The days of gaming laptops looking like hulking behemoths
are at an end. The MSI GS60 Ghost, the latest in the company's line of sleek
powerhouses, sports a 15.6-inch screen but is less than an inch thick and
weighs only 4.2 pounds, making it one of the lightest gaming notebooks in the
world. Starting at $1,699 ($1,799 as configured), the Ghost packs a powerful
Intel Core i7 CPU, Nvidia's new 800 series GPU and a captivating 1080p display,
making this a gaming rig that's powerful, portable and ready to play.
The days of gaming laptops looking like hulking behemoths
are at an end. The MSI GS60 Ghost, the latest in the company's line of sleek
powerhouses, sports a 15.6-inch screen but is less than an inch thick and
weighs only 4.2 pounds, making it one of the lightest gaming notebooks in the
world. Starting at $1,699 ($1,799 as configured), the Ghost packs a powerful
Intel Core i7 CPU, Nvidia's new 800 series GPU and a captivating 1080p display,
making this a gaming rig that's powerful, portable and ready to play.
Design
Sorry, we didn't see you standing there; we were too busy
ogling this notebook. The black aluminum lid of the gorgeous GS60 Ghost
features two subtle ridges that help play up the chrome MSI logo and the
backlit red dragon emblem. However, it's quick to pick up fingerprints. But
while the Ghost is an undeniable beauty, it doesn't quite surpass the
scintillating anodized aluminum chassis of the Razer Blade 14.
The Ghost's interior is just as pretty, featuring even more
black brushed aluminum. A thick speaker grille sits at the top of the deck,
separating the chrome-lined, backlit power button and the keyboard. The backlit
keyboard resides in a deep recess above a chrome-lined touchpad.
The laptop's underside is made from Magnesium-Lithium (Mg-Li).
First used on NASA's Saturn V rocket, this light but sturdy alloy allows the
15.4 x 10.5 x 0.78-inch Ghost to weigh 4.2 pounds, the same as the smaller 13.6
x 9.3 x 0.66-inch Razer Blade 14. This machine makes the Lenovo IdeaPad Y510p
(15.2 x 10.2 x 0.6~1.4 inches, 6.4 pounds) feel bulky by comparison.
Display
MSI GS60 Ghost DisplayThe Ghost's 15.6-inch, 1920 x 1080
display delivers all the visual oohs and aahs we've come to expect from an MSI
panel. The company will also offer a 3K Edition laptop that features a 2880 x
1620 screen.
The matte anti-glare panel rendered images so well, we
couldn't stop staring at a collection of cardinal-red houses on the screen. The
picture was sharp enough to see individual blades of grass, as well as the
veins of the leaves on the emerald green bushes growing around each of the
buildings.
The laptop continued to impress during the 1080p
"Maleficent" trailer. We appreciated the fine wrinkles and creases in
the main character's headdress and robe along with the delicate filigree on
baby Aurora's gold-and-white blanket. The viewing angles are wide enough to
comfortably accommodate three people. "Borderlands 2" was scene after
scene of gorgeous cel-shaded graphics. Intricate details, such as the rivets in
Handsome Jack's mask, were on full display.
When we measured brightness, the GS60 averaged 319 lux,
easily outshining the 223 lux mainstream average. However, both the Blade 14
and Y510p were slightly brighter at 323 and 321 lux, respectively.
Audio
MSI GS60 Ghost AudioOutfitted with a pair of Dynaudio
speakers coupled with SoundBlaster Cinema 2 software, the GS60 filled our test
space with loud audio. Volume isn't everything, however, as we found that the
speakers were consistently thin in the bass. In addition, the usually docile
harmonies on Pharrell Williams' "Happy" were rather piercing due to
harsh highs that drowned out the already weak percussion.
The audio improved when we began playing "Borderlands
2," as the Ghost's speakers delivered passable oomph for the game's
various explosions. Playing through the same scenes on the Y510p had deeper
lows, adding some weight to our mushroom-cloud-inducing mayhem. Character
dialogue on the GS60 was nice and crisp, evoking our usual giggles as we cut a
wide swath of carnage through a countryside filled with monsters and bandits.
On the Laptop Audio Test (measuring a constant tone at a
distance of 23 inches from the laptop), the GS60 achieved 84 decibels, which is
short of the 87dB mainstream average. Both the Y510p and the Blade 14 hit 86dB.
Keyboard
MSI GS60 Ghost KeyboardThe colorful backlighting was plenty
bright, allowing us to easily type in dim settings. In addition to setting
colors and effects on different keyboard zones, you can create custom profiles
for different applications. Similar to Razer's Synapse 2.0 software, gamers can
assign actions to every key on the keyboard. Setting individual keystrokes and
macros was as simple as selecting a key, entering the command and hitting Save.
The interface also offers a Statistics feature that shows how a particular user
engages with the keyboard, highlighting the most frequently used keys.
