I miss high-quality, affordable gaming laptops. Getting the most for the least is a dream for any young gamer looking to connect with online friends on a system that won’t break when watching 3D graphics. I thought the Gigabyte G6 KF (2024) would be what you wanted, but it wasn’t.
All the Gigabyte G6 KF could offer at its four-figure price point was a bright display, which is what made me think bright That’s being generous. Let’s start with the mediocre performance of its Intel Core i7-13620H CPU and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU. Then we move on to the clunky keyboard design and hollow speakers. Then we move on to the poor battery life. And top it off with a 16-inch display that’s more black and white than it is color.
Please feel free to contact us. best cheap gaming laptops Take a look at the page and you’ll notice that the list isn’t long. That’s because gaming laptops like the Gigabyte G6 KF (2024) can quickly disappoint.
Gigabyte G6 KF (2024): Specifications
| price | Out of stock (1TB model is $1,019, starting price is $949) |
| CPU | Intel Core i7-13620H |
| Graphics Processor | Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 8GB |
| Ram | 16 GB |
| storage | 512GB SSD (only 1TB SSD available) |
| screen | 16 inch, 1920 x 1200, 165Hz |
| battery | 3:28 |
| size | 14.15 x 10.38 x 1.02 inches |
| weight | 5.1 pounds |
Gigabyte G6 KF (2024): Price and configuration
Unfortunately, the Gigabyte G6 KF (2024) that I reviewed is currently out of stock. The unit comes with an Intel Core i7-13620H processor, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 8GB GPU, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, and a 16-inch, 1920 x 1200, 165Hz display. The model available, however, comes with a 1TB SSD and costs $1,019.
The base model costs $949 and drops to an RTX 4050. Not worth it. Pay an extra $70 to upgrade the GPU. Meanwhile, the top-of-the-line model costs $1,279 and comes with 32GB of RAM. Not worth it.
It’s hard to find a cheaper gaming laptop, but if you want a premium machine, Best Gaming Laptops.
Gigabyte G6 KF (2024): Design
It’s simple. It looks like a prop from a movie set. The Gigabyte G6 KF’s lid is black with a white Gigabyte logo and a glossy black stamp that says “Gaming.” Breathe.
The inside is pretty much the same. A black deck. Black and white keys on a keyboard that hangs down from the deck. There’s also a “Gaming” sticker, but this time on the touchpad. Thin bezels on the sides combined with a thick bottom. There’s nothing particularly striking about the design. It’s not ugly. It’s just boring.
At 5.1 pounds and 14.15 x 10.38 x 1.02 inches, the Gigabyte G6 KF is the lightest of its competitors. Gigabyte G6X 9KG 2024 (5.7 pounds, 14.2 x 10.2 x 1.1 inches), Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 (5.7 pounds, 14.09 x 10.97 x 1.02 inches), and Acer Nitro 17 (6.8 lbs, 14.1 x 11 x 1 in).
Gigabyte G6 KF (2024): Ports
One of the best things about the Gigabyte G6 KF, or maybe more than one, are the ports.
On the left side you’ll find two USB Type-A ports, a headphone jack, and a microphone jack, while on the right you’ll find one USB Type-C port, an Ethernet port, and a microSD card slot.
Flip it over and you’ll find the power jack, one USB Type-C port, an HDMI port, and a Mini DisplayPort on the backside.
Need more ports? Best USB Type-C Hubs and Best Laptop Docking Stations page.
Gigabyte G6 KF (2024): Display
I The display is the most important part of a gaming laptop.Unfortunately, this is also the first thing budget gaming laptops sacrifice in order to cut costs, and with that in mind, I’ve given the Gigabyte G6 KF a fair amount of leeway, but the 16-inch, 1920 x 1200, 165Hz display is still disappointing, even by the low standards of budget gaming laptops.
