While 17-inch laptops aren't quite everybody's thing, they do serve as rather potent desktop replacements, thanks to their large displays and ample thermal envelopes, while still retaining a respectable level of portability to be moved around when needed. The Aorus 17H from Gigabyte is one such contender, and thanks to an ongoing sale on Amazon US, the laptop can now be had for 'just' $1,699 - its lowest price this year so far.

The Aorus 17H sports Intel's 13th-gen Core i9-13900H 'Raptor Lake' CPU with 14 cores (6P 8E), 20 threads, and a single-core boost clock of 5.4 GHz paired with 16 GB of DDR5-4800 memory, while the RTX 4090 Laptop GPU takes care of the graphics. The laptop's beefy cooling system with dual fans allows for excellent cooling, with a maximum power envelope of 195 W (CPU GPU).

The Aorus 17H supports three power modes - Gamer, Creator, and Turbo. According to KitGuru's testing, for CPU-only workloads, creator mode might be most suitable since it runs at a sustained 70 watts without the high noise output in turbo mode. For combined workloads, on the other hand, Turbo mode might be the best fit, which, when paired with Gigabyte's AI GPU Boost, allocates 125 W to the GPU and 70 W to the CPU.

The display features a 1080P panel with a whopping 360 Hz refresh rate and almost zero ghosting, making it immaculate for esports. Owners looking for high-end color accuracy are encouraged to tame their expectations since this laptop is not really targeted at the professional creative crowd. DCI-P3 coverage is only a paltry 72%, while sRGB coverage is a more respectable 98%, as per Trusted Reviews. However, for the purpose it is meant to serve i.e. gaming, it does so rather flawlessly.

As for connectivity, the Aorus 17H sports Thunderbolt 4, HDMI 2.1, USB Type-A, Mini DP 1.4, 2.5G ethernet, and a single audio combo jack. The 99-watt hour battery delivers respectable battery life, although the 2.7 kg, 30 mm thick build makes carrying it around and absolute ordeal. However, the laptop is a great choice for anyone looking for a high-end desktop replacement laptop, as long as they are willing to sacrifice a high-res, color-accurate display.

Disclaimer: Notebookcheck is not responsible for price changes carried out by retailers. The discounted price or deal mentioned in this item was available at the time of writing and may be subject to time restrictions and/or limited unit availability.