Benchmarks: CPU
Our laptop benchmarks begin by examining the core component, the CPU. Intel's Core i7-4870HQ is a quad-core, hyper-threaded part capable of speeds of up to 3.7GHz. The fourth-generation chip remains one of the quickest in Intel's mobile stable, yet the benchmark results don't fully tally-up with the processor's positioning.
MSI's GS30 is as quick as expected in the single-threaded PiFast test, however it drops off the pace somewhat in the multi-threaded Cinebench and HandBrake workloads. Digging deeper into our logs shows that the CPU is throttling in these demanding scenarios, with the all-core speed falling as low as 2.9GHz on occasion.
