MSI GT63/GT83 Titans Upgraded with Six-Core CPUs, Samsung’s PCIe SSDs
by Anton Shilov on April 13, 2018 3:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
- MSI
- Notebooks
- Core 8th Gen
- GT83 Titan
Among the many laptops getting a refresh this month alongside Intel's new 8th gen Core processors are the 15.6-inch GT63 and the 18.4-inch GT83 desktop replacement laptops, both of which are receiving hex-core CPUs along with faster Samsung SSDs and DRAM. Designed to offer ultimate performance at any cost, these laptops are MSI's no-compromises devices, meaning the best CPUs, the best GPUs, and the best storage that can be reasonably fit into a luggable computer.
Before we proceed to the details regarding the upgrade, it is necessary to note that while the MSI GT83 Titan is up updated version of the MSI GT83VR Titan released last year, the situation is a bit different with its younger brother, the MSI GT63 Titan. The latter builds upon the MSI GT62VR Dominator Pro laptop that was positioned a bit below MSI's Titans. With the new generation, MSI decided to simplify its branding, and instead of releasing another Dominator Pro, it moved the GT63 to its higher-end Titan category. In addition to repositioning, the GT63 Titan have got a new keyboard featuring per-key RGB lighting, jut like its higher-end GT83 Titan and GT75 Titan brethren, so from the styling perspective MSI’s Titans have a number of similarities.
MSI reserved the “fully unlocked” Core i9-8950HK CPU (six cores, 2.9 – 4.8 GHz, 12 MB LLC) for its flagship GT83 Titan and GT75 Titan notebooks, so the GT63 Titans will be equipped with up to Core i7-8850H (six cores, 2.6 – 4.3 GHz, 9 MB LLC) processors. There is a rationale behind such move. The MSI GT63 Titan is positioned below the GT75 Titan and must be significantly cheaper, which is why MSI did not equip it with a top-of-the-range CPU.
Intel’s Coffee Lake-H processors officially support DDR4 memory at 2666 MT/s, therefore the GT83 Titan and the GT63 Titan notebooks come with up to 64 GB of DDR4-2666 memory. MSI says that all of its GT-series DTR machines are equipped with Samsung memory, so we can expect it to be made using one of the latest process technologies and offer a certain level of overclocking headroom.
Moving on to storage sub-system upgrades of the MSI GT Titan laptops. From now on, all the GT Titan-series PCs will use Samsung’s “latest” SSDs with a PCIe interface. Considering the fact that computer makers equip their systems with OEM drives, it is safe to assume that the higher-end versions of the GT63/GT83 laptops use Samsung’s PM981-series SSDs. The higher-end MSI GT83 Titan features three M.2 slots (two supporting PCIe and SATA, one supporting only SATA), so it will be able to run two fast SSDs in RAID 0 mode and thus offering very high read and write speeds. Meanwhile, all MSI GT Titans have a 2.5-inch bay for DFF storage devices for high-capacity drives.
With its Spring update for its Titans, MSI focused primarily on CPU and memory/storage, but not display panels. The MSI GT83 Titan still comes with an 18.4-inch FHD IPS panel featuring a 60 Hz refresh rate that the company introduced in 2018. Meanwhile, the MSI GT63 Titan can be equipped with a 15.6-inch FHD panel with a 120 Hz refresh rate and a 3 ms response time. Alternatively, the GT63 Titan can be outfitted with a 15.6-inch UHD panel with a 60 Hz refresh rate.
