Armed with the very latest Intel 7th Gen. Kaby Lake Processor and NVIDIA’s new GTX 1050 Ti, the 7RE seeks to cater for the entry-level gamer.
Product on Review: GE62 7RE APACHE PRO
Manufacturer & Sponsor: MSI
Street Price: UK £1199 US $TBA
2017 began with an explosion of technology announcements at CES just a matter of weeks ago; heralding a step forward in both the CPU and GPU realms. The mobile platform itself received a double helping with by way of the new Intel 7th Generation processors and entry-level NVIDIA GTX 1050/Ti.
MSI’s laptop division are known for seizing the opportunity and ‘striking while the iron is hot’ and today’s product review in question epitomises just that. Within the MSI GE62 7RE resides the new Intel 7th Generation Core i7-7700HQ processor and the newly unveiled GTX 1050 Ti. By offering 8GB DDR4 and a SATA-based M.2 SSD this new laptop is likely to be regarded as an entry-level performer, but which is bolstered by the new Kaby Lake quad-core unit.
The question is, can this new laptop offer good value at its price-point?
About MSI
As a world leading gaming brand, MSI’s goal is to become the most trusted name in gaming and e-sport. We’ve dedicated countless hours and committed numerous resources to the eSports community to support the world’s most aspiring and best gamers and use their knowledge and expertise in our products in return. The insistence on 100% in-house design and manufacturing gives MSI the solid capability to implement innovative ideas and optimized design in our products.
Technical Specifications
Below are the technical details surrounding GE62 7RE obtained directly from MSI:
OS
Windows 10
Display
15.6″ (1920×1080) Anti-Glare EDP IPS Level
CPU
Intel Core i7-7700HQ
Chipset
Intel® HM175
Graphics
NVIDAI GTX 1050 Ti 4GB
Memory
8GB DDR4 (2400MHz)
SSD
1x 128GB M.2 SSD (Toshiba HG6Z)
HDD
1x 1TB 2.5″ SATA HDD
Webcam
720p / 30fps
Communication
LAN – Killer Gigabit Ethernet
WiFi – 802.11ac
Bluetooth – 4.2 +LE
Audio Jack
1x Mic-in 1x Headphone-out (HiFi / SPDIF) 1x Line-in 1x Line-out
Type-C USB 3.1 Gen2
1x
Type-A USB 3.0
1x
Card Reader
1x SD (XC/HC) Card Reader
Video Out
1 x HDMI 1.4 (4K @ 30Hz)
1 x Mini DisplayPort 1.2
Battery (Cell)
6-Cell
Battery (Type)
Li-Ion
AC Adapter
150W adapter
Dimension (WxDxH) mm
383 x 260 x 27~29
Weight (kg w/ Battery)
2.4 KG
Battery (Whr)
51
Windows 10
Display
15.6″ (1920×1080) Anti-Glare EDP IPS Level
CPU
Intel Core i7-7700HQ
Chipset
Intel® HM175
Graphics
NVIDAI GTX 1050 Ti 4GB
Memory
8GB DDR4 (2400MHz)
SSD
1x 128GB M.2 SSD (Toshiba HG6Z)
HDD
1x 1TB 2.5″ SATA HDD
Webcam
720p / 30fps
Communication
LAN – Killer Gigabit Ethernet
WiFi – 802.11ac
Bluetooth – 4.2 +LE
Audio Jack
1x Mic-in 1x Headphone-out (HiFi / SPDIF) 1x Line-in 1x Line-out
Type-C USB 3.1 Gen2
1x
Type-A USB 3.0
1x
Card Reader
1x SD (XC/HC) Card Reader
Video Out
1 x HDMI 1.4 (4K @ 30Hz)
1 x Mini DisplayPort 1.2
Battery (Cell)
6-Cell
Battery (Type)
Li-Ion
AC Adapter
150W adapter
Dimension (WxDxH) mm
383 x 260 x 27~29
Weight (kg w/ Battery)
2.4 KG
Battery (Whr)
51
Unboxing & Closer Look Video
For this review we’ve produced a video which reveals the packaging, bundle and a close, detailed overview of GE62VR 7RE. Please check out the video below for a comprehensive look at this new product:
Benchmarks: Temperatures
For our first benchmark test we observe the max. CPU/GPU temperatures of the system while allowing Unigine Heaven 4.0 to run on a 30 minute loop. To report back on the temperatures we use RealTemp and GPU-Z which provide the peak figures.
Benchmarks: Boot Time & Battery Uptime
In this test we observe how fast the boot into Windows 10 is by using a digital stopwatch. Battery uptime is another important observation, for this we charge the notebook up to 100% and then disconnect the charging unit and leave Heaven 4.0 running on a continuous loop until the notebook loses all power.
Benchmarks: Cinebench R15 & x264 HD
CINEBENCH can measure systems with up to 64 processor threads. This test scene contains approximately 2,000 objects which in turn contain more than 300,000 polygons in total, and uses sharp and blurred reflections, area lights, shadows, procedural shaders, antialiasing, and much more. The result is displayed in points (pts). The higher the number, the faster your processor is.
