Overview
MSI might need higher name recognition among people that build their own desktops, however this computer element manufacturer has quietly been manufacturing a number of the foremost powerful recreation notebooks over the previous few years. The MSI GX60 is that the latest 15-inch notebook computer targeting gamers WHO have an interest wish movability while not sacrificing recreation performance. What makes the GX60 notably fascinating is that it uses processors and graphics from AMD so as to deliver a recreation notebook that guarantees unexcelled graphics performance at a good worth. will AMD sustain with the most recent recreation notebooks full of Intel processors and Nvidia graphics? Let's ascertain.
Build and style
The MSI GX60 is like most notebook PCs designed for gamers within the sense that it's Thicker and Heavier than most laptops - a necessity so as to the create space for the superior graphics and cooling system. Somthing that produces the GX60 completely different than most shopper portable computers is that MSI includes nice accessories sort of a matching preciseness recreation mouse and a cushioned laptop backpack.
The entire machine is made of comparatively thick plastics (matte and shiny black) and skinny plates of metal alloy with a combination of flat and rounded edges. The plastic screen lid provides ample protection however it will flex once pressure is applied. The metal-clad palm rests ar terribly solid and will face up to abuse from agressive gamers. However, the shiny screen lid may be a magnet for fingerprints and makes the notebook look smeared and dirty often if you travel with it and bit the lid.
As Mentioned antecedently, the GX60 is Thicker and Heavier than some individuals would possibly expect; mensuration fifteen.6 x 10.5 x 2.2 inches and deliberation seven.7 pounds roughtly. Granted, this is often not as dangerous because the ASUS G75 series or Alienware M17x recreation notebooks ... however those ar 17-inch recreation notebooks and also the GX60 may be a 15-inch system. In short, this is often not the best notebook for people that ar searching for a skinny and light-weight portable computer. This monster was designed for serious gameplay at an inexpensive worth ($ one.300 or less at the most retailers).
Another advantage of the massive and cubic style is that you have got many space for upgrades. The GX60 features a single large access panel settled on rock bottom of the chassis therefore you'll replace storage drives, wireless cards, or maybe access the electronic equipment and GPU if you are a hardcore gamer WHO desires to use a unique thermal compound to those parts . simply detain mind that serious changes to the GX60's hardware can void your warrant Likely; MSI includes a guaranty sticker on rock bottom as a reminder.
The GX60 takes advantage of all that further house and includes a wonderful array of ports. This notebook includes 3 USB three.0 SuperSpeed ports, one further USB a pair of.0 ports, life-size HDMI, mini DisplayPort and a customary VGA out likewise as local area network, a Blu-ray drive, multiple audio outputs and a memory card reader for redaction the pictures from your photographic camera. All image descriptions ar listed from left to right.
Front: No ports
Back: Kensington Lock slot, AC power jack, Ethernet, VGA, mini DisplayPort, HDMI
Left: 2x USB three.0 ports, media card reader,
1x USB 3.0 port
Right: Audio jacks, 1x USB 2.0, Blu-ray drive
Screen and Speakers
The MSI GX60's fifteen.6-inch FHD (1920 x 1080) show is pretty smart for a recreation notebook due to a non-glare (matte) surface and correct colours. several trendy recreation notebooks feature screens with a shiny surface that helps deliver smart distinction and color saturation however conjointly creates the reflections / glare from near lights or bright daylight. The non-glare screen on the GX60 suggests that you are doing not ought to worry concerning annoying reflections and may specialize in what's happening in your game. The LED backlight is fairly bright with a brighness of roughly 275 nits; it's quite bright enough for indoor use and bright enough for outside use all told however direct daylight.
Viewing angles ar usually slim for a TN-type panel like this one; colours Quickly wash out once viewed from on top of and seem inverted once viewed from below. we'd like to see a IPS screen with wider viewing angles, however most IPS screens have a slower latency roomates makes them less ideal for recreation. In short, MSI created a decent alternative with this screen.
The two stereo speakers ar settled on top of the keyboard and to a lower place the hinges deliver loud and clear sound and ar higher than what you get with most portable computer speakers. there's conjointly a intrinsical subwoofer settled on rock bottom of the notebook on the oposite aspect from the fan exhaust. The frequency vary is sweet with vocals sounding clear and also the bass is sweet and made that even at higher volumes. whereas we're glad that MSI place the speakers on the highest deck of the chassis so sound is directed up and toward the user, we tend to felt just like the audio was "weighted" additional toward the rear of the notebook and that we nearly wished an additional combine of speakers below the palm rests.
