X

MSI knows that milliseconds matter, unveiling 3 new laptops

The record-setting gaming laptop makers took to the stage in Computex to talk about world firsts and how much tiny upgrades matter in practice.

Luke Lancaster Associate Editor / Australia
Luke Lancaster is an Associate Editor with CNET, based out of Australia. He spends his time with games (both board and video) and comics (both reading and writing).
Luke Lancaster
2 min read
msi.jpg
Luke Lancaster/CNET

In an arena where milliseconds matter, MSI is making a play for gamers at the bleeding edge of competition. The Taiwanese gaming company took to the stage at Computex 2017 in Taipei amid blaring techno music to announce new laptops encased in sports car-inspired chassis.

That's apt, because we're not on a frontier where astronauts forge out into a cosmos, it's Formula 1, shaving milliseconds off lap times. It's about being faster -- just a little bit faster. Derek Chan, MSI's global head of notebook marketing, was quick to point to MSI's 10-year history of world firsts in gaming laptops, being the first to bring now-standard features like RGB backlit keys, thin designs and mechanical keys.

Unveiling three new laptops, the GE Raider series (the 73VR and 63VR) and GT75 Titan, MSI isn't looking to relinquish its spot as the top dog globally in gaming laptops. It's looking to do it again with innovations in cooling systems, displays, audio systems and mechanical keys.

The 17.3-inch GT75VR Titan is named for MSI's new world-first Coolerblast 5 cooling system, but even more impressive is the 3ms refresh rate on the display. The touchstone for the Titan was desktop-level performance, and its beastly spec sheet means it might just do it. Similarly, the two new laptops in the GE Raider series (the 73VR and 63VR) are rocking that sports car design, RGB keyboards and ridiculously fast refresh rates on the screen.

With a new Steelseries RGB backlit mechanical keyboard across all three laptops, close to true-to-life colour displays and the biggest audio chambers in gaming laptops (loud enough to hear from across a buzzing auditorium), MSI is chasing more records.

There are certain trappings that you think of when it comes to gaming hardware -- angular black and red designs, RGB keyboards, but really, it's about numbers. It's about faster refresh rates, hitting higher benchmarks, pumping out louder sound.

It was enough to make you forget about the cartoon dragon that opened the press conference to self-identify as a "hardcore gamer."

Check out the rest of CNET's Computex 2017 coverage here.

Does the Mac still matter? Apple execs tell why the MacBook Pro was over four years in the making, and why we should care.