More 18-inch "notebooks"? What's the real point? Hardly think you would pull out on of these on the train. Can't they produce a small form factor alternative for gaming? Something more portable than a Mini-ITX system. Maybe even do an AIO variant?
Lan party...if that's still a thing. If it is, where the hell are they I haven't been to one in almost 15 years!
I agree, though, ITX is just the way to go. I have a Silverstone FT03-mini with a Xeon, GTX970, 512GB SSD, 6TB HDD, 2TB HDD and liquid cooling and its the size of a loaf of bread.
I don't really see the point of an integrated battery, keyboard etc if it's gonna be used on a desk as a gaming system on AC-power (only) any way. 5 kg is not something you casually swing over the shoulder.
I travel for weeks/months for work, usually to just one or two locations per trip, and have to lug my own luggage. I'm traveling 100+ and sometimes 200 days per year. These are absolutely perfect for me. I use them with a laptop cooler on my lap and an aluminum mouse"pad" with full size mouse while sitting on the hotel bed or sometimes I put them on the desk. I got my first Alienware in 2001, then went to a Dell XPS, then three different Sagers, then to the MSI GT70 Dragon 1.5 years ago and will get this in the summer after the next processor refresh. I am the usage case.
So... I'm doing some mild VM work upstairs on my fancy monitors and then, as I've finished, I move into the front room with this laptop for some gaming.
"Dropping optimus based on user feedback" Why? What do they stand to gain? Having not had an optimus enabled notebook since the 6xx days, can it still cause issues properly selecting the GPU or something?
Trust me, there are still plenty of issues with Optimus. I have a MSI GS60 and some games just flat out don't work. It's very frustrating. I don't know who this thing is for but I'm sure they don't care about battery life.
What games specifically? There have been very few instances with Optimus in my experience where things absolutely didn't work and you couldn't tweak the gaming profiles to make it work. I think Diablo III went for a couple months without an official profile update, but you could manually set it to use the dGPU. Anyway, I'm always curious about what specifically doesn't work with Optimus.
I do know that people have said Optimus adds about 100ms or something in latency to many games, and that it makes stuff like Oculus Rift absolutely unusable (i.e. nausea inducing). Linux users have also had complaints with Optimus. Of course, SLI and Optimus have never been an option regardless, so dropping Optimus only happened on GT72 -- it wasn't even in the cards for GT80.
From the comments I guess Optimus has issues, but geez, there is a lot to be said to be able to shut down the big video cards when you aren't using them. Power consumption goes way down, probably down to near a regular laptop.
i don't get the car-aesthetic-look-jumboree happening here. it's like plastic shaped to look like a Lamborghini. I know your (MSI) cutting cost to make things look like a Ferrari. But, Ferrari would never do this. Or maybe they might just to spite computers because Ferrari is a car company. I don't get why a computer manufacturer is borrowing shapes from cars. I don't get it. Do people buy that many Lamborghinis? Are they trying to get potential Lambo fans to buy their laptops?
You would think a small company like MSI would be the shaker and makers of the computer world, right? They seem to be the copy and paster from history.
Ok. You would think that a company like MSI that sells a "case" or a "body" with off the shelf part would wrap those off the shelf parts in something distinct that would make people buy their stuff. But, they copy and paste the case. and then expect people to shell out. wtf!? am I just drunk or am I right?
Totally drunk I'd say. The GT70 was quite fugly compared to the GT72 in my opinion. Of course, GT80 is just way too beastly for most people regardless.
With mechanical keys at the front this could be a super-ugly put powerful workstation. Just drop 1 or 2 GPUs to keep the price reasonable. Putting the keys at the front increases the distance to the monitor for better ergonomics. An 18" screen is almost of usable size. And at this increased distance 1080p is totally fine (for me).
This laptop is on my radar. The only question for me is what the "upgrade" will be. My 17" gamer already weighs ten pounds, so weight isn't the issue (even though my wife has called dibs on my existing lappy so I'll have to tote around 30 pounds). We're retired so we take frequent road trips ranging from a few days to a few weeks, so a desk top replacement is a definite must for me. Admittedly I have more money than good sense, but the GT80 is a laptop I'm really intrigued with.
It is unfortunate that the CPU is soldered, not socketed like the "MQ" processors. Why make a laptop, touting upgradability, when the CPU isn't? The rest of the laptop I like. The back looks like Asus. Wonder if the touchpad is ergonomic. Is it a color, customizable screen underneath the touchpad so it can display something other than 10-key? I bet the screen doesn't tilt back very far though, like the Asus G750/G751.
