MSI GT-780R monster gaming laptop

We’ve been using MSI’s newest monster gaming laptop, the MSI GT-780R, for the past 2 weeks and enjoying it a lot so far. Not only did they put everything they can think of inside the rig but also added some really sleek exterior features as well.

This 17-incher full HD notebook comes with the latest Intel Sandy Bridge processor, a whopping 16GB of DDR3 RAM, 1TB HDD, and a graphics processor with 1.5GB dedicated RAM.

There’s actually a variant where you can pair a 500GB SATA HDD with a 120GB Intel SSD (as boot drive) instead of a dual-500GB HDD on Raid 0.

MSI GT-780R
17.3″ full HD @ 1920×1080 resolution
Intel Core i7-2630 2.0GHz 6MB Cache
4 cores, 8 threads, Turbo Boost 2.9GHz
16GB DDR3 RAM
NVidia GeForce GTX 560M 1.5GB GDDR5 1.5GB dedicated VRAM (4GB total)
1TB SATA HDD (2x500GB) with Raid 0
Dynaudio Sound
THX TruStudio Pro Surround Sound
SteelSeries gaming keyboard (LED-backlit)
Blu-ray / DVD Super Multi
3 x USB 2.0 ports + 2 USB 3.0 ports
HDMI v1.4 port
eSATA port
SD(XC/HC)/MMC/MS(PRO)/xD card reader
GigaBit LAN
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth v3.0 + HS
9-cell battery
Windows 7 Professional

The Core i7-2630 is actually the entry-level variant of Intel’s newest Core i7 Sandy Bridge CPU. Still not bad at 2.0GHz base clock speed that can Turbo Boost to 2.9GHz.

What’s more interesting is that MSI added a few more touches into the design of the laptop — like the keyboard by SteelSeries (the back-lit keyboard breathes blue, purple and red lights) and the THX TruStudio Pro.

The MSI GT-780R will retail for Php109,990USD 1,874INR 158,892EUR 1,785CNY 13,650 in stores. Not bad if you think a spec-ed out 17″ Macbook Pro costs Php136,900USD 2,333INR 197,766EUR 2,222CNY 16,989 (Core i7 2.2GHz, 8GB RAM, 750GB HDD) — but then again, the two aren’t really competing for the same category.

Full review by next week.