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Next, we tested DirectX, a technique most of the game titles apply. The following () is the AORUS 5 (Core i7-9750H/ GTX 1660Ti) benchmark 3DMARK Fire Strike => 17516 (7997) FINAL FANTASY XIV ： Shadowbringers 1920 X 1080 HIGH=> 15948 (10518) FAR CRY 5 Resolution: 1920 X 1080/ Graphic setting: Ultra We use its built-in performance test, FPS: 5878 (3187) GTX 1660Ti can run most titles using 1080p, medium graphic setting; and RTX 2080 Max-Q can run 1080p at Ultra. If you are running UHD 4K resolution, we recommend you to apply medium or lower setting. RTX 2080 is the most powerful you can get on AERO 15 OLED, there’s also a more affordable “SA” with 9750H and GTX 1660Ti. Based on the test results above you may learn the difference between different GPU models and the most expensive one may not be the best choice for you especially if you don’t have such high budget. One more thing for your information, NVIDIA recently update the 436.02 driver which optimizes more new titles. You should update it if you play these titles. Burn-in Test Room temperature: 31°C, running Intel Core i9-9980HK cooling test. Fan mode: normal (runs at 3800~4100 RPMs when CPU running at full speed) CPU temperature: 79°C~90°C, highest temperature: 95°C, running LinX 0.7.1 at system’s full speed. Fan speed is 2600~2800 RPMs when standby, at this stage you can barely hear the fan; the speed will raise to 3800~4100 RPMs and the fan noise becomes noticeable. Comparing to other models we’ve tested, this is not too bad. 9980HK’s TDP is 45W, and AERO 15 OLED’s cooling system is capable of handling more power. Most of the time the CPU frequency is around 3.9~4.1G, TDP is about 55~58W; when TDP gets close to 60W, the wattage will drop to 0.8V and the clock speed is 2.4~2.6G. Please note that LinX is very demanding for CPU, actual usage such as game would not use that much power. Therefore, under normal circumstances, the CPU clock sped should be around 3.9~4.1G. Furmark is a GPU burn-in test. GPU 1000MHz / MEM 6000MHz Temparature: Standby: 55°C/ Full speed: 77°C We cannot get the precise GPU clock speed, but we compared the result to MSI GS75 which we previously tested. Though both is running the same RTX 2080 Max-Q, the MSI model can only reach slightly above 870MHz. While running LinX burn-in test, the center of the keyboard temperature is 32~36°C, upper side of it is 36~42°C, the rear side, air exhaust vent, is 38~48°C, and the bottom side, air intake vent, is 33~45°C. The fan noise rose when running at full speed, but it’s not too bad and we think it’s acceptable. You can barely hear the fan when you are surfing the Internet, watching videos or playing music. About the battery life, GIGABYTE claims 8.5 hours of usage, which may only happen when handling simple tasks such as web browsing. We tested it with Wi-Fi on, Microsoft Azure AI Battery Save Mode, playing 480p videos on YouTube, and the result is not quite as GIGABYTE claims but still exceptional. After 1 hour: 85%/ 2 hours: 69%/ 3 hours: 56%/ After 5 hours: 21%/ After 6 hours: 8% The left is AERO 15 OLED with Samsung AMOLED display; the right is AORUS 5 with LCD IPS. When the brightness is about the same, we can see the difference in details, such as the upper left, the ripples, or the left side on the AERO logo, the grass. AMOLED performs better on both image details and color saturation. Besides the advantages mentioned above, AERO 15 OLED’s display is color calibrated by Xrite Pantone, hence the photo shown on the laptop looks very similar to the real object, meaning the color displayed is very close to actual color. To sum up, GIGABYTE AERO 15 OLED YA(i9-9980Hk/RTX 2080 Max-Q) has the following advantages: 1.ID design is not “gaming” but ore professional, and the overall build quality is great. 2.It carries the most high-end display that is available now: Samsung 4K AMOLED, has 3-side ultra-thin screen bezel and is color calibrated by Xrite Pantone. 3.It is equipped with 8C16T Intel 9th gen Core i9-9980HK and the performance is improved. 4.Thin& light but carries NVIDIA RTX 2080 Max-Q, currently the most powerful mobile graphics. 5.Useful GIGABYTE Control Center and Nahimic audio software. 6.Microsoft Azure AI can dynamically adjust hardware settings and increase efficiency. 7.Advanced dual fan+5 heat pipes+11 intake/exhale vents GIGABYE cooling design: Supra Cool 2 thermal system. 8.Per-key RGB backlight keyboard; membrane keyboard but offers great tactile feedback. 9.Killer AX1650 supports 802.11AZ (Wi-Fi 6). 10.Thoughtful design of camera cover for extra privacy; with great performance as well as portability thanks to its 94Wh battery. 11.Besides the most premium “YA”, GIGABYTE also offers more entry-level models. Things we think could do better: 1.The glossy display can be reflective when the ambient is bright. 2.Webcam has low resolution. 3.Speakers performs poorly on subwoofer and sound field. 4.It’d be better if the AMOLED also comes in matte finish so that customers get to choose. Performance ★★★★★★★★★☆ 93/100 Quality ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 88/100 Hardware Spec ★★★★★★★★★☆ 92/100 ID Design ★★★★★★★★★☆ 90/100 Price/Performance ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ 75/100 AERO 15 OLED starts from about 1,800 to 3,000 dollars, this product line covers most GPUs. The price varies according to hardware specs and the most expensive one is YA, then XA, WA, SA and NA. The latest version carries Intel 9th gen Core i7-9750H or i9-9980HK, as for the graphics it has RTX 2080 Max-Q, RTX 2070 Max-Q, or RTX 2060. The same ID also comes in with Sharp 240Hz FHD IGZO matte display, offering options from GTX 1660Ti to RTX 2070. The newest AERO 15 has minimum “professional” look, great build quality and feels premium. There are 2 different types of panels and both of them have ultra-thin screen bezel, color calibrated display and a keyboard that has exceptional tactile feeling. The price varies according to the parts inside, the product line covers different level of performance for you to choose from, from “gaming performance” RTX 2080 Max-Q to more entry level GTX GPUs. Personally, I’d choose AERO over normal gaming laptops if the hardware spec is similar. In the future we hope to see a webcam supporting higher resolution and stronger speakers. So, this is my review on the latest AERO 15 OLED, wish this information is helpful If you like my article, please like & follow my facebook fanpage to receive the latest updates To know my personal test and review status, your Reply and Like still my best momentum to moving forward the works.

*The following () are scores of i7-9750H (6C12T, 2.6~4.5G) CINEBENCH R15 CPU => 1477 cb (1123 cb) CPU(Single Core) => 189 cb (183 cb) CINEBENCH R20.0 CPU => 3212 cb (2208 cb) CPU(Single Core) => 446 cb (305 cb) CPUZ 1.89.1 Single Thread => 512.8 (479.6) 8C16T Multi Threads => 4070 (3476.2) Fritz Chess Benchmark => 47.81 / 22948 (42.97 / 20624) Geekbench 4 Single-Core Score => 5514 (5278) Multi-Core Score => 27592 (21049) FRYRENDER Running Time => 2m 28s (3m 13s) x265 Benchmark 2.1.0 => 45.88FPS (37.05FPS) PCMARK10 => 5253 We can find the difference between Intel 9th gen mobile CPUs (6C12T vs 8C16T). The creator laptop aims to accelerate video preview and rendering or image/ 3D model processing. 2D image processing requires a lot of CPU power, including how the frequency and number of cores can help accelerate the process. The benchmarks above includes CPU multitasking and media editing results for your reference. As for the storage, there are 2 built-in SSD slots and this model is equipped with 2 Intel 760P M.2 PCIe 512G SSD. SSD benchmark: CrystalDiskMark Seq Read - 2417.0 MB/s，Write - 1560.1MB/s AS SSD Benchmark - 2773 Seq Read - 2233.79 MB/s，Write - 1489.70 MB/s 4K - 64Thrd Read - 878.31 MB/s，Write - 811.00 MB/s Most of the premium models tend to use Samsung or Toshiba SSD, however, GIGABYTE choose to use Intel’s solution. This Intel 760P SSD supports 3230MB/s read speed and 1625MB/s write speed, which is goof for an M.2 PCIe SSD, plus Intel’s brand image and its SSD product line good reputation, that’s why GIGABYTE decides to go for Intel SSD and marketing is as “All Intel Inside” – the usage of more Intel components than competitors to provide a more reliable system. Recently NVIDIA announced its new “RTX Studio laptop”, solutions that’s optimized for creatives. The RTX studio laptops support “Studio driver”, which can accelerate more than 40 creative applications. Here are some RTX 2080 Max-Q 3D rendering performance. Driver: NVIDIA STUDIO DRIVER 431.70 SPECviewperf 13 Resolution: 1080p Resolution: 2160p tested results We can see from the SPECviewperf 13 result, you can gain more performance while applying 1080p resolution. SPECworkstation 3.0 Resolution: 3840 x 2160/ GPU: RTX 2080 Max-Q Geekbench 4 OpenCL Score => 26205 Creator laptops usually need OpenGL or CL performance while running 3D content editing software. The benchmarks we ran (shown above) are mainly testing OpenGL or CL performance, you might heard some of these apps before.

I/O ports on the right. From the left: 2x USB3.1 Gen1/ Thunderbolt 3/ SD Card Reader (UHS-II)/ DC-in/ Thermal Vent AERO has a built-in SD card reader that supports a higher transmitting speed of up to 300 MB/s. The rear side Between the 2 hinges is the thermal vent as well as a small “AERO” tag. The thermal system is called “Supra Cool 2”, which carries dual 71-blade fans, 5 heat pipes and 11 inhale and exhale vents. According to GIGABYTE the overall cooling performance is 30% better than the former generation. A huge part of the bottom side consists of a unique shaped cooling vent. On the both side of the lower part are the speakers. The 94Wh battery is attached to the laptop, not a detachable design. This thin and light model is equipped with 8C16T i9-9980HK and NVIDIA RTX 2080 Max-Q high-end components. Here we will go through all the benchmarks. On the right is the Chicony 230W adaptor, the weight is 722 g. Due to its high-end performance of i9-9980HK and NVIDIA RTX 2080 Max-Q, the AERO needs more power of a big adaptor. It’s big but is till portable. The laptop comes with a backpack that looks more “business”. It has a large capacity and lots of pockets for your personal belongings. GIGABYTE Control Center The first page “Smart Dashboard” shows the hardware specs and helps you monitor the system. On the upper right of the desktop is an AI icon. The Microsoft Azure AI function can detect what app is running and dynamically adjust CPU and GPU’s power settings by accessing/learning the data on Microsoft Azure’s cloud server in order to optimize the hardware usage and make the whole system work more efficiently. “Manager” is shortcut page where you can turn to other most used functions. The RGB Fusion 2.0 Per-key backlit keyboard supports 16.7 million colors. You can turn it off when you are not gaming. As mentioned before, the tactile feedback is very nice. Besides quiet, normal, gaming and customize, there’s also “deep” setting for the system fans. The “deep” mode allows user to assign different fan speeds to individual temperature. The fan speed is up to 6000 RPMs. “Smart Utilities” is where you can find update info, system backup, product description, FAQs… GIGABYTE Control Center is basically the same as AORUS Control Center. Although it’s functional and easy to use, we think AERO should have the control center in AERO’s own style. Nahimic Audio Driver There are lots of MSI laptops applying this software. This software has been updated a few times and now carries many functions: it mainly provides 4 different sound fields along with 3 more detailed settings. AERO 15 OLED comes in with 2 different CPU, i7-9750H and i9-9980HK. The one with “YA” carries RTX 2080 Max-Q and “XA” is RTX 2070 Max-Q. In this article we are going to test the “XA”: with i9-9980HK, 8 cores, 16 threads, TDP 45W, 2.4GHz base frequency and 5.0GHz max turbo frequency. This frequency is a single core highest frequency. Here are some benchmarks with AI functioning and other default settings. We compared it to the AORUS 15, i7-9750H/ GTX 1660Ti.

