Recensione Breve del portatile MSI GE70 Apache

MSI takes a big step forward in casing. Although barely any modifications are visible on the base unit, the lid looks considerably more high-quality owing to the brushed aluminum. The previous generation had to be satisfied with a glossy finish that was also extremely susceptible for grime and scratches.

The surfaces stay fairly neat (with exception of dust) when clean and dry fingers are used on the GE70. However, it is too bad that MSI did not switch to a matte finish for the keyboard bed. A lot of dirt accumulates between the keys in the course of time. 

We deem the visual design successful. The laptop's red border adds a certain zing to the otherwise black device. The same is true for the dragon logo on the cover. The GE70's build is neither thick nor extremely slim with a height of 39 millimeters. For example, MSI's GT70 has a height of almost six centimeters (27 millimeters @ GS70). 3.0 kilograms is also an acceptable weight for a 17-inch chassis.

Acceptable also describes the stability. The stiffness can compete with the contenders when we bracket out the display, keyboard and touchpad (quite pliable in several areas). Nevertheless, there is still room for improvement.

The hinges are - like known from most laptops - not quite ideal. Surface vibrations let the display wobble strongly. Besides that, both hands are needed for opening the GE70. Overall, the chassis reaps in "Satisfactory".

Keyboard

The keyboard makes a mixed impression. In particular, the backlight has to be highlighted positively. It is separated in three zones and can be disabled.

The wireless adapter, webcam, sound, and touchpad can also be disabled via an FN key combination. The brightness and volume's control positioning seem especially handy to us. Their implementation on the arrow keys is easy to reach. The dedicated number pad is another plus point.

There is room for improvement in the typing behavior because the keyboard tends to yield. Key strokes make a slightly unclear and spongy impression. Other laptops offer a much "crisper" keyboard. The unusual layout does not make getting used to it easier either. As can be seen on the screenshot below, MSI has relocated several keys, and given the Enter a single-row design.

Processor

The review sample sports a quad-core that clocks with 2.4 - 3.4 GHz. Like its Haswell siblings, the Core i7 4700HQ is built in the 22 nm process, which points to good energy efficiency.

The CPU not only has the clock rate, but also the L3 cache in common with the Core i7 4700MQ. 6 MB are twice as much as most dual-cores have. Owing to the Hyper Threading technology, the i7 4700HQ can simultaneously process up to eight threads.

Another feature is the integrated DirectX 11 chip. Intel's HD Graphics 4600 does not calculate exceedingly fast, but it ensures a moderate power consumption in basic applications (office, video, Internet, etc.). Nvidia's Optimus technology creates the foundation for this. It enables the GeForce GPU only in 3D operation (power button lights up in orange).

To retrieve the maximum from the GeForce GTX 850M, MSI does not use a DDR3 but a GDDR5 version instead. Although the first has a higher core rate (maximum of 1084 rather than 954 MHz), the GDDR5 model calculates faster in total because the narrow 128 Bit does not have such a negative effect.

Regarding its 640 Unified Shaders and a 2048 MB memory, the GTX 850M is strongly related to the pricier GTX 860M Maxwell unit that overclocks up to 1097 MHz under load. The GeForce 800 generation is built in the 28 nm process.

MSI does not tinker around with the driver. The ForceWare 332.35 is currently installed in countless Nvidia laptops.

A 500 GB HDD with 5400 rpm is no longer state-of-the-art for a gaming laptop - price/performance ratio or not. The operating system responds very sluggishly particularly in multitasking, which is often seen in the boot, load, and installation times. Windows routine would be smoother with a solid state drive, like installed some GE70 models.

MSI installs Western Digital's Scorpio Blue WD5000LPVX in the review sample. An average of 80 MB/s in CrystalDiskMark and 75 MB/s in HDTune are everything but awesome. Larger 5400 rpm HDDs, such as the Toshiba MQ01ABD100 (Asus N56JR, Aorus X7, etc.) frequently surpass the 100 MB limit in sequential read and write processes.

