MSI GT740
Specifications
Pricecompare
Average of 3 scores (from 3 reviews)
Reviews for the MSI GT740
A Gamer's Desire? MSI releases the newest offshoot of its gaming range with the GT740. The 17 inch notebook has state-of-the-art components with the Core i7 820QM and a GeForce GTS 250M and wants to thus win gamers despite a steep price of around 1450 euro. Read in our comprehensive review if the supplied performance is impressive and MSI's notorious weaknesses have been mended in the meantime.
Source: IT Reviews Archive.org version
While desktop PCs have traditionally been the main haven for serious gamers, the explosion of interest in laptops as desktop replacements means that more and more consumers want to be able to play online and on the move without being chained to their studies. MSI has already responded to that need and its latest offspring, the GT740, is its current top-of-the-range gaming notebook. MSI's latest gaming powerhouse certainly has the looks and the CPUs to attract serious gamers, but keyboard and lighting issues might cause some hesitation for those wanting to part with this much money.
Single Review, online available, Short, Date: 01/28/2010
performance: 80%
Foreign Reviews
Source: Notebookinfo DE→EN Archive.org version
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 01/13/2010
Rating: Total score: 83% performance: 96% features: 85% display: 82% mobility: 60% workmanship: 83%
Source: Notebookcheck DE→EN Archive.org version
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 12/15/2009
Rating: Total score: 82% performance: 91% display: 69% mobility: 64% workmanship: 85% ergonomy: 75% emissions: 80%
Comment
NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250M: The GPU has 96 shader cores but only a 128 bit memory bus that supports GDDR5 memory. With DDR3 memory, the GTS 250M performs clearly worse. Because of the 40nm process (and a selection process) the 250M offers a relatively low power consumption (the 260M needs 10W more).
Non demanding games should be playable with these graphics cards.
» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Graphics Cards and the corresponding Benchmark List.
Intel Core i7: The Intel Core i7 for laptops is based on the LG1156 Core i5/i7 CPU for desktops. The base clock speed of the CPUs is relatively low, but because of a huge Turbo mode, the cores can dynamically overclock to up to 3.2 GHz (920XM). Therefore, the CPU can be as fast as high clocked dual-core CPUs (using single threaded applications) but still offer the advantage of 4 cores. Because of the large TDP of 45 W / 55 W, the CPU is only intended for large laptops.
820QM:
The Core i7-820QM is a high-end quad core CPU for laptops that clocks due to the Turbo Mode from 1.73-3.06 GHz. Therefore, the processor combines the advantages of fast single core CPUs and slow quad-core CPUs. Hyperthreading allows the simultaneous use of 8 Threads in parallel.
» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Processsors.17.00":
This range for display formats was and is a rarity. It is larger than the general standard of 15 inches, but not yet in the range of large workstations. One usually has higher screen resolutions available, but portability suffers from that.
» To find out how fine a display is, see our DPI List.3.15 kg:
A laptop with this weight is comparatively heavy and less designed for mobility than for use at the desk. Therefore, the devices tend to shine less with battery life than with a large screen and higher performance.
MSI: Micro-Star International (MSI) was founded in 1986 in Taiwan. MSI is especially known as a manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards for PCs, but also offers computer accessories, complete systems, motherboards, graphics cards, laptops, desktop PCs, monitors and other components. However, the Microstar brand name in Germany belongs to the Medion company. MSI is known for its gaming products and has developed a wide range of gaming laptops and desktop PCs. The company is also active in workstations, servers and industrial automation. MSI has offices in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.
81.33%: This rating is slightly above average, there are somewhat more devices with worse ratings. However, clear purchase recommendations look different.
» Further information can be found in our Notebook Purchase Guide.