The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Considering the switch to MSI

    Discussion in 'MSI' started by jd63636, Apr 13, 2014.

  1. jd63636

    jd63636 Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    1
    Messages:
    96
    Likes Received:
    11
    Trophy Points:
    16
    Hello all,

    I am shopping around for a new gaming rig to replace my M17X R4 - Specs: Core i7 3820QM, 16Gb DDR3 1600, 265gb Dell/ Samsung PM830 SSD, Windows 7 Ultimate, 250Gb WD Scorpio Black, GTX 680M, WideFHD 1920 x 1080 120Hz NVIDIA 3D Vision, Slot-Loading, Blu-ray BR-ROM

    And the GT Series GT70 DominatorPro-888 Gaming Notebook caught my eye - Specs:: Intel Core i7 4800MQ (2.70GHz) 32GB Memory 1TB HDD 384GB SSD NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M 8GB 17.3" Windows 8.1 64-Bit, BD Burner.

    At $2600 I can't even come close with another Alienware the GTX 880M and I am looking for a change.

    So I am just looking for some feedback from MSI owners on these GT70 machines when I comes to gaming, keyboard action and quality etc...

    Thanks
     
    jd63636, Apr 13, 2014
    #1
  2. zipperi

    zipperi Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    53
    Messages:
    741
    Likes Received:
    190
    Trophy Points:
    56
    MSI is still missing 3D afaik. Don't expect miracles, 880M enhances fps 0 to 50% depending on the game. I do like my GT70 with 680M but expect a bigger step to replace.
     
    zipperi, Apr 14, 2014
    #2
  3. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

    Reputations:
    9,436
    Messages:
    58,194
    Likes Received:
    17,902
    Trophy Points:
    931
    Bad time to replace it since the 680m and 880m both use a gk104 core so the difference is not huge.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Apr 14, 2014
    #3
  4. Talon

    Talon Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    1,482
    Messages:
    3,519
    Likes Received:
    4,695
    Trophy Points:
    331
    Agreed. I would hang onto that Alienware for a bit longer. The 680 is still a very powerful card, and quite capable. I would just crank that thing up to its maximum until you're ready to dump the system for a Maxwell top end release.

    But to answer your question, MSI systems are very nice IMO. I've had 3 in my house, and all 3 have been great. 2 GX660s which one lasted almost 3 years before being sold, and is still working fine to my knowledge. The other has been around over 3 years and hasn't had a single problem. I've had this system just under a year and it hasn't had any issues.

    I wouldn't say the build quality is Alienware, but then again I've never had an Alienware nor used one. But MSIs aren't built like crap either. I feel they are sturdy and with proper care can definitely stand daily travel and abuses.

    For the price MSI offers a powerhouse system, with great sound, and the ability for users to upgrade and change parts out with relative ease. Cleaning and repasting is also very simple. Expect temperatures to be slightly higher than what you've had with Alienware, and also the need to run the fan at turbo fan speeds to keep temps in the 70s on CPU/GPU with a game like BF4. Alienware def. has MSI beat in the heat management category.
     
    Talon, Apr 14, 2014
    #4
  5. jd63636

    jd63636 Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    1
    Messages:
    96
    Likes Received:
    11
    Trophy Points:
    16
    Thanks for the replies ;-) I will keep rockin the Alien until we see Maxwell come around.
     
    jd63636, Apr 15, 2014
    #5