MSI GT80 packs a full mechanical keyboard into a notebook

cerebus

cerebus

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I just saw this one on Tomshardware:

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/msi-mechanical-keyboard-gaming-notebook,27991.html#xtor=RSS-181

MSI Boasts New GT80 Titan 'World's First' Gaming Laptop With Mechanical Keyboard
The big drawback about gaming on a laptop is the keyboard. Typically, the keys sit flush against the chassis so that the laptop can fully close when not in use. There's really no tactile feedback save for perhaps a light click when mashing a key. MSI's new GT80 Titan changes all that, becoming the first gaming laptop to provide a built-in mechanical keyboard.

According to the company, the GT80 features a SteelSeries keyboard with Cherry Brown MX switches and 27-mm keycaps, which will provide plenty of clickety-click tactile feedback while gaming or simply trolling across the Internet. Mechanical keyboards can tolerate finger-based abuse, and presumably there are no accidental key presses as you sometimes see with standard notebook keyboards.

The company indicated on Thursday that the laptop has an enhanced SteelSeries Engine with CloudSync so that gamers can save their settings in the cloud and access them from anywhere.

"Performance is key for gamers and the GT80 Titan will forever change the mobile gaming experience," said Andy Tung, president of MSI Pan America. "We are proud to be at the forefront of the gaming evolution and will continue to provide solutions that deliver the most outstanding gaming experience in the world."

News of the world's first gaming laptop with a mechanical keyboard arrives after the company updated its 27-inch all-in-one (AIO) gaming PCs with Nvidia GeForce GTX 900M series graphic cards. The AG270 2QC and the AG270 2QE are available now, with more upgraded models appearing in a few weeks. There are three versions of each, providing a solution for gamers with various budgets.

The company also recently updated its GS70 Stealth Pro and GS60 Ghost Pro models, and its GT72 Dominator, GT70 Dominator and GT60 Dominator gaming laptops with Nvidia's GTX 900M Series graphics and MSI's own SHIFT power adjustment technology. These laptops come with fourth-generation Core i7 processors, Killer E2200 game networking, Sound Blaster Cinema and more.

Update, 10/30/14 9:25am: As for the new GT80 Titan being introduced today, MSI is remaining quiet about the hardware. The only feature we could get from an MSI representative was that the laptop has SLI.
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Check out the teaser site over here:
http://event.msicomputer.com/gt80titan/
GT80_Titan_landing_02.jpg

:D what you reckon? It's a bit over the top for my Ivesian tastes but they didn't go by halves.
 
CES gave us a much deeper look at the GT80 notebook and it's absolutely ludicrous. Obviously this is a niche product - retail starts at $3300 for one thing - but the specs it offers would decimate 90% of desktop gaming systems:

- Cherry MX Brown Steelseries mechanical keyboard. I like the way they've placed it at the lip edge of the chassis, partly because that's more natural to type and partly to give quick access to upgrade slots.
- Top end Crystal Well i7-4980HQ CPU.
- Up to 2 x 980m MXM GPUs which are also upgradeable in the future.
- Four M.2 SATA slots in RAID for SSD storage plus a 2.5" HDD bay.
- Tactile haptic numberpad
- 18.4" 1080p display.


Check out some previews:
http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/5/7495073/msi-mechanical-keyboard-gt80-titan-laptop-ces
http://www.anandtech.com/show/8818/msi-gt80-titan-full-specs-revealed
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/msi-gt80-mechanical-sli-laptop,28346.html
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Spec wise, it is certainly impressive. Would've liked a 16:10 display at a higher res, though, but I understand that high-res panels with low enough TDP are hard to come by outside of Cupertino. It's enormous though- this is a desktop replacement through and through.
 
Maverick Jester said:
Spec wise, it is certainly impressive. Would've liked a 16:10 display at a higher res, though, but I understand that high-res panels with low enough TDP are hard to come by outside of Cupertino. It's enormous though- this is a desktop replacement through and through.
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It's one of the few cases in gaming notebooks where a higher density display (3-4k) would definitely be worthwhile because you could still max out games, and I hope it isn't too long before they can source one. Personally I'm all about sleek elegant hardware but I still have to admire the chutzpah of these things.
 
cerebus said:
It's one of the few cases in gaming notebooks where a higher density display (3-4k) would definitely be worthwhile because you could still max out games, and I hope it isn't too long before they can source one. Personally I'm all about sleek elegant hardware but I still have to admire the chutzpah of these things.
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Agreed.
 
Just revealed at CES earlier this month is the all-new MSI GT80 Titan SLI – the world’s first gaming notebook with a mechanical keyboard. We’ve spoken about it at length at the launch itself, and it is pretty eye-catching, so it didn’t go unnoticed even for the most battle-hardened media visiting.

