After a few bumps in the road, systems sporting Nvidia GeForce RTX 50 Series Mobile graphics are finally making their way to market. Their arrival also marks the advent of Gigabyte’s first 18in gaming laptop, Aorus Master 18 AM8H. This dual debut comes together to great effect, creating a proper portable powerhouse.
Gigabyte Aorus Master 18 AM8H
£3,900 / $4,400
Pros
- High-end CPU and GPU combo
- Fantastic Mini LED screen
- Great connectivity
- Solid build quality
Cons
- Limited software controls
- Loud under CPU load
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How we test and review products.
Some describe 18in gaming laptops as “desktop replacements”, given their size and the horsepower their hardware provides. It’s a description that aptly applies to Aorus Master 18 AM8H, packing a flagship experience into an attractive all-in-one package. Having so much power on the go comes at a cost of course, and this system is no exception with a starting price of £3,900 / $4,400. Those that can stomach the price, though, will find their cash well-spent in the name of performance.
Specs
Gigabyte offers Aorus 18 AM8H in two core configurations: BYH and BZH. Graphics makes up the only difference between these models, as they respectively sport Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile and Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile. I’m putting BZH through its paces, which should demonstrate the best this laptop can be.
| Aorus Master 18 AM8H BZH | |
|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX |
| GPU | Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile |
| Display | 18in Mini LED (2560×1440 / 240Hz) |
| RAM | 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-4,800 |
| Storage | 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD (x2) |
| Battery | 99WHr |
| Connectivity | 2.5Gb LAN 3.5mm audio combo Bluetooth 5.4 HDMI 2.1 (x1) SD card reader (x1) Thunderbolt 4 (x1) Thunderbolt 5 (x1) USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gb/s) Type-A (x3) WiFi 7 |
| OS | Windows 11 Pro |
| Weight | 3.5kg |
| Dimensions | 400.76mm (W) x 287mm (D) x 30.9 mm (H) |
| Extras | ARGB backlit keyboard FHD (1080p) IR webcam |
| Price | £3,900 |
I’ll discuss each of these specifications in more detail throughout the relevant subsections of this review. Broadly speaking, though, Aorus Master 18 AM8H ticks all the boxes you’d expect from a flagship gaming laptop in terms of hardware.
Design
With its lid clasped shut, Aorus Master 18 AM8H dons a stealthy appearance as an almost non-descript black slate save for its Aorus eagle logo. However, its gaming laptop identity is unmistakable while open with its ARGB rainbow keyboard proudly firing off all the colours of the rainbow. Of course, you can easily customise this lightshow to your liking via GiMate software.
Following a few clicks of customisation, I can look beyond the blinding lights of the laptop and soak in its design. Following in the footsteps of most other 18in systems, Gigabyte constructs the base out of high-quality plastic and lid out of metal. It applies a rubberised coating to the top-half of the base, which not only assists with palm grip but also gives it a more premium feel.
Measuring in at 400.76mm (W) x 287mm (D) x 30.9 mm (H), Aorus Master 18 AM8H soaks up space whether you’re placing it on a desk or trying to fit into your backpack. It’s one of heavier 18in laptops around too at 3.5kg, but trading off what little portability these laptops already have, adding a few hundred grams more than its competitors gives clear benefits.
There’s no noticeable flex in the base of the unit and there’s nary a hint of a wobble from the screen thanks to super-rigid hinges. As much as it takes space and strength to live with this system, there’s no denying it’s structurally sound.
I’ve written the majority of this review using Aorus Master 18 AM8H’s keyboard and it performs well enough for a set of laptop keys. However, I do wish that Gigabyte made secondary functions on both the numpad and number keys transparent for the sake of illumination. More pressingly, solid as the typing experience is, the base’s sharp edges can press uncomfortably into your arms at times.
In terms of audio, the laptop packs a six speaker array. Two woofers fire downwards from the base, while four drivers spread across the side and top push sound sideways and upwards. The system handles high and midrange frequencies solidly, capturing the woodwinds and strings of Howard Shore’s ‘Concerning Hobbits’ with expected whimsy. However, bass lacks depth and punch as low-end-heavy tracks like Lady Gaga’s ‘Garden of Eden’ illustrate.
These traits also apply while watching films or playing games using Aorus Master 18 AM8H. A good set of headphones will provide a more engaging listening experience, as is generally the case with laptop audio. Should you just want to kick back in comfort, though, then you’ll be thankful to have these speakers on standby.
Aorus Master 18 AM8H offers ample connectivity along either side of its base. On the left, you’ll find a 2.5Gb Ethernet port, HDMI 2.1 output, alongside a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, and Thunderbolt 5 Type-C. Meanwhile, on the right, there are another two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A inputs, a Thunderbolt 4 Type-C, and a full-size SD card reader.
