MSI - GS Series Stealth Pro 15.6" Laptop - Intel Core i7 - 16GB Memory - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 - 1TB HDD + 256GB SSD - Aluminum black

I haven't owned a gaming laptop in a while now. All my laptops up to now were just simple browsing and media computers from Asus, HP or Samsung. I even owned a Chromebook for a bit and liked it. But I've been itching to get a gaming laptop for a while. I do have a gaming desktop and I can remotely connect to it for gaming but it's not the same. There is too much latency. So I started searching for a laptop that would have an i7 processor, at least 16GB of Memory, an Nvidia GTX 1050ti or better and, most importantly, a thunderbolt 3 USB-C port. I also didn't want a tank for a laptop, so a slimmer design would be good. Well, the MSI GS63VR definitely matches all my needs and even exceed them. I'm going to organize my review into sections like I/O, design, keyboard, storage, and more: - Design: MSI managed to make a slim metallic rectangle look really good. That "brushed" metal is very nice to the touch. I like how simple the top of the laptop is with the MSI logo and everything. The bottom has this soft material which will lift up the laptop a bit and transfer less heat to the surface it's on. I don't recommend using this on your lap. It also protects the bottom of your computer from being scratched by whatever material might be on the table. - Display: This model has a 1080p Matte finish TN display. It is not the best looking one, and if anything, might be the worst part of this computer. The colors seemed a bit flat and no matter how you tweak the settings in the MSI True color software, it just doesn't look right. The display is also only 60hz and does not support G-Syn which is a bummer, because I have to turn on V-Sync in order to reduce screen tearing. At least, you do get the option to connect an external display or more and all your issues will be gone. - Keyboard: The keyboard is a full sized Steelseries keyboard and it is one of the best laptop keyboards I've ever used. the keys have a nice feel when pressed and it just makes you want to type an essay (or in my case, this review). There is back-lighting and yes, it is RGB. Unfortunately, the lighting is divided in zones (3 of them) so you won't be able to do some of the cool ripple effect that Razer keyboards do. I can't complain too much because it is still a really good looking keyboard and the lighting is always a bonus. - Trackpad: The trackpad looks nice, and has a red metallic rim around the inside of it that gives it a nice touch (heheh...) but using it isn't so pleasant. I don't really plan on using it much but coming from a Chromebook Pro, I did really like using the trackpad on that one and the gesture were really intuitive. You can change some settings using the Elan Smart-Pad software but I haven't been able to fix the mouse acceleration, which bothers me the most. If you have a mouse, I suggest you use it over it. - Speakers: You'd think that the speakers were under those grills, right adobe the keyboard but those are for the cooling fans. The speakers are located under the unit, towards the front of it. They're not the greatest but if you need to watch a video, do it in a quiet place. Even at max volume, they are still very quiet and you will miss out on whatever you are listening. Either use a portable speaker or some headphones if you want a louder sound. - I/O: If you think that because this laptop is thin, it won't have more than two USB ports, you are wrong. This laptop has 3 USB 3.0 ports, an SD card reader, a Gigabit Ethernet Port and audio/mic (separated) jacks on the left. On the right, you have the charging ports, a Mini Display port, an HDMI port, a USB-C port that also supports Thunderbolt 3 (yay!) and a USB 2.0 port (what?). So gone are the needs for a USB hub, an USB to Ethernet adapter or an SD card reader! It's all in there already! If you're wondering why I'm so happy about the Thunderbolt 3 port, it's because you can do so much with it. You can connect up to 3 display through that port alone but more importantly, down the road, when your expensive laptop isn't so high-end anymore, it will let you connect an external GPU that is MUCH beefier than the one inside and not be restrained by the small airflow and thermal throttling that a slim laptop can suffer from. Thunderbolt 3 lets you future proof your laptop a bit. As for the USB 2.0 port, I'm not sure why it's there other than MSI assuming that all you're going to plug in to it, is a mouse anyways. I mean, they're not wrong since it's what I'm doing but it would have been nice to have USB 3 all around. There is a webcam on the top of the screen but it is 720p and it is really bad. I wouldn't recommend using it for anything more than a simple video