Review: MSI GS30 Shadow

Introduction

In the pursuit of even greater mobile computing performance, some gaming laptops makers have turned to desktop parts. The latest Origin EON-15X leans on a desktop processor, while the Alienware 13hooks up to the company's Graphics Amplifier unit with a discrete desktop GPU humming inside.

To help gamers scratch the same itch for bleeding edge performance, MSI created the GS30 Shadow with GamingDock. The latter of which acts as an enclosure for just about any desktop GPU you can fit inside. By itself, the Shadow is an unassuming thin and light, 13-inch laptop that has more in common with most Ultrabooks. Lock the system into its GamingDock, and the GS30 turns into a beastly machine able to play most modern games on ultra settings at 60 fps.

On paper, this sounds like a winning combination: a compact, but powerful, 13-inch laptop that you can not only take anywhere, but can plug into a full-size graphics card for some serious gaming. As with most intriguing technology, we have to ask how it really handles in the real world.

Design

The GS30 Shadow does not look like anything like a gaming laptop at first blush. The machine is incredibly small and light, even compared to some of the thinner machines I've reviewed recently, like the Origin EVO15-S. In fact, the machine is so light that it almost feels a bit hollow. This is partially due to MSI skipping out on including a discrete graphics card all together.

There aren't any red highlights or obnoxiously flared bodylines to call attention to the machine. Instead, the Shadow's chassis is sculpted with some attractive and subtle angles along its sharp edges. The front of the machine comes to a very soft and rounded bump rather than the sharp beak I've seen on other gaming laptops, like the Aorus X7 Pro.

This reserved styling extends to the plain black aluminum chassis and even a white keyboard backlight, rather than the stark red illumination that most gaming machines feature. It's a machine that could almost fit into a business office scene, especially with the excellent keyboard, but only almost.

The only unnecessary design flourish on this laptop is the white track lighting, which runs along the front edge of this machine. These illuminated strips look cool and add a bit of signature flair to this otherwise by-the-books laptop. However, some might find the extra band of illumination to be too distracting. Unfortunately, there's also no way to turn off or tone down the brightness on this extra lighting element either.

Of course, the most important bit of this laptop you might miss all together is the discreetly hidden PCI Express slot located on the laptop's rear end.

Some assembly required

The GS30 Shadow's better half is the GamingDock, a large enclosure that introduces an interesting wrinkle to PC gaming. Like Alienware's Graphics Amplifier, this printer-sized box is designed to house a full-sized desktop graphics card.

But rather than using a proprietary cable, MSI has employed a 16-pin PCI Express connector. If that sounds familiar, PCI-e is the very same connection a desktop motherboard uses to interface with graphics card and other components. And sure enough, inside the GamingDock is a custom-printed circuit board.

There's a bit of procedure to connect the laptop to this GamingDock. First off, you'll need to completely shut off the laptop before setting the notebook on top of the GamingDock. Afterward, you'll slide the arm on the side forward until it locks in place.

The only catch here is that, like Alienware's solution, you'll have to supply your own GPU. Luckily it's easy to get inside the GamingDock: remove six screws and peel off the front cover. Opening the system up reveals enough room inside to fit just about any two-slot graphics card, including the massive Nvidia GeForce GTX Titan Z.

That said, this dock isn't just for a discrete GPU either. The GamingDock doubles as a sound system with a 2.1 speaker setup. Meanwhile, tucked inside is also a 450-watt power supply, plus a compartment for an additional 3.5-inch hard drive. Once attached, you can also plug in an Ethernet cable and four peripherals to the unit's four USB 3.0 ports. In other words, the GamingDock offers everything a workstation dock does and then some.

Specifications

As the MSI GS30 Shadow is a 13.3-inch laptop, it's considerably smaller and lighter than most gaming laptops. The machine measures 12.59 x 8.93 x 0.77 inches (319 x 226 x 19 mm) and weighs 2.65 pounds (1.20 kg). This of course makes it a bit silly to compare against the much larger 17.3-inch Aorus X7 Pro and MSI GT72 Dominator.

The similarly sized Alienware 13 looks just down right fat compared next to the GS30. Despite being Dell's smallest gaming machine at the moment, it still measures in at an inch thick and weighs 4.5 pounds (2.04 kg). Even the thin Origin EVO15-S can't compare despite its 4.3 pound (1.95 kg) frame, measuring 15.35 x 10.47 x 0.78 inches (389 x 265 x 19 mm).

