MSI launch GX640 & GX740 gaming notebooks
The MSI GX700 and GX640 have been designed by MSI for that most hard-to-please class of techhead; the gamer. The tagline- obscene performance for serious gamers- says tells you all you need to know about the products intended audience- social Pro Ev’ers need not bother. Stick to your PS3 because these two brand new models, only launched in Europe on the 18th February, are for the guys that mean business and think fourteen hours in front of Bioshock 2 as a standard use of their weekend.
They are all geared up to run as normal laptops, with Windows 7 as standard on both models. However, it’s clear you wouldn’t pay the £999 asking price unless you really liked games. Therefore, obviously, the most vital thing with the GX640 and GX700 is whether they deliver increased performance. The spec for both is impressive; powered by the Intel Core i5 Processor they have an ATI Radeon HD5870 AND HD5850 graphics card. Both these have 1G GDRR5 of memory which should enable the two machines to deliver better clearer visuals while losing less power and, in the gaming world, MSI enabling the GDRR5 on machines of this price is a very big deal indeed. Although there are notable machines with this capability of these, they are in the upper end of the market. MSI are hoping to be the standard bearer, and with its use of Turbo Boost technology- which regulates machine temperature and current and estimated power consumption- they are giving buyers the chance to get the absolute maximum value from their machines.
Both also come with a reasonable range of in-built features-DVD Super Multi and Blu-Ray player, a 2.0M webcam and optional Bluetooth, though there is only a fairly stingy 3 USB ports.
It’s with weight that these models are really coming into their own. The GX700 (17” display) comes in at only 3.2 kg, while the 640 (15.4” display) is a titchy 2.7 kg. This makes carting it around easy, and easy to unravel on the bus/tube/train with the minimum of fuss and disruption to those around you.
All these features add up to the GX640 and GX700 being a true gamers delight, and early reports back on its performance have been generally positive. Of course it takes a while for real value to be extracted, and to discover whether the drive and graphics card can run at the speed and resolution that the spec suggests it can. But overall, it seems, if you are looking for an affordable laptop that will allow you to fulfil your desires for a top gaming performance, one of these will do the trick.