In the writer's opinion, MSI should preferably invest the resources in a small SSD rather than in dozens of additional features that are not really essential, and primarily serve marketing (Audio Boost, Cooler Boost, Matrix Display, etc.).

The GDDR5 video memory often decides between "still consumable" and "too jerky" in the native resolution. While only 5 of 17 games ran smoothly in maximum details and enabled anti-aliasing on the Schenker M504 (>30 fps), MSI's laptop at least still decently rendered 8 tracks.

The user will only be forced to reduce the graphic options and lower the anti-aliasing level in extremely computing-intensive cases, such as Crysis 3, Far Cry 3 or Metro: Last Light. High details are no problem with no or 2x AA.

The GTX 850M has a lead of almost 20% over its DDR3 counterpart, and lags 10% behind the GTX 860M when all ultra-benchmarks are summed up (chart below Verdict)

The cooling comes close to its limits in 3D operation. Both the GeForce GTX 850M and the Core i7 47HQ heat up to over 90°C after 60 minutes of stress testing using the tools Furmark and Prime95 - and that although the GPU strongly throttles to ~600 MHz, and the CPU moderately throttles to ~2.0 GHz. However, throttling only occurred in unrealistic scenarios. The clock rates were normal even after 30 minutes in Crysis 3 (right screenshot).

Now we look at the chassis that also gets quite hot during load. Up to 48°C in the WASD zone, and 44°C in the wrist rest area are not reached by the 17-inch brother. Sensitive gamers should preferably look for an alternative. The upper side of Nexoc's G728II was almost 10°C cooler in the stress test.

The laptop will unlikely provide much reason for complaint in undemanding tasks. The GE70 performed our idle assessments with an average of 28°C.

Every manufacturer tries to cut costs somewhere. MSI opted for the battery that is relatively weak with 49 Wh (4400mAh). The battery runtimes are thus no revelation like the comparison of contending devices confirms.

Nexoc's M731 (62 Wh) and Nexoc's G728II (77 Wh) both surpass two hours of DVD playback using maximum brightness, and almost 2.5 hours of Internet browsing in medium brightness by at least half an hour. 4.5 hours of idling and one hour of gaming (~50% performance loss) are not exciting either. In other words: The next generation should feature a stronger battery.

Gli aspetti positivi e quelli negativi si bilanciano nel GE70-2PCi785. Oltre ad aspetti fastidiosi come la batteria limitata e l'hard drive lento, il ClickPad è al primo posto tra gli aspetti negativi. MSI avrebbe dovuto accorgersi durante lo sviluppo che non funziona in modo soddisfacente. Il produttore Taiwanese tuttavia non è l'unico ad avere questo problema: è il destino di molti altri ClickPads.

Oltre questo, gli utenti si ritroveranno con temperature e rumorsità elevati, ma difficilmente i portatili gaming sono silenziosi. La distribuzione delle interfacce dovrebbe essere migliorata.

Tuttavia, profondi miglioramenti si notano nel case. MSI ha apparentemente ascoltato i feedback, ed ha usato per il GE70 una cover in alluminio nettamente superiore alla vecchia plastica lucida. hat is very superior to the old, glossy plastic. L'aspetto è molto stiloso adesso, ed arriva quali al livello di design del GS70.

Altri assets sono le dimensioni moderate ed il peso non eccessivo. Difficilmente un altro portatile da 17-pollici può essere portato in giro comodamente (ed anche l'alimentatore è sottile). La qualità di immagine e suono giustificano il prezzo. Lo schermo con contrasto elevato, non-glare soddisfa quanto le casse combo della Dynaudio.

MSI non scende a compromessi per le opzioni di manutenzione e scheda grafica. Stando ai nostri benchmarks, la GTX 850M beneficia in modo decisivo della VRAM GDDR5. Il pacchetto è completato dalla tastiera retroilluminata.

Nota: si tratta di una recensione breve, con alcune sezioni non tradotte, per la versione integrale in inglese guardate qui.