Gigabyte AORUS MASTER 18 Core Ultra 9 275HX RTX 5090 Gaming Laptop Review
How Much Does it Cost?
The Gigabyte Aorus Master 18 is priced at £3,899.99 in the UK, reflecting its position as a flagship, high-performance machine. This price tag aligns with its top-tier components and advanced features. While a significant investment, for users demanding uncompromising performance and a cutting-edge mobile experience, there’s literally nothing faster right now, and I guess you have to come to terms with paying that premium. Admittedly, there may be more affordable options with lesser screen technologies, but if you have a GPU like this, surely you want a display that can make the most of it too.
Conclusion
The Gigabyte Aorus Master 18 lives up to its promise as a formidable and uncompromising portable powerhouse. It blends cutting-edge hardware with a premium design, offering unparalleled performance for gamers, creators, and enthusiasts alike. There are some trade-offs, of course, such as acoustic performance, as cooling an i9 and an RTX 5090, the fans do kick up a storm, so for gamers, you’ll be wanting to wear a pair of noise-cancelling headphones. It’s not louder than high-end gaming laptops that came before it, but it’s about what you expect. It’ll chew through its battery pretty swiftly, especially if you’re maxing out a game like Cyberpunk. So, be prepared to travel with the power brick too; you’ll need it.
Hardware
The hardware within the Aorus Master 18 is truly top-tier. The Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor, with its 24 cores, delivers exceptional CPU performance, even surpassing some desktop CPUs in benchmarks like Cinebench. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 (mobile variant) with 24GB GDDR7 is, without a doubt, the most powerful laptop GPU currently available, offering desktop-class gaming experiences on the go. Easily matching the desktop performance of the RTX 4090, the mobile 5090 is a formidable graphics card. The 32GB of high-speed DDR5 RAM ensures smooth multitasking, and the dual 1TB NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSDs provide blistering storage speeds, with the option for RAID0 for even faster data access. The WINDFORCE Infinity Cooling system, featuring a vapour chamber, five heat pipes, and dual fans, is crucial for maintaining peak performance during demanding tasks and ensuring the components remain cool.
Build Quality
Gigabyte has done an impressive job of cramming such high-end components into an 18-inch form factor, which, while large, is still remarkably compact given the power it houses, and I prefer the larger screen for gaming anyway, and the fact it provides room for a full-size keyboard with numberpad. The chassis feels robust and well-constructed, and the inclusion of vibrant RGB lighting, including the front and rear light bars, a fully RGB keyboard, and even an LED-lit Aorus logo with a desk projection, adds to its premium aesthetic. The cooling solution is visibly substantial, with fat exhausts and multiple intakes, underscoring a focus on thermal management.
Display Performance
The 18-inch QHD+ (2560×1600) MiniLED display is a standout feature. Its 240Hz refresh rate ensures incredibly smooth visuals, particularly beneficial for fast-paced gaming. With VESA DisplayHDR 1000 certification, 100% DCI-P3 colour coverage, and Pantone Validation, the display delivers exceptional colour accuracy, vibrant HDR content, and deep contrast. I’ve never seen a display max 100% on DCI-P3, so it cannot be understated how impressive this is. The matte coating effectively diffuses reflections, making it comfortable to use even in bright environments.
Gaming
Gaming on the Aorus Master 18 is an exceptional experience. As demonstrated by the benchmarks, it can comfortably handle the graphically demanding titles at its native QHD+ resolution, even with ray tracing and path tracing enabled. Spider-Man ran at an impressive 90 FPS with ray tracing, and with DLSS and frame generation, it soared to 180-190 FPS, approaching the display’s 240Hz limit. Cyberpunk 2077, a notorious system killer, was still 24 FPS with full path tracing and ultra settings, and with recommended scaling and frame generation, it became a smooth 58 FPS experience so only minor tuning is required to hit 60 FPS there. Turning off ray tracing completely transforms the experience, pushing frame rates to 130-140 FPS. This laptop is a true gaming beast, capable of delivering silky-smooth, high-fidelity gameplay across the board.
Day-to-Day Usage
For everyday tasks such as web browsing, productivity, and video calls, the Aorus Master 18 is, predictably, overkill. The Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor, fast RAM and storage ensure that it handles these tasks with effortless speed and responsiveness. The large 18-inch screen is an advantage for multitasking, allowing users to have multiple windows open side-by-side comfortably. While its size and weight limit its portability for frequent travel, for those who use it as a powerful desktop replacement or for occasional transport, it provides an unparalleled experience. The Wi-Fi 7 and 2.5GbE LAN ensure fast and reliable internet connectivity for all daily needs too, taking advantage of the latest network options.
Should I Buy One
If you are an enthusiast, a professional content creator, or a serious gamer who demands the absolute best performance from a “portable” system and have a budget that can accommodate it, then the Gigabyte Aorus Master 18 is an outstanding choice. It offers a combination of cutting-edge CPU and GPU power, a stunning MiniLED display, robust cooling, and premium features that few other laptops can match. While its size and weight make it less suitable for constant on-the-go use, as a portable powerhouse for intense workloads and high-fidelity gaming, it excels. If uncompromising performance and a top-tier visual experience are your priorities, and the price is not a deterrent, then the Aorus Master 18 is definitely worth the investment, and it’ll outpace most people’s desktop systems when it comes to performance. It’s the fastest laptop we’ve ever tested, by quite a large margin.
