MSI's NEW GX70 3BE (AMD Richland A10 + Radeon HD 8970M)

Hi Guys,

Well, I am already financially vested in MSI's upcoming GT70 with GTX-780M, but this notebook is certainly noteworthy and deserves some discussion. MSI's new GX70 3BE promises solid graphics performance, will be positioned at terrific price-point, and offers a fantastic alternative for the gamer on a budget! True bang-for-the-buck.... check it out folks!

GX70 3BE

Some benchmarks

Enjoy!

 

will it be usd 1199? too

 

Pricing has not gone public yet..... but I think you are close, and it's sure to be a lot of performance vs. the cost.

 

A10-4600M processor inside GX60 was pure crap. It bottlenecked the GPU down to GTX 660M performance in many games. Test here: Review MSI GX60 Notebook - NotebookCheck.net Reviews
Its worth to note that in some games the A10 does not bottleneck the AMD GPU though and it was way faster than GTX 660M, but in many it did. The A10-5750M is Richland and will be slightly faster than the A10-4600M, so atleast wait for tests to see if it still bottleneck the 8970M before you buy.

If it does you are better off with a MSI notebook with the GTX 780M/775M or any other notebook with Intel i7 processor and 8970M. Thats my advice.

 

LOL! Geez, I think you are missing the point of the thread. The GX70 3BE will be a good alternative for some, and as always, you get what you pay for.

 

Actually GX70 would have been way better with a i5 processor for lower or the same price than AMD A10 APU. Unless they have improved the APUs that the Richland no longer is a bottleneck. But that remains to be seen, thats why I`m saying that people should wait for a review before buying.

Just giving a friendly headsup. No doubt the GX series is offering good performance for low price. Just not optimal

 

Those dual cores are not much cheaper than the quads and the chipsets are not cheap either.

 

But they don`t bottleneck the GPU either

 

The GX60/70 are not about bottlenecks or not (core i5 dual cores do bottleneck the system too, but much less than AMD APUs). The point is having a capable gaming system at an affordable price.

The performance of the GX60 is greater than Core i7+660m in general, and depending on game it can be worse. In some games, it is on par with 680m equipped machines. Most notable gaming bottleneck is in Hitman Absolution.

MSI GX60 Review: Radeon HD 7970M In A $1,200 Notebook! : MSI GX60: Portable Power On A Budget

the machine itself is a great gaming option. Users here have unlocked the turbo mode of the CPU to squeeze a bit more performance and giving in more value. While I agree that AMD APU's are not a good choice for gaming cpus thinking for the best performance, they are still an affordable choice. AMD APU plus high end GPU allowed a bottlenecked system that can play the latest games usually at more than acceptable framerates, at the highest settings.

 

@Cloud-firing off......This notebook is what it is, and I am still of the opinion it can be a good choice for those on a budget, and this was based on the links I provided in the OP. I did not post this thread to make comparisons with higher-end CPU's, GPU's, or other notebooks..... nor to second guess MSI's hardware component choices. The intent was to give food for thought to budget minded gamers, and shed light on this new upcoming MSI model. Of course folks can benefit waiting on product reviews, but this can be said of ANY product. Again, based on current information, I am a little more optimistic for this model.....that's all.

 

but nvidia 700 series will still be better because of the GPU boost technology

 

AMD 8970M seems have better GPU score on 3DMark 11 than GTX780M, but we will see their real-world performance when the time comes.

 

Tested the Msi Gx60.

It is a fantastic little gaming system with excellent performance.
Whether or not it was bottlenecked is a point that is too focused upon IMO.
Regardless, it still offered the best at that price.

And its overall finish was class.

 

Tomshardware made a recent test (recent driver) with MSI GX60 and proved to be better in many game titles than Intel I7 + 680M laptops near maximal graphics settings. And where slower, still fast enough to game at 1920x1080 near max settings and as long it does, it is an excellent gaming machine for the money.
So I would not listen for those who suggest rather to buy Intel CPU with a lower graphics card in the same price department.

 

At least it's a very good option for those that don't want to spend more than they want.
Also waiting for new 15" models from CLEVO to see which are the better deal.
Off topic but do MSI and CLEVO use the same screens? I know resellers offer upgradable options but I don't want to spend more on a screen than I have too.
Are stock MSI screens good or is it a good investment for a 95% gamut screen?

 

MSI and clevo do use the same panels though matte are default in MSI.

 

Are we going to get a GX60 released at the same time?
Any word on a backlit keyboard on these new models?

 

Sorry but I can't say either way, NDAs and all.

 

GX60 supposedly already had the keyboard connector to use backlit, it just didn't come with one? Maybe I am mistaken.

 

Yes I have installed a clevo keyboard into the GX60 and had it working when it first came out.

 

Alrighty then! It looks like this notebook is now available!

GX70 3BE

Enjoy!

 

There is a misprint on GenTech's customization page. Should list AMD Richland not AMD Trinity.

 

Thank you for point it out, it was typo and corrected.

 

Not a problem, anytime!

 

Woah! Three simultaneous display support! I like that! this is one hell of a gaming deal at such price!

 

The GX60 can do that too

 

OMG I want multiple monitor support I do have 3 lying on my desktop that I could put to use!

 

Someone buy one and run some game benchmarks!

 

I think the Tom's Hardware article that ryzeki and Atom Ant linked ( HERE) is a good baseline or indicator. The GX70 3BE should be a considerable improvement of this, and so much so, I will be updating my daughter to the GX60 equivalent of this model (available soon!). I am sure benchmarks and reviews are soon to follow, but if I can steal it away from her for a while, perhaps I'll post a benchmark or two.

