A notebook to put desktops to shame…
The idea of a gaming laptop is not fairly
pervasive; a lot of people are using them these days, particularly in areas
where LAN culture is still strong. MSI has had their eye on the PC gaming
sector of the market for a good long while as evidenced by a number of their
higher end motherboards and graphics cards- so it is small wonder that they
produce gaming laptops too. In fact, this isn’t the first one we have seen from
their stable… but it is the newest one, and it packs a punch that will make
some desktop PC users turn a lovely shade of green as their envy gland kicks
in.
MSI
GT70 Notebook
The MSI GT70 is not exactly a small device.
Sure, it’s easier to lug around to LAN parties than a desktop PC, but it isn’t
as portable as an Ultrabook. Still, it allows you to game (and do other
computer-type stuff) pretty much anywhere, which is a big bonus.
The large size of the laptop extends to the
spec list as well. It starts with a 17.3 inch, full HD, non-glare, LED display.
There isn’t a single descriptor there that you cannot like. Under the hood, the
core of the beast is an i7-3610QM processor, supported by an awesome 12GB of
RAM. Sure, 12 is an odd number for RAM, but it’s still a lot. Visuals are
courtesy of an Nvidia GeForce GTX 675M chipset, along with a rather chunky 2GB
of VRAM. The result is quick, reliable performance.
Further speed is gained with the inclusion
of a 128GB SSD. While we’ve mainly seen these devices in Ultrabooks, it is
great to see one included here. In addition, 780GB of traditional HDD space
adds to storage, providing the user with space just shy of 1TB in total. That’s
pretty awesome for a notebook!
Input comes by way of a SteelSeries
keyboard and a trapezoidal, left aligned track pad. And because no
self-respecting gamer will use a track pad for playing games, the device can be
deactivated with a handy button just above it.
Audio is taken care of by a rather nice
Dynaudio system, although there are the obligatory audio ports for when the
integrated speakers just won’t do the trick. Other ports include surround sound
audio outputs, two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports and a multi card reader.
Oh, and an optical drive too.
Ther performance of the GT70 is excellent,
and it keeps itself cool even under pressure. It isn’t as flashy (read as
gaudy) as other gaming notebooks, either, opting for a downplayed visual style
that is a bit more elegant.
In almost every way, this notebook is a
winner. Power, performance, looks… they’re all there
At a
glance:
Summary
Power and performance combine in this monster notebook, which is
great for all computing purposes particularly gaming.
Tech Specs:
- I7-36100M CPU
- 12GB RAM
- 2GB VRAM
- GTX675M GPU
- 128GB SSD
- 780GB HDD
Manufacturer: MSI
RRP: Approx. $2,754.5
Pros: Fast, Powerful, Good
looking
Cons: Bulky, Pricey
Score: 92
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