MSI GT72 2PE Dominator Pro (072UK) Review

Alienware have earned a reputation by creating expensive, high performance gaming laptops for the wealthy enthusiast user. It is clear that MSI want a slice of the pie, because there is no doubt in my mind that the MSI GT72 2PE Dominator Pro has been designed specifically to beat any machine that the Dell subdivision are currently selling.

First impressions of the GT72 2PE Dominator Pro are positive. The bundle is both extensive and carefully thought out – MSI include a fancy backpack and a MSI branded Siberia V2 Steelseries headset, Kinzu V2 Steelseries mouse and dog tags. While many will scoff at ‘unnecessary accessories' – it all adds to the feeling of purchasing an exclusive, luxury product. Apple have been doing it successfully for years.

Onboard audio is covered by the Dynaudio system, and as far as laptop sound goes – they have created something surprisingly good. It is one of the few desktop replacement laptops that manages to deliver some bass presence. The audio is on a similar level to the Alienware M18x that we reviewed several years ago. Obviously it is important to note that adding a pair of speakers, or using the bundled pair of Siberia V2 headphones will dramatically improve the overall media and gaming experience. Laptop speakers all have limitations.

The 17.3 inch full HD LED monitor delivers a great image, with nicely saturated colours and decent viewing angles. Blacks are deep, and white purity is well above what we would consider as average in the class. If we were being critical we would like a little more maximum brightness in strong daylight conditions, but overall we can't see anyone complaining about image quality.

The Steelseries keyboard and high grade trackpad are at the top of their class, although we wouldn't be using a trackpad if at all possible. The bundled, limited edition Steelseries Kinzu V2 Steelseries mouse is a quality product which will improve the gaming experience.

The option to add another three screens (for four in total) to the GT72 2PE Dominator Pro is certainly a welcome feature. It even supports 4K resolutions. We did test with a single 4K ASUS PQ321Q monitor and the MSI GT72 2PE Dominator Pro supported it well. That said, dealing with the latest Direct X games at 3840×2160 will prove too much …. even for Nvidia's GTX880M.

The combination of powerful Core i7 4710HQ, 32GB of DDR3 memory and Nvidia GTX880M ensures that the MSI GT72 2PE Dominator Pro is unlikely to run out of steam. It broke our previous mobile record in Cinebench R11.5- scoring over 7 points. You could feasibly even rely on the MSI laptop for 3D rendering or video editing in a hotel room.

The adoption of 4x SSD Raid 0 (or ‘Super RAID 3' as MSI call it) is certainly a talking point. Our results show a maximum performance figure around 1,100MB/s, which this does fall a little short of MSI's 1,600MB/s claims. It would be bordering on the criminal to have hampered such a powerful desktop replacement with a mere mechanical drive. That said, MSI have found physical space to also include a 1TB 7,200 rpm storage drive as well.

One of the most remarkable selling points for this laptop is actually the way it deals with heat. MSI have opted for a sophisticated dual heatsink/fan cooling system which in the real world works exceptionally well. The hardware is held well within thermal limits and the lack of noise was a real surprise for me. I have tested many desktop replacements over the years and I always expect to deal with a lot of fan noise. The MSI GT72 2PE Dominator Pro at idle is completely silent, and under load the fans spin at modest levels – it is certainly audible, but no louder than a smaller business based laptop when watching a 1080p movie. I consider this a remarkable achievement.

If you are in the market for a large, desktop replacement system to handle the latest games, and have perhaps even more serious 3d rendering or video editing duties then the MSI GT72 2PE Dominator Pro should be right at the top of your shortlist. It is one of the finest laptops money can buy and will cost considerably less than a similarly specified Alienware desktop replacement.

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You can buy direct from Overclockers UK for £2,299.99 inc vat.

Pros:

• GTX880M is a powerhouse.
• Core i7 4710HQ broke previous records.
• cooling system is powerful and surprisingly quiet.
• Steelseries keyboard.
• onboard dynaudio sound system.
• 1080p panel has great colour reproduction.
• support for a total of 4 screens.
• 4K support.
• built to high standards.
• 4x SSD RAID with 1TB HDD.
• backlit multi zone/multi colour keyboard.
• trackpad is as good as a trackpad will ever get.
• optical drive.
• 6 USB 3.0 ports.
• well priced beside comparable Alienware.
• red vents look great.
• 802.11ac wireless performance.

Cons:

• Isn't cheap.
• Raid 0 performance wasn't quite as good as MSI claimed. (1,100MB/s not 1,600MB/s).
• vents need plenty of space for the high volume airflow.

Kitguru says: A complete gaming powerhouse which sets a new benchmark in the high end.

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