Performance - Part Two
GPU Performance
We lamented the fact that the GeForce GTX 670M is little more than last year's GeForce GTX 570M going by another name, but it remains one of the fastest mobile GPUs around and MSI's factory overclock helps eke out every last bit of performance.
The NVIDIA GPU does well to get past the 3,000 mark in 3DMark 11, and the synthetic promise translates to genuine real-world performance. Trouncing our regular gaming benchmark for laptops - Just Cause 2 at 720p with low-quality image settings - the GT70 returned an impressive 142 frames per second.
There's true gaming potential on offer here, so we decided to run a couple of games at the laptop's native 1080p resolution and returned the following results:
| Benchmark | Quality Settings | Average FPS |
|---|---|---|
| Aliens vs. Predator | 1,920x1,080, 0xAA, 4xAF, Low Detail | 45.1 |
| 1,920x1,080, 2xAA, 8xAF, Medium Detail | 31.3 | |
| 1,920x1,080, 4xAA, 16xAF, High Detail | 25.4 | |
| Batman: Arkham City | 1,920x1,080, Low FXAA, Low Detail | 58 |
| 1,920x1,080, Medium FXAA, High Detail | 54 | |
| 1,920x1,080, High FXAA, Extreme Detail | 31 | |
| Just Cause 2 | 1,920x1,080, 2xAA, 4xAF, Low Detail | 65.0 |
| 1,920x1,080, 4xAA, 8xAF, Medium Detail | 54.9 | |
| 1,920x1,080, 8xAA, 16xAF, High Detail | 30.6 |
The GeForce GTX 670M is pushing plenty of pixels at the GT70's maximum resolution, but it copes well with modern games and delivers good overall performance - it's not everyday you see a laptop score 54 frames per second in Batman: Arkham City with high quality settings. The NVIDIA GPU will struggle when you turn quality up to maximum, often dipping below the 30 fps mark, but strike a compromise here or there and you'll find it more than capable of playing today's latest games in full-HD.
System Performance
The GT70 is enriched with a potent CPU and a strong GPU, but it's made to feel even quicker by using two 64GB SanDisk U100 SSDs joint at the hip in RAID 0. The high-speed storage configuration managed to hit read and write speeds of 649MB/s and 376MB/s, respectively, in the ATTO disk benchmark, and it ensures all of the laptop's vital components are able to operate at speed.
Taking all of these various facets into consideration to evaluate overall system performance, PCMark 7 paints a convincing picture; the GT70 is the quickest laptop in our line up by some distance.
