EDITORS REVIEW

Overpowered
Domination
MSI GT72 2QE Dominator Pro

There are so many ways to describe a

huge product. Monolithic. Epic. Hulk-like.
Gargantuan. However, one word stands
out and aptly captures the true meaning
of beingwellbig. Think about it
does the word dominating put things into
perspective? MSI GAMING believes it
does as it christened its largest gaming
notebook release to date as the MSI GT72
2QE Dominator Pro. What a mouthful!
Even with such a lengthy name, the
new Dominator is specifically made to
prove one thing for the MSI camp: its
dominance of the mobile gaming PC
market. Not only does it come in a size
that proves its mettle, the new gaming
behemoth is MSIs latest and greatest
effort thus far. The innards used within
and the extensive connectivity capabilities

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JAN 2015

it offers sets it on another level of powered

performance that is unmatched.
Design: sleek looker
Have you ever seen a large, slick, heavily
streamlined gaming notebook? Perhaps?
Perhaps not? Well once youve laid your
eyes on the MSI GT72 2QE Dominator
Pro, youll immediately realise that this
system is unlike any other mobile desktop
replacement youll ever encounter. With
the lid down, it is already unbelievably
compact. Well, it is pretty condensed
for a massive gaming system as it looks
hyper-sleek and exceptionally flat. When
deployed, the MSI powerhouse jacks up
its presence, thanks to the 17.3in Full HD
LCD screen and full-size keyboard it uses
- both of which complement the oversized

by victor yap

chassis frame it uses. The gunmetal black

hue, which MSI is known for, comes with
a single red accent that lines the top lid
railing. When powered on, the speakers,
both front and back, light up with a
haunting red light as well.
Display: punchy output
When the 17in display is engaged, upon
opening the lid and firing up the MSI
GT72 2QE, the first thing that caught me
by surprise is the overly vivid display.
Blacks and whites are exceptional and the
primary hues are given an extra level of
polish thanks to that. When paired with
the anti-glare glass used on the Full HD
display, I did not struggle as much with
long hours of gaming as I encountered less
eye-strain. I didnt even need to adjust

the screen position often as the anti-glare

coating makes sure I see everything on
screen with near zero distractions. With
everything set to go beyond Ultra and then
some, all the heavy game renders, as well
as the enriched Full HD content I added in,
really jumped at me. Totally amazing!
perforMance: tank
t
fire
When I use the tank reference, I am not
referring to the slow and clunky aspects
of that war machine. For me, tanks are
about raw firepower that move to provide
awesome brute force on the battlefield.
In the case of the MSI GT72 2QE, the
high-powered internals that roar within
make for a perfect analogy of a tanks
fighting capabilities. The latest Intel CPU,
specifically the 4th Generation Intel Core
i7-4710HQ that is set to 3.5GHz, is paired
with the best NVIDIA has to offer from
its top-line range - the newly released
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M 8GB DDR5L
GPU. Used together with 32GB DDR3L
1600MHz RAM that had been tweaked to
operate at 11-11-11-28-1T settings (AKA
overclocked), a pair of 128GB SSD drives
set to RAID 0, which operates in hybrid
mode with the 1TB 7200rpm hard disk, and
advanced communication systems, MSI
goes all out in guaranteeing that nothing
would stand in the way of its monstrous
gaming platform.
Having thrown raw 4K content - both
YouTube-sourced and recorded materials
from 4K cams; enriched Full HD videos
and graphics; and games like Titanfall,

Battlefield 4, Call of Duty: Advanced

Warfare, and new 4K-type game
trailers like StarCraft 2: Legacy of
the Void and Overwatch, none of them
could slowdown the MSI GT72 2QE at all.
Not even when half of the content used
had been notched up to max output. It
easily ate my mixed 4K/3200px gaming
(windowed) multi-tasking session for
breakfast and asked for seconds.
instantaneous: f
fast Boot
As the MSI GT72 2QE comes equipped
with two SSDs, it is obvious the start-up
time of the PC would be mere seconds.
Of course, saying that now feels like an
understatement as this beast fired up in
a second. Y
Yes, you read right: a second!
From BIOS booting to fully loading
Windows 8.1 with primary start-up apps, it
took less than 10 seconds. So figuratively,
its near instant. Thus, there is no need
to go through the usual waiting process
just to get cracking at your games when
youve settled in.
shift: VariaBle MoDes
As many would know, there is a battery
performance function that users can
engage on all notebooks. MSI takes it
to the next level by providing its own
custom adjustments. Called SHIFT, this
capability offers three modes that can be
engaged at any time. Power users will, of
course, stick with Sport as it offers the
highest operational settings for the CPU
and GPU. If they happen to be untethered
and nowhere near any power sources,

price: rM9,999
Dimensions (W x D x h)
428 x 294 x 48mm
Weight 3.78Kg
processor 4th Generation Intel
Core i7-4710HQ
Memory 2x 16GB DDR3 1,600MHz
at 11-11-11-28-1T
storage 2X 128GB SSD in RAID 0/
Super RAID, 1X 1TB 7200rpm
graphics Intel HD 4600/NVIDIA
GeForce GTX 980M 8GB DDR5L
(Optimus Not Enabled)
Display 17.3in CMN1735 Full-HD
Anti-Glare LCD, 1920 x 1080@30fps
os Microsoft Windows 8.1
connectivity Killer Wi-Fi
802.11ac, Killer LAN, Bluetooth 4.0
sound 2.1 Dynaudio with 7.1
Support (via SPDIF), Creative
Sound Blaster Cinema 2 with
Exclusive Audio Boost 2
i/o 6x USB 3.0, 1x HDMI 1.4, 2x
mini-DisplayPort 1.2, 1x Mic-In/
Headphone-Out, 1x Line-In/LineOut, 1x SD (XC/HC) Card Reader
3D Mark
4040 (FireStrike Extreme)
3D Mark
2283 (FireStrike Ultra)
pc Mark home 3865
pc Mark creative 3953
pc Mark Work 3383

