12JAN 2015

EDITORS REVIEW

Overpowered Domination

MSI GT72 2QE Dominator Pro

There are so many ways to describe a huge product. Monolithic. Epic. Hulk-like. Gargantuan. However, one word stands out and aptly captures the true meaning of beingwellbig. Think about itdoes the word dominating put things into perspective? MSI GAMING believes it does as it christened its largest gaming notebook release to date as the MSI GT72 2QE Dominator Pro. What a mouthful!

Even with such a lengthy name, the new Dominator is specifically made to prove one thing for the MSI camp: its dominance of the mobile gaming PC market. Not only does it come in a size that proves its mettle, the new gaming behemoth is MSIs latest and greatest effort thus far. The innards used within and the extensive connectivity capabilities

it offers sets it on another level of powered performance that is unmatched.

Design: sleek lookerHave you ever seen a large, slick, heavily streamlined gaming notebook? Perhaps? Perhaps not? Well once youve laid your eyes on the MSI GT72 2QE Dominator Pro, youll immediately realise that this system is unlike any other mobile desktop replacement youll ever encounter. With the lid down, it is already unbelievably compact. Well, it is pretty condensed for a massive gaming system as it looks hyper-sleek and exceptionally flat. When deployed, the MSI powerhouse jacks up its presence, thanks to the 17.3in Full HD LCD screen and full-size keyboard it uses - both of which complement the oversized

chassis frame it uses. The gunmetal black hue, which MSI is known for, comes with a single red accent that lines the top lid railing. When powered on, the speakers, both front and back, light up with a haunting red light as well.

Display: punchy outputWhen the 17in display is engaged, upon opening the lid and firing up the MSI GT72 2QE, the first thing that caught me by surprise is the overly vivid display. Blacks and whites are exceptional and the primary hues are given an extra level of polish thanks to that. When paired with the anti-glare glass used on the Full HD display, I did not struggle as much with long hours of gaming as I encountered less eye-strain. I didnt even need to adjust

by victor yap

13JAN 2015

price: rM9,999Dimensions (W x D x h)428 x 294 x 48mmWeight 3.78Kgprocessor 4th Generation Intel Core i7-4710HQMemory 2x 16GB DDR3 1,600MHz at 11-11-11-28-1Tstorage 2X 128GB SSD in RAID 0/ Super RAID, 1X 1TB 7200rpmgraphics Intel HD 4600/NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M 8GB DDR5L (Optimus Not Enabled)Display 17.3in CMN1735 Full-HD Anti-Glare LCD, 1920 x 1080@30fpsos Microsoft Windows 8.1connectivity Killer Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Killer LAN, Bluetooth 4.0sound 2.1 Dynaudio with 7.1 Support (via SPDIF), Creative Sound Blaster Cinema 2 with Exclusive Audio Boost 2i/o 6x USB 3.0, 1x HDMI 1.4, 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2, 1x Mic-In/Headphone-Out, 1x Line-In/Line-Out, 1x SD (XC/HC) Card Reader

3D Mark 4040 (FireStrike Extreme)3D Mark 2283 (FireStrike Ultra)pc Mark home 3865pc Mark creative 3953pc Mark Work 3383

coating makes sure I see everything on screen with near zero distractions. With everything set to go beyond Ultra and then some, all the heavy game renders, as well as the enriched Full HD content I added in, really jumped at me. Totally amazing!

perforMance: tank tank t fireWhen I use the tank reference, I am not referring to the slow and clunky aspects of that war machine. For me, tanks are about raw firepower that move to provide awesome brute force on the battlefield. In the case of the MSI GT72 2QE, the high-powered internals that roar within make for a perfect analogy of a tanks fighting capabilities. The latest Intel CPU, specifically the 4th Generation Intel Core i7-4710HQ that is set to 3.5GHz, is paired with the best NVIDIA has to offer from its top-line range - the newly released NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M 8GB DDR5L GPU. Used together with 32GB DDR3L 1600MHz RAM that had been tweaked to operate at 11-11-11-28-1T settings (AKA overclocked), a pair of 128GB SSD drives set to RAID 0, which operates in hybrid mode with the 1TB 7200rpm hard disk, and advanced communication systems, MSI goes all out in guaranteeing that nothing would stand in the way of its monstrous gaming platform.

Having thrown raw 4K content - both YouTube-sourced and recorded materials from 4K cams; enriched Full HD videos and graphics; and games like Titanfall,

Warfare, and new 4K-type game trailers like StarCraft 2: Legacy of the Void and Overwatch, none of them the Void and Overwatch, none of them could slowdown the MSI GT72 2QE at all. could slowdown the MSI GT72 2QE at all. Not even when half of the content used Not even when half of the content used had been notched up to max output. It had been notched up to max output. It easily ate my mixed 4K/3200px gaming (windowed) multi-tasking session for breakfast and asked for seconds.

instantaneous: fast Bootfast BootfAs the MSI GT72 2QE comes equipped with two SSDs, it is obvious the start-up time of the PC would be mere seconds. Of course, saying that now feels like an understatement as this beast fired up in a second. Yes, you read right: a second! a second. Yes, you read right: a second! a second. YFrom BIOS booting to fully loading Windows 8.1 with primary start-up apps, it took less than 10 seconds. So figuratively, its near instant. Thus, there is no need to go through the usual waiting process just to get cracking at your games when youve settled in.

