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Today we look at the latest high powered 17 inch gaming laptop from MSI, the GT70 2OC. Performance certainly won't be a concern as the machine is equipped with an 8 thread Intel Core i7 processor and a 3GB Nvidia GTX770M discrete graphics card. MSI have also included a fast 120G8 GB solid state boot drive, paired up with a 1TB hard drive to handle storage duties.
KitGuru has analysed quite a few MSI laptop systems over the last year. We weren't so keen on the GE40-2OC ‘Dragon Eyes' as our sample was sluggish with no solid state drive, but the GS70 2OD Stealth was a return to form for MSI and one of the best portable systems we have reviewed all year.
So, how does the MSI GT70 2OC shape up?
MSI GT70 2OC Specification:
- Screen Size: 17.3″
- Screen Type: LCD
- Backlight: LED
- Screen Resolution: 1920×1080
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Screen Features: Full HD
- Processor Type: Intel Core i7 4700HQ
- Processor Cores: 4 (8 Threads)
- Processor Clock Speed: 2.40GHz (3.40GHz Turbo Mode)
- Hard Drive Supplied: 1 x 1TB
- Hard Drive Size: 1TB
- Solid State Drive: 128GB
- Hard Drive Interface: Serial ATA-600
- Hard Drive Speed: 7200RPM
- Memory Supplied:1 x 8GB
- Memory Size: 8GB
- Memory Type: DDR3
- Memory Speed: 1600
- Memory Socket: 2 x SO-DIMM
- Max. Memory Support: 32GB
- Operating System: Windows 8
- Graphics Chipset: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770M
- Graphics Memory: 3GB GDDR 5
- Chipset: Intel HM87 Express
- Audio: Sound by Dynaudio
- Speaker(s): 2 x Speakers
- Subwoofer: 1 subwoofer
- Microphone: Built-in
- LAN Card: Killer E2200 LAN
- LAN Speed: 10/100/1000
- Wireless NIC: Killer N1202 Combo (2*2, a/b/g/n)
- Bluetooth: v4.0
- USB 3.0 Port(s): 3
- USB 2.0 Port(s): 2
- HDMI Port(s): 1
- Mini Display Port(s): 1
- Microphone Jack(s): 1
- Headphone Jack(s): 1
- Line In Jack(s): 1
- Line Out Jack(s): 1
- LAN Port(s): 1
- Web Camera: HD type ( 30fps@720p)
- Product Weight (g): 3.9Kg (w/Battery)
- Warranty: 2 Years
Price: £1,399 inc vat.
The MSI GT70 2OC Gaming Notebook ships inside a plain brown box with MSI branding on the sides.
Inside is the main MSI system box with the wording ‘top player – top choice'. The red MSI dragon can be seen on this box.
Inside is a CD with drivers and software for restore purposes, alongside some literature and the power adapter.
The power adapter is 19.5V, rated at 9.2A. It can be used worldwide between a 100-240V range.
The laptop is protected inside a black bag and inside this is another white protective cover, all with matching MSI logos.
The MSI GT70 2OC Gaming Notebook is nicely finished in a pseudo style aluminum finish, although on closer inspection it is built around a mixture of plastics and metal.
The MSI GT70 2OC Gaming Notebook is a chunky laptop, not at all like the super thin MSI GS70 20D Stealth which we reviewed back in September this year. It weighs 3.9kg with the battery installed, so certainly not in the super portable class.
The lid of the laptop attracts fingerprints quite easily, although they are not difficult to clean off with a cloth. The lid remains steady at all angles which is great for people who like to game on public transport as it won't move at all under light pressure.
One side of the laptop is home to two USB 2.0 ports, along with the optical drive. The other side has three USB 3.0 ports, a card reader and all the audio connectors. We like how MSI have moved one of the USB 3.0 ports into a position clear of the other two – ideal for a physically large USB 3.0 flash drive.
The rear of the laptop has an HDMI port, mini DisplayPort, VGA connector, GB LAN connector and power connector.
Underneath there are plenty of vents to ensure air can flow in and out of the machine. There is also a very large vent at the left hand side of the MSI GT70 2OC, behind two of the USB 3.0 ports.
MSI are using the Bigfoot Killer E2200 LAN with the Killer N1202 and we recorded some fantastic speeds across wireless via the Apple AirPort Express (802.11n), maxing out at 15.1MB/s.
MSI are using a high quality 17.3 inch panel with the GT70 2OC, which is moderately reflective, although not as glossy as panels we have used from the likes of Alienware for instance. It has good horizontal and vertical off angle viewing and colours and text are crisp and vibrant.
