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!

Pros: -1Tb storage on board (2x512Mb) -32Gbs of RAM for Music/Video production (2x16Gbs) - RTX 2080 with some room to do some overclocking (OC) in MSI Afterburner, some cooling does seem to be a factor in OC, but modest gains to be made if you modulate the fan speeds in the MSI control center application - Zero/Minimal Bloatware to uninstall - Solid construction of the chassis - i7-9750H on board so it can't be overclocked, but it can be undervolted to get more consistent clock speeds. - 17.3'' 144hz, 1080p IPS display has amazing back-lighting and doesn't seem to have the issue that desktop IPS screens have with displaying them (appearing lighter than they should be near edges). Cons: - CPU will throttle out of the box due to tight form factor, but can be minimized with ThrottleStop application and the addition of a cooling laptop pad (the former will do more than the latter). - Price could be considered a con - CPU/GPU could be more easily cooled if MSI (and this goes for every other company) used more quality thermal paste. You can do this yourself at the cost of voiding your warranty-- purchased accidental coverage or manufacturer's warranty. - Bottom of unit becomes uncomfortably hot, a cooling pad or similar item is almost necessary. Overall: This laptop is as close to the portable equivalent of the Dual Screen 1440p Screen / 2080 TI RTX / i-7 8700K I have at home and purchased it to function as such. The gaming performance is near identical (FPS in game as well as the Maxed Graphical Settings) and feels incredibly satisfying to play on. Has the CPU power to render video/photo/music for on the go production.

Pros: - It handled most games ai threw at it with minimal drop on the FPS for the highest settings (usually 130-144) - Screen quality was great with little backlight bleed - Very fast load times and processing Cons: - keyboard is in an awkward position for typing - gets hot running YouTube and basic internet (60-70 Celsius) -Speakers sound very poor. Even with modifying the pre-installed software and using 3rd party to enhance the quality, it still had too high of a range and was "tingy" - TON of bloatware and Microsoft store downloads in the background on first load. Overall - Its great for what it is and for the sale price when I purchased, but I would not pay full retail and definitely do not enjoy the time spent eliminating bloat and non-essential software and apps. Wish it had a normally placed keyboard to touchpad and a better speaker range for the low end / bass, For games, runs fantastic but a bit hot.

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.

I bought this laptop to replace an older MacBook Pro. It's been great! It's got solid hardware and a sweet 32 GB of RAM, perfect fot crunching massive Photoshop files. For gaming, it's really good. I got it hooked up to a 4k gaming monitor, running at 4k at 60hz. Great framerates on high+ settings. It's a nice and sturdy build. The keyboard responsive. The trackpad isn't that great, but I've never met one that is. Overall, I'm very satisfied with my purchase.