Both Thunderbolt 4 and 5 ports support Power Delivery 3.0, providing up to 100W of charge. This is useful in a pinch to provide power to peripherals or to the laptop, but you’re going to want to keep that power brick handy for any serious gaming or power-intensive work. These headers can also double as convenient connectors to other displays via DP Alt. Mode, in addition to running in USB 4 mode if required.
The laptop connects to wireless networks with both reliably and speedily thanks to WiFi 7, with no issues falling back to WiFi 6E on my home setup. Meanwhile Bluetooth 5.4 makes it easy to get all the benefits out of my wireless peripherals, be it a controller or headphones.
Screen
In lieu of an OLED panel, Gigabyte equips Aorus Master AM8H with an 18in Mini LED screen. It rocks a native resolution of 2560×1600 (QHD+) combined with a 240Hz refresh rate, making it a great display for cinematic and competitive games.
As much as a larger panel increases size and weight of a laptop, it remains one of the key advantages of opting for an 18in model like Aorus Master AM8H. More screen real estate makes for more immersive experiences, whether you’re playing games or watching videos.
SDR performance is expectedly great but the screen also offers a genuine HDR experience too. This in large part thanks to its 2,304 dimming zones, equating to an impressive 128 zones per inch, enhancing contrast by disabling portions of the backlight as necessary. It also supports Dolby Vision too but the number of games supporting this standard is far lower relative to films and shows on streaming services.
| Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|
| AdobeRGB | 86% |
| DCI-P3 | 98% |
| sRGB | 100% |
| Brightness | 1-561nits (SDR) / 11-828nits (HDR) |
| Colour Accuracy | 1.1 (Avg. Delta E) / 2.44 (Max. Delta E) |
Gigabyte claims its screen covers 100% of the DCI-P3 colour space in addition to boasting a peak brightness of 1,200nits. This isn’t quite the case according to my testing, but 98% coverage is pretty close. It’s unclear what percent of a window this 1,200 metric comes from, but I’ve seen this panel get plenty-bright at 828nits in HDR, blowing all OLEDs out of the water. Contrast will never match the endless depth of self-emissive displays, but 31,500:1 is still impressive.
Performance
Out of the box, Aorus Master 18 AM8H uses its ‘Balance Mode’ power profile. There are several others available to choose from, namely ‘Creator’, ‘Game’, ‘Power Saving’, and ‘Online Meeting’. Gigabyte provides tooltips that provide some clarification to their purpose and differences but there’s frustratingly no detail on how any of them affect CPU or GPU power limits.
Using Balance Mode sets the laptop’s fan profile to ‘Performance’ mode while plugged in and ‘Silent’ on battery. Switching between profiles is simple, choosing from a dropdown selection in GiMate software. However, their availability will vary, as you can’t return to ‘Performance’ mode while on battery for example. While I’d prefer to have the full selection available to me at all times, these default selections are at least appropriate for the use case.
For benchmarks below, I’ve not amended any settings to show what an out-of-the-box experience with Aorus Master 18 AM8H is like. However, it’s worth noting that enabling Gigabyte’s ‘AI Boost II’ feature can push performance a touch further via dynamic overclocks.
CPU
At the heart of Aorus Master 18 AM8H is a Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU, arriving with 24 (8P+16E) cores, 32 threads, and a maximum turbo frequency of 5.4GHz. While it falls just shy of flagship status, conceding the title to its sibling 285HX on account of a 100MHz difference in clock speeds, it’s so close that you’d struggle to notice the difference.
| Benchmark | Score |
|---|---|
| Cinebench 2024 ST | 124 |
| Cinebench 2024 MT | 1,808 |
| Geekbench 6 ST | 2,852 |
| Geekbench 6 MT | 18,112 |
Gigabyte affords Core Ultra 9 275HX up to 95W to play with, a welcome wad of watts above its 55W base TDP but short of its 160W maximum. While this theoretically leaves some performance on the table, few will fault its capabilities in this configuration when battery life is on the table.
Comparing the scores above with desktop processors, Core Ultra 9 275HX finds itself rubbing shoulders with Core i5-14600K. Its multi core chops nicely exceed those of its predecessor, Core i9-14900HX, by 15% comparing results here to the Geekbench 6 database.
| Benchmark | CPU (score) | GPU (score) | NPU (score) |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB AI FP32 | 7,864 | 5,315 | 7,864 |
| GB AI FP16 | 7,827 | 8,406 | 9,853 |
| GB AI Quantized | 15,380 | 12,727 | 15,239 |
Core Ultra 9 275HX is a dab hand at providing hardware acceleration for machine learning applications, but its included Neural Processing Unit (NPU) pushes its talents further. Running the same OpenVINO benchmark in Geekbench AI on CPU, GPU, and NPU, it’s clear the specialist chip is best at handling FP16 and FP32 workloads.