13
JAN 2015

EDITORS REVIEW
then the other two modes, Comfort and
Green, can be engaged. While the former
keeps the CPU running at a maximum
89C yet limits the GPU to operate at
lowered speeds, the latter disables Intel
Turbo completely and further reduce
operating temperatures/performance of
the CPU/GPU. While both will result in
lowered heat output, Green ensures
the battery is able to run longer. Based
on average ratings, the MSI GT72 2QE
lasted nearly three hours on a full charge.
This is measured against the occasional
multi-tasking, mixed video streaming on
YouTube, a short yet enriched videogame
session, some hours of work and social
media engagement, and music streaming.
Connected: Super Speedy LAN
MSI made famous the Killer LAN
brand when it loaded just about every
gaming notebook in its stable with the
high-performance network system and
controller. With the MSI GT72 2QE, an
even more remarkable update of the Killer
LAN system has been thrown in - the Killer
Double Shot Pro. Not only does it sport the
usual assortment of functions that Killer is
known for, it now also rocks dual support
for Killer Gb LAN and Wi-Fi 802.11ac Dual
Band protocols. With it, all of my gaming
time had zero lag. In fact, Id say the whole
time I spammed Company of Heroes 2
and when my significant other gamed on
Defence of the Ancients 2 (DotA2) and
Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, it had
been totally seamless. This is even when
P2P programmes had been left to run and
tabs upon tabs of Facebook and YouTube
content are running in Chrome. Funny
thing, none of the other content slowed
down either. Wow.
Out-plugged: Full of Ports
Complementing the performance and
power settings that the MSI GT72 2QE
offers is the number of ports that it sports
along the sides of the keyboard panel.
Besides the super-tweaked LAN jack at the
back, MSI is all out to show that it means
business with this monstrosity. Placed on
both sides of the LAN input are the HDMI
1.4 and a pair of mini DisplayPort slots.
Now who ever said a gaming notebook
cannot power up more than two screens
needs to give the MSI GT72 2QE a whirl.

14
JAN 2015

Beyond visual add-ons, six USB 3.0s are

also included - more than enough for any
user to jam in whatever they want. Of
course, there is the gold-plated mic-in/
line-in and headphones array as well.
Chilled: All Frozen Like
When it comes to gaming systems, and
even high performance/high-spec PC
platforms, the one thing that they all share
in common are the insane heat levels that
emit from the heat vents and certain areas
on the chassis. Be it the CPU, GPU, storage
drive, or even the wireless connectivity
modules - any of them (or all of the above)
can be the primary cause behind the
gaming notebook to feel like hot charcoals
on the barbeque. Figuratively speaking.
On the MSI GT72 2QE, that isnt the case
due to its newly improved Cooler Boost
3 system. When paired with SHIFT, it
further enhances the MSI beasts cooling/
performance balancing capabilities. In fact,
the updated Cooler Boost is so efficient,
the heat emission at all vents and chassis
hotspots are nearly negligible.
Blast-Out: Audio Perfection
With impressive visual performance, it
stands to be known that a gaming system
must also have an equally superb sound
system to match the video outputs. For
the MSI GT72 2QE, that comes in the
form of three complementing features the embedded SOUND by DYNAUDIO
2.1, Audio Boost 2, and Sound Blaster
Cinema 2. While the last two are
specifically engineered to ramp up the
aural experience on headphones and
cinematics respectively, the speaker array
that DYNAUDIO provides is one-of-akind. Specially tuned and optimised to
work on a mobile gaming platform, the
dual-channel noisemakers, along with the

accompanying built-in subwoofer, delivers

on all fronts when it comes to sound
processing and -staging. From gaming to
musicals, and even concerts, the audio
performance rocked my socks off! I have to
say, precision-like sound is the main draw
here as glass shattering, reports of gunfire,
cymbal crashes, and the crackle of radio
chatter are produced with utmost clarity.
Outage: Battery Levels
For all intents and purposes, the MSI
GT72 2QE is made to provide the best
in gaming performance. On many levels,
it delivers as promised. From high-end
graphics to great sound performance and
near instantaneous start-up time, as well
as heavy storage capacities, MSI certainly
did not cut any corners to create its take
on what the ultimate gaming platform
should be. The only downer for me is the
short battery life it has. Obviously, to even
light up all the maxed-out innards, there
is a need for a lot of power to keep things
going. While three hours on a full charge
before the battery went flat may sound
amazingly long for gaming notebooks,
I had wished one too many times that
it gave me another hour to squeeze just
so I can finish that one paragraph in my
word document or clear that last mission/
objective in that RTS or RPG game.
Overall: Gaming like No other
If there is one phrase I can use to describe
the MSI GT72 2QE, it has to be Total
Knockout Powerhouse. I could not
imagine any gaming notebook that is as
nimble, hardy, robust, and proficient than
what MSI had came up with. Its value for
a gamer is worth more than its literal nett
weight. While its definitely not meant for
mobile warriors to use, it will certainly
meet any expectation and demand that all
would have for it.