Benchmarks: PCMark 8
PCMark 8 combines performance benchmarking with battery life measurement and includes tests based on popular Adobe and Microsoft applications. Whether you are looking for long battery life, or maximum power, PCMark 8 will help you find the devices that offer the perfect combination of efficiency and performance for your needs. It’s the complete PC performance benchmark for home and business.
Benchmarks: 3DMark TimeSpy & Heaven 4.0
Time Spy is a DirectX 12 benchmark test for gaming PCs running Windows 10. With its pure DirectX 12 engine, built from the ground up to support new API features like asynchronous compute, explicit multi-adapter, and multi-threading, Time Spy is the ideal benchmark for testing the DirectX 12 performance of the latest graphics cards.
Benchmarks: TW: WARHAMMER, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Deus Ex: MD, DOOM
The MSI GE62 7RE uses the GTX 1050 Ti graphics delivery, in this section we test the latest gaming titles to see how effective the 3D capabilities are. We report on the average framerate using FRAPS or in-game benchmark tool.
Conclusion
The start of this year has been especially eventful for key players in the CPU and GPU sectors; Intel unveiled their 7th Generation of Core processors codenamed Kaby Lake and NVIDIA released their entry level GTX 1050 for the mobile platform; both of which are prominent features in today’s product review.
As is customary, MSI are always keen to revamp their laptop product lines with any major Intel or NVIDIA release, it just so happens that the GE62 7RE adopts both. Those with an eagle eye will notice very little has changed on this new GE62 compared to the previous generations which use Skylake-based parts and the NVIDIA-9 series GPUs. Elegance is really the word which underpins the overall design and aesthetic with this laptop, bearing a sturdy alloy chassis which offers decent build quality. Fundamentally, we have a classic design with some gamer oriented elements from things like the RGB keyboard.
Now, in terms of performance, against the previously reviewed GE62 6RF there is quite a variation in the results. On the one hand, CPU performance is marginally better due to Kaby Lake on the 7RE but the GPU performance takes a noticeable hit as you’ve probably seen on the comparison charts on the previous pages. The 6RF features the GTX 1060, while today’s 7RE uses the entry level 1050 Ti. Between these GPUs there is a substantial difference in raw GPU power – so although both laptops bear the same name, the GE62 7RE isn’t really a qualified successor to the GE62 6RF because it uses a GPU of lower classification. This is likely to create a bit of confusion for some consumers seeking to compare previous generations to the current, nevertheless this laptop still delivers some excellent performance across the board; providing good 1080p performance in-game.
The Kaby Lake Core i7-7700HQ does indeed offer some added benefit over its predecessor the Core i7-6700HQ. Both the CPU and GPU clocks on this chip are faster and this translates to better performance in a range of tasks. It’s widely reported that even the desktop counter-parts for Intel Kaby Lake get rather hot under load and the mobile editions don’t shy away from this pitfall either. Laptop manufacturers will have their work cut-out trying to keep temperatures at bay with this latest 7th Generation of processors but MSI has proven once again that their cooling configuration is more than up to the job
Our experience with GE62 7RE can be regarded as positive but there are a few areas which could be improved. Inside our laptop we have an M.2 SSD which, rather than using PCI-Express uses the SATA interface instead and therefore has a 500MB/s limitation, furthermore the actual drive which MSI have chosen to use (Toshiba HG6Z) offers up just 200MB/s for write transfer performance. At this price-range we still expect the superior PCI-Express transfer rates. MSI also missed a golden opportunity to include HDMI 2.0 rather than 1.4 – the newer standard has increased bandwidth for higher resolution with 50/60Hz support at 4K, better audio channel and sampling rate support. Given that MSI’s laptops are marketed at VR compatibility, HDMI 2.0 should be used to aid this.
The GE62 7RE is priced at £1199 GBP in the UK and at the moment we have no US pricing. With this entire package, we get 2 years’ warranty and we get decent performance from the range of features this laptop provides. However, given some of the criticisms we believe the 7RE should sit closer to the £1000 mark to more accurately deliver a better value package, especially since we have an “entry-level point GPU”.
The MSI GE62 7RE is a solid laptop which carries the new Kaby Lake 7700HQ and NVIDIA GTX 1050Ti. Both of which should satisfy the needs of gamers who want a slice of 1080p action.
VIDEO REVIEW – VORTEZ TV
Pros
+ Classic, stylish design
+ Decent build quality (Alloy chassis)
+ LED backlit keyboard
+ Excellent audio
+ Clear, vibrant display
+ Great overall performance
+ Includes card slot reader
+ XSplit subscription included
Cons
– HDMI 1.4 instead of HDMI 2.0
– SATA-based SSD (500MB/s)
– Only 8GB DDR4
– System upgrades cannot be performed without voiding warranty
+ Classic, stylish design
+ Decent build quality (Alloy chassis)
+ LED backlit keyboard
+ Excellent audio
+ Clear, vibrant display
+ Great overall performance
+ Includes card slot reader
+ XSplit subscription included
Cons
– HDMI 1.4 instead of HDMI 2.0
– SATA-based SSD (500MB/s)
– Only 8GB DDR4
– System upgrades cannot be performed without voiding warranty
Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net.