shift: VariaBle MoDesAs many would know, there is a battery performance function that users can engage on all notebooks. MSI takes it to the next level by providing its own custom adjustments. Called SHIFT, this capability offers three modes that can be engaged at any time. Power users will, of course, stick with Sport as it offers the highest operational settings for the CPU and GPU. If they happen to be untethered and nowhere near any power sources,

the screen position often as the anti-glare coating makes sure I see everything on

Battlefield 4, Call of Duty: Advanced Battlefield 4, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, and new 4K-type game

14JAN 2015

EDITORS REVIEWthen the other two modes, Comfort and Green, can be engaged. While the former keeps the CPU running at a maximum 89C yet limits the GPU to operate at lowered speeds, the latter disables Intel Turbo completely and further reduce operating temperatures/performance of the CPU/GPU. While both will result in lowered heat output, Green ensures the battery is able to run longer. Based on average ratings, the MSI GT72 2QE lasted nearly three hours on a full charge. This is measured against the occasional multi-tasking, mixed video streaming on YouTube, a short yet enriched videogame session, some hours of work and social media engagement, and music streaming.

connecteD: super speeDy lanMSI made famous the Killer LAN brand when it loaded just about every gaming notebook in its stable with the high-performance network system and controller. With the MSI GT72 2QE, an even more remarkable update of the Killer LAN system has been thrown in - the Killer Double Shot Pro. Not only does it sport the usual assortment of functions that Killer is known for, it now also rocks dual support for Killer Gb LAN and Wi-Fi 802.11ac Dual Band protocols. With it, all of my gaming time had zero lag. In fact, Id say the whole time I spammed Company of Heroes 2 and when my significant other gamed on Defence of the Ancients 2 (DotA2) and Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, it had been totally seamless. This is even when P2P programmes had been left to run and tabs upon tabs of Facebook and YouTube content are running in Chrome. Funny thing, none of the other content slowed down either. Wow.

out-pluggeD: full of portsComplementing the performance and power settings that the MSI GT72 2QE offers is the number of ports that it sports along the sides of the keyboard panel. Besides the super-tweaked LAN jack at the back, MSI is all out to show that it means business with this monstrosity. Placed on both sides of the LAN input are the HDMI 1.4 and a pair of mini DisplayPort slots. Now who ever said a gaming notebook cannot power up more than two screens needs to give the MSI GT72 2QE a whirl.

Beyond visual add-ons, six USB 3.0s are also included - more than enough for any user to jam in whatever they want. Of course, there is the gold-plated mic-in/line-in and headphones array as well.

chilleD: all frozen likeWhen it comes to gaming systems, and even high performance/high-spec PC platforms, the one thing that they all share in common are the insane heat levels that emit from the heat vents and certain areas on the chassis. Be it the CPU, GPU, storage drive, or even the wireless connectivity modules - any of them (or all of the above) can be the primary cause behind the gaming notebook to feel like hot charcoals on the barbeque. Figuratively speaking.

On the MSI GT72 2QE, that isnt the case due to its newly improved Cooler Boost 3 system. When paired with SHIFT, it further enhances the MSI beasts cooling/performance balancing capabilities. In fact, the updated Cooler Boost is so efficient, the heat emission at all vents and chassis hotspots are nearly negligible.

Blast-out: auDio perfectionWith impressive visual performance, it stands to be known that a gaming system must also have an equally superb sound system to match the video outputs. For the MSI GT72 2QE, that comes in the form of three complementing features - the embedded SOUND by DYNAUDIO 2.1, Audio Boost 2, and Sound Blaster Cinema 2. While the last two are specifically engineered to ramp up the aural experience on headphones and cinematics respectively, the speaker array that DYNAUDIO provides is one-of-a-kind. Specially tuned and optimised to work on a mobile gaming platform, the dual-channel noisemakers, along with the

accompanying built-in subwoofer, delivers on all fronts when it comes to sound processing and -staging. From gaming to musicals, and even concerts, the audio performance rocked my socks off! I have to say, precision-like sound is the main draw here as glass shattering, reports of gunfire, cymbal crashes, and the crackle of radio chatter are produced with utmost clarity.

outage: Battery leVelsFor all intents and purposes, the MSI GT72 2QE is made to provide the best in gaming performance. On many levels, it delivers as promised. From high-end graphics to great sound performance and near instantaneous start-up time, as well as heavy storage capacities, MSI certainly did not cut any corners to create its take on what the ultimate gaming platform should be. The only downer for me is the short battery life it has. Obviously, to even light up all the maxed-out innards, there is a need for a lot of power to keep things going. While three hours on a full charge before the battery went flat may sound amazingly long for gaming notebooks, I had wished one too many times that it gave me another hour to squeeze just so I can finish that one paragraph in my word document or clear that last mission/objective in that RTS or RPG game.

oVerall: gaMing like no otherIf there is one phrase I can use to describe the MSI GT72 2QE, it has to be Total Knockout Powerhouse. I could not imagine any gaming notebook that is as nimble, hardy, robust, and proficient than what MSI had came up with. Its value for a gamer is worth more than its literal nett weight. While its definitely not meant for mobile warriors to use, it will certainly meet any expectation and demand that all would have for it.