Replacing my old MSI Titan GT73 6RF

[bodosko]

Hi.

 

I currently have a MSI Titan GT73VR 6RF (GTX 1080/i7-6820) and I want to replace it with a similar but better one.
I like my current notebook very much, and I'm very happy with it, runs smooth and very cool. I can still play any games I like on 1080p High settings, and I'm only replacing it because its hardware started aging and soon it will be hard to sell it for a good price.

I like it so much that if it was possible, I would keep it and just upgrade the hardware. 😄

That being said, first I thought buying the MSI Titan GT77 with 3070 Ti, but the price is a bit high on my budget.
Moreover the new Titans are all flashy and full of RGBs everywhere, they even took out all the ports that were conveniently on the back (power, hdmi, ethernet) just to put MORE RGB.

Searching a bit more, I found the MSI Vector, which is cheaper with the same hardware, and it has some ports conveniently on the back. But it's smaller and thinner than Titan, and for that I think it will miss all the cooling power that Titan has. Am I right?

I think I like the MSI Vector, but I'm just afraid it won't have the smooth and cool setup (temperature) that my current Titan has.

 

There is also the MSI Raider, very similar to Vector, but with more RGB. I couldn't find any other differences besides that.

 

Can you guys help me choose the replacement of my loved notebook? 

Thanks.

General Questions

1) What is your budget?
U$ 2000-2500

 

2) What size notebook would you prefer?
Desktop Replacement; 17"+ screen 

3) In which country will you buying this notebook?
USA

 

4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
a. Like: MSI
b. Dislike: Clevo 

5) Would you consider laptops that are refurbished/redistributed?
Maybe

 

6) What are the primary tasks you will be performing with this notebook?
Gaming

 

7) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places, leaving it on your desk or both?
Both, but 95% of the time leaving on desk

 

8 ) Will you be playing games on your notebook? (If so, please state which games or types of games?)
Yes, mainly competitive games, FPS, MMORPG and RTS. Eg: CSGO, Lost Ark, and sometimes a AAA

 

9) How many hours of battery life do you need?
Don't care about battery

 

10) Would you prefer to see the notebook you're considering before purchasing it or buying a notebook on-line without seeing it is OK?
Buying on-line without seeing is OK. I Always did that way.

 

11) What OS do you prefer? Windows, Mac OS, Linux, Chrome OS, etc.
Windows

 

12) What ports do you require on your laptop? (ex. MiniDisplayPort or HDMI? Displayport or USB-C w/ DP?)
Just the basics USB, HDMI...

Screen Specifics

 

13) What screen resolution(s) would you prefer? See further below for explanations.
1080p or more.

 

14) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen? See further below for explanations.
Any of them.

 

Build Quality and Design

15) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?
No

 

Notebook Components

16) How much storage space do you need?
1TB

 

Timing, Warranty and Longevity

17) When do you consider purchasing this laptop?
March-April

 

18) How long do you expect to use this laptop?
5 years

 

19) How long could you afford to do without your laptop if it were to fail?
Doesn't matter. I have a backup notebook if needed.

 

20) Would you be willing to pay significantly extra for on-site warranty, or would it be acceptable to you to have to ship the laptop to the vendor for repair with perhaps a week or more outage?
Acceptable to have to ship it.

[SapphiraTriX298]

Sorry no one has responded. 

Shouldn't happen on a forum with a section dedicated to the subject.

 

With a budget of up to $2500 you could potentially afford a decent 4080 laptop. 

If you would be satisfied with less performance for a substantial price savings, a last year 3080 ti would not be a bad buy.

 

The only problem is that any high end laptop these days is going have RGB in some form, good for advertising and raising prices. But most of the time you can turn it off.

 

You should also be able to get a 1440p display fairly easily, as 4k probably won't make that much of a difference at that size, and if you are going to put out anything less than a 4080, more compromises in quality settings will need to be made.

 

5 years is also a long time for a laptop, so I would recommend pushing for as much performance you can afford.

 

That said if size is no object the Strix 18 (non-scar) is a good sized laptop with the larger 16:10 ratio in the $2500 range if you can find it in stock. Take your 17" screen and add 2cm to the bottom of it and you have the added real estate.

 

The Aorus 17 from 2022 has a 3080 ti for around $2000, but takes an odd design choice with an extremely high refresh rate 1080p panel with middling colours.

 

I agree that MSI's seem overpriced in this category.

 

If you don't mind going a little smaller the CyberPower Tracer VII comes in a 17" 16:10 variant with a 4080 that can be had for around $2300 if you don't mind 16gb of ram in place of 32 it would come with stock. That is probably the best for your money in terms of price to performance

 

[TreeTopsRanch]

Note this info on a version of CyberPower Tracer VII: :The Laptop selected is SOLD OUT

The selected notebook can't be shipped to CA/CO/HI/OR/VT/WA due to the energy regulations adopted by these states
 

[SapphiraTriX298]

I can understand it being sold out as I think this was the cheapest option for a 4080.