There are 2 of GIGABYTE laptop brands, AORUS and AERO. AORUS, the premium gaming brand, is focusing on “gaming enthusiasts”;on the other hand, the AERO series laptops are targeting at content creators. AERO 15, launched last year 2018, was the first laptop targeting at creatives which has high performance as well as ultra-thin screen bezel. In 2018, the biggest laptop trend is thin bezel, and this year, 2019, the biggest highlight has to be the OLED display which is launched by only 3 brands by now. In this article we will take a look at one of these 3, AERO 15 OLED, the latest model from GIGABYE AERO series. First thing we saw was the packaging. With the new “AERO” logo, black and orange color combination, the packaging looks very stylish. The AERO 15 OLED comes in 2 different colors, black and silver. The one we got is a black one. This chassis is made of aluminum with a technique called CNC. Most part of it is matte, and there’s a V-shaped decoration with a satin finish below which makes the whole design doesn’t seem too boring. The AERO logo on the cover will light up when the laptop is on. The dimension of 15.6” model: 356(W) x 250(D) x 20(H) mm, and the weight is around 2229g. Considering its solid build quality, the AERO 15 OLED did very well on keeping a portable form factor. AERO 15 OLED B and C side design. The 2 hinges are on the left and the right. The biggest opening angle is around 130 degree. The hinge and overall build quality feels very solid. The cover will close automatically when the opening angle is less than 30 degree. B side (display) is one of AERO 15 OLED’s most attractive features. This 3-side ultra-thin bezel design is the only design currently available that is closest to bezel-less. There’s a rubber bumper attached to the bezel that protects the display from rubbing against keyboard. The Samsung AMOLED panel AERO adapted is the high-end spec available now. AERO 15 OLED is certified with VESA Display HDR 400 True Black as well as Xrite Pantone color calibration certification. Each and every AERO gets Xrite Pantone color calibration before it leaves the factory to provide you the most accurate colors of Delta E<1. This display also has TÜV Rheinland Eye Comfort Certification. All these functions are added to AERO in order to offer best visual performance no matter colors or details. Dell, Razer and AERO are the first 3 brands that launched OLED laptops. Since these laptops are very new, customers may concern about the burn-in issue. The AERO 15 OLED applies a special cover on the back of the panel to decrease the using temperature so as to lower the chance of burn-in. From this we can tell GIGABYTE is a brand that very much focuses on details. As for the finish, a glossy display may cause noticeable reflections but is able to produce more intense and saturated colors; on the other hand, a matte finish may look plain but certainly not going to reflect. GIGABYTE goes for the glossy one in order to show the nice details of AMOLED. Besides the keyboard, on the C side the AERO uses the same matte black aluminum as the cover. The island style keyboard supports GIGABYTE RGB Fusion 2.0 and per-key RGB backlight. This keyboard is collaboration GIGABYTE and world’s largest keyboard provider Sunrex. Considering it’s a membrane keyboard, It acrually offers a nice tactile feedback. Comparing to GIGABYTE’s other laptop – AORUS 15, this keyboard feels better, almost like the one on Alienware’s high end gaming models. The webcam is beneath the display, shooting from a lower angle but not too much focusing on your chin… The camera works smoothly but the resolution could be improved. GIGABYTE designs a cover for it which is rare on laptops and is able to help keep the user’s privacy. Further beneath the camera is the power button, on its left and right sit the thermal vents. Below the keyboard is the touchpad which works accurately. On the upper-left there’s a fingerprint sensor. There are also stickers for features and hardware specs here. The one on the left says this laptop is made in Taiwan and the one on the right is about AERO 15 OLED’s features. These stickers are thick and easy to remove. I/O ports on the left. From the left: Thermal vent/ HDMI 2.0/ DP1.4 & USB3.1 Gen1/ Audio combo jack/ RJ45 Ethernet port (which supported by Killer Ethernet E2600 and Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX1650. The AX1650 supports the latest 802.11AX, Wi-Fi 6, that can achieve up to 2.4Gbps.

FINAL FANTASY XIV : STORMBLOOD 1920 X 1080 MAXIMUM => 12017 2080 MAX-Q=15638 Apex Legends Hero 1920 x 1080, Video quality set to Highest Practice Mode start theme – 119FPS 2080 Max-Q = 147 FPS Battlefield V game 1920 x 1080, image quality: Ultra DX12 and NVIDIA DLSS enable, into the practice mode start theme – 76 FPS Monster Hunter: World 1920 x 1080, 3D effect adjust to highest, the game start theme – 47 FPS 2080 MAX-Q=71 FPS Farcry 5 Resolution 1920 x 1080, set 3D effect to Ultra Mode Built-in performance test function, rendered 4639 frames, start theme – 64 FPS 2080 Max-Q rendered 5654 frames, start theme – 75 FPS PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS 1920 x 1080, 3D effect to highest preset, character setup Lobby – 89 FPS This RTX 2060 model present very good performance in some 3D test themes. Maybe because of the clock is higher, the 3D present in some software test did not to far from 2080 Max-Q. It’s pity that I have to wait till my next test on Dell Alienware Area-51M to test RTX 2070 graphics performance, not able to make more GeForce RTX comparison here. AORUS 15 designed with pure Discrete Graphics, so it could output 3x 4K display with Surround Mode. The main design theory is for gaming performance, to avoid some software or games running with UMA graphics. The advantage is 3D performance will be better, the weakness is the battery life will be shorter if only use for office works or internet surfing. Ambient temperature is 31˚C, test CPU and nVIDIA RTX 2060 of cooling performance. Fan speed is around 4500rpm as normal mode. CPU Clock at 3891MHz, running on LinX 0.7.1 to make system at full speed, -73~82˚C, maxima up to 95˚C. If used some bad cooling design notebooks, I might use AIDA64 to make burn-in test, Because the loading is lower and temperature will not raise to ultrahigh status. But since cooling is the advantage of AORUS 15, so used ultra loading of LinX test. We could see that even with heavy loading burn-in test. i7-8750H still could achieve around 3.9GHz. Through the software to check fan speed, if CPU around 90 more degree, the fan will speed up 500 more rpm, not to drop the CPU clock, it’s more user friendly. FurMark mainly to burn in on GPU of RTX 2060 graphics, GPU 1140MHz / MEM 7161MHz. Runs the FurMark to get idle 53˚C and full loading 83˚C. (If turn the fan speed to highest about 7200rpm, GPU full speed temp. will drop to 73˚C) With FurMark burn-in test, the keyboard side is about 39~41˚C, left and right side airflow exhausts about 49~51˚C, back side and D side airflow exhausts is about 59~63˚C, it seems back side and D side temp. will be a bit higher. Go more detail about fan speed an noise, idle or internet usage runs quiet around 2000~2500rpm, if the loading getting higher, it will add 500rpm more per stage, start to have noise over 3500rpm. If set with Normal/Mid-level fan speed, the highest speed only able to get 4500rpm, and a bit higher noise, similar as many gaming notebook full speed fan noise, but mid-high frequency of noise will be more annoying. If set fan at Full Speed will achieve 7200rpm, this rare speed will get much higher noise than most of gaming notebooks. But the cooling is also become higher level to make GPU drop 10˚C, recommend to use headset to play games for this setup is better. About battery life, Windows 10 power option set at balanced, battery mode set to power saving. Actual test WiFi internet to broadcast Youtube 480P video, 50% left after 1 hour, up to 2 hours mostly. Of course I could check the longest time with boot up and idle, but it’s useless for gamers, so I prefer to test actual user experience ways. Because AORUS 15 did not have UMA graphics, so the battery life will be lower. The AORUS 15 (i7-8750H/RTX 2060 6GB) Pros: 1. Solid chassis, assembly quality, ID design all very high quality at this price range. 2. nVIDIA RTX 2060 is higher C/P ratio for the 3D working/gaming users. 3. Big brand LG 15.6” IPS display, with 144Hz refresh rate and 3 side thin bezel. 4. Use higher quality and cost of SAMSUNG DDR4-2666 memory. 5. Support 2 M.2 NVMe SSD and 1 2.5” SATA3 slot. 6. Good function of AORUS Control Center and Nahimic 3 sound software. 7. Cooling system used high performance dual fan + 6 heatpipes + 9 airflow exhausts. 8. Unique Microsoft Azure AI dynamic control the power consumption and efficiency. 9. RGB Zone backlit keyboard with nice force feedback. Cons to improve: 1. A side metallic cover if put it under brighter lights, the finger print will be more obviously. 2. WebCam resolution and quality is lower, hope this could be improve. 3. Non UMA switch design, full time RTX 2060 graphics will drop the battery life. 4. Not recommend to use full speed of fan setup if did not use headset, because 7200rpm is too noisy. 5. Speakers of low frequency effect and sound stage could be improved Performance Rate ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 85/100 Material Rate ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 86/100 Specification Rate ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 85/100 ID design rate ★★★★★★★★★☆ 90/100 Pice/Cost rate★★★★★★★★☆☆ 85/100 On the internet data the AORUS 15 was made by Quanta, design ID and chassis quality is really impressive, last year shared similar model of HP Pavilion Gaming 15, that quality is not even close to AORUS 15. So far in the market the different version comes with i7-8750H with RTX 2060, i7-9750H with GTX 1660Ti, CPU part the 9750H is about 10% higher, GPU part the RTX 2060 is 7%~20% faster compared to different games. The price of i7 9750H with GTX 1660Ti is a bit higher, recommend to choose depends on your request. Besides that, higher level with RTX 2070 got i7-8750H and i7-9750H both models in the market, the price gap is about $200USD. Of course you could take it as on sell the 8th Gen CPU models, but when choose notebook, SPEC. and price also have bigger gap. AORUS 15 from material and SPEC. side is very competitive in the market as many brands, of course every notebook have its Pros and Cons, this article already have detail analysis and comparison for reference. Hope the AORUS gaming notebook could keep improving to make it more competitive and higher value, let consumers have 1 more better choice. After this article should be Alienware Area-51M review, hope to see more new evolution products. Desktop is looking forward to AMD Ryzen 3000 series, might have first timing review. If you like windwithme review articles please welcome to my fans club to Like. To know my personal test and review status, your Reply and Like still my best momentum to moving forward the works.

