MSI Launches AMD Richland A10 APU Gaming Notebooks

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By Kevin Parrish
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Two new MSI gaming notebooks feature AMD's new Richland APU.

MSI Computer Corp. said on Tuesday that its GX70 and GX60 will be the world's first gaming notebooks to sport AMD's "Richland" A10-5750M APU. The new chip promises an increase in visual performance by up to 40 percent over previous generations, increased battery life and CPU performance. The resulting combination means longer gaming sessions with crisper, brighter and a more realistic visual experience.

"The GX70 and GX60 deliver the ultimate sensory experience for both professional and amateur gamers," said Andy Tung, vice president of sales for MSI US. "MSI is committed to the gaming community and we understand that cutting-edge components results in exceptional performance."

The GX70 3BE-007US has a starting price of $1,399.99 and features a 17.3-inch Full HD anti-reflective display, the AMD A10-5750M APU with AMD Radeon HD 8970M graphics (2 GB GDDR5), a full programmable backlit keyboard, a 750 GB HDD and 8 GB of DDR3 RAM (1600 MHz). Other features include Killer E2200 networking, a Blu-ray disc reader, USB 3.0 ports, AMD's Eyefinity 3D technology and more.

Then there's the GX60 3AE-216US with a starting price of $1,299.99. It sports a 15.6-inch Full HD anti-reflective display, an AMD A10-5750M APU with Radeon HD 7970M graphics (2 GB GDDR5), a 750 GB HDD, and 8 GB of DDR3 RAM (1600 MHz). Additional features include Killer E2200 networking, a Blu-ray disc reader, USB 3.0 ports, AMD's Eyefinity 3D technology and more.

"'Richland' brings increases in both CPU and graphics along with improvements in battery life," AMD said during CES back in January. "'Richland' APUs are expected to come bundled with a wealth of elite software experiences which include gesture- and facial-recognition, wireless connectivity directly to TVs and monitors, and prioritization of system resources when streaming video."

Of course, these are just the latest two in the company's current lineup of twenty-four gaming laptops spanning Intel and AMD processors, and Windows 7 and Windows 8 operating systems. The most expensive yet is the 17.3-inch GT70 0NE-609US with a starting price of $2,899.99, an Intel Core i7-3630QM processor and a GeForce GTX 680M GPU (4GB GDDR5). The cheapest is the 15.6-inch GE60 0NC-498US with a starting price of $999.99, an Intel Core i5-3230M processor and a GeForce GT 650M GPU (2 GB GDDR5).

For more information about the two latest notebooks, check out the GX70 here and the GX60 model here.

Kevin Parrish
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12 Comments Comment from the forums
  • spartanmk2
    40% improvement is nice, just too expensive for me :(
    Reply
  • twstd1
    I really hope that the desktop versions of the Richland APUs have that kind of improvement over the Trinity architecture. If they do then it will be very exciting for budget gaming! Now if they could just somehow combine a great CPU and a highend GPU (like a 7970) it would turn things completely around for them. I just couldn't imagine the possibilities of a chip that powerful.
    Reply
  • vmem
    hmm, 40% graphics performance in the integrated GPU on that APU, while you're gaming with the discrete 7970M or 8970M... how does that make a difference?
    Reply
  • matthelm
    Anyway to buy just the CPU? I've already have a device this CPU will work in. (not soldered)
    Reply
  • cobra5000
    Why use an APU, with discrete graphics? Especially at this price.
    Reply
  • danwat1234
    10848134 said:
    Why use an APU, with discrete graphics? Especially at this price.

    Integrated graphics serves the purpose of reducing power consumption when you are not gaming, by letting the discrete graphics shutdown to save power. if a gaming laptop doesn't have any integrated graphics, that high end GPU will be on all the time, though downclocked and at a low voltage.

    So the benefit is power savings. I'm not sure of the benefit of the increased GPU performance of the APU, perhaps the discrete GPU doesn't have to kick in, in so many situations, the APU can handle heavier duty graphics tasks before needing to fire up the big GPU. Also it's in the Richland APU design so there is no choice in the power of the GPU of the APU if you want AMD's fastest mobile CPU and some sort of integrated graphics as well without having a separate 3rd party integrated graphics chip taking up space on the motherboard.

    I do wish AMD would make 45W mobile APUs so the clocks go up more.
    Reply
  • m32
    It is pointless having an APU in this type of system, but MSI isn't going to tel you that. ;)
    Reply
  • cats_Paw
    Unfortunatelly the AMD CPU cant keep up with the rest of the configuration, effectivly killing the performance of this laptop, meaning the performace to price ratio is actually terrible.
    Reply
  • falchard
    I am very disappointed in the lack of mismatched memory. What will the other OEMs think if they don't pack this with 5GB mystery memory. I hope that 750GB drive is 5400 RPM.
    Reply
  • yhikum
    Quote: Unfortunatelly the AMD CPU cant keep up with the rest of the configuration, effectivly killing the performance of this laptop, meaning the performace to price ratio is actually terrible.

    How is it evident for this laptops? Where is performance you're speaking of? And what ratio did you think about?
    Reply