MSI Laptop Based on Core i7 Sandy Bridge CPU Priced

While the user base is eagerly waiting for Intel's new CPUs, makers of motherboards and PCs are quietly designing systems based on them, systems like a certain MSI laptop that has been both detailed and priced.

While it is well known that a bunch of Intel-based laptops will be revealed at the 2011, International CES, little is actually known about most of them.

Of course, Intel has done its best not to let too much information on its CPUs leak to the web, and its collaborators, naturally, did the same.

Still, with market watchers being who they are, and with the launch date approaching swiftly, it was inevitable that some details would become known.

Among the mobile computers so far discovered are at least three models from Micro-Star International, which were said to be based on the Core i7 2630QM CPU.

One of them, the GT680R, is the strongest and has now been revealed by Fudzilla to have a price tag of a solid 1,999 Euro.

For those that need a reminder, the machine is a 15.6-inch model whose display has a native resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels.

Said screen is handled by a GeForce GTX 460M mobile graphics card whose memory is of 1.5 GB (GDDR5).

There was also mention of up to 4 GB of DDR3 RAM and of one or two hard disk drives with a capacity of 500 GB each.

As for the CPU itself, it is a quad-core with a frequency of 2.2 GHz, eight threads, 512 KB L2 cache and 6 MB of L3 cache memory. The chip also has a very reasonable TDP (thermal design power) of 45W.

Other specifications of the notebook include a Blu-ray drive, an HD webcam, a nine-cell battery and the Windows 7 Ultimate operating system.

Finally, the bundle includes a gaming mouse, a gaming bag and the game Assassin's Creed II, which should account for a small part of the price tag.