MSI Upgrades Budget Laptops with Intel’s CFL-H: Six-Core Notebooks Start at $1,099
by Anton Shilov on April 14, 2018 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
- MSI
- Notebooks
- Core 8th Gen
Traditionally, PC makers tend to upgrade their premium product series with the latest CPUs or GPUs first and only then expand usage of new chips to more affordable product lineups. This was not the case with MSI this month, which is introducing a variety of relatively inexpensive laptops running Intel’s Coffee Lake-H CPUs with up to six cores. Many of these models are already available
We have already observed MSI’s premium GT Titan, GS Shadow, and GE Raider gaming laptops updated with Intel’s six-core Core i7 and Core i9 CPUs, but MSI also installed new chips into considerably more affordable GP-, GL-, GF-, and GV-series notebooks. These mobile PCs are basically “working horses” tailored for gaming and multimedia applications aimed at those who would like to have some extra CPU and GPU oomph (when compared to mainstream designs), but who are not ready to invest massive amounts of money in premium machines. For example, MSI’s GV62 8RD-034 laptop based on Intel’s six-core Core i7-8750H and NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 1050-series GPU is now available starting at $1,099.
Buy MSI GV62: 15.6-inch/60Hz, i7-8750H, GeForce GTX 1050-Series for $1099 on Amazon.com
MSI’s GP-, GL-, GF-, and GV-series notebooks use very similar 15.6-inch/17.3-inch chassis and platforms, so their differences are mostly cosmetic and limited to exact configurations (e.g., different GPUs, storage options, USB 3.1 Gen 2 support, etc.), keyboard backlighting, battery capacity, weight and so on. The new MSI GP, GL, GF, and GV laptop families are based on the Intel HM370 PCH and therefore support the key features of Intel’s 300-series mobile platforms (e.g., integrated USB 3.1 Gen 2 support, etc.) albeit not on all SKUs. The systems can house up to 32 GB of DDR4-2666 memory, one or two M.2 slots for SSDs, a 2.5-inch bay for DFF storage devices and so on. Premium versions of MSI’s GP-, GL-, GF-, and GV-series notebooks with Intel’s six-core Core i7 processors feature 15.6- or 17.3-inch IPS FHD display panels with a 120 Hz refresh rate and a 3 ms response time, others come with standard FHD LCDs. Check out the spec list in the table below.
Buy MSI GP63: 15.6-inch/60Hz, i7-8750H, GTX 1050 Ti, 16 GB RAM, 128 GB SSD, 1 TB HDD on Amazon.com
| General Specifications of MSI's 2018 GP, GL, GF, and GV Laptops | ||||||
| GP | GL | GF | GV | |||
| LCD | Diagonal | GP63: 15.6" GP73: 17.3" |
GL63: 15.6" GL73: 17.3" |
GF62: 15.6" GF72: 17.3" |
GV62: 15.6" GV72: 17.3" |
|
| Resolution | 1920×1080 | |||||
| Features | Standard: IPS Option 1: 120 Hz refresh rate, 3 ms response time Option 1: IPS/VA with 94% NTSC coverage (15.6" models only) |
|||||
| CPU | Up to Intel Core i7 8750H with six cores | |||||
| PCH | Intel HM370 | |||||
| Graphics | Integrated | HD Graphics 630 (24 EUs) | ||||
| Discrete | GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4 GB GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB GeForce GTX 1070 8 GB |
GeForce GTX 1050 2 GB GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4 GB |
GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4 GB GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB |
GeForce GTX 1050 2 GB GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4 GB GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB |
||
| RAM | 32 GB DDR4-2400/2667 2 SO-DIMM slots |
|||||
| Storage | SSD | 2 × M.2-2280 slots on select SKUs | 1 × M.2-2280 slot supporting PCIe 3.0 x4 and SATA | |||
| HDD/SSHD | 1 × 2.5-inch bay | |||||
| Wireless | Wi-Fi | 802.11ac Wi-Fi | ||||
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth 5.0 | |||||
| USB | USB 2.0 Type-A: supported on select SKUs USB 3.0 Type-A: supported on all SKUs USB 3.1 Type-A: supported on select SKUs USB 3.1 Type-C: supported on select SKUs |