Running through the jungle Far Cry 6The greens looked like something spat out by a cheap printer with the ink saving setting on. I raided a base in the middle of the night and could still make out the shadows of my enemies despite the poor lighting, which was nice. Also, at low settings, the 165Hz made it smoother.
In Borderlands But in the film’s trailer, the display was too dark to capture detail in the dimly lit vault — Cate Blanchett’s vibrant red hair looked dull — while the baseline 1200p was still crisp, showing detail down to the strands of Kevin Hart’s beard.
According to our colorimeter, the Gigabyte G6 KF covers just 46.7% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, which is dull compared to the average entry-level gaming laptop (71%), and is closer to grayscale than the G6X 9KG (47.3%), Helios Neo 16 (92%), and Nitro 17 (84.3%).
But with 310 nits of brightness, the Gigabyte G6 KF is decent for the price, though it’s still dimmer than the category average (331 nits), the G6X 9KG (325 nits), the Helios Neo 16 (370 nits), and the Acer Nitro 17 (348 nits).
Gigabyte G6 KF (2024): Keyboard and Touchpad
The Gigabyte G6 KF’s keyboard, with a deep 2.0 mm key travel, felt good to type on, but it wasn’t comfortable. The keyboard is wide and on the verge of hitting the edge of the laptop, and the touchpad is too far to the left. Add to that the sharp corners of the deck, and you have a design that makes for an awkward and painful experience.
In the 10fastfingers.com typing test, I managed a typing speed of 87 words per minute, which is better than my usual average of 81 words per minute. But it comes at the cost of digging your wrist into the corner of the laptop. Unless you rest your palm on the touchpad, there’s not much you can do. Plus, like its sibling, the Gigabyte G6X 9KG 2024, the deck flexes a lot when you type.
Speaking of the touchpad, its wide 3.7 x 6.1-inch size is handy if you misplace it, and it has a good click to it, though it’s made of plastic, so there’s some resistance.
Gigabyte G6 KF (2024): Audio
Even with the help of DTS:X Ultra, the speakers firing sound from the bottom of the Gigabyte G6 KF sounded as if the sound had to be filtered through a tin can before reaching my ears.
I spoke to Philadelphia. Far Cry 6Though the conversation was face-to-face, it seemed to come from a radio. The sounds of gunfire and grenades were muted and the sounds we heard were hollow. The audio was so muddied that even the sound of cars crashing against the road was indistinguishable from the sound of rain.
Chapel Lawn’s “Good luck, baby!” I wanted to scream. It was a beautiful song reduced to noise. The opening percussion was weightless, the following vocals were clear but the high notes were unpleasantly sharp, and the synthesizers in the background blended with the other instruments and were barely audible.
Yes, there is a DTS:X Ultra app, but it’s not very useful.
Gigabyte G6 KF (2024): Gaming and Graphics
The Gigabyte G6 KF, equipped with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU with 8GB of VRAM, supported me as I zip-lined across the grounds. Far Cry 6 And it blasted enemies at a whopping 77 frames per second at Ultra, 1200p settings.
upper Borderlands 3 In the benchmark (Badass, 1080p), the Gigabyte G6 KF recorded 65 fps (62 fps at 1200p), significantly behind the G6X 9KG (81 fps), Helios Neo 16 (84 fps) and Nitro 17 (84 fps), all of which support the same RTX 4060 GPU.
Gigabyte G6 KF Cyberpunk 2077 The benchmark (Ultra, 1080p) was a tough one, as it didn’t meet the minimum playable fps of 30. The G6X 9KG (32 fps), Helios Neo 16 (32 fps), and Nitro 17 (30 fps) all performed at a playable level.
upper Assassin’s Creed Mirage In the benchmark (Ultra, 1080p), the Gigabyte G6 KF achieved 78 fps (76 fps native), again the lowest score compared to the G6X 9KG (92 fps), Helios Neo 16 (88 fps) and Nitro 17 (94 fps).
