MSI GT627 Review

The GT627 is MSI’s latest 15” gaming notebook with a sleek brushed metal finish and an easy overclocking Turbo button. Housed inside its stylish exterior is an NVIDIA 9800M GS graphics card paired up with an Intel P8400 Core 2 Duo to handle any modern game a user can throw at it. This notebook is targeted against other low-cost gaming rigs such as the Gateway P-series that offers high-end gaming performance for less than $1,300. Just how well does the GT627 stack up against the competition? Read our review to find out.

MSI GT627 Specifications:

• Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 (2.26GHz, 1066MHz, 3MB Cache)
• 4GB DDR2 memory
• Windows Vista Home Premium (32-bit, SP1)
• NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GS graphics (1GB GDDR3)
• 15.4 WXGA Glossy Display (1280x800)
• DVDRW-SuperMulti
• 320GB hard drive (7200rpm)
• 802.11 b/g/n Wireless LAN with Bluetooth
• 90W (19V) Power Supply
• Battery: 6-cell
• Weight: 5.6lbs
• Size: 14.09"(L) x 10.24 "(D) x 1.06"~1.22"(H)
• Warranty: 1-year parts/labor
• MSRP: $1,149

Build and Design
The GT627 has a sophisticated look with a brushed metal finish and red plastic accents. From the outside you might think it was a business notebook (with a splash of color) and not a portable gaming system. Put this in contrast to some of the gaming machines from Toshiba or Dell and you realize MSI was going for a more subdued everyday-notebook look for this rig. One added benefit is you wont feel embarrassed pulling this notebook out in the middle of a business meeting, which the same couldnt be said about some gaming notebooks.

Build quality is great in most areas with some help from the metal exterior but there are some weak areas that should have received some extra support. The display lid stays rigid and solid enough though it is very thin. The magnets that keep the screen lid closed are super strong, needing two hands to pry the display open. The brushed finish holds up to scratches and fingerprints very well, although an encounter with a heavy object might leave a dent. The palmrest shares the same brushed metal finish, but not the same treatment in rigidity or support. It has an unfortunate amount of flex which in some cases pushes against keyboard tray making a clicking sound.

Users looking to upgrade anything from RAM to hard drive should know that MSI puts a Warranty Void if Broken across both the main access panel and hard drive bay. While I can understand the main area that houses the RAM, video card, and processor could be considered off limits, why prevent users from upgrading their hard drive?

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Display
The 15.4 WXGA glossy display is perfect for gaming with fast response times and high backlight brightness. Colors were bright and vibrant, and contrast levels were adequate to view detail in dark settings. At full brightness the GT627 was viewable in a bright office setting without looking washed out. In my home I found the brightness level best set between 30-40% for comfortable viewing since my lighting is nowhere near as bright as our office. Viewing angles were average, with a great horizontal viewing range, but limited vertical range. Colors would quickly distort and invert as you would tilt back the screen, or wash out if you angled it closer to you.

Keyboard and Touchpad
The GT627 has a fullsize "gaming" keyboard with highlighted frequently used game keys and a numberpad squeezed in on the left side. I am generally a fan of numberpads on most notebooks, but they are larger notebooks (usually 16 and up) and dont reduce the size of the standard keys to make room. Most keyboards have square shaped keys, including netbooks that use smaller square keys. This typically makes it easy to adapt switching from machine to machine once you get the size-ratio worked out. This notebook has keys shaped more like rectangles which made it really difficult to type accurately. Even after a few days of using it I still had to type visually instead of just by touch unless I wanted to type out a garbled mess. The keyboard had quite a bit of flex and felt as if it was floating above the support structure. This made it feel like you were typing on a springboard. The keys themselves had a moderate throw with a mild click when pressed, and would slightly wobble.