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CINEBENCH R20.0 CPU => 2556 cb CPU(Single Core) => 408 cb CPUZ 1.88.0 Single Core => 450.8 Multi Core => 3388.2 Fritz Chess Benchmark => 43.67 / 20960 Geekbench 4 Single-Core Score => 5023 Multi-Core Score => 21859 FRYRENDER Running Time => 3m 07s x265 Benchmark 2.1.0 => 35.8FPS Intel 9th Gen i7-9750H just in the market, the clock about 26GHz~4.5GHz, it’s about 300~400MHz, in fact the performance gap is small. Current 8th Gen CPU platform still popular in the market, and the price already dropped to lower range. Basically pick 8750H is more efficient and lower cost. AORUS 15 got stronger cooling system, so it’s easy to have higher score on CPU tests. In previous tests some notebook because of slim design but higher level SPEC., so they might need to boost their fan speed to higher level and test more times to have higher score. DRAM performance test – DDR4 2666 AIDA64 Memory Read - 37260 MB/s Base on 8th Gen architecture with dual channel DDR4 2666 bandwidth, AROUS 15 bandwidth speed already at high level, with higher cost SAMSUNG DRAM, the compatibility and overclock speed is outstanding, if they could open Overclock options, it could be more unique as a gaming notebook. For storage part, this could install dual M.2 SSD and 1 2.5” SASA3 Used Intel 760P M.2 PCIe 512GB SSD + 2TB HDD 5400rpm combination SSD test part – CrystalDiskMark Seq Read - 3061.1 MB/s，Write - 1516.3 MB/s AS SSD Benchmark - 3098 Seq Read - 2636.31 MB/s，Write - 1485.31 MB/s 4K - 64Thrd Read - 876.00 MB/s，Write - 1031.23 MB/s Since most high level notebook used SAMSUNG or TOSHIBA SSD, but Intel 760P got 3230MB/s of read speed, 1625NB/s of write speed. As a single NVMe M.2 SSD, the performance of 760P is already very good, with Intel long term branding image and SSD product line with good quality, it also fits AORUS 15 keep their All Intel Inside strategy with more Intel components. Got a Transcend RF9 USB3.1/UHS-II Card Reader, just fit my test to compared built-in card reader. Used SanDisk Ultra microSD UHS-I 128GB to test. We could see that AORUS 15 built-in card reader also good present, Compared to the comparison external Card Reader, the performance gap is not big. Then take a look on 3D performance test, this model comes with nVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Will also attached previous test of GTX 1070 and RTX 2080 Max-Q for comparisons. 3DMARK Fire Strike => 13860 GTX 1070=14668，2080 MAX-Q=17188 3DMARK Time Spy => 6020 2080 MAX-Q=7509 UNIGINE 2 1080P MEDIUM => 11465 GTX 1070=13537，2080 MAX-Q=14380

Back side IO From left, heat exhaust / NB Lock / USB3.1 Gen2 Type-C (Charge, Display) Mini DP 1.3 / HDMI 2.0 / AC connector / heat exhaust This photo could see the D side deign, half of the surface design with cooling holes, D side on the left and right could see speaker out hole, use stereo dual channel design. AORUS 15 mainly with 3 type of version Entry level with GTX 1660Ti / LG 144Hz IPS FHD display / 180W adaptor This test model with RTX 2060 / LG 144Hz IPS FHD display / 180W adaptor Highest level with RTX 2070 / SHARP 240Hz IGZO FHD display / 230W adaptor At this high level hardware SPEC., the adaptor is light and easy to carry. AORUS Control Center unique software Open up at first page is Smart Dashboard Mainly for hardware monitor, hardware SPEC., and hardware status The AI software on the right top side, it used Microsoft Azure with cloud and learning Use database to learn user experience on the programs, dynamic adjust CPU and GPU power consumptions. In a easy way is to use AI to optimized hardware performance, to have higher efficient on programs. Manager is similar as mobile phone interface Mainly to show the function status and quick open program AORUS Fusion technology, support highest up to 1677M colors of RGB Zone backlit keyboard. Left and right down side could see the aside project lights, could adjust lights. Smart Utilities About hardware update info, system backup, product intro, FAQ and register function. AORUS Control Center unique application got rich functions, Interface also improved a lot, looks like AORUS motherboard software UI But I think the interface and UI design still could be improved. Because windwithme used lots of many brands of high end gaming notebooks for years. So far I think Dell Alienware Command Center is the best, 2nd is MSI Dragon Center 2. Nahimic 3D sound software These years tested many MSI gaming notebook models all used this software The interface and function already updated many versions, it’s useful software Mainly support 4 sound scenario, with 3 functions to make it richer detail setup. Mic page have 2 type for conversation or meeting, also have 3 functions to adjust. Sound tracker is good for FPS gaming, it’s useful for in game experience. Here is the AORUS 15 sound experience, this part is subjective part High Freq. – No too sharp sound, rich detail, high quality present. Mid Freq. – Overall clarity is outstanding, human vocal not strong enough, still have room to improve. Low Freq. – Low frequency drums is clear, mid-low sound is not bad, but the woofer power is too light. Speaker might be the weakness on AORUS 15, the overall present is above the average. Because of the sound stage and mid-low sound is a bit weak, if you have higher sound quality request, recommend to use external speakers. The external headset AMP is good and brings outstanding headset sound detail at this price range. It benefits the gamers who like to use headset. AORUS 15 embedded i7 8750H with 6 Core 12 Thread, basic clock 2.2GHz and up to 4.2GHz. Fan Speed set to middle, about 2500~4500rpm to test CPU performance. CINEBENCH R15 CPU => 1155 cb CPU(Single Core) => 167 cb

Recent years many laptop brands came out more and more gaming notebook in the red sea market, The GIGABYTE gaming laptops is rare to see in the market before. But these 2 years they start to have more products for gaming style design With the positive market competitions, the gaming laptops become much better on design and price range. GIGABYTE got its own gaming brand AORUS with gaming laptops, AORUS series is simple, only got AORUS 15, AORUS 5,7 series in 2019 This simple way might make lower awareness in the market. Let?s get back to the AORUS 15; A cover used metallic design, Black matted coating with high quality. Looks might be a bit of finger print on it. Most of the current matted metal coating notebook chassis had this status. AORUS designed their Eagle shape logo with lines on both side to create speedy style. The Logo and lines will have white lighting when notebook boot up, it will be more fancy if comes with RGB lights. I tested around 2225g, it?s a bit lighter than their formal data. A side and back side heat exhaust sink holes, looks similar as HP Pavilion Gaming 15. Many high level gaming notebook had this kind of design, but AORUS 15 is most outstanding as my user experience. Open the AORUS 15, B and C side design The hinge design closer to the middle on both left and right side, the biggest open angle around 130 degree, because the chassis assembling quality is solid, so it didn?t easily shake when open up the screen. B side designed with thin bezel frame that thin gaming notebook often used since 2018 The AORUS 15 with 6mm thin bezel on 3 sides. Webcam still on the top side, is more convenient and outstanding. 15.6? matted display with IPS panel, with Full HD resolution and 144Hz refresh rate. HD Webcam, work with face tracing function, it?s smooth but image quality could be improved. C side use matted aluminum metallic chassis besides of keyboard. This part is same as A side. Designed with membrane full color backlit keyboard, support RGB Fusion technology. Although the thin membrane keyboard is easy to be soft, but this one is good on feedback. There are branding stickers aside the touchpad, if the sticker is too big will impact the beauty of the ID design, recommend to make it smaller and simplified, or put it under D side is also a way. Touchpad used larger surface design, looks wider on left and right side. This makes more convenient using experience, the pointing is very accurate when moving. In my personal experience, high accuracy touchpad appeared on higher price products mostly. The power button with white light when boot up, the left and right side aside the corner have LED project lights for gaming ambience. On top of C side is power button, it?s same icon as A side image. Align the button it designed with cooling holes with special shapes to give it streamline style. On the upper right side of keyboard key with fan icon, used Fn+Fan key to adjust fan speed. Left side IO From left, heat exhaust / RJ-45 LAN port / USB3.1 (Super Charge) / Micro SD reader Storage light / Power light. The heat exhaust hole design is really good looking and quality. Right side IO From left, headset port / 2x USB 3.1 / heat exhaust The USB 3.1 all Gen1 Type-A format This machine of cooling system used dual 7cm high speed fan, 6 heatpipes, 9 in & out airflow exhausts, it should have very good present on cooling power. The analysis is coming soon.

For many years the Computer Industry into mature stage, many people might think the Computex did not brought big change recently. Of course it’s not like new blue sea product lines that make people amazing, but still a must that keep improving every year. Many brands generated creativity or new design style to make our life richer. Still can see some new concept or creative design at Computex show, its worth to look into them. If you are expecting new revolution generation products, that might be AI or 5G wireless applications. Below was made by windwithme, I took 2 days to study more products and some photos sharing, please reply to support me if you like this article. I don’t want to put to many photos in a article, some SG photos will post on my personal fans FB. If you like windwithme articles, please come to below link to give me a like. That also could know my latest testing models and status. Your reply and like will always cheer me up to make new stuff. Windwithme WWM - 3C all with me！

EVGA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti K|NGP|N version Co-branding with 3DMARK World champion level famous person, used water cooling design. Brand PC assembled with many EVGA products. EVGA got Nu Audio card, it’s software setup UI in the photo. Shuttle Classic System PC brand, demoed many SFF PC systems. XPC Nano X1 for Gaming, built-in GTX 1060 graphics. These years coming more and more smart digital life products, Combined the hardware and capability for SFF PC, designed out many usages on facial recognized, virtual meeting business systems. Bar Type D230, after recognized sexual and ages, recommended 4 products. Intel Core i9-9900KS 8C16T all cores at 5GHz Live Demo Intel Core i7 8565U GPU => Average FPS 13.0 Intel Ice Lake GPU => Average FPS 26.5 Show Girls is also important for Computex report every year, this year seemed getting less. I was told this is Little Snow from 17 Live Streamer.

Main and Second displays made people impressive, also ASUS latest design concept. BIOSTAR Motherboard and Graphics card is core business, also have more product lines. Racing X570GT8 Chipset with fan enhance cooling, it’s normal design on many brands of AMD X570 chipset MBs. Maybe it’s because Ryzen 3000 series supported PCIe 4.0 tech. that makes chipset with higher TDP. SSD series also become their main product line, the test result on right side are the highest level of the speed. Wish to have PCIe 4.0 higher speed M.2 SSD in the near future. Thermaltake launched WaterRam RGB DDR4-3200 in the beginning of 2019. This time they got new ToughRam RGB DDR4-3600 The unique software interface looks much better. Overclocker P1t1 made Live Demo OC on DDR4-4800 Teamgruop Launched TFORCE XTREEM DDR4-4800 High level product M.2 SSD with new Water Cooling thermal pad, made it more colorful. GALAXY M.2 SSD Supported PCIe 4.0, used PHISON E16 Controller Seq Read 4800 MB/s，Seq Write 4000 MB/s As I knew CORSAIR and AORUS have same level products.

