MSI GT83VR 7RF (7920HQ, GTX 1080 SLI, Full HD) Laptop Review

Even though on the outside, the GT83VR 7RF is identical to the GT83VR 6RE predecessor we tested in 2016, MSI made improvements in several places. Besides the upgrade from the Skylake to a similarly fast Kaby Lake CPU, mainly the mechanical keyboard which does not merely light up in red but now also masters RGB, should be mentioned. Compared to the gaming competition which became thinner and lighter in the last few years (Alienware 13 R3, Gigabyte Aero 14, etc.), this design with the 6.9 cm (~2.72 in) thick and 5.5 kg (~12 lb) heavy 18-inch case does not seem particularly contemporary anymore.

Yes, due to their single-GPU solution with GeForce GTX 1050 Ti, GTX 1060, or GTX 1070, smaller devices will offer considerably less performance, but it is debatable whether it is still necessary to be such a giant in 2017. After all, most demands will be satisfied by a single GTX 1080. The corresponding 17-inch notebooks such as the Acer Predator 17 X, Asus G701VIK, MSI GT73VR, and Schenker XMG U727 models listed in the article don't quite scream "tower PC" as loudly. The latter even needs only one power supply, instead of two. In short, the GT83VR is only suited as a desktop replacement that is operated stationary. 

Note: Apparently our test unit was a dud. First, the card reader died during the SD-card test and only worked sporadically after that. Then during idle mode, there was an extremely annoying coil whine, which might however affect the whole model series. Because of those problems, the final grade of the GT83VR is lowered by 1% and the grade for the volume segment by 5%.

By the way, we took the pictures from the predecessor. Due to their similarity, we also did not evaluate the case, features, input devices, and speakers.  You can find that information in the review of the GT83VR 6RE.

Personally, the author would like to retire the 18-inch concept and - if it should be an SLI system - in light of the imminent introduction of Nvidia's Max-Q graphics card, move to a 17-inch case which perhaps MSI is planning anyway.

Since in the GT83VR 7RF the panel of the predecessor is used (Samsung 184HL), most of the display values are similar to the GT83VR 6RE, considering that there are always some manufacturing variations. The average brightness of 243 cd/m² is just as mediocre as the contrast of 760:1 and the black value of 0.35 cd/m². The slight blue tint of the panel can be removed through calibration. Our icc file is linked above. You can look up the rest of the advantages and disadvantages of the display in the previous review.

The performance section begins with a sequence of system screenshots.

In contrast to other notebooks, MSI foregoes additional overclocking of the processor via the Shift function here. Because of this, the GT83VR comes out in the lower range of the field of competitors in the Cinebench tests. The competitors either have a powerful factory OC (4.3 GHz @Acer Predator 17 X and Asus G701VIK) or a real desktop CPU (Schenker XMG U727). During actual gaming you cannot notice any differences, however. All the devices master even demanding games, passing with flying colors.

We test with Cinebench R15 whether the performance can be maintained for a longer duration. In the 30-minute test, the results were very constant, so that there are no concerns of performance drops in the CPU area.

Despite the hefty price, in the system benchmarks it only suffices for one of the places at the bottom. With 5159 points (Home Score) and 5487 points (Work Score) in PCMark 8, the GT83VR 7RF settles between the predecessor and the Schenker XMG U727. However, these results are not very meaningful, since the PCMarks benchmarks depend strongly on the storage, which hardly plays any role during gaming asides from the load times. The results are more interesting for professional users (keyword: data transfers, etc.).

Although 2837 MB/s in the sequential reads (AS SSD benchmark) and 1530 MB/s in the sequential writes are first-class, some single SSDs such as the 960 EVO (Schenker XMG P507) also achieve comparable values. In CrystalDiskMark the differences are considerably larger. Here, the GT83VR is miles ahead. The package is rounded by a 1 TB 2.5-inch HDD that spins at 7200 rpm and is manufactured by HGST.

In the synthetic graphics tests such as 3DMark 13, the GT83VR 7RF wipes the floor with the single-GTX-1080 notebooks. It is 76% to 93% better in the Fire-Strike run and still 62% to 78% in 3DMark 11.

There is also nothing to complain about the clocking behavior. Our 60-minute test with The Witcher 3 listed in the appendix shows slight performance drops at a certain time (100 - 108 instead of 107 - 118 FPS @Full HD/Ultra), but we did not observe real throttling during the game operation. Depending on the Shift mode, both graphics chips achieve around 1800 MHz (Sport/Power Options) or 1890 MHz (Turbo).

The advantage in the gaming runs is not quite as compelling. If we base it on the native resolution of the display and take the average of the 15 games tested (Ultra-Preset), the dual GTX-1080 performs only a meager 7% faster than a system without SLI – and that at an additional charge of about 2500 Euros (~$2800) compared to the Acer Predator 17 X and Asus G701VIK. One reason for that is that the 18-inch device runs into the CPU limits below particular pixel amounts.

Only above 3840x2160 pixels, that is to say UHD, does the second GTX 1080 really makes sense. Here the advantage grows to a decent 40%. That it is not more has to do with the lacking dual-GPU support in some games. For example, Dirt 4, Resident Evil 7, and Call of Duty Infinite Warfare did not profit much from the secondary GPU, despite the brand new driver (ForceWare 382.53). Accordingly, even in 2017 the dual-GPU notebooks remain a niche product for a small clientele with a large budget.

To a large extent, the competition is considerably quieter – be it in 3D operation or idle mode. Apropos idle: The fans are constantly running (at least 35 dB) and depending on the power-saving settings, they tend to rev up towards 40 dB.

The values of the components are not restrained at all. In the stress test, the Core i7-7920HQ heated up to a maximum of 100 °C (212 °F) and the two GPUs reached up to 93 °C (199 °F). One of them throttled down slightly to about 1400 MHz (basic value of the GTX 1080: 1557 MHz). The CPU was spared from any throttling.

Frequency comparison (checkboxes selectable!)

It is not surprising that the battery life does not receive a good grade. Even with minimal brightness, the GT83VR lasts for 2.5 hours at most. The 2 hours in our WLAN test (display brightness at 150 cd/m²) is modest as well. With a combination of maximum brightness and high load, the battery gives up after one hour. By the way, it is not a good idea to play a game without the power supply: In The Witcher 3 the performance dropped by about 80% to 90%!