MSI GE60 Review: Mainstream Mobile Maxwell
by Jarred Walton on July 17, 2014 5:00 AM ESTMSI GE60 LCD: Surprisingly Good
I'll be honest: before actually seeing the GE60 in person, I wasn't expecting too much from the display. It's not that MSI has a reputation for using terrible LCD panels in their laptops, but the GT70 as one example is still sporting a TN panel even on the latest version. Thus, I was more than a little surprised to find that "lesser" GE60 using a Samsung PLS display, and while the out-of-box color accuracy could still be improved quite a bit, post-calibration the display performs exceptionally well. And even if you're not a stickler for accurate colors, the improved viewing angles offered by PLS/IPS/AHVA/etc. panels make using the laptop much more viable in cramped quarters (e.g. on a plane).
Full results for the display testing are in Notebook Bench, as well as in the galleries below; the charts mostly reflect the highlight right now (as we haven't tested very many laptops with the new software/hardware). But let's start with the core characteristics: white level, black level, and contrast.
The white level of 370 cd/m2 is a good starting point, and with a black level of 0.3472 nits at max brightness we end up with a contrast ratio of 1064:1. That's not the best result that we've ever seen from a laptop, but it is quite good – even more so considering the display has an anti-glare coating (glossy displays tend to have a bit higher contrast). Dropping the brightness to 54% gives us a 200 nits white level with a 1016:1 contrast, so it's a bit lower but still good. The problem is the native white point is around 7650K, which is far from the "ideal" 6504K, so there's a definite blue tint to the colors. That brings us to the full uncalibrated results:
Grayscale results are good up until about 40%, at which point the errors start to become visible. By 50% the Delta E has increased to over 5, and by 75% dE is nearly 10. That's really not a very good result, though I've certainly seen worse (e.g. MSI's GT70 LCD had errors above 12 before calibration). Results in the other charts tell a similar story. While the average dE may only be in the range of 4.5 or so, there are many spikes into the high single digits – mostly in the reds, oranges, and yellows, but shades of green a blue also show some significant errors.
Post-calibration is a different story; the gamma, RGB balance, and color accuracy improve dramatically, to the point where there are very few errors even reaching 2.0. If you have the proper tools to calibrate the display, the GE60 can definitely suffice for professional work. The color gamut is also pretty close to the sRGB standard (it's 68.7% of AdobeRGB compared to a 72% target for sRGB), so outside of users who need high color depth it will work well.
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Khenglish - Friday, July 18, 2014 - link
SLI class laptops already do not support optimus because nivida does not allow it with SLI, so these could do G-sync just fine.As for strong single card laptops then yes the iGPU is in the way. Alienware laptops allow you to run in optimus/enduro mode or in dGPU only mode which connects the dGPU directly to the display, but ASUS, Clevo, and MSI do not. Alienware actually has every display output directly drivable by the dGPU, so I feel it would not be very difficult for other makers to at least route the internal display with a BIOS option for iGPU/dGPU mode, or dGPU only mode.
yankeeDDL - Friday, July 18, 2014 - link
This is a good machine. I am looking for an upgrade and this looks fast and with a spacious HD, which is a plus.That said, I wish start seeing laptops (especially in this size and price range), using an SSD paired with an HDD (less than 1TB means that you need to find some creative way to keep music, photos and videos with you, and 1TB SSD is still way too expensive).
Maybe some of the Kaveri parts can compromise on the CPU while provide similar GPU power, all combined for a much lower cost. Let's see: so far Kaveri has been MIA.
Hrel - Friday, July 18, 2014 - link
I picked up the GE60 i7 and GTX765M GPU for $800 off neweggflash a few months back. Couldn't be happier with it. Really amazing laptop, for that money I wouldn't expect a backlit keyboard, yet it has one. a 720p camera, stereo mic, Optimus, fantastic keyboard feel, though the layout could use some work. Some things are in odd places and there's some completely unused keys that could be replaced with nice keys, like a Windows key to the right of the spacebar. I'd also like the spacebar moved left some as it sits directly under my right palm. The Del key is also oddly far to the right, so that should be put back where it belongs.Nit picky stuff though, it's an amazing laptop. Seems completely wasteful to get anything more expensive considering what is offered in the GE series. I guess if you need something .5" thinner, for some unkown reason, the GS series makes sense. But I cannot fathom a function for the GT series besides just wasting money.
Taurus229 - Friday, July 18, 2014 - link
Mainstream at $1200.00. Who's kidding who ?grayson360 - Saturday, July 19, 2014 - link
The Physx issue is because Metro Last Light installs an older version. If you install metro, then install the drivers, it runs beautifully. I had the same issue with my SLI'd 780's. The fps would plummet to single digits. After the fix, I had perfect smooth gameplay with zero slowdowns.GreenMeters - Sunday, July 20, 2014 - link
Is it possible to remove the tacky badge from the top cover?DaveLikesHardware - Sunday, July 20, 2014 - link
I prefer using a touchscreen to navigate Metro UI.Are GTX-class mobile GPUs and touch screens mutually exclusive?
I was looking forward to the Y50 - thinking it'd be touch screen.
How about the GS60 Ghost or GS60 Stealth? Neither are, are they?
I'll keeping waiting...
Dave
CommandoCATS - Monday, July 21, 2014 - link
I think there's a Lenovo Y50 Touch with a GTX 860M and touchscreen. Was that what you meant?DaveLikesHardware - Monday, July 21, 2014 - link
Yes, Commando, it is. Thanks - I missed it and only saw the Y50 non-Touch.That is the fastest GPU paired with Touch screen that I've seen so far.
Dave
romba - Thursday, July 24, 2014 - link
On storage, on the other hand, this is the only laptop at this price with 2 msata ports. My GE60 is equipped with 2 x 1TB Sams SSD and 2 x 1TB HDD (one in a caddy in the optical drive). So if you are willing to get your hands dirty and self upgrade, this baby is for you.I dare you to find a laptop at this price that can house 4TB of storage.
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