MSI GS43VR Series

Graphics Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile
Display: 14.00 inch
Weight: 1.6kg, 1.8kg, 1.887kg, 1.93kg
Price: 1500 euro
Average of 12 scores (from 36 reviews)
MSI GS43VR 6RE-006US
Specifications

Processor: Intel Core i7 6700HQ
Graphics Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile 6144 MB
Display: 14.00 inch, 16:9, 1920 x 1080 pixels
Weight: 1.887kg
Price: 1500 euro
Links: MSI homepage MSI notebook section
Pricecompare
Average Score:
1080p60 gaming on a 14-incher. Stuff a GTX 1060 into an existing small form factor design and you'll automatically get one of the fastest 14-inch notebooks around. The GS40 series has made the leap to Pascal as the new GS43VR, though fan noise isn't necessarily any quieter.
Source: Techspot

Across the variety of games I tested, the GTX 1060 more often than not delivered 60 FPS at 1080p with quality settings cranked up to the maximum. The most demanding titles of today do require some tweaks to the settings, but there’s no doubting that the GS43VR will provide a great gaming experience at a reasonable price point. The downside to the GS43VR’s performance is mostly the cooling solution, which is loud and leaves absolutely no room for overclocking any component. It suffices at stock speeds, but even then you’ll need headphones to block the whine of the fans. On the flip side, the storage performance from the included PCIe SSD is excellent, although the 128 GB of space you get is limited.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 10/07/2016
Rating: Total score: 80%
Source: Techspot

Across the variety of games I tested, the GTX 1060 more often than not delivered 60 FPS at 1080p with quality settings cranked up to the maximum. The most demanding titles of today do require some tweaks to the settings, but there’s no doubting that the GS43VR will provide a great gaming experience at a reasonable price point. The downside to the GS43VR’s performance is mostly the cooling solution, which is loud and leaves absolutely no room for overclocking any component. It suffices at stock speeds, but even then you’ll need headphones to block the whine of the fans. On the flip side, the storage performance from the included PCIe SSD is excellent, although the 128 GB of space you get is limited.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 10/07/2016
Rating: Total score: 80%
Source: Tech Girl

It’s pretty hard to believe, sitting here while typing, that this Notebook is better than even my brother’s desktop computer and not by a small margin. It completely destroys his computer and he’s not happy that he can’t have it. MSI notebooks came out with their slogan of “shattering desktop performance” and it seems apt. This little notebook is a stick of dynamite, literally and figuratively.
Single Review, online available, Short, Date: 10/05/2016
Source: Tech Girl

It’s pretty hard to believe, sitting here while typing, that this Notebook is better than even my brother’s desktop computer and not by a small margin. It completely destroys his computer and he’s not happy that he can’t have it. MSI notebooks came out with their slogan of “shattering desktop performance” and it seems apt. This little notebook is a stick of dynamite, literally and figuratively.
Single Review, online available, Short, Date: 10/05/2016
Source: Gaming Laptops Junky

I’ll try to keep it short. The MSI GS43VR is a nice laptop with good basic features (keyboard, IPS display, 3D performance, enough RAM, SSD). If you want a small and relativelty light weight gaming laptop, this is a good option. However, the laptop has some caveats. The performance/price ratio isn’t the best, chassis heat is high, there is some GPU throttling under gaming load, SSD is not an NVMe. So that’s not the perfect laptop.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 09/07/2016
Source: Gaming Laptops Junky

I’ll try to keep it short. The MSI GS43VR is a nice laptop with good basic features (keyboard, IPS display, 3D performance, enough RAM, SSD). If you want a small and relativelty light weight gaming laptop, this is a good option. However, the laptop has some caveats. The performance/price ratio isn’t the best, chassis heat is high, there is some GPU throttling under gaming load, SSD is not an NVMe. So that’s not the perfect laptop.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 09/07/2016
Source: Bit-Tech

There's a lot to consider with the GS43VR Phantom Pro and sadly it isn't all rosy. The throttling issues are a shame and possibly even avoidable if MSI had used larger vents for the intake fans. However, this may or may not be an issue depending on the games you play - during repeated testing in Crysis 3 and Battlefield 4, we didn't see any issues, but under sustained heavy load in Unigine Valley the result was much lower than expected.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 08/25/2016
Source: Bit-Tech

There's a lot to consider with the GS43VR Phantom Pro and sadly it isn't all rosy. The throttling issues are a shame and possibly even avoidable if MSI had used larger vents for the intake fans. However, this may or may not be an issue depending on the games you play - during repeated testing in Crysis 3 and Battlefield 4, we didn't see any issues, but under sustained heavy load in Unigine Valley the result was much lower than expected.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 08/25/2016
Foreign Reviews
Source: Allround-PC.com

Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 09/12/2016
Source: Allround-PC.com

Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 09/12/2016
Source: WinFuture

Single Review, online available, Short, Date: 08/30/2016
Source: WinFuture

Single Review, online available, Short, Date: 08/30/2016
Source: Portables4Gamers

Positive: Excellent exterior; solid workmanship for gamers; powerful hardware; portability. Negative: Noisy under load.
Single Review, online available, Very Short, Date: 09/06/2016
Source: Portables4Gamers

Positive: Excellent exterior; solid workmanship for gamers; powerful hardware; portability. Negative: Noisy under load.
Single Review, online available, Very Short, Date: 09/06/2016
MSI GS43VR 6RE-008NE
Specifications

Processor: Intel Core i7 6700HQ
Graphics Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile
Display: 14.00 inch, 16:9, 1920 x 1080 pixels
Weight: 1.6kg
Links: MSI homepage MSI notebook section
Pricecompare
Average Score:
Foreign Reviews
Source: Smart World

Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 09/30/2016
Rating: Total score: 86%
Source: M3 PC för alla

Single Review, online available, Short, Date: 09/14/2016
Rating: Total score: 70%
MSI GS43VR 6RE-009NL Phantom Pro
Specifications

Processor: Intel Core i7 6700HQ
Graphics Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile
Display: 14.00 inch, 16:9, 1920 x 1080 pixels
Weight: 1.6kg
Links: MSI homepage MSI notebook section
Pricecompare
Foreign Reviews
Source: Tweakers

Positive: Good display; great performance; beautiful design; good ergonomy; solid workmanship; slim size and lightweight. Negative: Noisy under load; average speakers; many plastic; relatively high price; only 2 USB ports.
Single Review, online available, Very Short, Date: 08/19/2016
MSI GS43VR 6RE-007RU Phantom Pro
Specifications

Processor: Intel Core i7 6700HQ
Graphics Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile
Display: 14.00 inch, 16:9, 1920 x 1080 pixels
Weight: 1.8kg
Links: MSI homepage MSI notebook section
Pricecompare
Foreign Reviews
Source: Notebook-Center.ru

Positive: Good hardware; nice performance; excellent display; decent cameras; comfortable keyboard. Negative: Mediocre speakers; relatively high price.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 03/24/2017
Source: 3DNews.ru

Positive: Compact size; high performance; excellent display. Negative: Low autonomy.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 12/06/2016
MSI GS43VR 6RE-053ES
Specifications

Processor: Intel Core i7 6700HQ
Graphics Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile
Display: 14.00 inch, 16:9, 1920 x 1080 pixels
Weight: 1.8kg
Links: MSI homepage MSI notebook section
Pricecompare
Average Score:
Source: Trusted Reviews

MSI’s laptop promises huge performance in a slim and stylish exterior, and it certainly delivers in benchmarks. However, the tight confines mean that heat is a big issue, with temperatures that are only tamed by making big clock speed compromises. It’s a shame, because there’s plenty to like here – but the GS43 isn’t worth buying unless you’re willing to settle or really do need a tiny gaming portable.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 01/04/2017
Rating: Total score: 60% price: 70% performance: 80% display: 80% mobility: 60% workmanship: 90% ergonomy: 80%
Foreign Reviews
Source: Putoinformatico

Positive: High gaming performance; compact size; long battery life.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 01/01/2017
MSI GS43VR 7RE-062
Specifications

Processor: Intel Kaby Lake i7-7700HQ
Graphics Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile 6144 MB
Display: 14.00 inch, 16:9, 1920 x 1080 pixels
Weight: 1.6kg
Links: MSI homepage MSI notebook section
Pricecompare
Average Score:
Source: Hardwareheaven

The MSI GS43VR is an impressive and refreshing antidote to the rest of the gaming market. Other machines tend to be larger and heavier, or promise slim and light operation and don’t deliver due to thermal and noise issues.
Single Review, online available, Short, Date: 01/04/2018
Source: Computer Shopper

Even if it meant a price hike, however, we'd like to see a bigger solid-state drive, ideally a 512GB SSD in lieu of a hard drive, and larger arrow keys to prevent finger fumbling. We're subtracting half a star from our rating and holding off on an Editors' Choice tag for those reasons, though all three of our recently tested 14-inch gaming rigs—this MSI, the Gigabyte Aero 14, and the Razer Blade—are well worth a look. Intel and Nvidia are inspiring laptop manufacturers to do some great work nowadays.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 05/01/2017
Rating: Total score: 70%
Source: Vortez

