MSI Computer Corp. GX60 1AC-021US;9S7-16FK11-021 15.6-Inch Laptop

Summary of a dozen or more professional reviews: mediocre processor, amazing video card. This thing chews up everything I throw at it, Ultra settings on BF3 and Skyrim at 1080P no problem. Under heavy multitasking with office work (Windows Updates plus several utilities running while I set it up) it does feel a tad slow, the poor AMD CPU just can't keep up like i5's and i7's.

Screen is great, one of the better laptop screens I've gotten. Tiny bit of bleeding and uneven backlight, but you get that with most screens unless you pay a LOT more...

Really though, the next cheapest laptop you can get with a 7970 vid card in it starts around 1500, so if you're on a budget and want gaming, this thing is fantastic. The nVidia alternatives don't quite pack the punch of the 7970, except for the 680, but those are again a whole price range up from this machine. Everything else around 1200 dollar mark carries 670's, 675's, and they'll all be a bit slower, especially at 1080P.

For the price, it's really impressive what this laptop can do. I have it hooked up to 2 23" inch Asus VS238, with the MSI in the middle witha coolermaster cooling pad. It is perfect for all of my desktop needs. Throwing in some gaming as well! The CPU is more than enough to play games. Some people seem to have an issue with the AMD CPU. Maybe if you need really CPU intensive software like video coding and whatnot, this CPU is not for you. But for what I do, it is seriously overkill. Microsoft office, displaying graphs, browsing on the internet and editing some images. Some gaming too, say I run a few CPU statistics while playing. Playing Skyrim at max settings, the CPU has a load of around 60-70% most of the time. While the 7970m goes 90-100%. The key is multitasking. If you plan on gaming with this, there will be NO multitasking. Apart from that, the Eyefinity feature works flawlessly. My 2 external monitors are considerably bigger than the 15.6 display, so eyefinity is kind of Awkward. But it runs it like a champ in games that support it natively like Sniper Elite V2. I don't really see an impact on performance, if any at all, I'm sure it can be compensated by diminishing the draw distances.

The keyboard is a pleasure to type, the speakers are great. And the screen is OK. The touchpad is below average. I don't like the finish of the button, and also that it is not 2 separate buttons, also that there are no gestures and the such. I mostly use it with a mouse, but keep in mind that the touchpad is generally bad. Also, the construction of the screen housing looks and feels rather cheap around the edges. I also don't like the finish on the outer shell of the lid. It looks like it'll scratch easily, and since they added those curved lines, adding something like carbon fiber is somewhat difficult. I might just do it anyway. But I'd rather have a brushed metal finish or at least a smooth and level finish to cover with carbon fiber. There are plenty of USB ports, but they are most likely never enough.

Windows 8 Boots in about 20 seconds. So, I don't see the need for an SSD anyway. The RAM is not my favorite.. 11 CAS latency, I wish they put in 9 CAS latency. Upgrading to that will cost you ripping the "Warranty Void" sticker and 40 bucks. Or you could go with a 16 Gb 10 CAS latency for 80 bucks. No real need for it, but it would be nice to have.

Overall, I like it very much. A huge bang for your buck. Can't complain as this much money will get you a mediocre Alienware or Vaio or Macbook. Great for a desktop replacement. Can run up to 4 screens, including the main monitor. As for the durability, the construction seems ok. Except the lid. We'll see how well it holds up.

Buy MSI Computer Corp. GX60 1AC-021US;9S7-16FK11-021 15.6-Inch Laptop Now

This GX60 is by far better than what I expected at the $1200 range for an entry level gametop (I just made that up... copy right)

As others have said, this is an entry level gamer's laptop and it doesn't disappoint there. Most new games, it does not get 60+ FPS on 1080P and ultra settings, but it will get 60+ FPS on 1080P and high settings. You will have to play around with the games video settings to get it perfect, but expect it to be somewhere between high and ultra/highest.

At this price, you will sacrifice some raw CPU power for more GPU. But the biggest thing that is holding back this laptop is the 7200 RPM Hard drive. Upgrade that first and you will get a little better performance.

This is made for more of a gamer than a desktop power user. A lot of heavy processes will slow down this laptop (like playing iTunes while converting old lost-but-recently-found CDs, browsing the internet, downloading and installing updates, moving files from another PC and photo-shopping while you are waiting for a 20+ GB zip file to extract (yup that was how my first hour went). Again when looking at the performance, the hard drive is just too slow at 100% usage while everything else is below.

I have also notice that this laptop has some of the best WiFi connection speeds I have seen. On my home internet, it is a 6 Mbps speed and I get 6 Mbps consistently for hours (days?). At work I have seen over 32 Mbps. Other desktops and laptops on my same network will not get that good of speeds even if they are on the network by itself.

Pros

1. Great mobile gaming for price

2. great GPU

3. eyefinity (great multi-display)

4. Additional HD bay

5. WiFi connection is rock solid (its good enough that it makes me too lazy to plug in the network cord... apparently it has a Killer NIC for lower than normal latency)

6. Sound ports for at least 5.1 speakers (sorry that's all I have; it could do better)

7. Makes games look better than the console versions aka Skyrim, Fallout, etc...

8. HDMI port

9. On board speakers are better than expect (obviously not better than external, but you get my point)

Cons

1. HD speed is really holding this laptop back(but you can always upgrade to SSD :) )

2. Windows 8

3. Touch pad (its not horrible, it's ok when you don't want to use a mouse)

4. on board camera (I personally don' care, but it's really not that great of a picture)

5. battery life (again I personally don't care because mine is always plugged in to something)

Other Stuff Worth Saying

A couple things if you decide to buy this laptop:

When you first get it, you need to do a GPU drivers update (update the graphics card, silly). The first drivers that came with this laptop did not work that well at all. Some games didn't let the laptop use its full power (this laptop has two GPU processors in it. The simple explanation is that one chip is for saving battery life and another chip for gaming). With out the new drivers, some games only recognize the chip for saving the battery life. Because of this, a lot of early bench marks rated this GPU/laptop a little(alot-ish? that's a word, right?) lower than it deserves.

Another thing is when you have updated, change the power settings to use full power when plugged in. This will also help the system choose the right GPU settings for you (but everyone should really update all drivers anyway when buying a new computer).

People have said that you can't overclock the CPU. I have not even looked at the BIOS but that is the rumor (I mean, the internet wouldn't lie to me, the internet said so).

Also my biggest complaint about this laptop has nothing to do with MSi or any thing like that.

It is...

wait for it...

Windows 8.

I do overall like it after making some... personal... upgrades to windows 8, but somethings could have been designed or planed better, like: Laptop comes with Blue Ray and DVD player (yay!), windows 8 does not have software for either (boo!). You have to buy it. Or part of it. From third parties (read it will cost you more money and they will send you annoying spam emails).

What I mean is that this laptop does come with PowerDVD, and that will let you play DVDs (make sure you up date this software from the GSi website. Chances are you have a version that gives you an error message and won't let you use it. DO NOT REMOVE THE SOFTWARE, just update it or you might not be able to install the working version update).

You can always upgrade your PowerDVD for like $50+ but still, I believe no one should have to do that. Not GSi's fault, but Windows 8 and the movie industries fault (or PowerDVD for charging money).

Also Windows 8 loves to install updates when I am gaming and sometimes causes the game to crash!! :(

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