After the launch of Intel’s Coffee lake CPU’s which brought 6 cores as an mainstream for the core i5 and i7 models finally we have started to see high end gaming laptops coming equipped with the 8th Gen 6 core i7 processors. We have got our hands on with the latest MSI GE 73 RAIDER 8RX laptop so here is a hands on review of it.
INTERNALS
The model which we got our hands on was equipped with an Intel i7-8750H and is coupled with 16GB of DDR4 dual channel RAM clocked at 24000 MHz. To handle the graphical duties it comes with GTX 1070 MAXQ 8GB DDR5 GPU. As far as storage is concerned it comes with 512GB NVMe M.2 SSD and also 1TB 7200RPM hard drive.
BUILD QUALITY
Now coming to the build quality of the laptop it has got brushed metal finish and has red and black accent as it is a gaming laptop. The hinge below the display is very sturdy but opening the screen with one hand is not possible like other premium laptops. The laptops weighs at just 2.9kg making it extremely portable and convenient to use while travelling.
DISPLAY
To have a perfect gaming experience just having powerful internals isn’t enough but the visual experience is also important that’s where the 17.6inch 1080P 120HZ screen with 3 minutes response comes in place. Though it is a TN panel the colour accuracy is on point and covers 94% NTSC colour gamut. The viewing angles are great but not comparable to that of IPS panels but it’s decent enough for gaming. It is a matte finish display do need not worry about reflections.
PORTS SELECTION
Since the hardware used is capable of gaming as well as productivity tasks MSI has done an excellent job by not skipping on any ports. On the left you get Kensington lock , Gigabit Ethernet port, Mini Display port, HDMI 2.O port (up to 4K 60HZ), USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports (both type A&C). On the right you get 2 USB 3.1 ports and an SD Card reader. The USB 3.1 ports light up and it can be turned off using the software on the laptop.
KEYBOARD
The keyboard is made by Steel series and offers per key RGB customizations. The keys feels like cherry blue switches and the key travel is excellent and getting used to it is easy.
For gaming experience and detailed instruction on how to customize RGB watch the video linked below.As we spent very little time with this laptop we could not test the battery life and other productivity applications so we request you to subscribe to our channel for the full review and many other contents like this.
Note that there are many different models available based on their configuration, screen size etc. We have linked below few models which you can purchase based on your needs.
Best buy links
http://fkrt.it/BzFPvLuuuN