MSI GT627: Bringing Balance to the Force?
by Jarred Walton on April 29, 2009 4:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
Synthetic Gaming: 3DMark Results
Next, we ran the ubiquitous 3DMark benchmarks from Futuremark. Performance in these tools mirrors some game engines, but ultimately they are a measure of 3DMark performance and not of games. We would place more weight on the previous page, but these utilities do provide an easy way of comparing systems if you don't want to get bogged down in details. In order to make the comparisons valid, we run all 3DMark tests at the standard resolution: 1024x768 for 03/05 and 1280x1024 for 06/Vantage. With laptops like the MSI GT627 that are unable to support the necessary resolution 1280x1024 resolution, we connect an external LCD.
Note that we colored the Alienware m15x gold for tests conducted utilizing the integrated X3100 graphics instead of the discrete 8800M GTX. We will follow that pattern on the battery life tests, where we can see the true benefits of being able to switch off the discrete graphics and run on an IGP solution. Considering the discrete GPUs run at significantly slower speeds on battery power, there's very little point in having them chew up battery life in most cases.
Driver updates have not had as much of an impact on 3DMark performance, so in terms of strict 3DMark03/05 performance the MSI GT627 doesn't do as well. However, 3DMark levels the playing field by running at a set resolution, which in many cases doesn't reflect the way most people play games on a laptop. For example, if you own a 17" laptop with a WUXGA LCD, it's highly unlikely you will be running any games at 1280x1024. The GT627 isn't the fastest gaming notebook available, but it provides good performance balanced against features, and it does so at an attractive price point. Overclocking helps in the earlier 3DMark titles, but it doesn't help as much in the more GPU limited 3DMark06/Vantage. It's interesting to note that Vantage still shows a significant CPU performance increase, but that doesn't influence the score nearly as much as the relatively static 3D performance
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crimson117 - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
1366 x 768 no thank you.tviceman - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
I'd be more than fine with it. I'm using a cyberpower laptop with a 9600m gt @ 1280x800 and I'm more than happy with the resolution. On a laptop, since performance isn't going to be equal with a similarly priced desktop, I'll take a slightly lower native res if I can still run the game at higher graphical settings. If the game runs smooth, you can always crank on AA to negate the "lower res" disadvantage.After all, this is what these laptops are designed for - gaming.
tviceman - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
I have been anxiously waiting on a review from a legitimate site of this laptop as well! The link you provided though is for their older model. The newer model, which in fact is not much different, is here:http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9173...">http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp...&typ...
Hrel - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
Yeah, I agree. I'd really like to see a review on both of those laptops; the Asus and MSI. Though I'm more interested in the "older" model with the P8400 than the 7450... And it'd be nice if instead of that crappy 1366x768 resolution they gave us a screen with a resolution of 1520x855 or at least 1440x810; especially since the 16:9 aspect ratio already reduces the height of the screen; they shouldn't also reduce the vertical resolution.I think that Asus with the P8400 and 8800GS GPU is the best laptop you can get for the money; good blend of battery life and size and performance. I'd like to see how that MSI notebook with the HD4670 stacks up.
Anything beyond an 8800GS notebook GPU is overkill for a laptop and uses too much power for a notebook. And 1366x768 is just not a high enough resolution; minimum on that aspect ratio should be 1440x810!!
Hrel - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
I meant 9800GS, not that it makes a difference really.sc3252 - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
He did mention it in the second link. Not really sure there is much difference in the two. From what I read one has a bigger battery and and lots of colors on the case, while the other has a faster cpu.Another laptop I would like a review of is a even cheaper msi model that has a 4670.
MSI Ex625-227us
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
looks pretty nice for $750, but really haven't seen many(any) reviews.
tviceman - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
Woops I thought that was one big link!