Msi gs70 980m: MSI GS70 2QE Stealth Pro laptop review

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As noted in the conclusion of our GTX 980M/GTX 970M launch article, we’re going to be covering some of the notebooks that are being announced today in separate Pipeline pieces. MSI has the largest selection of notebooks, with four of their existing products receiving updates to support 980M/970M along with one all-new design, the GT72 Dominator. We’ll start with the GT72 Dominator, as it’s obviously the most interesting option. There are seven different models of the GT72 being offered, with varying storage, RAM, and GPU configurations. Here’s a brief overview of the specs:

MSI GT72 Dominator (Pro) Specifications
CPU	Core i7-4980HQ (2.8-4GHz) Core i7-4710HQ (2.5-3.5GHz)
GPU	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M 8GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M 6GB
RAM	12GB up to 32GB DDR3L-1600 (Four SO-DIMM Slots)
SSD	128GB to 1TB M.2 SATA (2-4 SSDs in RAID 0 for 256GB and up)
HDD	1TB 7200RPM
Optical	Super Multi (9. 5mm) BD Burner 9.5mm
Display	17.3″ Full HD eDP Anti-Glare (1920×1080)
Networking	Killer Gaming Network Killer N1525 Combo (2×2 802.11ac + BT 4.0)
I/O Ports	6 x USB 3.0 Flash Reader (SDXC/SDHC) HDMI 1.4 2 x mini-DisplayPort 1.2
Input	Steel Series Keyboard Multi-touch Touchpad
Power	9-cell battery 230W AC adapter
Extras	Full HD webcam (1080p30) Configurable Multi-colored Backlighting Anti-Ghost Key
OS	Windows 8.1 Multi-Language
Dimensions	16. 85″ x 11.57″x 1.89″ (428mm x 294mm x 48mm)
Weight	8.4 lbs (3.82kg)
MSRP	$2000-$3900

Fundamentally, there are two variants: the GT72 Dominator Pro comes with a GTX 980M while the GT72 Dominator comes with GTX 970M. All seven models come with some form of solid state storage (from 128GB with a single M.2 SATA SSD up to 1TB with four 256GB M.2 SATA SSDs in RAID 0), and they all include a secondary 1TB 7200 RPM hard drive. Pricing starts at $2000 for the GT72 Dominator with GTX 970M, while the top configuration tips the scales at nearly four grand ($3900) – obviously, the cost of four 256GB SSDs can add up. Finally, the NVIDIA GPUs seem to have twice the standard RAM on the GT72, so the GTX 970M comes with 6GB while the GTX 980M comes with 8GB GDDR5. These are clearly intended as high-end gaming systems, and the minimum price for a GT72 with GTX 980M is $2400, which will get you a Core i7-4710HQ, 2x8GB RAM, a 128GB SSD, and a Blu-ray burner (along with the other common features listed above).

Note that there have been some significant changes to the GT72 compared to the previous generation GT70 platform, though we haven’t reviewed the GT72 (which launched last month) yet. MSI has reworked the chassis and motherboard to provide six USB 3.0 and two mini-DisplayPort 1.2 ports, and the new GT72 chassis also comes with dual cooling fans, which should address one of our biggest complaints with the previous GT70 design. Support for up to four M.2 SATA SSDs is also new. Needless to say, we’re definitely looking forward to testing the GT72; MSI provided some photos of the GT72 in the gallery below.

Gallery: MSI Gaming Notebooks with GeForce GTX 980M and 970M

MSI GT60/GT70 Dominator Specifications
CPU	Core i7-4710HQ (2.5-3.5GHz)
GPU	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M 3GB
RAM	8GB or 16GB DDR3L-1600 (Four SO-DIMM Slots)
SSD	128GB or 2x128GB mSATA (None on base model)
HDD	1TB 7200RPM
Optical	BD Combo Super Multi (base model)
Display	GT70: 17. 3″ Full HD Anti-Glare (1920×1080) GT60: 15.6″ Full HD Anti-Glare (1920×1080)
Networking	Killer Gaming Network Intel 7260 (2×2 802.11 ac + BT4.0)
I/O Ports	3 x USB 3.0 2 x USB 2.0 Flash Reader (SDXC/SDHC) HDMI 1.4 1 x mini-DisplayPort 1.2 1 x VGA
Input	Steel Series Keyboard Multi-touch Touchpad
Power	9-cell battery 180W AC adapter
Extras	Full HD webcam (1080p30) Keyboard Backlighting
OS	Windows 8.1 Multi-Language
Dimensions	GT70: 16.85″ x 11.34″ x 2.17″ (428mm x 288mm x 55mm) GT60: 15. 55″ x 10.51″ x 2.16″ (395mm x 267mm x 55mm)
Weight	GT70: 8.6 lbs. (3.91kg) GT60: 7.7 lbs. (3.50kg)
MSRP	$1600-$2100

