The new GE75, apart from getting the new NVIDIA GeForce RTX graphics, the number “5” at the model number also indicates that this 17-inch MSI GE series laptop is now rocking a brand new chassis. Let’s take a look at what has been changed in this gaming laptop.
MSI GE75 8SE Tech Specs
- Intel Core i7-8750H
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 6GB GDDR6 / Intel UHD630
- 2x 8GB DDR4-2666 (up to 32GB, 2 SODIMM slots)
- 128GB M.2 NVMe PCIe 3.0×2 (Kingston RBUSNS8154P3128GJ)
- 1TB 7200RPM HDD (Seagate ST1000LM049)
- 17.3″ Full HD, IPS, 144Hz
Around the Laptop
The most significant change for the GE75’s chassis is the removal of the RGB light strips on the lid (GE73 Raider RGB). Understand that not everyone is a fan of crazy RGB lighting around a laptop, but the laptop does seem to have a lesser character to it now. But hey, it’s not like the 2 RGB stripes would contribute to any extra FPS in games. Besides, that doesn’t stop MSI to release Raider RGB variant.
The 17.3-inch IPS panel has a Full HD resolution (1920 x 1080). Just like many other laptops at this price range, it is a 144Hz high refresh rate display for that fluid visual experience. The lack of G-Sync or FreeSync means that you have to configure the game’s visual settings accordingly to prevent screen tearing or stuttering.
Not much has changed for the keyboard panel as it still comes with steelseries gaming keyboard with individual RGB backlighting. Typing and gaming on this keyboard felt natural and I have no complaints against that even if I’m a mech-keyboard guy. However, what really gets me irritated is the arrangements of the keys.
Sin #1: Missing Left Windows key and replaced with FN key. Apparently, the designer of this keyboard (not sure if steelseries or MSI) thinks that the left Windows key is nothing significant.
Sin #2: For no reason, steelseries decide to have “\” key in between spacebar and Left ALT key. Not entirely sure why they would want to have a duplicate of the same key on the right side of the keyboard. Trying to justify it as a single keyboard that works across the world’s different keyboard layout is not acceptable for such abomination.
Sin #3: Arrow cluster is blended into the rest of the keyboard, making it difficult to differentiate. and I always press the wrong key. Especially with the Numpad “0” key right at the corner.
Sin #4: “Delete” key should swap place with “Insert” key.
On the bright side, the trackpad is smooth and responsive to finger gestures. At least that’s something you can use when you don’t have a computer mouse with you. For gaming, depending on your palm size, you might want to disable the trackpad because it is sensitive enough to detect your palm.
Input/Output
Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI, Mini DisplayPort, USB-A 3.1 Gen 1, USB-C 3.1 Gen 2, 3.5mm headphone jack, 3.5mm mic jack.
SD card reader, 2x USB-A 3.1 Gen 1.
First thing first, LED-lit USB ports for easy access in dark situations. I’m not sure if that is important or not, or if gamers have the habit of using computers in dimly lit rooms.
On that side note, I would have preferred to have the USB connectors to be located at the left side of the laptop. USB cables that plugged into the right side of the laptop would just hinder the mouse movement.
Performance & Gaming
Comes equipped with the standard 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8750H processor, you can pretty much expect the laptop to have reasonably good performance but at the price of higher temperature at high CPU loads.
In terms of storage, the combination of 128GB NVMe PCIe3.0x2 SSD and 1TB HDD would allow you to have a fast boot drive and storage capacity for games. I could have been better if the boot drive comes with a 256GB capacity.
Performance Benchmark
Gaming Benchmark
Temperature
Battery Life
Our GE75 with RTX 2060 comes with a relatively small 51Wh battery and a 180W charging adapter. On the other hand, the same GE75 with RTX 2070 would be getting a larger 65Wh battery and a bulkier 280W charging adapter.
At normal usage with web browsing a couple of YouTube video playbacks, a full charge would last somewhere around 150 minutes (2hrs 30mins).
Final Words
The MSI GE75 Raider 8SE priced at RM7,399 which is around RM600 less than the recently refreshed GE75 9SE/9SF/9SG with 9th gen Intel Core i7-9750H. The rest of the laptop remained the same except for the new CPU. At around 6% better performance and 1-year release date difference, most of the users would have preferred to get their hands on the latest variant unless this laptop goes on sales.
The laptop performs superbly well especially the GPU temperature never went above 82-degrees Celcius even with constant loads. Just that the CPU is a lot harder to tame. Nonetheless, unless you want to use the laptop for heavy rendering workloads, otherwise, this laptop would game just as good as you’d expect it to be.
Pros
- Great performance
- Great GPU thermal control
- SSD for the boot drive, 1TB HDD for storage
- 144Hz refresh rate
Cons
- Only 128GB SSD
- Poor CPU temperature
