PCs & Laptops

Aorus 5 KB gaming notebook review

Aorus has a few notebooks in its portfolio, which can be found in every price category. From high-priced devices to cheap gaming notebooks at the 1000 Euro limit, everything is there. So also the Aorus 5 KB. Despite quite potent hardware, the notebook costs about 1,300 Euros and is thus in the good midfield. How does the price come about, and does the hardware still make a good impression ?

Packaging and accessories

The Aorus 5 KB arrives safely packed. In addition to the obligatory operating instructions, we find the power cable including power supply unit in the box and of course the notebook itself. As it seems to be usual with Aorus, a pad for M.2 SSDs is also included.

Gigabyte Aorus 5 KB-7DE1130SD Notebook 15,6" i7 16
This product is currently unavailable.

Features

The Aorus 5 KB relies on a barebone from Clevo. Besides good hardware, this means very good expandability. Gigabyte uses an Intel i7-10750H as CPU, together with 16 GB RAM and a RTX 2060 Mobile. For data storage there is a M.2 SSD with 512 GB memory.

The Aorus 5 KB also has more than enough connections. The connections on the backside are especially advantageous, because there you can connect a LAN and HDMI cable as well as the power supply. So you can have a good cable management on your desk even with a notebook. For a possible additional monitor there is even USB 3.2 including DisplayPort 1.4 available.

For additional devices you have three more USB ports. On the right side a USB 3.2 Gen2 Type A and on the left side two, each USB 3.2 Gen1 and USB 2.0 Type A. For connecting audio devices we find two 3.5 mm jack connectors on the left side. The Aorus 5 KB also has an SD card reader.

In addition to the Gigabit LAN port on the back, the Aorus 5 KB also features Bluetooth 5.0 and WiFi 6 (802.11ax). The display also has a 15.6-inch IPS panel with a FullHD resolution at 1,920 x 1,080 pixels. 

Design and workmanship

As mentioned in the beginning Aorus uses a barebone from Clevo for this model. The case is completely made of plastic, but has no manufacturing defects whatsoever. Due to the material used, some costs were certainly saved. Furthermore all gaps are even. If you have fears about the robustness of plastic, we can dispel them directly. Only the palm rest gives way a little.

In the past the hinges of notebooks were a big problem because the displays wobbled quickly. This is not the case with the Aorus 5 KB. With only one hand the display can be opened up to about 120 degrees without problems. The hinges hold the position perfectly.

Black seems to be THE color among gaming notebooks, because the Gigabyte Aorus 5 KB is also completely black. Accents are provided by the white outline of the keys on the keyboard, and of course the existing RGB lighting. The Aorus logo on the lid provides for the recognition value.

Display

The display of the Gigabyte Aorus 5 KB consists of an IPS panel with a resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels (Full-HD). A refresh rate of 144 Hertz is also used. We don’t find exact specifications for the illumination in the notebook’s specifications, but we can attest the display a good illumination. If the picture is completely black, we can clearly see “screen bleeding” in the upper right corner.

The color settings ex factory are almost perfect, at least within the limits of what is possible with this display. But some fine tuning won’t hurt, especially with regard to personal preferences. 

Software

By default, the Aorus Gaming Center and the Nahimic 3 software is pre-installed on the Gigabyte Aorus 5 KB. Various power modes can be selected via the manufacturer’s software. For example, you can set the notebook to always be in power mode and get the most out of the hardware. Or if you need some quiet in your home office, you can use the silent mode to work relaxed without the fans turning up extremely high.

In addition, macros can be created and the key assignment can be changed. Helpful is the “Flexikey” function, so you can assign the keys several times. Since RGB lighting is available, it must of course also be adjustable. But with the Aorus 5 KB not much frills are possible. There are 15 lighting effects, which effectively means 15 different colors. Last but not least, even the fans can be adjusted freely.

Technical details

 

processor Intel Core i7-10750H
graphics card NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 2060 6 GB
working memory 16 GB (2 x 8) DDR4 SDRAM
display 15.6 inch (39.6 cm) Full HD 144Hz
connections 1x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A, 1x USB 2.0 Type-A, 1x 3.5 mm microphone, 1x 3.5 mm headphones,
1x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A, 1x MiniDP 1.2, SD card reader, 1x USB 3.2 Gen2 (incl. DisplayPort 1.4), 1x HDMI 2.0, 1x LAN
battery 48.96Wh Li Polymer
dimensions 361 mm (W) x 258 mm (D) x 27.9 mm (H)

Performance in practical test

The Aorus 5 KB is clearly aimed at gamers. With the offered hardware the notebook should be able to play games in Full-HD. We let the benchmarks run in performance mode with automatic fan adjustment.

