Gigabyte Gaming A16 Professional evaluate: this restricted RTX 5080 machine holds its personal because of 5070 Ti pricing

Gigabyte Gaming A16 Professional: Two-minute evaluate

Powered by an RTX 5080 and that includes a big 16-inch, 165 Hz show, the A16 Professional delivers glorious gaming efficiency whereas doubling as a succesful workstation. On the time of writing, there are two A16 Professional variants on the market – each outfitted with the Intel Core 7 240H CPU, 32GB of (soldered) 5600MHz LPDDR5x RAM, a 1TB SSD and both an RTX 5070 Ti or, as examined, the RTX 5080.

The big display screen folds again by 180 levels to lie flat, has a 2560 x 1600 decision, a 3 ms response time, a good 400 nits of brightness and shows a wonderful 100% of the sRGB shade gamut. Ports embrace HDMI 2.1, a 5 Gbps USB-C port with energy supply and DisplayPort 1.4, 2x USB-A 5 Gbps (plus a USB-A 2.0 port), Gigabit Ethernet and a 3.5mm headset jack.

For the Gaming A16 Professional, Gigabyte features a MUX swap however caps the GPU TGP for the 5080 at 115W. The laptop computer RTX 5080 can run at as much as 150W, so a 115W restrict means uncooked efficiency sits about midway between that of an unfettered 5080 and a 5070, and is just like a 5070 Ti.

Whereas this looks like a serious draw back, what issues is efficiency on your greenback, and the Gaming A16 Professional is cheaper than a whole lot of increased TGP 5080 machines. At 36 x 26 x 2.3 cm, and weighing 2.3 kg, it’s additionally slimmer and lighter, making it a more sensible choice for many who need to carry it day by day. Actually, most skinny and light-weight laptops that function highly effective GPUs restrict the TGP to maintain warmth beneath management.

For demanding video games on the display screen’s native decision, you have to to reduce the standard settings to take care of over 60 fps, whereas older ones will fortunately run at over 100 fps. To push in direction of the 165 Hz the display screen is able to, you have to to drop again to 1080p or use body technology.

It relies on your sport (or app) of selection, however in much less demanding titles the 115W TGP 5080 is about 25% slower than one at 150W, and as much as 22% sooner than a 5070. In additional intensive video games, I noticed the CPU create a bottleneck, bringing body charges nearer to that of the 5070. At full tilt, the Gaming A16 Professional emits a reasonably loud roar from the cooling followers, however regardless of this, for sustained masses, efficiency is proscribed by the cooling capability.

The A16 Professional can be a really succesful workstation and we measured as much as 90W charging by way of USB-C, so it may possibly present first rate productiveness efficiency with out having to lug the bigger energy brick round. We want it had a bigger battery than the 76Wh fashions used, as whereas the ten hours, 37 minutes of video playback is a good end result, we had been disillusioned by beneath 5 hours of light-duty work.

The keyboard and trackpad are each glorious, and the customizable RGB lighting modes are enjoyable but additionally simply toned right down to white if you wish to mix in on the workplace. The 1080p webcam is nothing particular by way of picture high quality, nevertheless it does facial recognition for quick logins.

Whereas the A16 Professional is a superb machine total regardless of a number of foibles, the acquisition determination comes again to cost. If you should buy it for 30% lower than a comparable full TGP 5080 machine (or on par or lower than a full TGP 5070 Ti laptop computer) then it’s a strong purchase, however in any other case anticipate a sale.

Gigabyte Gaming A16 Professional: Worth & availability

How a lot does it value? Ranging from $1,899 / £1,699 / AU$3,299When is it obtainable? It is obtainable nowWhere are you able to get it? You may get it within the US, UK and Australia

On the full checklist worth, the Gigabyte Gaming A16 Professional doesn’t supply standout worth, however third-party retailer costs could be significantly decrease, making it purchase.

Gigabyte doesn’t checklist a beneficial retail worth for the A16 Professional in each market, however under is a desk of typical non-discounted pricing for the RTX 5080 and 5070 Ti variants on the time of writing.

When on sale, we’ve got seen it at as much as 25% lower than these costs.

Gigabyte Gaming A16 Professional: Specs

Availability is identical within the US, UK and Australia, with the primary distinction being the inclusion of an RTX 5070 Ti GPU or the RTX 5080 card. If evaluating fashions, remember there’s a non-Professional Gigabyte Gaming A16 obtainable as nicely that has decrease spec and TGP.

Under is the specs checklist for the A16 Professional fashions obtainable.

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Gigabyte Gaming A16 Professional: Design

Conservative energy ratingsCustomizable lightingFacial recognition webcam

The A16 Professional is a big 16-inch laptop computer, however the show has pretty slim bezels and total it matches right into a footprint sufficiently small that I feel it’s cheap to hold it on the go day by day. That is helped by Gigabyte’s inclusion of 100W USB-C PD charging, so you possibly can depart the large energy brick at house in case you’re not going to be gaming.

The laptop computer measures in at 358.3 x 262.5 x 19.45 – 22.99 mm, however that is on the most optimistic factors. On the entrance, I get about 20 mm, and 25 mm on the rear, and 28 mm in case you embrace the toes. On the dimensions, it weighs 2.36 kg (not far off the two.3 kg from Gigabyte) and the facility brick is one other 0.54 kg.