The mechanical keyboard built-in is really interesting. I thought the touchpad on the side was asinine, but it can be a 10 key. Truth is, who is not going to use a mouse with this.
I very much like the idea of GPU upgrade-ability for several generations. One generation is pointless. 2nd to 3rd generation makes sense as I often find the processor is still good enough. I think you should be able to swap procs and the mobo in upgrade too. The chassis is big enough to make that reasonable.
With all the different video ports over the last 10 years, it becomes difficult to predict the standard ports in 3-5 years. I'd like to see VGA die already. MiniDP should be standard on this so the owner could run 3 monitors from it.
If you have $9,000, this can be spec'd out to the maximum, but I don't think anyone will be doing that, as it would only be useful for people who want more storage. I do wish that MSi had used a 4K panel (I've seen 17" 4K) because this PC would have no issue running 4K, even running 3 4K monitors. It would also be nice to have a touchscreen.
Darn, the CPU in the GT80 is soldered. It doesn't make much sense does it, since the laptop is designed for upgradability. MSI, Asus, Alienware, they all have moved to just soldered CPUs in their high end laptops. No 4940MX extreme chip for them.
I think Intel is pressuring them and they aren't fighting back.
We’ve updated our terms. By continuing to use the site and/or by logging into your account, you agree to the Site’s updated Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
23 Comments
Back to Article
Penti - Sunday, January 4, 2015 - link
More 18-inch "notebooks"? What's the real point? Hardly think you would pull out on of these on the train. Can't they produce a small form factor alternative for gaming? Something more portable than a Mini-ITX system. Maybe even do an AIO variant?Samus - Sunday, January 4, 2015 - link
Lan party...if that's still a thing. If it is, where the hell are they I haven't been to one in almost 15 years!I agree, though, ITX is just the way to go. I have a Silverstone FT03-mini with a Xeon, GTX970, 512GB SSD, 6TB HDD, 2TB HDD and liquid cooling and its the size of a loaf of bread.
Penti - Monday, January 5, 2015 - link
I don't really see the point of an integrated battery, keyboard etc if it's gonna be used on a desk as a gaming system on AC-power (only) any way. 5 kg is not something you casually swing over the shoulder.DanNeely - Monday, January 5, 2015 - link
If you're using mass transit instead of driving; a luggable is still a lot easier to transport than a mITX box and external monitor.ROG2000 - Thursday, January 29, 2015 - link
Unless you're 14 and 6'2"Globemaster - Thursday, January 22, 2015 - link
I travel for weeks/months for work, usually to just one or two locations per trip, and have to lug my own luggage. I'm traveling 100+ and sometimes 200 days per year. These are absolutely perfect for me. I use them with a laptop cooler on my lap and an aluminum mouse"pad" with full size mouse while sitting on the hotel bed or sometimes I put them on the desk. I got my first Alienware in 2001, then went to a Dell XPS, then three different Sagers, then to the MSI GT70 Dragon 1.5 years ago and will get this in the summer after the next processor refresh. I am the usage case.damianrobertjones - Monday, February 16, 2015 - link
So... I'm doing some mild VM work upstairs on my fancy monitors and then, as I've finished, I move into the front room with this laptop for some gaming.Done
Drumsticks - Sunday, January 4, 2015 - link
"Dropping optimus based on user feedback" Why? What do they stand to gain? Having not had an optimus enabled notebook since the 6xx days, can it still cause issues properly selecting the GPU or something?Zanor - Sunday, January 4, 2015 - link
Trust me, there are still plenty of issues with Optimus. I have a MSI GS60 and some games just flat out don't work. It's very frustrating. I don't know who this thing is for but I'm sure they don't care about battery life.JarredWalton - Sunday, January 4, 2015 - link
What games specifically? There have been very few instances with Optimus in my experience where things absolutely didn't work and you couldn't tweak the gaming profiles to make it work. I think Diablo III went for a couple months without an official profile update, but you could manually set it to use the dGPU. Anyway, I'm always curious about what specifically doesn't work with Optimus.I do know that people have said Optimus adds about 100ms or something in latency to many games, and that it makes stuff like Oculus Rift absolutely unusable (i.e. nausea inducing). Linux users have also had complaints with Optimus. Of course, SLI and Optimus have never been an option regardless, so dropping Optimus only happened on GT72 -- it wasn't even in the cards for GT80.