call. - Battery life: Don't expect this laptop to last very long. I get maybe an hour to two out of it on battery with regular usage or light gaming. You'll probably want to be plugged in anyways since you won't get the full performance. The charger that comes with the laptop is very wide but also flat. It takes up quite a bit of space in my backpack but I can manage. - Internals: If you ever dare to open this laptop (it's not that hard), you'll be pleased to know that a lot can be upgraded. You can replace the SSD drive with a better one, and even upgrade the HDD to a 2TB. The computer comes with 16GB of RAM in the form of 2x8GB sticks. You can eventually upgrade it to 32GB by purchasing 2x16GB sticks but I suggest waiting until prices go down. Also, the RAM slots sit underneath the keyboard, on the other side of the motherboard and reaching it is a bit harder than the rest. I suggest watching a disassembly video or guide before going in. - Software: This laptop comes with Windows 10 Home, but is full of Bloat. Holy cow. Why is Norton still a thing? I can see why other reviewers recommend you wipe it clean and start over. Not only is it full of bloatware, there are also a lot of MSI app running at all time. You need one for the trackpad, one for the keyboard, one for controlling the Wifi, bluetooth and other connections, one for tuning the display, one for the network adapter and, finally, the MSI dragon center, which monitors and controls just about everything else the other apps I mentioned don't. If you get this laptop, I suggest to do a clean install on it. - Performance: This model comes with a GTX 1060 GPU with 6GB of GDDR5 Video RAM. You can throw almost anything at it at max settings and it will run it. I've tried Overwatch, Rocket League, Battlefield 1 and CS:GO so far and have not had any issues with any of them running at the highest setting. I did notice that the laptop was getting ridiculously hot when playing and the fans were getting louder but another reviewer suggested to underclock the CPU, as it is getting too much power. I downloaded the Intel Extreme Tuning Utility and set the voltage to -0.100V. After that, the temperatures were much lower during gaming session without a change in performance (at least I couldn't notice). I think I covered everything. This laptop is very powerful, and with the right tweaks, will keep cool under heavy load. It has a nice keyboard but an okay display and overall looks really good design-wise. I just wish it was a bit cheaper. This is the first time I've spent close to $1500 on a laptop. And I did it twice. Second one is for my wife.

I've been building desktops for years and never really had a need for a high performance laptop and I also have an issue with the concept of something that gets outdated as fast as a laptop because there are limited possibilities to upgrade important systems (such as the processor and graphics cards). Recently I've been doing a lot of traveling so I took the plunge and brought this bad boy home. MSI gaming laptops get very good reviews overall, I had not seen the reviews on this particular unit before I bought it but after only a few days use I'd say this is another winner for them. By current 2017 standards this machine should run any currently released game pretty well (I play black desert online in high graphics mode) and the thunderbolt 3 interface adds a whole bunch of options for extra displays etc. The multiple USB 3 ports are great (and are backwards compatible with usb 2 devices). One of the things that attracted me the most to this machine is the "excellent" built in steel series keyboard. No other laptop that I've seen lately has such a nice feeling keyboard and the color changing keys is just an added bling bling. The keyboard also apparently can do macros but I haven't had a chance to play with that yet. The thin metal case just screams "firari" at you when you first see it and pick it up. For all the power in this machine it is surprisingly light. The keyboard is excellent the screen is better, I just can't find many bad things to say here. As always when you get a new computer you can count on many hours of upgrades both to the machine and windows, then of course you get to download your games and other stuff (does anything even come on a dvd anymore??). The machine comes standard with 16 gig installed, the guy that sold me the machine said he didn't think it could take anymore ram and they don't say anything about the issue in the book but from what I have read and seen the motherboard does have a second ram slot it is just not a simple matter to get to it. The ram slots are under the keyboard and the only way to get to them is to remove the bottom/back of the laptop and take out the motherboard. Anyone used to building machines and changing out laptop keypads