MSI GT740 Series
Processor: Intel Core i7 720QM, Intel Core i7 820QMGraphics Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250M
Display: 17.00 inch
Weight: 2.8kg, 3.15kg, 3.2kg
Price: 1200, 1450, 1500 euro
Average of 7 scores (from 8 reviews)
MSI GT740
Specifications
Notebook: MSI GT740Processor: Intel Core i7 820QM
Graphics Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250M 1024 MB
Display: 17.00 inch, 16:10, 1680 x 1050 pixels
Weight: 3.15kg
Price: 1450 euro
Links: MSI homepage MSI notebook section
Price comparison
Average Score:
Reviews
A Gamer's Desire? MSI releases the newest offshoot of its gaming range with the GT740. The 17 inch notebook has state-of-the-art components with the Core i7 820QM and a GeForce GTS 250M and wants to thus win gamers despite a steep price of around 1450 euro. Read in our comprehensive review if the supplied performance is impressive and MSI's notorious weaknesses have been mended in the meantime.
Source: IT Reviews
Archive.org versionWhile desktop PCs have traditionally been the main haven for serious gamers, the explosion of interest in laptops as desktop replacements means that more and more consumers want to be able to play online and on the move without being chained to their studies. MSI has already responded to that need and its latest offspring, the GT740, is its current top-of-the-range gaming notebook. MSI's latest gaming powerhouse certainly has the looks and the CPUs to attract serious gamers, but keyboard and lighting issues might cause some hesitation for those wanting to part with this much money.
Single Review, online available, Short, Date: 01/28/2010
performance: 80%
Source: IT Reviews
Archive.org versionWhile desktop PCs have traditionally been the main haven for serious gamers, the explosion of interest in laptops as desktop replacements means that more and more consumers want to be able to play online and on the move without being chained to their studies. MSI has already responded to that need and its latest offspring, the GT740, is its current top-of-the-range gaming notebook. MSI's latest gaming powerhouse certainly has the looks and the CPUs to attract serious gamers, but keyboard and lighting issues might cause some hesitation for those wanting to part with this much money.
Single Review, online available, Short, Date: 01/28/2010
performance: 80%
Foreign Reviews
Source: Notebookinfo
DE→EN Archive.org versionSingle Review, online available, Medium, Date: 01/13/2010
Rating: Total score: 83% performance: 96% features: 85% display: 82% mobility: 60% workmanship: 83%
Source: Notebookinfo
DE→EN Archive.org versionSingle Review, online available, Medium, Date: 01/13/2010
Rating: Total score: 83% performance: 96% features: 85% display: 82% mobility: 60% workmanship: 83%
Source: Notebookcheck
DE→EN Archive.org versionSingle Review, online available, Long, Date: 12/15/2009
Rating: Total score: 82% performance: 91% display: 69% mobility: 64% workmanship: 85% ergonomy: 75% emissions: 80%
Source: Notebookcheck
DE→EN Archive.org versionSingle Review, online available, Long, Date: 12/15/2009
Rating: Total score: 82% performance: 91% display: 69% mobility: 64% workmanship: 85% ergonomy: 75% emissions: 80%
MSI GT740-021UK
Specifications
Notebook: MSI GT740-021UKProcessor: Intel Core i7 720QM
Graphics Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250M
Display: 17.00 inch, 16:10, 1680 x 1050 pixels
Weight: 3.2kg
Price: 1500 euro
Links: MSI homepage MSI notebook section
Price comparison
Average Score:
Reviews
Source: Trusted Reviews
Archive.org versionMSI is one of those companies that can be relied on to bring out a new gaming laptop with every major hardware revision. While the MSI GT740-021UK offers decent value and an excellent screen combined with impressive battery life for a mobile gaming machine, it is let down by an awkward keyboard layout, underpowered graphics card and a 32-bit OS.
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 03/31/2010
Rating: Total score: 70% price: 70% performance: 70% features: 90% mobility: 70%
MSI GT740-i7247W7P
Specifications
Notebook: MSI GT740-i7247W7PProcessor: Intel Core i7 720QM
Graphics Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250M
Display: 17.00 inch, 16:9, 1680 x 1050 pixels
Weight: 2.8kg
Price: 1200 euro
Links: MSI homepage MSI notebook section
Price comparison
Average Score:
Foreign Reviews
Source: mobile Zeit - 1/10
Single Review, , Length Unknown, Date: 01/01/2010
Rating: Total score: 60%
Comment
MSI: Micro-Star International (MSI) was founded in 1986 in Taiwan. MSI is especially known as a manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards for PCs, but also offers computer accessories, complete systems, motherboards, graphics cards, laptops, desktop PCs, monitors and other components. However, the Microstar brand name in Germany belongs to the Medion company. MSI is known for its gaming products and has developed a wide range of gaming laptops and desktop PCs. The company is also active in workstations, servers and industrial automation. MSI has offices in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.
Non demanding games should be playable with these graphics cards.
NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250M: The GPU has 96 shader cores but only a 128 bit memory bus that supports GDDR5 memory. With DDR3 memory, the GTS 250M performs clearly worse. Because of the 40nm process (and a selection process) the 250M offers a relatively low power consumption (the 260M needs 10W more).
» 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.
820QM:
The Core i7-820QM is a high-end quad core CPU for laptops that clocks due to the Turbo Mode from 1.73-3.06 GHz. Therefore, the processor combines the advantages of fast single core CPUs and slow quad-core CPUs. Hyperthreading allows the simultaneous use of 8 Threads in parallel.
720QM: The Core i7-720QM is the slowes Core i7 Quad Core in 2009 and clocks between 1.6 and 2.8 GHz (due to the Turbo Mode). Therefore, it combines the advantages of a slow quad core CPU with a fast single core one. Compared to the faster Core i7 mobile CPUs, the 720QM only features 6MB L3 Cache.
» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Processsors.
17.00: This display size is a standard format for desktop replacements (DTR). The DTR laptops are heavier to carry, need more power, but texts are easy to read and high resolutions are no problem. DTR are mainly intended for stationary desk use, where weight and energy hunger don't matter. In return, you enjoy the advantages of high resolutions (more details, better legibility).
» To find out how fine a display is, see our DPI List.
2.8 kg:
With this weight, a laptop is rather heavier than average. Devices in this range shine more with screen size and performance than with mobility.
3.2 kg:
A laptop with this weight is comparatively heavy and less designed for mobility than for use at the desk. Therefore, the devices tend to shine less with battery life than with a large screen and higher performance.
77%: This rating is not earth-shattering. This rating must actually be seen as average, since there are about as many devices with worse ratings as better ones. A purchase recommendation can only be seen with a lot of goodwill, unless it is about websites that generally rate strictly.
» Further information can be found in our Notebook Purchase Guide.
