MSI GT627-216US Gaming Notebook Review

To give you better feel for how the GT627’s performance measures up, we’ll compare it to four notebooks we’ve previously reviewed, including the

Dell XPS M1730, ASUS C90S, Toshiba Qosmio X305-Q725, and Dell Studio XPS 13. Here’s a closer look at each of our comparison systems:

HotHardware's Test Systems
Covering the bases

Dell XPS M1730

Intel Core 2 Extreme X7900 (2.8GHz)

2x1GB DDR2-667

Dual 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8700M GT

On-Board Ethernet

On-Board Audio

2x200GB in RAID 0 SATA hard drives (7,200 RPM)

Windows Vista Home Premium

17" WUXGA Display (native 1920x1200)

ASUS C90S

Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 (2.66GHz)

Intel 945G Chipset

2x1GB DDR2-667

512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT

On-Board Ethernet

On-Board Audio

160GB SATA hard drive

Windows Vista Ultimate

15.4" WXGA Display (native 1680x1050)

Toshiba Qosmio X305-Q725

Intel Core 2 Quad processor Q9000 (2.0GHz)

Mobile Intel PM45 Express Chipset

4GB PC3 8500 DDR3

1GB NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTX

64GB SATA SSD

320GB SATA hard drive (7,200 RPM)

Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 (64-bit)

17.0” WSXGA+ Display (native 1680x1050)

Dell Studio XPS 13

Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 (2.4GHz)

4GB DDR3-800

256MB NVIDIA GeForce 9500M GS

On-Board Ethernet

On-Board Audio

320GB SATA hard drive (7,200 RPM)

Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 (64-bit)

13.3" WXGA Display (native 1280x800)


Performance Comparisons with 3DMark06
Details: http://www.futuremark.com/products/3dmark06

To begin our benchmark testing, we’ll measure CPU performance using Futuremark’s 3DMark06 CPU performance module. 3DMark06's test is useful for comparing performance between similarly equipped systems. This multi-threaded, "gaming related" DirectX metric consists of different 3D scenes that are generated with software and hardware GPU renderers, which is also dependant on the host CPU's performance. In these tests, calculations that are normally reserved for a 3D accelerator are sent to the central processor. 3DMark06's GPU rendering tests utilize a mix of SM2.0, SM3.0, and HDR techniques and effects.


The GT627 has a slower processor than many of the test systems in this graph, so it’s not too surprising that it came in with a lower score. It is interesting to note that the GT627 beat out the slightly faster Dell Studio XPS 13 (2.4GHz), however.


Jennifer Johnson

Jennifer Johnson

Jennifer grew up around technology. From an early age, she was curious about all things related to computers. As a child, Jennifer remembers spending nights with her dad programming in BASIC and taking apart hard drives to see what was inside. In high school, she wrote her senior term paper on her experiences with building custom computers.

Jennifer graduated from the Jeffrey S. Raikes School of Computer Science and Management at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. After college, she began writing full-time for various PC and technology magazines. Later, she transitioned to the Web. In these roles, Jennifer has covered a variety of topics including laptops, desktops, smartphones, cameras, tablets, and various consumer electronics devices. When she's not playing with or writing about the latest gadget, Jennifer loves to spend time with her family, capture memories with her camera, and scrapbook.

Opinions and content posted by HotHardware contributors are their own.

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