The last time I saw an MSI Gaming laptop, I was mesmerised. This time we have the GT72 Dominator: a powerhouse gaming machine that has evolved much since its introduction in 2012. I love the machine’s heavy chassis, superb keyboard and excellent. The GT72, is a new Dominator with a whole new design. The current ones have been re-launched the machine with NVIDIA’s latest graphics architecture.  So let’s see what’s in store J

Getting Started

The new Dominator features a large 17-inch display and a wide, heavy chassis, plus enough power to make the average gaming laptop blush. The design is upbeat too with matte black aluminum with. The front edge (and the top of the screen lid) comes to a wide-pointed peak with red accents and a subtle crimson paint peers out from behind the speaker grille. LED lighting behind the keyboard adds a little optional color, but overall the Dominator doesn’t overdo it in the aesthetics department, and that’s a good thing.

The GT72 still fits the overbearing profile of a 17-inch gaming laptop. The new design is noticeably thinner than earlier versions (based on online data). It is still weighs close to 4 KG’s, but at least it makes good use of its size: Four USB 3.0 ports run down the left side of its frame, accompanied by a quartet of audio jacks and an SD card reader. Two more USB connections and an optical drive live on the right edge of the machine, followed by all the other usual suspects on the rear: a power adapter, Ethernet jack, HDMI output and two DisplayPort plugs, just in case you want to rock a three-monitor setup.

MSI GT72 is one hell of a Gaming Monster which is well-built, ridiculously powerful gaming rig which gives Screeching Fast game performance.

The GT72’s control deck is simpler. Five buttons run down the left edge of the machine’s keyboard, and they’re all useful. There’s a power key, of course, but also a button that switches between discrete and integrated graphics (this requires a reboot); a “cooler boost” fan overdrive mode; a shortcut that launches the Dominator’s game-streaming software; and a keyboard backlight toggle.

Keyboard and trackpad

MSI’s partnership with SteelSeries is going strong and they continue to power its backlit keys. It’s a solid keyboard, with simple, island-style key caps that fall with a short, but soft depression. Even so, most of its magic happens behind the scenes. The included SteelSeries Engine software suite allows the user to create custom macros, and then program those macros to any button on the keyboard’s surface, effectively making it a 100 percent reprogrammable typewriter. You can also customize the backlight with countless color combinations and even create statistical reports that highlight which keys are used most frequently during a timed play session. Useful features if you want them, but invisible if you don’t.

Technically speaking, there isn’t anything wrong with the GT72’s touchpad. Its large, smooth surface accurately reads my finger’s movements and translates them into the exact on-screen action I intended to execute.  I usually prefer a to connect a USB mice when gaming but still the trackpad does its job well.

Display and Audio

Large, gorgeous displays are the saving grace of most oversized gaming laptops, and the Dominator is no exception. The GT72’s screen makes the Games look great;  there’s very little to complain about. The MSI series of gaming laptops have a history of offering great audio, and that tradition lives on with the GT72. This machine boasts of Dynaudio speakers and, as always, they sound great.

Loud, clear sound pumps from the laptop’s speaker bar. It’s among the best audio you can get on a laptop without plugging in a pair of headphones. The machine’s sound is augmented by Sound Blaster Cinema software as well, with distinct modes for gaming, music, cinema and voice. That said, you won’t need to touch it: The GT72’s equalizer pretty much manages itself.

Battery and Performance

So far, we’ve seen that the GT72 has stayed consistent with every other machine that bears the name “Dominator”: It has great audio chops, a comfortable keyboard, solid build quality and a screen worthy of almost any media you’d want to watch on it. Is it ridiculously powerful, too? Of course it is.

We played a host of games on the laptop like SMITE, Battlefield 4, Call of Duty Advanced Warfare and all ran quite well.

MSI GT72 is one hell of a Gaming Monster which is well-built, ridiculously powerful gaming rig which gives Screeching Fast game performance.

The only game that stuttered was Shadow of Mordor, but it usually turns laptops into PC gaming hotplates, but the GT72 actually stays fairly cool under pressure. It took almost 20 minutes of fast-paced multiplayer action before I felt the heat of the Dominator’s frame on my lap, and it never reached the point where I was uncomfortable.

Turning the machine’s “cooler boost” function on will kick its internal fans into overdrive and drive the temperature down a bit further, too which is a great feature. I never really felt the need to use it.

The GT72 Dominator Pro seems to have short run time at just three hours. Fortunately, better battery life just needs you to press the Dominator’s dedicated GPU-switch button (on the left) puts an integrated Intel HD Graphics 4600 in charge of visuals.

A note of caution, you won’t be able to play games until you switch back to the discrete NVIDIA GPU, but now the machine can run for over four and a half hours unplugged. Perfect for web browsing and general computing tasks.

Conclusion

The GT72 is one hell of a Gaming Monster which is well-built, ridiculously powerful gaming rig that lives up to the “Dominator” name. It comes with a new improved design, Screeching Fast game performance. Great speakers, keyboard and display along with a decent battery life (with GPU switching) is all you need for heavy lifting.

Detailed specs are as follows:

The model we reviewed was MSI GT72 2QD Dominator Laptop (4th Gen Ci7/ 8GB/ 1TB/ Win8.1) (Black)