MSI Gaming And Workstation Laptops Get Kaby Lake, New GPUs

MSI announced updates to its gaming laptop and workstation laptop lineups at CES. The company also unveiled its new WE workstation laptop series, which will be more value oriented than the current WT and WS lines.

We can expect MSI’s entry level consumer gaming systems to benefit from Nvidia’s announcement of the availability of mobile GTX 1050s and 1050Tis. And thanks to MSI’s partnership with Nahimic, the laptops will also be updated with Nahimic VR 7.1 surround sound. Several of MSI's GT and GS laptops are being updated with ESS Sabre HiFi Audio DACs, the company said.

MSI’s workstation line is receiving a handful of updates, ranging from the refreshed WT and WS series to the new WE series. With its Nvidia Quadro P5000 workstation GPU and (up to) Intel 7th Generation Xeon processor, the WT73VR aims to deliver maximum performance in applications like CAD and CAM.

The WS63 will come equipped with a 7th generation Core i7 and a Quadro P3000; measuring 0.69", the WS63 doesn’t have as much power as the WT73VR, but it will be thin and light to appeal to mobile workers. Its three fan, five heat pipe cooling solution will keep the slim WS63’s temperatures down for stable performance.

The new WE series starts with the WE62 and WE72. These don’t have as much power as the WT73VR or the portability of the WS63, but with a 7th generation Core i7 CPU and a Quadro M2200 GPU, they offer enough performance to be compelling for mainstream workstations. Customers will have a choice between either the 17.3” WE72 or the 15.6” WE62, each of which have 120Hz refresh rates and 5ms response times.

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ProductWT73VRWS63WE62WE72
ProcessorUp to 7th Generation Intel XeonUp to 7th Generation Intel XeonUp to 7th Generation Intel Core i7 Up to 7th Generation Intel Core i7
Display17.3” UHD (3840x2160), 100% Adobe RGB (optional)15.6” UHD (3840x2160), 100% Adobe RGB (optional)15.6” FHD (1920x1080)17.3” FHD (1920x1080)
GraphicsNvidia Quadro P5000 16GB GDDR5Nvidia Quadro P3000 6GB GDDR5Nvidia Quadro M2200 4GB GDDR5Nvidia Quadro M2200 4GB GDDR5
MemoryUp to 64GB DDR4-2133 SO-DIMMsN/AN/AN/A
StorageM.2 NVMe SSD Combo (SSD RAID0 and RAID5 configurable)M.2 NVMe SSDM.2 NVMe SSDM.2 NVMe SSD
  • hst101rox
    Do these workstation laptops have the RGB backlit keyboards like the gaming class laptops? Hope so, why not. Only difference really should be the workstation vs gaming class GPU ... and why isn't the hardware identical for workstation vs gaming GPUs. Might as well make the gaming class GPU as capable for as much variety of tasks as the workstation class GPUs.. unless it'll hurt performance in a strictly gaming sense.

    MSI gaming laptops getting Kaby Lake any day now I'm sure. 7700HQ in the GS63VR/GS73VR I trust.
    Reply
  • hst101rox
    The article mentions ESS Sabre audio tech.. but the existing Sky Lake MSI laptops already have high fidelity audio from ESS Sabre. Maybe the 7.1 is the difference. More details of what the improvements in audio hardware would be helpful.
    Reply