MSI GT660

A PC notebook equipped with a player for exceptional audio system

The game has the virtue of encouraging manufacturers of portable excel. Proof by example!

Intel Core i7 with technology TurboBooster, NVidia GTX 285m with 1 GB of GDDR3 memory, dual hard drive to combine capacity and performance: the GT660 is not in half measures.

This notebook red and black is beautiful like a fire truck, especially with LEDs that glow an orange color on the sides. No doubt enabled, this PC equipped with an LCD screen 16-inch diagonal, is for players. Its configuration will not let the marble as it incorporates the very best in components.

Boardmarked

Intel Core i7 with technology TurboBooster, NVidia GTX 285m with 1 GB of GDDR3 memory, dual hard drive to combine capacity and performance: the GT660 is not in half measures. It is even more excess, when we know that this model can accommodate up to 12GB of DDR3 RAM. The hard disk configuration, a weak link in many machines is also observed allowing to couple two identical mechanical hard drives in RAID 0 or associate an SSD with a hard classical mechanics. Interesting also support USB 3.0, which should soon become more widespread.

It trunk

Maybe you do not know the manufacturer of audio systems high end Dynaudio? So remember that the Danish company designs, in addition to professional recording studios or work on the soundtrack of the film AvatarThe sound of Bugatti supercars and certain Volkswagen sedans. Apart from this impressive track record, Dynaudio has mainly involved early in the development of GT660. Thus the integration of two speakers and a subwoofer miniature has not made an afterthought, but as the draft of the laptop chassis. To have had the chance to listen to the sound produced by this notebook 16 inches, we can already say that it seems to live up to our expectations.

The MSI GT660 is expected this summer for the first configuration and in September for the most powerful of them, at prices ranging from 1 499-2 599 euros.

The expectations before test

The MSI GT660 is clearly aimed at gamers. Its colors anthracite, black and red are illuminated by orange LED bars that can react according to the soundscape. With quad-core processor and a graphics chip GeForce GTX 285m, the high end of Nvidia, this laptop is supposed to deliver a substantial processing power to handle all the video games market. On the other hand, the modest size of its 16-inch screen and battery with nine cells are also designed to suit certain nomadism. What happens in practice?

The reality

The ownership of the GT660 inspires rather good impression. The hull is solid and good finish, but not great either. The orange LED are spectacular. Whether we like it or not their style, they will not obstruct the visibility of the player who will not see them in the classic position of a user facing the screen. Anyway, here’s a detail only cosmetic, but still sympathetic, knowing that it is always possible to turn off the lights when needed. The GT660 is also equipped with two large openings to vent the heat from the graphics chip and high-end processor.

A ball of nerves relatively quiet

One could easily imagine, with a Core i7-720QM and GeForce GTX 285m, this laptop gives off a maximum heat. The two high-end chips very hot, especially as they are cooled on a common system of dissipation. However, it is perfectly possible to play the vast majority of games without too much shouting ventilation, which is surprisingly quiet for a powerful portable players.
If true blow warm in extreme situations, we can ensure the stability of the machine by increasing ventilation from the touch panel. The laptop is so much noise to 48 dB (that too!), But we did not need to activate the extra ventilation during our tests: the GT660 has remained stable, even if we have preferred to use this breakdown under extreme loads under OCCT for the processor does not exceed 80 ° C.

The game Grand Touring class

Seen from inside, the GT660 is a great portable machine. Its processing power and 12 GB of RAM it can handle almost all applications, even the most complex, without flinching. Including the latest video games, he eats with the appetite of an ogre: Dirt 2 exceeds 60 frames per second in native resolution with all details up andantialiasing at 2x. Ditto for Resident Evil 5.
The scores go up to 6593 points in 3DMark Vantage Performance mode and 13,084 points in 3DMark 2006 test. Enough to play comfortably, even if the graphics card GTX285 accuses two generations behind (it’s actually the equivalent of a GeForce 9800GT) and do not support the latest 3D effects provided by DirectX 11. It’s a little frustrating, knowing that the phones can now use the mobile version of the Radeon HD 5870 ATI, more powerful and supports DirectX 11, which can be found for example in the G73JH Asus.

Some refinements of the first order

The GT660 retains some major advantages. First, note the presence of two USB ports version 3.0, much faster, interface is still very rare on laptops. The machine also incorporates a Blu-ray and DVD burner and two 500GB hard drives running at 7200 rpm, which is very significant in terms of performance. The functionoverclocking MSI is also added benefit: the processor is 1.6 to 1.8 GHz at rest and can reach 3 GHz Turbo mode instead of the 2.8 GHz source.
The audio system developed by the brand high-end Dynaudio has been excellent for a laptop. Both speakers and the little subwoofer located under the chassis restore sound very full, that sounds good. This is the first time we can afford to comfortably listen to music on a laptop!
Yellow card, however, for the screen that displays a definition of 1366 x 768 pixels. Too little, especially for the Blu-ray, but it saves the graphics chip, whose performance decreases quickly in high definition.

A laptop battery out of steam quickly

Autonomy is not really the highlight of the GT660. The laptop took 1 hour 46 minutes during our endurance test, despite its new battery cells 9800 mAh. Finally, its size, 16 inches, and weighing 3.46 kg really does not help to nomadism. We therefore speak more portable, but it is the case for all of these machines, apart from some exceptions including Alienware M11x.

The test and review conclusions

The GT660 is a good game machine We regret the delay of its graphics chip technology, which remains very satisfactory in terms of pure power. With a good sound system and huge assets, such as USB 3.0, this laptop is worth it for players who are not bothered by the low resolution of the screen.

Positive points

* Flashy Design
* High-performance components
* Double HDD
* USB 3.0 Compatibility
* High-performance audio system

Negative points

* Price a bit high

Technical specifications

type
Portable gaming
Screen Size (inches)
16