MSI GT72 Dominator Pro GTX 980m Review by HTWingNut

It's still a very good TN panel, just not IPS good.

 

I personally prefer TN panels over IPS panels since I play fast-paced FPS games which require low response times, but how is it a very good TN panel? I've seen way better contrast ratios on TN panels (at least if HTWingNut's 1:400 measurement is accurate)...

 

With a contrast ration of 1:400 , even the GS70 TN panel with a contrast ration of 1:1000 seems better

 

Deleted some posts. Keep things in topic people This is a thread about the review made by HTWingNut.

 

HTWingnut, Excellent review. I have a question I was hoping you could help me with. Can the shortcut keys to the left be disabled at all? I have limited mobility in my left hand and when gaming am concerned about bumping them. Not the power button so much, but the lower four. If you can figure that out for me it would help immensely - I'm debating between this and the Asus G751.

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HTWingnut, great review!

 

Yes we were impressed by the reviews (obviously).

More good work

 

Thanks! It's a very nice machine, and runs remarkably cool and feels light for a 17".

 

Ya I'm tore between this and the g751, the gt72 is 500$ more up here in Canada!

 

Thanks for the review, seems to be a superb laptop. I am suprised that a repaste didn't improve the excellent cooling, because the original paste job don't look that great, even if it seems better than the older laptops. Can't wait to see its overclocking ability.

 

Thanks HT! I love my GT60 and GS60 but always look forward to the future like the GT72 chassis! Been away remote with work for a few weeks, so wayyy behind on the boards, and just now got to enjoy this review. Very well done, thanks again!

 

It would be cool to see the same thought process in 15.6 inch certainly.

 

How does the fan noise on this thing compare to the Clevo P650SE and P650SG?

I can't handle my helicopter-esque P157SM (780m) anymore. Currently using a friends Alienware 17 (770m) and, although loudish, it's nowhere near as annoying to other family members as my Clevo. I'd love to upgrade to an Asus, but they're crazy expensive here in Aus. Clevo's are incredibly cheap, thus attractive, but I could probably stretch to MSI levels if they are notably quieter.

Thanks HT. Really appreciate the work you put into your reviews.

 

Welcome back be77solo! Indeed the GT72 chasis is great and an overall amazing upgrade from the standard GT70 chassis.

Check out the new GPUs and models as well as GT80 Titan that surfaced I am definitely eyeing that one.

It has been said by reviewers and users that the GT72 is one of the quietest notebooks even under load. Of course if you enable turbofan, you will see a rocket launch to space, but on normal fan control, it runs cool and quiet

 

The larger heatsinks and fans give it a big lead in cooling over the sager machines. They use the size advantage well

 

GT72 has been the #1 hot selling item since its release, because MSI had listened to its users and made major improvement over design and innovation.
Hopefully, they continue to do this.

 

Excellent review HTWingNut!! After reading it I just had to buy one
I had to make some concessions though, mainly with the GPU (880m).
Luckily the thing is fairly easy to upgrade in the future.

One question I do have though:
is the M.2 adapter compatible with the super fast Samsung XP941 SSDs ?

 

M.2 is SATA connection only without PCIe support therefore it is not compatible.

 

Thank you for the great review. This has led me to purchase this laptop...managed to score a great deal on an open box one from NewEgg (helping me resist the GT80 Titan SLI ). I'm very excited for it to arrive!

 

is there anyone tried the latest bios update for gt72 2qe ==> MSI Global - Computer, Laptop, Notebook, Desktop, Motherboard, Graphics and more

it says : Modify ME VSCC table support BIOS ROM

do i really need to update this new bios ?

and one more quesiton my gt72 comes with 256gb ssd (128+128) so how can i activate superraid 3 function ?
do i need to buy 1 or 2 pieces of m.2 sdd with the same model comes with gt72 or what ?

 

Only update the bios if you are needing to fix a specific issue, your cards should have shipped in a raid configuration as standard (unless you specified otherwise). Building a raid array is done from the bios usually.

 

Don't update unless there are major update/enhancement or fixes.
GT72 can support Super RAID 3, but you will have to add 128GB SSD, and required to redo the whole array including the OS.

 

so i need only one 128GB SSD more ( then i have 3 128GB SSD) to activate superraid 3 ?
and is that ssd must be the same with on msi gt72 Kingston or any brand will fit ?

 

Super raid 3 is just a marketing term, each device you add will increase sequential speeds but not impact small file speeds. The exact speed per drive depends on the drive used and goes up to around 1.6GB/sec (the limit of the chipset).

 

I was able to take advantage of the gt72 980m upgrade kit, so you can upgrade it at a later date if you'd like. I got mine for 750 USD, but they are generally around 850 in most places. Canada seems to sell them outright to users, but the U.S. Stores tend to want you to send your laptop to them for an upgrade.

 

Has anyone lowered the RPM on both fans so that its alot quieter, played a game for a good time and taken a look at the temps. Im very interested in this laptop but the loud fans are pulling me away from this.

 

I don't know what you heard, but the fans are super quiet with the GT72 compared to other models. If fans are an issue with you, I would turn you away from any gaming laptop. This is the quietest 980M laptop on the market right now and you do have control over your fans. I highly recommend it, but again, it's up to you whether you want to deal with fans or not.

 

You can lower the fan speed using Svet's tool, however there's a minimum voltage so you can't go too low or else the fan will just stop spinning completely.