Today's laptop market is so crowded that many potential buyers are completely at a loss, trying to choose the right mobile device for their needs. Having installed powerful components, all manufacturers assure others of the gaming potential of the device, however, when testing another new product, it turns out that it has obvious problems with gaming performance. In this article, the reader will get acquainted with a real monster in the world of gaming devices - the GS70 MSI laptop. It was initially marketed by the manufacturer as the world's most productive mobile device for gamers. Reviews, review, specifications and testing will allow the buyer to understand what a gaming laptop really should be.
Dragon's lair
The stylish design of the cardboard packaging with the MSI company logo on a black background evokes respect for the manufacturer at the first acquaintance. The slogan on the box display āThe best players - the best choiceā immediately attracts the attention of a potential buyer. Inside the package, the user will find the MSI GS70 laptop, a powerful power supply (120 W), instructions, warranty card and driver discs.
As the owners note in their reviews, upset by such a poor configuration of an expensive mobile device, many at the first inspection of the box do not notice a pleasant surprise from the manufacturer. This is a black fabric cover with a red logo of the manufacturer. A detailed examination reveals that the inside of the product is made of suede, and a zipper runs along the entire perimeter of the case. It is a pity that the transfer handle is not provided, but the fabric case is still able to protect the laptop from abrasions and scratches during transportation.
Appearance and build quality
Expensive 17-inch devices have always differed not only in overall dimensions, but also in significant weight. Therefore, serious brands are trying to use composite materials for the production of the case. Gaming laptop MSI GS70 black is made using aluminum-magnesium alloy. Users will be delighted to learn that the deviceās cover is not glossy, but has a small rib - no fingerprints, and the convenience of transferring in one hand is provided. It is a pity that the bottom of the laptop is plastic, as practice shows, the metal would better cope with the heat sink.
Powerful screen hinges hold the angle perfectly, but rigidity is still not enough for a 17-inch device. The workmanship is high. There are no gaps, friction, creaks and other "surprises" that laptops from a cheap segment are rich in. The strict case style is violated by the manufacturerās game emblem (a shield with a dragon image), clearly hinting at the gaming capabilities of the device.
Greeted on screen
Naturally, the first acquaintance with the device after turning it on starts on the screen. Big, beautiful, bright - this is what a MSI GS70 gaming laptop should have. User reviews regarding screen quality were immediately divided into two categories: positive and negative.
It is good that the manufacturer of the 17-inch screen provided a matrix with a resolution of FullHD (1920x1080). The matte coating of the screen allows the owner to avoid glare in the sun and it is quite good to see the picture in bright light. The aspect ratio, as befits a gaming device, is 16: 9. This is where the virtues end.
The laptop has a TN + Film matrix. Yes, she has a response time of 2 ms., But with color rendition and viewing angles there are obvious problems. Do not forget about the perfectly black color - fans of dynamic games simply will not see it. A rather strange decision by MSI is to use the technologies of the last century instead of the modern IPS-matrix.
Interfaces & Connectors
Some owners in their reviews speak out negatively towards the MSI manufacturer regarding the DVD-RW drive that is not in the device, but many do not need it, because all the software, including games, has long been installed using portable drives. But a Blu-ray device for watching high-quality movies would be useful in a GS70 MSI laptop.
On the left panel of the laptop, the manufacturer placed a gigabit RJ-45 port, one HDMI port, two mini-Display ports, two USB 3.0 interfaces and a real stereo system in the form of three audio interfaces (headphones, line-out and microphone). But, as professionals note, a 5.1 or 7.1 system can be connected to this interface.
The right panel is a bit poorer: two USB 3/0 ports, a full-fledged card reader, a power connector and a Kensington lock. Fans of playing battles in the supine position will really like that the rear and front panels do not have additional connectors and grilles.
