MSI GS70 Stealth Review

[Shakespeare]

One more thing... Killer wireless and lan really makes a difference, i have less lag now on the gs70

 

[Rashkae]

Haha. It is always very fast when its new man. Anyway, enjoy!

The striped RAID SSD drives make the difference. I've already loaded this thing with antivirus, office apps, all my usual stuff, still no slowdown.

 

[noobzpro]

Any bros who own blade and this can give comparison?

 

[Rashkae]

Any bros who own blade and this can give comparison?

2012 blade? No comparison.

2013 Blade Pro? In gaming, they're the same. In overall windows behavior, loading apps, data storage, more ports, speakers, and SD Card, the MSI is better.

 

[dawnknight]

everything looks nice
but the 4k readings look somewhat slow ?

 

[Rashkae]

everything looks nice
but the 4k readings look somewhat slow ?

Depends on the sector size optimization maybe. I'll re-run with the 1000MB option.

Here's the Samsung 840pro by comparison:

 

[Rashkae]

Even with 1000MB sample size the results are quite similar. It's definitely not optimized for small write sizes but it's still very fast

 

[chiaRH]

not bad, dude. nowadays msi seems to be getting better n better. evolution sure rocks. few yrs ago the hot stuff was asus g73. even that seems passe now

The only thing Asus has been doing so far is release new stealth fighter every year (and they don't even look that different). Now 4 years in a row, people I think are bored of hearing of the same quiet dual fans, 5-degree ergonomic tilt, stealth design etc...

MSI I think took a huge leap with the GT783 way back then. That was the model that paved the way for modern GT70s and variants which join the ranks of flagship-GPU gaming notebooks in the market while Asus continued to rely on entry-level gaming GPUs and gimmick like 3D display.

As a former G73 owner (Sep 2010- Nov 2012), I remember the hype on the G73. If there's one thing it did well, I think it was set a new design trend for gaming notebooks that went away from alienware-style flashiness to (thankfully) more understated looks, as seen in subsequent new entrants like Ideadpad Y580 and Series 7 Gamer and even Razer Blade. I think even the newer Qosmios look less flashy now.

 

[Jonski69]

is there any update on the temps? interested on this unit too..

 

[chiaRH]

chiaRH:
g73 stealth shape was really cool. an interesting, novel design. almost bought it cos of the form factor lol

I bought it because I thought it was good haha.

Well honestly yes it was great for its time, but it didn't have the same high build quality as things like the Asus Zenbook. You know how rubber eventually deteriorates over time and becomes sticky? My G73 became like that within a year, especially the hinge cover. It also had faulty issues with a whole bunch of things like the headphone port, GPU driver, wireless card...

The form factor actually makes it harder to carry. Not only is it larger than other 17" laptops cos the front part is thin empty space to create the 5-degree tilt, but it also made the weight highly concentrated on the back. (it's worth nothing that the succesors to the G73 have gotten even heavier too)

back to the GS70, I just saw the hands on vid by xoticPC and it shows some interesting stuff like how the air intakes are on the top and the side exhausts vent the air out at 45 degrees to mitigate the classic problem of blowing hot exhaust directly on your hand using the mouse.

 

[porcu]

Already have the Y500. Is there any reason for me to upgrade?

 

[@Corbell]

Congratulations Rashkae, you are probably one of the first owner of MSI GS70 in Singapore.

Enjoy!

Taking a look at the bottom, we can see some extra vents, a felt-lined area to protect you from the hottest areas on the laptop (nice touch, MSI) as well as the vents for the built-in subwoofer. Yes, you read that right. It's a 2.1 sound system (more on that later).

Here is the beauty exposed, with some clear resemblances to the Razer Blade - much like a red-headed cousin...

Almost all the stickers are on that clear strip at the bottom, so one pull and she's cleaned up nicely:

Do note that the L/R speakers are right under the monitor, and the holes above the keyboard are air intakes.


On the right side we have a tiny, almost invisible reset hole (paperclip size), 2 USB 3.0 ports, and SD Card reader (which Razer does not have...) the power port, Kensington lock and the air vent for the GPU. A note on the air vents: They try to blast the air upwards at 45 degrees to get it away from being sucked back into the laptop.

On the left side we have the other air vent, the LAN port, HDMI and 2 Display ports (for a total of 3 external displays... aaaaah I can already think of what do do...) 2 more USB 3.0 ports for a total of 4 USB 3.0 ports, and the configurable headphone/line-in/mic ports for the SoundBlaster Cinema DAC. Another note: MSI says they've put in an amp in the headphone jack, and I've tested it with a few of my larger cans and the GS70 had zero issues powering them.

 

[jiangxue]

Already have the Y500. Is there any reason for me to upgrade?

Y500 is one of the most bang-for-buck laptops. The GS70 has Haswell, Raid SSD, bigger screen, killer network and is lighter, but the Y500 does have the option of SLI or an optical drive. Personally if i were you and I don't feel too rich I'd wait for next gen.

But if you're in need of a new laptop, this is an awesome one to have. I'm loving mine.

 

[jiangxue]

Heat wise, I haven't fiddled with it much, just simple Intel XTU.... the stress tests there show me that it hardly goes about 95degs at 100% CPU utilization and about 3Ghz. This is with 0 ventilation in my room (no fan no aircon and windows closed) and on a flat wooden table.

On idle its about 55degs at 3.4ghz.

 

[porcu]

Y500 is one of the most bang-for-buck laptops. The GS70 has Haswell, Raid SSD, bigger screen, killer network and is lighter, but the Y500 does have the option of SLI or an optical drive. Personally if i were you and I don't feel too rich I'd wait for next gen.

But if you're in need of a new laptop, this is an awesome one to have. I'm loving mine.

Think it's retailing at 2699 here as I went to see the demo at SLS yesterday. U bought it for less?

Another issue is transferring of save games. Any easy way to do?

 

[Rashkae]

Think it's retailing at 2699 here as I went to see the demo at SLS yesterday. U bought it for less?

Another issue is transferring of save games. Any easy way to do?

Save games? Depends on the game. Just copy the save game files over lah. Same thing you've had to do since the early days of DOS.

 

[watzup_ken]

Heat wise, I haven't fiddled with it much, just simple Intel XTU.... the stress tests there show me that it hardly goes about 95degs at 100% CPU utilization and about 3Ghz. This is with 0 ventilation in my room (no fan no aircon and windows closed) and on a flat wooden table.

On idle its about 55degs at 3.4ghz.

On idle, this should not be 3.4Ghz. It should clock down to save power. 95 degs is quite high considering that GPU is at idle. I believe the the chip can handle up to 100 degs.

 

[porcu]

Still thinking deeply. Maybe hoot tomorrow

 

[Shakespeare]

Just had a marathon session of Borderlands2 to test batt life. High Performance default configuration lasted 3 hours 42 minutes of gaming (with a wireless mouse) to go from 100% to 5% power. Real life batt test

 

[noobzpro]

Just had a marathon session of Borderlands2 to test batt life. High Performance default configuration lasted 3 hours 42 minutes of gaming (with a wireless mouse) to go from 100% to 5% power. Real life batt test

wtf??!! thats the kind of timings for last gen when on surfing and simple usage!