In terms of the case, one can basically refer to our review of the identically constructed models mentioned above.  Here a quick summation of the pros and cons of the barebones in service: MSI equipped our test example of the GX740 (equipment variant i7247LW7P) with a 9 cell battery. Compared to the Medion Akoya, the weight of the machine rises to 3.37 kg. The somewhat compact dimensions of 395X380X42 mm remain the same with the exception of course of the slightly protruding battery out back.

In terms of color, MSI stays true to the red-black-silver mix. If that combination works is of course largely dependent on the user's individual preferences. Medion had a go with a brushed silver aluminum surface for instance. Speaking of aluminum: the MSI GX 740 of course also gets the familiar aluminum applications which enhance the look and feel as well as the overall impression of quality somewhat.  Depending on the demand, the stability of the case leaves room for criticism.  One could mention the relatively small hinges which allow for significant teetering of the display or the weakpoints around the area of the display's lid and the base unit above and below the optical drive, where isolated pressure impressions could be made.  We were pleased however with the magnetic fastening mechanism which holds the screen securely closed.

When it comes to the range of interfaces offered, the MSI GX740 doesn't need to shy away from comparisons to other gaming notebooks. Along with HDMI, one also finds Firewire and eSATA on the machine.  The placement of the individual ports is worthy of discussion, however. While VGA, HDMI and the power supply were still placed in the rear and thereby pose no interference problems with connecting an external monitor, the  LAN port (where on our tester the respective connector could only be held in place in a wobbly fashion) is placed on the left edge, though luckily more in to the rear.  While lefties are favoured when the interfaces are occupied, one still finds a full array of audio ports, a USB interface and eSATA.

Apart from some minimal component and measurement related differences, we find the same display again in the MSI GX740 (Samsung SEC4A47) as on for instance the Medion Akoya 7811.  We therefore refer you to the rubric in the respective chapter of our in-depth review.

Even if this is a minor point, still a few words should be said to the application performance of the GX740.  The basis of our evaluation is the PCMark Vantage benchmark test. The accumulated rating of 6225 points heaves the laptop once again in the upper region of our databank.  This other notebooks in this area are a different breed and we suddenly find office notebooks such as the Fujitsu Lifebook S760 or the Toshiba Tecra S11, both with significantly weaker graphic components.

It is also worth mentioning that many of the gaming stars named before fall far behind in this measure.  It is interesting that result of the Windows 7 performance index was significantly less than expected with a total rating of only 5.9. According to Windows, the reason for this is the memory.  All of the other components (RAM, CPU, GPU) come out performing much better.

We now come to the headlining discipline of the MSI GX740. When it comes to performance in individual games, one can of course generally use similarly equipped notebooks as points of reference, such as for instance the structurally identical Medion Akoya X7811 mentioned numerous times before.  Nevertheless, we conducted a series of tests with current games from differnt genres.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2

Being equipped with the currently strongest graphic card, there is principally only one graphic setting which is exciting, that being the absolute highest.  In the case of BF:BC2 we agreed on Full HD resolution (1920X1080), very high settings, HBAO on and 4xAA or 8xAF.  The intro of the single player mode acted as a benchmark as previous tests showed it to represent the same level of demands experiencesd later in the game.

The frame rate shows a curve mainly just above or just below the 30-FPS mark. But we also noticed some isolated, but strong breaks (click "...in comparison"!) which were perceived subjectively as jerks.  On average, the GX740 achieved 30.9 Fps and is therefore around 2 FPS behind the Devil 9700 DTX in the best performance of the HD5870. Interesting: the HD5850 in the smaller GX640 (i5-430M) achieved here a practically identical result of 30.8.

This means that for practical operations, one should cut back on the graphics in order to consistently stay above the 30 FPS mark.  Its competitiveness suffers particularly in multi-player mode.  Still, BF:BC2 can be played fluidly with first-class graphic quality which is helped by the fact that the integrated display with a resolution of 1680X1050 is already more than enough.

System Noise

Only a few gaming notebooks achieve a balance between performance and reasonable emissions. The MSI GX740 could not really be counted among these, at least when it comes to the notebooks noise level.  One has to deal with a constant and clearly audible operating fan even during operations not under load. With 36.6 dB(A) on our measurement scale, this can be considered too present to those with noise-sensitivity.   At times, short rev-ups during office applications to 41.9 dB(A) can be witnessed, which more or less always return depending on the level of load.

The notebook really goes to work when in gaming mode. With 47.1 dB(A), the MSI GX740 makes no difference between playing a modern shooter on high graphic setting or even carrying out a stresstest (Primse95/Furmark). Subjectively, the notebook seems to stay within acceptable limits.  One can more easily tolerate the bellowing fan during thrilling games, but the machine is overall unpleasantly loud.

Temperature

The heating of the case is not surprisingly similar to the Medion Akoya we tested. While the case has a comfortable temperature when not under load, the stresstest revealed that maximum temperature on the underside of the notebook around the fan rises to 46.5 °C. For a laptop which is used primarily stationary, this shouldn't pose a problem.

It got a bit hotter in the internals of the MSI GX740.  During our stresstest (Furmark+Prime95) to simulate maximum load on the system, we saw a max. temperature of 102°C on the graphic card of HD5870. The Core i7-720QM warmed up to a maximum of 86°C. Both of these measurements are not surprisingly on the higher end, though if the cooling system has the loaded components continually under control, the temperature during longer tests levels out between around 85°C (CPU) and 93°C (GPU). There are not notable differences to be seem in comparison to the similarly constructed Akoya X7811.  A benchmark test (3DMark 2006) run in direct connection to the several-hour stresstest resulted in an almost identical point rating as in cold operations (12364 to 12403).

One thing differing the GX740 from the Medion Akoya X7811 is its larger 9 call battery. With a capacity of 85Wh, this offers around 50% longer life.  Accordingly, we got these results from battery life test with the Tool BatteryEater (Readers Test): At 112 minutes in the test with maximum possible battery life, the MSI GX740 surpasses the Akoya from Medion by a similar margin (76 to 112 minutes). One can expect around 1.5 hours of WLAN surfing before having to reach for the nearest outlet.