danwat1234 - Tuesday, January 6, 2015 - link
From the comments I guess Optimus has issues, but geez, there is a lot to be said to be able to shut down the big video cards when you aren't using them. Power consumption goes way down, probably down to near a regular laptop.wurizen - Sunday, January 4, 2015 - link
i don't get the car-aesthetic-look-jumboree happening here. it's like plastic shaped to look like a Lamborghini. I know your (MSI) cutting cost to make things look like a Ferrari. But, Ferrari would never do this. Or maybe they might just to spite computers because Ferrari is a car company. I don't get why a computer manufacturer is borrowing shapes from cars. I don't get it. Do people buy that many Lamborghinis? Are they trying to get potential Lambo fans to buy their laptops?wurizen - Sunday, January 4, 2015 - link
I will never buy anything MSI because of this. I don't care. I'm sticking to my story.wurizen - Sunday, January 4, 2015 - link
You would think a small company like MSI would be the shaker and makers of the computer world, right? They seem to be the copy and paster from history.wurizen - Sunday, January 4, 2015 - link
Wow. I'm putting way too much credit on a copy and paste company. i apolize for these post guys. I had 5 glasses of wine!!!!wurizen - Sunday, January 4, 2015 - link
Ok. You would think that a company like MSI that sells a "case" or a "body" with off the shelf part would wrap those off the shelf parts in something distinct that would make people buy their stuff. But, they copy and paste the case. and then expect people to shell out. wtf!? am I just drunk or am I right?JarredWalton - Sunday, January 4, 2015 - link
Totally drunk I'd say. The GT70 was quite fugly compared to the GT72 in my opinion. Of course, GT80 is just way too beastly for most people regardless.MrSpadge - Monday, January 5, 2015 - link
With mechanical keys at the front this could be a super-ugly put powerful workstation. Just drop 1 or 2 GPUs to keep the price reasonable. Putting the keys at the front increases the distance to the monitor for better ergonomics. An 18" screen is almost of usable size. And at this increased distance 1080p is totally fine (for me).rpjkw11 - Monday, January 5, 2015 - link
This laptop is on my radar. The only question for me is what the "upgrade" will be. My 17" gamer already weighs ten pounds, so weight isn't the issue (even though my wife has called dibs on my existing lappy so I'll have to tote around 30 pounds). We're retired so we take frequent road trips ranging from a few days to a few weeks, so a desk top replacement is a definite must for me. Admittedly I have more money than good sense, but the GT80 is a laptop I'm really intrigued with.danwat1234 - Tuesday, January 6, 2015 - link
It is unfortunate that the CPU is soldered, not socketed like the "MQ" processors. Why make a laptop, touting upgradability, when the CPU isn't?The rest of the laptop I like. The back looks like Asus. Wonder if the touchpad is ergonomic. Is it a color, customizable screen underneath the touchpad so it can display something other than 10-key?
I bet the screen doesn't tilt back very far though, like the Asus G750/G751.
eanazag - Friday, January 9, 2015 - link
The mechanical keyboard built-in is really interesting. I thought the touchpad on the side was asinine, but it can be a 10 key. Truth is, who is not going to use a mouse with this.I very much like the idea of GPU upgrade-ability for several generations. One generation is pointless. 2nd to 3rd generation makes sense as I often find the processor is still good enough. I think you should be able to swap procs and the mobo in upgrade too. The chassis is big enough to make that reasonable.
With all the different video ports over the last 10 years, it becomes difficult to predict the standard ports in 3-5 years. I'd like to see VGA die already. MiniDP should be standard on this so the owner could run 3 monitors from it.
ROG2000 - Thursday, January 29, 2015 - link
If you have $9,000, this can be spec'd out to the maximum, but I don't think anyone will be doing that, as it would only be useful for people who want more storage. I do wish that MSi had used a 4K panel (I've seen 17" 4K) because this PC would have no issue running 4K, even running 3 4K monitors. It would also be nice to have a touchscreen.danwat1234 - Friday, March 27, 2015 - link
Darn, the CPU in the GT80 is soldered. It doesn't make much sense does it, since the laptop is designed for upgradability.MSI, Asus, Alienware, they all have moved to just soldered CPUs in their high end laptops. No 4940MX extreme chip for them.
I think Intel is pressuring them and they aren't fighting back.