There is a web camera built into the laptop, just above the panel. It is rated 30 fps at 720p and the quality is actually very good.
Onboard audio on the MSI GT70 20C is surprisingly capable. MSI are using Dynaudio speakers, and there is a subwoofer built into the laptop. I say ‘subwoofer' lightly as no laptop incorporates a proper subwoofer system. Manufacturers are using this term to basically point out that the laptop will have a little bass response, rather than none.
The power button is hard to miss, positioned in the middle of the function key section above the main keyboard. You can control various parts of the machine from this panel, including disabling all wireless functionality for flights.
The keyboard is developed by Steelseries and is much better than the majority of spongy keyboards incorporated on gaming laptops the world over. We still don't think it is quite as good as the fantastic Lenovo ThinkPad series keyboard, but it is a close second.
The trackpad is also very good, with two angular shaped buttons running along the bottom. We still recommend the use of a mouse, but in those instances when you have no room to use a mouse, it is acceptable. There are various lights at the underside of the trackpad indicating activity. There is a button top left to disable the trackpad – if you are using a mouse for instance.
The MSI keyboard lights up in a ‘rainbow' style colour scheme, shown above.
On this page we present some super high resolution images of the product taken with the 24.5MP Nikon D3X camera and 24-70mm ED lens. These will take much longer to open due to the dimensions, especially on slower connections. If you use these pictures on another site or publication, please credit Kitguru.net as the owner/source.
Our review sample machine had underwent some internal ‘testing' before it reached us, so it is quite difficult to work out what will be installed for the customer. In the interests of being completely transparent however we have shown the machine above, exactly as we got it. We never like seeing Norton software preinstalled as it is really has turned into a monstrous bit of bloatware over the years.
An overview of the hardware in CPUz and GPUz. The system is using the Intel Core i7 4700MQ processor. This processor is clocked at 2.4ghz with a maximum turbo speed of 3.4ghz. You can get detailed information on this processor, over here. MSI have installed 8GB of DDR3 memory, clocked at 1,600mhz with timings of 11-11-11-28 1T. MSI have opted for a single 8GB stick, rather than 2 x 4GB sticks, which means it will be running in single channel mode. The reasoning behind this is that the customer can upgrade the memory to 16GB without having to ditch the memory already in the machine.
The Nvidia GTX770M is clocked at 706mhz and has 24 ROPs, 80 Texture Units and 960 Cuda Cores. The 3GB of GDDR5 memory is clocked at 1,002mhz (4Gbps effective) and is connected across a 192 bit memory interface.
You can get validation on the system, over here.
Comparison Systems (for specific synthetic test compares):
MSI GS70 2OD Stealth (Intel Core i7 4700HQ)
MSI GE40-20C Dragon Eyes (Intel Core i7 4702MQ)
PCSpecialist Inferno 11.6 inch (Intel Core i7 3630QM)
MSI GX60 (AMD A10 4600M)
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (featuring Core i5 3427U)
Lenovo ThinkPad Edge S430 (featuring Core i5 3210M)
PC Specialist Vortex III HD72 (featuring Core i7 3610QM).
Asus G74SX-91013Z (featuring Core i7 2360QM).
Dell XPS 14z (featuring Core i7 2640M).
AlienWare M18X (featuring Core i7 2960XM Extreme Edition).
MSI CX640 (featuring Core i5 2410M).
Intel Core i7 2600k desktop processor.
Intel Core i5 2500k desktop processor.
Software:
3DMark Vantage
3DMark
3DMark 11
PCMark 7
Cinebench 11.5 64 bit
FRAPS Professional
Unigine Heaven Benchmark
Unigine Valley
SiSoft Sandra
CrystalDiskMark
ATTO Disk Benchmark
Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra 12
Cyberlink MediaEspresso
GRID 2
Total War ROME 2
Batman Arkham Origins
Battlefield 4
Technical Monitoring and Test Equipment:
Asus USB BluRay Drive
Lacie 730 Monitor (Image Quality testing)
Thermal Diodes
Raytek Laser Temp Gun 3i LSRC/MT4 Mini Temp
Extech digital sound level meter & SkyTronic DSL 2 Digital Sound Level Meter
Nikon D3X with R1C1 Kit (4 flashes), Nikon 24-70MM lens.
Game descriptions are taken with courtesy from Wikipedia.
