W v5 | |
| Gigabyte P55 V4 | |
| MSI GS60-6QE4K16H21 | |
| MSI GE62-6QD16H11 | |
| Acer Predator 15 G9-591-74ZV | |
| SCHENKER XMG P506 | |
| Rendering Single 32Bit (sort by value) | |
| Gigabyte P55W v5 | |
| Gigabyte P55 V4 | |
| MSI GS60-6QE4K16H21 | |
| MSI GE62-6QD16H11 | |
| Acer Predator 15 G9-591-74ZV | |
| SCHENKER XMG P506 | |
| Geekbench 3 | |
| 32 Bit Multi-Core Score (sort by value) | |
| Gigabyte P55W v5 | |
| 32 Bit Single-Core Score (sort by value) | |
| Gigabyte P55W v5 | |
| Sunspider - 1.0 Total Score (sort by value) | |
| Gigabyte P55W v5 | |
| MSI GS60-6QE4K16H21 | |
| JetStream 1.1 - Total Score (sort by value) | |
| Gigabyte P55W v5 | |
| Mozilla Kraken 1.1 - Total (sort by value) | |
| Gigabyte P55W v5 | |
| Octane V2 - Total Score (sort by value) | |
| Gigabyte P55W v5 | |
| Peacekeeper - --- (sort by value) | |
| Gigabyte P55W v5 | |
* ... smaller is better
System Performance
A super-fast solid-state drive and a strong processor ensure an overall fast-running system. Accordingly, the PCMark scores are very good. Despite the much faster SSD, the P55W v5 does not stand out from its predecessor. This is not very surprising since there is no subjective speed difference, which the PCMark 8 Home tries to simulate. An advantage of the PCIe/NVMe technology is noticed vaguely in loading processes, for example when loading computer games. It will hardly be possible to increase the system performance. Only installing a second working memory would be make sense.
| PCMark 7 Score | 5124 points | |
| PCMark 8 Home Score Accelerated v2 | 3832 points | |
| PCMark 8 Creative Score Accelerated v2 | 4579 points | |
| PCMark 8 Work Score Accelerated v2 | 4852 points | |
Help | ||
Storage Devices & Memory Card Reader
The system drive is a Samsung SSD in M.2 format (type 2280) with a capacity of 128 GB. Approximately 90 GB is available for the user. The rest of the storage is reserved for the Windows installation and recovery partition. It is an NVMe model that is connected via PCI Express. Consequently, the P55W v5 delivers superb transfer rates. Although the solid-state drive offers a total of only 128 GB, the laptop has plenty of storage. A conventional 2.5-inch hard drive provides games with the required capacity. The 2.5-inch model spins at 7200 revolutions per minute and has a capacity of 1 TB.
The memory card reader is neither super-fast nor particularly sluggish. A maximum transfer rate of 76 MB/s is achieved when copying large data blocks. The P55W v5 transfers 250 JPG images (approx. 5 MB each) at a speed of 47 MB/s. We always test the card reader with our Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II reference card.
Graphics Card
Nothing is new in terms of GPU. The new model is also equipped with a GeForce GTX 970M. The GPU supports DirectX 12 and clocks at up to 1038 MHz. 3072 MB of GDDR5 VRAM supports the core. Gigabyte should have improved here. 3 GB are rather scanty for a device of this performance category. There are laptops with weaker GPUs that have 4096 MB graphics memory. The 3DMark scores are roughly on par with those of the predecessor.
