[ENG]Max-Q GTX 1070 in ultra slim chassis – GS63VR 7RG Stealth Pro Intro

[windwithme]

Starting from 2011, MSI had been serious about the gaming market and studied the field for years.
As long as it’s been through, as much as it can get for the brand awareness and richness in product lines.
GT series is mainly for high-end extreme performance position while GE series is taking the mainstream line.
The one which personally appreciated is the GS series, packed with high performance hardware but made with slim-shape looking.


This time we would like to share the review for new coming MSI GS63VR 7RG Stealth Pro.
The dimension is 380x249x17.7mm, weight is around 1.89kgw.
By packing the latest Max-Q Nvidia GPU, thickness of GS63VR’s is below 18mm to fit the regulation.
It’s hard to believe it belongs to high performance position by its slim shape in 15.6 inch laptops.


Let’s take a look at the A cover, it’s made by brush metal and aligned with dual muscle lines like the racing car’s hood to enforce its speedy scene.
Still remembering the sharing of GS70 in 2004, the design only appeared to flat one.
In addition, I am highly appreciated this colorful picture with shinning sunshine on the GS63VR.


Let’s check the dragon logo plate on the A side, it’s been made by Corning 8H glass and modified little bit by removing the black “Gaming G Series” wording.
It glows during the booting and seems more elegant than previous design.


Then we check the B side which is surrounding the LCD.
Above the screen area will find the 720P 30fps webcam, with dual digital microphone aside.
This matte 15.6 LCD panel here is featuring 120Hz/3ms with 94% NTSC color gamut.


Black brush metal is surrounding the keyboard area, we can say the design idea of C side is same as A side.
The Steelseries RGB gaming keyboard, as usual, have been adopted to MSI high-end laptops with Silver-Lining Print.
When there is request to change the color scenario, you have to use the Steelseries Engine software to handle it.
The tactile has been evolved and feels better than previous generation.
The left-right click on touch pad have been form as one piece, surrounded the red diamond cut design to show its elegancy.
Right hand side of the touch pad would be the feature stickers to show those main features and technology of GS63VR.


Front of the C side set 7 red indicating lights,
starting from the left which are “Sleep”, ”Storage access”, “Numpad”, “Caps lock”, “Blue tooth”, “Wi-Fi”, and “Battery”.
A slightly change of the power button,
which had been moved to the edge of C side since last year, it will be initiated by pressing deeply more than one second to prevent the booting of accidentally touch.


One of the advantages of GS63VR is the 180 degree of the flip angle.
The tiny holes on the upper area of C side are designed for air flow, not the space for speaker sound.
And there is LED indicator in the middle to show the figure of power button, looks special while booting and experiencing it.


Right hand side of the machine can see the IO area,
from the left hand side which are power button \ USB2.0 \ Thunderbolt 3(usb3.1) \ HDMI \ mini DisplayPort \ power connector.


IO on the left hand side of the machine,
starting from the left which are Kensington lock \ RJ45 connector \ SD card reader (XC/HC) \ USB 3.0 x3
Gold plated audio hole for 3.5mm Hi-Fi headset and microphone, especially the headset supports ESS SABRE HIFI technology.

[windwithme]

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.

[windwithme]

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.

[windwithme]

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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[marcosartor]

già il compiuterese lo capisco poco...poi se devo anche tradurlo....
peccato le foto sono molto chiare e sembra spiegato bene nei dettagli...
inoltre l'argomento è pure interessante!!!
ci sarebbe un volontario che lo riscrive in italiano???
ciao da marco

[Rais]

Nice review we have there!

This has a pretty good price for the performance, still 2600 Euro in EU.

1.The WebCam resolution only got 720p, the image quality also need to improve.

Definitely, gamers may also be streamer. No need to cut corners there if a 200$ modern no-brand smartphone can be better.

2.Built-in speakers still could be improved on human vocal and sound stage.

It may be a priority for classic multimedia laptop. This is gamer stuff, and you can make good use of the sabre dac with some decent cans.

3.Although the C side temperature kept in good hand, but the rear fan exhaust still a bit too hot.

HQ processor and a 1070, no matter what Intel and NVIDIA says, they're hot.