MSI not only introduced several new gaming laptops at Computex 2017, but within these devices lie several features that are new to the brand – including a world-first innovation.
Most new gaming laptop releases only focus on the new and updated hardware such as the processor and GPU, but at its press conference MSI was keen to focus on the improvements done over incremental hardware upgrades. This year, the company is introducing five new features that will be prominent on MSI gaming laptops.
World’s First 120Hz 3ms Display
The new MSI GE Raider series feature 120Hz displays – the first from MSI. Not only that, while the larger GE73VR Raider has a 120Hz display with 5ms response time, the 15.6-inch GE63VR Raider has a 120Hz display with 3ms response time – the world’s first laptop display with these specs.
Not only that, these displays have excellent colour accuracy as well – it has a 94% NTSC colour gamut coverage.
As we wrote before about the benefits of a gaming monitor, having high refresh rates and low response times make for a high quality display. The higher the refresh rate, the more frames the panel is capable of displaying, resulting in a smoother visuals. On the other hand, lower response times allows the display to showing your actions almost in real time.
Cooler Boost 5 – Upgraded Thermal Cooling
MSI has a different cooling solution for each gaming series in its lineup. For the flagship GT series, the company has the Cooler Boost Titan solution, while the slim notebooks feature the Cooler Boost Trinity design. For the new GE Raider series, MSI has updated its Cooler Boost 4 design, and it is aptly called Cooler Boost 5.
Designed specifically for the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 GPU (because all MSI GE series currently are equipped with this GPU), Cooler Boost 5 consists of two Whirlwind Blade fans, each of which measure 29mm in diameter. There are 31 blades in each fan, with a thinness of just 0.4mm – resulting in greater pushing power and efficiency.
There are also 7 heat pipes for better heat dispersion from the two heat generators (GPU and CPU), while the four air vents (two at the rear, two at the sides) means hot air moves out faster than ever before.
Giant Speaker with Hi Res Audio
MSI’s gaming laptops all feature audio tuned by Dynaudio, but this is the first time the company is featuring upgraded audio module designs for its laptops. Starting with the GE63VR Raider, GE73VR Raider, and GT75VR Titan, these laptops will feature new Giant Speaker setups, consisting of two oversized speakers with 5x larger chambers and two woofers.
This new audio module design allows for “independent resonance space”, according to MSI. For gamers, it means fuller sounds with better clarity at higher volumes for greater immersion while in game.
Not only that, the GE, GS, and GT series all feature dedicated digital-to-analog converters (DAC) by ESS Sabre, supporting Hi Res Audio output. These laptops can drive high quality headsets for excellent audio output, with up to 122dB dynamic range for the GT73VR series.
New Rapid Mechanical Switch & New Per-Key RGB Gaming Keyboard by Steelseries
One of the key findings of last year’s GT83VR Titan was most gamers found the Cherry MX Brown mechanical keyboard was too bulky. Not surprising, really, considering the fact that these switches were designed for dedicated mechanical keyboards and not meant to be fitted into a laptop.
For that reason, MSI worked with Steelseries to create a new, slim mechanical keyboard switch. Called Rapid, the switch has a low actuation point of just 1.5mm, and a 3mm travel distance. It also has a tactile feedback, giving gamers a satisfying “clicky” feeling when typing, mimicking a full mechanical keyboard experience.
This new “Rapid Mechanical RGB Keyboard” makes its debut on the new MSI GT75VR Titan gaming laptop.
On the other hand, MSI is also introducing a new non-mechanical gaming keyboard for its other gaming notebook series. Again made by Steelseries, this keyboard now comes with per-key RGB backlighting that can be configured to display real-time game stats such as ammo or health levels.
Besides that, this keyboard is also designed for a better gaming experience. There’s 1.9mm of key travel, 45-key anti-ghosting support, as well as a “mechanical-level” shielding solution for better durability.
The new per-key RGB gaming keyboard is offered on the new MSI GE Raider series, before rolling out to other models.
Nvidia Max-Q Design Support
Finally, MSI is also fully committed to building slim and light gaming laptops with greater performance. The GS63VR Stealth Pro has been updated with an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 using the new Nvidia Max-Q design approach, which is one of the most important announcements by Nvidia this year.
It is the thinnest and lightest of the three Max-Q gaming laptops announced at Computex 2017, at just 1.80kg and 17.7mm thin. Plus, with the Cooler Boost Trinity cooling solution with three cooling fans and five heat pipes, the laptop will stay cool even in long gaming sessions.
Final Words
These innovations may only make its debut at a few gaming models from MSI, but this technology will make their appearances at more gaming laptops from the Taiwanese company in the immediate future, resulting in better gaming laptops across the board.
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