MSI GE60 Apache Pro-003 review - CNET
MSI fits new Nvidia graphics into a smaller laptop
MSI fits new Nvidia graphics in a smaller laptop
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CNET Editors' Rating
8.5 Overall
Performance
MSI GE60 Apache Pro-003
We're seeing an influx of new and updated gaming laptops, thanks to the March release of the . Most of these cards are going into massive 17-inch desktop replacement systems, but it's nice that even some of the higher-end GTX cards are making their way into smaller, slimmer .
One of the first 800-series laptops we've tested is the MSI GE60 Apache Pro-003. This 15-inch gaming laptop walks a fine line between price, size, and performance, pairing a quad-core Intel Core i7 CPU with the new Nvidia GeForce GTX 860M GPU, which is two steps down from the very top of the line but still very powerful.
Our configuration is a very reasonable $1,349, but to get there, you'll have to stick with a traditional 1TB platter hard drive, only 8GB of RAM, and a basic DVD burner instead of Blu-ray. However, the build quality is excellent, and the keyboard (with a multicolored backlight, of course), feels great for gaming.
Sarah Tew/CNET
For a midsize gaming laptop, your options are something like this system -- or a similarly hefty 14- or 15-inch model from Alienware, Origin PC, Maingear -- or Razer's very promising new 14-inch Blade model, which promises similar high-end specs in a much smaller, slimmer package, along with a 3,200x1,800 touch screen. That , shipping in April, is easily the most modern-looking of the current and coming-soon gaming laptops, but it also starts at $2,199, a huge premium over the GE60, which is very reasonably priced.
For around $1,300, the MSI's design is still on the hokey side (if far from the worst offender), and I still think gaming laptops need to push past non-touch 1080p screens. Still, I love the feel of the keyboard with its slightly scalloped keys, the screen looks great, and it's a low(er)-cost way to step into Nvidia's latest generation of graphics cards.
MSI GE60 Apache Pro-003
Alienware 17
Maingear Pulse 14
Display size/pixel resolution
15.6-inch, 1,920x1,080 screen
17-inch, 1,920x1,080 screen
14-inch, 1,600x900 screen
2.4GHz Intel Core i7-4700HQ
2.7GHz Intel Core i7-4800MQ
2.6GHz Intel Core i7-4702MQ
8GB 1,600MHZ DDR3 SDRAM
16GB 1,600MHZ DDR3 SDRAM
16GB 1,600MHZ DDR3 SDRAM
4GB Nvidia Geforce GTX 860M
4GB Nvidia Geforce GTX 780M
4GB Nvidia Geforce GTX 760M
256GB SSD + 750GB HD
(2) 128GB SSD + 1TB HD
Optical drive
External DVD-RW
Networking
Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11ac wireless, Bluetooth 4.0
Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11ac wireless, Bluetooth 4.0
Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n wireless, Bluetooth 4.0
Operating system
Windows 8.1 (64-bit)
Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
Design and features
Nearly every gaming laptop we've seen recently follows a pretty standard design brief. Black chassis, more like brushed-metal keyboard tray, and at least one backlit logo, usually on the back of the lid.
The MSI GE60 hits all those parameters, and even adds the gaming laptop cliche of multicolored lights, in the form of a rainbowlike keyboard backlight (it's not nearly as bad an offender as Alienware's laptops, though). The front lip rises up about 1 inch off the desktop, and the rise is about 1.25 inches in the rear, making this a thick, chunky, boxy laptop, the complete opposite of the tapered, slim designs of nearly every new non-gaming laptop. That's an industrywide problem, however, not one specific to MSI.
Sarah Tew/CNET
I'll go further and say this is one of the sharper-looking boxy gaming laptops that I've ever seen. That's because it's not built on a generic third-party chassis, as boutique companies such as Origin PC and Maingear are forced to do. Out of the recent gaming laptops we've tried, if I can't have the amazingly slim custom bodies produced by Razer, this MSI version is my next favorite choice.
A big part of that appeal is the excellent keyboard. It's designed by SteelSeries, a manufacturer of high-end gaming keyboards. And the thick, island-style keys here have excellent response, satisfyingly deep travel, and a great, subtle concave key face that hugs your fingers, which is especially useful for the gamer-centric WASD keys. It's one of the best keyboards I've ever tried on a gaming laptop. Watch out for one thing, however: the Windows key has been shifted to the right side of the spacebar, which might be jarring.
Sarah Tew/CNET
The large clickpad-style touch pad is workable for everyday Web and OS navigation, but it's not as responsive as some of the best Windows laptop touch pads, especially when it comes to multitouch gestures. For a laptop without a touch screen, that's a problem, but gamers will probably keep an external mouse plugged in most of the time.
Unless you hook up an external monitor (which is sometimes how smaller gaming laptops are used), you'll be playing on a 15.6-inch matte screen display with a native resolution of 1,920x1,080 pixels. In a world dominated by overly glossy screens, it's interesting that only business laptops and gaming laptops seem to show that someone realized that a matte screen provides a better overall experience. Off-axis viewing is great, and better than the
we recently tested.
My only other display requests on a high-end gaming laptop would be a touch screen, to make non-gaming interaction with
easier, and the option for even higher screen resolutions, which are becoming ever more popular.
Audio from quad speakers was hefty but not desk-shaking, and a THX app offers some presets, which are mostly EQ tweaks.
Connections and ports
Quad speakers, headphone/microphone jacks
2 USB 3.0, 2 USB 2.0, SD card reader
Networking
Ethernet, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
Optical drive
DVD burner
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Dan Ackerman leads CNET's coverage of laptops, desktops, and Windows tablets, while also writing about games, gadgets, and other topics. A former radio DJ and member of Mensa, he's written about music and technology for more than 15 years, appearing in publications including Spin, Blender, and Men's Journal.
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