MSI GT627: Bringing Balance to the Force?
by Jarred Walton on April 29, 2009 4:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
Power Requirements
Power requirements with a laptop plugged in don't necessarily reflect power requirements when a laptop is on battery power. In particular, high-end GPUs run at lower maximum clock speeds when using the battery. Keep this in mind when looking at the following numbers. We test under idle conditions, with a 100% load placed on the CPU via Folding@Home SMP, and finally at maximum load by running FAH SMP at the same time as we loop 3DMark06 (at the native LCD resolution).
Our power measurements are with the LCD at maximum brightness, which isn't necessarily a fair way of doing things as some LCDs are much brighter than others are. Unfortunately, we don't have most of the laptops around to retest. The MSI GT627 only uses 1W more power running at maximum brightness, however, which represents an increase in power draw of just 4%. On the other hand the Dell Studio XPS 16 only uses 9W (33%) more power at maximum brightness. The other interesting thing to look at is power requirements when the CPU is overclocked. Since it's extremely simple to enable/disable overclocking (press the Turbo button), we only recommend it when you're doing something that's CPU intensive. In such situations, overclocking increases power requirements by 10-11W. You definitely wouldn't want to overclock the system when you're running on battery power!
In terms of overall power requirements, the 15.4" chassis helps MSI to provide reasonable gaming performance without using substantially more power than some non-gaming (i.e. GeForce 8600M or lower GPU) laptops. Looking at battery life and performance, the MSI GT627 would be a far better choice than laptops like the HP dv5t or Gateway M152-XL. Either buy a laptop that offers noticeably better battery life and lower performance, or jump to the MSI GT627. Graphics chips like the GeForce 8600M/9500M and Mobility Radeon 3650 just seem to use too much power and offer too little performance in return.
Noise Levels
We also ran noise testing using an SPL meter at 24" under the same conditions as our power tests.
Idle noise levels aren't the best, but otherwise the GT627 does quite well in this test. Also interesting to note is that overclocking didn't affect idle noise levels, but it did add over 3dB to the CPU and maximum load results.
Temperatures
We didn't create any charts, but we wanted to give a quick rundown of the temperatures you might expect from the GT627. We placed a maximum load on the system for 60 minutes (looping 3DMark06) and then measured temperatures, so these results are something of a worst-case scenario. However, the testing environment was only 67°F, so in warmer conditions the notebook will likely run a bit warmer. Also note that the notebook was sitting on a hard, flat surface - you can use it on your lap, but if you block the ventilation slats temperatures may also increase.
We measured temperatures of up to 50°C at the exhaust, which is by far the hottest spot on the chassis. Temperatures on the bottom of the laptop range from 24° to 41°, with most of the bottom measuring around 35°C. The keyboard and palm rest aren't quite as hot, ranging from 25° to 33°C with most of the keyboard staying under 30°. Compared to the Gateway P-7808u, a few areas are slightly hotter but overall the difference is less than a couple degrees. The combination of slightly lower performing parts with a smaller 15.4" chassis works well.
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IlllI - Thursday, April 30, 2009 - link
hmm i wonder if maybe down the road we'll see some e-ips panels from laptop manufacturers. they seem to be quite competitive vs tn/pva, well at least the desktop version. (can get a 22in for around $200)JarredWalton - Thursday, April 30, 2009 - link
We can only hope. [Crossing fingers....]IlllI - Thursday, April 30, 2009 - link
still a tn panel thougherple2 - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
I was kind of curious about the keyboard - I don't know of too many other 15" (or so) laptops that have a full 104 key keyboard. Are the keys standard sized?JarredWalton - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
They're very close. I think they might be just barely smaller, but the size of the keyboard never bothered me. The "touch" of the keyboard is a different matter, obviously.erple2 - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
Clearly :)That's one reason why I was contemplating an HP Elitebook or a ThinkPad as my next laptop purchase - I do so little gaming on my laptop anymore (that's what my desktop is for), that I'm looking for the 2 things that this new laptop apparently lacks: SOLID keyboard (I dont' really care about having an included number pad, but the FEEL of the keyboard is absolutely key), and a good quality, high resolution screen.
Those are 2 things lacking on this laptop, unfortunately, which means I won't be able to get this one.
What's my ideal laptop? In decreasing order of importance:
* high resolution (minimum WSXGA+)
* 15" (I suppose widescreen, but I don't care that much about it),
* IPS (like my 2475!)
* non-glossy screen
* solid keyboard feel
* discrete graphics card (makes external monitors a breeze to set up)
* Relatively good battery life
* uhh - dual cores?
Everything else is secondary.
Yes, I would really like to see a quality screen on a laptop. I had read somewhere that one of the ThinkPads used an IPS based panel, but I can't confirm that any more.
Jackattak - Thursday, April 30, 2009 - link
My XPS1530 has the best keyboard feel of any laptop I've ever typed on, hands down.strikeback03 - Thursday, April 30, 2009 - link
Thinkpads used to offer an IPS panel under the Flexview name, I have a T43 with one. It is indeed a nice screen (though some people complain they don't go bright enough). I believe they dropped the option during the time of the T60 though, so there are used T60s that meet all your requirements (though battery life probably tops out between 5 and 6 hrs with the 9-cell and UltraBay batteries), but I don't know of any currently shipping systems that do.Though I have a discrete graphics card in my T43 (ATi X300), it is a pain to use external monitors. The original driver didn't support widescreen resolutions, and the most recent one does, but resets the screen to 1024x768 if you close the lid, and once you reset to native (1400x1050) won't let you use space outside the 1024x768 box.
SeeManRun - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
Why are the Macbooks listed in some of the benchmarks where they dominate absent in the other sections? I can understand having a problem with a software benchmark like x264 playback (though, in that case there is certainly a media player for Apple that will play those files) but for things like the display quality the Macbook should be present. Seems like the only spot the Macbook is in this review is where it is at the top compared to everything else.DJMiggy - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
It's a conspiracy......