Keyboard and Touchpad
The GX60 options a life-size "SteelSeries' keyboard with separate numeric input device. This keyboard may be a "Chiclet" or island-style keyboard roomates has accessorial house between every key to assist stop typos. The keys ar utterly flat and have a matte surface doesn't show fingerprints or roomates dirt just like the shiny plastic surrounds the keys roomates. The keys have a lightweight soft feel with quiet key action however key travel (the distance between ironed and un-pressed positions) may be a very little shallow for a recreation keyboard. The support frame below the keyboard is generally firm however we tend to did feel additional flex below serious writing pressure than what we tend to expected from a "SteelSeries' keyboard.
The GX60's Synaptics touchpad is, well ... small. The touchpad measures simply three.3 x 2.8 inches; and restricted extent that gives just enough space for multi-touch gestures "pinch" or scroll. This won't be a difficulty with the Windows seven configuration, however it's actually one thing to think about if you are exploitation Windows eight and wish to use those gestures on the touchpad. The dedicated touchpad buttons worked well throughout recreation, however we'd are happier if there was a separation (or a minimum of associate indentation) so you'll feel the distinction between a left click and a right click whereas recreation.
Of course, MSI will embody a awfully nice wired recreation mouse for serious gameplay ... therefore you'll not ought to worry concerning the touchpad if you are exploitation the GX60 as a desktop replacement.
MSI GX60 Our review unit has the subsequent configuration:
15.6-inch FHD LED shiny anti-glare show (1920x1080)
Windows seven (Windows eight configuration conjointly available)
AMD A10-4600M quad-core processor (2.3GHz base clock clock/3.2GHz max, 35W TDP)
AMD Radeon HD 7970M graphics (2GB GDDR5)
8GB DDR3-1600 RAM (4GB x 2)
750GB 7200RPM disc drive + 128GB SSD
10/100/1000 Killer E2200 series
802.11b/g/n wireless network adapter
Bluetooth V4.0
Integrated 720p digital camera
Blu-ray drive
9-cell Li-ion battery (11.1V, 7800mAh, 87Wh)
Weight: 7.7 lbs.
Dimensions: fifteen.6 x 10.5 x 2.2 inches (395 x a pair of67 x 55mm)
MSRP: $ 1,299.99
Performance and Benchmarks
Computer Notebook MSI GX60 Reviews-This is wherever the MSI GX60 gets very fascinating. Most recreation notebooks on the market nowadays use Intel processors even though they use AMD Radeon graphics. MSI set to supply the GX60 with the AMD A10-4600M roomates may be a quad-core Accelerated process Unit (APU) with a TDP of 35W (that's 35W for each the processor and also the integrated graphics) that means comparatively low heat and higher battery life once the distinct graphics aren't in use throughout gameplay. The processor's on-die Radeon HD 7660G graphics GPU has 384 cores with a GPU clock speed of 497MHz to 686MHz.
Of course the massive question is, "What will the AMD processor mean in terms of gaming?" The artificial benchmarks below recommend the A10 lags behind the Intel-powered competition in terms of electronic equipment muscle. AMD has traditionally argued that raw process power doesn't matter on the far side activity calculations on multi-page surpass spreadsheets. However, these artificial benchmark numbers conjointly translate into real-world performance for tasks like video conversion / cryptography and may impact frame rates in some games that utilize the electronic equipment and GPU along.
In terms of real-world gameplay, however, there's not abundant distinction between the performance of the A10 APU and a way costlier Intel Core i7 processor due to the straightforward indisputable fact that most games believe heavily on the distinct graphics card. within the case of the GX60 we're talking concerning the Radeon HD 7970M roomates is full of AMD's Graphics Core Next (GCN) design and 1280 Stream Processors running at 850MHz clock speed with a 1200MHz memory clock and 256-bit GDDR5 memory interface. that is near the numbers for the desktop version of the AMD Radeon HD 7870 and that is a huge quantity of process power for a notebook GPU ... it's why you'll escape with a primary processor that's not as quick because the latest generation of Intel Core i7 chips.
