MSI GP70 LEOPARD-010 – Review

“Hunting Down Your Enemies,” that is how MSI advertises GP70 series laptops. In the GP Series MSI, introduces new 17.3-inch laptop for gamers LOPARD GP70 with Intel i5-4200M Dual Core processor and Nvidia GeForce GT840M GPU.

Design

The whole casing was made of black plastic with a red logo. I think that the laptop casing is too flexible, which can lead to damaging screen matrix. The main advantage of this laptop is a 17.3-inch screen with a full HD resolution. And no other gaming laptop below 1000 dollars can offer 17” screen.

In this laptop, positive impression makes full size 103 keys professional gaming keyboard designed by well-known company SteelSeries.

Thanks to its unusual layout, the keyboard is grate for gaming. But the unusual layout can cause confusion when writing. Unfortunately, the keyboard in GP70 Leopard is not highlighted. Which is standard in other gaming laptops.

The touchpad has two well responding buttons, which is against latest design trends, but this solution is much more comfortable to use.

Processor

Unfortunately, in this price range 17.3-inch screen led to some savings in others components. GP70 LEOPARD-010 has been equipped with only Dual Core i5-4200M Processor (3 m Cache, up to 3.10 GHz turbo). But in order to meet the requirements of the latest games, this may not be enough.

Processor has an integrated Intel HD 4600 chip, which allows you to browse the internet and work with simple 2D graphics at reduced power consumption from the battery.

Graphic

Unfortunately, MSI also save money at GPU. NVIDIA GeForce GT840M with 2 GB GDDR3 VRAM will not allow you to play any of the latest games on high settings you probably will be able to play any latest game, but not necessarily at high settings.

RAM

Laptop have installed 8 GB SO-DIMM DDR3 GB RAM8 that should be enough for any current game.

Storage

This laptop is equipped with a 2.5-inch 1 TB 7200 RPM HDD drive. This will provide you with plenty of space for games.

Screen

Now let’s talk about greatest advantage of this laptop 17.3-inch display. GP70 matrix allows you to play games in full HD resolution. And its Matt screen with high luminance matrix performs very well in sunlight.

Audio

Demanding audiophiles will not be stunned by Sound Blaster card and only two speakers are mounted in this laptop. Despite the fact that the laptop can play really loud at a higher volume, sound quality is getting worse. However, the sound quality is still better than in an average laptop.

Connection and ports

For connection GP70 LEOPARD have wireless card, 1 GB LAN RJ45 port that you will find on the rear side of laptop, and Bluetooth

Laptop offers on left side: Kensington lock, Power Connector, HDMI, 2 USB 3.0, 2 audio ports, and memory card reader.

On the right side: USB 2.0, optical drive, USB 2.0, VGA Port, and RJ-45 LAN Connector.

My thought

Unfortunately, compared to the competition in this price class, which uses i7 CPU and GTX950 or GTX960 or even Radeon R9, applied by MSI i5 processor and GT940 GPU makes him very inferior to them. As for comfort, the best feature of this laptop is a 17.3-inch matte display.

While working on the internet or in Microsoft Office applications noise emission is at 33 dB, which is a little too much. In tests with demanding games, Leopard GP70 is quite loud emitting about 42-44 dB. It does not emit a lot of heat; the cooling system is sufficiently powerful and provides a comfortable temperature at 105ºF (40°C) in the warmest place.

So for whom is this laptop? I would say that while it is advertised as a gaming laptop it is not for hardcore games it is simple to week. I think this laptop is good for someone looking for general use laptop with bigger screen who want to play games from time to time.

MSI GP70 LEOPARD-010 Pros & Cons