For general use, the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 15" offers a superior display with touchscreen capability and higher resolution, making it ideal for everyday tasks and productivity. It's also more compact and lighter, enhancing portability. However, the Gigabyte G5 presents better value for gaming, 3D rendering, and machine learning with its dedicated Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU, which outperforms the integrated Intel Arc in the Surface Laptop. The G5's higher refresh rate and additional USB-C ports could also appeal to gamers. If portability and a high-quality touchscreen display are priorities, the Surface Laptop is the way to go. But for more intensive graphical tasks and gaming, the Gigabyte G5 is the better choice, despite being less portable and having a shorter battery life. Give Feedback
this description is based on the product variant with some specs and product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars and the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Advantages of the Gigabyte G5
Good for gaming and AI
Advantages of the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 15"
Good for software development
Very good overall display quality
Good battery life
Key differences
General Use
7.1/10
7.7/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2496 x 1664
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
248.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
400.0 nits
3.5 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
9.0 Hours
7.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.0/10
7.3/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
7.9/10
The Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 15" and Gigabyte G5 are both good for general use, though the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 15" is somewhat better.
PerfectRec’s General Use Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for general productivity, web browsing, streaming, video calls, and running a wide variety of apps and programs.
Gaming and AI
7.3/10
6.6/10
7.5/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
4.2/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2496 x 1664
144Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
Yes
SUPPORTS DLSS
No
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
6.5/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
8.0/10
The Gigabyte G5 is good for gaming and AI, while the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 15" is only fair.
PerfectRec’s Gaming and AI Score strongly emphasizes graphics processing capability, while also taking into account other factors that impact suitability for gaming and AI work.
Content Creation
7.2/10
7.8/10
8.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.7/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2496 x 1664
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 15" and Gigabyte G5 are both good for content creation, though the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 15" is somewhat better.
PerfectRec’s Content Creation Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for photo editing, video editing and other content creation tasks.
Software Development
6.8/10
7.8/10
8.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.7/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2496 x 1664
7.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.0/10
The Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 15" is good for software development, while the Gigabyte G5 is only fair.
PerfectRec’s Software Development Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for software developers.
Screen Quality
6.8/10
8.1/10
15.6in
SIZE
15.0in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2496 x 1664
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
144Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
248.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
400.0 nits
The Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 15" has a better screen than the Gigabyte G5 for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.
PerfectRec’s screen quality scores take into account various important factors that are relevant for different use cases.
Battery
3.5 Hours
9.0 Hours
The Gigabyte G5 has 3.5 hours of battery life. The Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 15" has 9 hours of battery life.
Battery life estimate is based on a mix of common use patterns. More portable and higher performing laptops tend to have less battery life.
Portability
Good
Good
15.6in
SIZE
15.0in
4.1 lbs
WEIGHT
3.7 lbs
0.8in
THICKNESS
0.6in
The Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 15" and Gigabyte G5 both have good portability, though the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 15" has somewhat better portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Cost
$868
$1,200
$400
$600
$800
$1,000
$1,200
$1,400
$1,600
$1,800
The Gigabyte G5 has a price of $868 and the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 15" costs $1,200.
The Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 15" and Gigabyte G5 are both good for engineering and design.
PerfectRec’s Engineering and Design Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for graphic design and 3D rendering work.
Build Quality
7.2/10
7.4/10
The Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 15" and Gigabyte G5 both have good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Give feedback
We’re constantly working to improve.
How the Gigabyte G5 and the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 15" compare to other laptops
"The Gigabyte G5 KE is a midrange gaming laptop that checks most boxes. Gigabyte makes good use of the Core i5-12500H and RTX 3060 Laptop GPU combo, and we find no untoward issues with overall performance. The dual-fan quad-heatpipe cooling arrangement does well to ensure that the underlying hardware doesn't throttle under load. That being said, the display is below par when compared to 2023 standards, especially when competing devices."
Get a great deal on the Gigabyte G5 or the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 15"
About Gigabyte
Gigabyte is a Taiwanese computer hardware manufacturer. While Gigabyte mainly focuses its business on desktop hardware, Gigabyte is known for its value-oriented G series laptops, thin and light Aero series, and performance-oriented Aorus series. Gigabyte laptops offer a strong value proposition to compete with mainstream alternatives.
About Microsoft
Microsoft is an American technology corporation. Microsoft is best known for their Windows operating system and Surface laptop series. The Surface Laptop is their standard notebook offering, while their Surface Go, Surface Pro, and Surface Studio are their 2-in-1/tablet offerings in order of increasing capability. Although Microsoft charges a premium price tag for their laptops, buyers can expect a well integrated and packaged device since Microsoft develops the Windows operating system.
This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec laptops team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest laptop information and makes it digestible for you.
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About the laptop team
Joe Golden, Ph.D
CEO and Laptops Editor
Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
Jason Lew
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
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Chandradeep Chowdhury
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Chandradeep is a staff expert and software engineer and expert in televisions and monitors. He’s been making monitor recommendations for ten years.
Craig Russell
Laptops Expert
Craig is a UK-based laptops expert. Craig works in IT, where he recommends and supports laptops and PCs for clients and has been recommending laptops on Reddit for five years.