Communication opportunities
As expected, the MSI GS70 gaming laptop is equipped with the most productive Wi-Fi module in the world from Qualcomm Killer 1525. The fact is that it can independently reduce packet sizes when the wireless signal deteriorates, and, accordingly, will not allow the player to exit the game when reducing the quality of communication. The signal radius in the laptop is decent - two main walls between the laptop and the router allow you to observe the indicator with two stripes on the deviceās display.
The Bluetooth 4.0 wireless module works flawlessly. It provides the user with all the possible functions prescribed in the specification. First of all, the owner will be interested in the simultaneous work with several devices: communication with the phone working in modem mode, transmitting a stereo signal to wireless headphones. No losses and noise, everything is done very high quality.
Stereo system
High-quality built-in sound in a laptop is nonsense, that is exactly what all owners of mobile devices say in their reviews. Notebook MSI GS70 was no exception. Although the manufacturer tried to provide comfortable sound with the installation of Dynaudio speakers, small tweeters limited by low frequencies will never produce decent sound. However, the manufacturer did not abandon its goals and provided the device with the proprietary Sound Blaster Cinema 2 audio tuning utility. As experts say, these are extra steps, extra resources and overpayments when buying for unworthy functionality.
But when you connect active speakers to external audio connectors, the situation changes radically. Full frequency range, no locking at high volume, no extraneous noise and interference from the deviceās cooling system.
Input device
According to reviews regarding the MSI GS70 laptop, the keyboard in the device is decent: beautiful, unique and very comfortable. Firstly, it is full-sized, all buttons are present, including a digital unit. The keys are separated by a small gap, and the upper part of the buttons has a small chamfer. Such a solution will not allow you to press several buttons with one finger, and when you press the button, the button goes down smoothly, without any tilt. The button stroke is average, has a low return.
The keyboard has a built-in LED backlight. In addition to controlling the color display, the user can set the lighting sector - thousands of options, including their own backlight schemes. It is very convenient to adjust the backlight in dynamic games for yourself, setting the glow of only the necessary keys. Management is carried out using the manufacturerās proprietary utility, which is supplied on the deviceās CD.
Touchpad and difficulties with it
The large size of the touch panel clearly attracts the attention of the buyer. The rough surface will not allow fingers to slip and perform a false movement. The cursor moves around the screen with one touch. It is worth noting that the touchpad in the MSI GS70 is black, elegant and made by the famous Taiwanese manufacturer ElanTech, which specializes in such devices for business-class laptops. However, judging by the reviews of the owners, this is clearly not enough for a modern device.
In a gaming laptop, the touchpad does not support multi-touch. For a device worth 2000 y. e. it is simply unacceptable. Fortunately, many players prefer to use the manipulator, but I would like full control in working with the operating system or watching a video.
Ergonomics and usability
As the review on the MSI GS70 laptop shows, there is clearly something missing on the deviceās working panel. Too much emptiness. As the owners note in their reviews, the manufacturer was greedy with a fingerprint scanner. After all, most users who can afford a gaming laptop belong to the business class, and accordingly this niche, the laptop must have a scanner that is fashionable in its environment.
The manufacturer placed the function keys on the keyboard, under the F1-F12 buttons. This decision is negatively regarded by all users. On the panel, to the left and right of the touchpad, one could place keyboard backlight control circuits or something else useful. Somehow everything is tasteless and clumsy done.
Laptop performance
The MSI GS70 gaming laptop is available on the market in several versions. The manufacturer tried to make sure that their cost did not differ much from each other in the market. Main characteristics:
- the heart of the device is a dual-core Intel Core i5 processor or more productive Core i7 with four cores;
- the amount of RAM varies from 8 to 16 GB;
- installed a discrete graphics card GeForce GTX 765M with two gigabytes on board (GTX 870M is found in new versions); it can be turned off to save battery power; in such cases, the integrated Intel HD4500 adapter will work;
- a laptop with a capacity of 750 GB or an SSD drive of 256 GB can be installed in the laptop; there are devices that are equipped with two drives at once (750 GB HDD and 120 GB SSD);
- devices can have a licensed Windows 10 operating system or come clean.