Moving on, the GT60 and GT70 Dominator have also been updated with the GTX 970M (but not the 980M). The core differences from the new GT72 are easily summarized. GT70 provides four SO-DIMM slots but MSI only populates two of them on the new GTX 970M models. The SSDs are mSATA and you can get the GT70 with none, one, or two SSDs (and a 1TB 7200RPM HDD). In terms of I/O, there are two USB 2.0 ports, one fewer total USB ports, a VGA port in place of one of the mDP ports, and the chassis is a bit thicker and heavier. MSI doesn’t mention multi-colored keyboard backlighting, so it looks like they’re going with a standard white backlight. Finally, the AC adapter is only 180W for these models and the WiFi is a standard Intel 7260 module. As for the GT60, there’s only one model and it matches the base model GT70 in specs, so it’s basically a bit lighter and has a smaller display.

MSI GS60/GS70 Specifications
Notebook	GS60 Ghost Pro	GS70 Stealth Pro
CPU	Core i7-4710HQ (2.5-3.5GHz)	Core i7-4710HQ (2.5-3.5GHz)
GPU	GeForce GTX 970M 3GB/6GB	GeForce GTX 970M 3GB/6GB
RAM	12GB or 16GB DDR3L-1600 (Two SO-DIMM Slots)	12GB or 16GB DDR3L-1600 (Two SO-DIMM Slots)
SSD	128GB or 2x128GB M.2 SATA	128GB to 3x256GB mSATA
HDD	1TB 7200RPM	1TB 7200RPM
Optical	N/A	N/A
Display	15. 6″ Full HD eDP WVA (1920×1080) 15.6″ WQHD+ 3K IPS (2880×1620)	17.3″ Full HD eDP Anti-Glare (1920×1080)
Networking	Killer Gaming Network Killer N1525 Combo (2×2 802.11ac + BT4.0)	Killer Gaming Network Killer N1525 Combo (2×2 802.11ac + BT4.0)
I/O Ports	4 x USB 3.0 Flash Reader (SDXC/SDHC) HDMI 1.4 2 x mini-DisplayPort 1.2	4 x USB 3.0 Flash Reader (SDXC/SDHC) HDMI 1.4 2 x mini-DisplayPort 1.2
Input	Steel Series Keyboard Click Pad Touchpad	Steel Series Keyboard Click Pad Touchpad
Power	6-cell battery 150W AC adapter	6-cell battery 150W AC adapter
Extras	Full HD webcam (1080p30) Multi-colored Backlighting	Full HD webcam (1080p30) Multi-colored Backlighting
OS	Windows 8. 1 Multi-Language	Windows 8.1 Multi-Language
Dimensions	15.35″ x 10.47″ x 0.78″ (390mm x 266mm x 20mm)	16.47″ x 11.29″ x 0.85″ (418mm x 287mm x 22mm)
Weight	4.2 lbs. (1.91kg)	5.7 lbs. (2.59kg)
MSRP	$1900-$2300	$1900-$2600

Wrapping up, the GS60 and GS70 have both been updated as well with support for the GTX 970M. There are six GS70 models coming out and four GS60 models, with the GS60 having two 3K variants. The base model on both comes with 12GB RAM and a 3GB GTX 970M and a 128GB SSD; all of the other models have 16GB RAM, but there are options with 3GB VRAM and 6GB VRAM. The GS60 only supports two M.2 SATA SSDs while the GS70 can support three mSATA SSDs, and the top configuration of the GS70 comes with 768GB of SSD storage. The display options on the GS60 trump the GS70, however, as you can get either a wide viewing angle (IPS or similar) 1080p panel or a 3K IPS panel, while it appears the GS70 only has a standard 1080p display – the same display used in the GT70/GT72 most likely.

