Over the years we've become accustomed to gargantuan gaming laptops that shun refinement in favour of maximum performance, but it's 2014 and the time has come to shake off that unwanted stereotype.

In recent months we've seen manufacturers vying for consumer attention with a new range of gaming systems that are thinner and lighter than ever before, while retaining much of the performance promise that sets apart such machines from regular Ultrabooks.

The Razer Blade, Gigabyte P34G and XMG C703 are all examples of this transition to sleeker form factors, but when it comes to cramming high-end hardware into increasingly-thin chassis, we've perhaps seen nothing as bold as the Aorus X7.