Review Update MSI GT60 0NG-294US Notebook

The GT60 uses a combination of brushed metal surfaces and smooth, matte plastic edges that feel thick and robust all around, including the otherwise small dual hinges. The palm rests and keyboard show no depressions when pressed with a finger, a property that most notebooks do not exhibit. The outer lid will still bend by a fair amount if pressed down the center, though this is commonplace with practically all notebooks. Unlike the hardened plastic on the case and around the edges, the inner display bezel is made of a glossy, thinner, and seemingly cheaper plastic. Fortunately, this has no notable consequences on the overall build quality; the GT60 is still solid with little room for criticism.

The thick ~2.3-inch construction comes at the expected cost of weight as the notebook is a hefty 7.7 pounds. Even so, the MSI is lighter than other 17.3-inch workstations such as the HP EliteBook 8770w (3.92 kg) and even some 15.6-inch models such as the Lenovo ThinkPad W530 (2.81 kg). In terms of mobile workstations, users should have no unanticipated weight and subsequent transportation issues with the GT60.

Viewing angle stability is as expected from a TN display. Degradation of colors and contrast can still be seen at extreme angles, though the viewing “window” is much wider and taller than the cheaper TN displays on budget or even mainstream class notebooks. This means multiple viewers will have no issues sharing the display at one time. MSI has clearly upgraded the panel from the gaming GT60 model to appeal to professional users.

The GT60 workstation at hand is equipped with a high-end Core i7-3630QM, a step up from the i7-3610QM in our previous GT60 review model. Users can customize up to an i7-3920XM or downgrade to a Sandy Bridge i3-2310M if so desired. In the test unit, the quad-core i7-3630QM will idle at 1200 MHz if on Power Saver mode but will otherwise operate at its base 2400 MHz speed and 3200 MHz Turbo Boost clock rate per core. It is worth noting that the CPU is more powerful than what is included in our Dell Precision M4700 and HP 8770w test units, both of which cost at least $1000 more than the MSI.

RAM is provided by Asint Technology as three identical DDR3-1600 modules for a total of 12 GB. The system supports up to four SODIMM modules, two of which are easily accessible behind the bottom cover. The other two are on the opposite side of the notebook underneath the keyboard and will take a few extra steps to expose. The notebook is otherwise easily serviceable with a single Philips screwdriver. Note, however, that the user must break the warranty seal to perform any service or access any parts on the motherboard.

DPC Latency Checker showed no recurring high latency peaks even with wireless radios active.

General system performance was analyzed with PCMark 7 and PCMark Vantage. The final scores of 3464 and 11311 points, respectively, show that the GT60 outperforms the previous GT60 model. The lack of an SSD, however, does underclass the MSI when compared to Ultrabooks equipped with SATA III SSDs such as the ZenBook UX31A Touch. The Dell Precision M4700 is another good example as it uses a comparable CPU (Core i7-3720QM) and the same GPU, but was able to score 74 percent higher in PCMark Vantage due largely to its Samsung 830 SSD. Though no slouch by any means, users can still easily upgrade the GT60 with SSDs or RAID 0/1 configurations for improved general performance.

Resellers such as XoticPC offer a multitude of storage solutions for the dual 2.5-inch SATA II bays, including SSD and HDD combo options to fulfill caching and/or high capacity needs. The unit in review uses a single 7200 RPM 750 GB HDD from Western Digital with easy end-user expandability should the need arise. As mentioned before, the system includes native support for both RAID 0 and RAID 1 if a second drive is detected.

According to HD Tune, the WD drive provides an average transfer rate of about 88 MB/sec, which is in line with what we expect from a 7200 RPM HDD. Even so, a large handful of competing 7200 RPM HDDs have higher averages, such as the Hitachi drives in our original GT60 and HP Envy 15 at 97.6 MB/sec and 92.7 MB/sec, respectively. The subjective speed gains over a 5400 RPM drive is a definite step up, though upgrading to an SSD continues to be the best option from a general performance standpoint. Those hoping to install mSATA drives, however, will be out of luck.

Out of the theoretical 750 GB of storage, 11.31 GB is reserved for system recovery and 687.23 GB is split into two partitions for use. See here for our growing list of HDDs and SSDs and their respective benchmarks.

Paired with the Intel CPU is Nvidia’s Quadro K2000M discrete GPU rated at 55 W TDP and 745/900 MHz core/memory; there are no other pre-configurable GPU options for now. The GPU succeeds the Quadro 2000M and though its core architecture is based on the 28 nm Kepler design, it shares the same number of CUDA cores (384) as the Fermi-based GeForce GTX 675M with general performance close to that of the mid-range GT 650M. Unlike the latter, however, the K2000M is only available with 2 GB of slower DDR3 VRAM; there is no option for faster GDDR5 VRAM. As a result, general performance from the K2000M will be more in line with slower variants of the GT 650M. See here for more information and benchmarks on the Quadro K2000M.

