KitGuru KitGuru.net – Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards
The MSI default install is primarily drivers and software related specifically to this machine – including Steelseries Engine and Boot configuration utilities. Sadly some of the programs installed such as Norton's do NAG the user from time to time. I am not a big fan of Norton's and completely removed it before testing the laptop.
On first start up MSI boot configure appears to ask if you want to ‘stay with Internet Explorer' or use ‘Google Chrome'. I don't think I have ever seen a company put so much effort into skinning a pop up message to install a browser they don't make. I can't help but feel we really don't need this kind of pop up prompt – we all know there are alternative browser options. Go away, thank you very much.
An overview of the GS60 6QE via CPUz and GPUz. The Skylake i7 -6700HQ operates at a frequency between 2.6GHz and 3.5GHz. There is 16GB of DDR4 memory installed (2x8GB) running at 2133mhz with 14-15-15-15-36 timings. Intel HD 530 graphics are integrated and the GTX970m is built on the 28nm process and has 48 ROPS, 80 Texture units and 1280 Cuda Cores. The GDDR5 memory speed is set at 1253mhz (5Gbps effective).
We include game tests today at 1080p because this is the resolution best suited to the GTX970m. We also run some game tests at 4K settings, but as you will see – to comfortably game at 4K you will want either one or two GTX980m cards. Unless you don't mind running with massively reduced image quality settings that is. None of us want that in 2015.
Comparison Mobile Systems (for specific synthetic test compares):
Razer Blade Pro (2015) (4720HQ)
MSI GT80 Titan (i7 4980HQ)
Razer Blade 14 Inch (2015) (i7 4720HQ)
MSI GS60 Ghost Pro 3K 2QE (i7 4710HQ)
MSI GT72 2PE Dominator Pro (072UK)
MSI GS60 2PE Ghost Pro 15.6 inch (Intel I7-4700HQ).
MSI GT70 2OC (Intel Core i7 4700MQ).
MSI GS70 2OD Stealth (Intel Core i7 4700HQ).
MSI GE40-20C Dragon Eyes (Intel Core i7 4702MQ).
PCSpecialist Inferno 11.6 inch (Intel Core i7 3630QM).
MSI GX60 (AMD A10 4600M).
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (featuring Core i5 3427U).
Lenovo ThinkPad Edge S430 (featuring Core i5 3210M).
PC Specialist Vortex III HD72 (featuring Core i7 3610QM).
Asus G74SX-91013Z (featuring Core i7 2360QM).
Dell XPS 14z (featuring Core i7 2640M).
AlienWare M18X (featuring Core i7 2960XM Extreme Edition).
MSI CX640 (featuring Core i5 2410M).
Intel Core i7 2600k desktop processor.
Intel Core i5 2500k desktop processor.
Comparison Desktop System (for some gaming tests).
Detailed specifications over HERE.
Asus GTX980 ROG Matrix Platinum (1,241 mhz core / 1,753mhz memory)
Asus R9 290 Direct CU II OC (1000 mhz core / 1,260 mhz memory)
Gigabyte GTX770 OC (1,137mhz core / 1,753 mhz memory)
Sapphire Dual X R9 285 (965 mhz core / 1,400 mhz memory)
XFX R9 280X DD (1,000 mhz core / 1,500 mhz memory)
Asus Direct CU II GTX 760 OC (1,006mhz core / 1,502mhz memory)
Asus GTX750TI Strix OC Edition (1,124mhz core / 1,350mhz memory)
Software:
3DMark 11
3DMark
Cinebench R11.5 64 bit
Cinebench R15 64 bit
FRAPS Professional
Unigine Heaven Benchmark
Unigine Valley
SiSoft Sandra
CrystalDiskMark
ATTO Disk Benchmark
Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra 12
Cyberlink MediaEspresso
Games:
F1 2015
Tomb Raider
Metro Last Light Redux
Grand Theft Auto V
Witcher 3
All the latest BIOS updates and drivers are used during testing. We perform generally under real world conditions, meaning KitGuru tests games across five closely matched runs and then average out the results to get an accurate median figure. If we use scripted benchmarks, they are mentioned on the relevant page.
Game descriptions edited with courtesy from Wikipedia.
What about the yellow issues of the previous Ghost Pros?
Is this the same 4k panel as used in the earlier 2015 model?
If so it’s a total no go.
How does this compare with the Dell XPS 15? That’s now available with a 960M.
I’m thinking a 960M isn’t bad, as eGPUs should now finally be an option – and you’ll even be able to get mobile ones. So e.g. upcoming 990M is a portable package. Or obviously full blown deskptop graphics in a larger unit.