SiSoftware Sandra (the System ANalyser, Diagnostic and Reporting Assistant) is an information & diagnostic utility. It should provide most of the information (including undocumented) you need to know about your hardware, software and other devices whether hardware or software.
Sandra is a (girl’s) name of Greek origin that means “defender”, “helper of mankind”. We think that’s quite fitting.
It works along the lines of other Windows utilities, however it tries to go beyond them and show you more of what’s really going on. Giving the user the ability to draw comparisons at both a high and low-level. You can get information about the CPU, chipset, video adapter, ports, printers, sound card, memory, network, Windows internals, AGP, PCI, PCI-X, PCIe (PCI Express), database, USB, USB2, 1394/Firewire, etc.
Native ports for all major operating systems are available:
- Windows XP, 2003/R2, Vista, 7, 2008/R2 (x86)
- Windows XP, 2003/R2, Vista, 7, 2008/R2 (x64)
- Windows 2003/R2, 2008/R2* (IA64)
- Windows Mobile 5.x (ARM CE 5.01)
- Windows Mobile 6.x (ARM CE 5.02)
All major technologies are supported and taken advantage of:
- SMP – Multi-Processor
- MC – Multi-Core
- SMT/HT – Hyper-Threading
- MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE 4.1, SSE 4.2, AVX, FMA – Multi-Media instructions
- GPGPU, DirectX, OpenGL – Graphics
- NUMA – Non-Uniform Memory Access
- AMD64/EM64T/x64 – 64-bit extensions to x86
- IA64 – Intel* Itanium 64-bit
The Intel Core i7 processor is very powerful – indicated by the results.
Memory performance seems extremely poor, but MSI have populated this particular review sample with a single 8GB DDR3 module, so it is operating in single channel mode. While this seems unusual, it is an intentional move, so the end user only has to buy a single 8GB memory stick as an upgrade to 16GB, effectively doubling the memory count.
PCMark 8 is the latest version in our popular series of PC benchmarking tools. Improving on previous releases, PCMark 8 includes battery life measurement tools and new tests using popular applications from Adobe and Microsoft. Whether you are looking for long battery life, or maximum power, PCMark 8 helps you find the devices that offer the perfect combination of efficiency and performance for your needs.
Good balanced results for a laptop system, scoring 3,711 points.
CINEBENCH R11.5 64 Bit is a real-world cross platform test suite that evaluates your computer’s performance capabilities. CINEBENCH is based on MAXON’s award-winning animation software CINEMA 4D, which is used extensively by studios and production houses worldwide for 3D content creation. MAXON software has been used in blockbuster movies such as Spider-Man, Star Wars, The Chronicles of Narnia and many more. CINEBENCH is the perfect tool to compare CPU and graphics performance across various systems and platforms (Windows and Mac OS X). And best of all: It’s completely free.
Fantastic performance from the latest Intel processor, scoring 6.9 points, the highest mobile result, to date.
CINEBENCH 15 is a cross-platform testing suite that measures hardware performance and is the de facto standard benchmarking tool for leading companies and trade journals for conducting real-world hardware performance tests. With the new Release 15, systems with up to 256 threads can be tested. CINEBENCH is available for both Windows and OS X and is used by almost all hardware manufacturers and trade journals for comparing CPUs and graphics cards.
We have not used this benchmark very long, so we have yet to test a wide cross section of hardware. Still, the overall score of 633 points is very strong based on internal findings to this point.
Unigine provides an interesting way to test hardware. It can be easily adapted to various projects due to its elaborated software design and flexible toolset. A lot of their customers claim that they have never seen such extremely-effective code, which is so easy to understand.
Heaven Benchmark is a DirectX 11 GPU benchmark based on advanced Unigine engine from Unigine Corp. It reveals the enchanting magic of floating islands with a tiny village hidden in the cloudy skies. Interactive mode provides emerging experience of exploring the intricate world of steampunk.
Efficient and well-architected framework makes Unigine highly scalable:
- Multiple API (DirectX 9 / DirectX 10 / DirectX 11 / OpenGL) render
- Cross-platform: MS Windows (XP, Vista, Windows 7) / Linux
- Full support of 32bit and 64bit systems
- Multicore CPU support
- Little / big endian support (ready for game consoles)
- Powerful C++ API
- Comprehensive performance profiling system
- Flexible XML-based data structures
We configured Unigine Heaven to use the settings above at the native resolution of 1080p.
Great results at these demanding settings, averaging 35 frames per second.Valley Benchmark is a new GPU stress-testing tool from the developers of the very popular and highly acclaimed Heaven Benchmark.