etc. should not be too afraid of this but as these are high performance 16 gig ddr4 chips they are still a little on the expensive side (and a person concerned with best performance may want to have a pair of the same chip). I don't currently need the upgrade but when the RAM chips come down in price I may just go ahead and get one and install it as more RAM is never a bad thing. This machine has several cooling fans for the cpu and the gpu as well, no matter what you do..heat will always be one of the limiting factors for a high performance laptop just because it's so hard to deal with so much heat in the small space of a laptop case, those stands with the extra fans do seem to help but you can still expect a lot of heat on the bottom of the machine. The MSI tools include a temperature monitor and the ability to adjust your fan speeds etc. At full blast the fan noise is noticeable but it doesn't bother me at all as I use a headset for voice chat etc. You want your components cool, screw the noise. If you've never heard of USB C that's a sort of new thing, the google nexus 5x and some of the newer google phones use USB C, the main advantages are usb 3 communication speed and the socket/cable is not keyed you can plug it in any direction no issues. The C bus can also provide more than 5v of power over the cable and is also backwards compatible to other usb varieties with adapters etc. This is a very expensive laptop but the top end specs should mean it will last longer than a machine with lower specs going into the future. This model has two sata plugs for a hard drive and a small ssd to make windows load much faster, etc. From what I have seen so far you cannot access the contents of this smaller ssd by default (MSI probably did that for a reason). In theory you could pull out that small ssd and install a larger ssd or another old school spinner drive. Upon login you use the MSI set password not the windows password that is usually set when you log into another windows machine--personally I'd appreciate it if they'd give me the choice so it's a bit easier to remember the password. Yes, this was a heckuva lot of money but you'll spend as much on an apple book with probably lower specs than this one or an ipad with all the bells and whistles. You will be glad you made this purchase rather than dealing with a lower spec machine that cost less. it's sort of amusing that in the past games were written with the ability to run on lesser hardware because gamers tended to be poor, these days that trend seems to have totally reversed!

I'm not going to go in great detail with a review about the obvious as you can simply read others reviews about this laptop all over the internet. I will say one thing about this laptop - it's a powerhouse. It can handle anything that you throw at it at 80+ fps with everything maxed out. Like I said above, rather than write a full review, I'm going to point out some "what you gotta do's" when you buy this as well as point out some possible "deal breakers." **To the people who are thinking about purchasing this or already have it and are noobs - pay close attention to the following... There are 3 things that you want to do with this as soon as you buy it. 1. Replace the 1TB hard drive. It' will get rid of the lag that you will hear people complaining about that have this model and the previous 6RF model. 2. Do a fresh install of Windows 10. Wipe all of the MSI junk and bloatware off of this laptop. You're stupid if you don't. Sorry to be harsh but if you'd prefer to keep the MSI junk just re-download it after you preform a fresh install. You'll thank me later. 3. Undervolt the CPU. As with most gaming laptops, the CPU is fed too much unnecessary power and causes temps to jump into the mid 90's while gaming. If you think this is OK then you're nuts. Simply go on youtube and search how to undervolt the i7 7700hq and download either program and undervolt the core by 0.100 volts. You'll notice that the CPU never goes over 85 celsius. Also, for those that want to know - these are the temps that I'm getting after doing everything mentioned above. Idle GPU(nvidia) - 50 celsius Idle CPU - 45 celsius(down from 55-60 celsius before undervolting) Gaming GPU(nvidia) - 85 celsius playing GTA 5 Gaming CPU - 82 celsius playing GTA 5(down from 95 degrees) **Also, if you've ever heard of coil whining, be prepared to become it's best friend owning this laptop. There's an ambient yet sometimes annoying whining noise coming from the i7 kaby lake CPU when you have the power setting set to high performance. Set it to balanced to reduce the noise. Also, after undervolting it will also reduce the noise a little more so that you won't hear it anymore unless you try to hear it, if that makes any sense. Any questions, reply to my review and I'll try to help out.