The large Synaptics touchpad worked great once I installed the latest drivers, as the system came with no Synaptics utility installed. Without the utility you cant adjust scroll bar width, customizable tap zones, and most importantly touch sensitivity. Response times were quick with no perceptible lag, even in games that demanded quick movement. The size was appropriate for a gaming machine with enough space to move around without hitting the edges ... although I would have preferred buttons with a longer throw. The buttons shared the same brushed aluminum surface with the palmrest with small cutouts for flexing movement. They had shallow feedback with a muted click when pressed.

Performance
The MSI GT627 performs very well in day-to-day activities and holds its own in modern games. MSI squeezed in an Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 processor and NVDIA 9800M GS video card to help give this notebook the performance of most 17 gaming notebooks in a compact 15 form factor. If you dont think the stock performance is enough for your normal routine, you can overclock the system up to 20% with the push of a button. The Turbo feature bumps the frontside bus on-the-fly boosting the processor speed from 2.26GHz to 2.71GHz. In terms of real world performance, while playing Portal at 1280 x 800 on high settings pressing the Turbo button increased the framerate from 120 frames per second (FPS) to 145 FPS. It did this without any delay, needing to restart the game, or causing any instability. Games that are more reliant on raw graphics power like Crysis didnt see any gain in Turbo mode. Crysis on high settings at 1280x800 resolution stayed at 29 FPS regardless of whether the Turbo mode was enabled or not.

wPrime processor comparison results (lower scores mean better performance):

MSI GT627 (Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 @ 2.26GHz)	33.821 seconds
MSI GT627 (Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 @ 2.71GHz)	28.143 seconds
Dell Studio XPS 16 (Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 @ 2.4GHz)	31.827 seconds
Sony VAIO FW (Intel Core 2 Duo T9400 @ 2.53GHz)	30.373 seconds
ASUS M70S (Intel Core 2 Duo T9300 @ 2.50GHz)	31.132 seconds
Gateway P-171XL FX (Intel Core 2 Duo X7900 @ 2.8GHz)	30.359 seconds
Toshiba Qosmio G45 (Intel Core 2 Duo T9300 @ 2.50GHz)	31.108 seconds

PCMark05 measures overall system performance (higher scores mean better performance):

MSI GT627 (2.26GHz Intel P8400, NVIDIA 9800M GS 1GB)	6,591 PCMarks
MSI GT627 (2.71GHz Intel P8400, NVIDIA 9800M GS 1GB)	7,643 PCMarks
Dell Studio XPS 16 (2.4GHz Intel P8600, ATI RADEON HD 3670 512MB)	6,303 PCMarks
Sony VAIO FW (2.53GHz Intel T9400, ATI RADEON HD 3470)	6,002 PCMarks
ASUS M70S (2.50GHz Intel T9300, ATI RADEON HD 3650)	6,135 PCMarks
Gateway P-171XL FX (2.8GHz Intel X7900, NVIDIA 8800M GTS)	7,749 PCMarks
Toshiba Qosmio G45 (2.50GHz Intel T9300, NVIDIA 8600M GT)	5,865 PCMarks

3DMark06 measures video and gaming performance (higher scores mean better performance):

MSI GT627 (2.26GHz Intel P8400, NVIDIA 9800M GS 1GB)	8,686 3DMarks
MSI GT627 (2.71GHz Intel P8400, NVIDIA 9800M GS 1GB)	9,137 3DMarks
Dell Studio XPS 16 (2.4GHz Intel P8600, ATI RADEON HD 3670 512MB)	4,855 3DMarks
Sony VAIO FW (2.53GHz Intel T9400, ATI RADEON HD 3470)	2,598 3DMarks
ASUS M70S (2.50GHz Intel T9300, ATI RADEON HD 3650)	3,799 3DMarks
Gateway P-171XL FX (2.8GHz Intel X7900, NVIDIA 8800M GTS)	8,801 3DMarks
Toshiba Qosmio G45 (2.50GHz Intel T9300, NVIDIA 8600M GT)	3,775 3DMarks

HDTune storage drive performance results:

The super quick Western Digital Scorpio Black hard drive decreased game load times and sped up overall system performance with a blistering 92MB/s speak transfer speed and 70MB/s average. The only thing I can recall that was any faster were some of our high performance SSD models.

