Computex 2007: Hit the Road Jack!

MSI



MSI follows ASUS in now offering overclocking support on one of their notebooks. The GX600 (MS-163A) features "Turbo" technology that will overclock the front side bus by 20%. Unlike the ASUS offering, however, MSI uses a standard mobile Core 2 Duo processor. They were demonstrating a T7200 overclocked to 2.4 GHz. The laptop also comes with GeForce 8600M GT 512MB graphics, 15.4" LCD, a webcam, a numeric keypad, and eSATA support. This was one of our favorite notebooks at the show after spending some additional hands-on time with it.


The GX700 (MS-1719) appears to be the big brother of the GX600, and it comes with a 17" LCD. It includes integrated 4.1 speakers, an optional integrated TV tuner, and HDMI output. Unfortunately, it appears to lack the overclocking functionality, but it does include a webcam and the same GeForce 8600M GT 512MB graphics.


The external appearance of the GX710 (MS-171A) is nearly identical to the GX700, but inside the two are very different beasts. Like the GX700, the GX710 is based on a 17" chassis and includes 4.1 speakers, an optional TV tuner, and HDMI output. The big difference? The GX710 is a Turion X2 platform with a Radeon Mobility HD 2600 HyperMemory graphics chip. As we have not yet been able to test Radeon HD 2600 cards, we can't say whether the HD 2600 can outperform the GeForce 8600, but we will hopefully be able to answer that question in the not-too-distant future.


MSI was also showing their PR210 (MS-1222) laptop, a 12.1" ultraportable with integrated Radeon Xpress 1270 graphics. It also includes a TPM support and a fingerprint scanner, HDMI output, and a 1.3M webcam.

Day 2 Wrap-up


We focused on notebooks today, but there are other trends that we're seeing. Larger power supplies, for example, are commonplace. The Gigabyte power supplies shown above also include software that allows monitoring of the PSU load, temperatures, and fan speed.


Having trouble figuring out what sort of system would require a 1200W power supply? Hopefully we'll be able to provide some answers by the end of the week. Needless to say, quad core processors with HD 2900 XT CrossFire or GeForce 8800 GTX SLI can certainly draw a lot of power, and with octal core computers like Intel's V8 and the upcoming Barcelona 2S systems, perhaps 1200W isn't entirely overkill? Just make sure that your house's wiring is up to snuff! Stay tuned for continuing coverage from Computex 2007.