MSI Refreshes GX Destroyer Laptops With AMD R9 M290X

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MSI's GX Destroyer Series is now packed full of AMD goodness.

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Kevin Parrish
Kevin Parrish
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Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.

17 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Gigashadow
    Oh, I get it! Another cracking joke about subpar 290x reference coolers! Excuse me while I strap my ribs back together after your sidesplittingly original take on this product.
    Reply
  • ferooxidan
    this again, good gpu, garbage procie...the only hope for this laptop is only Mantle being adopted by all dev. A10-5750 is waay too old and sucks big time. Now if only Asrock Vision X series will implement this gpu or r9-M280X my life will be complete (somehow or another manage to work on the cooling solution).
    Reply
  • TheinsanegamerN
    Given that kaveri is far superior CPU wise than richland, why didnt MSI wait for kaveri a10 mobile chips to come out, rather than using the old richland 5750m, which has already proven to be too weak to feed the 8970m, which is the same as the r290m.
    Reply
  • xiinc37
    M290X: AKA underclocked Pitcairn for the 3rd generation in a row. Whereas Nvidia's flagship laptop GPU is basically a desktop 680/770. It would be neat if AMD would create an underclocked Tahiti with castrated DP (less wattage) for their laptop flagship. Because currently we have what is basically a R9 270X going head to head with a GTX 770. It makes AMD look weaker than they really are, hence all the pro-green fanboyism. I guess high end laptop isn't profitable enough? I suppose it makes sense that they'd focus on APUs exclusively.
    Reply
  • alextheblue
    Given that kaveri is far superior CPU wise than richland, why didnt MSI wait for kaveri a10 mobile chips to come out, rather than using the old richland 5750m, which has already proven to be too weak to feed the 8970m, which is the same as the r290m.
    It depends on title, but yeah Richland isn't great when paired with a strong GPU. The only thing these laptops have going for them is a strong GPU and a low price (relatively speaking). Games with Mantle support will do much better though, for what it's worth.Either way, I'm sure they'll have a product refresh when Kaveri mobile comes out. Hopefully on the power-limited mobile end they'll have clocks closer to Richland than their desktop counterparts. The only question I have: Can you use the embedded TrueAudio DSP in the APU, even when you're relying on discrete graphics (which lack TrueAudio) in a non-Crossfire scenario? For example, these same laptops with Kaveri dropped in.
    Reply
  • rwinches
    Here is the correct link for MSI Gaming Notebooks Specs


    http://www.msimobile.com/level2_productlist.aspx?id=6
    Reply
  • danwat1234
    I'd much rather get a GT60-2OD or GT60-2OC MSI laptop. more CPU horsepower with the option of upgrading the a 4940MX CPU down the road. Love the look of the backlit keyboard and the 12V fan I've heard is quite powerful.
    Reply
  • silverblue
    The 5750M is the top Richland model, but considering the awful performance of the previous model GX60 which uses the same processor coupled with the 7970M (the same graphics), there's no reason to believe this will perform any different.One has to wonder what MSI thinks it's doing here. It's practically the same product re-released a year later.
    Reply
  • whyso
    All that GPU and at that price only to be held back bigtime by the CPU.
    Reply
  • airplanegeek
    M290X: AKA underclocked Pitcairn for the 3rd generation in a row. Whereas Nvidia's flagship laptop GPU is basically a desktop 680/770. It would be neat if AMD would create an underclocked Tahiti with castrated DP (less wattage) for their laptop flagship. Because currently we have what is basically a R9 270X going head to head with a GTX 770. It makes AMD look weaker than they really are, hence all the pro-green fanboyism. I guess high end laptop isn't profitable enough? I suppose it makes sense that they'd focus on APUs exclusively.
    Actually the 780M is based off a GTX 670 and its just slightly more powerful than the 670
    Reply