MSI GS60 Ghost KeyboardSetting up our own personal light
show continues to be a favorite activity. The SteelSeries utility offers seven
effects, including Brea
Touchpad
MSI GS60 Ghost TouchpadThe 4.1 x 2.75-inch Elan touchpad
gave us plenty of space to maneuver. More important, the device let us smoothly
navigate Web pages and documents as well as perform multitouch gestures such as
pinch-zoom, two-finger scroll and rotate and three-finger swipe. Using Windows
gestures to switch between apps or launch the Charms menu took only a quick
flick of the wrist to the left or right. The bottom corners of the touchpad
served as suitable mouse buttons, providing gentle clicks when pressed.
Heat
MSI GS60 Ghost VentsAfter streaming a full-screen Hulu video
for 15 minutes, the touchpad on the GS60 measured 85 degrees Fahrenheit. The
space between the G and H
The GS60 employs a dual-fan thermal cooling system in an
attempt to keep things cool and quiet when gaming. However, after playing
"The Cave" for 15 minutes, the laptop's undercarriage registered a
rather uncomfortable 119 degrees. The touchpad measured 88 degrees and the
space between the G and H keys hit 93 degrees.
Webcam
MSI GS60 Ghost WebcamThe Ghost's 720p webcam captured warm
colors when shooting photos and videos. The camera caught the red undertones in
our skin for a more natural-looking complexion. The camera also accurately
displayed the light blue of a banner in the background. The visual detail left
much to be desired, however, as images were plagued with grainy pixels.
Ports
MSI GS60 Ghost PortsThe GS60 strikes a good balance between
maintaining a thin profile and havin
g enough ports to satisfy gamers. The right
side is outfitted with a single USB 3.0 port, a mini DisplayPort, HDMI,
Gigabyte Ethernet and a 3-in-1 card reader. An additional pair of USB 3.0 ports
are on the left alongside a secure lock slot, gold-plated jacks for headphones
and a microphone, and a power jack.
Graphics
MSI GS60 Ghost GraphicsThe MSI GS60 Ghost houses a Nvidia
GeForce GTX 860M GPU with 2GB of VRAM. The middle child of Nvidia's 800 series,
the 860 isn't as powerful as the 880M, but it still packs a punch. On those few
occasions when we weren't gaming, Nvidia's Optimus technology switched the
notebook over to the Intel HD Graphics 4600 integrated GPU to conserve power.
The laptop delivered gangbuster results on our tests,
scoring a whopping 102,334 on 3DMark Ice Storm, more than doubling the 49,361
average. The Lenovo IdeaPad Y510p's pair of Nvidia GeForce GT 750M GPUs hit
71,550, while the Razer Blade 14's Nvidia GeForce GTX 765M GPU notched 89,963.
When we ran the "World of Warcraft" benchmark, the
GS60 notched 181 fps on autodetect at 1080p. That's way more than the 95 fps
mainstream average. The Y510p (1080p) scored 176 fps, while the Blade 14 and
its lower-resolution 1600 x 900 display delivered a blistering 218 fps.
After we boosted effects to Ultra, the Ghost maintained a
very strong 167 fps, crushing the 50 fps category average. The Blade 14 was a
distant second at 92 fps, with the Y510p bringing up the rear at 81 fps.
The GS60 continued its full court press on the
"BioShock Infinite" benchmark, hitting 91 fps on low at 1080p,
topping the 50 fps average. The Y510p posted 67 fps, while the Blade 14 and its
lower-res screen achieved 88 fps. The Ghost faded some when we switched to
high, posting a playable frame rate of 35 fps. However, that was enough to
surpass the 26 fps average as well as the Blade 14 and Y510p (30 and 27 fps).
When we put the Ghost through its paces on the "Metro:
Last Light" benchmark, it hit an impressive 53 fps. The laptop soundly
defeated the 30 fps average along with the Y510p (37 fps). The Blade 14 managed
to keep pace with the MSI, hitting 51 fps, but at a lower resolution. On the high
setting, the GS60's frame rate dropped to an unplayable 12 fps. This portable
rig's competitors didn't fare well, either.
GeForce Experience
MSI GS60 Ghost GeForceGreater performance is just one aspect
of Nvidia's new family of GeForce GTX GPUs, which includes the 880M. The
GeForce Experience app includes several features meant to enhance gameplay and
endurance.
Battery Boost lets you cap performance at a predetermined
frame rate. The app will then throttle the notebook's components, so that
gamers can eke out a bit more juice without sacrificing too much performance.
Battery Boost Custom Game Settings will let you tweak individual titles even
further.
ShadowPlay lets you record gameplay at resolutions of up to
1920 x 1080p, and broadcast gaming sessions to sites such as Twitch.
GameStream, previously only available on Nvidia's desktop
GPUs, allows you to stream games from your notebook to connected devices, such
as Nvidia's SHIELD.
Performance
MSI GS60 Ghost PerformanceThanks to a 2.4-GHz Intel Core
i7-4700HQ CPU with 16GB of RAM, the MSI GS60 Ghost is a lean, mean productivity
machine. During our real-world testing, the laptop smoothly streamed an episode
of "Star Wars: Clone Wars" on Netflix with 12 open tabs in Internet
Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome--all while performing a full system
scan.
