Let's be honest, no one cares about the preamble for this review. What you really want to know is if the MSI GT80 Titan (GT80 Titan) is the best thing that's ever happened to gaming notebooks. So let's get right into it - here's the GT80 Titan in all its monstrous glory.
DO YOU EVEN LIFT?
First things first, the GT80 Titan is obscenely huge. Weighing in at 4.5kg and being just as thick as eight tablets stacked on top of each other, this notebook is a true blue desktop replacement. To complement its size, the power-brick itself weighs a full kilo and is bigger than a 300 page paperback novel. Guess that is why big things come in pairs. I had to bring this thing into office on two separate occasions and the trip from the office to the basement parking lot (and vice versa) is ridiculously tiring.
POWER OVERWHELMING
So why is the GT80 Titan so large? It is mostly due to the components located used within. Everyone who has ever read about the monstrous MSI gaming beast knows a mechanical keyboard had been thrown in - but what about the specifications? Well, based on the unit sitting in the office, I can safely say that it is as excessive as the GT80 Titan's size. Featuring an Intel i7 4720HQ chip, the Haswell-based chip that goes by the codename Sharkbay, 16GB RAM, and two NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M in SLi mode, it is possibly the most powerful gaming notebook in like…forever. This setup pretty much ensures that you're going to be able to max out any game that will be released within the next two years or so.
IS THAT ALL YOU'VE GOT?
Of course, with hardware that powerful, it would be a shame not to push the GT80 Titan to its limits. As such, I've pulled out every game I have access to and then some. The results? None of them managed to challenge this titanic gaming platform. I've thrown Wolfenstein: The New Order, Metro Last Light, Elite Dangerous, Planetside 2, and, of all things unholy, I’ve loaded up Evolve Beta into the mix as well. Expectedly, all the results turned out the same as they've all run smoother than a baby's backside. What does make the GT80 Titan sweat, oddly enough, is the 3DMark Fire Strike Ultra benchmark test - coincidentally a 4K type video test. Suffice to say, the only way that you can break the machine right now is if you intend to do some serious 4K gaming on it.
RUNNING SILENT
With all the horsepower located beneath the hood, it is only natural that the fan would be louder than most…right? Well surprisingly not as the default fans used run on near silent operation. Using the primary cooling only still kept the temperature of this machine running at around 80° Celsius. This is during a gaming load, mind you. If that is way too hot for comfort, there is a button located just beside the power button that toggles the secondary fan. When engage, these are in stark contrast to the primary as they punch out extra cooling performance at the price of being are very loud. What it lacks in silence, it more than makes up for it in cooling as the GT80 Titan is able to maintain a relatively cool 55° Celsius when the secondary cooling turbines fired up.
ELECTRICITY DRAIN
I hope you guys aren't expecting the GT80 Titan to have a long lasting battery when gaming - because it really doesn't. The notebook contains a toggle for the GPU just like the fan does. By default, it utilises the integrated Intel Graphics platform. Activating the GPU allows the GT80 Titan to tap the GTX 980M SLi but it does require a restart before you can fully engage it. As for the integrated graphics solution, when used, the notebook can last up to four hours. Keep in mind that there is no gaming involved. With SLi on, the battery lasts around two hours at most. If you're gaming with it, the system won’t even last for an hour. Simply put - no power brick means no gaming. That's a slight bummer right there.
MAX OUT THE CREDIT CARD
The biggest problem with the GT80 Titan isn't the battery life, nor is it the weight. You guessed it, the real issue is the asking price. At RM13,999, this king of gaming notebooks is going to be out of range for around 98% of our readers. Even for those that can afford it, the amount of money you are going to spend to get this notebook is enough to build yourself a desktop with a Quad SLi solution. So unless you have managed to find a golden-egg laying goose or have hit the jackpot at the lottery, you're probably not going to be able to afford this. But if you somehow manage to stumble onto a huge stockpile of money, should you get it? Personally, if money is a non-issue, then I would go out and get it. Why? Only for the very reason that the GT80 Titan is such a ridiculous notebook to own that it gives me a great reason to smile like a maniac. If you had been able to even use the GT80 Titan, then you’d understand. Needless to say, it is one of the most powerful notebooks I have, and will ever, put my grubby hands on. It’s just too bad that only a handful of people would be able to own it.
VERDICT
The most insane desktop replacement in existence.
SPECS
Weight 4.5kg (w/battery)
Dimensions (W x H x D) 45.6 x 33 x 4.9cm
CPU Intel i7 4720HQ
Chipset HM87
Memory 16GB DDR3
Graphics Dual NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M, 8GB GDDR5 SLi
Display 18.4in WLED FHD (1920 x 1080) Anti-Glare Display Audio 4+1
Speaker System, 2 speakers for each channel, supports 7.1 channel SPDIF output
Storage Super RAID 2-384GB SSD (M.2 SATA) + 1TB (SATA) 7200rpm
Operating System Windows 8.1
Connectivity Killer N1525 Combo (2 x 2 a/c) + Bluetooth 4.0 M.2 type
Ports 1x HDMI (v1.4), 5x USB 3.0, 2x Mini-DisplayPort, 1/1x Mic-in/Headphone-out