Source:
MSI

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MSI GT72 2QE Dominator Pro (Core i7 4720HQ 2600Mhz/17.3″/1920×1080/12.0Gb/1000Gb/DVD-RW/NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M/Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/Win 8 64)

• Graphics card type discrete and integrated
• NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 980M 980M
• Screen Resolution 1920×1080
• HDD
• Costes Windows 8 64
• Type Game Laptop
• Haswell

004

• Intel Core i7 4720HQ 2600 MHz
• Show all

-Fi/Bluetooth/Win 8 64)

• All 11
• Reviews 1
• Unboxing 1
• Repair 2
• Tests 1

Specifications MSI GT72 2QE Dominator Pro (Core i7 4720HQ 2600Mhz/17.

3″/1920×1080/12.0Gb/1000Gb/DVD-RW/NVIDIA GeForce GTX 4

Memory
*

Image IMA
*

Slots
*

1 Power supply
*

Input devices
*

Sound
*

Other models

• MSI GL63 8SDK (Intel Core i5 8300H 2300 MHz/15. 6″/1920×1080/8GB/1128GB HDD+SSD/DVD no/NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti/Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/DOS)

  1

  1 ₽

• MSI GE75 Raider 8RF (Intel Core i7 8750H 2200 MHz/17.3″/1920×1080/32GB/1512GB HDD+SSD/DVD no/NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070/Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/DOS)

  1

• MSI GS65 Stealth 9SE (Intel Core i7 9750H 2600 MHz/15.6″/1920×1080/16GB/1024GB SSD/DVD no/NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060/Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/Windows 10 Home)

  139890 ₽

• MSI GE72 2QL Apache

• MSI GE70 2PL Apache (Core i7 4720HQ 2600 Mhz/17.3″/1920×1080/8Gb/1000Gb/DVD-RW/NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M/Wi-Fi/Bluetooth /Win 8 64)

• MSI PE60 2QD

  MSI GE70 2PE Apache Pro (Core i7 4720HQ 2600 MHz/17.3″/1920×1080/12Gb/1000Gb/DVD-RW/NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M/Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/Win 8 64)

  1 — Appearance. Device. BY
  2 — Test results. conclusions
  Display as one page

  The idea of ​​creating a gaming laptop that can fully compete with desktop PCs is not new enough and periodically arises from different manufacturers of gaming hardware. Often, such solutions are a very effective way to remind the public and the press about the potential of the company’s design office, along the way setting new benchmarks for direct competitors in the market. Today we are talking about one of these charged laptops, namely the GT80 Titan SLI, which recently came out from under the wing of the Taiwanese company Micro-Star International.

  MSI GT80 2QE Titan SLI

  The GT80 Titan SLI has been talked about by many, if not all, computer-related resources in one way or another, and the discussion began long before the official release date. The reason for the increased interest was the statement of MSI representatives, published in the announcements sent out: «GT80 2QE Titan SLI — the pioneer of the gaming segment — the first laptop with a fully mechanical keyboard (backlit)». The statement seemed to some extent even absurd, because if there is no need to argue about the advantages of mechanics for gamers, then how viable such a concept would be as part of a mobile device remained not entirely clear. Added «pepper» to the news and information that the laptop will be equipped with not one, but two top-end graphics cards from NVIDIA at once.

