MSI GS70-2PEi71611 Notebook Review

MSI states that the casing is aluminum, but the tester had the feeling that it was plastic. Only a little effort is needed to warp it marginally, and it produces a quiet noise. The surfaces feature a matte, charcoal-black color that is not exceptionally sensitive to fingerprints. The build does not give much reason for complaint. We did not notice irregular gaps, or sharp and protruding edges. There was one exception: The touchpad's silver rim was spaced unevenly, and the construction looks a bit lopsided, which should be apparent in the screenshots on the right. The hinge occasionally produced a creaking noise when opening and closing the lid. The lid can be opened with one hand, but wobbles for quite a while when opened jerkily. The lid's back surface in a brushed-metal look makes a somewhat cheap impression. A matte lip is mounted at the display's upper edge, and sets a nice highlight alongside the illuminated MSI gaming logo.

MSI makes use of the available space and installs four USB 3.0 ports. That is just as appropriate for a device that will likely be used stationary despite its heralded portability as the Ethernet port. The buyer does not get VGA, but receives the more future-ready DisplayPort in a double pack. Since HDMI is also installed, up to three external monitors can be connected at the same time - alongside the installed screen according to MSI. The ports have been moved to the middle to front areas where connected peripherals and cords might be in the way because the vents are located on the back sides. Particularly the power socket positioning in the center right is unusually unfavorable.

MSI relies on a matte screen that offers a gaming-suitable resolution of 1920x1080 pixels (16:9). It is based on TN technology that involves a few drawbacks compared with IPS. However, it usually provides faster switching times than IPS, which will likely be more important for gamers than, for example, a high viewing angle stability. Not for nothing do most gaming laptops from the 2000 Euro (~$2736) price range feature a TN screen. Knowing this, alternative screens do not make much sense and are not available either.

The brightness of 306 cd/m² is very good, and is located between both comparison laptops, which also look comparatively impressive. We did not ascertain screen bleeding. An illumination of 81% is not awe-inspiring, but quite acceptable.

MSI's GS70-2PEi71611 sports the swift, yet also energy-devouring and high waste heat producing for today's standards, Intel Core i7-4700HQ. It can fall back on a whole 16 GB of DDR3 RAM. The new premium range Nvidia GeForce GTX 870M graphics chip with a speedy 3 GB of dedicated GDDR5 RAM is responsible for 3D rendering. Commercially available software, including highly parallelized programs like 3ds Max or even current, high-requirement games, rarely push the system to its limits. Users who are satisfied with a bit less graphics power will find GS70 configurations with the slower GTX 860M or GPUs from the former GTX 7xxM generation on MSI's corresponding page.

Due to the high TDP of 47 watts, the Core i7-4700HQ CPU (4x 2.4 - 3.4 GHz, Hyperthreading, 22 nm process) from Intel's current Haswell processor generation is actually only suitable for larger notebooks of 15 inches or more. That, however, did not stop Gigabyte from installing the chip in its new 14-inch P34G (review coming soon). Up to eight simultaneous threads and the high clock rates ensure smooth multitasking when high performance is more important than compact build, light weight, and low power consumption. The Turbo levels are specified as follows: four cores: 3.2 GHz; two cores: 3.3 GHz; one core: 3.4 GHz.

Cinebench 11.5, that assesses the pure processor performance, shows that the CPU does not always achieve the specified Turbo clock rates during load. They fluctuate between the base clock of 2.4 to 3.2 GHz. It is a stable 2.4 GHz when only the stress test via Prime95 runs. Though this behavior does not yet indicate throttling, the CPU remains behind its (theoretical) potential, which is also due to the faulty thermal management that we will deal with later. While the three test laptops all with equally strong processors compute just as fast as MSI's G70 when only one core is loaded, the multi-CPU test records a deficit of 7 to 10% for the review sample, which exactly fits in the picture. Of all laptops tested with this CPU to date, the review sample calculates the slowest by up to 12%.

As the chart below shows, the 3D performance is enough to play most current games smoothly with maximum settings. The comparison with other laptops based on the same GPU and comparable CPU has proven, however, that more would have been possible without the extreme GPU throttling - depending on the game and settings by up to 68%. To what extent throttling occurs naturally depends on how long the laptop has been under full load at the time of the measurement, and the ambient temperature. We, for example, achieved considerably better results after idle periods than the ones listed here. However, no one will play for only a few minutes so that these rates are based on realistic conditions. It is strange that Crysis 3 was not affected. The idle periods between the benchmarks in different settings were obviously enough to cool down the device. We attached a comparison under the verdict that shows the dilemma based on a few games. The marginally faster CPU of the listed comparison laptops does not explain the big differences.

System Noise

We questioned whether MSI keeps control over the noise considering the unusually slim build for a gaming laptop in the intro. The GS70 does not do an exceptionally bad job, although both comparison laptops produce up to 13% less noise particularly during full load. The laptop usually remains silent when idling. In a YouTube video we hear that the fans are still very reserved, and can barely be distinguished from normal ambient noise. This changes when Prime95 and FurMark are run. Full load causes a loud noise that fortunately is not accompanied by annoying side noises. However, we occasionally had problems with a kind of high-pitched whistling and pulsating sound in medium, consistent speeds.

Though the built-in Dynaudio Soundbar achieves a decent maximum volume, it barely convinces otherwise. The sound rendered in both music and games is mid-heavy and flat; the speakers sometimes struggle with distortions. Consequently, (singing) voices sound unnaturally present, and often penetrating in high volumes. Low pitches cannot be rendered 1:1 despite the subwoofer because it lacks the necessary richness; nor can we speak of a real surround sound, but at least we can confirm that the sound system has viable dynamics. Speech is well intelligible. We used the default setting "Music", which makes use of various software tweaks for alleged sound enhancement.

No one expects exceptionally long battery runtimes from a gaming laptop - although MSI particularly touts better mobility for its relatively slim and light GS70. It is possible to play a game on the go for approximately one and a half hours. The review sample achieved 235 minutes in the practical Wi-Fi test, where the screen's brightness is reduced to approximately 150 cd/m² in the energy-saving profile, and selected, representative Internet sites are opened at regular intervals via a script. That is an average time in the category comparison. Asus' G750JS surpasses that with a better 323 minutes.