MSI is joining the ranks of laptop and desktop vendors introducing their RTX gaming machines. At CES, MSI announced a refresh of almost its entire gaming laptop lineup with Nvidia’s RTX GPUs, led by the new GS75 Stealth, a 17-inch thin and light. Pricing and availability weren’t immediately apparent. The GS75 Stealth is similar to last year’s 15.6-inch GS65 Stealth with a gold trim and aluminum chassis that looks downright classy. But the GS75 has a 17.3-inch, 144 Hz display. The GS65 is also getting a refresh with RTX graphics, should you prefer the smaller screen. MSI GS75 Stealth MSI GS65 Stealth CPU Up to 8th Gen Intel Core i7 Up to 8th Gen Intel Core i7 GPU Up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q (8GB GDDR6) Up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q (8GB GDDR6) RAM DDR4-2666 DDR4-2666 Storage SATA and M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD storage options SATA and M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD storage options Display 17.3-inch FHD 144 Hz IPS 15.6-inch FHD 144 Hz IPS Size 396.1 x 259.5 x 19 mm 357.7 x 247.7 x 17.9 mm Weight 2.3 kg 1.9 kg If that’s not enough, the GT Titan series, GE Raider series and GL series are all getting upgraded to RTX as well. The GT75 Titan, MSI’s flagship, will get an 8th Gen Core i9 CPU and full-sized RTX 2080. It's getting a 35 percent larger trackpad than the previous model. MSI says it's the largest trackpad on a gaming laptop, because people will want to use the machine to play games. The company also claims 8 hours of battery life for productivity. MSI also stressed that it will have up to three SSDs for storage, and it claimed at a press conference that the SSDs will be available over an easy-access port on the bottom of the notebook. Image 1 of 2 Image 2 of 2 The GE75 Raider is a 17-incher with an anodized finish, and its 15-inch sibling, the GE63, will come in an RGB finish. Both will have options up to the RTX 2080. The GE75 has haptic feedback in the wrist rest, but we didn't get our hands on it at MSI's press briefing. MSI’s most affordable line-up, the GL series, will go up to Nvidia’s RTX 2060 series and 8th Gen Intel Core i7 processors and 120 Hz displays, rather than the 144 Hz screens on their more expensive counterparts.<doc-sep>Photo : Sam Rutherford ( Gizmodo ) As much as I love beastly, no compromises gaming laptops like MSI’s GT75, sometimes just thinking about systems like that makes my back hurt. I mean, who wants to carry around a 10-pound notebook that needs not one, but two massive power bricks just to get optimal performance? Advertisement Thankfully, it seems MSI heard my inner desires and took advantage of Nvidia’s recently announced Max-Q RTX GPUs to create something that delivers close to 90 percent of the performance of GT75, but in a body that weighs barely over 5 pounds and measures just 0.75-inches thick. Screw the bulk, the GS75 Stealth is a blazing fast but still practical gaming notebook. Laptops & Tablets Gaming Laptops MSI GS75 What is it? A thin-and-light 17-inch gaming PC Price Starts at $2,100 ($3,000 as reviewed) Like Very light for the specs and performance, gorgeous per key RGB lighting, lots of ports, one of the first laptops with a RTX 2080 Max-Q GPU Don't Like Need more RTX-enabled games, pricey, display doesn't support G-sync Now don’t get me wrong, sporting a 17.3-inch 144Hz screen, the GS75 still has a bit of a wide body. However, by taking the general design of last year’s 15-inch GS65 and stretching it out to accommodate a 17-inch screen, you end up with something that won’t have chiropractors seeing dollar signs. The GS75 fit in my regular messenger bag without too much trouble, though I admit I had to put it in the main storage compartment in front rather than the padded sleeve in back. Additionally, while MSI was widening up the GS75, the company also went back and revised some of the features other users and I weren’t totally satisfied with on the GS65, such as its hinges and keyboard. This time, the GS75 sports new, beefier hinges that make the display feel significantly more secure at all angles. Though, if I really nitpick, something about the hinges’ rounded curves and not-quite-matching paint sort of stick out compared to other fine details in the system, like its gold chamfered edges. The new touchpad, on the other hand, is an even bigger improvement. Not only is it 33 percent larger than before, but MSI switched over to an all-new component that features a smoother glazed surface and much more responsive touch recognition. So while you probably still won’t use it over a mouse when gaming, for everything else, the new touchpad is a welcome upgrade. Advertisement Elsewhere, the GS75's healthy-sized sides offer plenty of ports including both USB-A and USB-C, HDMI 2.0, Ethernet and even a microSD slot. And because it’s MSI, the GS75 also includes the company’s standard gaming