MSI includes their Dragon Center app package. Through Dragon Center, users can access several other included applications, including SteelSeries Engine 3 to control the keyboard and its backlight, Shift to tune system performance, Nahimic 2 for sound profiles, and an app to set fan profiles. Options are the name of the game here, but the number of included applications is staggering. Some of these tools are redundant with apps and settings that are already baked into the operating system. The SCM app, or System Control Manager, acts as a hub for controls available in the Windows system tray (such as volume and WiFi on/off). Even within Dragon Center itself, there are multiple apps for some of the same tasks. Case in point, SteelSeries Engine 3 and the LED Wizard can both be used to tune the RGB keyboard backlight. 

While the included package offers an high amount of control over the system, the sheer amount of preloaded software is overwhelming. Some of these apps are also frustrating, such as an overlay used for screen snapping that appears anytime a window is moved. These preloaded applications also might bog down the system, and there have recently been complaints about MSI loading their devices with bloatware that eats up system resources.

The 17.3-inch IPS display gets bright, averaging at about 343 nits. The brightness and matte finish make this panel easy to view in most lighting conditions, including outdoors. The screen isn't usable in direct sunlight, but finding some shade resolves this problem. In dark environments, the display backlight is even across the entire panel. There is no discernible backlight bleed.

The display has a resolution of 3840x2160, which can be a blessing and a curse. The display has a very high pixel density; as a result, 4K content looks fantastic and crisp. However, the hardware inside isn't able to adequately push these high resolutions in gaming, and the extra pixels are an added drain on battery life. The panel also creates artifacts in 1080p videos; in dark scenes, blacks take on a boxy appearance. We are not sure if the cause is poor Gamma calibration or the occurrence of scaling issues, but the end result is ugly and distracting. This blockiness is not present if the video resolution is bumped to 4K and isn't noticeable in gaming, despite the resolution.

As a prime example, the image below is a screen capture from the 2016 game Hitman. The graphics are set to High settings at 1920x1080, and gameplay footage was recorded via Open Broadcaster Software and saved as an uncompressed video file. Notice the artifacts in the dark parts of the scene. This blockiness is not present during gameplay and only appears in the recording. Other dark scenes in video playback yield similar results.

The Intel Core i7-7700HQ (2.8 GHz base, 3.8 GHz Turbo, 6 MB L3 cache) is an incremental upgrade and brings a slight boost in performance. Built on a similar 14 nm process as the i7-6700HQ, the Kaby Lake CPU outperforms its predecessor by about 16% and 8% in single- and multi-threaded workloads. Our review unit also keeps pace with similarly specced gaming notebooks. The Aorus X7 v6, which sports an unlocked Core i7-6820HK, only beats the 7700HQ by about 10%.

Using Cinebench R15 to measure CPU performance, the 7700HQ is easily able to hit its boost clock of 3.8 GHz, although it averages a bit lower at 3.6 GHz. On battery, the CPU performs almost as well. While it does reach it's maximum boost clock when unplugged, overall performance is about 4-5% lower. This won't be noticeable in everyday use.

Running Cinebench several times in a row, we can get a good idea of CPU performance over a lengthy period of time. Interestingly, the CPU starts out strong, with some small dips here and there. However, after several runs, performance drops off significantly by about 30%. This result is alarming, but we see the same result in repeats of the test. This may be due to thermal throttling, which we will discuss in the Stress Test section below.

For more information about the Intel Core i7-7700HQ, view our dedicated CPU page here.

Overall system performance is disappointing. Despite its high-end internals, PCMark 8 pegs our device markedly below the competition in the Work and Home tests. This might be due to the system overhead required of the preinstalled apps, although we could not confirm this during our testing period. Either way, the performance on paper is a letdown.

