taken care of and the performance
is there for every game there is on
the market and there is going to be
for years to come.
The graphics card is where all
the magic will happen for this
notebook. As I’ve stated before the
GeForce 700 series of mobile GPUs
was lacking especially compared
to the 800 series. The performance
from the mainstream GTX760 and
765M just wasn’t there and even
in their SLI guise (think AORUS
X7) they were great when the
game supported SLI but downright
disappointing in single GPU mode.
This is not the case with the GTX
860M, because for such a little
GPU it sure packs a punch. This
particular model is the Kepler
based edition which has many more
CUDA cores, than the Maxwell
version. However, do not be fooled
into thinking that it thus offers the
best performance. This is not true
as the Maxwell architecture is
more efficient and thus in the tests
it actually comes out slightly ahead
of the Kepler version despite the
latter housing nearly 45% more
cores (640 vs 1152). NVIDIA will
tell you there’s no performance
difference between the two but
there is, even if it is slight.
Regardless of the differences
between these two GPUs, what
is clear is that they offer game
capable performance at FHD with
medium to high graphics settings,
obviously depending on the game.
Along with that you get the new
Battery Boost feature which further
allows you to extend battery life
by targeting a specific frame rate,
in games. Used in conjunction with
GeForce Experience, it makes the
entire gaming experience simple
and easy to tune for your needs and
game type.
Build quality is where I must
commend MSI with the GS60 Ghost. I
tested the smaller 15” version which
has an aluminium finish around the
keyboard. It feels great and solid,
giving the GS60 a premium feel
that is absent in the GT70 and many
other notebooks on the market. It’s
a small thing but it goes a long way
into justifying the price tag on this
system. If that isn’t enough, you’ll
get the usual SteelSeries keyboard
and Engine that’s fully customizable,
the GameCaster subscription, Sound
Blaster Cinema 2 software and
DynAudio speakers. It’s all housed
in a sensible and thin profile just
19.9mm. It’s truly wonderful to hold
and as far as I’m concerned is by far
the sleekest and most aesthetically
pleasing MSI notebook I’ve ever
come across. In comparison to other
brands, the closest notebook I can
think to this one is the RAZER Blade,
which has the advantage of a 3K
display. (The GS60 Ghost-Pro also
has a 3K display as well).
It’s lightweight, thin profile and
fairly good battery life makes this
the most desirable MSI notebook
I’ve ever used. It’s not in the
performance where I find most of
the value but in how it all comes
together and its presentation. MSI
has found a very goo