| MSI's 2018 GT63 Titan and GT83 Titan Laptops | |||
| GT63 Titan | GT83 Titan | ||
| Display | Diagonal | 15.6" | 18.4" |
| Resolution | 1920×1080 3840×2160 |
1920×1080 | |
| Type | IPS | ||
| Refresh | 120 Hz 60 Hz |
60 Hz | |
| Response Time | 3 ms unknown |
unknown | |
| CPU | Up to Intel Core i7-8850H 6C/12T 2.6 – 4.3 GHz, 9 MB LLC |
Up to Intel Core i9-8950HK 6C/12T 2.9 – 4.8 GHz, 12 MB LLC |
|
| PCH | HM370 | CM246 | |
| Graphics | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 with 8 GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 with 8 GB GDDR5X |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 with 8 GB GDDR5 in SLI NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 with 8 GB GDDR5X in SLI |
|
| RAM | Up to 64 GB DDR4-2666 | ||
| Storage | M.2 | 1 × M.2-2280 slot supporting PCIe 3.0 x4/SATA | 3 × M.2-2280 slots (two supporting PCIe 3.0 x4, one supporting SATA) |
| DFF | One 2.5" bay | ||
| ODD | - | Blu-ray burner | |
| Wi-Fi | Killer 2×2 802.11ac Wi-Fi | ||
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth 5 | ||
| Ethernet | Killer 1 GbE controller | ||
| USB | 3 × USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A 1 × USB 2.0 Type-A 1 × USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C |
2 × USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A 3 × USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A 1 × USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C (via TB3) |
|
| Thunderbolt | - | 1 × Thunderbolt 3 | |
| Display Outputs | 1 × Mini DisplayPort 1.4 1 × HDMI 2.0b |
||
| Audio | 4 × 2 W speakers 1 × 3W subwoofer Microphones 3.5-mm audio jack for headset 3.5-mm audio jack for microphone |
4 × 3 W speakers 1 × 3W subwoofer Microphones 3.5-mm audio jack for headset 3.5-mm audio jack for microphone |
|
| Keyboard | RGB-backlit keyboard with per-key RGB lighting | ||
| Other I/O | HD webcam, card reader | ||
| Battery | 75 Wh | ||
| Dimensions | Width | 39 cm | 15.35" | 45.8 cm | 18" |
| Depth | 26.6 cm | 10.47" | 33.9 cm | 13.34" | |
| Thickness | 4 cm | 1.57" | 42 - 69 mm | 0.16" - 2.7" | |
| Weight | 2.94 kg | 6.48 lbs | 5.5 kg | 12.12 lbs | |
| Price | Depends on configuration | ||
Leading retailers already sell MSI’s GT63 Titan and GT83 Titan DTR laptops. The entry-level Titan is available starting at $2,133, whereas the highest-end MSI gaming notebook is sold for $5,699 in a beefy configuration.
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Agent Smith - Saturday, April 14, 2018 - link
Doesn’t matter how much glitter you throw at it it’s still an ugly laptop.LordSojar - Saturday, April 14, 2018 - link
Sir... SIR...! The term is "hideous." Sir, I expect better use of the English language for more accurate descriptions.jabbadap - Saturday, April 14, 2018 - link
Or in modern day language "fugly", but yeah "hideous" is proper English.Yomama6776 - Thursday, April 19, 2018 - link
Yeah, the keyboards looks like someone threw up rainbows on itjabbadap - Saturday, April 14, 2018 - link
That 18" is so bad balanced that I can't really get what they are after with it. Sli gtx 1080 and 1080p 60Hz screen(must have at least 120Hz one available), what th****, where, why?!???!? While in the same time with 15" you could have 2160p monitor, but with single gpu.DanNeely - Saturday, April 14, 2018 - link
I don't think I've ever seen anything better than 1080p60 at 18.4" It's only in the last year or so that anything better has shown up at 17.3. It's the same reason it took forever at 17.3, only more so. Unlike 15.6 which is still quasi-mainstream and can ride high end mass market laptops for higher DPI, 17.3 is a tiny market segment and 18.4 makes 17.3 look big. As a result none of the panel makers are in any rush to make a new design because it'd take forever to earn out their R&D unless they price it stupidly high.If anything pops in the medium term, I'd expect it to be a 1440p screen, only because it'd be at the same 160dpi that a 27" 4k panel does letting them share a larger chunk of the manufacturing chain. OTOH I'm not holding my breath on it happening anytime soon.
On the gripping hand given their limited portability I suspect a lot of these machines end up on a desk running an external monitor most of the time anyway.
jabbadap - Sunday, April 15, 2018 - link
All good and understandable reasons for the resolution. But for 1080p single gtx1070 should be enough, I would understand single gtx1080 too(for the future). But with Sli you got more power consumption and heat generating elements for nothing to really gain.If I would have to design such a thing, one gtx 1080 + every room spared for bigger battery or even put two batteries on it would make it much better balanced. But yeah maybe I'm just too closed mind by thinking laptop should be laptop. For the price of most expensive one, one could get gaming PC with freaking Titan V and some ips monitor with gsync. Which would be quite stupid too, but less stupid than buying hard to nill upgrade-able over expensive gaming laptop.
DanNeely - Sunday, April 15, 2018 - link
for safety reasons the battery has to stay below 100Wh or it can't fly and battery life has always been so consistently atrocious on this class of system that they might as well not even bother.And other than letting you go maybe a year longer before needing a new system SLI's pointless if using the internal screen; which's why I suspect most people buying these do normally have access to an external monitor and just want to only have 1 computer for home and away not two.
bennyg - Saturday, April 14, 2018 - link
"The MSI GT83 Titan still comes with an 18.4-inch FHD IPS panel featuring a 60 Hz refresh rate that the company introduced in 2018."Umm typo? 1080p 60Hz on a flagship product is more like 2008...
Hurr Durr - Saturday, April 14, 2018 - link
You don`t need any more outside of games like Quake. And these are played on proper stationary PCs in competitive settings anyway.