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MSI GT75VR 7RF Titan Pro review: A desktop masquerading as a laptop

By Koh Wanzi - 1 Nov 2017
Launch SRP: S$5899

Performance benchmarks

Test Setup and Performance

Next, we put the GT75VR 7RF Titan Pro through our standard suite of gaming, temperature, and battery life benchmarks to assess its performance.

We used the Aftershock PRIME-15 as our main comparison, but we’ve also included figures from other non-Max-Q GeForce GTX 1070 notebooks to flesh out the results where available. Specifically, we picked the Aorus X5 v6 and Alienware 15, equipped with a Core i7-6820HK and Core i7-6700HQ respectively, to help with the comparisons.  These are 6th-generation processors, but because most games are GPU-bound, their performance can be taken as an approximation of what you can expect from their current 7th-generation counterparts. 

In addition, while these three notebooks aren't quite in the same class as the MSI laptop, they're the most relevant comparisons we have for now, and they'll also help give a rough idea of how much more performance you'll get by ponying up for a true desktop replacement.

Here’s a list of the benchmarks used:

  • PCMark 10
  • 3DMark (2013)
  • VRMark
  • Ashes of the Singularity
  • Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
  • Tom Clancy’s The Division

Test notebooks compared
  MSI GT75VR 7RF Titan Pro Aftershock PRIME-15 Max-Q Aorus x5 v6 Alienware 15 (2016)
  MSI GT75VR 7RF Titan Pro Aftershock PRIME-15 Max-Q Aorus x5 v6 Alienware 15 (2016)
Launch SRP
  • From S$5899
  • From S$3799
  • From S$3752
Processor and Chipset
  • Intel Core i7-7820HK (2.9GHz, 8MB L3 cache)
  • Intel Core i7-7700HQ (2.8GHz, 6MB L3 cache)
  • Intel Core i7-6820HK (2.70GHz, 8MB L3 cache)
  • Intel Core i7-6700HQ (2.60GHz, 6MB L3 cache)
Operating System
  • Windows 10 Home (64-bit)
  • Windows 10 Home (64-bit)
  • Windows 10 Home 64-bit
  • Windows 10 Home 64-bit
System Memory
  • 32GB DDR4 RAM
  • 16GB DDR4 2,400MHz RAM
  • 16GB DDR4
  • 16GB DDR4
Video & Display
  • 17.3-inch 1,920 x 1,080-pixel 120Hz display
  • NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080
  • 15.6-inch 1,920 x 1,080-pixel 120Hz display
  • NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Max-Q
  • 15.6-inch 2,880 x 1,620 IPS G-Sync display
  • NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070
  • 15.6-inch 1,920 x 1,080 120Hz IPS G-Sync display
  • NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070
Storage
  • 2x 256GB M.2 PCIe SSD in RAID 0
  • 1TB 7,200RPM HGST Travelstar 7K1000
  • Samsung 960 EVO 250GB SSD
  • Seagate FireCuda SSHD 1TB
  • 256GB PCIe SSD
  • 1TB 7,200RPM HDD
  • 256GB PCIe SSD
  • 1TB 7,200RPM HDD
Optical Drive
  • None
  • None
  • None
  • None
Connectivity
  • Aquantia AQtion 10Gbit Network Adapter
  • Wireless 802.11ac/b/g/n
  • Bluetooth 4.2
  • Wireless 802.11ac/b/g/n
  • Bluetooth 4.2
  • Killer Wireless-AC 1535 2x2 MU-MIMO
  • Killer E2200 Gigabit Ethernet controller
  • Killer Doubleshot Pro
  • Bluetooth 4.1
  • Killer Wireless-AC 1535 2x2 MU-MIMO
  • Killer E2400 Gigabit Ethernet controller
  • Killer Doubleshot Pro
  • Bluetooth 4.1
Audio
  • 2x 3W Speaker
  • 1x 5W Woofer
  • Built-in stereo speakers
  • AORUS Audio Technology
  • Alienware Sound Center and Audio Recon software
I/O Ports
  • 1x Thunderbolt 3
  • 5x USB 3.1 (Gen 1) Type-A
  • 1x RJ45
  • 1x SD (XC/HC)
  • 1x (4K @ 60Hz) HDMI
  • 1x Mini DisplayPort
  • 2x USB 3.1 Gen 2 port (Type-C)
  • 3x USB 3.0 ports (USB3.1 Gen1, 1 x powered USB port, AC/DC)
  • 2x Mini Display port 1.3
  • 1x HDMITM output port (with HDCP)
  • 1x 2-in-1 Audio jack (Headphone / S/PDIF Optical output)
  • 1x Microphone jack
  • 1x RJ-45 LAN port
  • 3x USB 3.0 Type-A
  • 1x USB 3.1 Type-C
  • 1x RJ-45
  • 1x mini DisplayPort
  • 1x HDMI
  • 1x SD card reader
  • 2x USB 3.0 Type-A (1x PowerShare port)
  • 1x USB 3.1 Type-C
  • 1x Thunderbolt 3
  • 1x RJ-45
  • 1x mini DisplayPort
  • 1x HDMI
  • 1x Alienware graphics amplifier port
  • 1x SD card reader
Miscellaneous
  • Low-profile mechanical switches
  • Per-key RGB lighting
  • RGB illumination
  • Per-key RGB backlighting
  • Tobii eye-tracking technology
Battery Type
  • 75Wh
  • 55Wh
  • 94.24Wh
  • 68Wh
Dimensions
  • 428 x 314 x 31-58mm
  • 380 x 249 x 18.6mm
  • 390 x 272 x 22.9mm
  • 389 x 305 x 25.4mm
Weight
  • 4.565kg
  • 1.9kg
  • 2.5kg
  • 3.49kg

