Gaming Power. After bringing a multitude of mid-grade graphics cards to the market, Nvidia is finally showcasing its new high-end GeForce 500 series. The MSI GT780R will be one of the first notebooks to boast the GTX 560M. But can the MSI truly set itself apart from other gaming notebooks?
Passionate gamers who want a gaming laptop to call their own are presented with the powerful 17" MSI GT780R, which really scores some points in the hardware and features department. The most appealing of these is the Nvidia's brand new GeForce GTX 560M high-end graphics card, the successor to the GTX 460M legacy. The processor here can be no other than one of Intel's Sandy Bridge CPUs, that is, the Core i7-2630QM.
Two 500-GB hard drives connected via RAID 0 keep the need for an external hard drive far at bay. The Blu-Ray drive makes for some highly enjoyably film watching sessions. The choice of an excessive 16 GB DDR3 RAM only makes us shake our heads since 4 GB is enough for just about anything. Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit is the pre-installed operating system here. It should be stated that MSI offers less extensive configurations at lower prices as well.
Note also that the laptop we review below is only a pre-production model. Many things can still change before the series hits the shelves (like the case craftsmanship, software, cooling system, and accessories).
Update: MSI even sent us a second GT780R on account of various problems we had observed with the first (more on that later). This second model, despite its unfinished status, performed better overall. All data or qualities marked "Update" refer to the second model rather than the first
Performance
Processor: Intel Core i7-2630QM
The processor here is the highly decorated quad-core Sandy Bridge CPU from Intel. The Core i7-2630QM is manufactured in the 32nm process and currently finds use in many high-end notebooks. The processor contains 995 million transistors and a 6 MB large L3 cache (Core i5: 3 MB).
The base clock rate of 2.00 GHz can be kicked up to 2.90 GHz via Turbo Boost (depends on CPU stress and temperature). The Hyper Threading function allows the simulation of four additional virtual cores, allowing the CPU to process up to 8 individual threads simultaneously. The on-board HD Graphics 3000 graphics card always remains inactive since MSI has forgone any energy-saving switchable graphics technology.
Specifications MSI GT780R :
Passionate gamers who want a gaming laptop to call their own are presented with the powerful 17" MSI GT780R, which really scores some points in the hardware and features department. The most appealing of these is the Nvidia's brand new GeForce GTX 560M high-end graphics card, the successor to the GTX 460M legacy. The processor here can be no other than one of Intel's Sandy Bridge CPUs, that is, the Core i7-2630QM.
Two 500-GB hard drives connected via RAID 0 keep the need for an external hard drive far at bay. The Blu-Ray drive makes for some highly enjoyably film watching sessions. The choice of an excessive 16 GB DDR3 RAM only makes us shake our heads since 4 GB is enough for just about anything. Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit is the pre-installed operating system here. It should be stated that MSI offers less extensive configurations at lower prices as well.
Note also that the laptop we review below is only a pre-production model. Many things can still change before the series hits the shelves (like the case craftsmanship, software, cooling system, and accessories).
Update: MSI even sent us a second GT780R on account of various problems we had observed with the first (more on that later). This second model, despite its unfinished status, performed better overall. All data or qualities marked "Update" refer to the second model rather than the first
Performance
Processor: Intel Core i7-2630QM
The processor here is the highly decorated quad-core Sandy Bridge CPU from Intel. The Core i7-2630QM is manufactured in the 32nm process and currently finds use in many high-end notebooks. The processor contains 995 million transistors and a 6 MB large L3 cache (Core i5: 3 MB).
The base clock rate of 2.00 GHz can be kicked up to 2.90 GHz via Turbo Boost (depends on CPU stress and temperature). The Hyper Threading function allows the simulation of four additional virtual cores, allowing the CPU to process up to 8 individual threads simultaneously. The on-board HD Graphics 3000 graphics card always remains inactive since MSI has forgone any energy-saving switchable graphics technology.
Specifications MSI GT780R :
- Processor : Intel Core i7 2630QM 2 GHz
- Mainboard : Intel HM67
- Memory : 16384 MB, 4x 4096 MB DDR3-RAM (1333 MHz)
- Graphics adapter : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M - 1536 MB, Core: 775 MHz, Memory: 1250 MHz, Shader: 1550 MHz; GDDR5-VRAM, ForceWare 268.12
- Display : 17.3 inch 16:9, 1920x1080 pixel, CMO1720, Full HD, LED Backlight, glossy: no
- Harddisk : WDC WD5000BEVT-22A0RT0, 500GB 5400rpm Two HDDs—RAID 0 (1000 GB total)
- Soundcard : Realtek ALC892 @ Intel Cougar Point PCH - High Definition Audio Controller
- Connections : 3 USB 2.0, 2 USB 3.0, 1 VGA, 1 HDMI, 1 Kensington Lock, 1 eSata, Audio Connections: Headphone jack/SPDIF, microphone input, line out, line in (7.1 out), Card Reader: SD,SDXC,SDHC,MMC,MS,MS PRO,xD,
- Networking : Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller (10/100/1000MBit), Intel Centrino Wireless-N 1030 (bgn), 3.0 Bluetooth
- Optical drive : TSSTcorp DVDWBD TS-LB23A
- Size : height x width x depth (in mm): 61 x 428 x 288
- Weight : 3.88 kg Power Supply: 0.78 kg
- Battery : 87 Wh Lithium-Ion, 7800 mAh, 9 cells
- Operating System : Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
- Additional features : Webcam: 720p (1280x720), Power Supply: 150 watts, Drivers and Tools DVD, Corel WinDVD, MAGIX Software Suite, 24 Months Warranty.
- notebookcheck.net