Alongside the discrete GPU is Intel’s integrated HD 4000, meaning Optimus is in full force on the GT60. While the program was able to switch to the dGPU flawlessly during our testing with Specviewperf 11 and LuxMark 2.0, most everything else (including Unigine Heaven, FurMark, 3DMark 03 to 06, and all tested Steam titles) was oddly stuck on the iGPU no matter what we tried. This included forcing the dGPU through the Nvidia Control Panel and making sure High Performance was selected. Furthermore, attempting to update the graphics driver to 310.90 resulted in an error claiming that the driver could not detect compatible graphics hardware. A few benchmarks, such as 3DMark 11 and the latest 3DMark (2013), ran automatically on the dGPU without issues.

Regardless, the Specviewperf 11 results are essentially identical to other workstations equipped with the same GPU such as the Precision M4700 and ThinkPad W530, so the discrete card in the GT60 is in no way bottlenecked by any MSI-specific hardware or software features. Compared to Nvidia’s older Fermi-based Quadro 2000M, the K2000M outperforms its immediate predecessor most notably in the Catia, Pro/Engineer, Tcvis, and Siemens subtests. The GPU outpaces the competing AMD FirePro M4000 in most of the tests as well. While there is a sizeable performance gap between the K2000M and the next step up to the K3000M, the K2000M offers excellent CAD performance for mobile users given the price. According to GPU-Z, no benefits from GPU Boost were observed during the Specviewperf 11 test run.

Surface temperature measurements show similar results to our previous review of the GT60. While very cool and uniform when idle, high temperatures can quickly build up when under heavy load. In particular, the corner quadrant closest to the only two vent grilles of the system was at a recorded maximum of just above 43 degrees C and a quick peak underneath this spot will reveal the location of the single system fan. Fortunately, the cooling system is adept at concentrating much of the waste heat to this corner spot only, thus leaving important areas such as the palm rests, touchpad, and keyboard cool or slightly warm to the touch. We experienced the same phenomenon with the Maingear Nomad 15, a system based on a similar MSI shell and internal skeleton as the GT60 in review. This is compared to the Elitebook 8770w or Precision M4700, both of which had higher average surface temperatures when subjected to the same tests.

Note that our recorded values were done after one hour of full CPU and GPU system stress; users will not experience any extreme temperatures under browsing or daily word processing tasks. We ran into no unanticipated crashes or stutters during this time.

The 3D Stereo Enhanced speakers from Dynaudio are located both on the front edges and adjacent to the hinges for a total of four speakers. Unsurprisingly, sound quality is relatively good and the same as it was in our previous model. Maximum volume is loud enough for movies and games with little distortion. Bass, however, feels lacking especially for a notebook this size and despite having a subwoofer underneath. Fortunately, users are provided multiple 3.5 mm audio ports (headset and S/PDIF) for external solutions. The internal speakers are otherwise perfectly suitable for everyday use.

Similar designs will draw similar conclusions; like the GT60 gamer before it, the GT60 workstation is one of the more stable and well-made systems in its class. The multi-color backlit keyboard only adds to its stylish appearance to make it that much more attractive compared to other, usually boxier workstations. Vital properties such as dual-band WLAN support, Gigabit LAN, easy serviceability and even S/PDIF-out all make a return. Especially for workstations, users will definitely appreciate the upgradeability of the MSI as long as the user is willing to break the warranty seal. To put simply, this is a workstation in a gamer’s shell.

It is worth mentioning again that the throttling issues we experienced in the GT60 gamer are no longer present in the GT60 workstation. This fact is critical for users who intend to use the notebook for constant number-crunching and professional applications where uninterrupted maximum speed is central. The MSI will be able to deliver its maximum Turbo Boost of 3.2 GHz consistently per core alongside the active K2000M GPU.

Despite its raw performance and stability, we were unfortunate enough to receive a review model with a non-operational battery. We are also puzzled by the inability of the K2000M in this model to run any games or certain benchmarks no matter what we tried. Should a hotfix be provided, this review will be updated accordingly.

Perhaps the biggest drawback may be its louder idling noise compared to competing workstations. A number of users may also nitpick on the inability of the display to cover the entire sRGB spectrum and the lack of DisplayPort, mSATA, and WWAN options. If these drawbacks are not a concern, then the $2000 GT60 workstation can be considered a cost efficient – and certainly better-looking – powerhouse compared to the competition.