MSI VR Series - General thoughts and discussion

Hey all,

I though it would be good to have a thread where we could discuss impressions and thoughts of the all of the VR series MSI announced in one location. Of course, model specific threads can exist to delve deeper into specifics as needed, but I was thinking a place to talk about the less specific things would be good.

I was quite excited to see what MSI announced. Like others, I think MSI has done quite an impressive job with their newest models. It's nice to see the GT6x series come back, and some further specialization and segmentation to give more options.

I noticed a few things. If I'm wrong, please feel free to correct me.

1. MSI's getting more expensive overall. I've noticed that most of the prices for a 1070 series are pushing $2000 USD or more to get into well-configured box. This seems to see a bit more than in the past.

2. Power requirements seem to have gone up. I noticed that the GS60/70 series has gone up to 180W from 150W, and some other models have had some increases. If MSI didn't tweak the batteries as well, we may see shorter battery life.

3. A full Thunderbolt 3 implementation makes its debut. A good thing overall, but it still appears to be limited. I noticed MSI is being very specific about calling it out, so it exists on some models and not on others. The GT62VR and the GE series doesn't have these, nor is it called out on the GT72VR. True TB3 seems to limited to the x3VR series.

4. SSD implementation seems to vary as well. Some are specced out as being PCI-E v3 x4 slots while others are being treated as M.2 SATA.

5. Warranties vary. Some are showing only a 1 year warranty, while other models show a 2 year warranty. GS63VR is one that's showing a 1 year warranty.

6. Not all LCDs are 120 Hz. I didn't see any 4K LCDs at 120Hz, or 15" 120 Hz models. The 120 Hz models all appear to be 1080p screens.

7. What's with the 5400 RPM hard drives? For as much as some of these laptops cost, why is MSI going cheap with only 5400 RPM hard drives?

Those are my initial observations. I like where MSI is going overall with the series. The big caveat appears to be you really need to pay attention to what you're buying, because MSI made some interesting choices in what they're doing with the lines - especially when it comes to TB3, screens, warranties, and SSDs. Either that or MSI was really careless when putting out the specs for each of their models.

Were I to pick right now, I think the best bang for the buck is the GT73VR with a 1070. To me, it seems like the best value with all of the good hardware (PCI-E x4 SSD, 120 Hz screen, TB3) without breaking the budget.

I'm probably still going to hold off for the Kabies - give MSI and NVidia time to work out kinks with the 10x0 series.

My local Micro Center already has the GT72VR, GT62VR, and GE62VRs in stock. I'll have to stop by and check them out on my way home from work sometime.

What are your thoughts?

 

All I wanna know is whether the GS43 throttles or not haha, may be my option if the Clevo p640re successor disappoints me

 

I hardly doubt it will throttle the 1060 is really gentle regarding thermals

 

It wouldn't surprise me if the GS43VR throttles, Pascal is hotter than Maxell and it doesn't look like MSI did much of anything to improve thermals in their GS lineup, they just shoved Pascal GPUs in the same chassis. Some people are already saying that the GS63VR throttles, and that's bigger than a GS43VR and has a 1060 in it too.

We'll know better once some more reviews start coming in.

Any thoughts on when we'll start seeing MSI laptops with Kabby Lake CPUs?

 

The pricing is actually lower than last generation. Before the Pascal considered price drops, a 980m was $2000 and over, and the 1070 is what is taking over for the 980m in the product line, with the 1080 replacing the price range the 980 desktop held.

Power usage is up a bit from Maxwell to Pascal, same with heat generation, which explains the 30% bump in cooling efficiency. I don't worry about battery life on a gaming laptop.

TB3 isn't needed really, you are getting a huge performance bump up with the new GPU's, and external storage and TB3 peripherals are too expensive. The TB3 display feed, which can be done with USB 3.1 gen 2 as well. I wouldn't worry about TB3, so far it's not shown much use, <1/10%

I prefer M.2 SATA for now, less than 1/2 the cost per GB as PCIE, and the speed isn't going to be noticed in day to day use, while the increase in power use and heat generation of a PCIE X4 M.2 will be.

One of the new models, I can't recall if it was MSI or Asus, has a *huge* heat sink over the M.2 storage area, that's awesome if they also push air over it to move the heat out of that area.

Warranties have dropped from 2 years to 1 year for some laptops, but often you can get an extended warranty from the vendor or dealer.

The new hi refresh displays are great, G-sync to come as Nvidia certifies them, and 4k in 1080 / 1070 SLI is great too, for some people. The 120hz 4k just sounds like another way to force another generation of GPU's to arrive

In relation to an SSD, both a 5400/7200rpm drive are the same speed.

Not all the MSI offerings are out, more to come

 

More?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Nope, no more, MSI is closing up shop after these recent releases, that's it

 

Can the M.2 SSD in the GT72VR be upgraded to NVMe down the line?

I have a GT72VR coming tomorrow. I thought the only difference between it and the GT73 was the CPU (6820HK vs 6700HQ), but it also has Thunderbolt 3, the PCI-E SSD as standard, and the 120 Hz screen. That being said, I wouldn't use TB3, the SSD is whatever, and I'd have the computer connected to my 27-inch G-Sync external monitor 99% of the time. I've got other things I need to spend that extra $200 on anyhow.

 

The GT73VR has the huge heatsink over the 3 pcie m.2's, the GT72VR doesn't for it's one m.2

 

The GT72VR only has a place for 1 M.2?

I thought the previous GT72/GT72S models had 4 slots for M.2 SATA, then later 2 M.2 PCIE x4 and 2 M.2 SATA.... only 1 now?

