From April 7, 2024, Aldi will be offering the Beast The previous version of the Beast X40 with 13900 HX processor received the “Editor’s Recommendation” award in our test. Our conclusion:
The price of the Erazer Beat X40 is generous – but so is its performance. Nvidia’s new top GPU Geforce RTX 4090 sets new speed standards in Medion’s gaming notebook, as does Intel Core i9. Almost all games run without any problems at maximum settings – and if the GPU is actually overwhelmed, Nvidia’s new upscaling technology DLSS3 ensures that the game runs smoothly. Despite the powerful performance, the X40 is neither excessively loud nor does it get noticeably hot. The rest of the equipment, including the mechanical keyboard, is at an equally high level; only the 17-inch display is more decent than great.
So these are initially good conditions for gamers, because Medion combines the powerful graphics chips with a maximum GPU power of a very high 175 watts each with the flagship processor Intel Core i9-14900HX in the current Beast X40. The 24 core can process up to 32 threads in parallel. The eight performance cores run at a base clock frequency of 2.2 GHz and a turbo clock of up to 5.8 GHz. The efficiency cores clock at 1.6 to 4.1 GHz. The very high clock speed is optimal for gaming, but the Intel CPU sucks up to 157 watts from the notebook power supply in turbo mode.
The special features of the gaming duo include the 240 Hertz fast 17-inch screen. The matte IPS display has a resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels. There is also the RGB-illuminated keyboard, which uses the quality Cherry MX Ultra Low Profile switches.
Reading tip: The best gaming laptops tested
Medion uses two 1 TB SSDs with PCIe 4.0 connection as the main memory in the 4090 version; in the model with the 4080 there is only one 1 TB SSD. Except for the graphics card and the SSD(s), the two versions of the Erazer Beast X40 are identically equipped:
Mainboard with HX770 chipset, 32 GB DDR5 memory with up to 5600 MHz as well as the WLAN module Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX211 with WLAN-ax including 6 GHz band and Bluetooth 5.2 as well as Full HD webcam with microphone. The Medion Erazer Beast X40 has plenty of connections, including Thunderbolt 4 and Ethernet with up to 2500 MBit.
The special extras include rear connections for the external notebook water cooling Erazer Cooling Kit, which you can purchase in the Medion shop for an additional 199.95 euros in order to achieve the maximum thermal design power (TDP) of the RTX 4090 and 4080 of a very high 175 Watt can also be exploited.
And these are all the connections at a glance:
- 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type A
- 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type A
- 1 x Thunderbolt 4 Type C
- 1 x HDMI 2.1
- 1 x LAN (RJ-45)
- 1 x SD Card Reader
- 1 x Audio Combo
- 1 x Mic In
- 1 x DC In
- 1 x double port water cooling
As a true gaming notebook, the Medion Erazer Beast X40 is no lightweight and weighs an impressive 2.86 kilograms with dimensions of 383 x 360 x 272 mm. The running time of the 99.8 watt-hour battery is correspondingly poor, which Medion states as “up to around 5 hours”.
Windows 11 Home is used as the operating system. Important: The pre-installed Office Microsoft 365, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and the antivirus software McAfee are only trial versions and must be purchased for long-term use. Medion offers a 3-year guarantee on the two notebooks.
Test: The best antivirus software for Windows 11
assessment
The Medion Erazer Beast So far so good, but what about the price-performance ratio?
To put it briefly: good! Medion itself only offers the X40 with RTX 4090 from 3999 euros – so you save a whopping 400 euros at Aldi. But what about the competition? The cheapest notebook in the price comparison with comparable features is the Acer Predator Helios 18 PH18-72-90GW (4090, 14900HX, 32 GB RAM, 2 TB SSD, IPS with 18 inches and 250 Hertz) for at least 3699 euros. In second place is the Dell Alienware m18 R2 (4090, 14900HX, 32 GB RAM, 2 TB SSD, IPS with 18 inches and 165 Hertz) for at least 3949 euros, which Dell is currently offering with a 300 euro discount for 3649 euros.
But the And what do the other notebook manufacturers charge for comparable equipment: They also pay at least for the currently cheapest notebook ASUS ROG Strix G16 G614JZR-N4005 (4080, 14900HX, 32 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD, IPS with 16 inches and 240 Hertz). 2799 euros – however, the X40 offers a larger screen and a 36 instead of just 24 month manufacturer’s warranty.