Ride that horse Red Dead Redemption 2 At (Medium, 1080p), the situation didn’t change dramatically: the Gigabyte G6 KF managed an average frame rate of 55 fps (51 fps native), but still a difference of 10 orders of magnitude compared to the G6X 9KG (63 fps), Helios Neo 16 (65 fps) and Nitro 17 (64 fps).
GIGABYTE G6 KF (2024): Performance
This was strong performance for gaming. Will overall performance change? It has an Intel Core i7-13620H processor and 16GB of RAM. FYI, this is last year’s processor. Yes, it can still do the basics and I was able to manage a few dozen Google Chrome tabs and a few YouTube videos while still having Spotify running in the background.
In the Geekbench 6.3 Overall Performance test, the Gigabyte G6 KF scored 11,455 points. The Core i7-13650HX in the G6X 9KG (14,287), the Core i9-14900HX in the Helios Neo 16 (16,730), and the Ryzen 7 8845HS in the Acer Nitro 17 (12,358) all performed significantly better.
In our HandBrake benchmark, the Gigabyte G6 KF transcoded a 4K video to 1080p in 6 minutes and 7 seconds, which is significantly slower than the G6X 9KG (4:35), Helios Neo 16 (3:10), and Nitro 17 (4:18).
Gigabyte’s 512GB SSD has a transfer speed of 1,160 MBps, which is nowhere near what we need, with the G6X 9KG (1,408 MBps), Helios Neo 16 (2,121 MBps) and Nitro 17 (1,845 MBps) being several hundred MB faster.
Gigabyte G6 KF (2024): Battery life
It feels like each section of this review gets worse, but battery life on gaming laptops is already murky, and the Gigabyte G6 KF still falls short.
In Laptop Mag’s battery tests, the Gigabyte G6 KF’s battery life was 3 hours 28 minutes, more than three hours shorter than the average entry-level gaming laptop (5 hours 56 minutes). The G6X 9KG (3 hours 44 minutes), Helios Neo 16 (4 hours 9 minutes), and Nitro 17 (7 hours 23 minutes) all lasted longer.
Gigabyte G6 KF (2024): Webcam
At the very least, I usually expect a poor webcam, but this 720p shooter on the Gigabyte G6 KF is still terrible.
Seriously, every bit of this image is grainy. It’s like I’m in a 70s movie. My blue shirt is black, the window behind me is white, and my stubble is so black that it actually looks like it’s been painted over (well, maybe that’s what you’d think). Forget this webcam (and this laptop), Best Webcams.
Gigabyte G6 KF (2024): Heat
Despite little effort, the Gigabyte G6 KF gets hot under the hood.
After 15 minutes of gaming, the temperatures of the base and center of the touchpad rose to 93°F and 78.5°F, respectively, which are below our comfort temperature threshold of 95°F. However, the center of the keyboard reached 105°F, and the hottest part of the base, near the small plastic riser in the center vent, hit 113°F.
Gigabyte G6 KF (2024): Software and Warranty
Gigabyte Control Center lets you tweak CPU, GPU and fan performance, monitor internal usage and temperatures, and adjust keyboard lighting, macros and charging. Unfortunately, it’s hard to find; it’s called Control Center and doesn’t appear in the Windows app. You can access it, though, by pressing Fn + / , which is for adjusting keyboard lighting, but technically opens the app.
The Gigabyte G6 KF comes with a 1-year limited warranty.
Conclusion
Some might argue that this gaming laptop is hundreds of dollars cheaper than the competition, but that doesn’t mean it’s any wonder it’s such a terrible product. If the Gigabyte G6 KF is anything like the broken junk you find at a used car dealership, it should be half the price.
There’s always a better option, and you can buy the Acer Nitro 17 here: Micro Center $899The Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 is a bit more expensive in comparison. $1,499 at Best Buy.
Worst case scenario, save your money and get a gaming laptop that’s worth the money. Best Gaming Laptop Deals Same goes for the page. Don’t settle for the Gigabyte G6 KF.
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