When it comes to inexpensive gaming laptops, Gigabyte isn’t generally the first name that comes to mind. There were various reasons for this, particularly because the G5 series fell significantly short of the competition in terms of specs. However, Gigabyte’s upcoming G5 lineup is certainly shaking things up, with the latest 12th generation processors teamed with RTX 30 series GPUs. So much so that if you’re looking for a good budget gaming laptop, you should think about Gigabyte. That being said, you’re here for the “why” you should buy this laptop, so let’s get into the Gigabyte G5 KE review.
Gigabyte G5 KE - Specs At A Glance
Processor: 12th Gen Intel Core i5-12500H
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU 6GB GDDR6
Display: 15.6-inch FHD 144Hz Display
RAM: 16GB DDR4-3200
I/O: 1 x Type A USB 2.0 port, 1 x Type A USB 3.2 Gen 1 port
1 x Type C USB 3.2 Gen 2 port, 1 x Thunderbolt 4 port
1 x Mini DP 1.4, 1 x HDMI 2.1
1 x Combo Audio Jack, 1 x Microphone Jack
1 x RJ-45 LAN port, 1 x MicroSD Card Reader
Bluetooth V5.2
Battery: Lithium-Ion 54Wh
180W
Dimensions: 36.0 (W) x 23.8 (D) x 2.39(H) cm
Weight: 2kg
Gigabyte G5 KE - Build And Design
The Gigabyte G5 KE does not draw much notice to itself right out of the box. With the angular decal on the bottom left corner (or top right depending on how you look at it) of the lid and the same angular design on the vent grills on the sides of the laptop, one might argue it has a minimalistic gamer aesthetic.
Gigabyte isn’t usually the first name that comes to mind when it comes to low-cost gaming laptops. There were several reasons for this, mainly because the G5 series fell well short of the competition in terms of specifications. Gigabyte’s new G5 lineup, on the other hand, is surely changing things up, with the latest 12th generation processors paired with RTX 30 series GPUs. So much so that Gigabyte should be considered if you’re searching for a nice budget gaming laptop. That said, you’re here to find out “why” you should buy this laptop, so let’s get started with the Gigabyte G5 KE review.
The keyboard on the G5 KE impressed us; it has good travel and provides good feedback. We also felt the key spacing to be adequate. Overall, the laptop provides a pleasurable typing experience. A numpad is also included, which is convenient. The trackpad is quite simple. It’s not overly big, so it won’t interfere with your typing or gameplay. We assume that, like us, most people will disable the trackpad and use a mouse 95 percent of the time. However, we had no problems with the trackpad.
In addition to the grill for the fans, there are speaker cutouts near the rubber bases for the laptop under the laptop. These bases make the laptop fairly sticky, preventing it from slipping off on slanted surfaces.
In terms of build quality, the G5 KE has a matte plastic body. The keys are made of smooth plastic, but the body of the laptop has a somewhat textured feel. Despite its plastic construction, the laptop feels quite strong, and neither the keyboard nor the laptop display flexed excessively. Even the laptop display hinge was reasonably strong. When the laptop is closed, there is also very little flex. Overall, there’s nothing particularly noteworthy about the Gigabyte G5 KE’s build or design, but we didn’t have any issues either.
Gigabyte G5 KE - I/O
When it comes to I/O port options, the G5 KE covers almost all bases. On the left side of the laptop, you’ll find a single USB-A 2.0 port, a USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 port, a combination audio jack, and a microphone jack. So you could maybe connect two microphones to this laptop.
A Thunderbolt 4 port, an ethernet port, and a microSD card reader slot are located on the right side of the laptop.
Finally, a USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 port, a Mini DP port, and an HDMI 2.1 port are located below the laptop. We did felt like we were missing one USB-A port, but considering everything else you get with the Gigabyte G5 KE, we can’t really complain. They also most likely run out of real estate.
Gigabyte G5 KE - Display
The Gigabyte G5 KE’s display isn’t its best feature. In this price range, we’ve seen brighter and better displays. Having saying that, the display isn’t all that bad. The display of the Gigabyte G5 KE is 15.6-inch FHD 144Hz. During our tests, we measured a peak brightness of 241 nits, which is enough for use inside. However, you may encounter difficulties outside; why are you even going out with a gaming laptop? With 61 percent sRGB coverage, you generally wouldn’t want to use this laptop for colour accurate editing tasks. However, for general media watching and gaming, this display should be adequate.
Gigabyte G5 KE - Performance
The Gigabyte G5 KE is equipped with an Intel Core i5-12500H, a superb budget processor from Intel. The synthetic benchmarks speak for themselves, and the results are on level with, if not better than, the majority of comparable laptops in the same price range.
The Intel Core i5-12500H performs admirably in the G5 KE, even matching earlier generation i7s.
The same can be said for the R23 benchmark; however, the processor falls short in multithread performance. Regardless, the processor’s performance will have little effect on your gaming or normal day-to-day work.
In terms of RAM, according to our AIDA64 testing, the DDR4-3200 RAM operates as predicted, even exceeding several other DDR4-3200 laptops we’ve tested recently.
Finally, we saw read rates north of 4500 MB/s on the 512GB SSD in the G5 KE, which is the highest we’ve tested this year. However, according to the CrystalDiskMark benchmark, write speeds were around 2200 MB/s, which is considerably slower.
So far, the Gigabyte G5 KE has gotten everything right in terms of hardware, including the CPU, RAM, and SSD. The NVIDIA RTX 3060 now powers the gaming experience. The RTX 3060 is a superb entry-level gaming laptop GPU, capable of handling all current AAA games at medium to high settings in FHD. It’s also quite future-proof in terms of gaming laptops, so you should be fine for the next several years.
We used in-game benchmarks from titles such as Metro Exodus, Dirt 5, Gears 5, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and others in addition to synthetic gaming benchmarks from 3DMark.
While the G5 KE fell short in synthetic benchmarks, it performed identically in real-world gaming benchmarks, and in some cases outperformed the competition. Processor-intensive titles such as Valorant and Shadow of the Tomb Raider saw the greatest change in FPS, indicating that Gigabyte is doing something right.
Heat And Noise
When it comes to heat and noise, the Gigabyte G5 KE is once again in the middle of the pack. It can get noisy and hot when stressed, but it’s hardly the hottest or loudest thing out there. We had no issues because it was clearly within the parameters of a gaming laptop. However, we discovered that the laptop throttled the most of the bunch in the sector, albeit by a little margin. But, once again, by a very narrow margin.
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