This year some famous IT companies did early launch event before the show, that made the Computex more different than before. For sure the new products need to be attractive, that will be better to the pre-show launch event. Attractive enough to catch international buyers, media and consumers’ attention. One of the most typical launch is AMD announced Ryzen 3000 series and Navi GPU. Back to the Computex show, many brands still focus on Gaming products. Used RGB scenario lights to build up many types of computers and gaming gears. First look on Notebook market, after Gaming with RGB lighting, this year most popular design is thin bezel, DELL from US also make Alienware M series for slimmer design. According to the display size named m15 and m17, with brand new ID design. I’m working on the Alienware Area 51M tests, the highest level thick one. The XPS 13 series for many years, many brands still copy its thin design style. The new version of XPS 14 put Webcam on top of the screen, it’s more convenience. GIGABYTE notebook used AORUS for gaming, also launched New AERO series. AERO series designed for creators, AERO 15 silver white looks more elegant. Display came with X-Rite Pantone color calibration, they made calibration for every model in the factory. SAMSUNG AMOLED and Precise Color is their unique feature. AERO 17 Display SPEC and Hardware combinations did not show in the VIP room. AORUS 17 Higher level for Gaming segment, the ID design also very special. New AERO 15/17 series comes with Core i9 and RTX graphics. New AORUS 17 will build up with RTX 2080 high performance version. MSI GE65 Raider with SHARP IGZO 240Hz display GT76 Titan with i9 9900K and Overclocked Full Cores at 5GHz. CINEBENCH R15 CPU => 2155 cb

In recent years, MSI has established a strong reputation for its industry-leading gaming notebooks and also offers a robust Workstation series for professionals. With the recent exhibiting of the PS42 at Computex 2018 in Taipei, MSI now sets its sights on providing premium laptops for those who prioritize portability without a sacrifice in performance. At just over a kilogram with a chic metal chassis as well as a gorgeous narrow bezel design, let’s delve into a closer look at the PS42. The PS42 belongs to the Prestige series and is a newly-designed model. The silver hair-brushed metallic chassis is not only classy but also less susceptible to fingerprints. Its dimensions are 322 x 222 x 15.9 mm at a weight of only 1.19 kg with a discrete graphics card (MX150). The electronic scale weighs the PS42 to be 1203 grams, though this is likely due to systematic error. While this is very light for a 14-inch notebook, there are other models that are even lighter. However, the PS42’s metallic chassis is strong enough that, when pressed, does not give; the PS42 achieves a balance in weight and durability. An MSI Dragon Shield Logo on the A-side painted in an understated silver. Exhausts are towards the rear on both the left and right sides of the chassis; the PS42 contains 2 fans and 3 heat pipes. The rotating shafts are on the left and right edges of the A side, allowing a large opening angle. The B-side is mainly black while the C-side is silver like the A- and B-sides. The webcam is below the B-side screen, similar to the design on the DELL XPS 13. The webcam’s angle isn’t optimal, though at 30fps@720p, its video isn’t choppy. The upper, left and right sides feature the narrow-bezel design at only 5.7mm. The 14 –inch, IPS-level matte screen sports a resolution of 1920 x 1080; the screen ratio is approximately 80% The C-side is predominantly dedicated to the keyboard. Each key has a white backlight which can be turned on or off. The power button is centered above the keyboard while the small holes arranged horizontally are designed for the cooling system. The keyboard feedback is slightly soft but it is above-average in terms of thin laptops. The touchpad has excellent sensitivity. The scissor-switch design requires a harder press for precise response. The black rectangle to the upper-left of the touchpad is for fingerprint identification, a function that is only available on higher-end business laptops. With Windows Hello, unlocking your laptop is highly convenient. I/O ports on the right. Left to right: Kensington lock / SD card reader / USB3.1 Gen1 Type-C / 2 X USB3.1 Gen1 Type-A. I/O ports on the left. Left to right: power input / HDMI / USB3.1 Gen1 Type-C / Audio Combo. Three indicators: power, battery, and Wi-Fi. The PS42 can be opened to a maximum degree of 180. Sharing images and information in a meeting is easy. Take a look at D-side, the internal cooling module is aided by a large area of ventilation to improve heat dissipation. The stereo speakers are located at the left and right sides below the touchpad. Five rubber feet are evenly distributed at the bottom with enough thickness to benefit heat dissipation. The 4-cell battery is built-in and non-removable, running at 50Whr. The power adapter charges at 65W; compact at only 213 grams, it is easily portable. The PS442’s single DDR4 slot supports up to 16GB – this is a design shared by many ultra-thin models. MSI's exclusive software in its Gaming series is among its strength; lately, it has experienced customization. The Prestige series with its exclusive software has been anticipated. The PS42 adopts the latest version of Dragon Center 2.0, with the color scheme now black and white instead of the black and red in the Gaming series. The desktop can be seen through the translucent software window; the System Monitor displays the current hardware status. The System Tuner page is the same as that on gaming notebooks. The adjustment page for DPI, hardware performance, fan speed and screen color settings. There are 4 sets of original environment settings as well as 2 sets of user-defined settings for the user to adjust the settings according to his preferences. Shift has four performance modes: Turbo (GPU overclocking), Sport, ECO, and Power options. Fan Speed has the modes of Auto, Basic, Advanced, and Cooler Boost. A wealth of options is offered for both performance and cooling, so the PS42’s appeals not only in its business look but also in its performance adjustability. MSI True Color This feature is also available on the Gaming series and is mainly used to adjust screen colors. I feel that the accuracy of screen colors may be more important for business purposes. True Color provides six modes which can each be slightly adjusted. Users with high requirements for drawing and image processing, can not only save their money on a color-calibration device but also utilize more functions. The PS42 supports Nahimic 3 technology and also offers MSI's own audio software interface. Although many thin laptops are weak in terms of audio and related software, MSI employs its expertise in gaming, extrapolating great sound to the PS42. The following describes my personal listening experience and is subjective. I compared the PS42 to the Ultrabook. When the speaker is turned up to 60%, the volume is somewhat above-average. When it is turned up to 100%, the volume is decently loud. High frequencies – excellent detail though lacking in punch Middle frequencies - The resolution is very good. When listening to songs, fullness is lacking; the overall performance is still above standard Low frequencies - low frequency sound is clear; heavy bass is booming If I compare this PS42 to some Ultrabooks that I've shared before. Inserting a premium speak system into a thin laptop is challenging. The overall audio experience on the PS42 is excellent among the light and thin models. More fullness on the middle frequencies as well as a wider sound field would great improve this system. The microphone also has more features than most of the thin and light notebooks. It is more convenient for users who have video conferencing or business needs. In the high-end gaming notebook market, other than DELL Alienware’s exclusive software, I personally think that a program with rich features and an exquisite layout is MSI’s Dragon Center 2.0. The PS42 also supports Dragon Center 2.0, and the added value will be much better than similar-level products. After personally testing many DELL notebooks and HP Ultrabooks, the software support for those models is much weaker than that for the PS42. MSI PS42 equipped with Intel 8th gen. Core i7-8550U, TDP 10~25W. The base clock is 1.8Ghz, and the maximum overclocking can reach 4.0Ghz (this performance can be achieved with a single core). The following is the multifaceted performance test of PS42: CINEBENCH R15 CPU => 534 cb CPU (Single Core) => 162 cb CPUZ 1.86.0 Single Core => 397 6C12T Multi Core => 1653 Fritz Chess Benchmark => 21.71/10421 Geekbench 4 Single-Core Score => 4733 Multi-Core Score => 11643 FRYRENDER Running Time => 6m 27s x265 Benchmark 2.1.0 => 18.71 FPS PCMARK => 3786 Unti and including the 7th generation, Intel’s i7 processors for ultra-thin notebooks consist of 2 cores and 4 threads. Since the 8th generation, the i7 processors on Ultrabooks have consisted of 4 cores, 8 threads. Audio and video purposes such as conversion and editing have experienced great performance improvements. I have previously tested the Ultrabook featuring the i7-8650U – the higher clock speed pushes its performance a little higher. However, the MSI PS42, equipped with the i5-8550U, has good performance and renders the price more affordable. The storage device is a 512G M.2 PCIe Gen.3 SSD slot And the SSD that this PS42 is equipped with is SAMSUNG MZVLB512HAJQ AS SSD Benchmark - 3547 Seq Read - 2418.72 MB/s，Write - 1798.45 MB/s 4K - 64Thrd Read - 1059.46 MB/s，Write - 1238.36 MB/s CrystalDiskMark Seq Read - 3340.5 MB/s，Write - 1900.2 MB/s This SSD model is PM981, which is also the new SSD of SAMSUNG. Temperature and performance performs well. Most of the power saving options of BIOS can be turned off, so 4K performance will be lower. In the field of notebooks, PM981 is a very efficient M.2 SSD. In addition, many notebooks of other brands have different SSD models for different regions, periods or versions. The PS42 may also have other SSDs of other brands, and the speed will vary from specification to specification. The difference between the two versions of PS42 is the NVIDIA GeForce MX150 2GB GDDR5. Except for that, other hardware configurations are almost the same, of course, the price will be different. This article is the NVIDIA MX 150 standard edition which we used to test 3D performance. 3DMARK Fire Strike => 3235 UNIGINE 2 1080P MEDIUM => 2465 Dota2, this game has been purchased around 2012, and there are still some people playing this game. 1920 x 1080, all the setting is best, begin with the character setting - 152 FPS Get into the game at the beginning - 71 FPS League of Legends 1920 x 1080, all the 3D setting is pretty high, get into the game at the beginning - 211 FPS PAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 1280 X 720, 3D setting is medium, begin with the character setting - 48 FPS Add, 3D setting is ultra, begin with the character setting - 31 FPS The NVIDIA GeForce MX 150 is close to the GeForce GT 1030 and is capable of dealing with all kinds of entry 3D games. Some games that require mid-level or higher 3D performance need to lower resolution or decrease special effects. But there is also a chance to have the smoother experience. Compared to the Intel UHD Graphics 620, in most scenarios, the MX 150 is about 60-200% higher in 3D performance, making the PS42 more capable. If you have the need for 3D modeling or drawing, it would be better to choose the MX 150 version. And if you have the sufficient budget, it is recommended to directly go for the MX150 version to avoid that Intel Graphics 620 occupies the memory. Because in the long-term, if Intel Graphics 620 occupies too much of the memory, the smoothness will drop. Burn-In test, the power setting is balance, the temperature is about 28 degrees Celsius. We turn on the Cooler Boost to run LinX 0.6.5, when the CPU really kicks into overdrive, the temperature is about 72-74 degrees Celsius, the highest temperature is 85 degrees Celsius for a moment. And if we turn down the Cooler Boost to run LinX 0.6.5, when the CPU really kicks into overdrive, the temperature is about 78-81 degrees Celsius, the highest temperature is 86 degrees Celsius for a moment. Although the Intel CPU will be much lower at the full clock, the CPU temperature performs well. Turn off the Cooler Boost at full speed, the noise is a bit high-pitched, but the volume is quite low. Turn on the Cooler Boost at full speed, the noise increases, but compared with other models, the volume of noise is only a bit louder. When we run FurMark and turn on the Cooler Boost, the highest temperature is 87 degrees Celsius once. When we turn off the Cooler Boost and run FurMark, the highest temperature could be 92 degrees Celsius once. According to the comparison above, we can see the difference between with MSI Cooler Boost 3 and without it. The temperature performance of the CPU is quite satisfied, and the GPU is quite good in terms of thin and light models. Especially the noise volume, people will be amazed that the volume isn’t loud, but it will be better, if the pitch of the noise could be mid- or low frequency. During the burn-in test, the exhausts on the C-side are about 38-40 degrees Celsius, and the highest temperature of the exhausts behind is about 42 degrees Celsius. The highest temperature of the exhausts on the D-side is about 52 degrees Celsius, the temperature performance of PS42 is pretty good in terms of thin and light models. In terms of the battery lifetime, the power setting is set to be balance mode, and battery setting is set to save power. Officially advertises that the battery lifetime of the PS42 is up to 10 hours, but that may be only under the circumstances like some paperwork or online browsing. Summarize all the features and advantages parts of MSI Prestige PS42 8RB 1. The appearance is designed with metallic hair-brushed, and that helps in improving the texture and aesthetic design. 2. 14-inch with narrow bezel design could make PS42 roughly as small as the other 13-inch laptops, and a discrete graphics card within a 1.2 kg laptop. 3. The 8th Generation Intel Core i7-8550U Processor has the 4 cores, 4 threads architecture that allows multiplex performance to be much better than the 7th Generation Intel i7 Processors with the 2C4T architecture. 4. The performance of MX150 graphics card in 3D modeling is much better than the Intel UHD 620 graphics. 5. The interface of Dragon Center 2.0 is very fine, the functions plus the ability of software integration are great as well. 6. The MX150 version with Cooler Boost 3 which has two fans on both right- and left side plus 3 heat pipes. 7. The exclusive Nahimic 3 sound software has more sufficient functions than the thin and light notebooks of other brands. 8. It’s pretty ingenious to put a fingerprint sensor which is usually seen in the mid- and high-end business notebooks on the touchpad. 9. The 65W transformer is small in size and light in weight, improving the convenience of carrying out. The part that can be improved in the future 1. It will be more convenient if the webcam is at the top of the screen. 2. Although the noise of the fan is not loud, it will be better if it is a low frequency. Performance ★★★★★★★★★☆ 90/100 Material ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 88/100 Price ★★★★★★★★★☆ 90/100 Appearance ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 86/100 Cost–performance ratio ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 83/100 Finally, MSI launches the mid- and high-end thin and light laptop. Besides PS42, there’s the P65 which is lately launched. MSI also applies the concept of gaming to the PS42, which has more features than many thin and light laptops of other brands. There are quite a number of laptops which price is between $1,000-1,300 on the market. Consumers need to compare more while choosing. The narrow bezel design in14-inch with thin and light chassis, it’s only around 1.2kg, and have a MX150 graphics card get to choose. In terms of chassis design, the PS42 is really great, of course, there are still some flaws needed to be improved. And if compared with 13-inch thin and light laptops that I’ve shared, like DELL Latitude, XPS 13 or HP Spectre 13. PS42 is quite great actually. Moreover, the prices of the three laptops above are higher. If the budget is sufficient, and you happen to need a mid-and high-end ultra-thin, business purpose, image drawing, film transfer, that can be easily carried. Then MSI PS42 should be a worthwhile option to be in the purchase list. This article also shared on my personal Facebook -Windwithme WWM If this article helps you to know more about this product, please feel free to click like to encourage me.

