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MSI GE62VR 6RF Apache Pro Review

vortez
September 12, 2016 7 Min Read
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Bearing the new NVIDIA GTX 1060, the GE62VR gaming notebook packs in a strong feature set including an impressive LED backlit SteelSeries keyboard.



Product on Review: GE62VR 6RF Apache Pro
Manufacturer & Sponsor: MSI
Street Price: £1500 GBP / $1600 USD

In recent years with the advent of powerful mobile processors, interest and indeed investment in gaming notebooks has been steadily increasing. While a desktop computer certainly has its place, it isn’t always easy to transport such a unit to and from various locations.

It was just a matter of weeks ago that NVIDIA unveiled their next-generation of Pascal-based GPUs for the mobile platform and not wanting to miss out on such a golden opportunity, MSI are on-hand with their next phase of gaming notebooks. Each bearing these powerful GTX-10 series GPUs in the flavour of the GTX 1060, 1070 and 1080.

Today, we’ll be taking a detailed look at the new GE62VR 6RF Apache Pro. This gaming notebook arrives with some exciting hardware courtesy of a number of renowned vendors – including Intel’s Core i7-6700HQ, NVIDIA’s GTX 1060 and a Kingston M.2 SSD.

MSI are hoping to make a lasting impression in the mid-range sector with GE62VR and we’ll be exploring all the fine details to see if this notebook is worth your hard earned cash.


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 GE62VR obtained directly from MSI.

OS
Windows 10
Display
15.6″ FHD (1920×1080), IPS-Level 15.6″ UHD (3840×2160), IPS-Level
CPU
Intel Core i7-6700HQ
Chipset
Intel® HM170
Graphics
GeForce GTX 1060 with 6GB GDDR5
Memory
16GB DDR4 (2133MHz)
SSD
1x 256GB M.2 SSD Combo (NVMe PCIe Gen3 x4 / SATA )
HDD
1x 1TB 2.5″ SATA HDD
Optical Drive
DVD Super Multi
Webcam
HD type (30fps@720p)
Keyboard
SteelSeries Backlight Keyboard (Full-Color)
LAN
Killer Gb LAN
Wireless LAN & Bluetooth
802.11 ac + Bluetooth v4.0
Speaker
4x 2W
Woofer
1x 3W
Audio Jack
1x Mic-in 1x Headphone-out (SPDIF)
Type-C USB3.1 Gen2
1x
Type-A USB3.0
2x
Type-A USB2.0
1x
Card Reader
1x SD (XC/HC) Card Reader
HDMI 1.4
1 x HDMI (4K @ 30Hz)
Mini-DisplayPort
1x (v1.2)
Battery (Cell)
6-Cell
Battery (Type)
Li-Ion
AC Adapter
180W adapter
Dimension (WxDxH) mm
383 x 260 x 27~29
Weight (kg w/ Battery)
2.4
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 6RF. 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, Tomb Raider, Deus Ex:MD, DOOM

The MSI GE62VR uses the GTX 1060 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


After spending considerable time with GE62VR we’re left in no doubt of how much of a fine job MSI has done with this outstanding notebook.

Although the external design has had very few alterations compared to the previous generation of notebooks from MSI, the overall theme and aesthetics still oozes finesse – bringing that touch of elegance and adding in one or two gamer oriented trimmings. The keyboard in particular stands out as a particular highlight with GE62VR; boasting the best LED backlighting we’ve ever seen. The SteelSeries partnership continues for this specific feature and the corresponding SteelSeries ENGINE 3 software works very well in offering all the per-key customisation you’d want including tweaking commands, lighting and macros. For those wanting to tone things down, there is the option to disable all lighting too.

Across GE62VR we have an impressive selection of hardware which assists in delivering great performance for a number of different scenarios. The major attraction to this new lineup of notebooks is of course NVIDIA’s new pascal-based GPUs and the GTX 1060 inside our GE62VR doesn’t fail to impress. Mobile users can now enjoy similar performance results to desktop users – this notebook offering decent framerates in the latest gaming titles, with detail presets maxed out at 1080p.


GE62VR offers a similar feature-set to that of GIGABYTE’s P55W v6, and for those who have seen our video of both notebooks you’ll be well aware that in the cooling/temperature department, MSI clearly have the advantage. By MSI choosing to utilise a dual-heatsink/fan design and have dedicated cooling for the GTX 1060, GE62VR is able to keep temperatures well-under control – something which is always a concern with components being so condensed.

MSI has the GE62VR priced at £1500 GBP / $1600 USD which is expected cost of this specification of gaming notebook. Being able to compare GE62VR against GIGABYTE’s P55W v6, we can certainly vouch for MSI offering us the better overall deal that delivers similar performance but in a cooler, quieter unit and with bonus features like the stunning RGB LED backlit keyboard, TrueColor screen profiling, DynAudio sound solution and other extras like the 2 years subscription to XSplit GameCaster.

MSI’s GE62VR is jam-packed with the latest, cutting-edge technology. Those wanting a slice of NVIDIA’s new pascal-based GTX 1060 in the form of a gaming notebook – should look no further.

VIDEO REVIEW – VORTEZ TV


Pros
+ Classy, professional design
+ Good build quality
+ Low temperatures
+ Lightweight and portable
+ Pascal-based GPU
+ Comes with 16GB DDR4
+ Primary NVMe M.2 SSD
+ USB 3.1 included
+ Card slot reader
+ Stunning LED backlit keyboard
+ Excellent audio quality
+ TrueColor screen profiles included
+ XSplit subscription included

Cons
– HDMI 1.4 used instead of HDMI 2.0
– USB 2.0 port should be replaced by USB 3.0

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