Repost this unbox article from Taiwan on MSI GS70

Let’s start this blog post with a selfie.


Since being in the Starcraft Corporate Charity Tournament, I have become pickier about laptops. My gaming hardware needs have increased and so have my expectations for looks and feel when shopping for a laptop. The first time I noticed the MSI GS70 was at a COMPUTEX booth and when I saw it, I said “Wow! Is this really a gaming computer? It’s so thin and stylish!” The sharp, clean, perfectly designed body immediately caught my eye, not to mention the specs and performance, so I bought a GS70 as soon as they hit the shelves. I recently went with my friend Rona to MOT Kitchen in Taipei’s East District for afternoon tea. After we got done taking selfies, we decided to write a GS70 box opening blog. Thanks to Rona for helping me with the pictures!

I need to be able to use my computer for work, editing pictures, and of course playing Starcraft. I also love just sitting alone in cafés surfing the web and the MSI GS70 is the perfect tool for all of that. My MacBook Pro is now sitting all by itself and lonely in the corner of my study. )

Seeing it sitting on MOT Kitchen’s ultramodern bar really highlights the MSI GS70’s great looks, so we couldn’t help taking a photo while waiting for our food.



The place wasn’t full, so we took the opportunity to snap a few pictures highlighting some of the GS70’s features.

I think what first made me fall in love with the GS70 was its chic chassis with brushed aluminum finish. (Rona, don’t take pictures from below like that! It makes my face look so big!)



I prefer a big screen because I have an astigmatism, but I was surprised at how the GS70 isn’t unwieldy at all even with its 17” screen, perfect for someone who’s always on-the-go like me.



I borrowed a coworker’s digital calipers to measure the GS70 and the body measured in at just 21.75mm.



Weighing in at only 2.65 kg, it’s light enough to be held in just one hand.



Like other MSI gaming notebooks, the GS70 has a SteelSeries gaming keyboard. I think one of the coolest features is the full-color LED backlighting, because you can set whatever color and light patterns you want.





Sorry, I’m not very good at taking pictures. I kept trying, but I couldn’t get a good shot of the LED backlighting. 

The GS70 boasts MSI’s Audio Boost technology for flawless audio output– Hardware that brings you the sound quality and purity of a headphone amp is a must-have feature for high-end laptops nowadays. Whether I’m listening to music, playing computer games, or watching movies, the sound is stable and distortion-free.



The sitting area on the second floor of MOT Kitchen has a lot of design books and magazines, so you can listen to music and read at your leisure or even play Starcraft!

The GS70 also comes with a built-in 2.1-channel speaker system. Pairing this with Sound Blaster Cinema surround sound software, you get outstanding sound when playing music or games.

The two speakers are located just below the MSI logo on either side.



There’s a subwoofer on the bottom of the computer (the red box in the picture below).



MSI loaded the high-end GS70 with four USB 3.0 ports (two on each side), delivering super-high I/O speeds nearly ten times that of USB 2.0 and eliminating the need for an external USB hub.

Even more amazing, the laptop also has an HDMI port and two Mini DisplayPorts, so you to make use of MSI’s Matrix Display feature that allows simultaneously output to three monitors. Cool!





I set it up here to output to three-screen.

I don’t have that many monitors, so I went to the gaming room at work to take a quick picture of the three-monitor setup. Hehe



The gaming room has atmospheric lighting. Sorry if the photo is a little dark.

The MSI GS70 comes bundled with Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist. With Matrix Display, I can check my email, look at Facebook, and even read a strategy guide while I’m playing. It’s easy to set up and of course it looks great.

(add another photo taken with flash on)



I maxed out all the settings and the computer hit 40.9 FPS on Splinter Cell: Blacklist.



The MSI GS70 is equipped with a 4th Generation Intel Core i7 processor, NVIDIA GeForce GTX765M graphics card, and 2GB of GDDR5 RAM. So what’s the performance like with games? Well, let me tell you.

I’ve been practicing every week lately for the Starcraft II Corporate Charity Tournament, so I really noticed the GS70’s smooth gameplay and high-performance graphics and sound. I’ve also taken it on the commute to and from work and it’s not overly bulky or heavy (it’s 0.5 kg lighter than the MacBook Pro).

The MSI-exclusive Super RAID technology utilizes two SSD mSATA RAID0 units, which can provide blistering data access speeds of 900 to 1000MB/s and super-fast boot-up and shut-down. (I can’t help it. I’m impatient, so everything has to be as efficient as possible.)





(Sorry, I put the protective film back on to take a few extra pictures, so there are a few bubbles.)

Let’s take a look at the GS70’s accessories, because obviously people take these into consideration when buying.

Upon opening the outer box, you find a laptop backpack and a box containing the laptop and its accessories.



Let’s take a look at the box first.



Here’s a shot of the open box.