 

PCMark 10 Extended

PCMark 10 Extended assesses the performance of systems in a variety of workloads, including basic computing tasks, productivity applications, digital content creation, and gaming. Compared to PCMark 8, it also adds in new test metrics, such as app startup times, which quantifies how long it takes to launch a variety of real-world apps, and a rendering and visualization workload to simulate professional graphics and engineering applications. In addition, existing workloads have been updated to reflect modern usage

We’ve also added in a graph to reflect the low-level breakdown of scores to give an idea of performance in individual workloads.

Compared to the Aftershock PRIME-15, the more powerful processor and graphics card enabled the MSI laptop to power ahead to a 27 per cent overall advantage. Some of its most commanding advantages came in the Gaming benchmark, where the GeForce GTX 1080 was able to flex its muscles.

 

3DMark (2013)

The synthetic 3DMark benchmark tests graphics and computational performance at different resolutions, starting at 1080p and going all the way up to 4K. A series of two graphics test, one physics test, and then a combined test stresses your hardware in turn to assess its performance. And because of the physics test that keeps the GPU load low while running gameplay physics simulations on the CPU, all three 3DMark Fire Strike tests scores also include an element of CPU performance.

We’ve results from more notebooks here, and the closest comparison would probably be with the Aorus X5 v6, which sports last generation’s overclockable mobile processor and a GeForce GTX 1070.

Still, MSI’s Titan Pro was just over 13 per cent quicker than the Aorus in 3DMark Fire Strike, and it bounded to a roughly 30 per cent lead over the Aftershock and Alienware laptops.

The GeForce GTX 1080 in the MSI notebook continues to serve up spades of performance, and it was a good 22 per cent faster than the Aorus laptop even in the more graphically intensive Fire Strike Ultra test.  

 

VRMark

Futuremark’s new VRMark benchmark is designed to assess a PC’s ability to handle high-performance headsets like the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift. If a PC passes the Orange Room test, it is ready for the latter two systems.

All the systems here passed with flying colors, although the MSI GT75VR 7RF Titan Pro was naturally ahead of the pack. However, its lead was more modest, with approximately a 6 per cent lead over the Aorus X5 v6.

 

Ashes of the Singularity

Ashes of the Singularity is one of the few CPU-bound games out there, especially at the lower resolutions and graphics settings.

This is evident when looking at the benchmarks, where both the MSI and Aorus laptops turned out nearly identical performance, despite being equipped with a GeForce GTX 1080 and 1070 respectively.

However, turning the settings up to Crazy shifts the onus onto the GPU, and the MSI trotted to a 16 per cent lead over the Aorus notebook. It was also significantly faster just over 30 per cent than the Alienware 15, so the GeForce GTX 1080 and Core i7-7820HK confer quite a large advantage here.

 

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

On the other hand, Mankind Divided is one of the most demanding games out there. It pushes the GPU hard, and utilizes a range of advanced graphical effects such as dynamic and volumetric lighting and cloth physics. Unfortunately, we don’t have figures from the Alienware and Aorus laptops, so there’s just have the Aftershock PRIME-15 for comparisons here.

At High settings and DirectX 11 mode, the Titan Pro was a whopping 68 per cent quicker. But that commanding lead aside, what’s interesting is that the MSI laptop actually benefited from switching to DirectX 12, whereas the Aftershock suffered. In fact, there was a 30 per cent boost at Ultra settings, which is quite a sizeable gain.

A low-level API like DirectX 12 works by reducing CPU overheads and enabling the CPU to process more draw calls per second, and it looks like the Titan Pro’s Core i7-7820HK was able to take advantage of this more effectively.

 

Tom Clancy’s The Division

Unsurprisingly, the MSI Titan Pro again took the lead in The Division. Things can get quite hard on the GPU at Ultra settings, but the GeForce GTX 1080 handles it with ease, posting a nearly 20 per cent lead over the Aorus X5 v6.

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7.5
  • Design 7.5
  • Features 9
  • Performance 9
  • Value 6.5
  • Mobility 4.5
The Good
Super powerful
Excellent cooling performance
10Gbps Ethernet is a first for a laptop
Mechanical keyboard feels great to type
120Hz display and speedy RAID 0 storage
The Bad
Still extremely thick and heavy when there are already slimmer competitors
Very pricey
Fans are rather noisy
TN display isn't too impressive
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