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six® Siege 1920 x 1080，GRAPHICS preset Ultra In Game Theme - 146 FPS Previous test with GTX 1060 got 110 FPS，GTX 1070 got 167 FPS The same game theme – 153FPS, add 4.8% after overclocked. PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS 1920 x 1080, set 3D effect at Highest, Lobby character setup theme – 78FPS Lobby character setup theme – 85FPS, add 8.9% after overclocked. The Turbo Mode that overclocked GTX 1070 Max-Q Core/VRAM over 200MHz, benchmarks could raise up 10% performance, in game FPS around 4.8~8.9% depend on different games. That made the GTX 1070 Max-Q overall 3D performance closer to GTX 1070, also more fun at overclock feature. Because the GS series designed with Ultra Slim type, it’s critical limitation to put GTX 1070 Max-P version on thermal, power consumption and size. The GS65 with much optimized interior design to achieve the highest performance inside. The room temperature is about 31°C, tested the GPU of GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q with its cooling capability. Try FurMark test, idle at 49°C, full speed at 87°C Shift set at Sport and Fan Speed Auto of GPU burn-in test status Keyboard surface around 30~41°C, top side and aside of airflow exhausts was about 42~48°C. The noise level present is outstanding, even the GPU temp. was not as low as GS63 at 83°C, but the noise level reduced a lot. Enable Cooler Boost Mode made higher noise level, it’s better to use headset to play, but the temperature from 87°C dropped to 78°C. CPU default clock from 2.2GHz~4.1GHz, battery mode set to High Performance. Tested with LinX 0.6.5 at full loading speed, around 82~90°C, maxima up to 93°C. Enable Cooler Boost for reference, 80~86°C, maxima up to 91°C. Intel high level Core i7 from 1~7th Generation all came with 4C8T architecture, the 8th Gen. become 6C12T, since it enhanced a lot on multi-task works, but more challenge to high level notebooks, the cooling surface was very limited, and slim notebooks even more challenge of thermal design. Last GS63 with 4C8T of Core i7 CPU presented 88~92°C with same burn-in test apps. Seems the GS65 temperature even a bit lower than GS63 with Core i7 8750H, the cooling design really improved. C side just around 31~38°C when CPU at full loading speed, the up side and left-right side airflow exhaust is abour 41~47°C. No matter on CPU or GPU burn-in temperature, GS65 was getting lower temperature than other brand of same high level gaming notebooks. About battery life, set Windows 10 power option at balanced, battery option set at power saving mode. System Tuner to Theater Mode to playback DVD video; still got 55% power after 4 hours playback. 8% left after 8 hours playback with disable the WiFi connection. But still more than 6 hours even enable WiFi. So when you go out to use for entertainment usage, proper setup could extend the outstanding battery life for GS65. Summarized on the GS65 Stealth Thin 8RF Pros & Advantage: 1. Golden edge line ID design, the lightest 15.6” narrow frame gaming notebook. 2. NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q graphics with Turbo mode, made ultra-slim notebook with higher 3D performance. 3. 8th Gen Core i7 with 6C12T architecture that enhanced multi-tasks working performance. 4. Matted IPS-Level of 144Hz/7ms display and narrow bezel, and applied True Color 2.0 color calibration technology. 5. Dragon Center 2 interface become more elegant with rich control and features. 6. Cooler Boost Trinity of thermal module designed with 4 heatpipes & 3 fans to become more powerful than previous design. 7. Keyboard feedback is outstanding, SSE3 app handle the Per-Key back light management, Macro keys and Gaming Mode for gamers. 8. Headset output embedded with ESS SABRE HiFi DAC, support up to Hi-Res Audio format sound quality. 9. Dynaudio sound speakers with Nahimic 3, presented much better sound around all ultra-slim notebooks. 10. New 180W adaptor even smaller than previous 150W design, more convenient for carry out. Cons & Enhancements 1. A side cover is easier to attached finger print, very obvious under brighter environment. 2. WebCam only got 720p resolution, and image quality is not good enough under darker environment. 3. If press the chassis will feel a little softy feedback, this happened very often on slim notebooks. 4. Recommend the Dragon logo on A cover to use 3D material; that will make it looks higher value, B side black MSI logo is not clear, it will be better if use golden color logo. Performance Ratio ★★★★★★★★★☆ 92/100 Material Ratio ★★★★★★★★★☆ 90/100 Specification Ratio ★★★★★★★★★☆ 92/100 Aesthetics Ratio ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 86/100 Price-Value Ratio ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 85/100 Did mention there were 2 brands launched same type of 15.6” narrow bezel slim gaming notebooks, if pick them with Core i7 8750H, GTX 1070 Max-Q and FHD 144Hz display as a standard. These 3 models came at same price range included MSI, so consumers should compared the material and design to choose. GS65 8RF designed with DDR4 32GB, and 512GBx2 NVMe M.2 SSD Other 2 brands at same price range comes with DDR4 16GB RAM and single 512GB SSD, although it’s all 144Hz FHD display, but GS65 showed IPS level panel and 7ms response time. Furthermore with SABRE HiFi headset DAC, Cooler Boost Trinity thermal design, MSI own design APPs are more outstanding, the main Dragon Center 2 with more elegant UI and rich functions, True Color 2 with sRGB and 6 mode adjustment and Nahimic 3 audio enhancer, put all high level features on notebooks. Frankly speaking, if a notebook only compared on top level hardware SPEC., many brands are able to put hardware into a notebook body. But included ID design with own style, cooling solution, functions and features, software and usage, better user experience, those detail took long time evolution on products for years. In before the DELL Alienware was great on these points, but recent years MSI did catch up even exceed to higher level in some ways. The GS65 maybe not 100% perfect but already got really high score, it’s a great balanced on hardware, features and software combination of ultra slim gaming notebook although still have some small part could be improved. If you like the product review articles by windwithme, you are welcomed to my FB fans club and give me a like. You could get faster noticed about my latest review status. Your feedback and like always the great momentum for me to move forward on the reviews!

PCMARK10 => 5103 Storage designed with dual M.2 PCIe Gen.3 SSD slot, and 1 slot supported M.2 SATA interface. This GS65 8RF used 2 SAMSUNG MZVLB512HAJQ with RAID0. CrystalDiskMark Seq Read - 3501.5 MB/s，Write - 3256.0 MB/s AS SSD Benchmark - 3426 Seq Read - 2908.68 MB/s，Write - 2960.23 MB/s 4K - 64Thrd Read - 1061.38 MB/s，Write - 967.93 MB/s This SSD should be PM981 512GB, above are the performance with RAID0. But the chipset support up to PCI-e Gen3 x4 bandwidth limitation, not like SATA3 RAID to double the performance. So the Max. performance is up to 3500+ MB/s around, plus the storage of 4k test will be lower because the notebook power saving technology is not able to manual disable. But if we consider in the notebook field, PM981 of RAID0 already the highest speed level of M.2 performance. Embedded with 2 kinds of GPU, one is Intel Core i7-8750H of built-in HD630 graphics. The 2nd one is nVIDIA Geforce GTX 1070 with 8GB GDDR5 VRAM of Max-Q versions. Below numbers all based on GTX 1070 Max-Q tests, same software with 2 types of preset and score Up: Shift Sport + Fan Speed Auto Down: Shift Turbo + Fan Speed Cooler Boost 3DMARK 11 => 16105 3D MARK 11 => 17297, improved 7.4% after overclocked. 3DMARK Fire Strike => 12785 3D MARK Fire Strike => 14067, improved 10% after overclocked. UNIGINE 2 1080P MEDIUM => 10171 Compared GTX1060 => 7902, GTX1070 => 13537 UNIGINE 2 1080P MEDIUM => 11217, improved 10% after overclocked. Assassin's Creed Syndicate 1920 x 1080，GRAPHIC preset ULTRA HIGH In Beginning Theme - 49 FPS Previous test with GTX 1060 was 37 FPS，GTX 1070 was 59 FPS The same game theme – 53FPS, add 8.2% after overclocked.

