6700HQ worth it? +other Qs

So, I'm probably gonna end up with the GE62, but I'm still a tad weary. Have some questions if you don't mind!

My big question:
5700HQ or 6700HQ? I need a laptop ASAP, but for $100 more, I can get a Skylake 6700HQ, however I will have to wait about a week longer to receive it. Is the 6700HQ worth it for +$100 and a week wait over the 5700?

Others:

1) Is it crazy I'm considering a GS70 for $200 extra with only a 4720HQ just because of the build quality?

2) How's the build quality of the GE62 long-term? I only got to feel the GE72 briefly. The GS60/70 feels amazing, but I didn't get the same effect holding the GE.

3) Does the GS30 only come with an Intel Iris Pro? No NVIDIA GPU?

Thanks so much in advance!

 

You get DDR4 & TB3/SuperPort support with the 6700HQ, and potentially any savings in terms of power efficiency. I can't reply to your first 2 questions, but on #3, yes, the GS30 only comes with the Iris Pro because it's intended to be used with the video card dock for gaming. The GS40 is coming out in a few weeks to supplant the GS30 and it has a 970M in it.

 

1) No it's not crazy, you get the form factor and metal casing.

2) Sturdy, treat it right and it will last years.

3) Yes, iris pro in the laptop itself and up to the titan-x in the dock.

 

For question 1, how superior is the 6700 to the 4720? The only advantages I could find is that the 6700 supports DDR4 and TB3, and pwr consumption (as Double pointed out). Are these the only two advantages the 6700 has over the 4720? I see the 4720 is even clocked higher. So is reasonable to opt for the 4720 over the 6700? Or am I missing something?

 

Personally, skylake is not relevant in the CPU side for laptops, except for 6820HK. Any other version I don't consider it a worthwhile investment over broadwell or haswell.

For skylake, the real upgrade is mostly dependent on each notebook model to incorporate. If you do not need any extra features like PCIe SSDs, Haswell and broadwell are still on the same ballpark in CPU performance.

 

Performance-wise they're very similar.

However, the power consumption under load is WAY lower. It's as much as 50% more efficient in single-threaded and 25% more more efficient in multi-threaded tests from the early NotebookCheck tests:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Skylake-for-Notebooks-Core-i7-6700HQ-and-i7-6820HK-Review.150864.0.html

The most important part about that, is less watts into the system should means less watts out of the system in the form of heat. For machines like the GS60/70 this is particularly important.

 

It is quite nice that the TDP is lower under stress, though I personally only find it relevant for 6820HK. It is true that Haswell runs hotter than both skylake and broadwell, but if performance stays the same, It doesn't really affect me.

And yeah, it would be helpful for owners on the GS series range. I am not sure how plagued they are by thermal throttling if at all, but at least they won't have that worry with skylake even if performance is the same. This is specially the case against haswell, though I am not sure how it fares against broadwell.

 

Keep in mind TB3 and USB 3.1 isn't native to Skylake (proc or chipsets). It's supported with the additional Intel Alpine Ridge or an ASMedia chip that the manufacturer has to add. ASMedia's doesn't support TB, and is also cheaper. So it's quite possible that while cheaper MSI laptops (particularly the GE series) may have the USB-C port, it may be implemented with the ASMedia chip.

If I were to guess, the GE series and the GS70 has the ASMedia chip, while GS60 and the GT72 series have the Alpine Ridge.

Maybe that's something one of our vendors could confirm? I'd take a good look to make sure I'd know what I was buying so I wasn't surprised.

 

You are correct. The ones that support TB3 for MSI are called the "superport" and should have that in the tech specs on any site. The GS70 and GE models are limited to USB C. GS60 and GT models get the superport.

 

The GS60 is worth considering if you need that extra functionality.