Specialists in the field of IT technologies recommend giving preference to devices in which the most powerful processor is installed, since the remaining components are modernized on their own.
The silent dragon is nonsense
In its commercial, the manufacturer promises its customers that all the tense battles in front of the MSI GS70 laptop screen will take place in complete silence, which will worry about the dual cooling system. Probably, MSI technologists are playing the wrong games. As noted by professionals who reviewed and tested the cooling system, the processor and video adapter do not overheat, the air circulates perfectly in the system, and the metal case has a heat sink feature. But the noise of fans will bring inconvenience to many owners who do not have headphones on hand.
Cold air, according to the manufacturerās idea, is taken from above (through the air intake grille located near the power button) and, driving through the copper radiators of the cooling system, it is vented out through the right and left panels of the laptop. They obviously fantasized with fans at the factory - they are small and high-speed, noise from them simply cannot be avoided.
Work autonomy
The built-in 5400 mAh battery in the MSI GS70 laptop, whose characteristics are the most productive in the mobile market, looks somehow unpromising. As the owners of the device in their reviews, the built-in battery plays the role of an uninterruptible power supply when the power is turned off or when the dislocation changes and allows you to transfer the laptop to another room without leaving the game.
By force, a new battery with a disabled discrete video adapter and all wireless interfaces can last on a single charge for about two hours. But during the game, the battery runs out too quickly, very often at the 50-55th minute of the device. Less than an hour - this is quite normal for a powerful gaming laptop.
Cleaning and upgrade
The MSI GS70 laptop has interesting reviews from owners who decided on their own to clean the dust-clogged fans. The protective cover of the mobile device is held down by 19 screws. The user will easily find 18, but one will be quite difficult to find. Empirically, it will be found that the warranty sticker is glued to one screw. And here is the choice: lose the two-year warranty or not clean the laptop. According to experts, a vacuum cleaner copes well with blowing fans, which must be turned on for blowing.
But with the modernization of memory, if the user still decided to remove the protective cover, you will have to sweat pretty. Before the eyes of the user will be everything: a cooling system, drives, wireless modules and many chips. But there will be no memory modules - they need to be looked for, like a lost ark. The manufacturer placed them on the back of the motherboard. The user will have to disconnect a dozen loops, unscrew and raise the board. This is the only way to upgrade RAM.
Game testing
Having tested the MSI GS70 black laptop, many experts noted the excellent technical qualities of the new product, which allow the device to cope with all popular games. The same legend of the game world - BioShock Infinite - in Ultra settings is unlikely to start on 99% of all laptops, but here - excellent graphics, without any delays with 38 frames per second. Any popular and resource-intensive game will start and will work without surprises in maximum quality on this mobile device.
A powerful processor and a gaming video adapter are clearly different from devices installed in personal computers. The laptop has power restrictions, when the processor chip is switched to power saving mode, and the video adapter operates at low frequencies, not to mention the 128-bit data bus. All comparisons should be made among similar devices, in this case, in testing notebooks, the leading position in games is the GS70 MSI.
Finally
The review, specifications and reviews of the owners of the remarkable GS70 MSI gaming laptop lead to the idea that the manufacturer achieved his goals - he made the most productive device in the world and, having endowed it with distinctive features from competitors, attracted the attention of potential buyers. What is the LED backlight of the keyboard, which is controlled at the request of the owner. Do not forget about productive components, stylish design and the use of aluminum-magnesium alloy in creating the device case.
There are also comments. The most unpleasant factor for all owners is the low-grade LCD matrix installed in the laptop. Loss of warranty when removing the protective cover is the second negative in this device. Low battery life, low-quality built-in sound, fan noise and the absence of a fingerprint scanner are trifles for many, but do not forget that the laptop costs 2000 y. e. Must match its price.