While larger 16/17-inch gaming laptops will be ideal if you need a semi-portable solution, the 14-inch offering that we’ve had the pleasure of looking at today clearly emphasises the notion of portability by serving up a lightweight solution with tighter dimensions.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 03/23/2017
Source: PC World

This gaming laptop from MSI is much smaller than most of the range's other models, but it's still a jack of all trades and master of none.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 03/10/2017
Rating: Total score: 75%
Source: Good Gear Guide

This gaming laptop from MSI is much smaller than most of the range's other models, but it's still a jack of all trades and master of none.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 03/10/2017
Rating: Total score: 75%
Source: Good Gear Guide

We’ve seen some absolutely massive gaming laptops from MSI but then they’ve had things like SLI graphics and mechanical, desktop keyboards embedded. The GS43VR 7RE is a much more reasonable size. It’s not small with its 14-inch screen but its 1.8KG weight is almost ultraportable compared to its girthy siblings.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 03/06/2017
Foreign Reviews
Source: Notebookinfo

Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 02/15/2017
Rating: Total score: 88% performance: 90% display: 85% mobility: 85% ergonomy: 90% emissions: 77%
Source: El chapuzas Informatico

Positive: Attractive design; compact size; excellent performance; nice display; good connectivity. Negative: Overheats while using; high price.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 06/27/2017
Source: Game IT

Positive: Good display; solid workmanship; nice performance.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 05/01/2017
Source: Notebook.cz

Positive: Excellent display; high performance. Negative: Mediocre speakers.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 02/03/2017
MSI GS43VR 7RE Phantom Pro - 7RE-064DE
Specifications

Processor: Intel Kaby Lake i7-7700HQ
Graphics Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile 6144 MB
Display: 14.00 inch, 16:9, 1920 x 1080 pixels
Weight: 1.6kg
Links: MSI homepage MSI notebook section
Pricecompare
Average Score:
Source: Toptenreviews

If you want a laptop that does everything, not just a carry-about companion to your main PC. this fits the bill at a very fair price.
Single Review, online available, Very Short, Date: 02/28/2018
Rating: Total score: 80%
Foreign Reviews
Source: Leonardo.it Tech

Positive: Compact size; good hardware; stylish design; good cooling system.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 03/03/2017
Source: PC Lab.pl

Positive: Stylish design; metal case; fast system; good display; low price. Negative: Overheats while using; noisy under loads.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 06/01/2017
MSI GS43VR 7RE-069US
Specifications

Processor: Intel Kaby Lake i7-7700HQ
Graphics Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile 6144 MB
Display: 14.00 inch, 16:9, 1920 x 1080 pixels
Weight: 1.93kg
Price: 1500 euro
Links: MSI homepage MSI notebook section
Pricecompare
Potent performer. The GS43VR is back and pretty much the same it was the year before. Users who can look past the excruciatingly loud fan noise will find one of the most powerful 14-inch gaming notebooks currently available.
MSI GS43VR 7RE-203XES
Specifications

Processor: Intel Kaby Lake i7-7700HQ
Graphics Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile
Display: 14.00 inch, 16:9, 1920 x 1080 pixels
Weight: 1.8kg
Links: MSI homepage MSI notebook section
Pricecompare
Foreign Reviews
Source: Ofertaman

Positive: High portability; compact size; good hardware; nice performance.
Single Review, online available, Very Short, Date: 09/02/2017
Comment
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.
MSI is not present in the smartphone market. As a laptop manufacturer, MSI has a medium market share and is not among the Top 10 global manufacturers. The ratings of MSI laptops are above average in the tests (as of 2016).
With these GPUs you are able to play modern and demanding games fluently at medium detail settings and HD resolution.
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile: The mobile GTX 1060 is based on the GP106 chip and offer 1280 shaders. Compared to the identically named desktop version it features a slightly lower clock rate. Games in Full HD and maximum details should run fluently on the card.
» 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.
6700HQ: Skylake-based quad-core processor for notebooks. Offers an integrated HD Graphics 530 GPU and is manufactured in 14 nm.
Intel Kaby Lake:
i7-7700HQ: Quad-core notebook processor based on the Kaby Lake architecture. Besides four CPU cores (including Hyper Threading), the chips also integrates the HD Graphics 630 GPU and is manufactured in an improved 14 nm process.
» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Processsors.
» To find out how fine a display is, see our DPI List.
1.6 kg:
This weight is typical for very big tablets, subnotebooks, ultrabooks and convertibles with a 11-13 inch display-diagonal.
1.93 kg:
77.38%: This rating is not convincing. The laptop is evaluated below average, this is not really a recommendation for purchase.
» Further information can be found in our Notebook Purchase Guide.