Of course, the MSI machine also gets away with a slimmer waistline by completely ditching a dedicated graphics chip, unlike every other PC gaming machine we've listed thus far.

Here is the MSI GS30 Shadow configuration given to TechRadar for this review:

Spec Sheet

• CPU: 2.5GHz Intel Core i7-4870HQ (quad-core, 6MB cache, 3.7GHz with Turbo Boost)


• Graphics: Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200


• RAM: 16GB DDR3L (1600MHz)


• Screen: 13.3-inch, 1,920 x 1,080 Full HD, anti-reflective


• Storage: 128GB mSATA SSD x 2 RAID 0


• Ports: Ethernet, HDMI, microphone jack, headphone jack


• Connectivity: Intel 7260 dual band Wireless-AC, Bluetooth


• Camera: 720p HD webcam


• Weight: 2.65 pounds


• Size: 12.59 x 8.93 x 0.77 inches (W x D x H)


• And here is the MSI Gaming Dock configuration given to TechRadar for this review:


• GPU capacity: PCIe x16 Slot for desktop graphics card


• Graphics: MSI Nvidia GeForce GTX 980 GAMING 4G LE


• Sound: 2 x 5-watt speakers with 5-watt subwoofer


• HDD Capacity: SATA slot for 3.5-inch HDD


• Ports: 4 x USB 3.0, Ethernet, microphone jack, headphone jack


• Weight: 20.39 pounds


• Dimensions: 14.34 x 8 x 8.09 inches (W x D x H)

For $1,899 (£1,200, AU$2,699), you get a fairly well-equipped system as seen above with the included GamingDock. For the purposes of our review, MSI sent along a system outfitted with a MSI GTX 980 Gaming 4G, which adds another $559 (£465, AU$679) to the final total for this unit as we tested it.

For more budget conscious gamers, we'd recommend getting the Nvidia 970, which runs for as little as $339 on Amazon (£269, AU$479). Alternatively, an even more affordable option would be the $209 (£178, AU$ 319) EVGA GeForce GTX 960 SuperSC.

The MSI GS30 comes running the very same Intel Core i7 processor as in the Aorus X7 Pro, which is priced at $2,599 or £2,099 (about AU$3,320). The large 17.3-inch laptop has a few advantages over the gaming Ultrabook, namely a dual Nvidia GTX 970M setup with 512GB of SSD storage.

The MSI GT72 falls into a similar price bracket, retailing for $2,549 (£2,299, AU$3,299). Like the X7 Pro, the Dominator is built as a fully self-contained gaming laptop, equipped with a single Nvidia GTX 980M packing 8GB of video memory with an absurd 24GB of RAM, but only 256GB in SSD storage.

Parts not included

If you have any plans to game with the system attached to the GamingDock, be sure to bring your own keyboard and mouse. Technically, the laptop's keyboard and trackpad are both functional when the laptop is docked, but it's a bit awkward to reach your hands up to the elevated unit.

More importantly, the laptop's screen shuts off also automatically when it's docked with the GPU unit, so prepare to set up your own monitor. MSI says the screen shuts off due to a bug Nvidia has not yet fixed. The company is offering a BIOS update (to those that request it) that allows the laptop screen to stay on when docked, but it's holding off on releasing it publicly until the graphics card maker has fixed the problem on its end, I'm told.

For now, though, it seems Alienware has a slight leg up on MSI with its Graphics Amplifier, which allows users to enjoy the power of a desktop GPU without losing the use of their laptop's display.

Purchasing a GS30 Shadow with the GamingDock is a big investment, priced at $1,900 for the two-piece package itself. You won't be able to play around with this machine right out of the box like any other gaming laptops, so make sure you have some money set aside to buy the extra equipment.

Performance

The MSI GS30 Shadow's integrated Intel Iris Pro graphics are no joke. Paired with a beastly Intel Core i7 processor, this gaming Ultrabook was able to easily complete any strenuous task I tortured it with.

Without the aid of the GamingDock, the notebook was even able to play Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor and Metro: Last Light at a somewhat-playable 24 frames per second on the lowest settings. Hearthstone players will also have no problem playing the virtual card game on the go with the highest visual settings.

