i agree, the display choice seems like the Achilles heel of the whole setup.. The one single laptop that is capable of pushing 4K, gets a 1080p screen.. Meanwhile, the 4K thin and light laptops come with a 1050m, or even the Razer Blade with a 1070
Fat, ugly and stupid specs( 1080 sli for 1080p, the biggest overkill ever).I wonder if some marketing lady almost in pension age is making the final specs for those builds...
Fat is understandable, but does it have to look like a PC from the 80s? sli could be good for future games, who knows what inefficient AAA mess is gonna pop out.
Because you're supposed to plug in an external 4k at home, and only use the internal screen in a hotel /etc. Hopefully someone will eventually make an 18" 4k screen; but 15" 4k was around for several years before the 1st 17" 4k, and 18" laptops are even more niche.
This just seems like a weird offering. I get that some people really want performance and will extra for that but the tradeoffs here just seem like they don't really fit. Also using two power bricks is a bit bizarre to me. I'm not in the market for one of these. I would love to hear someone's perspective who is looking for a DTR like this.
The x2 bricks thing is AFAIK due to a single brick large enough for SLI not being available. I did see something about sn IIRC 500w brick coming out recently. As long as they don't go for full desktop parts; that should be enough to let the next generation go single brick.
Hi Dan. I can't disregard the display on a notebook like this. While it could be docked, it's a full desktop replacement system, with a mechanical keyboard. It's not meant to be docked with the lid closed. Yes, it could do this, as could any laptop, but it needs to be tested as it is configured.
Also, this laptop costs over $5000. It would be a big ask to tell readers that it would be great if they only spent another $500-$1000 on a good UHD display.
MSI pushes this for VR, and it would be excellent for that, but we can't pretend it's not stuck with a FHD display. If someone bought this to use as is, it's complete overkill.
I'm not saying don't test at 1080p or don't point out that at 1080p its GPU isn't stupidly overpowered. My comment was in reaction to your commenting that the only game you were able to test at 4k too was Shadow of Mordar because it would let you run above native resolution. An external screen would've let you do the same with the rest of them.
I wonder who buys these types of laptops. You have to be a hardcore gamer, and also be very wealthy, and you have to have a need to game while travelling. Must be a super small market.
The market must be big enough to justify the expense of making a laptop to serve it. In fact, I think it's probably pretty profitable on a per sale basis since these sorts of systems command a high premium and there is little competitive pressure to drive down prices. It means that just showing up to the proverbial party with a product that appeals means MSI is going to land enough sales to make it worthwhile.
Yeah, that's true. I bought four GT80 versions for my kids to use on the yacht when the nanny is on break so mommy and daddy aren't disturbed during the nightly cocktail party.
I'm not going to hazard a guess on their sales numbers since I'm not very familiar with what the modern consumer market segment for high end gaming laptops looks like. However, since this is MSI's third refresh of this particular product, it's a very safe bet to argue they're making enough money from sales to make keeping the line updated worth the investment. Or MSI is getting enough benefit back from having a halo product that the publicity drives the sales of their other offerings and makes the venture worthwhile. Either way, they're not soaking up a loss on these things.
I'm surprised you didn't reach a similar conclusion on your own by performing a bit of critical thinking before you started typing. It's pretty obvious if you just spend a few moments in thought before diving for the keyboard to ask me.
I don't think the R&D cost on devices like this are as high as people think. For the most part they take an existing clevo (or sager or similar) case, slap their decal on it, fill it with components from their shelf and charge an astronomical price. The component list is quite high-end, but they would still likely make $1k+ per unit sold, it wouldn't take many sales to recoup the costs.
I think you're right on about off the shelf parts keeping costs down. So if they made a $1500 profit and could sell 50,000 across the planet that would certainly be a good money maker for MSI. That screen should have been 2K and a single 1080ti would have made more sense.
You have to be kidding me. I'd rather get a Sager/Clevo based laptop (ie OriginPC or System76) that can take a 4k 17" panel, desktop class 7700K cpu, up to dual 1080 in SLI, and the rest of the storage and connectivity items, etc and still be cheaper. Sure I'd like the keyboard here on the Sager but not enough to compromise and buy this MSI. I really wish Killer would go away, too. I'll take an Intel NIC and WLAN card.