Of course, there are frameworks like ONNX that will benefit more from the grunt dedicated graphics provide but it’s great to have options. The right tool for the job isn’t always a sledgehammer, and by the same token sometimes efficiency trumps performance.
Gaming
This laptop’s made for gaming and that’s just what it’ll do. I’ll be exploring how Aorus Master 18 AM8H’s raster and ray tracing rendering chops stack up, both at its native QHD+ resolution as well as FHD+. Expect a sprinkle of DLSS 4 benchmarks too.
| Benchmark | Score |
|---|---|
| 3DMark Steel Nomad | 6,072 |
| 3DMark Speed Way | 6,305 |
Kicking off proceedings with 3DMark, it’s readily apparent that RTX 5090 Mobile is a far cry from its desktop counterpart. The scores above are actually far closer to RTX 5070 in Steel Nomad, and RTX 4070 Ti Super in Speed Way.
This isn’t too surprising given the swathe of specifications separating mobile and desktop RTX 5090. For starters, their GPU dies are completely difference (GB202 vs. GB203). The point is one shouldn’t expect comparable performance between them despite them sharing the same name.
Disclaimers aside, RTX 5090 Mobile remains the fastest dedicated graphics you can get in a mobile device. Scores of 6,000 equate to 60fps in either benchmark, so Aorus Master 18 AM8H is off to a solid start.
| Benchmark | 2560×1600 (QHD+) [Min. / Avg.] | 1920×1200 (FHD+) [Min. / Avg.] |
|---|---|---|
| Assassin’s Creed Mirage | 90fps / 124fps | 106fps / 155fps |
| FFXIV: Dawntrail | 65fps / 138fps | 65fps / 180fps |
| Forza Motorsport | 54fps / 73fps | 75fps / 101fps |
| Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord | 139fps / 209fps | 177fps / 283fps |
| Rainbow Six Extraction | 119fps / 189fps | 185fps / 272fps |
Running through the Club386 test suite, Aorus Master 18 AM8H rises to the occasion with flair. The laptop delivers impressive performance at its native QHD+ resolution using the highest settings in each game, with just Forza Motorsport proving the exception in an otherwise perfect streak of 60fps+ minimum and average frame rates. Dropping down to FHD+ naturally frees up the laptop to go even further beyond and properly flex its 240Hz panel.
Earlier comparisons of RTX 5090 Mobile to RTX 5070 hold true but this is plenty of firepower for QHD+ gaming. That’s not forgetting the healthy 24GB frame buffer this GPU has its disposal, allowing it to easily handle higher resolution textures and effects unlike the desktop card.
| Cyberpunk 2077 RT Overdrive | 2560×1600 (QHD+) [Min. / Avg.] | 1920×1200 (FHD+) [Min. / Avg.] |
|---|---|---|
| Native | 23fps / 26fps | 34fps / 39fps |
| DLSS Quality | 42fps / 47fps | 61fps / 67fps |
| DLSS Quality + FG x1 | 80fps / 86fps | 111fps / 122fps |
| DLSS Quality + FG x2 | 112fps / 123fps | 160fps / 176fps |
| DLSS Quality + FG x3 | 140fps / 154fps | 206fps / 226fps |
Of course, RTX 5090 Mobile has DLSS 4 up its proverbial sleeve to increase frame rates via upscaling and/or frame generation. The suite can provide welcome performance boosts in a large library of games that’s ever-growing, but is a must for path tracing workloads including Cyberpunk 2077’s RT Overdrive mode.
Sans DLSS 4, RTX 5090 Mobile can’t muster playable frame rates at QHD+ but manages an acceptable 39fps dropping down to FHD+. Engaging DLSS Super Resolution both resolutions become viable, with FHD+ even punching above 60fps. Given that this GPU can run Nvidia’s higher-quality Transformer model without penalty, I’d happily drop from ‘Quality’ to ‘Balanced’ to bring QHD+ up to speed.
An ideal experience with frame generation calls for a base frame rate of at least 60fps to keep latency in check. FHD+ in combination with DLSS Quality meets this requirement, allowing me to supercharge average frame rates all the way up to 226fps. This doesn’t feel the same as native 226fps but greatly improves motion clarity.
RAM
RAM speeds are unfortunately on the slower side in Aorus Master 18 AM8H, but the reasons for this are partly out of Gigabyte’s control. As the laptop packs four SO-DIMM slots, its Core Ultra 200HX processor runs memory in a 2DPC (2 DIMMs Per Channel) configuration per Intel’s specifications.
| AIDA64 | Result |
|---|---|
| Read | 72,554MB/s |
| Write | 68,765MB/s |
| Copy | 67,478MB/s |
| Latency | 123.7ns |
As a result, the 32GB of DDR5 in this laptop can only run at a maximum of 4,800MT/s. This same limitation also applies to models that arrive with 64GB of capacity. It seems to me that opting for two SO-DIMM slots and prioritising speed would’ve been the smarter move here. Unsurprisingly, lower memory clocks beget middling memory performance.