Here's how the GS30 Shadow fared in our benchmark tests:

Benchmarks

• 3DMark: Cloud Gate: 9,355; Sky Diver: 5,035; Fire Strike: 1,187


• Cinebench CPU: 633 points; Graphics: 51.84 fps


• PCMark 8 (Home Test): 3,538 points


• PCMark 8 Battery Life: 1 hours and 46 minutes


• Middle Earth Shadow of Mordor (1080p, Ultra): n/a; (1080p, Low): 23.92 fps


• Metro: Last Light (1080p, Ultra): 5 fps; (1080p, Low): 23.33 fps

Plugging the notebook into the GamingDock of course more than doubled the performance of this machine. See how the GS30 Shadow performed in our benchmark tests with a helping hand from MSI's Nvidia GTX 980.

• 3DMark: Cloud Gate: 23,603; Sky Diver: 25,435; Fire Strike: 11,285


• Cinebench CPU: 630 points; Graphics: 140.85 fps


• PCMark 8 (Home Test): 4,098 points


• Middle Earth Shadow of Mordor (1080p, Ultra): 93.70 fps; (1080p, Low): 208.48 fps


• Metro: Last Light (1080p, Ultra): 51.33 fps; (1080p, Low): 139 fps

The MSI GS30 Shadow put up some impressive numbers with just its Intel Core i7 chip alone, and the GamingDock helps push its benchmark results even farther. That said, I was expecting some significantly improved scores from a high-end desktop part like the Nvidia GTX 980.

While the Shadow paired with the GamingDock was able to achieve a Fire Strike score of 11,285 points, the Aorus X7 Pro and it's dual Nvidia GTX 970M setup does not lag far behind with 10,451 points. The same could be said about the Nvidia GTX 980M-powered MSI GT72 Dominator, which completed the same taxing benchmark with 8,228 points.

The Nvidia GTX 980 desktop GPU only truly flexes its larger graphical muscle while running in game benchmarks. MSI's two-headed gaming beast was able to play Shadow of Mordor at a brisk 93.70 fps and Metro: Last Light at 51.33 fps. These test were both done with the graphical settings turned all the way up, the resolution set to 1080p and with V-sync turned off.

By comparison, the Aorus X7 Pro was able to render the Shadow of Mordor benchmark at 82.28 fps, plus Last Light at 43.67 fps. The MSI Dominator, meanwhile, lags behind and was only able to play Last Light at 37 fps at the highest settings.

If these numbers are any indication, it's clear desktop parts still hold a commanding lead, but mobile GPUs are closing the gap with this generation of 900M-series cards built on Nvidia's Maxwell architecture. The advantage of the GamingDock is that it allows you to upgrade your graphics card, the most important PC component for gaming performance.

Some laptop makers, like Origin and MSI, now offer a service that allows users to swap out their mobile components, but it's only available to machines with GPUs attached to MXM cards. Worse off, this process also requires sending the machine out to the manufacturer. With the Gaming Dock, users can just buy a new GPU when needed, while the MSI GS30 itself is equipped with enough high-end parts to last quite a number of years.

A great screen that you can't use

It's a real shame that you can't use the MSI GS30 screen while gaming, because it's absolutely gorgeous. The display is plenty bright even in the presence of direct sunlight. Bright lamps and other indoor lighting also fail to turn the screen into a mirror, thanks to an excellent anti-glare coating. Colors are rich and accurate, meanwhile the blacks are deep with excellent contrast; everything about this display just sings.

Similarly, the speakers on the laptop are surprisingly decent. There's a bit of tininess to the sound, but overall the audio quality has a full-bodied character to it. This makes it a great little system for streaming movies as well as playing some tunes.

Unfortunately the GamingDock's speakers are downright disappointing. Despite being equipped with two large 5-watt speakers along with a subwoofer, the sound out of the GamingDock sounds even tinier than the laptop's smaller tweeters.

A tank half full

You would think that a purely processor-powered system would have great battery life, but the GS30 Shadow kicked the can after just 2 hours and 32 minutes. Mind you, I ran this battery test with an extremely light work load including clicking around six Firefox tabs, chatting in Skype, streaming Google Play Music with the Outcoldplayer app, all while turning down the display to half of its maximum brightness.