System performance

And as you can see, the Aorus 5 KB can handle current games in Full-HD at least on high settings, but even maximum settings are no problem. The i7-10875H together with the RTX 2060 do a good job.

wdt_ID Gaming-Notebook Cinebench R20 Cinebench R15
1 Acer Predator Helios 300 2.061 1.183
2 Schenker XMG Neo 15 2.461 1.183
3 Alienware Area-51m 4.246 1.838
4 Razer Blade 15 2019 1.895 842
5 Aorus 15G XB 3.383 1.526
6 Aorus 7 KB-7DE1130SH 2.615 1.214
7 Gigabyte Aero 17 HDR XB 3.630 1.342
8 Razer Blade 15 Advanced 2020 2.158 955
9 Aorus 5 KB 2.278 989
Gaming-Notebook Cinebench R20 Cinebench R15
wdt_ID Gaming-Notebook VRMark Orange Room
1 Acer Helios 300 5.902
2 Schenker XMG Neo 15 8.183
3 Alienware Area-51m (1 Netzteil) 7.201
4 Alienware Area-51m (2 Netzteile) 10.225
5 Razer Blade 15 2019 6.133
6 Aorus 15G XB 8.323
7 Aorus 7 KB-7DE1130SH 7.397
8 Gigabyte Aero 17 HDR XB 9.581
9 Razer Blade 15 Advanced 2020 8.158
Gaming-Notebook VRMark Orange Room
wdt_ID Gaming-Notebook VRMark Cyan Room
1 Acer Helios 300 457
2 Schenker XMG NEO 15 5.033
3 Alienware Area-51m (1 Netzteil) 3.919
4 Alienware Area-51m (2 Netzteile) 8.427
5 Razer Blade 15 2019 2.718
6 Aorus 15G XB 6.486
7 Aorus 7 KB-7DE1130SH 5.548
8 Gigabyte Aero 17 HDR XB 6.463
9 Razer Blade 15 Advanced 2020 7.344
Gaming-Notebook VRMark Cyan Room
wdt_ID Gaming-Notebook VRMark Blue Room
1 Acer Helios 300 1.861
2 Schenker XMG Neo 15 1.680
3 Alienware Area-51m (1 Netzteil) 1.261
4 Alienware Area-51m (2 Netzteile) 3.012
5 Razer Blade 15 2019 1.597
6 Aorus 15G XB 2.199
7 Aorus 7 KB-7DE1130SH 1.794
8 Gigabyte Aero 17 HDR XB 2.468
9 Razer Blade 15 Advanced 2020 2.453
Gaming-Notebook VRMark Blue Room
wdt_ID Gaming-Notebook 3DMark Fire Strike Ultra
1 Acer Helios 300 3.500
2 Schenker XMG Neo 15 3.418
3 Alienware Area-51m (1 Netzteil) 2.927
4 Alienware Area-51m (2 Netzteil) 5.697
5 Razer Blade 15 2019 2.976
6 Aorus 7 KB-7DE1130SH 3.502
7 Gigabyte Aero 17 HDR XB 4.368
8 Razer Blade 15 Advanced 2020 4.758
9 Aorus 5 KB 6.809
Gaming-Notebook 3DMark Fire Strike Ultra
wdt_ID Gaming-Notebook 3DMark Fire Strike Ultra
1 Acer Helios 300 7.011
2 Schenker XMG Neo 15 6.650
3 Alienware Area-51m (1 Netzteil) 5.582
4 Alienware Area-51m (2 Netzteile) 10.182
5 Razer Blade 15 2019 6.242
6 Aorus 15G XB 8.740
7 Aorus 7 KB-7DE1130SH 6.852
8 Gigabyte Aero 17 hDR XB 8.308
9 Razer Blade 15 Advanced 2020 9.149
10 Aorus 5 KB 7.087
Gaming-Notebook 3DMark Fire Strike Ultra
wdt_ID Gaming-Notebook 3DMark Fire Strike
1 Acer Helios 300 13.710
2 Schenker XMG Neo 15 12.890
3 Alienware Area-51m (1 Netzteil) 11.072
4 Alienware Area-51m (2 Netzteile) 21.098
5 Razer Blade 15 2019 12.452
6 Aorus 15G XB 16.876
7 Aorus 7 KB-7DE1130SH 13.629
8 Gigabyte Aero 17 HDR XB 15.983
9 Razer Blade 15 Advanced 2020 16.676
10 Aorus 5 KB 13.975
Gaming-Notebook 3DMark Fire Strike
wdt_ID Gaming-Notebook 3DMark Time Spy
1 Acer Helios 300 5.915
2 Schenker XMG Neo 15 5.308
3 Alienware Area-51m (1 Netzteil) 9.186
4 Alienware Area-51m (2 Netzteile) 9.411
5 Razer Blade 15 2019 5.473
6 Aorus 15G XB 7.116
7 Aorus 7 KB-7DE1130SH 5.830
8 Gigabyte Aero 17 HDR XB 6.795
9 Razer Blade 15 Advanced 2020 7.424
10 Aorus 5 KB 6.061
Gaming-Notebook 3DMark Time Spy
wdt_ID Gaming-Notebook 3DMark Sky Diver
1 Acer Helios 300 33.824
2 Schenker XMG Neo 15 30.659
3 Alienware Area-51m (1 Netzteil) 32.631
4 Alienware Area-51m (2 Netzteile) 48.708
5 Razer Blade 15 2019 26.793
6 Aorus 15G XB 40.857
7 Aorus 7 KB-7DE1130SH 34.249
8 Gigabyte Aero 17 HDR XB 43.653
9 Razer Blade 15 Advanced 2020 38.186
Gaming-Notebook 3DMark Sky Diver
wdt_ID Gaming-Notebook Overall Essentials Productivity Digital Content Creation
1 Acer Helios 300 5.394 8.908 7.187 6.654
2 Schenker XMG Neo 15 5.223 8.290 6.606 7.062
3 Alienware Area-51m (1 Netzteil) 6.326 9.640 8.006 8.839
4 Alienware Area-51m (2 Netzteile) 6.855 9.648 8.767 10.338
5 Razer Blade 15 2019 4.302 8.549 6.648 3.782
6 Aorus 15G XB 6.290 9.530 8.101 8.747
7 Aorus 7 KB-7DE1130SH 4.851 9.030 7.724 4.443
8 Gigabyte Aero 17 HDR XB 6.210 9.237 7.616 9.241
9 Razer Blade 15 Advanced 2020 4.760 8.780 7.333 4.546
Gaming-Notebook Overall Essentials Productivity Digital Content Creation

