14 DAY TRIAL // Exposed at the beginning of the month, MSI is getting ready to launch the GE620 and GR620 multimedia notebooks, which are based on Intel's second-generation Core processors and can feature dedicated graphics built by Nvidia.
Both units use a similar configuration and share the same brush metal finish chassis, as the only difference between the two is the lack of a dedicated graphics card in the GE620.
The GR620 on the other hand, gets an Nvidia-built GT 540M graphics core that is backed by 1GB of video buffer and is based on the GF108 GPU.
As a result, the graphics card packs 96 CUDA cores, carries a 128-bit wide memory bus and its operating frequencies are set at 672MHz for the GPU and up to 900MHz for the memory.
The rest of the notebook's configuration sports an Intel Core i7 Sandy Bridge processor, up to 8GB of DDR3 memory, a Blu-ray or DVD Super Multi optical drive, up to 640GB of storage as well as 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1 and Gigabit Ethernet connectivity.
Alongside the notebook's edges, MSI has placed various ports and connectors, including a pair of USB 3.0 ports, one HDMI and one VGA video output, a 5-in-1 card reader, 4-channel speakers with THX TruStudio Pro certification and an HD webcam with 720p support (30fps).
As most other 15.6-inch notebooks, the MSI GE620 and GR620 displays have a maximum resolution of 1366x768, which is disappointing considering the otherwise powerful hardware configuration.
“Their incredible performance capabilities and mobility make them perfect work stations and, when you need a break, the expertly wrought wrap around sound offers outstanding multimedia entertainment,” notes Eric Kuo, associate vice president for global sales at MSI Notebook when talking about the company's new models.
No details regarding pricing are available at this time, but the two laptops are expected to launch in the coming weeks.