MSI GT70-2PE ‘Dominator Pro’ Gaming Notebook Review

Final Thoughts

Pricing

It comes as no surprise that as a top end gaming notebook, the GT70-2PE Dominator Pro does not come with a lightweight price tag. Taking the wider market and desktop systems in to account as well, the Dominator Pro may be a little behind some of the cheaper desktop offerings in terms of overall performance, but for its size (which is key here) it is more than capable of delivering a ton of gaming performance.

Overview

As a top end gaming notebook the way in which we look at certain aspects of the build such as its weight and portability are not that as important as they are with lower powered systems like the Ghost Pro, which in itself is modelled around portability and not so much its performance. As an out-and-out gaming system though, it is in a class of its own and bar desktop systems, which to be honest are going to perform at a higher level for the same price, there are only a small number of systems that are going to be able to take this on in a heated battle.

Like all things though, there are always one or two places where either the specification or feature set could do with some tweaking and adjustments. Starting off with the storage and memory, as it stands the Ghost Pro is capable of delivering higher levels of read performance with its two M.2 drives that this is able to with its two mSATA drives. Granted there is the option to have this system shipped with 3 SSDs which result in faster speeds overall, but it would be nice to see this as a standard feature. The memory also could do with some upgrading. When looking at a system of this calibre, it would be more preferable to see some performance memory in situ, such as Kingston’s HyperX modules, rather than a set of generic modules that are comparable to the ValueRAM kits that are available on the retail market for not that greater cost. Elsewhere around the system, the option to have 8GB of GDDR5 memory on hand to the 880m GPU I think is a little over the top. Even with 4GB of VRAM the system is more than able of driving 4K resolutions as I have seen third hand so whilst there is the option to go up to 8GB, I would say that you would be better off in sticking with this setup rather than spending that bit more and not feeling like you have gained a lot from it.

As far as keeping the system cool is concerned, keeping the GPU cool under full load could do with a little bit of attention. Whilst the GK-104 core is well within its working capacity at this temperature, the subsequent acoustic levels that are experienced when the single blower fan’s speed ramps up to keep the air flowing through the heatsink, it is clearly notable and perhaps a slight remodel of the heatsink size and position may aid in the card running at a bit more of an acceptable level.

On the outside of the chassis, looking at the parts of the system that we can see and feel, I will once again give MSI credit for the anti-glare display, even during bright light it is still fairly crisp and easy to see and I do hope the MSI bring out the option to fit the GT70 out with a 3K panel as well. As I mentioned back on the second page, I’ve had the opportunity to use a 3K panel on the GT06-2OK workstation notebook and even though the FHd display is good, the 3K panel is going to be the icing on the cake. I expect it will cost a little bit, but if you’re going to be a power user as much of a gamer then boy is it worth it. The only other thing that I would like to see tweaked is the touch pad. It’s great to use as it is, but I feel that to keep in ratio with the size of the unit, it could do with being a little bit larger in size – its only a small thing, but it can make one heck of a difference.

Finishing off with the battery life, it has to be said that even though it showed around 2-3 hours of life during the Powermark and PCMark 8 test runs, when running a game first hand this run time will drop notably so don’t expect to sit on the train playing through the latest FPS for more than an hour or so. That said though, the way in which MSI have harnessed the reserve power from the battery to deliver better performance when needed is a great idea and it is the little things like this that make the GT70 sound out from the crowd.

As a whole the Dominator Pro is very much on a winning streak. As a top end gaming system that is ideal for taking to gaming events such as the iSeries or PAX the GT70 has got this covered hands down. Should you max out the RAM and add in a third mSATA drive to boost the primary storage speeds, the GT70 Dominator Pro is a class leading system that stands above all else.

Pros

• Top end GTX 880m graphics
• High levels of gaming performance
• More than capable of driving 4K resolutions during gaming
• Class leading system

Cons

• Would be nice to see performance memory as standard
• Battery life not as good as lower spec systems
• No 3K option available at this moment in time
• Touch pad could be a bit larger.

“As far as a top end notebook goes, MSI have pretty much got every angle covered with the Dominator Pro. Whilst there are one or two tweaks that could be made to better its value, it has to be said that this is without a doubt one of the most powerful, no holds barred gaming notebooks available on the market.”

Thanks to MSI UK for providing this review sample.