 

Yeah! The extra CPU speed bump and GPU bump should give a nice performance boost were it matters most.

 

I "think" (meaning i have no proof what-so-ever outside reading some articles) that this config will see a 5-15% increase in performance give/take depending on applications/games being run compared to the Trinity/7970 GX60 model. For $1,299 base config, that is a hell'of'a price/performance ratio. Personally I'd still hold out for the Kaveri chips, but if i had to buy immediately and on a budget, this would be it.

 

The GX70 that was presented at the Tokyo show at the end of March had Super Raid and a 750GB 7200 hard drive.

It's been removed from the specs on MSI Global GX70 3BE

Super Raid is also in the model shown in this Korean site article from May 3rd
AMD ¸®Ä¡·£µå, Radeon HD 8970M žÀçÀÇ °í¼º´É °ÔÀÌ¹Ö ³ëÆ®ºÏ - MSI GX70 (¿ÜÇüÆí) :: Çູ¼îÇÎÀÇ ½ÃÀÛ! ´Ù³ª¿Í (°¡°Ýºñ±³)

but I don't see it in the GenTech pre-ordering here
MSI GX70 3BE AMD Radeon 8970M 17.3 inch gaming laptop - GenTech PC

 

Found a review:
Google Translate

Looking good so far

 

USA SKU doesn't comes with Super RAID.

 

Hi Ken
Any Idea when the 15" model (GX60) is going to be available and will it have a backlit keayboard?

 

Someone at the GX60 thread got the 3AE model with a10-5750 and 7970m. He said no backlit keyboard on his notebook..

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=9197727

 

Backlit keyboard not officially supported by MSI because they need to obtain license from SteelSeries. however, if you install Steelseries backlit keyboard on GX60 it worked.

 

Can you guys install a backlit keyboard? Will it be an option?

 

It would be a nice option to have, since a small feature goes a long way for a notebook

 

I come across some more information about the GX70, which can be found here;

MSI Notebook Official Website - Product Preview Page

 

I wonder when will it come to SEA Singapore.

 

I've had mine for a bit over a week now and, sadly, no backlit keyboard. My plans are to add an SSD in the fall as well to give the machine a bit more speed as well. Right now I have two monitors hanging off of it. One using an active mini-DP port and the other on the VGA. So far I've had to work hard to cause the system to slowdown. Although it doesn't seem to like flash very much.

 

SSD will definitely make things snappy.

Flash causes the system to slowdown? Well flash can get really heavy. Even when using top of the line hardware, it can get a bit silly on how taxing it is.

 

i don't mind the keyboard, wonder if add SSD will void their warranty. O-o so how you feel about the new notebook you had? up to your standard? (Price wise)

 

You will have to break the sticker most likely but usually that just means you are a liable for any physical damage inside at that point.

 

I replaced a six core AMD 1035 desktop with a ATI 5770 video card with this laptop. On my desktop I ran two monitors but I was committed to running three on the laptop. So I have one monitor hanging off of VGA and one off the mini-DP port (remember to get an ACTIVE cable). I have the graphics set to run the 7970m when I am on AC and the fusion graphics when I run off of the battery. So far I've been happy with performance with most things. A couple times now I've had the TV running through VLC using a USB TV card one one screen, settlers online (a flash MMO) on another, and Chrome running on a third. None of this has slowed the machine down. Although it seems to hate flash which isn't a surprise.

So far I have seen some bits of weirdness with graphics performance. The first time I ran Hitman Absolution it ran off of the 8000 onboard graphics and it was painful. The next time I ran it off the 7970M and it was night and day for performance. I've also played several other games off of Steam without issue. The exception is a new SOE MMO called Dragon Prophet. No matter what I tweak or play with I can't get the frame rate to go above 11fps. I'm still not sure how I am going to work around that one.

To get around the slower CPU I added a 64bit variant of Firefox called Waterfox to run Settlers Online. So i wouldn't be limited by good ole 32 bit software. I sure would like to see Chrome give me a proper 64bit version but so far they haven't. Waterfox isn't perfect but it runs the flash game far better then Chrome.

If I had to choose between the GX60 3AE and the GX70 again I might go with the GX70 for two reasons. First I got the 15" for the lower weight and its still a heavy beast but you also forget how small that screen really is until you it daily. Which makes me think I should have gotten the 17". Plus the GX70 is the same price as my GX60 and you get the 8970m instead of the 7970m. Although it doesn't look like there is much difference why wouldnt you get this for the same price?

 

Yeah in the end GX70 vs 60 comes down to screen size preference. When you travel a lot, the 15.6 inch makes more sense despite weighting similarly, the reduced dimensions do help. When I changed from 15.6 to 17.3 the weight felt similar, but the size became a bit different to handle. Since I don't have to take my new laptop everywhere now, I opted for the higher size screen

 

The 15" class usually equates to a slight improvement in battery life over 17-inchers, as well. Of course the rest of the hardware is what hurts it most.

 

Here is a review of the GX70 with 8970M

http://notebook.it168.com/tu/1489414.shtml

 

No luck with your link.

I posted this link a few weeks ago that has several GX70 photos.

AMD ¸®Ä¡·£µå, Radeon HD 8970M žÀçÀÇ °í¼º´É °ÔÀÌ¹Ö ³ëÆ®ºÏ - MSI GX70 (¼º´ÉÆí) :: Çູ¼îÇÎÀÇ ½ÃÀÛ! ´Ù³ª¿Í (°¡°Ýºñ±³)