MSI GT70 Gaming Laptop Goes on Sale, Gets Reviewed

MSI GT70

The MSI GT70 17.3-inch gaming-centric notebook is now on sale in the US via Excaliber PC and it has been reviewed by Engadget.

The notebook features a 3rd Generation Intel Core processor known as “Ivy Bridge”. Excaliber PC will officially announce which i7 CPU model will be used in the GT70 configurations they offer on April 29th, but unofficially we have learned that it will be the 2.3GHz i7-3610QM quad-core CPU, also used in Engadget’s reviewed unit. The graphics processor is the Nvidia GeForce GTX 670M with 3GB GDDR5 video memory.

The GT70 model in stock at Excaliber PC is the 0NC-013US, while three other configs – 012US, 011US, and 08US, are available for pre-orders.

Here’s a quick comparison chart. The only differences are storage, RAM, and optical drives.

MSI GT70 Model 0NC-013US 0NC-012US 0NC-011US 0NC-08US
CPU Intel Core i7-3610QM quad-core at 2.3GHz (most
likely)
GPU Nvidia GeForce GTX 670M 3GB GDDR5
Display 17.3″ Full HD 1920 x 1080 Anti-Glare
Storage 128GB SSD + 750GB 7,200rpm HDD 128GB SSD + 750GB 7,200rpm HDD 64GB SSD + 64GB SSD RAID + 750GB 7,200rpm HDD 750GB 7,200rpm HDD
RAM  (4 Sockets, 1333MHz) 12GB 12GB 16GB 12GB
Optical Drive DVD Burner Blu-ray Burner Blu-ray Burner DVD Burner
Audio 4 x Built-in HD Dynaudio Speakers; Dynaudio
Premium Sound Technology w/ THX TruStudio Pro; Dolby Digital Live; Headset AMP
Input Steel Series Gaming Keyboard with Multi-Color Backlit; Single-Touch Trackpad
Communication Bigfoot Killer Gaming-Class Gigabit Network LAN; Intel “Jackson Peak” 1×2 (802.11 b/g/n) Wi-Fi; Wireless Display (WiDi); Bluetooth
Ports and slots 2 x USB 2.0; 3 x USB 3.0; 1 x HDMI 1.4; 1 x
eSATA; 1 x RJ45 LAN; 1 x VGA Port; 1 x Microphone; 1 x Headphone Out Jack; 1
x Line-In Jack; S/PDIF; 7-in-1 Card Reader
Camera 720p Webcam
Battery 9-Cell
Weight 8.6 pounds
Dimensions 16.85″ x 11.34″ x 2.17″ (L x W x H)
OS Windows 7 Home Premium
Warranty 2 Years Limited
Price $1,699.00 $1,849.00 $1,999.00 $1,549.00

Besides the latest core components, among these specs gamers will especially appreciate the durable SteelSeries keyboard with key arrangement optimized for gaming, the Killer LAN port for low network latency which is important for online gaming, as well as the optional 64GB+64GB SSD RAID on the GT70 0NC-011US. This feature is designed to provide fast game loads and it delivers extremely good read speeds of 900MB/s+, according to a HD Tune benchmark.

MSI GT70 Lid

In Engadget’s benchmarks, the tested GT70 was able to score 18,955 3D Mark Vantage points, which is much better result than the older MSI GT683DXR with the previous generation i7-2630QM and GeForce GTX 570M, scoring 16,862 points. Overall, the notebook delivered an impression of a high-performance laptop with a great built quality and speakers, but also a “less-than-ideal” display.

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