MSI GX740-079US
Specifications
Notebook: MSI GX740-079US (GX740 Series)Processor: Intel Core i7 720QM
Graphics Adapter: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870
Display: 17.0 inch, 16:10, 1680x1050 pixels, glossy: yes
Weight: 3.2kg
Price: 1100 euro
Average of 4 scores (from 4 reviews)
Reviews for the MSI GX740-079US
Source: Trusted Reviews
MSI provides an awesome specification at an awesome price in an outdated chassis. If you're willing to put up with its somewhat garish looks, terrible battery life and a few other foibles, nothing for even close to the same money can touch this GX740 laptop when it comes to sheer gaming performance.
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 10/19/2010
Rating: Total score: 80% price: 100% performance: 90% features: 80% mobility: 30%
Source: CNet
What on Earth is going on here? A gaming laptop available for under £900? My, how times change. This is the MSI GX740, a 17.3-inch behemoth that wants to be our gaming buddy.
The 17.3-inch MSI GX740 is a peculiar laptop with some curious design flaws. It may not be particularly slick, but it offers astonishing performance for the price.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 09/27/2010
Rating: Total score: 80%
Source: Stuff TV
Outstanding value for a high-performance games machine, made possible by some sensible spec compromises
Single Review, online available, Very Short, Date: 08/12/2010
Rating: Total score: 100%
Source: Comp Reviews
The MSI GX740-079US is a 17-inch laptop that is designed for gamers on the go and it does this job quite well. Graphics and performance are both very strong and should handle gaming just fine. There are some quirks that may put off some buyers though including the keyboard layout and the battery pack placement. Still, for $1400, it does an excellent job of blancing gaming and more general purpose computing.
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 07/13/2010
Rating: Total score: 80%
Comment
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870:
High-end DirectX 11 graphics card based on a desktop HD5770. Models with GDDR5 are ideal but there may be a bottleneck due to the 128 Bit memory bus.
With these GPUs you are able to play modern and demanding games fluently at medium detail settings and HD resolution.
» 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.
720QM: The Core i7-720QM is the slowes Core i7 Quad Core in 2009 and clocks between 1.6 and 2.8 GHz (due to the Turbo Mode). Therefore, it combines the advantages of a slow quad core CPU with a fast single core one. Compared to the faster Core i7 mobile CPUs, the 720QM only features 6MB L3 Cache.» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Processsors.
17.0": Meanwhile the 17 inch display size is a more frequently offered standard format for desktop-replacements. The DTR-laptops can't be carried easily, need much energy but on the other side texts can be read easily and high resolutions are no problem. DTR mainly are intended for stationary usage on desks, where the weight and the energy need are unimportant.
» To find out how fine a display is, see our DPI List.
3.2 kg: This weight is average for notebooks. Therefore the numerous mass of laptops with 15 inch display fits in this class of weight.
MSI: Micro-Star International (MSI), is a Taiwan based computer hardware manufacturer since 1986 best known for desktop computer motherboards. MSI also designs and manufactures graphics cards, barebone PCs, notebook computers, networking products, servers, multimedia, consumer electronics, and storage devices. MSI, as most Taiwanese computer manufacturers, sells products on OEM/ODM basis. It also sells products worldwide based on its own brand name "MSI". The market share of laptops with the MSI brand is rather low.
85%: This rating should be considered to be average. This is because the proportion of notebooks which have a higher rating is approximately equal to the proportion which have a lower rating.
» Further information can be found in our Notebook Purchase Guide.