Mass storage

512 GB of storage space are in short supply nowadays, but the built-in NVMe-SSD is as fast as an arrow. Fortunately, other SSDs can be connected as well, this is where the barebone shows its advantages.

tab]
wdt_ID Gaming-Notebook Seq (lesen in MB/s) Seq (schreiben in MB/s) 4K (lesen in MB/s) 4K (schreiben MB/s) 4K-64-Thrd (lesen in MB/s) 4K-64-Thrd (schreiben in MB/s)
1 Acer Predator Helios 300 2.742,67 2.400,22 40,28 99,36 1.254,29 1.565,67
2 Schenker XMG Neo 15 2.149,34 2.507,69 48,59 114,00 1.348,03 2.382,59
3 Alienware Area-51m 2.482,36 1.244,27 37,46 91,42 1.000,63 791,61
4 Razer Blade 15 2019 521,26 391,33 22,75 74,71 191,60 137,74
5 Aorus 15G XB 2.813,86 2.484,79 47,01 113,67 1.423,68 1.821,86
6 Aorus 7 KB-7DE1130SH 2.961,19 2.329,00 57,50 127,23 484,83 727,93
7 Gigabyte Aero 17 HDR XB 2.795,30 2.463,12 47,45 113,21 1.462,00 1.819,14
8 Razer Blade 15 Advanced (2020 2.435,87 2.034,28 46,85 89,28 1.777,74 1.890,85
9 Aorus 5 KB 2.628,31 1.964,67 52,18 119,51 712,29 1.259,84
Gaming-Notebook Seq (lesen in MB/s) Seq (schreiben in MB/s) 4K (lesen in MB/s) 4K (schreiben MB/s) 4K-64-Thrd (lesen in MB/s) 4K-64-Thrd (schreiben in MB/s)
[/tab]
wdt_ID Gaming-Notebook Seq Q32T1 (lesen in MB/s) Seq Q32T1 (schreiben in MB/s) 4K Q32T1 (lesen in MB/s) 4K Q32T1 (schreiben in MB/s) Seq (lesen in MB/s) Seq (schreiben in MB/s) 4K (lesen in MB/s) 4K (schreiben in MB/s)
1 Acer Predator Helios 300 3.235,60 2.546,00 1.331,90 1.278,10 537,50 353,90 45,72 106,70
2 Schenker XMG Neo 15 3.295,00 3.173,00 558,30 470,20 1.066,00 2.346,00 41,05 117,00
3 Alienware Area-51m 3.045,60 1.350,10 1.017,50 931,10 334,90 287,40 37,63 86,08
4 Razer Blade 15 2019 557,20 362,60 201,20 196,00 537,30 355,10 29,95 72,53
5 Aorus 15G XB 3.529,00 2.985,00 579,10 492,10 2.185,00 2.644,00 44,84 124,00
6 Aorus 7 KB-7DE1130SH 3.453,00 2.586,00 557,90 428,50 2.814,00 2.467,00 64,29 160,10
7 Gigabyte Aero 17 HDR XB 3.521,00 2.856,00 562,50 485,10 2.345,00 2.521,00 48,21 142,00
8 Razer Blade 15 Advanced (2020) 3.206,00 2.966,00 525,40 461,20 2.058,00 2.246,00 48,98 134,20
9 Aorus 5 KB 3.375,00 2.465,00 5.000,90 357,60 2.695,00 2.268,00 58,24 145,30
Gaming-Notebook Seq Q32T1 (lesen in MB/s) Seq Q32T1 (schreiben in MB/s) 4K Q32T1 (lesen in MB/s) 4K Q32T1 (schreiben in MB/s) Seq (lesen in MB/s) Seq (schreiben in MB/s) 4K (lesen in MB/s) 4K (schreiben in MB/s)