| 3DMark 06 Standard Score | 24611 points | |
| 3DMark 11 Performance | 8932 points | |
| 3DMark Ice Storm Standard Score | 64844 points | |
| 3DMark Cloud Gate Standard Score | 20087 points | |
| 3DMark Fire Strike Score | 6565 points | |
Help | ||
| 3DMark 11 - 1280x720 Performance (sort by value) | |
| Gigabyte P55W v5 | |
| Gigabyte P55 V4 | |
| MSI GS60-6QE4K16H21 | |
| MSI GE62-6QD16H11 | |
| Acer Predator 15 G9-591-74ZV | |
| SCHENKER XMG P506 | |
| 3DMark | |
| 1280x720 Ice Storm Standard Score (sort by value) | |
| Gigabyte P55W v5 | |
| Gigabyte P55 V4 | |
| MSI GS60-6QE4K16H21 | |
| MSI GE62-6QD16H11 | |
| Acer Predator 15 G9-591-74ZV | |
| SCHENKER XMG P506 | |
| 1280x720 Cloud Gate Standard Score (sort by value) | |
| Gigabyte P55W v5 | |
| Gigabyte P55 V4 | |
| MSI GS60-6QE4K16H21 | |
| MSI GE62-6QD16H11 | |
| Acer Predator 15 G9-591-74ZV | |
| SCHENKER XMG P506 | |
| 1280x720 Sky Diver Score (sort by value) | |
| Gigabyte P55W v5 | |
| Acer Predator 15 G9-591-74ZV | |
| SCHENKER XMG P506 | |
| 1920x1080 Fire Strike Score (sort by value) | |
| Gigabyte P55W v5 | |
| Gigabyte P55 V4 | |
| MSI GS60-6QE4K16H21 | |
| MSI GE62-6QD16H11 | |
| Acer Predator 15 G9-591-74ZV | |
| SCHENKER XMG P506 | |
| 3DMark 06 - 1280x1024 Standard Score AA:0x AF:0x (sort by value) | |
| Gigabyte P55W v5 | |
| Gigabyte P55 V4 | |
Gaming Performance
Gigabyte's P55W v5 definitely belongs to the gaming laptop category. It renders every computer game smoothly. Most games even allow using the screen's native resolution (1920x1080) alongside maximum graphic settings. Reducing the pixel count and/or quality level will only be necessary in a few games. No major frame rate differences are observed between the Broadwell and Skylake model of the P55W.
| low | med. | high | ultra | |
| Tomb Raider (2013) | 278.8 | 233.7 | 186.8 | 87.5 |
| BioShock Infinite (2013) | 158.4 | 140.8 | 133.1 | 69.7 |
| Dirt Rally (2015) | 167.7 | 92.4 | 77.3 | 57.3 |
| Batman: Arkham Knight (2015) | 91 | 84 | 57 | 36 |
| Anno 2205 (2015) | 117.5 | 102.6 | 54.9 | 17.4 |
| Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 (2015) | 100.1 | 97 | 59.6 | 55.7 |
| Just Cause 3 (2015) | 85.3 | 77.7 | 56.4 | 47.8 |
| Rise of the Tomb Raider (2016) | 102.1 | 70.4 | 44.6 | 37.1 |
| XCOM 2 (2016) | 66.2 | 47 | 34.8 | 16.5 |
| Tomb Raider - 1920x1080 Ultra Preset AA:FX AF:16x (sort by value) | |
| Gigabyte P55W v5 | |
| Gigabyte P55 V4 | |
| MSI GE62-6QD16H11 | |
| BioShock Infinite - 1920x1080 Ultra Preset, DX11 (DDOF) (sort by value) | |
| Gigabyte P55W v5 | |
| Gigabyte P55 V4 | |
| Dirt Rally - 1920x1080 Ultra Preset AA:4x MS (sort by value) | |
| Gigabyte P55W v5 | |
| MSI GE62-6QD16H11 | |
| SCHENKER XMG P506 | |
| Batman: Arkham Knight - 1920x1080 High / On AA:SM AF:16x (sort by value) | |
| Gigabyte P55W v5 | |
| SCHENKER XMG P506 | |
| Anno 2205 - 1920x1080 High Preset AA:4x (sort by value) | |
| Gigabyte P55W v5 | |
| MSI GS60-6QE4K16H21 | |
| Acer Predator 15 G9-591-74ZV | |
| Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 - 1920x1080 Extra / On AA:T2x SM (sort by value) | |
| Gigabyte P55W v5 | |
| Acer Predator 15 G9-591-74ZV | |
| Just Cause 3 - 1920x1080 Very High / On AA:SM AF:16x (sort by value) | |
| Gigabyte P55W v5 | |
| Rise of the Tomb Raider - 1920x1080 Very High Preset AA:FX AF:16x (sort by value) | |
| Gigabyte P55W v5 | |
| XCOM 2 - 1920x1080 High Preset AA:FX AF:8x (sort by value) | |
| Gigabyte P55W v5 | |
Emissions
System Noise
The fan in the P55W v5 permanently spins at a consistent and low speed while idling. The 2.5-inch hard drive's noise is primarily heard. The cooling clearly speeds up during load. A noise level of 49 dB(A) was reached in the stress test. This rate is acceptable for a laptop from this performance category. The fan slows down quite quickly after prolonged load.
