MSI - GS Series 17.3" Gaming Laptop - Intel Core i7 - 32GB - NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q - 1TB Solid-State Drive - Matte Black With Gold Diamond Cut

I've only had the laptop for just over a week so far but everything is great. the laptop comes with a Samsung NVMe drive that's not as good as a 970 but not worth replacing in my opinion (slightly slower r/wr but not enough to warrant replacement - it beats the 970 in some categories). I put a 970 1TB in the second M.2 slot and a 860 2 TB in the third. I have the default drive with the Windows installation it came with and I have POP!_OS (Ubuntu 19.10 based) installed on the second NVMe. The Third drive is SATA based so you won't get the 3500/2500 r/wr speeds so I use that as a data drive. POP!_OS found the NVIDIA card without issue. I haven't modified any boot managers to get a pretty menu I just hold F11 and hit the boot menu (F11 = boot menu, DEL = BIOS on this model). The only issue I've had with Linux is the Bluetooth dying and having to run 'sudo /etc/init.d/bluetooth restart' to fix it. I found though this may be related to my Logitech MX Keyboard/Mouse as they switch between my work PC and my laptop and I seem to mostly get the Bluetooth failure after a switch. It has happened before without but vary rarely (without switching but same kb/mouse). I haven't tested with any other Bluetooth devices. Keyboard feels nice and the track-pad is awesome. Takes some getting used to the track-pad as you hit it unintentionally with how wide it is. If I had to list cons I'd say the keyboard light colors aren't as clear (for example the white is blue-ish and some of the purples look pink). Ok price.... but it does have a 2080 in it with 32g of RAM. If you're going to install Linux I do recommend you get a 32g flash drive and create a recovery USB ASAP. MSI's recovery process is quick and easy. Honestly before I purchased this one I had wiped Windows off the GS65 and was running POP!_OS full steam. I retired it to my family when I bought this one and used the recovery USB to put W10 back on it. Notes on gaming with external monitors: I had to turn down the quality of graphics on ARK: Survival Evolved due to poor performance on screen. This only happened with using my external UHD display but it does happen.

Lightweight, fully customized, faster than imagined, and with my ideal specifications. You can buy this laptop with many different configurations, but this one is killer. Fast processor, but great heat management, 32GB of RAM, and a blazing video card. Ready for VR, I unboxed, charged and stood back in awe of its beauty and speed. I have been using an ASUS ROG, but the video upgrade set this MSI apart, This model has an Nvidia GEFORCE RTX 2080 MaxQ. You will not be disappointed with its durability as it is rigid, sturdy, but not heavy. The battery life is around 6 hours, really quite good for this speed of processor. I love the screen and size of the 17 inch vs. the 15 inch, more cinematic. It is pretty and it can dance!

The system is easy to setup, comes with two free games. The laptop has a sleek design and slim bezels making the 144Hz screen pop out really well. Compared to other gaming laptops it's light weight with high performance specifications. The fans in the system are silent and heat management is good as well.

I love this computer! It was the most expensive machine I’ve ever purchased, and it hasn’t given me a single problem. It’s amazing!

Although this is a beast of a gaming laptop my uses are for video/audio production. This laptop uses the GeForce 2080 with Max-Q design. So far I have tested a few games and I was very impressed by the graphics, speed and low noise. Plays back 4K with no issue on YouTube, if you can watch 4k drone videos without a glitch on YouTube then this is definitely a worthy video machine. The audio ports and extra USB ports are a real plus for us music/production gear heads. Some added features are clock and graphics boost however, I have not had the need to boost anything on this laptop. Video modes are a great plus when quickly changing from Movie, game, design playback modes to name a few. I plan on editing my drone footage on this laptop in the field. Comes with a generous 32GB of ram, an HDMI port, 3 USB, a network port, audio out and mic input 3.5mm ports, and a micro SD card slot for easy video file transfer. I do recommend purchasing a laptop bag to protect this nice laptop. All in all I like this laptop's great 17.3" display screen, its portability and speed. This laptop is going to be with me for a very long time.