wdt_ID Gaming-Notebook 512 B 1 KB 2 KB 4 KB 8 KB 16 KB 32 KB 64 KB 128 KB 256 KB 512 KB 1 MB 2 MB 4 MB 8 MB 12 MB 16 MB 24 MB 32 MB 48 MB 64 MB
1 Acer Predator Helios 300 - SSD 10,20 26,72 64,45 355,47 633,18 1.090,00 1.560,00 1.810,00 1.340,00 1.830,00 1.410,00 1.410,00 1.740,00 1.420,00 1.560,00 1.270,00 1.100,00 966,96 958,08 956,64 979,61
2 Acer Predator Helios 300 - HDD 21,97 44,08 67,70 116,60 117,96 166,60 117,19 117,37 118,48 117,65 117,65 119,19 119,83 120,70 120,52 120,63 120,56 120,32 120,21 120,25 120,13
3 Schenker XMG Neo 15 - SSD 38,70 72,51 142,78 282,37 553,02 1.118,00 2.420,00 2.700,00 2.980,00 3.020,00 3.010,00 3.000,00 3.000,00 3.000,00 3.020,00 3.010,00 3.020,00 3.010,00 3.000,00 3.000,00 2.670,00
5 Alienware Area-51m 10,51 25,15 50,76 362,45 592,08 937,53 1.280,00 855,33 1.410,00 2.030,00 2.760,00 2.350,00 2.840,00 2.780,00 2.630,00 2.440,00 2.390,00 2.240,00 2.380,00 2.500,00 2.500,00
6 Razer Blade 15 2019 33,69 68,88 126,01 201,77 294,33 339,53 374,69 390,83 392,67 394,26 392,98 393,85 393,85 392,98 393,85 392,36 394,71 393,19 393,85 394,52 393,85
7 Aorus 15G XB 45,29 84,26 174,88 336,74 653,67 1.430,00 2.680,00 2.750,00 2.780,00 2.730,00 2.790,00 2.780,00 2.780,00 2.780,00 2.780,00 2.780,00 2.790,00 2.790,00 2.790,00 2.790,00 2.780,00
8 Aorus 7 KB-7DE1130SH 50,54 100,59 193,36 375,00 740,23 1.390,00 2.110,00 2.370,00 2.390,00 2.400,00 2.390,00 2.390,00 1.620,00 1.820,00 2.390,00 2.400,00 2.370,00 2.320,00 2.340,00 2.400,00 2.330,00
9 Gigabyte Aero 17 HDR XB 48,26 81,12 181,11 345,12 632,58 1.372,00 2.590,00 2.548,00 2.698,00 2.701,00 2.750,00 2.780,00 2.782,00 2.769,00 2.699,00 2.720,00 2.750,00 2.746,00 2.735,00 2.771,00 2.783,00
10 Razer Blade 15 Advanced (2020) 44,31 89,39 168,53 335,63 613,11 1.280,00 2.480,00 2.770,00 2.790,00 2.790,00 2.740,00 2.700,00 2.600,00 2.620,00 2.620,00 2.650,00 2.580,00 2.620,00 2.620,00 2.666,00 2.590,00
11 Aorus 5 KB 41,99 84,04 165,60 323,10 613,11 1.250,00 1.930,00 2.180,00 2.240,00 2.240,00 2.230,00 2.210,00 2.200,00 2.180,00 2.230,00 2.210,00 2.200,00 2.180,00 2.180,00 2.200,00 2.150,00
Gaming-Notebook 512 B 1 KB 2 KB 4 KB 8 KB 16 KB 32 KB 64 KB 128 KB 256 KB 512 KB 1 MB 2 MB 4 MB 8 MB 12 MB 16 MB 24 MB 32 MB 48 MB 64 MB