|||||
| Display Outputs | 1 × HDMI 1.4 (on SKUs featuring GeForce GTX 1050/1050 Ti) 1 × HDMI 2.0 (on SKUs featuring GeForce GTX 1060) 1 × mDP with DP 1.2 |
|||||
| Gigabit Ethernet | Killer E2400 | Intel I219-LM | Killer E2400 | Intel I219-LM | ||
| Card Reader | SD card reader | |||||
| Webcam | 720p camera | |||||
| Other I/O | Microphone, stereo speakers, audio jack | |||||
| Keyboard Backlighting | RGB | Red | RGB | Red | ||
| Battery | 51 Wh | 41 Wh | ||||
| Dimensions | 15.6" | Width | 383 mm | |||
| Depth | 260 mm | |||||
| Thickness | 29 mm | 22 - 29 mm | ||||
| 17.3" | Width | 419 mm | 419 mm | 419.9 mm | ||
| Depth | 287 mm | 287 mm | 287.8 mm | |||
| Thickness | 32 mm | 33 mm | 29.8 - 32 mm | |||
| Weight | 15.6" | 2.2 kg | ||||
| 17.3" | 2.7 kg | 2.7 - 2.8 kg | ||||
| Starting Price (among systems available today) |
15.6" | $1,299 | $929 | unknown | $1,099 | |
| 17.3" | $1,349 | $1,149 | unknown | $1,499 | ||
MSI’s new GP-, GL-, GF-, and GV-series laptops are starting to hit the market in the U.S. right now, availability of their configurations will expand in the coming weeks and months. Their presence on other markets depends on MSI’s plans for these markets, supply of components, and other factors.
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damianrobertjones - Saturday, April 14, 2018 - link
The words "Budget Laptops" don't seem to work that well when the price is $1,000+jabbadap - Saturday, April 14, 2018 - link
Yeah agreed. It should be budget gaming laptops(quite expensive even for that though). Budget laptops in my mind are sub $500 notebooks.nathanddrews - Saturday, April 14, 2018 - link
I am curious what the hierarchy is. I've always seen it as:Entry level (sub $300) > budget ($300-600) > mainstream ($600-1200) > enthusiast ($1200-2500) > high end/boutique ($2500+).
Of course it's going to differ depending on use case, general purpose vs gaming vs enterprise and so on.
Tchamber - Saturday, April 14, 2018 - link
Right there in the first paragraph, Anton calls it "relatively inexpensive." I think it's clear this is MSI's budget range, not an industry standard price range. Considering MSI laptops can be had at up to $4k, this is budget pricing for them.The Hardcard - Saturday, April 14, 2018 - link
I think the definitions have evolved for the heart of the market. Currently, I think its closer to:below $500 junk/emergency stopgap/will be physically abused and won’t work in 2 or 3 years
$500 - $750 budget
Reasoning: I think there are certain baselines people want in even a basic laptop experience and below $750 you are giving up one or more things to save money. For new laptops that just came out, not previous years leftovers that someone is trying to clear out.
300 nit display at FHD or above
regular-sized four-core with six-hour battery life
or non-flimsy ultraportable with reasonable peformance and seven hours+ unplugged
128 GB SSD + spinning drive or 256 GB SSD alone.
stephenbrooks - Sunday, April 15, 2018 - link
I think laptops are the "cable bundles" of the computer world, which is why they can justify price hikes for basic features.svan1971 - Saturday, April 14, 2018 - link
Velvet Elvis Presley posters, are almost as tacky as that MSI label and logo. I mean really, can MSI hire somebody to design you a logo that doesn't look like its from 1975.PeachNCream - Monday, April 16, 2018 - link
$1K for a "budget" laptop with a 1050 in it. There are better prices from other companies. To MSI's credit, they're at least using vanilla Intel NICs (can't tell about the WiFi, but MSI's marketing department presumably still believes that Killer Wireless is a selling point so they'd be certain to mention it if the laptop was so equipped) in some of those models and the styling isn't as awful as is typical from their other computers. They're still atrocious looking in my opinion, but they're the least gamer-revolting I've seen Anandtech announce on behalf of MSI in a while.