D side has bigger difference, besides of larger surface of holes for airflow, the based robber came with bigger size and taller, that helps more for airflow to reduce the heat more effectively. Built-in 4-Cell battery with 82Whr, larger than GS63 as well. Application is also a very important point that could enhance user experience for convenience, the Dragon Center is MSI own design APP, 2.0 version with brand new interface and enhanced a lot on the features. The UI showed it’s transparent image to see through your desktop. System Monitor showed current hardware working status. System Tuner About DPI, hardware performance, fan speed or display color adjusts setup. Original with 4 preset, and 2 user define profile could save by user’s own preference. Shift mode got Turbo (GPU OC), Sport,ECO, Power Options of 4 types. Fan Speed got Auto, Basic, Advanced and Cooler Boost modes. No matter on performance wise or cooling mode, it all applied many modes that made GS65 more advanced usages with fun. Gaming Mode You could see few hottest game titles supported here, like this GS65 already installed PUBG, users could through here to launch the game with MSI apps to change the keyboard backlit for the game hot keys. MSI True Color, display colors adjust The Display Software was rare at NB products market, True Color comes with 6 modes for user to adjust with favors. MSI formal preset is sRGB mode, but users could still make more detail adjustment on each of the 6 modes. The sound enhancement APP kept on Nahimic 3, become Microsoft Market Place APP, it’s more convenient to use, the UI changed a lot, rich features, with sound stages adjustment, mic enhancement, gaming stereo and other detail setup. Here was my GS65 sound experience; this part might be more subjective point of view, compared with other high level gaming laptops. High Frequency – No over-sharped tone, rich of detail, presented high level quality. Mid Frequency – The sound detail was outstanding, strong vocal over average, but still could be better. Low Frequency – It presented good with clear drum sound, but it could be more powerful. Within this slim chassis design and narrow bezel frame, the speakers only got very limited space. With 2x 2watts speakers, turn on the maxima volume is really loud when play games in the room. The authentic sound detail is the most outstanding part, it’s really good no matter FHD video or play games. Headset output designed with ESS SABRE HiFi DAC, supported up to 192kHz/24bit as Hi-Res sampling rate. When use Hi-Res Audio headset to listen, the sound quality could compete the top level DELL Alienware products. Keyboard APP is Steelseries Engine 3 Applied with general backlit management, rich of Macro-keys setup and multiple virtual keyboards for any different usage. Some of the lighting mode was preset inside that user could use, with Per-Key RGB function that could make the color modes become very fancy. The default with golden light made the dual wave from middle to aside, it really fits the color and style of GS65. GS65 came with 2 GPUs first, the 8RF with GTX 1070 and 8RE with GTX 1060 versions. Also got different DDR4 and M.2 SSD capacities inside, that comes with different price range. Here came the GS65 8RF of top level hardware test, CPU used Intel Core i7 8750H, use Sport mode with Auto fan set to test, it’s the most balanced at performance and noise. CPUZ 1.85.0 Single Thread => 470 6C12T Multiple Thread => 3222 Fritz Chess Benchmark => 41.67/19999 CINEBENCH R15 CPU => 1124 cb CPU(Single Core) => 177 cb FRYRENDER Running Time => 2m 22s x265 Benchmark 2.1.0 => 34.36 FPS The Intel 8th Gen. Core i7 8750H core clock is 2.2~4.1GHz, the core architecture is 6C12T, compared to last Gen. same level of Core i7 7700HQ clock at 2.8~3.8GHz, core numbers only 4C8T. The Core i7 8750H single Core got about 8% performance enhancement, multi-Core with full speed will have 52%~65% performance enhancement depends on the usages. It’s really great help on high quality video editing, image or artwork designs, which really needs more CPU Cores to speed up. Besides of gaming enhancement, the 8th Gen architecture could also make the video clip and artwork more effectively.

More and more mobile devices become narrow bezel or frameless design to get higher competitive capability. As the Ultrabook or mobile phone in recent years, becomes slimmer and lighter is the most important trend. Thought about the design on Gaming Notebooks, since the design needs more high performance hardware and cooling solution, if the technology, ID and material is keep improving, maybe the frame and size could become thinner and lighter year by year. Evantually there are 3 of 15.6” thin bezel and ultra slim gaming notebooks came out in the market, this time it’s MSI GS65, the company did work hard on the gaming market. The full name is GS65 Stealth Thin 8RF, it comes with 3 versions by different hardware combinations. Evolved from last version of slim notebook GS63, the GS65 designed with narrow bezel and brand new ID design. By the way, the previous generation GS63 with GTX1050 graphics was high C/P ratio, really worth of the price with great value! GS65 with metallic A cover and matted touched design. Printed with golden MSI Dragon logo, the frame also uses shinning gold lines to make it looks higher quality and special. The dimension is 357.7x247.7x17.9mm, the weight is 1.88kg B side attached the AUO 15.6” IPS level panel, with FHD resolution, 144Hz refresh rate and 7ms response time. The bezel only got 4.9mm slim, display ratio is 82%, camera on the top side is better place than some others at bottom side. WebCam is 720P 30fps, the mic on both side support stereo sound recording. The video image will have more noise if it’s darker environment, but the image quality and detail is better than GS63. C side is keyboard side, besides of that it’s all matted metallic material, this is same design as A cover side. Keyboard kept the design with Steelseries slim Per-Key RGB keyboard, but no numeric keys. Around the slim type membrane keyboard notebooks, Alienware still better than GS65 of the feedback type feeling. Power button on the top center position, use brushed treatment with golden edge frame line to make it higher quality. A small light on the right side, white light means it’s using UMA, orange light means it’s using GTX graphics. There were align with holes for airflow across the power button, that makes cool air into the fan to enhance the cooling system performance. The MSI logo on the bottom of panel is not obvious, it will be more shinning if comes with golden material. The IO port on left side Kensington lock \ airflow exhaust \ RJ45 LAN port \ 2x Type-A USB3.1 port The 3.5mm golden jack for HiFi headset and Mic audio jack. The headset output design with ESS SABRE HiFi DAC. The hinge frame and airflow exhaust hole design with golden material inside, it makes the appearance looks higher level. The right side IO design Start from left, Type-A USB3.1 \ Type-C Thunderbolt 3 with USB3.1 Gen 2 & DP \ Mini DisplayPort \ HDMI 2.0\ AC input \ black-golden airflow exhaust There were three 15.6” narrow bezel gaming notebooks in the market, GIGABYTE Aero 15X about 2kgs, 18.9mm height, RAZER BLADE 15 about 2.07~2.15kgs, 17.3mm height, the thinnest but also the heaviest one. MSI GS65 formal shows 1.88kg, tested model is 1862g is the lightest one, 17.9mm height in the middle. But most of the ultra-slim notebooks came with softer chassis, so the weight depends on the design, the stronger chassis might enlarge the size. But it’s not always like this rule. The GS65 display could open to 180 degree to become flat; it helps on office meeting or group discussion to share the screen. If this panel could design with touch feature, that will be great.

After activating Cooler Boost 5, the idle is now at 37 degree C and full load at 70 degree C. With 2-degrees difference at idle and 8-degrees difference at full load, are pretty impressive results. The Cooler Boost 5 cooling module of the GE63VR does a pretty good job with GPU cooling, and keeps the GTX 1070 under 80 degrees even at full load, without activating Cooler Boost 5. The i7-7700HQ CPU comes in default at 2.8~3.8GHz, with power mode set at Balance. When running full load with LinX 0.6.5 – 85~96 Activate Cooler Boost 5, and run full load with LinX 0.6.5 – 75~83 LinX 0.6.5 is one of the most demanding burn-in software, as others usually generate lower temperatures. From what I can recall, launching burn-in test with AIDA64 has a lower temperature by over 10 degrees than with LinX 0.6.5. The fan noise is quite loud when activating the cooling button, which is only suggested if you wear headphones or have speaker volume at over 60. This prevents you from being affected by the full speed fan noise. Otherwise the GE63VR stays relatively silent under standard circumstances. Both the 7RE and 7RF version of the GE63VR use the same gaming display. With FHD resolution, 94% NTSC, 3ms response time, and 120Hz refresh rate, these are one of those rare high-end TN displays. They are also ideal for games with fast-paced actions, like the modern FPS games. We tried adjusting both notebook displays to a similar brightness, to better compare the image details. On the left is the high-end TN display from the GE63VR; on the right is an IPS display from the ASUS ROG GL502VS, which has a similar spec and price with the GE63VR. The comparison is made with the built-in Windows 10 wallpaper, but you can use your own if interested. Many used to have the impression of TN displays having smaller visible angle than IPS. Yet the comparison clearly shows that the high-end TN display nowadays already have similar, if not better, viewing angles than high-end IPS displays. With a wide color coverage of 94% NTSC, it’s a definite win against the competing ASUS IPS display, whether you’re viewing from the front or the sides. I’ve seen many beauty IPS displays, but with more and more manufacturers, the quality and spec also varies greatly. Opening up the bottom cover of the MSI GE63VR 7RF Raider reveals the interior hardware design. Two DDR4-2400 slots and woofer on the right; two more DDR4 slots preloaded with 16BX2 under the keyboard. Two NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD slots; 2.5†SATA3 HDD to the left. The top section is the new MSI Cooler Boost 5 cooling design. The cooling design has been the focus of MSI gaming notebooks over the recent years. With the latest Cooler Boost 5, there are dual fans, 7 heat pipes, and 3 cooling sections. The massive cooling design with ventilation across multiple sections on the chassis prove how the GE63VR takes cooling very seriously. There are total of 4 speakers, certified by the renowned Danish company Dynaudio. Two 3W giant woofers and two 2W stereo speakers. The thermal pad on the M.2 SSD is also a thoughtful design for the high-speed high-temperature NVMe M.2 SSDs. I was planning to demonstrate with videos, but the recorded files size ended up a bit too big. I’ve replaced them with photos for now. SteelSeries per-key RGB backlight keyboard and USB port lighting. They look better in person than in photos. I couldn’t help but think that I was positive to compare with Dell and Alienware. ROG may have been the leading brand for motherboards, but just doesn’t seem to be putting enough effort in gaming notebooks. There’s still much to be improved to catch up with other gaming notebook brands. Battery life. Windows 10 power mode set to balance. Built-in battery capacity of 4730mAh 51Wh. Seems to be slightly small. With GTX 1070 playing DVD video, it’s left with 66% after 1hr; 30% after 2hr; 10% after 2hr 30min. The maximum battery life of the GE63VR is around 2hr 40min, a somewhat acceptable number considering the high-end spec. Conclusion for MSI GE63VR 7RF Raider Pros and Advantage: 1. GE63VR has more speedy ID design, also more sturdy than the previous GE62. 2. Features up to a standard NVIDIA GTX 1070 graphics, drastically enhanced its 3D performance. 3. The GIANT speakers and woofers offer the best sound I’ve ever heard so far. 4. 120Hz/3ms display with 94%NTSC color coverage is exactly what’s needed for gaming. It even comes with True Color 2.0 color calibration. 5. The built-in Dragon Center is feature-rich and also nicely integrated other exclusive software. 6. The new Cooler Boost 5 boosts the cooling capability of the GE series. 7. Exceptional keyboard feedback with software that offers RGB lighting, macro, multiple profiles. 8. ESS SABRE HiFi Audio DAC for headphone output. Supports “Hi-Res Audio readyâ€. 9. Super RAID 4 with two high speed NVMe M.2 SSDs in RAID 0. 10. Killer solution for both wired and wireless network to form Killer DoubleShot Pro, plus the Killer Shield design. Cons for Improvement: 1. The metal brush pattern on the A-side top cover leaves fingerprints easily. 2. Only 720p resolution for the webcam. The image quality could also be improved. 3. The high-end TN display has wide visible angle for top and both sides, but lacks when viewed from the bottom. 4. Slightly low battery life due to the GTX 1070. It’d be better if it lasts over 3.5hr. Performance Ratio ★★★★★★★★★☆ 93/100 Material Ratio ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 88/10 Specification Ratio ★★★★★★★★★☆ 93/100 Aesthetics Ratio ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 86/100 Price-Value Ratio ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 88/100 Comparing to the last gen GE62, the GE63VR has removed the built-in ODD, but still weighs the same. This is due to many of the enhancement under the hood, especially the cooling design and the full GTX 1060/1070 graphics. The huge sound chambers grant the GE63VR far superior audio experience in volume, detail, and bass. The quality and sturdiness upon picking up the notebook proves this to be a quite an evolutions over GE62. With the MSRP just under 2000 USD, the MSI GE63VR 7RF actually costs slightly less than its rivals with similar spec. The GE73VR with GTX 1060 6GB also has quite the aggressive pricing, with MSRP around 1600 USD. The GE63VR is the mid-high model among MSI lineup, and will probably also comes in various versions to choose from, just like the GE62. So far, only the version with i7-7700HQ and GTX 1060 6GB is available in Taiwan. It’s available with GTX 1060 6BB and 1070 8GB for GPU options. If they come in 4C4T Core i5 with GTX 1060, they should be able to further lower the price tag, and become even more affordable for those who love the GE series. Aside from 3D performance, I think a lot still needs to be worked on, like audio, display, keyboard, cooling, chassis. The GE63VR may not have scored 100/100 in all aforementioned category, but are at least 80~90+ in most. The GE63VR is a well-balanced notebook with gaming-grade performance. Of course, there’re still some things that I’d like to see addressed. But the new version already has a major upgrade. I look forward to seeing more verions available for the consumers. This article also shared on my personal Facebook -Windwithme WWM If this article helps you to know more about this product, please feel free to click like to encourage me.

