MSI GT627: Bringing Balance to the Force?
by Jarred Walton on April 29, 2009 4:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
Testing Overview
Below is the test configuration for the MSI GT627. We will compare its performance with other recently tested notebooks. We have not included results from every single notebook we have tested in our graphs, but most of the recently tested laptops are present. If you're looking for results from other laptops, please refer to our mobile section.
| MSI GT627-216US Test System | |
| Processor | Core 2 Duo P8400 (2.26GHz 1066FSB 3MB L2) |
| Memory | 2x2048MB Transcend PC2-6400 @ DDR2-800 5-5-5-15 (Transcend JM800QSU-2G) |
| Graphics | NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GS 1GB Driver version 179.48 GPU/Shader/RAM Clocks: 530/1325/1600 MHz (256-bit) |
| Display | 15.4" Glossy WXGA (1280x800) Samsung 154AT01-A03 (Jan 2007) |
| Hard Drive | Western Digital Scorpio Black 320GB 7200RPM 16MB (WD3200BEKT-22F3T0) |
| Optical Drive | 8x DVDRW (Optiarc AD-7560S) |
| Battery | 6-cell 51.8Whr |
| Operating System | Windows Vista Hope Premium SP1 32-bit |
| Price | Starting at $1100 online |
Test configurations for the other laptops are available at the following pages:
Acer 6920G
Alienware m15x
ASUS G50V
ASUS U6V
AVADirect FL-92
Clevo D901C
Dell Studio XPS 16
Gateway M-152XL
Gateway P-171XL FX
Gateway P-6831 FX
Gateway P-7808u FX
Gateway P-7811 FX
HP dv5t
Toshiba X305-Q725
We run all of the standard application tests at the native LCD resolution - 1280x800 in this case. For the gaming tests, we will compare the GT627 to other notebooks using a baseline resolution of 1680x1050, with the laptop connected to an external LCD. We will include results at 1280x800 and 1920x1080 to show how the laptop and GPU scale to lower and higher settings. This will allow us to provide an apples-to-apples comparison with other laptops while also showing the performance you can expect at the native resolution, as well as what happens if you increase the resolution. We will also include overclocking results at the native LCD resolution.
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JarredWalton - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
Anand tested the MacBooks - he's the Mac person around here - and outside of battery life there really aren't any tests we can run on the Macs without installing Vista. As mentioned in the past, MacBooks running Vista also have battery life problems (they get about half the battery life they achieve under OS X). So why are they in where they excel? I thought it would be obvious: we want the Windows vendors to catch up to Apple, whatever it takes. If Apple can do it with a certain set of components, others can do the same thing.There's little point in installing Vista on a MacBook just to run all these tests. Frankly, you can look at the specs of a notebook and generally guess within a few percent how it will perform. A MacBook with a P8400 CPU is going to be about the same as a Vista laptop with the same CPU.
IlllI - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
i like the laptop display quality tests, would it be possible to also test the quality of the macbook display and post the results?JarredWalton - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
If I can get Anand to part with one of his MacBooks for a week or two.... :-D (He's in North Carolina; I'm in Washington. We typically see each other maybe a couple days a year.)Hulk - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
I agree with you 100%. We need quality displays on laptops!Thank you for pushing this issue.
andrezunido - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
Nice review, seems like a well rounded notebook for the price but I wouldn't mind paying a little extra 100$-200$ for a decent screen I mean its not even LED backlit.I mostly use my laptop for programming work and the screen (apart from battery life - I like the freedom of working anywhere) is a major concern for me, the manufacturers tend to neglect its importance making it a premium/luxury of top of the range laptops (i.e. Apple's macbook pro 15 and 17 - this later being the only with matte option, Asus U2, Dell), all being over the ~2000$ mark.
Anyway, nice, balanced feature set (the overclock button is a nice touch), might consider buying one given its competitive price to do some gaming.
Hrel - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
The Macs start at $2K!!! At least with PC you get choices, and more customization and better compatibility. Also anandtech did a review of a laptop not too long ago with the best laptop screen they'd ever seen; pretty sure it was from dell.niva - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
Well I personally think the 32 bit vista is a big no-no at this stage. I don't care if some apps still have problems working under 64 bit vista, I want to use the extra gig of ram and I want to be able to upgrade the RAM and use it w/o having to swipe the OS.Does MS offer a free upgrade of 32 bit vista to 64 bit vista on machines like this one? Or does one have to fork out the cost for the 64 bit OS?
Lord 666 - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
I received a free copy of Vista Ultimate last year at a Microsoft "Heros Happen Here" event. Tried to get the 64bit disc for it but was told by MS the SKU I have is not entitled for 64bit media.Judging by that alone, I highly doubt MS will offer 64bit upgrades in the future as they did with XP in 2005. Their 64bit coming out party really is Windows 7.
JarredWalton - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
I had a desktop that came with Vista 32-bit installed, and at some point the installation became corrupted. Just for kicks, I decided to try installing Vista 64-bit instead, using the RTM DVD. That worked fine with the code on the box. I don't know if that would work in other instances, though.IlllI - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
maybe one day you can review one of these http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9050...">http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp...&typ... or http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9173...">http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp...&typ...looks like they are the same except one uses a P7450 and the other a P8400.
either seem to be very similar to the msi, except the asus comes with 512mb on the gs as opposed to 1gb with the msi. also as you can see the asus is a tad cheaper.