Ports and Features
Port selection was very good, including three USB ports, one eSata (part of a combo port), firewire, HDMI, VGA, LAN, Modem, and surround sound out. It also included a TV antenna hookup for models equipped with a TV tuner, SDHC multi-card reader, and ExpressCard/54 slot.

Front: IR remote receiver, Indicator lights

Rear: HDMI, VGA, AC Power, TV-Antenna

Left: Kensington lock slot, Modem, Optical Drive, 1 USB, Surround sound ports

Right: ExpressCard/54, SDHC multi-card reader, 1 USB, 1 eSata/USB combo port, LAN

Speakers and Audio
The speakers were below average when compared to most 15 notebooks, lacking any hint of bass and also missing most midrange sound. Peak volume levels were good enough for watching a movie in a small room, but would get drowned out quickly with other background sounds. Headphones would be a users best friend with this notebook, giving higher volume levels and much better audio quality.

Heat and Noise
The MSI GT627 runs a bit hotter than your average notebook while gaming thanks to the NVIDIA 9800M GS graphics card housed inside. While gaming the notebook tends to warm up your lap and wrists enough to make you want to take a break every so often. If you are someone that enjoys gaming with the notebook right on your lap, take note of the exhaust vent temperatures of the notebook under load. I found that the best setup was placing the notebook on a desk surface while gaming and using an external mouse if at all possible. The design isnt inherently bad, just the risk of cramming so much power into a 15 chassis. The external temperatures shown below are listed in degrees Fahrenheit.

In terms of noise the system fans were average for a gaming system; quiet under normal use but louder while gaming. You would probably stand out in a small lecture hall but not in a room with enough background noise.

Battery Life
Battery life was reasonable for a 15 gaming notebook with only a 6-cell battery. The GT627 stayed on for 2 hours and 35 minutes with the screen brightness set to 70%, system on the "balanced" power profile, and wireless active. I would have really preferred a 9-cell battery even if it did stick out the back for the added capacity. The turbo mode didnt play a role in battery life since it could only be turned on while the system was plugged into AC power.

Conclusion
Overall the MSI GT627 proved to be a fast gaming notebook with good looks but showed room for improvement in terms of build quality. The keyboard felt springy and didn&rsquo;t have much support and the palmrest showed considerable flex. Gaming performance is where this notebook showed its true colors, with high benchmarks and good in-game performance. The Turbo feature while sounding somewhat gimmicky did show good results in some gaming situations. MSI would have one of the best gaming notebooks with its great price, great looks, and excellent performance if not for the springboard chassis.

Pros:

• 17&rdquo; gaming notebook performance in a 15&rdquo; package
• Excellent low starting price of $1,149
• Useful Turbo feature that overclocks the system
• Very quick hard drive

Cons:

• Keyboard is awkward to type on
• Squishy palmrest

 

Looks like a nice computer for a very reasonable price.

Nice review

 

portable power...nice

 

bad housing.. booo

 

Nice review. The price point for its performance is great but the flex in the build and the springy keyboard are big drawbacks.

As a right-hander, I'm not liking the idea of the fan on the right side. At least it stays reasonably cool though.

One thing you didn't mention was the pitiful screen res - 1280x800 in this day and age, and on a gaming notebook?! What a waste of the 9800M GS video card, and what a productivity dampener!

 

Color scheme is terrible.. red usually goes well with black, but not this machine. The red made it looked even "cheaper"... The screen is pitiful like Chaz said. I wonder why Clevo M860TU's 3dmark score ain't in there? Isn't that it's ultimate competition contestant? (You did said "Just how well does the GT627 stack up against the competition? Read our review to find out.")

 

well good review..just flex is killer. you should review the higher performing one with the 1650x1050 screen and blu-ray, since that version only cost 1300. wait you can't upgrade this laptop, dangit i was saving up for this one

 

Seems like a nice unit for someone who wants to play games; great specs for the price. Its not going to win any beauty contests, but, thats not the point.