 

But what kind of energy regulations prevent you from buying a computer?

[1610ftw]

@bodosko - that GT75 is a magnificent machine, will be hard to top that design and connectivity and say goodbye to 4 memory and storage slots each unless you get the last gen GT77.

 

Sad current trends of slimming and dumbing down laptops aside the last generation MSI units can be about as non-flashy as it gets when you take the Vector or GE76/77 and even the GT77.

 

If a 3070Ti with 1080p is enough you could get the GP76

if you want to move up to QHD take the GE76

if you want a better CPU, too and QHD that would then be a case for the GE77

more memory and storage options and more quiet cooling? take the GT77

 

To my knowledge you can switch off all RGB on all of these and I have tested this myself on the GT77 that can be configured to have no RGB lighting at all.

 

The MSI units have a number of benefits and you know them so not sure if you want to look into other designs.

 

If you do look at others maybe go for Tongfang / Uniwill that are sold by Eluktroniks and others like Cyberpower. You even have a water cooling option for them and they can be configured to look very plain. Eluktroniks has @Prema modded options which may be interesting but I am not quite sure if that would still be in the 2500$ upper limit of your budget. Please not that their screens are 17" and therefore more narrow but in return you get some added height and an overall slightly bigger screen.

 

Legion has some understated looking models when it comes to the case and so do HP it seems but both to my knowledge miss the easy bios overclocking abilities of the MSI and they do not really have something like the easily adjustable fans that you find on MSI units including cooler boost so if you are coming from MSI that may be a consideration.

 

If you are looking for something understated that does not break the bank for this generation you may want to look at the 18" Acer with an 18" screen.

 

The Asus units are interesting only when you do not mind that they scream I AM A GAMER which is rather unfortunate.

If you can live with that the G18 with a 4070 or 4080 could be interesting.

[bodosko]

Hi guys, thanks for all the recommendations.

 

I have some additional reasons why I like MSI models: the overall quality, the satisfyingly good keyboard, the simplicity and ability of system tweak and control, the system stability... The laptop just feels smoother than others.

I don't know if I had bad luck, but I owned two Clevos and one Lenovo in the past that were so hot, unstable, and unable to tweak, that made me very afraid of leaving MSI.

 

But these price differences, Oh my god! Those Tongfang / Uniwill sold by Eluktroniks and Cyberpower are way cheaper than MSI current models. Makes me wonder if they are actually good machines. Can you compare with a MSI GE77 or a GT77? How is the cooling/throttling when not using water cooling ?

 

I will take a look at other brands as well.

 

But I already chose what specs I want: Thick 17-18" 240hz 1440p laptop with less overheat/throttling as possible, with any Intel CPU 12/13th gen, any nvidia GPU between 3080 and 4080, 32GB RAM DDR5

[saturnotaku]

I've owned four different Tongfang-based laptops and all of them had at least one significant quality control issue ranging from dead pixels to defective trackpads.

[bodosko]

On 3/4/2023 at 11:49 PM, SapphiraTriX298 said:

That said if size is no object the Strix 18 (non-scar) is a good sized laptop with the larger 16:10 ratio in the $2500 range if you can find it in stock. Take your 17" screen and add 2cm to the bottom of it and you have the added real estate.

 

The 2023 Asus Strix G18 for that price is very interesting, I think I'll go with it. But I've searched everywhere and no one has in stock.

For how long is it out of stock, do you know? And how long until new units arrive normally? I don't have experience tracking laptop stocks/prices.

 

I've heard somewhere that this model getting a lot of coil whine. Is it possible that this is the reason it's out of stock? Maybe the issue made ASUS pause production to fix things?

 

  

49 minutes ago, saturnotaku said:

I've owned four different Tongfang-based laptops and all of them had at least one significant quality control issue ranging from dead pixels to defective trackpads.

 

But this is more related on the store you bought then actually Tongfang, right? I mean, they are assembled by the store and its final quality control failed.

[saturnotaku]

4 hours ago, bodosko said:

 

The 2023 Asus Strix G18 for that price is very interesting, I think I'll go with it. But I've searched everywhere and no one has in stock.

For how long is it out of stock, do you know? And how long until new units arrive normally? I don't have experience tracking laptop stocks/prices.

 

I've heard somewhere that this model getting a lot of coil whine. Is it possible that this is the reason it's out of stock? Maybe the issue made ASUS pause production to fix things?

 

Considering no one here works for either Asus or the retailers, you're not going to get an answer to that question. Set an in-stock alert on various websites and buy as soon as you get a notification that it's available.

 

4 hours ago, bodosko said:

But this is more related on the store you bought then actually Tongfang, right? I mean, they are assembled by the store and its final quality control failed.

 

The integrators (Maingear, Eluktronics, et al), likely order these chassis in bulk but aren't going to have the resources to do a deep QC dive on every single unit they receive. While you could argue that the sellers need to do better about testing, the buck ultimately stops with the company that is supplying the components in the first place.