Aorus X5 v8, x7 DT v8, and x9 DT v8 refreshed with 8th gen Core i7 and Core i9
Not to be outdone by the Asus Zephyrus GM501, MSI GS65, or Alienware 17, Aorus will be updating nearly its entire lineup from the 15.6-inch X5 up to the 17.3-inch X9 to the new hexa-core Core i7-8750H and unlocked Core i9-8950H. The Core i9 option will be reserved only for the x9 to compete directly against the Asus ROG G703, MSI GT75, Dell G7, and the aforementioned Alienware as they are all expected to carry the same Core i9 processor.
The new Coffee Lake chipset also carries additional perks such as support for faster DDR4-2666 RAM, though Aorus has not explicitly mentioned if the refreshed SKUs would take advantage of native Optane memory. All three updated models from the X5 up to the X9 will benefit from 144 Hz display options and the same X-Rite Pantone calibration that the Aero series enjoys for more accurate colors out of the box.
Previously, the Aorus X9 v7 shipped with GTX 1070 SLI graphics but Gigabyte has told us that it will begin moving away from SLI laptop solutions for the foreseeable future. This is definitely a smart move in our eyes especially since gamers benefit very little from SLI in DirectX 12 titles. A single GTX 1080 GPU is certainly more practical alongside G-Sync support for the first time in the X9 series. The manufacturer is promising a GPU uptick of about 10 percent just from swapping the Core i7-7820HK to the new Core i9-8950H.
Beyond the changes above, the X5 v8, X7 v8, and X9 v8 are visually identical to the outgoing v7 SKUs. Aorus X3 fans will be disappointed to learn that they will have to wait a little longer for any new announcements regarding the smallest member in the Aorus family.
The Aorus X5 v8, X7 v8, and X9 v8 will all be shipping in the next few weeks for $2600, $3000, and $3900 USD, respectively.
Source(s)
Aorus