Different panel http://www.kitguru.net/laptops/jon-martindale/msi-gs60-ghost-pro-confirmed-60hz-at-4k/
Thanks, yellow issue still seems to exist though. Kitguru haven’t even reported on that? Mustard yellow’s have been a major issue with the 4k panel. Seems they only fixed the refresh rate. Any details on the FHD screen?
How is the battery life on this notebook now?
Tell me some figures with wifi on, 50% brightness and backlit keyboard off also running on eco mode.
Just for school work.
Thanks
Didnt see any issues with our sample, hence no mention of the issue.
Thanks for the review! But i got one question. Is the HMDI Port 1.4b or 2.0? The review says 1.4b but both Skylake and Maxwell are capable of HDMI 2.0
I have a problem, if I game with the power cable in the wifi looses connection, however if I game on battery it stays connected, any ideas? If tried changing power management settings etc
Can anyone who bought from OCuk actually confirm the monitor is 60 Hz? I’ve read the KitGuru article where MSI said all there 4K monitors are 60 Hz but the people at OCuk seem to think they’re still at 48 Hz. Would love to know for sure
Can someone confirm the size and type of M.2 SSD drive onboard? I would consider swapping that out with an adapter to use a larger mSATA if possible.
Yes, I know performance might not be as good but 128/256Gb is far too small.
Why can’t it come with the 2TB Samsung M9T laptop drive? If the laptop supports a regular 9.5mm thick drive, it can work. But MSI and Asus never offers this drive in their laptops from the factory.
Page 18, temps; Why not run software that will cause more power consumption and thus test the cooling system harder? For instance running Seti@home on the CPU cores and on the GPU at the same time, so full utilization on all CPU cores and mostly fully utilized GPU all at the same time. This way you can see if the cooling system really can take care of the heat and not cause throttling. Then try it in a slightly warmer room, like 27 celsius with the same scenario. The heat expels out the back of the laptop, not the sides?
I wonder if the GS40 Skylake laptop’s cooling system can move as much heat as this GS60.
The screen is matte and not reflective?
Thanks
-because a 2Tb SSD would DOUBLE the cost of the machine, that’s why. Who will buy a gaming laptop that costs $4000?? The few people who desperately want a 2Tb SSD for storage are perfectly capable of replacing it with an aftermarket drive.
A Samsung M9T 2TB HARD DRIVE. Mechanical hard drive. Costs maybe $40 more than a 1TB hard drive for a laptop. This could be in the laptop along with the m.2 SSD.
Yes the 4K screen is 60Hz, I just got the MSi GS60 6QE-054US model a few days ago, and let me just say “It is Glourious!”, and way beyond my expectations, build quality is excellent, and the entire body of the Laptop top and bottom is made from magnesium (one reason why its so light and pricy). In Cinebench render multi cpu test it runs only 12% slower than my stock i7 4770K. Ghost=7.22 4770K=8.2. Very impressive machine, I recomend every one to check it out in the store if you get the chance. Happy Gaming! I’m off to Tomb Raider land =)
don’t get it. you compared the battery life from the gs60 with the gs40 which has a 8060mAh battery. and you said, that the gs60 can reach a bettery life of almost 6hours. with the same hareware inside, the battery life of the gs 40 should be much better than the gs60 ones! but all other reviews werde sad about the gs60 battery life and get only 4,5h hours from the gs40. so whom should i believe?
I’m considering buying this laptop from the Microsoft Store as a “signature edition”, no bloatware. Is there any essential software I would be missing from MSI?
I’ve seen some conflicting reports on battery life. How has the battery held up over the past two months? Any changes?
Great review – this is my first time on kitguru and I will be coming back often!
Kitguru’s GS40 preview mentioned that they received a “halfway house laptop” which I interpreted as a pre-production laptop.
The GS40 they were sent had:
1) a higher clocked cpu
2) a not yet finalized cooling system
3) a configuration that won’t be available (16gb ram with 128gb ssd)
4) a larger battery that may not make it to retail sale (see quote)
“One difference we observed is that GS60 has a 4150mAh/47.31Wh battery while the smaller GS40 has an 8060mAh/61.25Wh battery. That goes against all expectation and it will be interesting to see whether the larger battery makes it to retail sale.”
That being said, I have also read the lower battery life claims on other sites. Some people believe it is due to old drivers. Hopefully that is the case and we can stick to kitguru’s numbers.
Hey thanks for the reply! MSI really need to be clearer with their marketing, two major UK retailers didn’t have any idea when I asked. I ended up putting it off and bought a broadwell Gigabyte P35W during black friday that I’m really happy with. Glad you’re enjoying the gs60! 🙂
Please, would you tell me the adobe RGB gamut? Thanks!