Gigabyte Sabre 17 (i7-8750H, GTX 1060) Laptop Review

The display reacts very sensitively when it comes to twisting and pressure on the display lid. The display lid is emblazoned with the silver Gigabyte logo. The top of the lid is not flat—instead it sports an indentation of sorts as a design feature. The display itself has a relatively wide bezel. The camera and microphone are located along the top, while another Gigabyte logo adorns the bottom part of the frame.

Compared to the competition, the new Sabre 17 is one of the biggest and clunkiest devices—only the MSI is around 2 mm (~0.08 in) fatter and similarly sized. As a result, the Sabre 17 works better as a desktop replacement than a mobile device. For the most part, the Gigabyte's rivals take up a little less room. In terms of weight, on the other hand, our test device is in line with most of the rest of the competitors. Only the Razer Blade breaks ranks here, weighing in at a little over 3 kg (~7 lbs).

In terms of connections, the Sabre is comparatively generously equipped. Buyers who place value on being able to connect multiple screens to their laptop—whether for gaming or for work—will be especially pleased here. Alongside the usual HDMI port, the Gigabyte also offers two Mini DisplayPorts, enabling the user to connect three external monitors at once. In addition, the computer is equipped with four USB slots, one of which is Type C. Another praiseworthy feature: Two USB ports support the USB 3.1 Gen2 standard. The one USB 2.0 port is the only superfluous item—here would would have liked to see another USB 3.x port or better yet, a Thunderbolt connection. The latter is unfortunately missing. For headsets, the laptop is outfitted with separate plugs for a microphone and headphones.

Due to the plethora of connections, the LAN and full-fledged SD card reader are located quite close to one another. But for the majority of uses, and regardless of what devices/cables may be connected to the computer, the distances between these two connections should generally be sufficient. Very few ports are located on the right side, but they are all positioned toward the front in the space where a right-handed person's mouse (i.e. hand) would be. In this case, cables or connected USB devices could get in each other's way.

According to our tests with our Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II reference memory card, the card reader's transfer speeds are acceptable. The Sabre ranks in the middle of the competition here.

Following our empirical tests, the Sabre 17 will not win any awards for its Wi-Fi performance. Only the MSI performed worse in this discipline. Overall, the Gigabyte laptop's results were around 40% worse than the class average.

This will not be noticeable in everyday use, however, unless you depend on the Wi-Fi functioning at maximum speed. Otherwise the WLAN connections worked flawlessly in our tests. The connections were never disrupted. Still, at a time when gigabit connections have been around for a while, it would have been nice to see some more speed.

For a gaming laptop, security is not necessarily a main concern. A fingerprint reader or similar frill is nowhere to be found, and a smart card would also be sought in vain. Of course, there is a Kensington lock and TPM on board.

The Sabre does not come with any accessories. The box contents are limited to the power supply, the battery and the laptop itself.

Keyboard

The keys themselves are large and offer a comparatively long travel length, while the click point fortunately is not too soft. These characteristics make it easy to type quickly and accurately. The sound produced by the keyboard while typing is by and large unobtrusive, even if the space key is slightly louder than the rest.

Touchpad

An Intel Core i7-8750H, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060, 16 GB of RAM and a dual storage solution comprised of an SSD and an HDD—those are the specs listed on the Gigabyte Sabre 17's base configuration sheet. These features theoretically qualify the laptop for virtually any intended application. The size of the device alone limits its on-the-go usefulnesss, but as a desktop replacement, the Sabre should be well-prepared to tackle anything. The GTX 1060 graphics card is just as well-suited for gaming as for photo and video editing. In the following sections, we will evaluate whether our test device truly lives up to its theoretical potential.

Our test to determine if there are any latencies came back negative—that is to say, we did not experience any bothersome latencies.

In everyday use, however, this difference will not be noticeable. All programs run smoothly; we did not experience any lags.

The Sabre 17's gaming performance can be categorized as good. Even in graphics-heavy games, the performance is often sufficient for high detail settings in Full HD. Only at ultra settings does the Gigabyte sometimes start to stutter. This means, for example, that you can easily play “The Witcher 3” in Full HD at high details. If you switch to ultra, the frame rate falls to an average of 30 FPS. At that point, the stuttering is palpable and gets in the way of the fun. Below you can see our graph of the frame rate progression in “The Witcher 3” at ultra settings. From beginning to end, the progression is quite constant at 29-30 FPS. Our character is only standing in this instance—if it moved, the rate fell to 24 FPS.

“Rise of the Tomb Raider” can also be played smoothly at maximum details in Full HD; the frame rate here comes to around 60 FPS.

“Doom” also runs smooth as butter at 66 FPS in maximum details and Full HD.

Though the gaming performance is satisfactory, it nevertheless appears to be below average compared to the competition. This is especially apparent in our test of “The Witcher 3” at ultra settings. While the game is no longer playable on the Sabre at 24 FPS, most of the competition runs at least 12 FPS faster and thus in a playable range. This is, of course, very frustrating, given that an entire quality setting is not really available. The same situation occurs in other games as well; the Sabre 17 performs consistently below average in terms of graphics performance.

All in all, the Sabre 17's gaming performance is disappointing. It does not live up to its graphics potential. Most games are playable in Full HD and at high details, but compared to the class average, the Gigabyte laptop's deficit here can make a difference at high quality settings.

In a 17-inch case, there is generally enough room for somewhat superior speakers compared to smaller models. However, the Sabre's speakers are not particularly good. They are extremely quiet—even at full volume, many applications are only reasonably audible in quieter environments. The sound is also very tinny and lacking in bass. Our sound test reports that 98% of all devices in this class are equipped with better speakers.

As a result, it is better to reach for a pair of headphones or some external speakers. The Sabre is outfitted with an audio output jack and a microphone input jack for this purpose. The latter also functions as a line-in.

In terms of energy consumption, the Sabre only goes overboard under maximum load—otherwise it is comparatively rather frugal. In many application scenarios, the Gigabyte is the most energy-saving device in our direct comparison list. Only under maximum load does the Sabre devour more power than the competition (a maximum of 187 watts); in every other state, our test device needs less energy than its direct rivals.