With dedicated gpu boxes. there's no point in having this huge bricks. They're so massive you're not gonna move them in your backpack like a regular laptop, so having 2 gpu's inside is plain retarded.
The way you're gonna move this thing barely differs from having to move an extra box for the gpu/psu via thunderbolt3,
It would be better to sell a compact pc in that form factor without keyboard, trackpad and all the useless sh*t. A trully desktop replacement.
Add the monitor, keyboard, mouse you want.
All that power just to play on a 18" screen? A I swear people who buy this will eventually connect it to a 24-27" gaming monitor, so what's the point of having a full laptop vs just the insides in a compact case.
I know this seems INSANE... Might want to sit for it really...
BUT.... there are people who... Wait for it. It's very hard to believe. DONT have room, or dont want to *dedicate room*, to a monitor, keyboard and mouse sitting on a table.
It's *very* weird that not everyone lives in the exact same way with the exact same priorities, but oddly enough it remains true (hence the massive popularity of laptops)
A PC that has no keyboard, mouse or monitor integrated *is* a desktop ffs. And there are already zillions of those (they're called mATX/ITX cases)
Kind of silly to be so fixated on the built in display. Who would buy a huge powered gaming laptop and then play on the internal display? When I'm at home I'd have huge external screens to play/work on and only use the internal display when I'm traveling with the laptop.
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SaolDan - Thursday, April 13, 2017 - link
what a Beast!ImSpartacus - Friday, April 14, 2017 - link
With a 60Hz non-VRR 1080p display?What a waste. A single 1080 and a desktop cpu is a better match if you're gimped by that display.
Morawka - Friday, April 14, 2017 - link
i agree, the display choice seems like the Achilles heel of the whole setup.. The one single laptop that is capable of pushing 4K, gets a 1080p screen.. Meanwhile, the 4K thin and light laptops come with a 1050m, or even the Razer Blade with a 1070unityole - Saturday, April 15, 2017 - link
p870km1 has 4k display and two 1080, Asus GX800 has 4k display with two 1080.. so there are other laptops out there able to push for 4k.milkod2001 - Thursday, April 13, 2017 - link
Fat, ugly and stupid specs( 1080 sli for 1080p, the biggest overkill ever).I wonder if some marketing lady almost in pension age is making the final specs for those builds...ddriver - Thursday, April 13, 2017 - link
Fat is understandable, but does it have to look like a PC from the 80s? sli could be good for future games, who knows what inefficient AAA mess is gonna pop out.WorldWithoutMadness - Thursday, April 13, 2017 - link
Don't forget the display is only 60HzImSpartacus - Friday, April 14, 2017 - link
No kidding. What a joke.supdawgwtfd - Friday, April 14, 2017 - link
VR!HollyDOL - Thursday, April 13, 2017 - link
Tbh the "Titan" naming makes sound almost intentionally misleading.Meteor2 - Thursday, April 13, 2017 - link
Almost? I'd say it is.fm13 - Thursday, April 13, 2017 - link
jesus, why the hell do you need 2x1080 to run 1080p?MrSpadge - Thursday, April 13, 2017 - link
Future games.ImSpartacus - Friday, April 14, 2017 - link
With that mobile cpu?Certain current games are already being bottlenecked by the cpu.
Future games will be worse.
Lolimaster - Sunday, April 16, 2017 - link
Future games with just a quad core?DanNeely - Thursday, April 13, 2017 - link
Because you're supposed to plug in an external 4k at home, and only use the internal screen in a hotel /etc. Hopefully someone will eventually make an 18" 4k screen; but 15" 4k was around for several years before the 1st 17" 4k, and 18" laptops are even more niche.Lolimaster - Sunday, April 16, 2017 - link
If you need to move this brick around, you got the space to move a dedicated gpu box too making this thing useless for light works.Take out the gpu box when needed, else you get a light laptop.
supdawgwtfd - Friday, April 14, 2017 - link
Look at the model...It's for VR.
