The MSI GT80 Titan Review: The Broadwell Gaming Laptop Your Desktop Envies
by Brett Howse on June 26, 2015 8:00 AM ESTSystem Performance
Intel’s Broadwell rollout has been fairly drawn out, with the first chip made on the 14nm process being Core M way back in October 2014. At CES, Intel launched the Broadwell-U processors which were 15-28 watt TDPs, but all dual-core. With Intel trying to make a bigger push into mobile, even the Atom processor got moved to 14nm before the quad-core Core parts, but finally as of June 2nd, Intel launched some quad-core laptop parts and a couple of desktop parts.
MSI sent along the latest update to the GT80 Titan which is powered by the Intel Core i7-5700HQ processor. As with any CPU update, Intel has made a few tweaks to the architecture which will gain a few percentage points in IPC, however this is in essence a die shrink on Haswell, so we have to keep expectations in check. What we have seen on the Broadwell-U line is better battery life, and a nice boost in performance by the processor being able to maintain higher turbo frequencies while keeping within its thermal envelope.
With a TDP of 47 watts, the i7-5700HQ, it will be interesting to compare how the Broadwell quad-core parts compare to Haswell. The i7-5700HQ has a base frequency of 2.7 GHz and a turbo of 3.5 GHz. There is not a perfectly comparable Haswell part that we have tested however the i7-4720HQ has been in several devices this year and has a slightly lower base of 2.6 GHz and a slightly higher turbo of 3.6 GHz which should make an interesting comparison.
I have put the GT80 Titan through our standard laptop workload, and picked some comparative devices. Take note that the Clevo P750ZM actually has an 88 watt desktop CPU inside. The MSI GT72 Dominator Pro has a 47 watt TDP and the same 3.5 GHz turbo frequency so it should be a great comparison for Haswell versus Broadwell. If you want to compare the GT80 Titan to any other laptop we have tested, please use our Notebook Bench.
PCMark
PCMark tries to simulate some real life workloads, with several different subtests for different sets of tests. It is not a pure CPU test, and also factors in memory, storage, and even display resolution. The GT80 does not outright win these tests however it is competitive. The two SSDs in RAID 0 help boost it to one of the higher storage scores, and for the target market the extra cost and loss of battery life of RAID 0 is fine. One thing to note is that the Creative test on PCMark 8 would fail to run on this device, so there was no score recorded for that test.
Cinebench
Cinebench is more of a pure CPU test, and it favors high frequencies and IPC. Here we get a better feel for Broadwell and the i7-5700HQ performs very well. It outperforms all of the other 47 watt processors we have tested despite not having the highest turbo frequency.
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Once again, the i7-5700HQ outperforms all other 47 watt parts although it can’t compete with the 88 watt P750ZM. The move to 14nm clearly opens up some additional headroom to keep the turbo frequencies up.
Web Tests
Our web tests continue the trend that has already been set. Once again the GT80 Titan sets the standard, and is only trumped by a notebook with a desktop processor.
Broadwell may just be a die shrink of Haswell, but the 14nm process is very effective. Despite having a maximum frequency of just 3.5 GHz, the i7-5700HQ outperforms Haswell parts that can turbo up a few hundred megahertz more, which is pretty impressive.
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drzzz - Saturday, June 27, 2015 - link
The article title is misleading. While this laptop can be equipped impressively it has several short comings as well. Over all the people that drop 3400$ (as tested or 3800$ max) on a gaming system get a much more powerful desktop than this laptop for same money. That is why I think the title is misleading. This is a niche product for a group of people that are willing to spend huge amounts of money to have the fastest of a specific thing.The lack of a 2560x1440 screen or even better 3840x2160 screen at this price point is a real let down. Not having 2560x1440 as the base screen is a real missed chance.
The 128GB raided drives (raid 0) do offer 256GB of fast access storage but for the price point I would have preferred to see the raid be 500GB to 1TB SM951's with NVM support and the HDD just dropped. Another really big missed opportunity. Really big one.
Also totally insulting that highest end model provides only 24GB of memory yet support for 32GB exist. Again like the screen and SSD components you can really see where they are short changing you for the keyboard and SLI mobile graphics.
My experience with MSI is that there is always a clearly visible set of areas that they cut corners to give you some great thing(s) and base the price on those things vice building a truly well rounded device. It comes down to the price point for me. At over 3000$ for a laptop I expect certain things like 32GB ram. Large SSD storage only. 1440p+ screen when the system clearly has the power to push that level of resolution.
Overall not impressed by this MSI offering. I would by the GT72 first and have money left over for a steak dinner and some good booze.
Notmyusualid - Wednesday, July 1, 2015 - link
PLEASE... can we have an end to the 'you could build a faster desktop for less' argument. It is not a desktop, it is a laptop. Some of cannot own desktops, due to frequent travel.mlambert890 - Monday, August 24, 2015 - link
Large laptop panels above 1080p dont exist. Period. No one is making them.So what should they do? Not release it at all? Sorry but no.
People always find things to nitpick but the screen issue is NOT something an OEM can control.
PulloDimo - Saturday, June 27, 2015 - link
I really want one badly. I wish I could trade in my Lenovo Thinkpad W541 for one of these babies. I have always been looking for a competent gaming laptop that could play all games with a real keyboard. This is it right here :-DAllanMoore - Saturday, June 27, 2015 - link
Cinebench results are quite impressive! http://picoolio.net/image/Tnwgeek005 - Saturday, June 27, 2015 - link
sRBG setting shown in here with regard to msi gt72 dominator pro ...is it according to the newest model with ips screen(talking about msi gt72 dominator pro g-14 series)..or older with TN panel...??siberus - Saturday, June 27, 2015 - link
Msi for the love of god can you please stop using killer nics technology. Their drivers are so terrible.On my gt70 if i switch in and out of airplane mode my Bluetooths funtionality is lost untill I uninstall the driver and reinstall it >.>
Notmyusualid - Saturday, June 27, 2015 - link
Worry no longer my friend.I've written to them, and got little help, and no resoultion from them whatsoever, with my Killer issues.
The solution is, given that their hardware is always other manufacturers, is to find the original wireless-chip type, and install the driver for that.
For example;
Killer 1103, 3x3 mimo card, is MADE-BY Atheros, and the original chip is an AR9380.
Link: https://www.atheros.cz/atheros-wireless-download.p...
Using the Atheros driver, all is well. However, I got so fed up, I changed both machines with Killer 1103s to Intel 6300, and 5300.
odedia - Saturday, June 27, 2015 - link
I find it amazing that a LAPTOP this powerful has such a better temperature handling compared to my iMac 5k. The iMac easily gets to 92 degrees CPU and can even reach 104 degrees GPU (on the M295X model).DanNeely - Saturday, June 27, 2015 - link
Thats because your iPride is optimized to look thin not for sustained performance.