MSI GT60 2PC Dominator Review: A Fast Notebook With Battery Boost
MSI's new GT60 2PC Dominator outperforms the company's previous-gen GT60 2OC thanks to a new CPU, new GPU, and triple-monitor Surround technology. We compare both configurations, add up the differences, and gauge the effect of Nvidia's Battery Boost.
Results: Adobe Creative Suite
Adobe After Effects strangely shows the unplugged GT60 2PC performing more-slowly than the unplugged GT60 2OC. Several retests confirmed this finding.
We didn’t expect to see any large changes attributable to OpenCL support moving from the GeForce GTX 770M to the GTX 870M. But Photoshop has a stronger-than-expected preference for the GT60 2PC’s newer graphics module.
The GT60 2PC edges out the 2OC model it replaces in Premiere Pro CS6.
Acrobat is single-threaded, so its performance reflects clock rate and IPC. A single core of the new mobile CPU matches a single core of the cheap desktop CPU.
Stay On the Cutting Edge: Get the Tom's Hardware Newsletter
Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.
Current page: Results: Adobe Creative Suite
Prev Page Results: Audio And Video Encoding Next Page Results: Productivity-
HT what about the noise ? This article needs a noise evaluation. The old GT780DX's fan was terrible.Reply
Once burned, twice shy MSI. -
danwat1234 Does Battery Booster allow you have a set FPS goal, like instead of cutting back when the GPU is crunching more than 60FPS, have it cut back once FPS goes beyond 30FPS?Reply
The fan in this laptop is awesome. MSI is the only company I know of that puts a 12 volt fan in their laptop. This single fan can move about 25cfm of air (source; http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gt70-dragon-edition-2-core-i7-4930mx-laptop,3545-5.html)
which may be more air flow than the Asus G750 can supply, who knows.
The CPU in this laptop is socketed and fully supports all the way up to a 4940MX Extreme CPU 3.1/4GHZ and supports overclocking via Intel XTU.
The CPU in the G750 cannot be upgraded so it is just a gaming laptop whereas this can be a workstation laptop.
The screen can tilt back significantly more than the G750 (both the GT60 and GT70 MSI laptops) and weighs less with the same computing hardware.
The 180w AC adapter limitation and the NOS crutch can be annoying if you are fully taxing the extreme CPU and the GPU for long periods of time, it may dip into the battery. Once the battery goes down to 30%, it'll stop sucking from the battery and throttle.
Luckily I don't think NOS ever really activates unless you have an extreme CPU in it and everything fully taxed and may be quite hard to activate since this model isn't the -2PE model with the 880m.
The new MSI GT72 has a 220w AC adapter so I guess they've figured that they need more power headroom). -
Plusthinking Iq msi still have issues with cooling and noise, a laptop must be silent and cool or its pointless....Reply -
Crashman
The noise wasn't bad but the room was cool so I was concerned that it might not be realistic for normal users13529028 said:what about the noise ? This article needs a noise evaluation. The old GT780DX's fan was terrible.
Once burned, twice shy MSI.
You can set other FPS targets but I left it at the 30FPS default to get the best battery benefit.13529105 said:Does Battery Booster allow you have a set FPS goal, like instead of cutting back when the GPU is crunching more than 60FPS, have it cut back once FPS goes beyond 30FPS?
Then you're not going to find a notebook you can game on...anywhere.13529200 said:msi still have issues with cooling and noise, a laptop must be silent and cool or its pointless....
-
danwat1234 msi still have issues with cooling and noise, a laptop must be silent and cool or its pointless....
The only issues I've seen are bad paste jobs from the factory. If it's done right the cooling systems work fine, from my research. What other cooling issues does it have? Thanks -
hex2bit Why the continued use of mechanical drives? Would not a SSD help with power, speed and cooling?Reply -
wtfxxxgp "Then you're not going to find a notebook you can game on...anywhere."Reply
I LOL'd at this. Well-said Crashman. I don't know how anyone that has ever used a laptop even for light gaming (I'm referring to something as simple as League Of Legends) could say something like "a laptop must be silent and cool or its pointless". The fact is: performance = heat = adequate cooling = noise. The amount of each of these is dependent on the other...as well as the build (obviously), but the confined space in MOBILE COMPUTERS (aka notebooks/laptops) will always be a challenge until technology can convert the effects of energy used into cold, instead of heat. -
Crashman
BTW, I came up with 40-50db at full load. Your mileage may vary.13530242 said:"Then you're not going to find a notebook you can game on...anywhere."
I LOL'd at this. Well-said Crashman. I don't know how anyone that has ever used a laptop even for light gaming (I'm referring to something as simple as League Of Legends) could say something like "a laptop must be silent and cool or its pointless". The fact is: performance = heat = adequate cooling = noise. The amount of each of these is dependent on the other...as well as the build (obviously), but the confined space in MOBILE COMPUTERS (aka notebooks/laptops) will always be a challenge until technology can convert the effects of energy used into cold, instead of heat.