ingwe - Thursday, April 13, 2017 - link
This just seems like a weird offering. I get that some people really want performance and will extra for that but the tradeoffs here just seem like they don't really fit. Also using two power bricks is a bit bizarre to me. I'm not in the market for one of these. I would love to hear someone's perspective who is looking for a DTR like this.DanNeely - Thursday, April 13, 2017 - link
The x2 bricks thing is AFAIK due to a single brick large enough for SLI not being available. I did see something about sn IIRC 500w brick coming out recently. As long as they don't go for full desktop parts; that should be enough to let the next generation go single brick.lunarmit - Thursday, April 13, 2017 - link
There is a 780W adapter available now from EurocomDanNeely - Thursday, April 13, 2017 - link
I think Ryan Smith needs to buy you a 4k monitor so you can properly test high end mobile GPUs in the future.rtho782 - Thursday, April 13, 2017 - link
No, for the sake of future proofing I think Ian needs one of those 8k screens.DanNeely - Thursday, April 13, 2017 - link
He told Ian no on getting an 8k a few weeks ago. 4k isa lot easier to justify in the budget.Brett Howse - Thursday, April 13, 2017 - link
Hi Dan. I can't disregard the display on a notebook like this. While it could be docked, it's a full desktop replacement system, with a mechanical keyboard. It's not meant to be docked with the lid closed. Yes, it could do this, as could any laptop, but it needs to be tested as it is configured.Also, this laptop costs over $5000. It would be a big ask to tell readers that it would be great if they only spent another $500-$1000 on a good UHD display.
MSI pushes this for VR, and it would be excellent for that, but we can't pretend it's not stuck with a FHD display. If someone bought this to use as is, it's complete overkill.
DanNeely - Friday, April 14, 2017 - link
I'm not saying don't test at 1080p or don't point out that at 1080p its GPU isn't stupidly overpowered. My comment was in reaction to your commenting that the only game you were able to test at 4k too was Shadow of Mordar because it would let you run above native resolution. An external screen would've let you do the same with the rest of them.munim - Thursday, April 13, 2017 - link
I wonder who buys these types of laptops. You have to be a hardcore gamer, and also be very wealthy, and you have to have a need to game while travelling. Must be a super small market.BrokenCrayons - Thursday, April 13, 2017 - link
The market must be big enough to justify the expense of making a laptop to serve it. In fact, I think it's probably pretty profitable on a per sale basis since these sorts of systems command a high premium and there is little competitive pressure to drive down prices. It means that just showing up to the proverbial party with a product that appeals means MSI is going to land enough sales to make it worthwhile.Meteor2 - Thursday, April 13, 2017 - link
I kinda imagine that they're in the kids' bedrooms on super yachts in Monanco.BrokenCrayons - Thursday, April 13, 2017 - link
Yeah, that's true. I bought four GT80 versions for my kids to use on the yacht when the nanny is on break so mommy and daddy aren't disturbed during the nightly cocktail party.HollyDOL - Saturday, April 15, 2017 - link
I rather suspect it would be nightly LAN party :-)Lord-Bryan - Thursday, April 13, 2017 - link
Right, how many of these do you think msi will sellBrokenCrayons - Thursday, April 13, 2017 - link
I'm not going to hazard a guess on their sales numbers since I'm not very familiar with what the modern consumer market segment for high end gaming laptops looks like. However, since this is MSI's third refresh of this particular product, it's a very safe bet to argue they're making enough money from sales to make keeping the line updated worth the investment. Or MSI is getting enough benefit back from having a halo product that the publicity drives the sales of their other offerings and makes the venture worthwhile. Either way, they're not soaking up a loss on these things.I'm surprised you didn't reach a similar conclusion on your own by performing a bit of critical thinking before you started typing. It's pretty obvious if you just spend a few moments in thought before diving for the keyboard to ask me.
keeepcool - Tuesday, April 18, 2017 - link
Over 10 Titans a week in Spain alone, doesn't seem a lot, but dont forget that's 50k € on a single SKU.fanofanand - Thursday, April 13, 2017 - link
I don't think the R&D cost on devices like this are as high as people think. For the most part they take an existing clevo (or sager or similar) case, slap their decal on it, fill it with components from their shelf and charge an astronomical price. The component list is quite high-end, but they would still likely make $1k+ per unit sold, it wouldn't take many sales to recoup the costs.SquarePeg - Thursday, April 13, 2017 - link
I think you're right on about off the shelf parts keeping costs down. So if they made a $1500 profit and could sell 50,000 across the planet that would certainly be a good money maker for MSI. That screen should have been 2K and a single 1080ti would have made more sense.Murloc - Friday, April 14, 2017 - link
they must also be willing to carry all this weight around.Glock24 - Thursday, April 13, 2017 - link
That's one fugly "laptop". I think you'll be better with something like this:https://www.quietpc.com/mono-aio
shabby - Friday, April 14, 2017 - link
Lol that's one ugly aio.Glock24 - Sunday, April 16, 2017 - link
Sure, just as ugly as the laptop, but you'll spend 1/5 and get mostly the she functionalitymlambert890 - Sunday, April 16, 2017 - link
"Mostly the same functionality"?You dont get 1080 SLI.