Noise Level
| Idle |
| 33 / 34 / 35 dB(A) |
| DVD |
| 36 / dB(A) |
| Load |
| 43 / 49 dB(A) |
 | ||
30 dB silent 40 dB(A) audible 50 dB(A) loud |
||
min:  , med:  , max:  Audix TM1 (15 cm distance) | ||
| Gigabyte P55W v5 6700HQ, GeForce GTX 970M | Gigabyte P55 V4 5700HQ, GeForce GTX 970M | MSI GS60-6QE4K16H21 6700HQ, GeForce GTX 970M | MSI GE62-6QD16H11 6700HQ, GeForce GTX 960M | Acer Predator 15 G9-591-74ZV 6700HQ, GeForce GTX 980M | SCHENKER XMG P506 6700HQ, GeForce GTX 970M | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Noise | 9% | -3% | -0% | -3% | 1% | |
| Idle Minimum * | 33 | 28.8 13% | 35 -6% | 33 -0% | 31 6% | 30.8 7% |
| Idle Average * | 34 | 28.9 15% | 36 -6% | 34 -0% | 32 6% | 32.8 4% |
| Idle Maximum * | 35 | 29 17% | 37 -6% | 38 -9% | 42 -20% | 35.9 -3% |
| Load Average * | 43 | 39 9% | 40 7% | 42 2% | 47 -9% | 42.2 2% |
| Load Maximum * | 49 | 52.3 -7% | 50 -2% | 46 6% | 48 2% | 51 -4% |
* ... smaller is better
Temperature
The P55W v5 performed the stress test (Prime95 and FurMark run for at least one hour) differently in AC and battery mode. The CPU clocked at 1 GHz and the GPU at 200 to 700 MHz for about 10 minutes in battery mode. They then throttled to 800 MHz (i7-6700HQ) and 200 to 250 MHz (GTX 970M). Throttling did not occur in AC mode. The processor clocked at 2.7 to 3 GHz, and the graphics core reached speeds of around 1000 MHz. Only the casing heated up moderately during the stress test. Although 50 degrees Celsius (~122 degrees Fahrenheit) was exceeded on some measuring points, we have seen laptops based on a comparable configuration that reach considerably higher temperatures.
(-) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 50 °C / 122 F, compared to the average of 40.4 °C / 105 F, ranging from 21.2 to 68.8 °C for the class Gaming.
(-) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 57.7 °C / 136 F, compared to the average of 43.2 °C / 110 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 25 °C / 77 F, compared to the device average of 33.8 °C / 93 F.
(-) The palmrests and touchpad can get very hot to the touch with a maximum of 45.4 °C / 113.7 F.
(-) The average temperature of the palmrest area of similar devices was 28.9 °C / 84 F (-16.5 °C / -29.7 F).
| Gigabyte P55W v5 6700HQ, GeForce GTX 970M | Gigabyte P55 V4 5700HQ, GeForce GTX 970M | MSI GS60-6QE4K16H21 6700HQ, GeForce GTX 970M | MSI GE62-6QD16H11 6700HQ, GeForce GTX 960M | Acer Predator 15 G9-591-74ZV 6700HQ, GeForce GTX 980M | SCHENKER XMG P506 6700HQ, GeForce GTX 970M | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heat | -18% | -10% | -26% | -7% | -11% | |
| Maximum Upper Side * | 50 | 48.2 4% | 51.4 -3% | 53.3 -7% | 49.8 -0% | 49.3 1% |
| Maximum Bottom * | 57.7 | 50.2 13% | 68.9 -19% | 49.3 15% | 59.2 -3% | 60.4 -5% |
| Idle Upper Side * | 25.7 | 35.6 -39% | 27.1 -5% | 41.2 -60% | 32.2 -25% | 31.4 -22% |
| Idle Bottom * | 27.2 | 41.2 -51% | 30.4 -12% | 40.8 -50% | 26.9 1% | 32.3 -19% |
* ... smaller is better
Energy Management
Power Consumption
We measured an idle power consumption of up to 17 watts. This is acceptable for a laptop of this performance category. The energy requirement climbed up to 152 watts in the stress test. The power supply can deal with that: Its nominal output is 180 watts. The consumption is much lower in gaming routine. Rates of approximately 81 watts (+/- 10%) can be expected here.