The forest-covered valley surrounded by vast mountains amazes with its scale from a bird’s-eye view and is extremely detailed down to every leaf and flower petal.
This non-synthetic benchmark powered by the state-of-the art UNIGINE Engine showcases a comprehensive set of cutting-edge graphics technologies with a dynamic environment and fully interactive modes available to the end user.
We configured the benchmark to use the settings above, at 1080p.
Another strong result, averaging 43 frames per second at these settings.
Futuremark released 3DMark Vantage, on April 28, 2008. It is a benchmark based upon DirectX 10, and therefore will only run under Windows Vista (Service Pack 1 is stated as a requirement) and Windows 7. This is the first edition where the feature-restricted, free of charge version could not be used any number of times. 1280×1024 resolution was used with performance settings.
The system scores well in this benchmark, especially when we factor in the Core i7 performance.
3DMark 11 is designed for testing DirectX 11 hardware running on Windows 7 and Windows Vista the benchmark includes six all new benchmark tests that make extensive use of all the new features in DirectX 11 including tessellation, compute shaders and multi-threading.
After running the tests 3DMark gives your system a score with larger numbers indicating better performance. Trusted by gamers worldwide to give accurate and unbiased results, 3DMark 11 is the best way to test DirectX 11 under game-like loads.
If you want to learn more about this benchmark, or to buy it yourself, head over to this page.
Again, very strong processor performance from Intel's Core i7 processor in the Physics test. The Nvidia GTX770M performance is also quite strong, scoring 4,928 points.
3DMark is an essential tool used by millions of gamers, hundreds of hardware review sites and many of the world’s leading manufacturers to measure PC gaming performance.
Futuremark say “Use it to test your PC’s limits and measure the impact of overclocking and tweaking your system. Search our massive results database and see how your PC compares or just admire the graphics and wonder why all PC games don’t look this good.
To get more out of your PC, put 3DMark in your PC.”
The system scores a total of 3,370 points.
The MSI GT70 2OC Gaming Notebook incorporates a 120GB Solid State Drive, and a 1TB 7,200 rpm drive inside.
The Solid State drive performs well, averaging almost 500 MB/s in the sequential read test, and 320 MB/s in the sequential write test. The mechanical 1TB hard drive also scores well, averaging around 135-140 MB/s in the sequential read and write tests. This is pretty much as good as you will get for a 2.5 inch mechanical drive.
The ATTO Disk Benchmark performance measurement tool is compatible with Microsoft Windows. Measure your storage systems performance with various transfer sizes and test lengths for reads and writes. Several options are available to customize your performance measurement including queue depth, overlapped I/O and even a comparison mode with the option to run continuously. Use ATTO Disk Benchmark to test any manufacturers RAID controllers, storage controllers, host adapters, hard drives and SSD drives and notice that ATTO products will consistently provide the highest level of performance to your storage.
The ATTO disk benchmark highlights that the Solid State Drive peaks around 480 MB/s write and 540 MB/s read. The 1TB mechanical drive shows 140 MB/s peaks.
We test the USB 3.0 performance on the MSI system with one of our fastest portable flash drives – the Patriot SuperSonic Magnum 256GB. We reviewed this back in February, check it out over here.
Performance via the onboard USB 3.0 controller is first class, peaking around 315MB/s in the sequential read test and around 200 MB/s in the sequential write test.
The ATTO Disk Benchmark performance measurement tool is compatible with Microsoft Windows. Measure your storage systems performance with various transfer sizes and test lengths for reads and writes. Several options are available to customize your performance measurement including queue depth, overlapped I/O and even a comparison mode with the option to run continuously. Use ATTO Disk Benchmark to test any manufacturers RAID controllers, storage controllers, host adapters, hard drives and SSD drives and notice that ATTO products will consistently provide the highest level of performance to your storage.
ATTO shows similar performance, although the sequential write speed is lower than CrystalDiskMark.Total War ROME 2 is the eighth stand alone game in the Total War series, it is the successor to the successful Rome: Total War title. The Warscape Engine powers the visuals of the game and the new unit cameras will allow players to focus on individual soldiers on the battlefield, which in itself may contain thousands of combatants at a time.
Creative Assembly has stated that they wish to bring out the more human side of war this way, with soldiers reacting with horror as their comrades get killed around them and officers inspiring their men with heroic speeches before siege towers hit the walls of the enemy city. This will be realised using facial animations for individual units, adding a feel of horror and realism to the battles.