In fact, the sole recent recreation notebooks in "close" to a similar worth vary that we've reviewed places that outperformed the GX60's single AMD Radeon HD 7970M graphics card is that the Alienware M17X R4 with 2GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 680M ... however the configuration we tend to tested was priced at quite $ a pair of.600. (See the benchmarks below for additional information.)
wPrime processor comparison results (lower scores mean higher performance):
PCMark seven measures overall system performance (higher scores mean higher performance):
3DMark eleven measures overall graphics performance in DirectX eleven games (higher scores mean higher performance):
CrystalDiskMark storage drive performance test:
128GB SSD
750GB HDD
Frame rate comparison (Call of Duty: trendy Warfare three at 1920x1080 high detail settings):
MSI GX60 with AMD Radeon HD 7970M
Alienware M17x R4 with Nvidia GeForce GTX 680M
Heat and Noise
The GX60 will a remarkably smart job with heat management and remains cool to the bit even when a full hour of enjoying Skyrim. the most recent generation of AMD A-series and Radeon distinct graphics processors handle the warmth astonishingly well; the sole exterior areas of hte notebook that exceeded eighty nine degrees Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit were the 2 heat vents on the rear left corner on the notebook. The touchpad and keyboard ne'er exceeded eighty five degrees throughout our gameplay tests. In short, if you are exploitation this notebook as a desktop replacement you must not expertise any issues with external Temperatures.
The cooling fan kicked in once enjoying visually intense games at 1080p resolution and once we ran our benchmark tests PCMark and 3DMark however the remainder of the time the portable computer was basically silent. Even once the fan is on high it's quieter than my custom designed recreation desktop reception roomates uses associate older Radeon HD 6870 desktop card.
Battery Life
Computer Notebook MSI GX60 Reviews-We use Powermark within the "Balanced" mode; running the portable computer with a mixture of machine-controlled net browsing, data processing, video playback, and recreation workloads. provides|this provides|this offers} gives our readers a straightforward thanks to duplicate our findings reception and it pushes the portable computer makers to deliver higher battery life for "real life" use and not simply lightweight net browsing with the portable computer basically idle.
The MSI GX60 ran Powermark in Balanced mode for four hours and three minutes exploitation the enclosed 9-cell battery. that's quite smart for a recreation notebook and Cleary illustrates the AMD hardware's ability to enter a very low-power state once not stressing the distinct graphics at full power. Granted, this is often a 9-cell battery roomates is larger than most portable computer batteries, however this is often conjointly a bigger notebook full of additional hardware. For functions of comparison we've enclosed results from many different Windws eight PCs that we've tested. If we tend to were to use our previous battery life check (which primarily leaves the portable computer is idle and refreshing a web site each sixty seconds) this portable computer would in all probability deliver around vi hours or additional of battery life.
Conclusion
At the tip of the day the MSI GX60 may be a terribly capable recreation notebook that delivers nice worth with a number of minor shortcomings. It's nice to check MSI embody helpful extras sort of a recreation mouse and backpack, however considering the recreation audience we'd have liked to check a good higher keyboard (one with backlight) and a bigger touchpad. we tend to conjointly found the MSI created bloatware annoying pop-ups sometimes once we failed to expect them.
The AMD A-series processor won't be the quickest or most powerful on the market, however most users can ne'er notice the distinction between the A10 processor during this notebook associated an Intel Core i7 processor during a costlier recreation notebooks. In fact, due to the HD 7970M graphics within the GX60, real-world recreation performance is on par with way more costly notebooks.
Bottom line, if you are looking for a recreation rig that delivers glorious bag for your greenbacks then the GX60 ought to in all probability be at the highest of your list.
Pros:
Non-glare 1080p show
Powerful graphics with Eyefinity support
Fast, high-capacity storage (SSD + HDD)
Cons:
Mushy keyboard
No keyboard backlight (on this configuration)
Processor could be a bottleneck for a few games
Pros:
Non-glare 1080p show
Powerful graphics with Eyefinity support
Fast, high-capacity storage (SSD + HDD)
Cons:
Mushy keyboard
No keyboard backlight (on this configuration)
Processor could be a bottleneck for a few games
