Most gaming notebooks have a certain stigma attached to them. While a number of the higher structures to be had are greater than able to jogging the modern graphically stressful PC video games out there, they're often hulking beasts which could easily tip the scales at over 12 pounds.

Recently, however, gaming notebooks like the Razer Blade have helped steer the industry towards slimmer form factors. Case in factor is the MSI GS70 Stealth Pro pocket book we're going to be looking at today, a descendant of the hefty GX60 we checked out early closing 12 months.

MSI GS70 Stealth Pro - $2,099.ninety nine

  • 17.three" 1,920 x 1,080 IPS LCD (130 ppi)
  • 2.5GHz Intel Core i7-4700HQ
  • 16GB DDR3 1,600MHz RAM
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 870M GPU 6GB GDDR5
  • three x 128GB SSD RAID zero
  • 1TB HDD 7200rpm
  • SteelSeries keyboard backlit in full shade
  • four x USB three.zero , HDMI, 2 x DisplayPort
  • Wi-Fi b/g/n, Gigabit Ethernet
  • Windows eight.1
  • five.9 pounds, sixteen.forty seven" x 11.29" x zero.eighty five" inches

MSI's GS line includes transportable gaming notebooks with a focal point on overall performance and portability. They're typically very slender, very sleek and light-weight compared to the GT series, MSI's maximum powerful (and big and heavy) line. But do not be fooled, as the among the best GS70 Stealth Pro is packed with the kind of hardware that'll probably positioned most computer systems to shame.

The unit we tested got here filled with an Intel Core i7-4700HQ processor clocked at 2.5GHz, paired with 16GB of DDR3 1,600MHz RAM and Nvidia's GeForce GTX 870M GPU with 6GB of GDDR5 memory. A 17.three-inch full HD anti-reflective show looks after the visuals with a decision of one,920 x 1,080 however it is the storage gadget which could wonder maximum.

One would count on a stable state drive to go together with this type of configuration. Instead, MSI is the usage of not , but three 128GB strong nation drives in a RAID zero array for a blazing speedy boot force. There's additionally a 1TB hard power spinning at 7,200RPM to deal with garage obligations.

Other specs encompass a Killer E2200 Gaming Network card, Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 and a backlit keyboard with the aid of SteelSeries. Our charge as examined right here nowadays is $2,099.ninety nine.

MSI describes the outer chassis of the GS70 Stealth Pro as brushed aluminum grey, although underneath the proper lighting, it almost takes on a purplish tone. The two-tone outer lid functions MSI's and the gaming series trademarks. The right side of the machine is home to a battery reset hollow, dual USB three.0 ports, an SD card reader, the strength connector, a Kensington lock and ventilation slots.

The lower back of the pocket book is freed from any connectors as the last I/O ports are determined throughout the left side. From again to the front, we have an Ethernet jack, HDMI, mini DisplayPorts, one powered and one widespread USB three.zero port, and headphone, SPDIF, mic audio jacks.

A series of LEDs are placed across the the front left fringe of the system. These are indicators for battery status, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, caps lock, variety lock, difficult pressure and sleep nation.

Opening the lid reveals the 17.3-inch anti-reflective, matte show. It's framed with the aid of a textured flat black plastic bezel it is a bit of an eyesore due to how thick it's miles, specifically throughout the top and bottom in which the 720p webcam with dual microphones and any other MSI badge live.

The SteelSeries keyboard with wide variety pad fills the vicinity properly without feeling cramped. It's barely inset however more importantly, the keys are backlit in full coloration and may be programmed to your liking. A sound bar and the electricity button take a seat above it and a huge touchpad underneath.

A set of six rubberized feet on the lowest keep the machine firmly planted on a flat floor. There's additionally a series of vents (one hiding a subwoofer this is part of the Dynaudio sound device), the compulsory stickers and more than one screws maintaining the lower back panel in vicinity.