The notebook notched 5,946 on the PCMark 7 benchmark,
topping the 3,678 mainstream average. The Razer Blade 14 and its 2.2-GHz Intel
Core i7-4702HQ CPU was a close second at 5,873. The Lenovo IdeaPad Y510p's 2.2-GHz
Intel Core i7-4702MQ CPU mustered only 4,871.
The GS60's 128GB mSATA SSD and 1TB 7,200-rpm hard drive
booted Windows 8.1 in 11 seconds, cruising past the 20-second average. That
time was enough to beat the Y510p's (1TB 5,400-rpm hard drive) 19-second load
time, but the Blade 14's (256GB SSD) started in 7 seconds.
During the File Transfer Test, the Ghost duplicated 4.97GB
of mixed-media files in 56 seconds for a transfer rate of 91 MBps, well above
the 75 MBps average. That's more than enough to top the IdeaPad Y510p's 47
MBps, but not the Blade 14's 141 MBps.
The GS60 Ghost completed the OpenOffice Spreadsheet Macro
Test (matching 20,000 names and addresses) in 4 minutes flat, beating the 5:29
mainstream average. The Blade 14 and Y510p were in a dead heat at 4:15.
Battery Test
During the Laptop Mag Battery Test--surfing the Web over
Wi-Fi at 100 nits (30 percent brightness for this notebook)--the MSI GS60 Ghost
lasted 5 hours and 34 minutes, matching the mainstream average. The Lenovo
Y510p, which ran the test at 40 percent brightness, tapped out at 3:08.
However, the Razer Blade 14 (40 percent brightness) clocked in with an
impressive 8:07.
Editors' Note: We're in the process of normalizing the
Laptop Mag battery test for 100 nits of brightness. The Lenovo Y510p and Razer
Blade 14 were benchmarked prior to this change.
Software
MSI GS60 Ghost Dragon CenterUnlike other gaming laptop
makers, MSI continues to load up its machines with software. Fortunately, most
of the programs this brand supplies are rather useful. Offerings such as MSI
Battery Calibration, Killer Diagnostic and Network Manager are designed to
provide optimal CPU, GPU and Wi-Fi performance.
Other utilities include the System Control Manager, which
you can use to adjust screen brightness, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, volume and the
webcam. MSI Dragon Gaming Center lets gamers monitor general system health and
set utilities to launch at start.
For those searching for a more robust game-recording
experience than Nvidia has to offer, MSI has also pre-installed XSplit
Gamecaster. In addition to capturing your latest gaming exploits on video, the
webcam can add a picture-in-picture view. Or, you can unleash your inner John
Madden and draw on the video to show the blow-by-blow in your gaming strategy.
MSI GS60 Ghost System ManagerAfter initiating the software
overlay (hitting CTRL + Tab), simply hit the Stream button to begin capturing
footage and the Webcam button to add video of yourself. Gamers also have the
option to share or stream footage to Twitch and YouTube.
Third-party apps include Skype, Cookbook by Slow Serve, a
30-day trial of Microsoft Office, Evernote Touch, MusicMaker Jam and TuMetro, a
reader app that compiles stories using keyword semantics. The system also comes
with a 30-day trial of Norton Anti-Theft.
Configurations
MSI GS60 Ghost Side ViewOur $1,799 configuration of the MSI
GS60 Ghost features a 2.4-GHz Intel Core i7-4700HQ CPU with 16GB of RAM, a
128GB mSATA SSD, 1TB 7,200-rpm hard drive, an Intel HD Graphics 4600 GPU and a
Nvidia GeForce GTX 860M GPU with 2GB of VRAM.
The base model, priced at $1,699, has a 2.4-GHz Intel Core
i7-4700HQ CPU, 12GB of RAM, a 128GB mSATA SSD, 750GB 7,200-rpm hard drive, an
Intel HD Graphics 4600 GPU and a Nvidia GeForce GTX 860M GPU with 2GB of VRAM.
MSI will also offer a $2,099 configuration with a 2880 x
1620 display, 2.4-GHz Intel Core i7-4700HQ CPU with 16GB of RAM, a 256GB mSATA
SSD, 1TB 7,200-rpm hard drive, an Intel HD Graphics 4600 GPU and a Nvidia
GeForce GTX 860M GPU with 2GB of VRAM.
Verdict
MSI GS60 Ghost OutroMSI has proved that you can make a slim
15-inch gaming rig without making serious trade-offs. The $1,799 GS60 Ghost
offers lightweight portability with strong graphics, fairly good battery life
and a lovely wide-angle 1080p display. MSI also includes software that enhances
your game play and a keyboard with fun, customizable backlighting.
Razer is scheduled to release an update to the Blade 14 that
will cost the same as the high-end GS60, but feature similar specs and an even
crisper 14-inch, 3200 x 1800 display. Overall, though, the GS60 Ghost is a
great choice for gamers looking for a powerful and very portable gaming
notebook with a larger screen.
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