TL;DR: It's great - buy it I'm glad I did. I've had this laptop just over a day and I'm thrilled with it. What's there to complain about in a thin, light laptop that boots up faster than I can get ready to use it? While a day isn't enough time to have really put it through its paces and see how it performs in all situations, it's been doing great so far. From basic surfing and email to some coding work and gaming it's handled everything flawlessly. The only time I heard the cooling fans was while gaming, and that was a low sound that was not annoying or disturbing in any way. While I play a lot of games, I don't usually go for machines with extra lighting/LEDs/etc, so my expectation was that I would be turning off the colorful backlighting on the Steelseries keyboard. Fast forward to today, it's still on. It looks great, and when I turned it down (the brightness is adjustable) or off I found myself missing it. The software to customize the lighting looks like it'll be really useful if I feel like changing from the default lighting that I'm currently using. Speaking of the Steelseries keyboard, it works great. Good tactile feedback, solid movement, and the sound is satisfying in that you get the audible feedback you expect without it being too loud. The keys are stable - not mushy. There are a few odd bits, like the right hand shift key being a little small so I'm having to focus on hitting it while getting used to this keyboard. The zero on the keypad also led to a few mistakes as I'm used to a double-wide zero key on a full size keyboard. Again, it's just a small difference to get used to. I'm really happy with the screen. It's bright and crisp, very responsive, and hasn't shown any problems with the games I've played. Outside of gaming, pages are clear and easily readable when browsing the web, reading email, or coding. Performance overall is very quick, including both the SSD and regular hard drive. I haven't noticed any delays related to their performance. Similarly the Wi-Fi interface has been performing great. I've been installing software and games without a wired connection and it hasn't felt slow at all. I'm sure doing it with a wired connection would have been faster, but the speed I was able to download them at was more than satisfactory. There's only two small things I wish I could change. I would prefer that the MSI logo on the cover didn't light up, but that's really minor. The other - which I knew beforehand but chose to overlook - is the placement of the power cord jack. The middle of the right hand side is odd, but at least it's a right angle connector so it doesn't get in the way. All in all, I'm very happy with my purchase of this laptop.

I'm returning to the PC world after a few years of Mac (started with PC though) because I decided to become a video game designer. CONS: In the grand scheme of things, these cons probably aren't the biggest deal, especially if you know how to fix them quickly, but I shouldn't be having these issues pretty much right out of the box. THAT experience is a HUGE turn off and I honestly expected better from a big name brand like MSI. This was my first MSI (and true gaming laptop) and I had higher expectations. My HP from 2010 was more problem-free than this, and its problems didn't start until I had it for at least a good chunk of time. -ctrl+s to save in Maya didn't work 35-40% of the time. I updated and it seemed to help, but I didn't like that I had to update out of the box. When I went to the driver page on MSI's website, they said it was an issue of keys sticking (guess it was a known issue). I updated it and STILL had the issue, though it happened less. Frustrating. -Drivers. I have to update drivers immediately for optimal everything. I can't just plug and play? Mac had me spoiled, I guess.. -I now have to manually change where sound comes from when I switch between earbuds and speakers because I was having a driver issue or something where it wouldn't recognize when my earbuds were in. I finally fixed it but now this is what I'm left with. Really, you don't recognize that I just put headphones in? Really? -The battery is not easily removable like in many other laptops. You'd have to screw open the back to get to it. So when I had the "plugged in, not charging" issue (already within a few days of ownership? that's not the way it's supposed to be...), I was frustrated that removing the battery and going from there wasn't an option. -Open the task manager and see my CPU is running at 100%. 