landsman moll: MSI refreshes its GT and GE gaming laptops, teases a new 14-inch model (hands-on)

Monday, June 3, 2013

MSI refreshes its GT and GE gaming laptops, teases a new 14-inch model (hands-on)

MSI's had a busy couple weeks: first it started selling a pair of laptops with AMD chips inside, and then it unveiled a flagship notebook with Haswell. Now, to complete the trilogy, the company's refreshing the other models in its range. Starting with the GT series, the existing GT70 and GT60 are both getting a quad-core, 3.2GHz Core i7-4200MQ CPU with a 4GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX780M GPU or a 3GB GTX770M. Though the chipsets are the same, however, the 17-incher makes room for more robust internals, including a max of 32GB of RAM and a 1TB HDD paired with up to three 128GB SSDs arranged in a RAID 0 setup. The 15-inch version, meanwhile, tops out at 16GB of RAM with a single 128GB SSD and 1TB hard drive. If 8.6 or even 7.7 pounds is too heavy for your tastes, you might prefer the slim GE series, where both the 15- and 17-inch models weigh in at less than six pounds. In exchange for a lighter design, of course, you get slightly inferior specs: a 2GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX765 GPU, 750GB hard drives, 8GB to 12GB of RAM and six-cell batteries, compared with a nine-cells on the beefier GT models. For what it's worth, though, most configurations have the same 3.2GHz Core i7 processor. Additionally, the GE notebooks have been refreshed with backlit keyboards, but you still won't get the full rainbow effect as on the GTs. All are available now. In the US, at least, starting prices are as follows: $1,500 for the GT70 and GT60, $1,400 for the GE70 and $1,000 for the GE60.

Finally, MSI is also showing off a 14-inch model, the GE40, which has an altogether different industrial design than the other GEs, with small red lights on the lid meant to look like devil's eyes. (Or wings. Whatever.) At 4.4 pounds and 1.14 inch thick, it's an obvious competitor to the Alienware M14x. No word yet on pricing or availability, but MSI has preliminarily said it will boast a 2.9GHz Core i7-4702MQ CPU, 2GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760M GPU, 8GB of RAM and a battery rated for three hours. The screen will be a 1,600 x 900 non-IPS panel with an anti-glare matte finish. Storage-wise, you're looking at a 128GB and 750GB SSD, or just the 750-gig HDD. Again, MSI hasn't said when it'll ship, but for now we've got hands on-photos of the GE40 (and those other machines, too) after the break.

Filed under: Gaming, Laptops