We set the graphics to 1080p with the ULTRA preset, offering high image quality settings.
Performance was smooth for the most part, although a few of the intensive battles would drop the engine to just below the sweet spot of 25 frames per second. I could live with it, but some people might need to lower the image quality settings to ‘very high'.Grid 2 is the sequel to the racing video game Race Driver: Grid. It was developed and published by Codemasters. The game includes numerous real world locations such as Paris, numerous United States locations, and many more, and also includes motor vehicles spanning four decades. In addition, it includes a new handling system that developer Codemasters has dubbed ‘TrueFeel’, which aims to hit a sweet spot between realism and accessibility.
We test at 1920×1080 with the Ultra image quality preset, as shown above.
An excellent set of results, maintaining a frame rate above 30 at all times. A little AA could be enabled to remove some of the anti aliasing, although we though it looked very impressive without AA enabled.Batman Arkham Origins moved development away from series creators Rocksteady Studios, and is written by Corey May and Dooma Wendschuh. The game’s main storyline is set five years before that of 2009′s Batman: Arkham Asylum and follows a younger and less refined Batman who has a bounty placed on his head by crime lord Black Mask, drawing eight of the world’s greatest assassins to Gotham City on Christmas Eve. The game is presented from the third-person perspective with a primary focus on Batman’s combat and stealth abilities, detective skills, and gadgets that can be used in both combat and exploration. Arkham Origins is the first game in the series to feature multiplayer gameplay.
We selected a mixture of DX11 enhanced settings with TXAA high anti aliasing and normal ambient occlusion / normal accelerated Physx graphics.
Batman Arkham Origins runs well on the Nvidia GTX770M, averaging 44 frames per second and maintaining a frame rate around 30 in the more intensive sections of the game. Good results for 1080p/high image quality settings.
Battlefield 4 (also known as BF4) is a first-person shooter video game developed by EA Digital Illusions CE (DICE) and published by Electronic Arts. The game is a sequel to 2011′s Battlefield 3. Battlefield 4 is built on the new Frostbite 3 engine. The new Frostbite engine enables more realistic environments with higher resolution textures and particle effects. A new “networked water” system is also being introduced, allowing all players in the game to see the same wave at the same time.Tessellation has also been overhauled.
We opted for default ‘high' quality settings at the native 1080p resolution.
Playable frame rates, averaging 40, and dropping to just under 30 in the more intensive sections of the environment.
The tests were performed in a controlled air conditioned room with temperatures maintained at a constant 24c – a comfortable environment for the majority of people reading this.Idle temperatures were measured after sitting at the desktop for 30 minutes.Load measurements were acquired by playing Crysis Warhead for 30 minutes and measuring the peak temperature. We also have included Furmark results, recording maximum temperatures throughout a 30 minute stress test. All fan settings were left on automatic.
According to several software monitoring programs, the CPU temperature peaks around 90c under load, which seems high to us.
In fairness we never experienced any thermal throttling from the system, based on previous results of the Core i7 4770HQ in other systems (basically the same chip as the Core i7 4700MQ).
We attached five diodes to the back of the chassis and measured the temperature (Celcius) after one hour of intensive work and gaming.
The underside of the chassis only gets warm at the rear of the machine, on the left hand side (when on the lap). The main cooling heatsinks are here.
We have built a system inside a Lian Li chassis with no case fans and have used a fanless cooler on our CPU. The motherboard is also passively cooled. This gives us a build with almost completely passive cooling and it means we can measure noise of just the graphics card inside the system when we run looped 3DMark tests.
We measure from a distance of around 1 meter from the closed chassis and 4 foot from the ground to mirror a real world situation. Ambient noise in the room measures close to the limits of our sound meter at 28dBa.
Why do this? Well this means we can eliminate secondary noise pollution in the test room and concentrate on only the video card. It also brings us slightly closer to industry standards, such as DIN 45635.
KitGuru noise guide
10dBA – Normal Breathing/Rustling Leaves
20-25dBA – Whisper
30dBA – High Quality Computer fan
40dBA – A Bubbling Brook, or a Refrigerator
50dBA – Normal Conversation
60dBA – Laughter
70dBA – Vacuum Cleaner or Hairdryer
80dBA – City Traffic or a Garbage Disposal
90dBA – Motorcycle or Lawnmower
100dBA – MP3 player at maximum output
110dBA – Orchestra
120dBA – Front row rock concert/Jet Engine
130dBA – Threshold of Pain
140dBA – Military Jet takeoff/Gunshot (close range)
160dBA – Instant Perforation of eardrum
The laptop is quiet when idling, or when dealing with basic browsing and light office duties. When the processor and graphics card are loaded to 100% however, the fan system is very active and emits a lot of noise. We measured 38.3 dBa at this level, clearly audible and not idle for a quiet environment.
