TheOverclocker Issue 24 | Page 47

3 4 numbers you’d expect on the desktop equivalent. With some overclocking (via MSI’s Afterburner) I was able to raise that score to a more desktop like 3,235. This was stable and I could play games and run benchmarks for hours on end, but I’d not recommend it simply because there’s no way of telling what kind of stress it’s putting on all the other components in the notebook in such a small space. With that said, I’m more than impressed by the GT70-Dragon Edition and I do say, if you have the funds for it, give it some serious consideration because you’ll not be disappointed. 1   2   Power button – you can’t miss this one This control panel has the Turbo button, Wi-Fi, screen brightness and cooling enhancement. You best engage this feature if you plan on doing a little mild overclocking for those demanding games that need it. 3   Keyboard designed by SteelSeries, an outfit which is certainly synonymous with competitive and casual gamers alike. The tactile feedback is great and allows for some comfortable speed typing as well. The keyboard backlights are also customizable through the KLM (Key LED Manager) software. 4   Full surround sound outputs and a headphone out with builtin AMP. This should come in handy for those headphones that need a little more juice to get going. Dynaudio speakers sound alright by notebook standards. Not quite the B&O sound reproduction we’ve heard from some notebooks before, but certainly above average in all respects. 6   Killer Ethernet NIC just like the recent GAMING motherboards from MSI. Prioritize game packets over other network traffic. Not sure how much this helps in a real gaming context, but it can’t hurt. That it’s banned in some LAN events means there must be some advantage to it at the very least. 7   The Notebook comes with Windows 8 pre-installed, not the easiest operating system to get to grips with, but if you’re not a fan you can always go back to Windows 7. Having said that Windows 8 does grow on you and it’s a perfect fit for the GT70. [ The OverClocker ] 5 NVIDIA Optimus technology enabled notebook, allows you to switch between the integrated 4000 series INTEL graphics and NVIDIA’s own GTX675MX GPU with 4GB of dedicated GDDR5 memory. Incidentally, the built in GPU produced a score of 531 in 3DMark Fire Strike making the GTX675MX at least 5X faster. The Score Issue 24 | 2013 The OverClocker 47