100%!?!?!? I'm just like, browsing the internet and maybe using Maya! But this has some of the best specs for a gaming laptop in this price range, why is this much of its CPU being used? I would expect that from a dust-ridden, 5 year old laptop struggling to keep up with iTunes.. -No dedicated volume or brightness controls. Yep, you have to press Fn THEN the arrow key every. single. time. Also no quick button for laptop key brightness. -95% of the time I couldn't safely eject my external drive, even when nothing was running. It worked more from the USB 2 port, and I did have the "quick eject" safety feature or whatever turned on, but still, I hate running that risk. I have to shut the laptop off to feel entirely safe taking it out. -The brightness is abysmal. Good luck trying to work with this in a library next to a window. I'm not talking about sun glare, I'm talking about when it's grey outside but still bright. I live in Oregon so this is a thing for me. -Computer speakers cannot handle any bass at all. Do you like dubstep or trap? Depend on your earbuds. I'll usually use earbuds too, sure, but, idk. I like having the option of just putting music on and working vs having to hunt for my earbuds every time -I hate inverted scrolling on the trackpad. I turn it off (which, the setting is not intuitive to get to at all btw. You have to dig) and yet it resets a couple times I turn it on later. I shouldn't have to reset it repeatedly throughout the week. PROS: - I use this for modeling and animating in Maya. I also use it for composing and rendering in After Effects. This thing renders like a beast. Faster than any of the school computers for sure. I've been so focused on school that I haven't done any real gaming like I've wanted, but I'm returning it and spending a bit more to get a better laptop anyhow. -Lightweight. Great weight for portability, especially since I'm a student. -Keyboard is cool, but yanno I guess it is gimmicky. I just needed some type of backlight. I think you can download the Steelseries separate software to only have specific lights on and such vs just changing the color of all keys or pre-determined groups of keys. -Speaking of the keyboard, it feels awesome to type with. Keys are lightweight and just feel good to type with. The number pad especially, it makes me feel like I want to get a security system number pad and type my password on it with THIS keyboard. -Dragon Center is awesome. I like the one-stop shop for performance controls. -The plug for the battery into the computer is secure. I HATED the stupid magnet thing on my MacBook Pro. It would always come off when you touched it. CONCLUSION: I really miss not having drivers and it just working out of the box, I'll be very honest about that. Upon reflection, I should've updated Windows from the get go, but I honestly shouldn't have to do the entire 45 minute system update right when I've purchased a $1550 high-end laptop. I've never had these issues with my Macs. Macs are overpriced and underpowered hardware but definitely less of a headache.. Partially dreaded for my future as a PC owner to have to deal with further complications like this, but it will be worth it since PCs are the ones that are VR ready and can actually handle hardcore video games. I will refrain from buying MSIs in the future. Thank god the one I have my eye on is an Asus!

Here are the pros- first off i'll start with the speed. It can run most games amazingly, and fast, and can download, and upload at great speeds. it has a good enough ram gb to get the job done, and make it work like it should. the picture is great, not the best but great quality. some of features most msi computers come with makes me love them, including adjustable speed, and the fully customizable keyboard colours and patterns. I Also love the combination of HDD, and SSD. The cons- First on this list is the price. Though great quality, its a bit pricey considering you may be able to get a better custom model at around the same price second is the low gb in the ssd. I understand the hdd has 1 tb but the pc recognizes the lower storage one as the main drive, and tends to fill up quickly especially if filling your computer with games, of course their are ways to direct the storage onto the other drive, but it can be a hassle, and some may not understand how to do it. For the price i would have wanted atleast 500gb ssd if i knew it would be the main drive The button, charger placement, and track pad. it uses one of the newest models of a trackpad without the bottom buttons, which i personally hate and find hard to use, id recommend using a usb mouse if you get this. The power button is on the side of the laptop, and its weird, and I really didnt know how to turn it on at first, another problem with the power button is you have to hold it down to turn it on or out of sleep mode, not a simple press like others. This would be fine though if they explained it in the setup manual, since i thought i had a dud at first. Last the charger port, its also in a weird spot, on the middle, on the side. Im not sure if it was trying to be different but it was impractical, feels weird, and i find i accidentally knock it out more often, i hope they avoid these design aspects in future models But in the end i find the pros out weight the cons, it's a hardy laptop that can handle some great graphics, if you have more than enough cash to spend i'd recommend it (while also recommending you to upgrade the ssd). For this i give it 4/5 stars