 

yeah the $200 upgrade to GT73 is really worth it, they cut back the GT72 models.. http://www.notebookcheck.net/MSI-GT72VR-6RE-015US-Notebook-Review.171103.0.html

 

It's not just the GT72, it's all models except for the GT73/GT83 all the other models have 1x M.2 PCIE x4 and 1x 2.5" for storage... that's really wild, and not good. I read through the 1080/1070/1060 model specs available at MSI.

 

No TB3 and no MUX, all display output routed through the iGPU. No G-sync.

Where do I puke?

 

Wait, so the GT72 has G-Sync on the internal display, but it won't output to an external one?

 

all the display is routed to the iGPU before it can be output, no direct to GPU


this laptop can go straight into the trash bin!

 

Yeah, no kidding. I'm on live chat w/Amazon right now trying to get them to either intercept the package or issue a return label.

 

tomorrow if microcenter has a floor display of the GT72 1070M I will check for you.

 

Someone mentioned earlier (maybe the OP) about 4k @ 120hz. I believe DP 1.4 is required for that, and I believe Acer has some experimental panels with that tech but nothing near production ready.

 

I'm inclined to go with what was linked in the Notebookcheck article above. Amazon was able to intercept the package, so they'll get it back unopened, and I'll get a full refund. Attached is the relevant bit from that piece.

 

Man t

Man that really sucks. I wonder if my GT72S is like that? I thought I could use my acer g-sync monitor but I could be wrong. I wonder if the Safer dual 1080 laptop is like that as well. It may not be as this attachment says the EVGA laptop doesn't have that limitation.

 

GT72S (non pascal) will still retain G-sync ability and a MUX to manually switch the display output to iGPU or dGPU

 

Okay so apparently I wasn't making things up when I was using my GT72S and my acer display thing. Good to know. I wonder why this one is hard wired then?

 

to save money, MUX switch is expensive and paying programmers to write the switchable feature is even more expensive!

I will have a hands on the GT72 tomorrow if microcenter has them on display.

 

This is why we wait to find out what's what with new hardware releases...

@Mobius 1 - thanks for taking the time to check this out on live hardware, the only way to know for sure

The GT72VR has some changes since the GT72 Maxwell, M.2 storage is reduced for one.

I wouldn't put it past MSI to remove the MUX on the GT72VR as well, so it's important to check each model for Optimus before we can say we know for sure.

If there is a GT73VR/GT83VR, please check it out.

 

73/83 probably much later, cause those are really expensive and not much people buy them

 

The GT72VR has actually been gimped a bit compared the the GT72/S to make the GT73VR more attractive.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/MSI-GT72VR-6RE-015US-Notebook-Review.171103.0.html

 

Like I said before, all the goodies seem to be in the "3" series.

 

That's great for the top end models, but to limit all other models to 1xM2 and 1x2.5" is ridiculous.

How are you supposed to live long term with a laptop that only has 2 storage bays??

And, what happened to RAID support?? Is RAID supported between M.2/2.5" storage?

 

According to the Notbookcheck link, they did unfortunately.

I don't understand why they'd remove the switch. Even with the expense of programming, they already did the heavy lifting on the GT72/S. Why not just keep it?

While I'm still waiting for the Kabyies (partially due to hardware, partially due to money), I'm generally not thrilled with what MSI has done this generation. While the 73/83 lines seem to be good, everything else got gutted. I'm taking a hard look at Asus's G752VS as well as modified at a boutique reseller, it comes out a couple hundred cheaper than a comparable MSI.

 

I'm with you man. I'm not liking what MSI did this time around either. Instead of making them all better, they gimped some to make room for others - and then went hog wild on the ultra high end that few people can actually afford. It looks great, but it seems to like they're selling a lot of suped up Mustangs with a bunch of Ford Fiestas and tell you to take your pick. At best, I'm stuck getting the V6 Mustang.

Realistically, $2500 is a stretch for a laptop for me. The most I ever spend on a new laptop was about $1800 for my current GT60, and I thought that was even expensive for the time. I can probably get my wife to go for it as I don't buy much for myself and my GT60 is pushing 4 years old. But even then, it's still hard to part with that much cash for something that'll depreciate anyway.

 

Digging a little deeper, MSI changed the chipset from CM236 to HM170 on all the models below the GT73/GT83.
http://ark.intel.com/compare/90593,90584

That's why the huge reduction in features, MSI saved $2 downgrading the motherboard chipset.

Resulting in the reduction of PCIE lanes and SATA/USB ports.

 

Penny wise, pound foolish.

I guess manufacturers look at it as "if we can save $2 each over a million units, that's an extra $2 million in our pockets." And that may be true - but I would expect such cost cutting measures to matter more on the low end than the high end were a couple bucks could make the difference between profit and loss.

I understand some segmentation for cheaper laptops, but I don't see why the cheapness in the $1800-2000+ range.

 

I'm leaning toward either MSI GT62 or Clevo P650RS for my next notebook. Still waiting review for the clevo for comparison.

I think GS series selling is not that good because the heat issue. CMIIW

 

In the first vids/reviews the gs43 and gs63 did not go above 80ºC.

 

Given the choice would you buy the older GT72S dominator G-037 with all 5 storage ports, graphics switch, thunderbolt 3 but the old 970m or the new GT72VR despite it having the features removed? Does that graphics switch missing mean that since the video is always going to go through the iGPU for the external display, performance on the external display will be lower?

Does the GT72VR have nvidia optimus?

Alternatively is there a better Sager/clevo, gigabyte, or asus option that hasn't had so many features removed? I'm not sure if MSI in general is better quality or has better cooling than the others. I know in some models I compared MSI had more heat pipes at least in older models. I haven't checked the new ones.