Gaming performance

wdt_ID Gaming-Notebook Settings: Ultra Settings: Hoch Settings: Mittel Settings: Niedrig Settings: Sehr Niedrig
1 Acer Predator Helios 300 85 104 113 122 127
2 Schenker XMG Neo 15 80 110 118 129 138
3 Alienware Area-51m 115 119 125 139 145
4 Razer Blade 15 2019 97 112 118 123 134
5 Aorus 15G XB 102 113 121 130 139
6 Aorus 7 KB-7DE1130SH 91 81 85 102 140
7 Gigabyte Aero 17 HDR XB 95 108 123 129 134
8 Razer Blade 15 Advanced (2020) 94 92 115 121 129
9 Aorus 5 KB 87 91 125 129 131
Gaming-Notebook Settings: Ultra Settings: Hoch Settings: Mittel Settings: Niedrig Settings: Sehr Niedrig
wdt_ID Gaming-Notebook Settings: Hoch Settings: Mittel Settings: Niedrig
1 Acer Predator Helios 300 230 255 275
2 Schenker XMG Neo 15 260 275 290
3 Alienware Area-51m 289 310 389
4 Razer Blade 15 2019 213 234 259
5 Aorus 15G XB 274 298 325
6 Aorus 7 KB-7DE1130SH 165 220 207
7 Gigabyte Aero 17 HDR XB 261 305 319
8 Razer Blade 15 Advanced (2020) 251 289 305
9 Aorus 5 KB 224 267 294
Gaming-Notebook Settings: Hoch Settings: Mittel Settings: Niedrig
wdt_ID Gaming-Notebook Settings: Episch Settings: Hoch Settings: Mittel Settings: Niedrig
1 Acer Predator Helios 300 50 75 80 85
2 Schenker XMG Neo 15 55 70 89 91
3 Alienware Area-51m 69 74 95 99
4 Razer Blade 15 2019 47 60 75 81
5 Aorus 15G XB 61 71 92 94
6 Aorus 7 KB-7DE1130SH 86 93 101 99
7 Gigabyte Aero 17 HDR XB 65 74 89 93
8 Razer Blade 15 Advanced (2020) 70 82 92 99
9 Aorus 5 KB 61 69 75 91
Gaming-Notebook Settings: Episch Settings: Hoch Settings: Mittel Settings: Niedrig
wdt_ID Gaming-Notebook Settings: Episch Settings: Hoch Settings: Mittel Settings: Niedrig
1 Acer Predator Helios 300 41 75 145 198
2 Schenker XMG Neo 15 45 74 150 185
3 Alienware Area-51m 98 201 265 374
4 Razer Blade 15 2019 31 69 119 142
5 Aorus 15G XB 74 98 149 207
6 Aorus 7 KB-7DE1130SH 70 94 122 141
7 Gigabyte Aero 17 HDR XB 71 102 142 182
8 Razer Blade 15 Advanced (2020) 69 98 131 161
9 Aorus 5 KB 69 87 135 172
Gaming-Notebook Settings: Episch Settings: Hoch Settings: Mittel Settings: Niedrig

Battery life

In our test, the Gigabyte Aorus 5 KB has a battery life of 4 1/2 hours with normal working and surfing behavior. A gaming notebook is also difficult to use for mobile gaming, but the battery is sufficient for a short round of casual gaming. We reached a full battery charge after about 2 hours.

Conclusion

The fact that the Aorus 5 KB is set to a barebone has only advantages. The workmanship is very good, the built-in hardware is convincing and because of the barebone even the expandability is right. Often in high-end notebooks many things are not exchangeable or expandable. With the Aorus 5 KB the battery can be exchanged easily, and even two more data carriers can be installed.

.

Gigabyte Aorus 5 KB

Workmanship
Display
Volume
Performance
Battery
Value for money

90/100

Great Notebook! Good expandability, exchangeable battery and good hardware, what more could you want?

Gigabyte Aorus 5 KB-7DE1130SD Notebook 15,6" i7 16
This product is currently unavailable.

Simon Lüthje

I am co-founder of this blog and am very interested in everything that has to do with technology, but I also like to play games. I was born in Hamburg, but now I live in Bad Segeberg.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Back to top button