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MSI’s GX740 is a desktop replacement laptop, built with gaming – and little else – in mind. To this end, it’s been kitted out with a moderately powerful Intel Core i5 430M processor, 4GB of RAM and, most impressively, a 1GB ATI Radeon HD 5870 graphics processor. Sadly, the emphasis on gaming also means that the GX740 suffers from traditional gaming laptop styling, with a garish black and red colour scheme. At least the lid is a simple black brushed metal affair.
Looks aside, the GX740 is sturdy, well built and not overly heavy. Its keyboard includes a numeric keypad which is slightly cramped, but this leaves plenty of space for the main keyboard. It’s a traditional affair, without the Chiclet-style keys we see on laptops at the moment. This makes it instantly comfortable to type on if you’re used to a standard desktop keyboard. However, we were initially thrown by the tiny Ctrl keys and tended to miss-key when using them.
The touchpad is well placed and unobtrusive – we never brushed it by accident while typing and the buttons embedded into the metal below it are clearly separated and comfortable to use. There’s a respectable selection of ports, with three USB ports plus one which can handle either USB or eSATA connections. There’s also a mini-FireWire connector and a modem as well as the usual VGA, HDMI and Gigabit Ethernet connectors.
Unlike most laptops, the GX740 can output 7.1 surround sound from its integrated Realtek audio processor via four 3.5mm analogue stereo outputs. You won’t be able to use a microphone at the same time, though. The built-in speakers provide reasonably clear and balanced bass, mid and treble tones, but aren’t particularly loud.
The 17in display is decent, but not outstanding. It’s glossy, but not too reflective. Colours are generally accurate, but white and light shades look slightly greyish, and this rapidly becomes worse if you reduce the screen brightness.
Performance proved to be surprisingly poor, with an overall score of just 71 in our benchmark tests – a score we’d associate with laptops costing almost half this price. However, performance in our game benchmarks rectifies the situation somewhat. In Call of Duty 4, at a resolution of 1,280×769, it ran at a blistering 75.6fps: one of the fastest scores we’ve seen from a laptop. At the display’s native 1,680×1,050, resolution we saw 57.2fps and also managed to get the same framerate from Crysis up by selecting medium quality and no anti-aliasing.
Unfortunately, despite a large display, a 500GB hard disk, and a two-year warranty, the GX740 is a mediocre choice if you want to use it for anything other than gaming. Its battery life in particular is poor at just one hour and 16 minutes. Ultimately, the GX740 is a decent gaming laptop, but it lacks the versatility most people require from a laptop.