In any case – you know about the GT80 Titan SLI, it comes with dual 980M graphics and high-power CPUs, but the party piece is its mechanical keyboard. For now, we’re offering the GT80 with Cherry MX Brown switches, but for the future, there might be different offerings, such as MX Red.
gt80.jpg
The reasons we’ve chosen the Brown switches can be seen on the picture above. Cherry itself positions it as an “advanced gaming switch”, and being a gaming notebook, it’s a bit of a no-brainer. It is also a silent solution, unlikely to upset anyone unnecessarily.
 
Uh so yea more.. information.

The GT80 Titan SLI is both a successor as well as an improvement on the GT72 in many ways. Obviously, it’s a completely new design, and the two don’t have much in common, but in one critical aspect, it shares the possibility to be upgraded in the future. The GT72 comes with a replaceable MXM graphics card, while the GT80 takes this a couple of steps further by pretty much full modularity – even the CPU is a PGA type.
gt80-1.jpg
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The placement of the keyboard means you can remove the somewhat unusual large top cover with two screws and access HDDs, ODD and the M.2 2280 type SSDs (all slots clearly numbered).
gt80-3.jpg
Through the bottom you can access the dual GTX 980M GPUs and the CPU as well as the RAM. Another unusual feature is a ribbon cable running between the graphics cards – this is the SLI bridge.

As you can see then, we’re building on the GT72 upgradability DNA, but make it even easier for those who go for the top-of-the-line offering.
 
It’s not without reason we make a lot of noise about the GT80 Titan SLI – we’re immensely proud of all its unique features, not to mention the fact that it’s our most high-performing system, and probably the fastest gaming notebook out there. We can rant and rave about the keyboard for weeks (and we have done, internally), but in the end, it’s down to performance figures… Something we thought we’d share with you.

You will not have missed the fact that we’re using two NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M with 8GB each, in SLI, leading to… Well, see for yourself, below.
gt80sli_1.jpg
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In general, the SLI solution in the GT80 gives a performance boost of more than 60% compared to a single GTX 980M, as found in our GT72, or for that matter in a lot of other high-end notebooks. For example, this solution scores noticeably higher in 3DMark Fire Strike than an overclocked GeForce Titan desktop system – just to give you an idea of what kind of powerhouse the GT80 really is.
 
Oh, one question- is it true that MSI covers the GPU upgrades as part of the initial cost of the machine, and that the upgrades are guaranteed for two upgrade cycles?
 
Maverick Jester said:
Oh, one question- is it true that MSI covers the GPU upgrades as part of the initial cost of the machine, and that the upgrades are guaranteed for two upgrade cycles?
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You ask a good question bud. Let me ask the officials :) I haven't heard it myself though so I'm tempted to say not.
 
Power adaptors: ratings and output

Generally speaking, notebooks use a lot less power than desktop systems, even our most high-powered ones, such as the GT80 Titan. This comes with a pretty large 330W power adaptor, and is by far the most power-hungry notebook in the lineup, thanks to its GTX 980M SLI solution.
power_adapter.png
Of course, the rest is much more modest, but we thought we’d give you an overview of what sort of AC adaptors we ship with our notebooks, in case you ever lose one and need to find a new one.
power_adapter_2.png
All adaptors come with a 19.5V output voltage, and are currently made by Delta Electronics.
 
GT80 Titan SLI testimonials and awards

If we were to liken the MSI Gaming notebook lineup to weapons, the GE62 would probably be a SCAR, the GT72 a Minimi while the GT80 Titan would probably best be represented by an M1 Abrams tank.

Despite the war related talk, our relations with media when talking to the GT80 Titan has been very calm and peaceful – maybe thanks to all the nice things they keep saying about it once they’ve gotten their hands on it. Below follows a few excerpts from GT80 reviews around the world.

“We’ve never laid eyes (or fingers) on a gaming laptop quite like the GT80. With awesome SLI gaming power, a huge screen, and a true mechanical keyboard, this mega-machine sets a new standard of dream machine—so long as you don’t have to carry it very far.” – Computer Shopper http://www.computershopper.com/laptops/reviews/msi-gt80-titan-sli/(page)/5#product-review

“With its face-melting performance, a fantastic mechanical keyboard and upgrade-friendly chassis, the MSI GT80 Titan SLI is the gaming laptop to beat.”
- Laptop Magazine
http://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/msi-gt80-titan-sli-gaming-laptop

“It’s easy to see why we’re so impressed; GT80 Titan SLI is outstanding in many ways, it pushes the boundaries for all-out mobile performance and achieves this while delivering a catalogue of innovative features.”
- Vortez
http://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/msi_gt80_titan_sli_review,12.html

“Want the best gaming laptop money can buy? The GT80 Titan will not disappoint.”
- Kitguru
http://www.kitguru.net/laptops/zardon/msi-gt80-titan-review-2x-gtx980m-023uk/
 
GT80 Titan SLI unboxing

We love to rave on about the GT80 Titan SLI, and today, we’re doing it for you in video format. Enjoy our 12-minute video guide into what you hopefully want to know about the 18.4” leviathan.

[video=youtube;H7HFPoVV6Dk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7HFPoVV6Dk[/video]
 
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