Overall Great Laptop, With a Core I7 7700HQ and 6GB GTX 1060, 16GB of ram,256GB SSD (237 Usable, Not NVME) and a 1TB (913 usable, 5400RPM) Mechanical drive, this thing flies. It has one of the better keyboards I have tried on a laptop and the track pad is a bit better than average with mostly accurate tracking other than clicking can be stiff it’s a great track pad, This is an ELAN based track pad. Speakers are acceptable. Loud enough for me personally. Not very punchy but they could be far worse. Plenty of IO with 3 USB 3.0 ports, 1 USB 2.0 port. GB Ethernet, Full size SD card slot, Headphone and Mic jack's, Mini Display port, HDMI, and of course a Kensington. This thing can handle any of your possible IO Needs. Overall portability is great. Very light for what it has hardware wise. I use this laptop for a 50/50 balance of both work and play. Battery could be better I get about an average of 4 to 5 hours of battery on normal workloads (Web Browsing, Word Docs, Email, ETC). For most you that are using this for gaming. Ensure it is well ventilated. It gets hot quickly. This thing will not thermal throttle if it has room to breathe. This laptop supports G sync on external displays if you have a monitor plugged into the HDMI or MDP. Under volt the CPU by .110 volts (Your voltages may vary) It lowered my temps by 10C and kept the CPU at full boost clocks at all times. I can play the games like the division, ARK, CIV, Rainbow Six Siege All on ultra at 1080P with average framerates around 60 FPS If you are trying to get into 4k gaming this is not the card for you, Look at 1070 based machines or better. VR: This machine handles most games well. Ive done limited testing with the oculus rift and so far so good no weird issues it just works and works well. The display..... It’s a 1080P TN 60hz display. It looks okay at best when looking at it directly. Colors are acceptable but the overall display looks washed out not sharp. The viewing angles are horrible and if you’re not looking directly at it display quality degrades. I would have easily spent 100 more dollars on this machine if it had a IPS display. I will be replacing it for a better display one day but overall it is okay. This display is not a deal breaker for me but for someone that is going to the display on this machine 80 or more percent of the time I would recommend getting one of the non best buy models a bit more expensive but it comes with things like IPS displays and NVME drives. for mobile gaming and work it works for me personally when I need it. When I am home it is always docked to my 2 monitors so it doesn’t bother me a bit. Notes to MSI: Don’t let best buy water down your product. You make this laptop in better configs (IPS Panel, NVME Drive) I would have much rather you had cut the 1TB Mechanical drive and put in a better display then to have cut corners. TLDR. Fast laptop, Plenty of IO, Portability is excellent. Battery life is 4-5 hours on non-gaming loads, Display is poor but usable. I give it a B+

I have had this machine for nearly 2 weeks now. Picked it up on sale. The form factor and build quality are really great for this price point, especially on sale. The performance and specs of this laptop is really good for this price point, I have no issues there at all. Plays everything I need it to at High to Ultra settings with great frame rates. Supports my Oculus Rift with no extra cable adapters (I have the 3 sensor setup). The laptop runs a little warm while gaming but this is pretty typical in a gaming laptop with these specs. Fan noise is not too bad at all in my opinion. This machine could have been a home run in price/performance. Best Buy/MSI really pooched this machine badly with the display. There are lots of reviews so I won't get into to many details other than to let you know the reasons I will moist likely be returning this gaming laptop. 1) Sound is fairly weak. It is passable and I could actually live with it, especially since I prefer to game with headphones anyway. 2) The vents on the bottom of the machine are very flimsy. If you are not careful when picking the laptop up, especially one handed, you could easily break the plastic grills, they are just too thin. Those two items I could have lived with, the show stopper here is the display! By FAR! 3) THIS IS THE DEAL BREAKER This is by far the worst TN panel I have ever seen... anywhere! Its really sad too, because for literally only a couple of dollars more tham this panel costs them MSI cold have outfitted this machine with a decent IPS display. I would gladly pay an additional $50 or more for the better display. I have a feeling MSI ended up with a stockpile of these junk TN panels and they dumped them on Best Buy. I have used many TN panels and IPS panels through the years and I have never seen anything this bad on a modern computer. Colors are washed out and the viewing angles are awful. So bad in fact that you cannot even find a decent viewing angle sitting directly in front of the machine. This is not an exaggeration at all, this panel is just miserable to look at. I really wanted to like this laptop but I just know I will kick myself for thinking I could live with the horrible display.