Storage
Rather than including a single spacious storage option, Gigabyte includes two PCIe 4.0 SSDs inside Aorus Master 18 AM8H. The laptop does support PCIe 5.0 storage but its inclusion would naturally push the price of the system up further. Still, if speed is your priority then there’s nothing stopping you slotting in a Samsung 9100 Pro or other bleeding-edge drive.
Querying the identity of these drives through HWInfo, neither are off-the-shelf components. Instead they appear to be OEM models from Kingston (SSD #1) and Gigabyte (#2).
| CrystalDiskMark | SSD #1 | SSD #2 |
|---|---|---|
| Seq. Read | 4,794MB/s | 7,025MB/s |
| Seq. Write | 3,734MB/s | 5,936MB/s |
Running each SSD through CrystalDiskMark, it’s clear they’re not on equal footing. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing but Gigabyte puzzlingly places Windows on the slower drive, in turn making it the default path for applications. It makes far more sense to make the faster NVMe the primary storage and use the other as a secondary solution.
Regardless of which SSD is at the helm, the idea of managing storage on a laptop this expensive doesn’t feel appropriate. I’d personally prefer Aorus Master 18 AM8H come with a single SSD that offered both ample speed and space.
Vitals
Taking a peak under the hood, Aorus Master 18 AM8H generally manages temperatures and noise well. However, under certain circumstances its CPU can put a small dampener on proceedings.
| Idle | Load | |
|---|---|---|
| CPU temperature | 50°C | 88°C |
| GPU temperature | 40°C | 66°C |
| Noise | ≤30db | 54-61db |
| Power consumption | 61.8W | 281.8W |
Sitting idle, this laptop is practically silent. Its ‘Performance’ fan profile only kicks in once the CPU reaches 45°C spinning at 20% speed, maintaining a cool and quiet head. However, it will aggressively ramp up and becomes impossible to ignore at 61db. Such a ceiling only occurs when the processor kicks up a fuss, though, with GPU-heavy scenarios peaking at a more reasonable 54db.
It’s easy to see why since Core Ultra 9 275HX gets hot and sweaty to the tune of 88°C under the duress of Cinebench 2024. Meanwhile, RTX 5090 Mobile is far cooler, at 66°C pumping out frames in Cyberpunk 2077.
Unfortunately, there’s no way to customise these fan profiles or create your own. Competitors like Razer Blade 18 provide the means to do this, in addition to customisable power limits, and the absence of such functionality here is odd.
Battery
Given the calibre of components inside Aorus Master 18 AM8H, it should come as no surprise that battery life isn’t a massive priority for this laptop. Gigabyte fits the system with a 99Whr cell, so there’s plenty of ‘leccy in its reserves to pull from but hungry hardware can quickly transform plentiful powerful into a pittance.
Running PCMark10’s ‘Gaming’ battery life test, the laptop managed to keep on ticking for 1hr and 48mins. For context, this is using the dGPU, which Aorus Master 18 AM8H will advise you disable while running on battery. Doing so will improve uptime but will naturally lead to significantly worse gaming performance.
Using the system more generally, for writing, music, and other low-intensity tasks, I’m able to squeeze five or six hours of use on a single charge. Running Procyon’s one hour office benchmark lines up with this, as the laptop lost around 18% charge per hour, translating to five-and-a-half in total. Note these numbers come from using the CPU’s integrated graphics and running the display at 60Hz, which switches automatically while running on battery.
Conclusion
Bigger isn’t always better, but Aorus Master 18 AM8H does prove the exception in many respects. Games look and play brilliantly on its large Mini LED screen, serving as a spectacular showcase of the internal hardware’s capabilities, particularly with DLSS 4 in tow. Film, TV, and other video content similarly looks fantastic to the point that it’s easy to forgive the small shortcomings of the laptop’s speakers.
Niggles like SSD management and temperamental acoustics do leave some room for improvement, but they’re certainly not deal breakers. Gigabyte can theoretically remedy the latter issue with an update to its GiMate software, opening up customisation for fan curves, but there’s no sign of that for the moment. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.
Were I in the market looking to splurge around £4,000 / $4,000 on a gaming laptop, I’d certainly place Aorus Master 18 AM8H on my shortlist if not outright buy it. There are configurations of the BZH SKU available with 64GB of RAM for some extra cash, but I’d recommend most prospective buyers stick with 32GB options.