package including adjustable per key RGB lighting, Killer networking for better latency while gaming, and MSI’s Dragon Center software to help you keep tabs on all your system info and power settings. Ok, so on to the really important stuff. How well can the GS75 game? It’s a downright thin-and-light slayer. At its native 1920 x 1080 resolution and graphics turned all the way up, the GS75 hit 121 FPS and 91 in Rise of the Tomb Raider and Far Cry 5, respectively. In comparison, the 10-pound GT75 hit 140 FPS and 106 FPS in Tomb Raider and Far Cry, mostly due to the GT75's beefy six-core Intel i9 chip. That’s a difference of only around 15 percent in raw numbers, which if you ask me, is well worth the GS75's much sleeker dimensions. Advertisement 87 FPS in Shadow of the Tomb Raider with every graphics option turned on ain’t bad, and gives you little headroom for when RTX effects eventually get patched in. Screenshot : Sam Rutherford ( Gizmodo ) But the real treat is playing new titles like Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Battlefield V, the latter of which is one of the few titles that can take advantage of the ray tracing capabilities built into new RTX GPUs. On Shadow of the Tomb Raider with the graphics set to “highest,” the GS75 hit 87 FPS, well above the typical 60 FPS target. Meanwhile, in Battlefield V with the graphics set to ultra including the option for DXR Raytrace Reflections Quality maxed out, the GS75 hovered around 58 to 62 fps. And boy do all those reflections off ice look nice with RTX enabled. Advertisement With more than enough horsepower to keep frame rates at above 60, the GS75's 144Hz screen really shows its stuff. You have the flexibility to hit 100+ FPS for people who want to have the smoothest action, or the option to turn on every graphical bell and whistle for a truly immersive experience. Sadly, the GS75's lacks support for G-Sync, which seems odd considering the laptop has essentially every other high-end gaming feature you could want outside of eye-tracking. When I asked MSI about the missing feature, their reps said it was a hard choice not to include G-Sync, though MSI hasn’t completely ruled out making the feature available in the future. In previous testing, last year’s GS65 featuring a GTX 1070 GPU post ed 94 and 76 FPS in Rise of the Tomb Raider and Far Cry 5 at max settings. That’s about about 20 to 25 percent lower than what w e got from the GS7 5, which is a notable gap . However, without more RTX-enabled games available, it’s probably not worth the upgrade for anyone who purchased a new gaming laptop with a 10-series card recently. Advertisement Photo : Sam Rutherford ( Gizmodo ) The GS75's new hinges are sturdier, but they don’t quite match the rest of the system perfectly. Photo : Sam Rutherford ( Gizmodo ) Photo : Sam Rutherford ( Gizmodo ) Photo : Sam Rutherford ( Gizmodo ) Advertisement You can skip ad after 1 second You can go to the next slide after 1 second Continue Photo : Sam Rutherford ( Gizmodo ) 1 / 5 One surprising aspect of the GS75 is its battery life. When set to a balanced battery profile with a few energy savings features enabled in MSI’s Dragon Center, the system lasted 5 hours and 33 minutes on our standard rundown test. And even with those features turned off, I still saw times just north of five hours, which for a system this big and power hungry, is a feat in and of itself. Just don’t expect the same level of longevity while gaming without a power cord, which depending on the game and graphics levels, ends up being closer to two to three hours. Advertisement The only real downside the GS75 is its price. All told, our review unit costs $3,000 for an i7-8750H CPU, 32GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. But truthfully, 32GB of RAM is overkill, and depending on the games you play, the RTX 2080 GPU might be too. By moving down to an RTX 2070 or RTX 2060, you can lop $600 to $800 off its price tag, and suddenly you’re looking at something a lot more reasonable. In some ways, you could even call the GS75 a strange successor to the 17-inch MacBook Pros Apple stopped making in 2012. Photo : Sam Rutherford ( Gizmodo ) Advertisement Yes, it ain’t cheap. But the GS75's slim design combined with the potential for the best graphics you can get in a laptop right now makes this thing an ideal machine for gamers or creatives who might take their laptop out of the house now and then. It’ll fit in your bag, and it can play almost any game to the max. And if you’re not ready for that much power right now, the GS75 will be ready and waiting to ray trace your next big game when those settings come to more than just Battlefield V. README MSI’s 144Hz screen makes a great companion to Nvidia’s new RTX 2080 Max-Q GPU, but it’d be nice if there were more RTX-enabled games available. Outside of gaming, for a system this big and powerful, the GS75's battery life is pretty