Below are the accessories:



Here they are after taking them out of the package. The most important are the MSI gaming mouse, the instruction manual, and the power adapter.



I love the thin power adapter because it’s so light and only 25.53 mm thick. (My coworker’s calipers make another appearance.)



Let’s take a look at the backpack.



This simple, cleanly-designed unisex backpack features a shock-absorbing laptop sleeve.

With a 17-inch screen, my eyes don’t ache anymore after using the computer for long periods. It’s great for use at work. Because it’s so slim and portable, it’s ideal for giving presentations to clients.

Last but not least, here’s one more shot of me and Rona. Thanks Rona, and thanks to everybody for taking the time to read this post!

Fuyoh, that girl sure is slim and sexxey

Anyway, back to topic, I'm pretty impressed with the GS70 that I saw during the PC Fair, damn gooding

Nice, that might be what am i looking for but wont it really hot considering that it is so thin?

Is it just me, or are these kinds of 'reviews' quite pointless? I mean, it is so obviously done by people paid by MSI, so the review isn't going to be particularly informative. They'll talk about all the pros but none of the cons of the laptop. That's not a review; it's an advertisement.

2.65kg - nice!

Advertorial, learn how to appreciate it.
In the case, good for eyes.
Not my type, as I prefer those models with a bit more bulk / meat

This post has been edited by nexus2238: Sep 24 2013, 02:06 PM

Whao... this is call a REVIEW? then what does those 30 min videos about the whole laptop.

With this form factor, gaming performance is not the question. The question is the heat sink. How is the heat sink? That is what mostly gamer are seeking the answer on every gaming laptop

Well one thing's for sure... girls won't dig this kind of notebooks haha, too huge already

Might appeal to the guys though

ah lovely review... and MSI NB may i have her number?

(Y) <3
Lovely~

im not an owner of GS70, it was my customer whom last time entrusted me to run a stress test on his GS70 after the purchase and had one day overnight at my home to complete the stress test. my first hands on the GS70 about the temperature is pretty good although it is pretty thin. under Unigine Heaven 4.0 run, the CPU can go up to 88C (not undervolted) max and the GPU goes up to 85C max. pretty good on a thin sized laptop. once you undervolted the CPU, you can get better results.

Repasting the sucker will make it run slightly cooler too, especially when I know for a FACT that the MSI factory can't really paste procs and GPUs worth sheet lol - they always end up using FAR TOO MUCH of the stuff.

That said, 88 and 85 are good numbers indeed for such a thin laptop. Any battery life numbers under the stress test?

This post has been edited by Eiraku: Sep 25 2013, 09:08 PM

with full charge, can survive 3 hours with Wifi on and web surfing.
under stress, can survive 1 hour only.

Review on the GS70 (Specs may differ abit): http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-MSI-GS...k.102287.0.html

Pro

+ Matte and bright display
+ Full HD with high contrast ratio
+ Colored keyboard illumination
+ Good gaming performance
+ Quite light for a gaming notebook
+ Insanely fast SSD RAID system

Contra

- Very high temperatures
- High idle noise


So much for good temps

Something tells me the NBC guys are getting shittily pasted MSI thin and lights. Their GE40/DT14 could cook egg as well.

With that said, 3 hours on WIFI? Ugh. Guess the bright huge arse HD display + illuminated keyboard + twin fans = watt sucker. Well, it wasn't pitched to be a endurance champ to begin with, but now at least I'm a lot less butthurt with the GS70 lol.

If the GS60 comes with a 7 hour battery life later, THEN you'll see me with a wounded backside.

This post has been edited by Eiraku: Sep 25 2013, 10:58 PM

if my budget is 4K> which MSI gaming series you recommend me to buy?

These two gooding
15.6"
MSi
GE60-2OE, i7-4700MQ + Nvidia GTX765M + (1920x1080; anti-glare)@RM4299,8GB, 750GB(7200rpm), W8, backlit keyboard
GE60-ONC, i5-3230M + Nvidia GTX675M + (1920x1080; anti-glare)@RM3299, 4GB, 750GB(7200rpm), W8

Prices in RRP, negotiable.
Either get the 1st one directly.

Or get the 2nd one and use the remaining budget to upgrade RAM to 8GB and HDD to SSD (should be able to get 256GB for remaining budget)

got GS60 ??

I5 can considered gaming ar??

btw i tot i saw an MSI laptop with a GT740M graphic card...this one oso consider gaming

For gaming, prefer better GPU.
The GPU is greater than GT740M..

yup..btw GTX765M vs GTX675M which one better??

Why not the GE40? Even if you don't repaste it (which helps, but is not essential). just turn off Turbo Boost - you don't really need it much - and it doesn't really get THAT hot. You get a 760 + i7 + great battery life for below 4k (3.7k street price). Add another 8GB RAM or 128 SSD and you're all set for 4k.