The A16 Professional stands out with a show that may fold by 180 levels to lie flat. I like this design for a few causes. Firstly, it means you possibly can toggle the show the other way up and share it with somebody sitting throughout from you. Secondly, it makes it simple to make use of the laptop computer in your individual distinctive means.

For instance, with the A16 Professional plugged right into a second display screen or dock, and utilizing a keyboard and mouse, I preferred to open the display screen absolutely, and place the laptop computer in a vertical stand. That means the laptop computer display screen is raised to the suitable stage to be positioned subsequent to a second display screen, plus it leaves the vents unobstructed and takes up little or no desk house.

The A16 Professional features a MUX swap for Superior Optimus graphics switching. This implies the laptop computer can optimize graphics efficiency and energy use mechanically based mostly on want, corresponding to shutting down the discrete GPU, without having to restart when switching modes.

The A16 Professional opts for plastic on the primary chassis and show to avoid wasting weight. Whereas I just like the energy of steel, the stiff plastic used remains to be fairly good and the laptop computer feels able to dealing with any bumps or drops. The laptop computer is provided with a big keyboard with 1.7 mm key journey, however there’s no numpad. Nonetheless, it’s nice sufficient to kind on regardless of somewhat bounce. The keyboard has customizable RGB 1-zone backlighting that can be utilized so as to add some bling, or toned right down to muted colours (or white) if making an attempt to mix in on the workplace or college.

Port choice is affordable however not excellent, with a single USB-C that features DisplayPort output and USB-C charging. At 5 Gbps, the info fee is decrease than I would really like and I’d ideally need to see at the very least one 40 Gbps USB4 port for a laptop computer on this class, and on the very minimal 20 Gbps USB-C. You additionally get two 5Gbps USB-A ports, plus an ordinary USB 2.0 port.

It additionally has HDMI 2.1, plus Ethernet and a 3.5mm headset jack – although no card reader. The ports are nicely situated on the perimeters of the laptop computer, with loads of spacing between them guaranteeing quick access.

The selection to incorporate Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax 2×2) means the A16 Professional doesn’t have absolutely the quickest networking, however remains to be comparatively future-proof by way of high-speed connectivity. The A16 Professional doesn’t embrace a privateness e-shutter on the webcam, however on the plus aspect it’s able to facial recognition for quick Home windows login.

The 76Wh battery is decently sized however I’d have a lot most popular to have seen a bigger 99Wh battery – as is featured in some opponents – to assist eke out somewhat additional time unplugged.

Gigabyte Gaming A16 Professional: Efficiency

Stable gaming resultsSomewhat noisy beneath loadDecent CPU efficiency for workstation use

I’ve examined a spread of equally priced laptops that use the RTX 5080 GPU and, typically talking, for a similar GPU thermal design energy (TGP) and comparable CPU / RAM spec, gaming outcomes don’t differ an enormous quantity if the cooling is as much as the duty. However delicate variations in how producers configure their CPU and GPU energy profiles, in addition to different design selections, can result in constant variations total.

For the A16 Professional, Gigabyte caps the GPU TGP for the 5080 at 115W. The 5080 can run at as much as 150W (plus dynamic increase), so the 115W restrict within the A16 Professional means efficiency sits about midway between that of an unfettered 5080 and a 5070, and is just like a 5070 Ti. Whereas this looks like a serious draw back, what issues is efficiency on your greenback, and the Gaming A16 Professional is cheaper than a whole lot of increased TGP 5080 machines. Gigabyte doesn’t verify the TGP of the RTX 5070 Ti, although it may possibly seemingly run on the full 115W the GPU is rated for, however with out increased dynamic increase energy ranges.

Now, it’s vital to say {that a} capped 115W RTX 5080 nonetheless has main advantages over a full energy 5070 Ti or 5070. You get 16GB of VRAM as a substitute of 12GB or 8GB, which implies you possibly can run increased high quality textures at 2560 x 1600 and maintain ray tracing on in video games like Cyberpunk 2077. The 5080 additionally has a wider 256-bit reminiscence bus, so busy scenes with path-traced lighting or dense metropolis areas will drop the body fee lower than with the 128-bit 5070 or 192-bit 5070 Ti.

The 5080 has extra ray-tracing and Tensor {hardware} too, so DLSS 4 can run at the next preset with out impacting playability. Plus, it’s extra highly effective for creator work. The GPU will keep related longer too, as extra new titles name for a great deal of VRAM, so the 16GB 5080 will deal with them higher than a 12GB 5070 Ti or an 8GB 5070.

Total, the A16 Professional manages first rate gaming efficiency however does run on the limits of its cooling. In most eventualities, we discovered that the CPU hit its thermal throttling level earlier than the GPU, limiting efficiency. Older or much less intense video games nonetheless tended to have the CPU thermally throttled, however the GPU may nonetheless run flat out. On extra demanding video games like Cyberpunk 2077, the efficiency was bottlenecked by the CPU and the 5080 was typically operating as much as 20% or so behind its full potential.