Running the PCMark8 battery test yielded even more disappointing results with the GS30, shutting down after just 1 hour and 46 minutes. By comparison, power hogging machines, like the Aorus X7 Pro, lasted 1 hour 53 minutes, while the MSI GT72 Dominator also fared better with a 2 hour and 18 minute battery life.

It's genuinely disappointing to learn that the GS30 Shadow does not last longer on the go, especially since it's running with a fourth generation Haswell chip. It's a shortcoming that does not completely ruin this laptop but you'll need to have it tethered to the power adapter or plugged into the GamingDock more often than not.

Bundled software

The GS30 Shadow comes with a heavy load of bloatware, including trial versions of both McAfee Internet Security and Norton Antivirus that you'll want to replace immediately with Microsoft Security Essentials or literally anything else. MSI has also oddly chose to load up the system with a number of Xbox for Windows games, including Wordament and Microsoft Mahjong.

I'd recommend uninstalling almost every piece of software that comes preloaded, as SSD storage is scarce with only 256GB on tap. That said, here's the short list of apps you might want to keep on the system.

• MSI Super Charger: This system utility controls the GS30 super charger port, which can charge up devices while the laptop is off.


• Intel Iris Graphics Control Panel: According to our benchmark results, kicking the system up to max adds another 10% of performance.


• Dragon Gaming: Check out how your system is performing, including CPU and memory usage, power consumption, CPU temperatures and more.


• Sizing options: Windows 8.1 scaling options aren't the greatest, and so MSI has included its own tool that does a better job of enlarging Windows on high-resolution displays.


• Xsplit Game Caster: Live stream and record your gameplay like a YouTube celebrity.


• System Control Manager: Another simplified management tool for turning on ECO battery mode and shutting off wireless radios.

Verdict

The MSI GS30 Shadow is more than just a laptop with a powerful home base, it's a proof of concept for the possible future of laptops. The system works well, though not seamlessly. You have to shutdown the machine every time you dock the laptop or take it off the GamingDock, but otherwise it's an all- encompassing device that can be both your mobile computing buddy and hardcore gaming PC.

Sure, there have been many third-party solutions that allow users to connect a graphics card to a laptop. But the GS30 Shadow and Alienware's Graphics Amplifier are the first few premium devices that will be readily available to gamers and simple enough for most users to pick up easily. It could be the start of something new in the mobile gaming world, but MSI has a few kinks to work out first.

We liked

MSI set out to create a mobile system that's as powerful as a full-on gaming desktop, and it's done just that. Equipped with the right graphics card, the GS30 Shadow plays modern games without a sweat. The system was able to run Far Cry 4 with aplomb at 120 fps with V-sync turned off. Walking through a swamp in Dragon Age Inquisition was equally as hassle free.

Because of the flexibility of the GamingDock, users will be able to easily upgrade their system. However, you won't be able to swap out many parts of the laptop itself, but the notebook comes well equipped to last a few years all on its own.

We disliked

Although the MSI GS30 Shadow with GamingDock is a working proof of concept with impeccable performance, it could certainly use a bit more work.

For starters, the battery life is simply too short regardless of whether it is classified as a gaming laptop, Ultrabook or simply compared to any notebook out today. A maximum battery life of three hours won't get you far whether you're gaming or just checking your email. MSI could easily rectify this problem by adding more battery capacity, and there's likely room for it, as the GS30 feels a bit hollow.

The GamingDock also needs a bit of retuning, especially its subpar audio quality. Given the size of the whole unit, MSI could have also gone with a larger and quieter 120mm fan. As it stands, the system gets very loud with all four fans inside (plus the laptop's own loud cooling system) whirring away.

Final verdict

The MSI GS30 Shadow with GamingDock is an ingenious idea that works better than I had ever hoped. That said, there are some large concessions you should consider before purchasing this combo unit, namely all the extra equipment you'll need.

Unlike most gaming laptops that are designed to be self-contained gaming rigs, you'll need to supply your own graphics card, mouse, keyboard, monitor and possibly a headset to make up for the system's lackluster sound system. Already that's an additional several hundred dollars on top of the cost of these machines.

If you're prepared to take the hit in your wallet for the machine and all the various extras, the GS30 can be a powerhouse, delivering better performance than even the best equipped gaming laptops. However, unless you have two serious itches that only this combo can scratch, you can easily find more wallet-friendly solutions on either end of the PC gaming spectrum.

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