Alternatively the Illegear RE15 - but mind the "static in speakers" issue now being brought up by some of the users.

The GE60... well... UNLESS you need Full HD and 15', IMHO the GE40 is better as the GE60 GETS HOT ANYWAY and has worse battery life, especially the 765 version. The display is better looking on the GE60 however.

As for 765 vs 675, they are for all intents and purposes, nearly equal.

This post has been edited by Eiraku: Sep 25 2013, 11:42 PM

14" laptop is a big no no for me

Then why not the Illegear RE15 or the GS70? IINM the GS70 has a better screen and both have about the same temps and battery life anyway - unfortunately it's slighty out of 4k.

The GE60 is fine... just that battery life is A BIT on the horrible side because it actually has a smaller battery than the GE40 + bigger screen + more powerful components.

This post has been edited by Eiraku: Sep 25 2013, 11:44 PM

illegear can do custom paint with no extra cost right IINM??

True, but keep in mind it is undergoing a stress test, and it is very unlikely to get those high temps in real life usage.

Sadly, due to the thin body, it does warm up fast under load

This post has been edited by zaicon: Sep 26 2013, 12:14 AM

Yep. Get extra warranty, it's on-site and 3 years of people coming to you to fix your stuff is heaven.

another proud owner of GS70 here....

i can tell you, "GET THE SSD VERSION, IT'S WORTH EVERY PENNY"
damn with the I7, it's super fast...

(P.S: the secondary storage HDD, is a little disappointing....
the 750GB HDD is a 5400RPM hdd, but you can upgrade it to a Seagate SSHD [aka Momentus XT] in the future or immediately [if you got enough money to burn after getting GS70 + extended warranty at RM 5900])


BTW, invest (another RM250 to RM300) and register IMMEDIATELY on the Intel Anti-theft (aka Lo-Jack for PC-Intel version) system.
You can totally lock down your pc (don't want to explain too much, it's a hard wired off switch; unless if the thief is SUPER SUPER HEN and can REPLACE your BIOS) , it's impossible to unlock via format....

This post has been edited by liewchengyeh: Sep 28 2013, 08:12 AM

no regret spending all that money....
this is going to be my baby for the next 3~5 years....

My biggest issue is screen quality. Asus has that new n55 for 3.8k with fhd ips. This one packs more juice but i also do photo editing, which makes better screens a big deal

Lol.. Gaming is essentially a stress test too Haha
Will still get more or less the same temps I supposed. Probably a bit better if running on ssd

eh , i thought highest spec is below configuration ?

Super Raid 128GB SSD (64GB*2 SSD mSATA3)+750GB (SATA) 7200rpm

liewchengyeh lai come here, please share to us how you know it is a 5400rpm drive.

my only suggestion is before buying a laptop, you should go out and feel, molest, type, held and do whatever you like to the laptop (do some gaming test too if games provided).

my 1st hands on the GS70 is that the TN screen on GS70 can equally match an IPS screen but there are some colour bleed at the side.

SSD could help the temps, but IMO not significantly.

You are right, though the effects on the external surface might be better depending on where the HDD/SSD is placed.
My M14x's left palm rest became comfortably cool after switching to SSD, best upgrade I've ever made haha

hmm will you willing to boost up RM4K another 400? ask alieneye (seller) i hear he selling that price GS70.. non Raid..

Just showing a picture of what the GS70 looks like with the back panel removed.



Pic courtesy of zzloo.

Hi there,

For those already owned GS70 Stealth, I want to ask one question. The SSDs, can it be removed and replaced with other SSDs of our choice? Of course we have to buy 2 new SSDs to replace the existing ones. Anyone already opened the back cover and see the SSDs?

Thanx!

-RJ-

yes it is possible, and keep in mind it is mSATA size. but why do you want to replace the the stock mSATA SSD while the stock mSATA SSD runs perfectly?


Attached thumbnail(s)

Well, the stock MSATA is only 64GB*2, so probably he wants to upgrade a higher capacity.

This post has been edited by zaicon: Oct 2 2013, 09:59 AM

Just want to know whether it is possible or not, as options either want to upgrade to 128GB*2 mSATA, or change the HDD to 2.5" SSD.

Thank you for clarifying this

Sharing this video - GS70 boot time

credits: TheBandackan

Click here for video

This post has been edited by MSI-NB: Oct 2 2013, 03:49 PM

^here

Hey, i just recently bought the GS70.. cant help but to notice a rather noticeable clicking sound each time when i open the lappy's screen lid.. i know its not a big deal to some of u but just wanna find out if any other owners of the same model experience the same? could it be a manufacturing fault? cause its really affecting me.. = 3=

Hey there, welcome to the MSI family

Perhaps you could try and ask here. We do have a few GS70 owners, they could share their experience

This post has been edited by zaicon: Oct 5 2013, 12:56 PM