MSI GT72 Dominator Pro: Performance Preview
by Jarred Walton on October 8, 2014 9:00 AM ESTMSI GT72: High Quality Gaming Performance
While the GTX 980M does manage to break 30FPS in all titles at our Ultra settings, there are times when dropping things down a notch can provide a better overall experience. Our High settings do exactly that, and if you're playing on battery power the added FPS headroom should yield overall improved battery life when BatteryBoost is enabled.
Again, full disclosure for the High settings is that I generally skip MSAA and SSAA, though if FXAA is available I do enable that. For Batman: Arkham Origins the settings are the same as Ultra (all DX11 features and other rendering enhancements enabled except for PhysX), but FXAA High is used instead of 4xMSAA. BioShock Infinite uses the VeryHigh preset (DX11 path), and Company of Heroes 2 uses High Image Quality and Textures, no Anti-Aliasing, with Snow and Physics set to Medium. GRID Autosport uses the High present with no anti-aliasing, and Metro: Last Light Redux uses High Quality and Tessellation without SSAA. Finally, Sleeping Dogs, Sniper Elite 3, and Tomb Raider all use the "High" defaults (which includes High FXAA and "Medium" SSAA for Sleeping Dogs).
1920x1080 High Performance
Here's where "beyond 1080p gaming" is really an option, as without SSAA and/or 4xMSAA many of the games push into the triple digit frame rates. Company of Heroes 2 seems to run into a CPU bottleneck or some other limit, as even at lower settings it doesn't get much above 60 FPS, making it the lowest performing game in our High settings. Metro: Last Light Redux actually breaks well past 60FPS for a change, Sleeping Dogs comes in at just under 100 FPS, and everything else is at the point where stereoscopic 3D at 60+ FPS is a viable option (though that's not supported on the MSI GT72 display).
Average performance compared among the GPUs is actually about the same as at our Ultra settings, meaning in general the games we're testing are still mostly GPU limited at 1080p High – they're just hitting much higher frame rates now. The exception is the desktop system, where the GTX 970 lead over the 980M grows a bit more (it's 29% faster now vs. 24% faster at Ultra settings). If I were to do another test at Medium quality settings, I think we'd really start to see CPU bottlenecks show up, but it's not really worth the effort as most games are already running well above screen refresh rates.
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dblkk - Wednesday, October 8, 2014 - link
there have been several reviews done on this new chassis. MSI did the GT72 refresh with the same i7 4710 and gtx 880m. Thermals were lower than Asus, and even with similar chipped Dell.Without 'turbo fan' on, temps were well below throttling limits. With 'turbo fan' on, temps were incredibly low, fan noise incredibly high.
The Gt70 has higher GPU temps/throttling with their single fan, but Asus has high/throttling CPU temps with their dual fan. For gaming the GT70 was still a beast even with throttling, but it wasn't the best ill admit. But for rendering/CPU intensive activities, the GT70 is actually one of the best.
Aionios - Wednesday, October 8, 2014 - link
well the thermals are incredible here's a video of full review https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9-d5k-tkBA&li...Meaker10 - Wednesday, October 8, 2014 - link
They are getting IPS displays in a month or two, 17.3" IPS have only starting to be made.Current models should be upgradable since they use a 30 pin eDP connector.
nathanddrews - Wednesday, October 8, 2014 - link
Good to know. I recently tried to upgrade my wife's Lenovo only to discover it used a single-channel LVDS cable. No 1080p IPS for her.Meaker10 - Wednesday, October 8, 2014 - link
Also there is a 4980HQ version to launch too for those who want more CPU power. It wont be cheap however.nathanddrews - Wednesday, October 8, 2014 - link
Possible correction:Most of the charts are labeled "Ultra", but then underneath say "1920x1080 VeryHigh", except for the very last chart which says "1920x1080 Ultra". The same is true for the charts on "High".
Overall, an impressive mGPU. Can it be configured with 1TB SSDs instead?
JarredWalton - Wednesday, October 8, 2014 - link
Thanks -- I forgot to change the subtitles on the copy/paste/edit when making the graphs. I've put in the settings used (as much as possible) now.As for larger SSDs, the top model comes with four 256GB SSDs in RAID 0, and the usual places that do custom MSI notebooks should allow you to swap out the 1TB HDD for a 1TB SSD.
Jambe - Wednesday, October 8, 2014 - link
I don't need the throughput of RAID SSDs so I'm always left thinking these big laptops would be much more compelling with no M.2 at all and an accessible 2.5" bay. Nice high-cap SSDs are permanently around or below 40 cents per gig, so I just balk at the prices being asked.Meaker10 - Wednesday, October 8, 2014 - link
There are a variety of models out which can be customised to your needs.bleh0 - Wednesday, October 8, 2014 - link
I can't wait for a proper roundup of the various 980m equipped models.