  Model	MSI GT80 2QE TITAN SLI
  Manufacturer website	msi.ua
  Processor	Intel Core i7-4720HQ, 2600 MHz (up to 3600 MHz with Turbo Boost)
  Chipset	Intel HM87
  RAM	16 GB DDR3-1600
  Display	18.4″, 1920×1080, matte, PLS
  Video card	2x GeForce GTX 980M 8GB (SLI) Intel HD Graphics 4600
  Drive Subsystem	SSD 512 GB RAID 0, 4x Kingston RBU-SNS8100S3/128GD1 128 GB (M.2) HDD 750 GB, WDC WD7500BPVX-22JC3T0 (5400 rpm, SATA 6Gb/s)
  Optical drive	DVD Super-Multi (DVD±RW, CD-RW)
  I/O ports	5x USB 3. 0, HDMI 1.4, 2x Mini-DisplayPort v1.2, Microphone-in, Headphone-out jack, SPDIF-Out, LAN RJ-45
  Communications	Integrated 802.11a/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.1
  Card reader	SD (XC/HC)
  Multimedia	4.1 audio system, Full HD webcam
  Battery	75.2 Wh, 8 cells, fixed
  Power adapter	330 W
  Dimensions	456 x 330 x 49 mm
  Weight	4.5 kg
  Cost	n/a

  As a result, older modifications of the laptop are real «monsters» for generating fps. The combination of an Intel Core i7-5950HQ central processor, 32 gigabytes of RAM, two GeForce GTX 980M graphics cards and a RAID array of several solid state drives will leave few indifferent. A somewhat simplified version based on the Intel Core i7-4720HQ CPU (such a frequency of up to 3600 MHz in Turbo Boost mode), 16 gigabytes of RAM, four SSDs with a total capacity of “only” 512 GB and the same SLI pair GeForce GTX 9 graphics accelerators80M.

  Packing and contents

  The laptop is packed in a dark cardboard box. Its style and color scheme will be familiar to all fans of MSI products.

  The retail version of the device comes with an extended set of accessories. In addition to the usual components such as the laptop itself, power supply, driver disk, user manual and other promotional paper products, the package included space for five interchangeable metal keyboard keys (WASD + Esc buttons), a mouse pad, soft wrist pad and miniature plush dragon. Certain lucky ones can find versions for sale, complemented by the MSI branded backpack.

  Image taken from Micro-Star International presentation materials

  The potential power of the GT80 2QE Titan SLI can already be judged by one type of its power supply. It is manufactured by Delta Electronics, designed for an impressive 330 W (19.5 V, 16.9 A), and its dimensions are noticeably different from most mobile counterparts that we have seen before (200 × 100 × 43 mm, 1. 28 kg).

  Appearance

  The hero of the review largely inherited the design of its predecessor, the GT72 Dominator, which once occupied the top line in the GT series lineup. As it should be for a modern gaming device, it turned out to be moderately aggressive: a couple of embossed curves were added on the top cover of the laptop, and a series of bright red elements stretched along the contour of the case.

  At the same time, several significant changes were made to the design, due to the increased level of performance of the internal filling. Thus, the total number of ventilation grilles is now equal to four units. Two of them took their places on the rear end of the laptop, one more was installed on the right and left sides of the device.

  External dimensions of GT80 Titan SLI are 456x330x49 mm. Not so much, if you remember that we have a laptop with a screen diagonal of 18.4 inches, two video cards and a full mechanical keyboard. The body height of less than 5 cm is definitely a very worthy indicator.

  The case itself is made of a combination of metal alloy and practical, matte plastic, which prevents excessive collection of fingerprints during operation. The screen is fixed on a single hinge and allows the top cover to be tilted approximately 130 degrees.

  The main set of interfaces is concentrated on the left side of the device. These included three USB 3.0 ports, a card reader, an optical S / PDIF output, a pair of gold-plated audio jacks, a DVD Super-Multi drive.

  The right side remains relatively free and contains two additional USB 3.0 connectors.

  Up to three external monitors can be connected to the GT80 2QE Titan SLI at the same time. Provides support for screen resolutions up to 3840×2160 pixels, and the connection is via two ports Mini-DisplayPort v1. 2 and one HDMI v1.4. Also, a standard RJ-45 connector is available at the back of the laptop, which functions in tandem with the Killer DoubleShot Pro Gb LAN network card.

  So we got to the main «chip» of this laptop — a mechanical keyboard. It was still developed by experienced guys from SteelSeries. As you can see in the photo below, this time the engineers decided to return to the classic version of the full-size layout: the Ctrl, Caps Lock and Tilde (~) buttons are no longer lengthened, the cursor keys are collected in a separate group and do not intersect with the number pad.