CINEBENCH R15 CPU => 731 cb CPU (Single Core) => 159 cb The GE63VR features Intel Core i7-7700HQ, with 4C8T. The main difference from the previous gen (Core i-6700HQ) is the frequency, 2.8~3.8GHz vs 2.6~3.5GHz. I’ve tested and shared many results from Intel 6th gen and 7th gen CPU performance. The performance is almost on identical when under the same frequency. The 5~10% increase is due to the slightly higher frequency from the 7th gen. It is more rely on better cooling capability. PCMARK10 => 4768 The storage comes in two M.2 NVMe PCIe Gen.3 x4 SSD in RAID 0 config. The 7RE features 128GBX2, and the even higher 7RF comes in 256GBX2. The model is Samsung MZVLW256HEHP, aka PM961. The hard drive is a HGST 1TB 7200rpm drive. AS SSD Benchmark - 3272 Seq Read - 2878.09 MB/s Write - 2065.34 MB/s 4K - 64Thrd Read - 1054.32 MB/s Write - 889.37 MB/s The SSDs comes with the performant M.2 SSD PM961. There are also the faster SM961. However, the highest read speed for a single PM961 is 2800 MB/s, write speed of 1100 MB/s. The RAID 0 configuration also enhances the transfer speed. It’s a shame that both desktop PCs and notebooks are still far from the ideal of PCIe M.2 RAID 0, not sure if Intel RST still requires improvement or that Intel chipset still can’t performance at its fullest. Either way, the GE63VR with NVMe M.2 SSD and 1TB HDD is an excellent config with both speed and capacity. Both the Intel HD Graphics 630 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 are featured as its graphics. The GTX 1070 comes with 8GB GDDR5, just like the desktop counterpart. The following results are from the GTX 1070: 3DMark Fire Strike => 14668 For comparison, the previously tested GTX 1060 scored 8883, and GTX 1070 Max-Q scored 11910. UNIGINE 2 1080p Medium => 13537 For comparison, GTX 1060 scored 7902. Far Cry 4 1920x1080 resolution with 3D effects at Ultra. Opening scene – 283 FPS, right after the opening animation (shown in pic) – 90 FPS. For comparison, the previous GTX 1060 has 82 FPS, and GTX 1060 Max-Q has 86 FPS. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six® Siege 1920 x 1080 with graphics at Ultra. Beginning of the game - 167 FPS The previous GTX 1060 has 110 FPS and the GTX 1070 MAX-Q has 145 FPS Assassin's Creed Syndicate 1920 x 1080 with ULTRA HIGH graphic preset. Beginning of the game - 59 FPS The previous GTX 1060 has 37 FPS and the GTX 1070 MAX-Q has 48 FPS NieR:Automata 1920 x 1080 with High graphic preset. Switch to the highest settings with 8X Anti-Aliasing and 16X Texture Fliter After browing through the internet for some answers, we’ve confirmed that the frame rate has been capped at 60 FPS, the same number even after turning off V-Sync. Reviewers abroad tested GTX 1060 and scored only around 45~53 FPS, and the GTX 960 at only 28~32 FPS. This is quite a 3D performance intensive game. The GE63VR 7RF features the standard GTX 1070. Its powerful 3D performance can be observed from the previous tests, outperforming than regular GTX 1060 quite a lot in many of the 3D games. The Max-Q GTX 1070 falls somewhere in between the two. Room temperature at 30 degree C. GPU NVIDIA GTX 1070 cooling capability test. Idle at 39 degree C and full load at 78 degree C with FurMark.

MSI has also improved a lot on their exclusive software over the past two years. Almost every features comes with its own software that allows for finer tweaks, especially for the gaming features, like audio, keyboard, display, etc. This is also where most of the other brands that I’ve tested fall short, like Dell or HP. First with the audio, Nahimic 2+. The audio software has been constantly upgraded to add more features. The MSI Nahimic 2+ actually looks very similar to Alienware Sound Center, but offers more configuration for different environments. For those who stream games, uses team chats, or even make video calls, the software plays an important row with the microphone settings. The following is the thoughts for the speakers from the GE63VR. This is much more subjective, and is based on comparison with other high-end gaming notebooks. High Freq. – No overly sharp tunes, rich details, great overall performance. Mid Freq. – Nice overall detail clarity, human vocal also stronger above average. Bass Freq. – Most outstanding part, strong but not blurred out, but may overpower the Highs and Mids. The GE63VR with the Nahimic 2+ present excellent audio quality, thanks to the two 2W stereo speakers and two 3W GIANT woofers. The overall sound detail was remarkable strong, and has the highest volume of all the high-end gaming notebooks tested ever. The details are also pretty outstanding, even comparing to Dell Alienware 17 R4. Whether it’s watching movies, playing games, or listening to music, the audio is just amazing. The headphone output features ESS SABRE HiFi DAC, supporting up to Hi-Res 192kHz/24bit output. The actual listening experience with a Hi-Res headphone also performances on par with the best Dell Alienware to date. Keyboard Software with SteelSeries Engine 3 It offers the common lighting control, macro settings, and multiple profiles. Lighting presets are also available, adding extra fanciness to the RGB design. The waves of color changes with each key, similar to the high-end Corsair K70 RGB mechanical keyboard tested. Clicking into Engine Apps Click on the AudioVisualizer to the center-right. Detailed menu are presented on the center-left. With a few tweaks, you can have the preview sound wave in sync with the RGB keyboard. This adds an extra layer of visual experience when listening to music. Display Software is MSI True Color 2.0 The software is quite unique on first sight. There are 6 modes to choose from for preference and different purposes. It comes with pre-calibrated configurations, as well as detailed manual adjustment options. Gamer Mode has more configuration than the aforementioned sRGB. For gaming scenarios, the response and details in shadows of a display is especially crucial. Designer Mode Offers Rich Color Adjustments Aside from gaming, MSI gaming notebooks are also perfect for image designers that demand accurate colors. As stated on the website, MSI collaborates with Portrait Display, Inc., and make sure every unit has been indecently calibrated during factory production. Such service was previously only seen on Japanese high-end monitors like EIZO. MSI sets high standards for gaming notebook displays Dragon Center is the most important MSI exclusive software. It neatly integrated all other related software, with access to system status and tuning. MSI is considered to be among the best when it comes to software integration for notebooks. System Tuner Offers configuration for VR, performance, fan speed, and display color. In the Shift system performance configuration, an extra Turbo Mode can be found when plugged in to AC. There’s also a toggle on the far right for the cool USB lighting. The following performance tests are based on Turbo Mode for enhanced 3D performance from the higher GPU frequency. GS63VR comes in GTX 1070 (7RF) and GTX 1060 (7RE), with various capacity options for DDR4 RAM and M.2 SSD storage, hence the price varies. Hardware performance test for the GS63VR 7RF are as follow: CPUZ 1.80.0 Single thread => 390 4C8T multi thread => 1925 Fritz Chess Benchmark => 28.23/13548

Over the recent years, MSI has been focusing on the high level and mid-range gaming marketing with 3 main series: The finest is the GT series that pursues maximum performance; the 2nd is the GS series with its slim & light but good performance; the 3rd is the GE series in the middle ground, lighter than GT but faster than GS. Recently the GE series just received a makeover, with improvements in aesthetics, design, and quality. This article will focus on testing and analyzing the latest 15.6†of MSI GE63VR. Starting from the A-side top cover, the design still iconic MSI with the brushed aluminum surface and a MSI dragon shield logo, that illuminates when powered on, all quality adding to its looking and feeling. The GE63VR now comes in both GTX 1060 GPU (7RE) and the top-notch GTX 1070 (7RF), both with the dimension of 383 x 260 x 27.5 mm. The weight may vary a little depending on the configuration: official spec of the 7RF is 2.39 kg. The actual measurement says 2395g, which has almost same. Straight ridges and red line are presented on both sides of the center section to perform a sense of speed. MSI often adopts the design of a sports car hood on the cover to match their brand image. Personally, I think it’d look even better if the two red stripes can light up during boot up. The backpack that came with the GE36VR excels in both quality and protection. The new dragon shield logo has also been redesigned to remove the “GAMING SERIES†wording for simplicity. The backpack fits up to 17†notebooks, which some may consider a bit too big but others may think bigger space is as a plus. The adapter next to the GE63VR 7RF comes at a max 230W to power the high end GTX 1070 version. The B-side surrounds the 15.6†matte display. The webcam on the top features 720p 30fps capability, with a small hole for the microphone on its either side. The high-end TN display features FHD resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, 3ms response time, and 94% NTSC color coverage. C-side overview It’s paired with a SteelSeries RGB gaming keyboard, featuring per-key RGB lighting. The feedback may not be like a mechanical keyboard, but is exceptional for membrane keyboards. I personally also like the dedicated left and right button of the track pad, as this offers better accuracy when pressed down. The outer is decorated with red line, like the GS63VR, to enhance its visibility and aesthetics. The slim buttons on the right represents power button, SteelSeries keyboard lighting, and fan speed adjustment. Right IO Starting from the left is the SD card reader (XC/HC), USB3.0 X2, ventilation. I’ve noticed the red lighting from the USB port during the initial boot up, which also adds visibility during installation. Left IO Starting from the left is Kensington lock, ventilation, RJ45 Ethernet port, HDMI, mini DisplayPort, USB3.0, Type-C USB3.1. Gold-plated 3.5mm audio jacks are for Hi-Fi headphone and microphones. The headphone-out supports ESS SABRE HIFI technology. The rear has also been decorated with the red line to further enhance aesthetics and the speed theme. Ventilation can also be seen on either side for the latest MSI exclusive Cooler Boost 5 cooling technology. Under the D-side The center dragon totem not only adds to the look-and-feel, but also features massive ventilation grills. The lighting at the bottom suggests power, battery, and hard drive status. The speaker is in collaboration with the well-known Danish audio company: Dynaudio. The sound chamber is 5x the size than previous GE design, as shown in the bottom left/right of the picture, which made us really look forward to the audio quality and volume.

