Back in late October MSI announced the GT80 Titan gaming laptop that included an impressive array of features, the most interesting of which was the full-size Cherry MX Brown keyboard embedded in the chassis. Seriously.
At CES this week we got hands on with the beast and I have to say I came away pretty impressed. Hardware powering the system includes an Intel Core i7-4980HQ processor, a pair of GTX 980M GPUs running in SLI, 24GB of DDR3 system memory, up to quad M.2 SSDs in RAID-0, Killer wired and wireless networking and more. All of that hardware sits under the top portion of the bottom of the notebook – the LED backlit Cherry MX Steel Series keyboard takes up the entire depth of the GT80 in the bottom portion.
Despite its appearance, the GT80 Titan is similar in size to some of the other 17/18-in Alienware notebooks currently selling, but they obviously don't include a Cherry keyboard will full travel switches. MSI also claims that access to the system memory, M.2 storage, 2.5-in HDD location and optical drive through the top panel allows for reasonable upgrade options down the road. Even the two MXM modules for the GTX 980M cards can be changed through the bottom of the GT80. (Mobile GPU upgrades have always been problematic.)
The GT80 Titan will be available next week and will start at $3299 with a $3499 option including the faster Intel processor. That is an incredibly high price for a gaming machine that is less "portable" than "transportable" but it would be hard to get more gaming horsepower in a smaller package anywhere else. We are looking forward to a review unit showing up shortly after our return! Stay tuned!
PC Perspective's CES 2015 coverage is sponsored by Logitech.
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RMA it!!! Look at the right
RMA it!!! Look at the right speakers.
Apparently all of the demoing
Apparently all of the demoing on this sample has not been kind to it.
So Josh was right about the
So Josh was right about the touchpad?
they should’ve centered the
they should’ve centered the keyboard, looks goofy
The lid/screen covers the
The lid/screen covers the keyboard completely when closed right?
Correct, and the WLAN
Correct, and the WLAN module(antenna) was put inside, which is for the LCD cover can be made by one piece metal.
Pretty gutsy of MSI for doing
Pretty gutsy of MSI for doing this. Personally, I would’ve preferred a 75% keyboard layout instead. It would’ve made better use of the space while at the same time providing slightly more space for the ‘trackpad/numbpad’ on the right hand side.
I think the point is to have
I think the point is to have a “real keyboard” (therefore using full Cherry MX keys)
I would have even gone so far and put a real numpad on it and the touchpad would be only for extreme emergencies; so I would have put it on the flat surface (ontop the hardware) or hidden away by sliding or swiveling.
I just cant wait for it to
I just cant wait for it to arrive so i can rock my game library again