Tuesday, 2nd August 2011
MSI GT780R Review – MSI’s Definition of Gaming Laptop
Text by Richie Setiawan
Pros:
- Sandy Bridge quad core CPU
- Nvidia’s latest GTX560M GPU
- Razer SteelSeries colorful backlit gaming keyboard
- Game simulation illumination
Cons:
- Somehow rough multi-gesture touchpad texture
- Noisy fan
- Heavy weight (4 kg)
- Troublesome motherboard PCB in some cases (as reported by some users)
It has often been harder than easier for most enthusiastic PC gamers to find a notebook PC that will handle even the most demanding games to date. As always, even though there have been one or two manufacturers that try to offer a gaming laptop before, there are always times when those laptops will give up. In fact, it’s only a matter of time before more demanding games are released resulting in the end of the gaming notebook PCs. However, it seems that one manufacturer still remains, MSI. Today, the company is introducing its brand new GT780R.
So, what does this laptop has in particular? Well, to start it off, of course, CPU plays a crucial role in running heavily demanding games and applications. Therefore, MSI has equipped their latest product in the lineup of their laptops with the second generation Intel Core i7 processor – also known as Sandy Bridge. That’s not the end yet, MSI has equipped the GT780R with a quad core processor. Curious? It is the Intel Core i7 2630QM that will accompany you when you game if you buy this particular gaming laptop from the Taiwanese corporation. With a 2.7GHz CPU clock, 6MB L3 cache, and a total of 995 million transistors on board, there are likely no games you can’t conquer.
Of course, the CPU can never work alone when you demand it to process highly demanding games. It will always need the help of a highly reliable GPU – in this case, the GTX560M from Nvidia. Fortunately, thanks to the 1.5GB GDDR5, you will seldom find the GPU complaining when you ask it to play your favorite games. This GPU is indeed pretty capable of running most heavily demanding games with all settings set to maximum. However, though, you might not be able to run such games as Metro 2033 or Crisis 2 with their maximum settings. Remember, it’s the mobile version of the GTX560 GPU for desktop after all. This means, there are limits to what you can do in terms of graphics.
Yet, that does not necessarily mean you have to be upset. This is possible thanks to the huge 8GB RAM capacity this MSI GT780R is equipped with. Needless to say, with such a huge memory, everything is limited only by your imagination. Better yet, you can still upgrade the memory to 16GB maximum.
Now, what’s the point of having a great latest edition GPU from Nvidia, a quad core processor from Intel, and such a huge memory capacity if you don’t have enough storage space? Fortunately, MSI has prepared 2 HDD (500GB each) that will duet – with the help of RAID 0 – in fulfilling just about any of your computing needs.
Unfortunately, when you start using this particular gaming laptop, you might find that the touchpad is not an excellent one to use. Due to the rough texture and unpredictable sensitivity level, the touchpad does not seem really suitable to this powerful laptop.
But well, MSI probably deserves another chance. At least, this Taiwanese manufacturer offers a laptop keyboard that you might never find with any other gaming or non-gaming laptops out there. Yes, it is the SteelSeries gaming keyboard from the Razer corporation. With this chiclet backlit keyboard from a company with an unbelievably high reputation when it comes to manufacturing gaming hardware, countless eyes of the other gamers will stare at you and your laptop when you compete against them in a LAN party.
Illumination is more or less something that describes one of the main characteristics this gaming notebook PC has. Besides the illumination on the keyboard, you will also notice illumination on the sides of the display. To be honest, it is quite an awesome idea by MSI to simulate your gaming environment into the illumination system. To make it clearer, take this example. When you play a game that involves shooting, bullets will scatter around. The awesome thing is that when the bullet is flying from one side – let’s say left – and then crossing to the right side, you will see that the left side of the display will illuminate first before the one at the right side (it simulates the movement in the game).
In addition to that, your gaming session will never be boring thanks to the surround sound system from Dynaudio. MSI is really trying to spoil its gamers’ ears by working in collaboration with the people behind Dynaudio to give a surround sound sensation that gamers will never forget.
Yet, even though the MSI GT780R is a gaming laptop, connectivity is still something that the manufacturer cannot miss. Therefore, MSI has powered its latest gaming laptop with eSATA port, 2 USB 2.0 ports, 3 USB 3.0 ports, 4 audio ports, Bluetooth, and a WiFi connection. Card reader is also there for your preference.
When it comes to the optical drive, you have the option to use a Blu-Ray reader or even writer. The Blu-Ray reader is often pretty useful as it enables you to watch Blu-Ray movies. You will even get Corel WinDVD software pre-installed if you buy this computer.
With all the power it packs inside it, there will be no surprise knowing that the MSI GT780R weighs 4 kg. Also, as you might have probably known, such a powerful system will usually cause a pretty high heat. As a result, this notebook PC has to have reliable fans to cool down its temperature. Unfortunately, this results in a loud noise as well. However, considering what the notebook can offer, such a consequence is perhaps worth it.
Another thing you should also note about the laptop is the battery life. With 9 cells Lithium Ion battery, this laptop is capable of accompanying you for not less than around 3 hours. After that, you will have to bother charging your MSI GT780R soon if you don’t want to lose your game progress.
Also, in some rather unique cases, a few users once reported that their MSI GT780R wouldn’t fire at all. As it turned out, the problem was the components on the motherboard. However, you probably don’t have to worry too much about it. As mentioned earlier, this is a unique case and there were only few users who reported it.
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