As someone mentioned above, 1280x800 on a 15.4 inch display is awful (but, ok for gaming?); that was the std resolution about 2-3 years ago.

 

Am I missing something here? All these affordable gaming laptops come in hideous colors and designs. Its a real shame they can't just keep a simple black or black/silver scheme. I wouldn't be caught dead carrying one of these or an Asus G50 around.

They definitely should have reviewed the Blu-ray, WSXGA+ model.

Also, a bad keyboard is a game killer. They should use a standard layout (no keypad) and use the extra room to fit some better speakers.

 

Thanks for the review.

Sounds like it does have some (many) fundamental flaws, but lets not forget its price and the fact that its only 5.6lbs. How many 15.4'' notebooks are this light nowadays? This is one of the more "portable" gaming notebooks around. Lets hope MSI correct these flaws and bring out a better product next time.

 

While I do agree with everyone else here that the screen res is poor, at least it's still a 16:10 ratio screen and not a 16:9 that everyone else seems so obsessed with.

Higher screen res + Better keyboard layout (eliminate the numPad) + stiffer chassis = perfect dream notebook. But as it is, MSI has done quite well with creating a notebook that's thin and light, inexpensive, and has tons of performance.

 

+1!!!

WTH?it is 2009 and it is a gaming notebook with 9800!!!

 

Fantastic game performance for the price, as always with MSI notebooks. But really don't understand why they don't have the same notebook without the number pad, and with better support.

 

The weight is really really light. I would have liked to see more information on noise and internal temperatures, at 5.6lbs you wonder if it has enough internal cooling to support a 9800M.

 

Nice review! Been waiting on this one for a little while. Things I wish it had quad core support (hopefully soon), 1920x1200 res, and a remote (not huge but I use the one on my dell all the time). Otherwise its a nice rig, full keyboard on a 15in platform.

 

Dear god! This was the review I've been waiting for. You can buy this with a 15.4" WSXGA+ (1680x1050) Glossy Screen and also a 9 cell battery through Xotic-PC. I really wouldn't mind the 9 cell because it would add some much needed battery life, and improve the temps also.

 

Although the stock 1280x800 resolution screen is low for productivity, for gaming it's really not so bad since you can play any game at native resolution + high settings smoothly, instead of having to scale down the resolution. I think a 1440x900 screen would be ideal.

 

you can't upgrade the RAM or HD without voiding warranty? I find that to be much more offensive a practice than having a low res screen

 

The model on xoticpc also includes a Blu-ray reader and 2.4ghz P8600 for roughly $1400! Impressive!

 

Am I the only one with the follow opinion on screen rez on laptops?

1280x800 is for 12"
1440x900 is for 14"
1680x1050 is for 15"
1900x1200 is for 17"+

Also, why do the reviews here never compare the m1530, along with the Studio XPS 16? I have to imagine those with m1530's are more likely to be updating their rig than someone with the Studio XPS 16.

 

Based on the screenshots, I have to disagree that it "holds up to scratches and fingerprints very well" - there's quite visible fingerprints there.

Performance for price looks great, though. Too bad they couldn't have spend the $25 or so for a better keyboard. Definitely worth paying a bit more for when the deal is that good to begin with.

I actually like the 100 DPI of 1280x800 at 15.4. Although I'd prefer non-glossy. Just goes to show you can't satisfy everyone.

 

I beg to disagree, a keypad is great for gaming... specially games like Flight Simulator X... Very handy indeed!

Speakers is not really a problem, since most gamers like me always use headphones instead of speakers, specially those new 5.1 or 7.1 SS Headphones... NICE!

And the GT627 is the least flashy gaming laptop out there... Very discreete in comparison to Alienware, Asus, Gateways, Dells, etc...

