MSI GE62 7RE Apache Pro Review

Performance Analysis

The laptop we have for comparison here, the Gigabyte Aero 15, isn’t far off twice the price of this model, which is important to bear in mind, but it does have the same CPU. The Intel Core i7-7700HQ in this model is a little slower in the CPU-bound workloads, possibly held back by the single-channel memory. Even so, it delivers some strong results – the eight threads and high boost speeds make this a great mobile CPU.

In games, the GTX 1050 Ti is clearly some way off the GTX 1060 (which the Aero 15 uses), but it nevertheless delivers a decent 1080p gaming experience, with minimums of 30fps when using ultra settings. You might not be able to play with maximum settings all the time, but getting games running between 30fps and 60fps at 1080p with good quality visuals shouldn’t be too much of a challenge, which is a good showing for a laptop at this price. It definitely isn’t suitable for VR, however.

CrystalDiskMark reveals storage speeds that are very typical of a SATA SSD. The Aero 15 excels here because of its PCIe NVME SSD, but this is a luxury that we can understand the omission of, especially when you look at the PCMark 8 storage traces and note that the difference is a lot smaller in real-world tests. The main gripe with storage is capacity – a couple of AAA games will be all it takes to fill a 128GB drive.

With the promises made about this unit’s display capabilities, some of the measured results are a bit disappointing, especially the 91 percent sRGB coverage (using the built-in sRGB profile). That said, other results are good enough, although none really excel other than perhaps colour accuracy – an average delta E of 2.07 is a strong result. In fairness, the screen holds up well subjectively, and we’d be happy enough doing photo editing as well as gaming.

It’s hard to be that impressed by the battery life, especially when gaming. Even Nvidia’s Battery Boost isn’t enough to net even an hour here. Close to four hours in a light workload isn’t bad for a gaming machine, but gaming and working on the go aren’t strong points of the GE62 7RE Apache Pro.

Running stress tests, MSI’s cooling solution is revealed as fairly loud. Even idle, the CPU fan was spinning at 2,500 RPM, which seems a bit high. Loading Prime95 26.6, the CPU was hitting 90-95°C and the fan was spinning at over 5,000 RPM, although this isn’t quite its maximum of around 6,000 RPM. The CPU did throttle slightly, but never to below 3GHz on any core. Meanwhile, Unigine Valley saw a similar speed on the CPU fan and also had the GPU fan running at around 4,000 RPM. That said, the GPU was boosting to a constant 1,670MHz with no signs of throttling at all, and kept at a healthy 67°C. It’s good that MSI allows you to customise fan curves, as we think the default performance is a bit excessive

Conclusion

This laptop doesn’t have the premium chassis design of something like the Gigabyte Aero 15 or Razer Blade, but then it is considerably less expensive, so that’s to be expected. The brushed aluminium parts add at least a touch of class, even if it is quite a bulky chassis. On that front, the noise output is a little disappointing, as is the battery life – MSI seems to have prioritised performance and functionality over portability. There are always going to be compromises at this price point, so it’s just a question of whether that approach works for you. Truth is, laptops that hit a better balance of power and mobility are far more expensive – they’re harder to engineer, after all. This unit is still just thin and light enough to carry around, but you wouldn’t want to do it daily.

MSI adds a lot of functionality with its bundled software packages. It does feel bloated, especially with irritating, unnecessary applications like Norton and WinZip, but you also get macro customisation, RGB lighting control, virtual surround sound, and a nifty control centre for power management and display options, many of which will be useful to a certain breed of gamer. Of course, there are many for whom these will just be frivolous extras. As such, we think that it’s just at the right price for the power and features on offer, provided you’ll make use of said features. Generally, though, there’s just one or two too many downsides for it to earn an award, especially as you can nab yourself a better deal elsewhere if the added software-based functions aren’t relevant to you.