MSI has updated its GT and GE gaming notebook ranges to use the latest fourth generation Intel Haswell processors. MSI has chosen Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 7XXM graphics hardware to accompany Intel’s latest and greatest CPUs in these updated notebook ranges.
GT series
The GT series consists of the GT60 and the GT70 with screens of 15.6 and 17.3-inches respectively. Both of these gaming laptops will come equipped with a quad-core, 3.2GHz Core i7-4700MQ CPU with a 4GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX780M GPU. The 17.3-inch GT70, with its larger chassis, has room for more internal components. There are three configurations of the GT70 on offer with various RAM and storage options. MSI make use of the extra space in the 17.3-incher’s chassis with an optional trio of 128GB SSDs arranged in RAID0 configuration. This storage is bolstered by a 1TB HDD and the system can address up to 32GB of RAM – the GT70 Dragon Edition 2 is equipped with this much RAM and the “super RAID” disk config as standard.
The 15.6-inch screened GT60 has the same guts as the GT70 but maxes out at 16GB RAM and is equipped with a single 128GB SSD to complement the 1TB HDD. There are two configurations of the GT60 available for purchase. The cheaper one, with 12GB of RAM rather than 16GB also has a lesser graphics card; the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770M. All other specs are the same.
GE Series
The GE series of laptops is available in screen sizes of 14, 15.6 and 17.3-inches. These models are known as the GE40, GE60 and GE70 respectively. The GE series is thinner and lighter than the GTs above so it’s not surprising that the specs are a little bit lighter too. The processors in the GE60 and GE70 are the very same quad-core, 3.2GHz Core i7-4700MQ CPUs but the graphics have taken a step down to a 2GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX765M GPU. These machines also offer smaller 6 cell batteries (GT series have 9 cells) between 8GB and 12GB of RAM and 750GB HDDs as standard. Both the E60 and GE70 use 1920 x 1080 (16:9) anti-reflective screens.
The MSI GE40 is a 14-inch member of the GE series. The screen is a 1600x900 pixels anti-reflective unit. With its size reduction and portability it has in turn taken a spec cut compared to the above GE60 and GE70. The GE40 is powered by and Intel Core i7 4700MQ or i7 4702MQ and the GPU this time is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760M with 2GB GDDR5. This model is available with a 750GB hybrid drive or 128GB SSD + 750GB HDD.
Plan B, make some tablets
MSI has launched three Android tablets at Computex called the Primo range. The Primo 93, Primo 81 and Primo 73 all run Android Jelly Bean using Allwinner processors supplemented by 1GB of RAM. These tablets are equipped with 9.7, 7.85 and 7-inch screens respectively.
The most interesting new MSI tablet appears to be the Primo 81 which uses the same LG screen as the Apple iPad mini and looks a lot like it in other respects too. MSI may be skating on thin ice there. The smaller tablet looks like it is set for emerging markets and the larger one has a rubberised bumper all the way around its screen.