While PCMark 8 is a reasonably good judge of system performance, it's not always indicative of real-world use. In the case of the GS73VR 7RF, however, the benchmark scores reflect everyday performance. Most apps are smooth, but buggy performance is too commonplace to be written off. Opening the Start menu, for example, is immediate at times and aggravatingly slow at others. Simple tasks, like resizing or moving windows, can induce noticeable lag and be frustrating. Even moving the cursor requires patience as it will freeze or hang every so often. While overall system performance should be quick, it routinely takes a tick too long for things to get going to be comfortable.

Drive performance is excellent. Our review unit is equipped with a fast 512 GB M.2 Samsung PCIe NVMe SSD and a large 2 TB 5400 RPM HDD. This is a great combo, as recently used apps and games can be loaded onto the speedy SSD, while older or less demanding files and applications can be moved to the mass storage drive. 

Using CrystalDiskMark, we see read and write speeds in excess of 2400 MB/s and 1600 MBs, respectively, on the SSD. These are phenomenal speeds and much, much faster than the competition. Load times in games are blazing fast, and we are never left waiting for applications to open or files to load (unless the aforementioned buggy performance occurs). Saving large files also happens at lightning speed, which helps make the system feel responsive in most tasks.

The HDD is slow, but this is to be expected of a 5400 RPM drive. It is best suited for media that doesn't require fast loading times and long-term storage of games and other files. Should users wish to replace it with a faster HDD or SSD, the 2.5-inch drive bay can easily be accessed by removing the bottom panel. Replacing the M.2 SSD, which occupies the only other internal storage slot, requires removing the motherboard.

NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 1060 has proven time and time again to be a capable graphics card for moderate workloads. That is evident here; our review unit falls in line with its competition in Fire Strike with an overall score of 9675 and a graphics score of 11384. This translates to very capable rendering performance at 1080p and even 1440p, although 4K is still out of reach. Overall, the GTX 1060 is a steady card and a great balance between price and performance. Users wanting more power should opt for the GTX 1070, which is about 40-50% more powerful than the GTX 1060 (although much more expensive).

On battery, our review unit consistently switched to the internal GPU, even when running Fire Strike. This did not happen during games, however. Gaming while unplugged will fully utilize the GTX 1060. For more details on the GeForce GTX 1060, please visit our dedicated GPU page here.

Stress testing our system checks for any potential thermal throttling that could limit CPU or GPU performance. Prime95, which synthetically stresses the processor, shows that the 7700HQ cannot maintain its boost clock for extended periods; the CPU averages 2.8 GHz and 89º C over the hour long test. FurMark is intended to push the GTX 1060 to its limits, and the GPU averages a core clock of about 1,140 MHz while hitting temperatures of 82º C. This is interesting; MSI may be aggressively controlling temperatures on the graphics card. There is some thermal headroom that could allow for higher GPU performance, but the system may be trying to keep temperatures under control at the cost of lowered performance. Running Prime95 and Furmark concurrently taxes the system past its limits. The CPU is pulled back to 2.5 GHz after hitting temperatures in the high 90's when boosting. The GPU also maintains similar clock speeds as before.

A more applicable measure of stress is our hour-long Witcher 3 gameplay test. Here, we see a real-world example of how well the system works together. The CPU maintains a high clock speed of 3.6 GHz, albeit while averaging at a toasty 92º C. The GPU really shines here, reaching over 1,600 MHz on its core clock and managing a reasonable 79º C. Apart from the buggy behavior we have discussed previously, the GS73VR can maintain excellent performance under long periods of realistic stress.

One of the positive results of the aggressive fans is well-managed temperatures. While the device can still get very warm, hitting 55º C on the underside at its hottest, this is a noticeable improvement over the GS73VR 6RF and far cry better than MSI's thin gaming notebooks of old. Under more real-world loads, such as the Witcher 3, temperatures are fantastic in view of how thin this notebook is. The keyboard deck stays very comfortable, especially along the palm rest and WASD keys (where hands will naturally rest during gameplay). Users' palms should stay cool and sweat-free while gaming.