List Price: $2,435.64
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First Im writing a review to balance out the unnecessary low score. Anyway this is a great gaming computer. It runs the newest and best Nvidia GPU for laptops, the 780M. This machine can play any game on the highest settings, including Metro Light (everything max and SSAA on 2x). I started playing PC games again because of this computer. The color keyboard is cool and I really like typing on the keyboard. The keyboard is chiclet style but its better than Apple IMO. The touch pad is rather small however. When playing games who uses the touchpad anyway? I do like that the touchpad will automatically deactivate when you connect a mouse. If you are going to play games with this on your lap then I recommend a cooling pad because it does get hot during intense gaming. You can use the cooler boost that turns up the fan which is fan if you have the volume up or use headphones. This computer has really nice speakers. It is supposed to have a subwoofer but I really cant tell it makes any difference. The HD is only 5400 rpm so I recommend an SSD in the first bay and using the HD as a data drive. There is a sticker that says void if back is open. But really? They have 2 HD bays for a reason. So I hope that is not true. I recommend a square trade warranty in case it is and they would cover any problems then. If you find this too heavy at about 8 lbs then go with the MSI GE 70 which has the 765M GPU which is no slouch either.
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I have had the GT70 for about a week now, and I have to say, it's pretty sweet.PROS:
GTX 780m handles everything I have thrown at it so far. DayZ (ARMA II) with everything set to 'Very High' gets 24fps average.
Quite, no loud fan noise, well maybe a little when in game, but not as much as my older Samsung.
Stays Cool! I keep the house about 80 F and I haven't had an issue yet with heat. Again, the Samsung would roast my fingers on the keyboard when in game...
Back Lit keyboard FTW!
VERY nice display, so sharp and bright!
Expandable, even though it may void the warranty, I plan on getting an SSD and more ram in the future...Oh and Windows 7!
CONS:
Not liking Windows 8... I'm old school I guess...
Amazon was confused about the a few things:
-Hard Drive. It is NOT a 7200 RPM, it's 5400, Amazon states both.
-It's 2.4GHz, not 3.2GHz, unless there is some boosting settings I haven't found yet.
-I was aware of these things from my research prior to buying, so I'l good...
Keyboard layout is different than what I'm use to, no biggie..
If you're looking for a really nice Gaming Laptop, but don't have a ton of cash right now and would like to upgrade it as you go, I think this is the right choice.
Best Deals for MSI Computer Corp. MSI GT70 2OD-064US;9S7-176312-064 17.3-Inch
Hardware wise this laptop is as awesome as you can get for the price. Unfortunately it comes with Win 8. So either you deal with Win 8 like I am doing, or just install Win 7. Everything has worked perfect so far and I've owned it for a month. I love hooking this sucker up to my 47" TV with HDMI and playing my Steam games, which it runs incredibly well. I've always been very satisfied with MSI products. The only issue I've run into was getting the warranty with the MSI site. I tried to register it with the serial code provided next to the battery several times with no luck, so the only other option is to call MSI tech support. Besides that one snag, it's perfect.Honest reviews on MSI Computer Corp. MSI GT70 2OD-064US;9S7-176312-064 17.3-Inch
Only took a week and this 'gaming' notebook is going back. And shame on me for still not learning, more typically equals less.PRICE & COMPONENTS
Comparing the price of this MSI GT70 with a slightly less equipped ASUS G750JX-DB71 17.3-Inch Laptop (Black)
Both have Intel processors with the slight edge to the MSI Intel Core i7 4700MQ vs 4700HQ (better) / +1 MSI
Both have a great amount of RAM 12GB vs 16GB (overkill but more RAM can never hurt) / +1 ASUS
Both have good storage 1TB HDD @ 7200RPM vs 1TB HDD @ 5400RPM + 256 SSD (slower HDD but great SSD) / +1 ASUS ***If you purchase the ASUS, just swap the HDD with the SSD and do a fresh WIN7 64 install WIN8 is HORRIBLE!
