Color Gamut and Accuracy, Monitor Rating
The LCD screen in the GX60 almost embraces
the standard sRGB color gamut. It has very decent color response for greens and
blues, although dark reds are not as lively. The screen is not a wide-gamut
model, so it only embraces 72% of the AdobeRGB color gamut.
Overall, the accuracy of colors regenerated
by the screen is rather good. Keep in your mind that we really want to see the
Delta-E of two or lower. The gray images will look pretty fine on the screen of
the GX60, because most colors have a Delta-E less than 3.5, with that 4.38 is
the worst measurement. This means the GX60 is certainly enough to work with
black and white photos, especially after calibration. The colors are also quite
accurate on the screen of the GX60. The average Delta-E is 2.76 for all of the
measurements, placing the LG screen in the decent category. After calibration,
the screen is very good, with that the only limiting factor is the lack of
ability to present the darkest reds.
Monitor
Rating
The
chart above presents Datacolor’s rating for the LG display in the GX60.
The chart above presents Datacolor’s rating
for the LG display in the GX60. While we basically agree with Datacolor's
ratings, it should be taken notice that the luminance uniformity in this
special sample of the LG-Philips LP156WF1 TLF3 appears to be worse than usual.
The chart also does not take the GX60’s very good viewing angles into account.
The
images above are the ones of the GX60’s screen before and after calibration
with the Spyder4Elite system.
The images above are the ones of the GX60’s
screen before and after calibration with the Spyder4Elite system. It is up to
the screen that you are using to read this review; you'll be able to see the
big difference between the top and bottom images. If you have a decent screen,
you are also able to see how well the screen GX60 calibrates. Whereas the
GX60’s monitor is quite good at the beginning, it is much better after
calibration.
Thirty days with the MSI GX60
After cutting costs, the MSI’s GX60
provides as much gaming performance as the similar GT60 ONE of the company, and
for $700 cheaper! Most of the savings come from changing Intel’s Core i7-3630QM
for an AMD A10-4600M and Nvidia's GeForce GTX 680M for an AMD Radeon HD 7970M.
Most features, with the notable exception of the keyboard backlight, are still
present. The build quality and cooling efficiency are still there. And even
though you lose gaming performance of the games based on processor horsepower,
the GX60 can play any game that we throw at it. Basically, MSI took a gamble
here. It combined a very fast GPU with a very modest APU, based on the Radeon's
ability to play the games at natural resolution of the screen naturally. When
you drop to the lighter settings, the fact that the Pitcairn-based module is
limited to processor becomes very clear. But because it's fast enough for
gaming at 1,920 x 1,080, the bottleneck is not much. What you will notice is
how cheap the combination of hardware is.
MSI’s
GX60 provides as much gaming performance as the similar GT60 ONE.
The major choice you have to make is
whether the focus of the GX60 is too narrow for your needs. This system has
everything that a mobile gamer may want. It even makes a stable major system
for a college student. While it may not have enough handling power for students
who specialize in design, anything that is optimized for OpenCL will run very
well. If price is a major concern, you will hardly extract more value from a
more expensive laptop.
During one month of use, the GX60 also
proved to be robust and reliable. We were worried that the beveled ledge in the
middle of the cover would scratch, but it does not show signs of wear. The
surface draws fingerprints, but you can easily clean them. We never see a blue
or lock-up screen. The GX60 just worked whether it was gaming, streaming entire
seasons of TV programs online or browsing the web.
Part of my rating process includes placing
a laptop in a computer support center with approximately 20 college-aged staff.
I turned on the computer and put a notebook and pen next to it. My goal was to
receive feedback from as many students as possible, who might see things
differently. Here are some of the responses I got:
·
“This machine starts up and loads games
extremely fast”
·
“The palm rest remains cool when gaming”
·
“The sound quality is surprising; the speakers
sound like wearing headphones”
·
“This machine is so responsive, gaming is almost
instantaneous”
·
“The webcam is really good”
·
“God, this stuff is quiet”
·
“Wow, playing everything with graphics is really
great”.
It seems that our experiences with the GX60
are echoed by others. It is a stable 15-inch gaming computer, and with $ 1,200,
MSI’s GX60 is a great bargain. In our opinion, MSI fulfilled what it had been
intended to do: build a high-end gaming laptop at a very low price. We would
recommend this machine for mobile gamers who have a limited budget, and so we
are going to give the MSI GX60 our 2013 Smart Buy award.
Specs and price
|
MSI GX60
System Technical Specifications and Price
·
Processor: AMD A10-4,600M quad-core APU
running at 2.3 GHz (3.2 GHz max Turbo Core), 35 W TDP
·
Platform: AMD A70M (Hudson-D3/M3)
·
Memory: 8 GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1,600 MT/s
·
Graphics: AMD Radeon HD 7,970M 2 GB GDDR5
w/AMD Enduro and Eyefinity
·
Solid State Drive: 2 x SanDisk SDSA5DK-064G 64
GB mSATA SSDs in RAID 0
·
Hard Drive: Western Digital WD7,500BPKT-22PK4
750 GB 7,200 RPM Hard Drive
·
Optical Drive: TSSTcorp (Samsung) SN-406AB
Blu-ray Disc Combo Drive
·
Card Reader: SD (XC/HC) and MMC
·
Display: LG Philips LP156WF1-TLF3 15.6"
FHD 16:9 Glossy LED-backlit LCD, 1,920x1,080
·
Wi-Fi: Atheros AR1111 WB-EG AGN 2x2 HMC
Wi-Fi/Bluetooth Adapter (802.11 b/g/n + BT v4.0)
·
Ethernet: Atheros Killer e2,200 PCI-E Gigabit
Ethernet Controller 10/100/1,000 Mb/s Ethernet
·
Audio: Integrated Speakers w/Subwoofer, THX
TruStudio Pro, and HDMI v1.4 Support
·
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home
Premium (64-bit)
·
Webcam: Integrated Webcam / Microphone
·
Security: Kensington Security Slot
·
Ports: USB 3.0 (x 3), USB 2.0, Headphone, Mic,
Audio In, Audio Out, HDMI v1.4, Mini DisplayPort, VGA
·
Battery : Removable 87 Wh
·
AC Adapter: 180 W
·
Weight: 7.7 lbs
·
Dimensions: 15.55" (Width) x 10.51"
(Depth) x 2.16" (Height)
·
Warranty: Two years limited
·
Price: $1,200
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