MSI GT60 2PC Dominator Review: A Fast Notebook With Battery Boost

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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: Battlefield 4

Battlefield 4 shows the enormous power of Nvidia's GeForce GTX 870M as the GT60 2PC pushes playable frame rates through 5760x1080 at the game’s medium-quality defaults. It also shows the company's new approach to power, which modulates GPU clock to maintain a constant frame rate (the GeForce Experience software lets you specify a target), rather than burning power on higher performance. Or does it?

The problem with crediting Battery Boost for the 870’s locked-in 30 FPS on battery power is that this appears to be the same point the GeForce GTX 770, left to its own devices, runs out of steam. Since Nvidia doesn't enable Battery Boost on the 770, we need to look at different benchmark settings to quantify Battery Boost’s advantage.

The GT60 2PC’s GeForce GTX 870M can’t push playable performance to a trio of monitors at Battlefield 4’s Ultra defaults, but it does show noticeably higher frame rates than the GT60 2OC’s GeForce GTX 770 at 1920x1080.

A coincidental memory bottleneck again occurs when we look at framerate over time. But this time, it’s the plugged-in GeForce GTX 770M matching the unplugged 870M. We’re getting closer to proof-of-concept, but need yet another set of tests to prove that Battery Boost really works.

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Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom is a Senior Staff Editor at Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews cases, cooling, memory and motherboards.
35 Comments Comment from the forums
  • blackmagnum
    Cue the " I can build a faster desktop at half the price " argument...
    Reply
  • HT
    what about the noise ? This article needs a noise evaluation. The old GT780DX's fan was terrible.

    Once burned, twice shy MSI.
    Reply
  • 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?

    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).
    Reply
  • Plusthinking Iq
    msi still have issues with cooling and noise, a laptop must be silent and cool or its pointless....
    Reply
  • Crashman
    13529028 said:
    what about the noise ? This article needs a noise evaluation. The old GT780DX's fan was terrible.

    Once burned, twice shy MSI.
    The noise wasn't bad but the room was cool so I was concerned that it might not be realistic for normal users

    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?
    You can set other FPS targets but I left it at the 30FPS default to get the best battery benefit.
    13529200 said:
    msi still have issues with cooling and noise, a laptop must be silent and cool or its pointless....
    Then you're not going to find a notebook you can game on...anywhere.
    Reply
  • 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
    Reply
  • hex2bit
    Why the continued use of mechanical drives? Would not a SSD help with power, speed and cooling?
    Reply
  • Plusthinking Iq
    number of fans and heatpipes are a problem
    Reply
  • wtfxxxgp
    "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.
    Reply
  • Crashman
    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.
    BTW, I came up with 40-50db at full load. Your mileage may vary.
    Reply