Both have a decent GPU GTX780M 4G vs GTX770M 3G (780M is easily the better GPU) / +1 MSI
Both have nice (looking) keyboards MSI touts the Steelseries, which along with the Dynaudio label should have been the first warning sign too many labels +1 so far to MSI because it's the best feeling keyboard I have used on a notebook, and being able to configure the keys into a 3-color scheme is way cool. However, the keyboard layout absolutely SUCKS! The arrow keys, which gamers still occasionally use are flush with the rest of the key layout. The forward slash "/" is next to the spacebar, and unforgivable are the HOME & END keys that can only be invoked by using the FN key! MSI cheaped out on building a Western keyboard layout, so instead you get to fumble about with a European keyboard layout! -50 MSI
The rest of my gripes are nitpicking stuff so I'll skip to the meat of how the MSI completely fails long-term, which is where it matters. COOLING!!!
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7076/msi-gt70-dragon-edition-notebook-review-haswell-and-the-gtx-780m/4
This link is only to show the case open with the single-fan layout of the MSI, which most people would otherwise not consider, like me! If you are considering the MSI please read the entire article.
COMMON SENSE
Evey computer, regardless of how weak or powerful needs good thermal venting features. The MSI has 1 vent to the side. In fact on the product page it is clearly stated, and again shame on me for not noting this before purchase as odd, "A smart, quiet, and highly efficient single fan cooling solution." Unfortunately there is nothing 'smart' about single cooling for a gaming notebook.
The MSI takes air in from the rear, 1 fan cools the GPU first then the CPU, and pushes the hot air out the left-side. Thank goodness they at least realized most people place a mouse on the right-side. So basically the already baking CPU gets whatever air, typically hot, off the GPU, which is then vented outside the case. In my situation, the CPU is constantly throttling to keep cool, causing in game lock-ups. Every 10-20 seconds, regardless of the game, the system freezes for 1-2 seconds. Initially I thought it was the HDD, but HD Sentinel proved the drive was in "Perfect" condition. Also tested the RAM, which also proved to be in good working order. Then I wondered, what is this touch-button on the quick access bar above the keyboard? Of course! It's a fan boost because this notebook only has one fan to cool the entire system! It needs human intervention when the CPU is starving for air, and it allows MSI an excuse to create another cool looking touch button. Unfortunately invoking this fan creates so much noise you either need headphones or turn the volume all the way up. Fortunately the audio on the MSI system is pretty good. Long term MSI creates another revenue stream repairs. It's a fact that components that are constantly exposed to extreme temperatures will fail far faster than those properly cooled. +1 MSI for AUDIO / -100 MSI for COOLING
The ASUS on the other hand has "Intelligent and Powerful Cooling." This is 2 fans pulling cool air from the front of the machine, across all the components, and out the back. Holy smokes, what kind of crazy is that?!? In the process the CPU and GPU get their own cool air flow and hot air never reaches the user. +100 MSI
I could go on a bit more but my mind is already made up and an ASUS G750 is on the way to replace my MSI melted butter CPU. Yeah the ASUS does not look as pretty, has no quick launch buttons, with components that on paper are less powerful, but cooling seems to be far superior and better thought out, the keyboard layout appears far superior and the connections along the sides appear to be better placed. Overall I expect my gaming experience to be far better does no good if a more powerful CPU packed inside a case locks up every few seconds because its poor thermal properties eventually cause a system-wide failure.
I tried to make sense of this based on a little research and my experience with the MSI brand I'll update this after tomorrow when the ASUS arrives and I had time to play with it a bit. Just be smart before plunking down anything vertical of $1500 on a laptop/notebook, and not overwhelmed by, in this case, way too many features for the price.
ASUS review http://www.amazon.com/review/R5ZNHLJ1BZRB5/ref=cm_cr_pr_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00COQIKKA&linkCode=&nodeID=&tag=
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for MSI Computer Corp. MSI GT70 2OD-064US;9S7-176312-064 17.3-Inch
This laptop plays most games maxed out when pluged in.(less so on battery.)The audio is very good for a laptop.
Bigger than I thought it would be.(but bigger is better right.)
I do not like win8's gui but thanks to stardock I switched back to win7's.(Avoiding win7 install)
ONE WARNING!!! opening the bottom to change or add a hard drive, ssd or mem. will void your warranty.
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