With 16GB of reminiscence and masses of garage, there may be genuinely no purpose you'll need to open things up for enlargement purposes. This does, of course, intended that the battery is non-detachable -- for this reason the aforementioned battery reset button. Pressing the button will provoke a battery reset, the same type you'd assume if you removed and reinserted a battery in every other notebook.

Software and Performance

The GS70 arrived with a sixty four-bit copy of Windows eight.1. As I generally do with a new device, I first headed over to the upload / dispose of programs to gauge the amount of bloatware I'd be managing. In this example, there had been 1/2 a dozen or so apps that I removed from the get-move which include XSplit Gamecaster, MSI Social Media Collection, MSI Remind Manager and a trio of Norton programs.

All snap shots-based benchmarks (except in any other case referred to) have been accomplished with the discrete Nvidia GPU selected as the endorsed portraits card within the Nvidia control panel.

As you can see above the GS70's GTX 870M GPU can deal with present day games at forty - 60 fps whilst the usage of medium pics settings in complete HD decision, however max out the eye sweet and greater regularly than now not you won't be able to hit the 30 fps playability threshold. As lengthy as you maintain it affordable you'll be able to revel in maximum games available on the market, that's exquisite for a pc this thin.

The GS70 breezed thru our informal YouTube 4k decision video take a look at without breaking a sweat. CPU usage never went better than 10 percentage and the clip never confirmed any lag.

MSI GS70 Stealth Pro Scorecard
3DMark 4231
PCMark 7 6196
iTunes encoding 59 seconds
File switch (small files) five seconds
File switch (single massive document) four seconds
Cold boot time 12 seconds

The iTunes encoding exams include changing 14 MP3s (119MB) to 128Kbps ACC documents and measuring the operation's period in seconds. The GS70 become finished in just underneath a minute.

For report transfers, we measure how lengthy it takes to duplicate two sets of files from one location to some other at the equal power. The small documents take a look at is composed on moving 557 MP3s, totaling 2.56GB, while within the huge report the same MP3s were zipped into a single 2.52GB file.

Battery Life

I performed our preferred notebook battery exams on the GS70. Our video playback test includes looping a 720p rip of the movie Inception at complete display with max brightness and Wi-Fi disabled. This is a taxing take a look at that resulted in only 1 hour and 18 minutes of battery lifestyles.

These results had been received with the photographs card set to "auto" which means it selects both the incorporated Intel snap shots or the discrete Nvidia card primarily based on what it thinks is great for the undertaking handy. The battery existence become so negative that I ran the check once more with integrated portraits selected but obtained the exact identical effects down to the minute. We were able to carry that up to two hours and sixteen mins, however, when toning down our take a look at with 60% brightness.

Usage Impressions and Conclusion

I changed into thoroughly inspired with the Dynaudio system because it turned into capable of fill a large room with crystal clear track at handiest 50 percentage quantity. At one hundred percentage, tunes remained distortion-free however it was without a doubt too loud for regular listening. Around 50-60 percentage became the sweet spot for me.

The speaker machine is handiest one part of the equation because the Sound Blaster Cinema 2 software actually allows things out. I've usually been a fan of Sound Blaster's Crystalizer, a tool designed to "repair portions of audio misplaced all through compression." Enabling it and adjusting the slider absolutely makes track appear extra "alive" which is the intended impact.

Just to peer how tons of a difference the Sound Blaster software program made, I disabled it and became instantly met with a flat and muddy enjoy. I'd really hold it jogging if given the choice.

Keeping expectations in take a look at, I'd fee the speaker gadget as one of the satisfactory I've heard on a cell platform. That's vital on a gaming device even though I suspect maximum will prefer having a fixed of high-quality headphones on hand for extended gaming sessions.

It is going with out pronouncing that the storage system on this machine is exceedingly speedy, effortlessly outperforming the dual SSD RAID 0 setup observed in the Acer Aspire S5. With that pace, but, additionally comes the chance that in its RAID 0 configuration if any one of the 3 drives fail, you will lose the whole thing. This is rather offset by means of the fact which you also have a terabyte drive to be had for storage -- and offsite cloud backups are becoming ever more cheap as well.