Assassin's Creed Syndicate Resolution set by 1920x1080, Graphics setting : Ultra High The first scene while entering the game – 48 FPS We’ve done the test of GTX 1060 before, which performed 37 FPS The GTX 1070 Max-Q version graphics presents in some 3D games, Its higher than GTX 1060 from 15%~29% depends on different games. Maybe sometimes it’s not big performance gap compared with GTX980 top graphics, but we should know that GTX980 could only installed in huge size gaming notebooks. And this kind of thin & light gaming notebook could only attached with GTX970M to GTX 1060 level graphics. nVIDIA launched the Max-Q design graphics, that makes the gaming notebooks comes with higher gaming performance but kept it same slim and light. But still need very good cooling system design within this ultra slim condition, otherwise it will still overheat or throttling. The ambient temperature is around 30°C, test GPU of GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q with it’s cooling capability Runs with FurMark, idle was 53°C, full loading is 84°C GS63VR designed with UHD 4K or FHD resolution, also comes with different type of panel. UHD is over 72%NTSC IPS panel, the model here is highest level TN display. This display is 94%NTSC color gamut, 120Hz 3ms response time. Looks more suitable for high speed gaming, will share its color and viewing angle in below. Nowadays the IPS display were too many makers and to many grades of quality, its easier to have bed quality IPS panel notebooks in the market. The left side was comparison model HP ZBook Studio G3 high level IPS workstation, the price range is 30% higher than GS63VR 7RG model. The right side is GS63VR with 120Hz/3ms TN panel, you could see it’s warmer color present, the IPS panel on the left side is colder color present. We used to think that TN display was not good on viewing angle, but you could see the difference at this photo, as new technology improved, the horizontal viewing angle of high level TN display already is as good as IPS panel, especially when it comes with 94%NTSC wide color gamut, the color range and detail quality present is better than good IPS panel no matter from front side or left/right side. Use the display test webpage to confirm this display could reach smooth 120Hz refresh rate, this helps a lot when high speed gaming or movies to have smoother experience. If you use the 120Hz TN to compare with mid-level or entry level IPS panel of other gaming notebooks, the color difference GAP will become bigger, because the GS63VR was compared with higher level display of HP mobile workstation. Of course the IPS display still got greater viewing angle and closer to real color present, there also got GS63VR with IPS display as well. But high level TN display of the GS63VR got its advantage indeed, high viewing angle, 94%NTSC of color gamut, up to fastest 3ms response time and 120Hz refresh rate. If your usage mostly is gaming, I think this version of GS63VR is really suitable. Cooler Boost Trinity cooling system, designed with 41 blades of 3 fans and 5 heatpipes, the airflow is 30% stronger than previous design. This is the latest cooling system that MSI just launched last year. CPU default clock is 2.8~3.8GHz, balanced on power mode. System in idle mode - 57°C~69°C Run LinX 0.6.5 burn-in with system full loading - 88°C~92°C The CPU idle temperature was a bit higher, but full loading temperature present is really good. Although the CPU temperature up to 92°C, that’s because the Intel 4C8T CPU getting hotter in recent years, also the 7700HQ got higher default clock than 6700HQ. The C (keyboard) side temperature was only around 30~42°C with burn-in test. The GS63VR with Core i7 7700HQ and GTX 1070 Max-Q high level SPEC, already got very powerful cooling system as a ultra slim gaming notebook, if you want a more powerful cooling design of gaming notebook, that’s what MSI GT series or Dell Alienware could provide, but also comes with more heavy weight and bigger size. Battery life present, set Windows 10 power mode at Balanced. Use GTX1070 to playback 720P video, after 1 hour the battery life around 73%, 10% left after 3 hours. As this kind of high level hardware combination, GS63VR battery life could over 3 hours is really good and above average. Conclusion of GS63VR 7RG Stealth Pro Pros and Advantage: 1.New ID with extra 3 red sport line so the shape comes with more speed feeling. 2.Designed with latest Geforce Max-Q GTX 1070, makes ultra slim notebook with more powerful 3D performance 3.Used Killer Gaming LAN and WiFi, support Killer Shield technology. 4.Matted high level 120Hz/3ms TN display with 94%NTSC, apply True Color 2.o color calibration technology. 5.Dragon Center comes with rich functions and good integration on all softwares. 6.New Cooler Boost Trinity technology makes GS series comes with more powerful cooling capability. 7.Keyboard got great force feedback of type feeling, SSE3 software is good on light management, rich Macro-Keys setup and lots of virtual keyboard sets. 8.Headset AMP designed with SABRE HiFi Audio DAC, support Hi-Res Audio format. Cons for Improvement: 1.The WebCam resolution only got 720p, the image quality also need to improve. 2.Built-in speakers still could be improved on human vocal and sound stage. 3.Although the C side temperature kept in good hand, but the rear fan exhaust still a bit too hot. 4.With the high level 120Hz TN panel, the viewing angle from horizontal and upper angel is good, but still bad from below side. Performance Ratio ★★★★★★★★★☆ 92/100 Material Ratio ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 88/100 Specification Ratio ★★★★★★★★★☆ 92/100 Outlook Ratio ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 85/100 Price-Value Ratio ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 85/100 GS63VR 7RG Stealth Pro price range start from $2199, the main difference should be 256GB~512GB SSDs with SATA3 or NVMe speed, and 120Hz TN display or IPS display difference, or maybe different RAM capacity, the others should be the same. With the Max-Q GTX 1070 and high level hardware combinations and gaming features, the price is lower than the features market values, since there were some GTX 1060 gaming notebooks already kept at same price range or even higher. With more gaming features, such as SABRE HiFi Audio of headset DAC, Cooler Boost Trinity cooling system, the 120Hz/3ms with 94%NTSC high level TN display is more suitable for gaming, plus the True Color for color calibration. Every few months I tested MSI gaming notebooks, they are not so perfect but they keep improve on many different ways and features. The ID design of latest GS63VR is 10% smaller and lighter than previous version of GS60, this is how MSI improve their products in every generation. That makes MSI grew up faster in recent years, and become somebody in Gaming products field. Hope MSI keep enhance their products of weakness, and make more better products for more gamers and consumers. 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Nahimic2+ Sound Platform MSI has adopted Nahimic sound technology for 3 years and it’s quite significant than other laptop brands. According to reviews done in the past, the sound effect of MSI laptop is quite fascinating. More detailed settings of the sound effect would be offered for users to choose in high-end sound software. Options and features in Nahimic2+ are quite abundant as well. Maybe it’s due to the limitation of the slim chassis, it’s kind of hard to fit in every high-end hardware. It’s a bit pity that the performance of speakers are not as good as GS73VR. If there is any room to improve and modified as good as GS73VR, that would be more perfect. Follow the hearing experience of the Hi-Fi audio connector, which is more subjective, there are comparison between MSI and other high-end gaming laptops. High frequency – it’s far above the average regarding to richness in detailed and no sharpness sound happened. Middle frequency – Outstanding for clear sound stage and richness in human vocal Low frequency – Overall it performs good and not too turbid. But sometimes it would be covered by the mid-high frequency sound. The GS63VR got better headset DAC quality with Nahimic 2+ software than previous version. The music or songs are most outstanding, the sound detail and sound stage for video or play games also fit it’s position. This also support external speaker with Hi-Res Audio of 192kHz/24bit high quality level. Next would be the high-end hardware performance testing packed inside the machine. By featuring the latest Intel Core i7-7700HQ launched this year, working frequency is from 2.8 up to 3.8GHz and structured four cores with eight threads. Since most of the slim laptops can only feature low core clock dual core/four threads i7 CPU, the slim GS63VR with four core/eight threads core i7 proves its great thermal capability than other bulky laptops. CPUZ version 1.79.1 Single thread => 395.6 8C16T multi threads => 1940.5 Fritz Chess Benchmark => 27.35/13128 CINEBENCH R15 CPU => 716 cb CPU(Single Core) => 163 cb Honestly speaking, there is not much performance improvement if comparing i7-7700HQ and i7-6700HQ. The gap of full speed testing with multi-threads is around 4~7%. But it’s still one of the must-have if mentioning high-end laptops. Of course there would be lots of consumers wish to see more CPU performance enhancement in next Eight series family. The SSD been used for storage is M.2 PCIe Gen.3 x4 SSD Model number is TOSHIBA THNSN5512GPU7 The HDD of the storage been used is SAMSUNG 2TB AS SSD Benchmark - 2628 Seq Read - 2063.93 MB/s Write - 1322.57 MB/s 4K - 64Thrd Read - 849.76 MB/s Write - 741.63 MB/s In device manager, make sure to check two of the options regarding to SSD cache to speed up the performance to the limit. Though many slim laptops already give up to pack the HDD device to save the internal space and make it lighter, but personally would recommend the high speed M.2 SSD with huge volume HDD to enjoy the speedy efficiency and storage capacity. The design of GS63VR with HDD is good, it’s only 100g more of the weight. Dual graphics have been embedded inside which are HD graphics 630 in Core i7-7700HQ and Nvidia Geforce GTX 1070 with 8GB GDDR55 VRAM max-Q version. Let’s check below performance test for GTX 1070. 3DMARK 11 => 15115 3DMARK Fire Strike => 11910 UNIGINE 2 VR MAXIMUM => 7133 Far Cry4 Let’s set the resolution by 1920x1080 and turn those 3D effects to ultra mode. In the beginning scene : 240 FPS, The first scene after the opening animation - 86FPS If we compared to previous results of GTX 1060 and GTX 980, which are 75 FPS and 83 FPS Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege Resolution set by 1920x1080, Graphics setting : Ultra The first scene while entering the game – 145 FPS Previous testing result of GTX 1060 and GTX 980 are117 FPS and 112 FPS.

Behind the GS63VR could find the dual ventilator and “STEALTH†naming with three red designed lines to highlight its racing scenario, and also the efficient exhaust capability has been managed. The dark-purple pad has been placed at D side with certain range to prevent the scratch, which little bit feels like suede. In the picture you could find more exhaust wholes at the button. Dual speaker holes are set in upper side. Specification of the battery is 3-cell with 64.98Wh, packed inside the machine and it’s not attachable design. The power adaptor features 180w, little bit smaller than HP 200w. Beside the specification and the performance of this high-end gaming laptop been ranked, the slim exterior appearance and weight, even the design of the power adaptor are all with high mobility and delivers great convenience to mobile workers. Not only the hardware specification of 3C products are getting more and more important but also the application software been adopted. MSI Dragon Center is developed and exclusive by MSI, it’s on fleek with page layout and info graph. You can find App Portal on upper left and shows all the related and installed apps. System Monitor can show the main hardware status. System Tuner It’s the adjustment page for VR Technology, hardware performance, cooling fan speed or panel lighting level. Five savable profiles at the left to be used by different purposes. X boost is the feature to enhance the USB or Storage access capability. Later will change the Shift function to Sport mode for performance testing, to see how high the GS63VR’s performance could reach. MSI True Color 2.0 Color Adjustment software interface It’s kind of outstanding color adjustment software among personal sharing regarding to high-end gaming laptops or professional graphics laptops. On official website it describes the cooperation with Portrait Displays, Inc, all the production pieces have been adjusted its color appearance before shipping out. Before only the famous brand from Japan named EIZO has almost the same process to make sure the most precision color. We can say MSI had studied hard and put efforts on panel’s color appearance with all the things mentioned above. Six color modes have been provided in the application, it’s enough for different users’ scenario. More color adjustment options are offered in Designer Mode, to deliver more choices for graphics designer or visual specialists. It’s still lots of adjustment options in Gamer mode. The color precision of screen will be changed by the environment, the coordination of hardware and software has done so well with MSI. Steelseries Engine3 It provides the lighting management, macro key setting, and virtual keyboard function. The keycap is certified by Steelseries, though it’s not as good as the tactile of mechanical keyboard, but this GS63VR has been better than previous generation and even than other laptops. Positioned as gaming laptop, the GS63VR adopts Killer Gb LAN and Killer 802.11 a/c WiFi. Both Ethernet and Wifi combine as Killer DoubleShot Pro, to advertise its great capability in reducing the internet ping value by 30%. Also, it reduces the jitter during the internet transmission, offers smooth quality during the streaming or gaming. Personally has some feedback for the interface of Killer Network Manager regarding to the layout and artwork design. As a huge brand of internet chipset, Qualcomm can make it a better design than an old school one now.