You get an even uglier even *less* portable form factor.
You dont get a premium CPU given mini-ITX and the poor cooling design.
This crazy post takes the tired "but build doe!!!!!" argument against a premium laptop to an insane new dimension
lazarpandar - Saturday, April 15, 2017 - link
No reason to strap all that shit to the back of a monitor........... would not buy or ever recommend.Dug - Thursday, April 13, 2017 - link
Why? I can't imagine they will sell more than 1 of these.And that's probably because the designer's grandma felt sorry for him and bought one to make him feel better.
wapac - Thursday, April 13, 2017 - link
On the GPU Performance page it has "Shadow or Mordor"Brett Howse - Thursday, April 13, 2017 - link
fixed thanks!CoreLogicCom - Thursday, April 13, 2017 - link
You have to be kidding me. I'd rather get a Sager/Clevo based laptop (ie OriginPC or System76) that can take a 4k 17" panel, desktop class 7700K cpu, up to dual 1080 in SLI, and the rest of the storage and connectivity items, etc and still be cheaper. Sure I'd like the keyboard here on the Sager but not enough to compromise and buy this MSI. I really wish Killer would go away, too. I'll take an Intel NIC and WLAN card.sonicmerlin - Thursday, April 13, 2017 - link
Kai o Ken... times four!!!digiguy - Friday, April 14, 2017 - link
even the crazy Acer Predator 21x makes more sense than this...Flux0r - Friday, April 14, 2017 - link
I bought my last MSI laptop in 2014, a GS30 shadow with dock for $1700.By 2016 it was a paperweight, cracked screen and cpu fan ball bearing failure.
No parts available anywhere. MSI refused to support.
I can only imagine the rage from the owner of a $5200 paperweight.
Shadowmaster625 - Friday, April 14, 2017 - link
This is retarded. The original GT80 Titan already overpowered that display. $5000 for a 1080p notebook is for teh dumb.Lolimaster - Sunday, April 16, 2017 - link
With dedicated gpu boxes. there's no point in having this huge bricks. They're so massive you're not gonna move them in your backpack like a regular laptop, so having 2 gpu's inside is plain retarded.The way you're gonna move this thing barely differs from having to move an extra box for the gpu/psu via thunderbolt3,
Lolimaster - Sunday, April 16, 2017 - link
It would be better to sell a compact pc in that form factor without keyboard, trackpad and all the useless sh*t. A trully desktop replacement.Add the monitor, keyboard, mouse you want.
All that power just to play on a 18" screen? A I swear people who buy this will eventually connect it to a 24-27" gaming monitor, so what's the point of having a full laptop vs just the insides in a compact case.
mlambert890 - Sunday, April 16, 2017 - link
I know this seems INSANE... Might want to sit for it really...BUT.... there are people who... Wait for it. It's very hard to believe. DONT have room, or dont want to *dedicate room*, to a monitor, keyboard and mouse sitting on a table.
It's *very* weird that not everyone lives in the exact same way with the exact same priorities, but oddly enough it remains true (hence the massive popularity of laptops)
A PC that has no keyboard, mouse or monitor integrated *is* a desktop ffs. And there are already zillions of those (they're called mATX/ITX cases)
Lolimaster - Monday, April 17, 2017 - link
Not made with laptop parts or custom mobos which gives a lower footprint than any ITX build you can do.hotsacoman - Monday, April 17, 2017 - link
Hmmmmmm...How do I win this???alpanhell - Sunday, April 30, 2017 - link
Kind of silly to be so fixated on the built in display. Who would buy a huge powered gaming laptop and then play on the internal display? When I'm at home I'd have huge external screens to play/work on and only use the internal display when I'm traveling with the laptop.Robert Kennedy - Thursday, May 4, 2017 - link
Amazon have it for under 3k .. though not sure, 3k?http://amzn.to/2pKE8x8