MSI GT627

After a very favorable experience with the MSI Wind U100 at CES this year, I am excited to see what MSI has in store with the new GT627 laptop. The GT627 is an entry level gaming notebook designed with the traveler in mind. The unit weighs a reasonable 5.8 lbs with the standard 6-cell battery although it features a1680x1050 capable 15.4" display, GeForce 9800M GS graphics processor, 45nm Core 2 Duo processor, PM45 chipset, 320GB 7,200-RPM drive, 802.11n, Bluetooth, and optional Blu-ray optical drive.

The GT267 is based on Centrino 2-class hardware specs, but MSI utilizes DDR2 memory instead of DDR3 to control costs at this point. We mentioned this unit being an entry level gaming notebook. The reason being is the GeForce 9800M GS is typically a tad slower than the desktop GeForce 9600 GT. Both GPUs are equipped with 64 stream processors and a 256-bit memory interface, but the 9800M GS has slightly lower memory bandwidth and texture fill rates. We have used this GPU on a new HP notebook and found it fast enough to run titles like Left 4 Dead and Call of Duty:World at War at medium quality settings without much of a problem. More demanding titles like Crysis Warhead will have the user dialing down the resolution in a hurry. However, the 9800GM GS should be fast enough for upcoming titles like the Sims 3 and it handles World of WarCraft just fine for those into more casual gaming activities.

The GT627 features an elegant anodized brushed aluminum case, decent audio system with 2W internal speakers, and a weight cartridge laser mouse. MSI brings back its Turbo Drive Engine, which can overclock the notebook’s Intel Core 2 Duo Processor up to 15% at the touch of a button when in AC mode. For those who value time over speed, MSI includes their Eco Engine that lets the user switch between five power settings to extend battery life. Expected MSRP pricing is $1,149.99 with the standard DVD optical drive and $1,399.99 with the Blu-ray drive with product launching shortly.