Cheers!
RayanMX

 

Although MSI is supposed to void the warranty if that sticker is torn, my past experience shows that they're quite lenient on this. If you popped the hood just to change out the RAM or hard drive, they could care less unless those component are the problem. When you remove the heatsink and tinker with the processor or the MXM card is when they automatically void your warranty, no exceptions.

 

Some specialty olive oil and balsamic vinegar dips got the best of me. Those were more on the abnormal side of things in regards to fingerprints. Compared to your standard glossy finish notebook the brushed aluminum takes quite a bit more before it becomes really noticeable.

 

I'm not so impressed with this laptop overall because of the build quality. But the 9800m GS does deliver some respectable scores, almost as good as the 8800m GTX.

 

Possibly a contender for quote of the year for "notebook reviewers"?

 

Hmmm nice lappy

are u sure that 3dmark06 score was done at 1280*1024???

cause my G50VT has a T9400 CPU with 512-9800mGS and it gets lower scores?!

But if the test was done at 1280*1024 that means the 1GB-9800 really improves the performance too much...

Can u confirm that the test was done at default resolution??

peace...

 

They were likely done at 1280x800 since the test unit only had that resolution. I wish nbr reviewers would specify the resolution every time, or just change the standard to 1280x1024.

 

True dat. It doesn't make good business sense.

Seems like a direct competitor to the Gateway 7811fx and the Asus G50vt. I like my G50vt.

Is it really less than 6 pounds? Wow, and I thought the G50v(t) was the best cooling system I have ever heard of in a non-12pound-alienware_like-laptop-with-a-highend-coprocessor. I'm excited for someone to crack open the bottom and take some picks of the heatsink.

 

Enjoy.

 

Yes, MSI needs to up to at least 1440x900 for their lowend models, 1280x800 is just too smal until you go down to 10-12" IMO.

Numpad: I liked it on the 1651 myself, and got used to the keyboard fairly quickly, when it worked that is...

-216US really isn't worth bothering with unless you're on a super low budget, in which case there are other alternative to look at with better screens.

-218US is really the only one worth considering, and it's at a very good price $1299 @ newegg & Amazon. Newegg has them in stock. ($1299 and $1099 are supposed to be the new MSRPs according to what ars technica was told by MSI, although MSI US and the small resellers seemed to have not gotten the memo, while Amazon & Newegg apparently did...)

[EDIT]
I noticed before that it looks like the GT627 does better in 3DMark06 than the G50VT does.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=4492743&postcount=25
8595 3DMark06 for a -218US that a forum member, cuib, received last week.
[/EDIT]

 

The only reason we haven't changed the standard to 1280x1024 is because we're still seeing too many notebooks with 1280x800 resolution screens. There's little practical/real world advantage to testing a notebook's gaming performance at resolutions higher than the one supported by the built-in screen.

Yes, we are aware that many hardcore gamers use external displays ... but most hardcore gamers use desktops for serious gaming and only use notebooks for gaming while traveling. Back in my college days I had a desktop and a laptop and I played games on both, but I never went to the trouble of connecting my notebook to an external monitor unless I was giving a presentation.

Likewise, nowadays at work I only connect a laptop to an external monitor at the office where I have a docking station.

In any case, the default benchmarking resolution we use is 1280x800 ... unless otherwise stated in the review. For example, when we review some gaming notebooks that have high resolution displays we publish two sets of benchmarks (one at 1280x800 for comparison purposes and the other at the notebook's maximum screen resolutionso you have an idea of the performance at the best available resolution).

 

Aha...so the 3dmark06 was done at 1280*800!

that means 1gb video ram doesnt make much difference

hmmm....nothing special in this lappy then....

@JerryJ,,,i belive most people in this forum expect the default 3dmark06 rez is 1280*1024 so i think u should add a note to bench data so no body get confused....like me

also what about the comparison with other laptops benchs....where they also done at 1280*800??

