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Reviews for the MSI GT72VR 7RD-441BE

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Model: MSI is synonymous with high-performance gaming laptops and enthusiasts can always rely on the Taiwanese manufacturer to introduce refreshed models armed with the latest processor technology. The GT72VR chassis is very versatile due to its accessibility, large cooling system, and MXM 3.0 slot for GPU upgradeability. Over the years, consumers have become so accustomed to thinner and lighter alternatives that the MSI GT72VR 7RD-441BE chassis is starting to look both dated and chunky. Fans of the MSI aesthetic may appreciate that the familiar black-and-red outlook has not been altered, yet for everyone else, the chassis is quick to attract fingerprints and the addition of RGB lights makes an already brazen enclosure appear even gaudier. Inside the belly of the beast, MSI crams a latest-generation Intel Core i7-7700HQ processor, 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) of DDR4 RAM and a GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB GPU, which is a lot of firepower for a transportable machine. The GTX 1060 consistently outperforms the GTX 980M by about 20 percent. The MSI GT72VR 7RD-441BE performs very well when subjected to extreme loads as both the CPU and GPU never throttle and are able to maintain their respective Turbo Boost speeds.  As for storage, it has 256 GB SSD and a 1 TB 7200 RPM HDD installed.  Silky smooth gameplay is the laptop's primary purpose, but despite a high refresh rate, the panel is of the TN variety, so while viewing angles are decent for a display of this type, they are not as forgiving as IPS alternatives. What is interesting is that MSI has partnered with Portrait Displays to offer a range of calibrated presets to ensure that color is presented with the utmost precision.

The sound quality  from the stereo 3 W speakers and 5 W subwoofer is very good. The balance between treble and bass frequencies is great across the entire volume range. Like on other MSI VR models, the GT72VR uses the same Nahimic 2 software for configuring audio settings. The MSI GT72VR 7RD-441BE model is lacking the HiFi Sabre DAC, but it at least carries dedicated 3.5 mm ports for microphone, earphones, line-in, and line-out. Users expecting longer battery life from the GTX 1060 version of the GT72VR will be disappointed. Runtimes are nearly identical to the GT72VR 6RE which runs on GTX 1070 at about 3.5 hours of real-world WLAN use. This is also similar to other 17-inch gaming notebooks. Charging from nearly empty to full capacity will take roughly 2.5 hours. The system has a healthy number of connectivity features including a total of six USB Type-A ports, four dedicated audio ports, and two video-out ports. MSI has confirmed that external monitors with G-Sync are supported via the HDMI and mDP ports. As for connectivity, it has a Ethernet 1 Gbps port and Bluetooth 4.1 supported. Transfer rates of the SD Card reader are very fast on the GT72 series at nearly 200 MB/s compared to 90 MB/s on most high-end notebooks and Ultrabooks. The GT72VR is a gaming laptop for the users who do not need extreme hardware for extreme gaming experience.

Hands-on article by Jagadisa Rajarathnam

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Laptop): 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.

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.  

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.

17.3":

This large display size is used for laptops which are mainly intended for an use on a desk.

Large display-sizes allow higher resolutions. So, details like letters are bigger. On the other hand, the power consumption is lower with small screen diagonals and the devices are smaller, more lightweight and cheaper.

» To find out how fine a display is, see our DPI List.

3.78 kg:

This weight is representative for typical laptops with a 14-16 inch display-diagonal.

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).

100%: This notebook model is regarded by the reviewers to be exceptionally good. There hardly exist laptops, which are rated so good. If this rating can be taken seriously, this is a clear recommendation for purchase.

» Further information can be found in our Notebook Purchase Guide.