After owning this laptop for two weeks, I have to say that, overall, I am impressed and am happy with my purchase. A caveat, however. This is my 3rd GS75 laptop exchange, due to the first two laptops having pretty bad backlight bleeding/IPS glow and overheating issues. I'm talking about 100 degrees Celsius, due to the CPU running hot on a game such as WoW, even with a laptop cooling pad and having laptop fans on max setting. PROS: - Beautiful, clear, and vibrant 144hz panel (if you don't get one with a defective backlight) - Lightning fast 9th gen i7 processor with 32gb RAM. Laptop starts up instantly and all my programs and games work flawlessly -An average of 80 - 100fps in modern games on Ultra setting with this RTX 2080 Max Q graphics chip - Super fast 1 TB SSD with 3 SSD slots available for upgrade - Beautifully constructed laptop with a lightweight, durable design. If you want a fast gaming laptop with great graphics that doesn't weigh 10lbs or scream "GAMER COMPUTER", then this is the laptop for you - The Steelseries keyboard is responsive and easy to type on. The various colorful LED backlight settings are fun and visually appealing - Minimum bloatware CONS: - Backlight bleeding/IPS glow seems to be a problem with this model based on my personal experience. Maybe you'll get lucky on your first try - Laptop tends to get very hot (even on the balanced "Comfort" setting, in CPU intensive programs/games), so you will definitely need to get a laptop cooling pad - The large trackpad is centered with the laptop instead of with the main keyboard, which can occasionally make it awkward to type on, due to my right palm accidentally clicking the trackpad. Palm rejection could be a little bit better - Only a 1 TB hard drive. I ended up purchasing a Samsung EVO 1 TB M.2 NVMe SSD drive so I could have more storage space - The fans on max setting can be a bit loud, but if you wear headphones, you won't be able to hear them - This laptop costs $2,899, so the price is a bit steep, but Best Buy has had sales on this model in the past Overall, this is a gaming laptop that is worth checking out!

First off when I got the computer the first thing I did was update windows, for some reason I couldn't get it to install the 1803 windows update. After finally getting the update installed I was watching a video on the internet and it caused the entire Windows OS to crash and reload, not reboot mind you. I tried to play the video again thinking it was a fluke, it crashed again. It proceeded to continually crash every-time I tried to play the same video. I have screenshots. Next I downloaded some games from steam, I would be playing the games and I would get the blue screen of death and the entire computer would restart....This is happening about 2 days after having got the computer. By this point I'm not sure whats going on, I realize I haven't updated my drivers. So I go to the MSI website and find my drivers and manually download and install all of them since they were so careless not to make a standalone program like every other company does for updating your drivers. After doing this I do find an app that helps you download them, but its extremely buggy and constantly tells me it couldn't download them even though it has already downloaded them. So I go back to the website and download the rest manually and install them. After having done so I'm still having problems. I had Fallout 76 running below 10fps for no reason, I restarted the computer and the game starts working fine again. I check the Event Viewer and the only thing that sticks out to me are errors regarding programs running out of virtual memory? Why would that be a problem? I mean why would virtual memory be needed much less be overloading when the system has it set to around 8gb's and this computer has 32gbs of ram? I run a ramcheck which requires the computer to reboot into a dos app, it finds no issues? I have tried everything and can't seem to find any problems with the computer and yet it's constantly running sluggish or downright crashing! The cooling system gets pretty loud under load, it isn't quiet while your playing games or even watching a movie. I can say that when the computer isn't acting up it runs super fast. To be honest Fallout 76 isn't a real polished game. But I have had it do that to me on Rush, I was able to get around 90-110 fps if I turned some of the settings down. On Scum I was hitting around 60-70fps on max settings. Those games are open world and so are a bit heavy on the graphics card but so is Fallout 76 and I never got it to go over 50fps on that game.

First and foremost I am an illustrator/designer, so I needed a machine that could run my Adobe programs with ease. All the same specs that are ideal for gaming are also ideal for that purpose: excellent screen quality, lots of memory, and loads of storage. I have always worked on Macs, but to get a Mac with the same specs would cost way more, which was one of the main reasons I made the switch. Not gonna lie, it's a big adjustment, especially relearning the Photoshop hotkeys I've had memorized for 10+ years. Windows Ink makes it tricky to use a Wacom tablet, but there is a workaround that I was able to find that helped immensely. Obviously that's an issue related to the Windows OS, not the specific model of machine, but it's something that Windows/Wacom will have to do better on in the future. Other than that, it runs my Adobe programs really well, and that is my #1 concern. I'm also a gamer in my free time, and I'm very happy with how my games run on this machine. There are several programs built in that enhance the experience even further, for example allowing you to record the last 30sec of your game with the press of a hotkey. Some issues I have... --MSI's Dragon Center app is not very intuitive, and I'm still figuring it out. Additionally, the RGB keyboard is controlled by a separate app, Steel Series Engine. I really wish these apps could be combined, because it's a pain having to go between the two apps every time I want to switch tasks (and thus change settings). --The screen seems flimsy and can be distorted just by pushing on it. This is obviously concerning for a portable device. And that leads me to the next point... --It's nearly impossible to find skins/covers/cases for this machine. MSI-compatible cases are pretty much non-existent, and because it's much wider than most laptops, it won't fit in normal laptop sleeves. I ended up buying an adhesive vinyl sheet and cutting it to fit as a sort of DIY laptop skin just to protect it from scratches. The design of the laptop is absolutely gorgeous, and I don't want anything to mess it up! Conclusion: I'm overall very happy with this laptop, but it is very different from what I'm used to. There are a few kinks in the included software, and overall Windows 10 just isn't ideal for graphic design, but I'm glad I bought this machine rather than stick with the Macs I'm more comfortable with.