To test today, we are putting the machine through a variety of ‘real world’ situations, mirroring the real world usage of a potential customer.
One as a media movie lover on the move (wearing headphones), a person wanting to watch high definition media on a train journey or bus with screen brightness two notches from maximum.
Second as a businessman, with screen brightness around half way. Wireless was enabled. A mixture of checking, answering emails using Microsoft Office and editing pictures in Adobe Photoshop.
Lastly as a gamer, playing Half Life 2 until the machine turned itself off.
Battery life is actually very good, thanks to the substantial 87Wh model supplied with the system. Generally. under normal, light load working condition you can achieve between 4 and 5 hours.The MSI GT70 2OC Gaming Notebook is very capable, especially when it comes to powering the latest Direct X 11 titles. MSI have paired a powerful 8 thread Intel i7 processor with the Nvidia GTX770M graphics card. This combination delivers smooth, consistent frame rates, even when enabling high image quality settings in demanding titles such as Batman Arkham Origins, and Battlefield 4.
The MSI GT70 2OC is a hefty, chunky laptop, a stark contrast against the svelte MSI GT70 2OD Stealth which we reviewed back in September. The slimline appearance of the Stealth however is met with a caveat … it is only equipped with the GTX765M, noticeably less powerful than the GTX770M in the 2OC. You don't get a size reduction without having to make some compromises.
MSI are opting for some first class components in the 2OC. The Dynaudio speakers for instance sound surprisingly good, even when listening to music. They won't compete with a quality, external pair of speakers or headphones but considering the physical limitations, this is pretty much as good as we could hope for.
MSI are using the Bigfoot Killer E2200 LAN with the Killer N1202 and we recorded some fantastic download speeds across wireless via the Apple AirPort Express (802.11n), maxing out at 15.1MB/s. We haven't seen better wireless speeds than this across the length of a house, between a floor.
The integrated backlit Steelseries keyboard is very enjoyable to use, and the tactile feedback makes it a pleasure to use for more intensive typing duties. We don't think it is quite at the same level as the best keyboards in the Lenovo ThinkPad range, however it does rate a close second.
We have no concerns with any of the hardware inside the 2OC. The combination of fast 128GB SSD and 1TB mechanical drive means the laptop boots up in around 10 seconds while giving plenty of storage space for the latest games, or main drive backups.
The 17.3 inch LED panel is easily one of the best we have seen in the sub £1,500 price range, displaying vibrant colours and pin sharp text. Viewing angles are also reasonably good with only minor off shift on both vertical and horizontal axis. The panel isn't as glossy as some we have seen, but it does lend itself well to high definition media duties, while muting high ambient light that may be troublesome on other machines.
Battery life is also a strong point, thanks to the substantial 87Wh unit installed in the unit. In real world terms you should be able to squeeze out between 4 and 5 hours of use handling lighter duties, and around 2 hours when gaming.
MSI have equipped this laptop with a high level of connectivity. There are no less than 5 USB ports on the sides. Three of these are USB 3.0 rated, with one positioned close to the front of the laptop … ideal for connecting a physically restrictive USB flash drive out of the way of other devices.
Under load, the GT70 2OC does get hot, although the air flow system inside is able to shift a lot of heat. It isn't the quietest or coolest running laptop we have tested, but there are always penalties to deal with when using a powerful, on the move, gaming system.
The MSI GT70 2OC Gaming Notebook is a remarkable portable desktop replacement with only minor weaknesses. You can pick it up as tested today from Overclockers UK, for £1,399.99 inc vat.
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Pros:
- Nvidia GTX770M is a great partner for DX11 1080p games.
- 8 thread Core i7 processor.
- Solid State Drive.
- 1TB 7,200 rpm storage drive.
- 5 USB ports.
- Great onboard audio system.
- excellent backlit Steelseries keyboard.
- Killer NIC is ‘n' capable.
- vibrant, sharp 17.3 inch panel.
Cons:
- can get hot.
- not the quietest machine under load.
- Big and heavy.
Kitguru says: A well balanced, fast desktop replacement which can handle the latest Direct X 11 games such as Battlefield 4 and Batman Arkham Origins.
