I’ve been using the MSI Dragon 2 laptop ever since I reviewed it for my old blog (7ajidude.com), I couldn’t get over the fact that it was so powerful, a lot faster, and the 17″ display was so large I can use it and never need to use my desktop computer again, I went ahead and bought one!
Last month I was given a chance to try out the new MSI GT72 Dominator Pro – I can easily say the new MSI GT72 is a worthwhile upgrade!
Most noticeable is the great jump in the Scoring of the Laptop which jumped to 8245 from 4638 (MSI Dragon 2), I actually bench marked my Dragon 2 again just to validate the result again.
To start off, lets discuss the specs of the MSI GT 72 – 2QE Dominator Pro that I reviewed:
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Windows 8.1
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The 4th generation Intel® Core™ i7 Processor
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17.3″ Full HD (1920×1080) anti-glare LCD in LED backlight
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Enthusiast level NVIDIA® GeForce GTX 980M 8GB discrete graphics card provides great performance and ultra image quality
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The whole new feature “SHIFT” brings you total control over the system’s balance between performance and temperature.
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Exclusive Super RAID 3 with 4 SSD RAID0 gives over 1600MB/s reading speed!Cooler Boost 3: Higher efficiency dual cooling system.
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Killer Double Shot Pro (Killer Gb LAN + Killer 802.11 a/c WiFi) with Smart Teaming
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Audio Boost 2 with 3 independent amp for best sound experience
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Evolution of Sound by Dynaudio 2.1 sound system
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SteelSeries Engine to customize every key and devices for personalizing your play style
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XSplit Gamecaster for easily recording gaming moments, broadcasting and sharing live gameplay sessions to Twitch, YouTube, UStream and more
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Keyboard by SteelSeries with full color LED back light and solid feedback
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Matrix display support max 4 displays to expand the vision for extreme gaming experience or multi tasks
Nearly all the features are upgrades to the previous features on the MSI Dragon 2 GT70, I felt jealous hehe. the most noticeable upgrades were the NVIDIA GTX980M which doubled the GPU power from my last laptop, also the Local storage jumed from 3 SSDs on SuperRaid 2 to SuperRaid 3 with 4 SSDs giving you reading speeds of over 1600 MB/s, it felt faster and smoother, the sound quality also improved. I actually liked the keyboard on the GT70 more than the one on the GT72, but that’s just a matter of preference, which you will grow to like in the future i guess.
It came with a 6 month license to Xplit Game Caster which allows you to live stream and record your gameplay – perfect for those gamers who like to share their game play online.
“Shift” feature, to easily change your battery save and performance modes, from highly economical to high performance
Clicking on Fn + F7, you are able to switch between the different modes, and the following will pop-up in the screen to notify you which mode is being selected.
You also get an upgraded system manager, SCM, where you can control all the peripherals, and battery modes using a touch of a button.
Looking at the two laptops comparatively :
As you can see, they updated the graphics options now able to run 3 screens at 1080p with Mini Display ports and an HDMI port (TOP: MSI GT72, bottom: MSI Dragon 2 GT70). The power adapter is now also different and the mounting option is placed on one of the sides of the laptop.
From the right and left side a very visible upgrade is the update of all the USB ports to USB 3.0, and their blue accent. We also get a blue ray drive (writer) on the new GT72 and an additional USB 3.0 on the left, giving us up to 6 USB on the new GT 72, unlike 5 on the GT70.
Looking at the keyboard, MSI is still utilizing one of the best gaming keyboards out there, SteelSeries keyboards :
However, I liked the keyboard on the GT70 a little more than the GT 72, as I felt there was better spacing between the keys, but I guess like all laptops it just takes a matter of time to adjust. The trackpad however, I felt was too big, and would take time to get used to, but can be used within gameplay (unlike the GT70 – where you have to use a mouse).
For the External Looks, the GT 72 is definitely a winner, discrete yet deadly, the brushed aluminum sets it apart from other laptops and the red accents are like the ones you’d find on sports cars !
Built for the Future:
When I was researching the features, the amount of future proofing they added to the laptop are incredible, its on of the first consumer laptops with a graphics card upgrade feature, so that you would be able to upgrade your GPU card in the future, without having to replace the whole laptop! Incredible.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZZ5hGDZpI8
I would definately recommend this laptop to anyone considering purchasing a gaming laptop, my only worry on my old laptop was that I couldn’t upgrade the graphics card and now with the new GT72, you don’t even have to worry about that! The amount of power you will have is unmatchable for a production laptop.