respectable at around five hours. At $2800 for the cheapest model with a 2080 GPU, Nvidia’s new top-end graphics card commands a significant premium. But if you’re willing to step down to a 2070 or 2060, the GS75 can be had for as little as $2,400 or $2,100. While it would push the cost up, not having a screen with G-Sync seems like a missed opportunity. The GS75 is half the weight and 65 percent thinner than last year’s GT75 for nearly the same level of performance. Advertisement SPEC DUMP Windows 10 • 17.3-inch 144Hz 1920 x 1080 non-touch display • Intel Core i7-8750H CPU • 32GB of RAM • 512GB SSD • Killer N1550i 2x2 ac wi-fi • Bluetooth 5.0 • 1 Thunderbolt 3 Port • 2 x USB-A 3.1 ports • HDMI 2.0 • mic in • headphone jack • microSD card slot • dual 2-watt Dynaudio speakers • 82 Whr battery • 720p webcam • 15.59 x 10.22 x 0.75 inches • 5.02 pounds<doc-sep>
Showcased during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2019, the new breed of MSI gaming laptops have finally arrived in India. These notebooks come flush with 8th gen Intel processors and NVIDIA's new RTX graphics card with Ray Tracing technology. MSI has almost always targeted their products towards gaming enthusiasts, but this year under the Prestige series the company has introduced the PS63 ultra-portable laptop featuring 35% more touchpad space than regular. The PS63 also comes across as a MacBook Air competitor and it would be interesting to see if MSI is able to woo some Apple fans as well. The new MSI notebooks will be available starting January 31 and can be purchased from Amazon India and Flipkart along with MSI exclusive stores pan India. MSI Prestige PS65 and P63: specifications and price MSI will also start targeting creators with their more premium range of laptops, the Prestige series. The P65 Creator and P63 Modern laptops are very different from the regular run of the mill MSI laptop. With these, the company wants to make a mark for itself outside of the gaming community. Content Creators such as writers, illustrators, videographers, photographers among others are the primary target audience for the Prestige series. The P65 laptop features 15.6-inch Full HD display powered by Intel Core i7-8750H processor and NVIDIA GeForce GTX1050Ti. It has 32GB RAM with 512GB SSD to boot. The P65 Creator is priced at Rs 1,59,990. The P63, on the other hand, is beautifully crafted and features a 15.6-inch Full HD IPS display. It is powered by Intel Core i7-8565U (8th gen) processor with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 as the GPU. The MSI P63 Modern has 16GB of RAM coupled with 512GB SSD. It is priced at Rs 1,29,990. MSI GS65 Stealth: specifications and price MSI GS65 Stealth gaming laptop features the world's first 144hz IPS display that has a 100%sRGB colour gamut range. It is 17.7mm at its thinnest and weighs around 1.8kg. The laptop also has a wide 35% large trackpad. The GS65 comes in two SKUs with the differentiator being the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 on the GS65 Stealth 8SE and RTX 2070 on the GS65 Stealth 8SF. It runs Windows 10 Home out of the box and is powered by Intel Core i7-8750 processor, 16GB of RAM and 512GB SSD. The MSI GS65 Stealth Thin 8SF with 8GB NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 is priced at Rs 2,09,990 while the other variant, GS65 Stealth Thin 8SE is retailing for Rs 1,89,990. MSI GE75 Raider: specifications and price MSI GE75 Raider comes in two configurations- with 17.3-inch Full HD IPS display or a 15.6-inch Full HD IPS panel, both with a refresh rate of 144Hz. The GE75 is powered by 8th generation Intel Core i7-8750 processor with a combination of either NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 or RTX 2070 depending on the screen size you opt for. The GE75 Raider 8SG having the 17.3-inch panel has 16GB of RAM with 512GB of SSD in Super Raid backed by 1TB SATA drive. It is priced at Rs 2,49,990 while the variant with 15.6-inch screen retails for Rs 1,94,990 MSI GL73 gaming laptop: specifications and price MSI GL73 8SE is a gaming laptop with 17.3-inch Full HD anti-glare display and is powered by the latest Intel Core i7-8750H (8th gen) processor backed with 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD and 1TB SATA drive. The GL73 is fitted with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 graphics card and is priced at Rs 1,58,990. MSI GF75 Thin: specifications and price The MSI GF75 Thin gaming laptop features 17.3-inch Full HD IPS display powered by Intel Core i7-8750H processor. It's available in two SKUs, GF75 Thin 8RD and GF75 Thin 8RC with the major differences being the GPU, RAM and storage configuration. The high-end variant with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD and 1TB HDD is priced at Rs 1,08,990 in India. The second variant comes with 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD and is priced at Rs 98,990.