Software and Performance
Gaming laptops are arguably one of the biggest culprits when it comes to pre-loaded bloatware, and MSI's G-Series machines have a habit of including third-party software that the enthusiast audience probably doesn't want.
Unsurprisingly, the GE70 is no exception. Out of the box, the desktop has shortcuts to a wide range of pre-loaded apps, including CyberLink YouCam, Corel WinDVD, an entire MAGIX multimedia suite, a trial of Microsoft Office, as well as Norton Online Backup and Trend Micro Titanium Internet Security.
NVIDIA Mobile GPU Specification |
||
|---|---|---|
| Model | GeForce GTX 660M |
GeForce GTX 670M |
| Architecture and Process | Kepler 28nm (2012) |
Fermi 40nm (2010) |
| Processors / TUs / ROPs | 384 / 32 / 16 |
336 / 56 / 24 |
| Core Clock (MHz) | 835+ |
598 |
| Shader Clock (MHz) | 835+ |
1,196 |
| Memory Configuration (MB) | 2,048 |
3,072 |
| Memory Clock (MHz) | 4,000 |
3,000 |
| Memory Interface (bits) | 128 |
192 |
| Memory Bandwidth (GB/s) | 64 |
72 |
| TDP (Watts) | 50 |
75 |
Laptop vendors do appear to be actively cutting down on bloatware, and to MSI's credit, the GE70's bundled software isn't too intrusive and is easily removed. The frequent pop-ups from Norton and Trend Micro are the only obvious nuisance.
Moving onto performance - the GE70's primary raison d'etre - we're intrigued to find out how well it copes with today's demanding games.
Making things interesting, we're comparing it directly to the 2011 GT780DXR, as well as the 2012 GT70. The latter features the same Intel CPU as the GE70 - a third-generation Core i7-3610QM - but costs almost twice as much and features a GeForce GTX 670M GPU.
We want to know if the slimmer, cheaper GE70 can get close in terms of performance.
Cinebench examines the multi-core capabilities of each system's CPU, and the GE70 is performing as expected. It features the same Core i7 CPU as the GT70, so despite the gulf in price, the GE70 is able to offer equivalent performance.
But in an effort to bring down the price, MSI has had to sacrifice certain components. The lack of a solid-state storage device is what hampers the GE70's overall score in PCMark 7, and this disadvantage can be felt during everyday use. The laptop takes more than 45 seconds to boot to a fully-loaded Windows 7 desktop; that's about twice as long as a system equipped with an SSD.