 

The main idea of testing at 1280x1024 is to collect results that can be compared to others. That way you are testing the notebooks with the same criteria. What happen when you only provide the numbers....for example a gateway with WXGA screen and a DDR2 HD2600 will score 3600~3800 marks at 1280x800. Where as a HD2600 GDDR3 found in another notebook will score 3200~3400 at 1280x1024. Then people think the DDR2 HD2600 is actually faster. Thats exactly what happened with the Inspiron 8600GT DDR2 and GDDR3 last year. You then get guys flooding the forum with random numbers...

Its not like this "issue" haven't been mentioned else where on the forum before.

 

That's not even legal in the U.S. to put those kinds of 'void' stickers on stuff like that in PCs. Asus got in trouble for it on one of the early EEE systems.

 

The reason I believe tests should be done at 1280x1024 is so that notebook performance can easily be compared to desktop benchmarks (which are almost always done at 1280x1024). It can be misleading sometimes when a notebook scores almost the same as a PC with the desktop version of the graphics card.

 

The key reasons for our testing is as follows:

1. From a notebook you aren't going to get 1280x1024 unless you hook it up to an external 4:3 monitor using the free software.

2. The free 3DMark06 software selects the resolution for you, which on most notebooks is 1280x800. If we give numbers for 1280x1024 to please one group, what about the guys who benchmark their systems using the free software and start getting vastly different results than what our reviews have?

3. We have been using 1280x800 as the resolution for a number of years now, making it easy to look back and compare current notebooks to older notebooks.

 

This is a killer laptop. 9.3k 3DMark06 for $1100. I could care less for a faster CPU (P8600 vs P8400) and Blu-Ray.

Lower resolution screen isn't a problem for me. The 9800M GS might be able to max out Crysis at 1280x800. Where as you might have to lower the detail level at 1680x1050 or play at non-native resolution.

 

Add a quad core to this notebook and tweak it and the GPU and this machine will probably benchmark around 13K benchmarks on 3dMark06.


Does look fragile though. Nice finish.

 

My old laptop had the void stickers on the access screws.

Notebook looks like a good deal for the specs, although build quality seems a bit weak. Nice review

 

how does the 9800 stack against a 9600m?

its like comparing a desktop 9500GT and a 9800GT I heard.

 

Why do gaming notebooks have to look like lego toys nowadays?

 

Desktop 9500GT and 9600GT would be closer, since all the 9800M series except the 9800M GTX uses the same core as the desktop 9600GT.

It's a marketing thing, I suppose. Somehow these companies figure that the market demography for gaming notebooks are older teens and young adults, so they figure that particular age group is still into the gaudy, flashy colors and in ASUS' case, LEDs all over the casing.

If ASUS was smart enough, they would have released a plain G50, void of all the graphics and LEDs; just a plain glossy black casing, some silver accents with no light show. That would have been easier to move in retail stores. I was hanging around Best Buy's notebook section to talk with an old acquaintance and the general comments from people who glimpsed at a G50VT isn't exactly positive. The younger kids love it, but it's not quite the same case for the older shoppers.

 

one of the "pros" that you should have added was how light weight this thing is compared to any other gaming notebook.

 

Whaaaat? The average gamer is in their 30s now, not 10-21. And PC games skew even older. Probably the only systems in that 10-21 bracket are the Wii and DS (and even then they have plenty of older players). 360 averages in the 20s I think, and PS3 in the 30s, and PC's probably similar if not older.

 

Well, I'm 40 and still play video games on my 360 (XB Live) or gaming laptop on my spare time!!!

Oh, and I don't live on Mom's basement ok? I have a family and a steady job in the IT industry!!! LOL

As the saying goes: "All work and no play, makes you dull"

Cheers!
RayanMX

 

Let me ask you this: which individual would have the money ($1000+) to spend on a laptop, a 16 year old or a 26 year old? Nine times out of ten, a kid under the age of 18 will highly likely stick with consoles, or got their laptop through their parents.

 

I'd happily pay more for better build quality from a name brand company like lenovo. I'd pay $2K for this from them.

 

I agree with you G50 are too flashy