MSI GT783-625US

With the MSI GT783-625US ($2,599.99 direct) you get a laptop with game-worthy graphics performance, Core i7 processing power, and some neat features, including a SteelSeries backlit keyboard and a multi-channel audio solution. Although $2,600 isn't exactly affordable, it is still around half of what you can expect to pay for a high-end rig from Alienware, such as the SLI-enabled M18x . Granted, the GT783 can't compete with the Alienware M18x in terms of raw GPU horsepower, but it does make owning a potent gaming notebook a bit more affordable, and it outperformed the similarly-priced (and previous Editors' Choice winner) Alienware M17x on nearly all of our GPU-intensive benchmark tests. This laptop delivers more than enough graphics chops to handle the latest crop of demanding DX11 games, making it our new Editors' Choice for under-$3,000 gaming laptops. We only wish the cooling fans weren't so loud.-

Design
The GT783 uses a black brushed aluminum case that is quite sturdy and feels cool to the touch. A backlit MSI logo is attached to the center of the lid, which has beveled corners and a tapered front edge. Weighing 8.6-pounds and measuring 2.3-inches at its thickest point the GT783 is bulkier than the 7.5-pound HP Envy 17 ($1,484.99 direct, 4 stars) but not quite as heavy as our previous Editors' Choice, the 9.8-pound Alienware M17X ($2,254 direct, 4.5 stars). Still, you probably won't want to carry this notebook around on a regular basis.

Beneath the durable lid sits a bright 17.3-inch display with a matte coating that minimizes glare without being reflective. It's a full HD (1920 x 1080) screen with a 16:9 aspect ratio, and it sports a 720p webcam in its upper bezel. Image quality is excellent on this panel; colors are strong but not oversaturated, and blacks are inky dark.

The chiclet-style keyboard is made by SteelSeries, a popular manufacturer of gaming peripherals such as mice, keyboards, headphones, and controllers. The keys are very responsive and support up to ten simultaneous keystrokes for things like rapid fire, weapons changing, and quick sideways movements. As an added bonus the keyboard features three separate backlighting zones (left, center, and right) and a 29-color palette that lets you illuminate the keys to reflect your mood or to enhance your game. Choose the wave mode to have the colors change sequentially across the keyboard, the breathing mode for a pulsating effect, or the dual color mode to have the lights fade from one to color into another. The gaming mode illuminates the ASWD keys, which get a lot of use among the gaming crowd. The touchpad is also responsive, as are the dual mouse buttons, but the pad could be a little wider; there's certainly room.

Features

A series of touch-sensitive buttons are situated at the top of the keyboard deck with a large power switch in the middle. On the left is a button labeled P1, which activates the TDE (Turbo Drive Engine) feature (more on that later). It should be noted that the TDE key only works when the system is drawing AC power (not battery power). Next to that is the Cooler Boost key, which increases cooling fan speed for those times when the gaming action is hot and heavy and especially when the turbo drive is engaged. Be forewarned though; the decibel level is close to unbearable when the fans are cranked all the way up. The Cinema Pro button puts the display into a slightly darker movie mode and enhances audio playback, and to its right is a button that enables/disables the lighting effects. On the right side of the power switch are Wi-Fi and Bluetooth buttons, a Boss key that darkens the display and an optical drive eject button.

You get a good selection of I/O ports with the GT783. On the left side of chassis are two USB 3.0 ports, a 7-in-1 card reader, a USB 2.0 port, and four audio jacks (headphone, microphone, and S/PDIF outputs). On the right side are two USB 2.0 ports and a tray loading Blu-ray burner, and on the back are HDMI and VGA outputs, a Gigabit LAN jack, an eSATA port, and the power jack. Storage is fast and plentiful; Windows 7 Home Premium is installed on the speedy 128GB SSD drive and there's a 750GB storage drive that spins at 7,200 rpm. I was disappointed to find a smattering of bloatware installed such as trial versions of Norton Internet Security and Norton Online Backup.

The GT783 produces better than average audio output thanks to a combination of Dynaudio processing, THX surround technology, and a powerful speaker system that features an embedded subwoofer . The THX TruStudio Pro utility has settings for surround sound as well as music, movie and dialog enhancers. The subwoofer is small but adds a fair amount of bass to the mix, and the speakers are loud and crisp.

Performance
The GT783 delivers very good performance for the money. The combination of a 2.2GHz Intel Core i7-2670QM processor, 16GB of memory and NVIDIA's GeForce GTX580M graphics provide more than enough muscle to run the most demanding games and make short work of your productivity and multimedia load. Having a solid state drive doesn't hurt either. Its PCMark 7 score of 4,099 led the pack, beating both the Alienware M18x ($4,529 direct, 4 stars) (3,333) and the Asus G74SX-A2 ($2,000 street, 4 stars) (3,941).

Multimedia performance was also quite good but not as good as some of the pricier notebooks. The GT783's Cinebench R11.5 score of 5.40 trailed the M18x (6.52) but tied the M17x (5.40), while the G74SX-A-2 turned in a score of 5.04. The GT783's Handbrake score of 1:30 was no match for the M18x (1:15) but its Photoshop CS5 score of 3:41 edged past the M18x (3:56). The M17x led with a score of 3:26.

Graphics performance is what gaming notebooks are all about, and the GT783 rose to the task with a little help from the Turbo Drive Engine (TDE) feature, which is purported to boost GPU performance by up to 5-percent. We tested graphics performance in both modes and found an increase of 8-percent on both the DX9 medium quality DX11 high quality tests. There was a 5-percent boost on the DX11 medium quality and DX10 high quality tests, and there was no noticeable improvement at all on the DX9 high quality and DX10 medium quality tests. All graphics scores reported below are with the Turbo Drive enabled.

On our Crysis DX10 benchmark the GT783 managed 97.3 fps on the medium quality test and 41.3 fps on the high quality test. It beat the M17x on the medium quality test (93.3 fps) but not on the high quality test (58.7 fps). The SLI-enabled M18x blew everyone away with scores of 105.1 fps and 71.1 fps, respectively. On our DX11 Lost Planet 2 benchmark the GT783 gave us 93.5 fps on the medium quality test and 33.4 fps on the high quality test. Again, the M18x led with 114.1 fps (medium quality) and 64.4 fps (high quality), but the GT783 showed that it can handle the most demanding DX11 games with aplomb.

Battery life was outstanding for this class of notebook. The GT783's MobileMark 2007 time of 3 hours and 29 minutes was 30 minutes longer than the Asus G74SX-A2 (2:59) and a little more than an hour longer than the M17x (2:24). The M18x lasted only 1 hour and 38 minutes.

True gaming-class notebooks don't come cheap, and the MSI GT783-625US is no exception, but it does offer very good graphics and productivity performance at a price that won't break the bank. And, it's not just a black box with fast parts inside; the neat lighting effects give it some attitude and the SteelSeries keyboard and Dynaudio sound system might just make you forget about your desktop PC altogether. Throw in a sturdy aluminum chassis and a dynamite HD display, and we're happy to give the MSI our Editors' Choice for under-$3,000 gaming laptops. You may want to crank up those excellent speakers to drown out the fan noise though.

BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS:

COMPARISON TABLE
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