MSI GE72 Apache 2QD Review

This is a hell of a budget(ish) laptop. For an RRP of £1099 (see links on the last page to buy), this 17.3″ gaming laptop can fly through games. With it’s matte 1080p screen and GTX960m, the viewing pleasure of the device is rather nice, and it doesn’t stop there. The brushed aluminium keyboard plate and screen backing make this a very nice feel to use but does make it a fingerprint magnet (and a half!).

Lets start with the spec. Inside you’ll find: an Intel® Core™ i7-4720HQ @ 2.6GHz most of the time; 8GB of DDR3 RAM; a 2GB variant of Nvidia’s new GTX960M chip; a 128GB M.2 SSD and a 1TB 2.5″ HDD; a 3 zone RGB Steelseries keyboard we have come to expect from MSI laptops; and a few other bits and pieces we will pick up on later! I like the spec for a few reasons, the first being that even though this is a cheaper laptop, the spec hasn’t been compromised much from the GS70, minus the thickness (more on that later). Performance-wise, this does well at keeping up with the other laptops, and site around 5/10% less than the 970M we tested in the GS60. You can see more on the performance page later!

As for I/O, starting on the left we have a Kensington Lock, Killer E2200 LAN (and Intel AC Wifi), a single USB 3.0 port, HDMI port, Mini Display Port, two more USB 3.0 ports and the standard (gold plated) 3.5mm headphone and microphone jacks. On the right you’ll find the DC in jack, a USB 2.0 port, an SD card reader and for some reason, a bluray drive. This confuses me. Everything about this laptop says high class budget gaming laptop, but this all plastic, cheaply made, pretty naff drive makes me think this laptop is a bit tacky. I’d much rather see this space used for an optional extra HDD, more heatsink, or even just used to slim this rather thick beast down.