| Off / Standby | 0.2 / 0.7 Watt |
| Idle | 9 / 13 / 17 Watt |
| Load |
81 / 152 Watt |
   
| |
| Gigabyte P55W v5 6700HQ, GeForce GTX 970M | MSI GS60-6QE4K16H21 6700HQ, GeForce GTX 970M | MSI GE62-6QD16H11 6700HQ, GeForce GTX 960M | Acer Predator 15 G9-591-74ZV 6700HQ, GeForce GTX 980M | SCHENKER XMG P506 6700HQ, GeForce GTX 970M | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Power Consumption | -47% | -61% | -23% | -10% | |
| Idle Minimum * | 9 | 17 -89% | 20 -122% | 12 -33% | 10.5 -17% |
| Idle Average * | 13 | 22 -69% | 24 -85% | 16 -23% | 14.6 -12% |
| Idle Maximum * | 17 | 28 -65% | 30 -76% | 22 -29% | 20.7 -22% |
| Load Average * | 81 | 91 -12% | 97 -20% | 100 -23% | 81.8 -1% |
| Load Maximum * | 152 | 149 2% | 155 -2% | 162 -7% | 146.3 4% |
* ... smaller is better
Battery Runtime
The P55W v5 surprised us positively in terms of battery life. The energy efficient Skylake processor is noticed here. Some ULV office laptops do not achieve the rates we measured. Gigabyte's laptop managed a runtime of 5:48 hours in our real world Wi-Fi test. Thus, it lasts almost 2 hours longer than its predecessor. We simulate the load needed for opening websites via a script. The "Balanced" profile is enabled, and the screen's brightness is set to approximately 150 cd/m². The laptop finishes the video playback test after 5:32 hours. We run the short movie "Big Buck Bunny" (H.264 encoding, 1920x1080 pixels) in a loop here. The radio modules are disabled, and the screen's brightness is dimmed to 150 cd/m².
| Gigabyte P55W v5 61 Wh | Gigabyte P55 V4 57 Wh | MSI GS60-6QE4K16H21 47 Wh | MSI GE62-6QD16H11 53 Wh | Acer Predator 15 G9-591-74ZV Wh | SCHENKER XMG P506 60 Wh | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battery Runtime | -15% | -51% | -55% | 22% | -22% | |
| Reader / Idle | 604 | 517 -14% | 213 -65% | 184 -70% | 670 11% | 314 -48% |
| H.264 | 332 | 137 -59% | 442 33% | |||
| WiFi v1.3 | 348 | 231 -34% | 157 -55% | 149 -57% | ||
| Load | 93 | 95 2% | 61 -34% | 60 -35% | 113 22% | 98 5% |
Pros
Cons
Verdict
Gigabyte's P55W v5 is a 15.6-inch gaming laptop. The installed Core i7 processor provides enough computing power for all common application scenarios. The GeForce GTX 970M renders all up-to-date games smoothly. A lightning-fast NVMe SSD ensures a fast-running system. Thanks to the existing 2.5-inch hard drive, storage capacity will not get tight. Both storage devices could be easily replaced with higher-capacity models. Although the P55W v5 does not have a maintenance hatch, the base tray is easy to replace. The good keyboard is surprising in a gaming laptop. The same is true for the long runtimes in our real world battery tests. The matte Full HD IPS panel pleases with stable viewing angles and decent contrast. However, its brightness could be higher.
Gigabyte primarily upgrades its P55W v5. The modifications and innovations (NVMe, DDR4 RAM, USB 3.1, and Skylake CPU) prove reasonable.
However, Gigabyte should have followed this path more consistently. For example, a DisplayPort would have been desirable and more graphics memory would also be appreciated. Perhaps Gigabyte will take up these points for its P55W v6.
Gigabyte P55W v5
-
02/29/2016 v5(old)
Sascha Mölck
Pricecompare