In any case, I in my opinion just like the concept of exchanging chance for speed as I'd hold task-important statistics backed up at all times however I can not communicate for every body.

MSI has achieved a superb task with the show on the GS70. Electing to go along with a matte finish over a smooth panel will absolute confidence enchantment to game enthusiasts as it certainly removes reflections under bright lights. Side-to-side viewing angles are top notch however there may be a bit of colour shifting present when looking on the screen from above or under. That should not be a good deal of an problem, however, as one could truly tilt the display screen for premiere viewing.

The GS70 can get pretty loud in the course of excessive gaming motion. As for heat output, the fan on the left side of the gadget seemed to expel a lot greater heat than the proper. Even still, the top place of the pocket book just below the left bottom nook of the display got extremely hot -- a long way too warm to even keep a finger on for more than an instantaneous.

The gadget additionally heats up simply as a lot on the underside that's probably why MSI covered the upper half of of the bottom with a felt-like material. Without it (I touched some of the uncovered areas), it might be some distance too warm to sit in one's lap.

That said, I nevertheless would not experience too snug using the GS70 in my lap whilst gaming. Find a nice desk or a comparable flat surface that offers the system masses of breathing room and you are correct to head. Fortunately, the keyboard place and the palm relaxation don't get very hot at all.

The touchpad at the GS70 is one of the only a few faults I may want to locate with the device. I might describe its operation as finicky at satisfactory. On numerous activities, it would completely fail to apprehend finger swipes. And not just as soon as; I'm speakme 4 or five swipes before the touchpad would sign up an input and move the mouse.

Not to sound as even though I'm making excuses, however again, I suspect maximum severe gamers will use a fine gaming mouse besides. The touchpad continues to be very annoying to address during normal use however given the machine's audience, I don't think it will be a main issue for maximum.

The SteelSeries keyboard, meanwhile, worked excellent. I'll admit that the font used at the keys is a bit special but that does not absolutely impact overall performance. The keyboard as an entire did showcase a piece of flex at some point of use but again, it's miles from a deal-breaker. I had no troubles because it pertains to accuracy while typing as there was masses of actual estate so I by no means felt cramped.

The backlit keyboard is every other solid addition to the GS70. I specifically just like the fact that the characters on each key are transparent and let light shine thru. Most "backlit" keyboards simplest illuminate the rims of the keycaps which pretty an awful lot defeats the purpose absolutely.

There's masses of customization available with backlight coloring and macros inside the SteelSeries software. There's even a characteristic that'll record how regularly you press each key. I'm not completely positive why such facts might be beneficial, however it's pretty neat though.

With four USB 3.zero ports, HDMI and mini DisplayPort connections, this system is extra than able to handing a a couple of input add-ons, an external force or and a few larger monitors. MSI truely did a pleasant activity right here.

If you're critical approximately spending $2,a hundred on a notebook computer, odds are that you're both seeking out a computing device alternative or something so that it will cope with real gaming with out breaking your again whilst at the cross. As glaring with the aid of our benchmark effects, you could now not usually be able to run each single game with every little bit of eye sweet on however you may get quite darn close, and that is announcing some thing for a laptop that is just zero.85 inches thick.

The MSI GS70 Stealth Pro is not without fault - namely a flaky touchpad and terrible battery life - however if you could neglect these few evident troubles and fee a lean footprint, this machine is greater than able to meeting the wishes of quite a great deal everyone.

80
TechSpot
score

Pros: Vibrant display with a matte end to remove reflections underneath brilliant lighting. Blazing rapid SSDs. Keyboard with configurable backlighting is a pleasing addition. Solid gaming overall performance in a portable and elegant package.

Cons: Touchpad operation is instead finicky with regards to registering gestures or even swipes. Battery life become another vulnerable factor, despite the fact that it really is to be predicted for a device of its kind.

Other reviewers stated: 85