  The buttons are based on the famous Cherry MX Brown switches. Unlike the purely gaming Black series, Brown switches are versatile and suitable for both typing and error-free gaming. They are characterized by a lower pressing force (up to 55 gf at the peak), a long 4 mm stroke and the absence of a characteristic click when triggered. There are three levels of backlight brightness to choose from, but the color palette has been reduced to just one option — red.

  You get the most pleasure in games where you need to quickly and regularly press the same keys, for example, in Dota 2. The moment the switcher is activated is clearly conveyed through tactile sensations, and the button itself quickly returns to its original position. The probability of missing and clicking something wrong tends to zero. We can say that the concept of installing a mechanical keyboard in a laptop works and after a short period of adaptation, you definitely will not have a desire to return to membrane input devices.

  The touchpad on the right side of the GT80 Titan SLI is both a touchpad and a number pad. Switching between them occurs by touching the miniature designation Num. This solution looks stylish, but not entirely practical. The level of responsiveness is noticeably inferior to the button version.

  Internal structure

  The hero of the review managed to stand out even in the case disassembly procedure. If in ordinary laptops for quick access to drives and RAM modules you need to unscrew the back cover, then in the case of the GT80 2QE Titan SLI, the opposite is true. Here it is enough to move the metal panel located above the keyboard and you can easily remove the components you are interested in.

  The disk subsystem includes four 128 GB Kingston RBU-SNS8100S3/128GD1 SSDs and a Western Digital WD7500BPVX-22JC3T0 hard drive that expands file storage by another 750 GB of free space. Above are four acoustic speakers from Dynaudio, complemented by a subwoofer of the same name. The final volume margin turned out to be quite high, the laptop will be perfectly audible from any end of the room. The sound quality is also up to par. Music lovers should pay special attention to three independent headphone amplifiers that can drive even demanding models.

  The driving force of the GT80 Titan SLI is hidden under a plastic bottom with many perforated inserts. This is where the central processor, another pair of RAM slots, a battery and an SLI bundle of mobile video cards of the GeForce GTX 900 family are located. Despite the solid dimensions of the laptop, the internal layout is high-density. If the owner has a desire to replace something other than the «RAM», then he will have to work hard with a screwdriver or contact a service center with a request, which, perhaps, will be the best option.

  The cooling system is really massive. It consists of four separate heatsinks, two radial fans and three heat sinks to remove heat from key system components. A total of eight heat pipes permeate the structure.

  The rechargeable battery is built-in and looks tiny compared to other components. Its capacity is 75.2 Wh (5225 mAh). How much of this reserve will be enough to maintain battery life, we will check in the course of further testing.

  As mentioned earlier, the sample we received is equipped with an Intel Core i7-4720HQ (Haswell) central processor. This is the most basic CPU option available with the GT80 2QE Titan SLI order. It is manufactured using a 22-nm process technology and has four cores with a clock speed of up to 3600 MHz in Turbo Boost mode, six megabytes of third-level cache, and support for Hyper-Threading technology.

  16 gigabytes of RAM is equipped with four Kingston 16D3LS1KFG/4G sticks (DDR3L, 1600 MHz, 11-11-11-28-2T).

  Two NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M video cards are responsible for graphics processing. Each of them has eight gigabytes of GDDR5 video memory available, which, against the backdrop of recent releases of new games (Call of Duty: Black Ops III in particular), no longer seems to be something superfluous. Like the rest of the GT series, switching between discrete graphics and the integrated Intel HD Graphics 4600 video core takes place in manual mode.

  Screen

  Samsnung’s 18.4-inch PLS-matrix matte screen offers high-quality color reproduction, high contrast, and wide viewing angles.

  The developers decided to abandon the idea of ​​installing a 4K display, but chose a really fast matrix with a more familiar resolution of 1920×1080 pixels. Minimal loops can be caught only through the camera lens, while in everyday use the picture remains clear even in the most dynamic scenes.

  Another nice touch is related to the saturation of colors, or rather, shades of black. Although quite a lot of information is available on the network about the technical identity of IPS and PLS technologies, in practice, some differences can still be noticed between certain samples. The video clearly shows the difference between the true black color of the GT80 2QE Titan SLI and its dark gray counterpart on the LG 23MP75HM-P mid-budget IPS monitor.