I've written a lot about laptops and the compromises you usually have to make with each model. Today I'm going to write about a laptop with zero compromises the 18 inch, 10 lb, fully loaded right down to mechanical keyboard:

GT83VR 6RF TITAN SLI

...and the compromises it takes to use it.

The first thing I need to disclose is I received the MSI Titan VR 83 at a far lower price than normal which is $5000 dollars. I will not disclose how except to say I am not paid to write this but this is the only way I would pick up this laptop. And this is literally the only review you can read where it hasn't been gifted.

The version I'm reviewing comes with an i7-7820HK and 2 1080's in SLI. This isn't a benchmarking article it runs everything well and fast. It's the fastest laptop you can buy besides Asus watercooled "seriously buy a desktop at this point" GX800 at $6000 Acer's 21 inch predator priced at "oh no baby what are you doing?" $9000

It's a quad core overclocked to 4ghz with two of the (2nd) fastest GPU's out there with SSDs in raid and a goddamned mechanical keyboard what do you expect it to do? It's the best and fastest you can get on the market today! The specs make the macbook pro look like hammered shit, Sabre Dac for sound, four speakers and a subwoofer, SRGB full HD screen(the only downside is it's not a 4k panel), 64 gb of Ram, SD card, blu ray drive, every video port you can name except coaxial so you can't plug this up to your VCR but if you have HDMI, Displayport or USB C it's there.

At 18 inches they aren't leaving shit out and it's wonderful at whatever you or I would do with it. This is more of a qualifying article/quality of life article to help you decide if this is for you.

At the $5000 price point just get a fucking desktop and a sensible laptop that does the things you actually need to do on the go. if you look at it from a price/performance perspective ONLY, it is not even CLOSE to worth it. I don't even have to be cheap about it.

Get a ROG Strix and an alienware aurora with a curved monitor for use at home, both have 1070's(not SLI) OR you could build your own PC with a $2000 budget and get 2 1080's in it and get a sensible $1600 gaming laptop... you get the point...there's a million better ways to spend your money if you're looking for price vs performance when it comes to laptops and PC's. </>

Yes this laptop is faster than a lot of desktops and it's just slightly more practical than carrying one around. That's pretty much my qualifier for buying this: If you've ever thought of carrying a desktop around and you travel often and need that kind of performance on the go. I mean you absolutely will NOT run a game at less than ultra detail settings and will not settle whether you are running the game at 100hz on the display when overclocked, on your 4k tv, 5k monitor or any other display you connect it to.

Because this thing is big and heavy. It's about the size and weight of a small child at 10 lbs and like I said 18 inches so you're not setting this up on an airplane tray or in cramped conditions period it leaves a large footprint. Using it in Bed feels like there's another person entirely in the bed. Which can be awkward if anyone else wants to get in it.

however, if you look at it from the perspective of "I want to game anywhere, I will never turn a single slider in a game's video settings down, I hate sitting in front of a desktop, I like being able to use the PC anywhere". and if price isnt really a consideration (you have some fuck you money available), then its quite a nice machine...as a mobile desktop.

Quite literally though it would make more sense to buy a large monitor and glue a miniITX SFF pc to the back of it. or to buy an all in one and a UPS which would also be stupid but have as many cables.

The dual power brick thing it comes with is fucking stupid. it is designed HORRIBLY. Technically you have 3 different power blocks. 2 that sit on the floor with the juice in it, and 1 distribution block that ties the 2 PSUs together. you CANNOT run the laptop using only 1 block.

That's because this is a goddamned 700-something watt machine, It's sucking up power from wherever it can get it. If you have friends or a Dad

that's sensitive to power bills and how much electricity is being used they will notice you coming over and using it. At least you'll never be like the Mac people asking "is 60 watts too much juice for my macbook pro" no, you'll know you're pretty much a Planeteers villain everytime you boot up. If you don't the fans will remind you. It doesn't get hot but it does get loud.

and you will be carrying these cords everywhere you go since just one cord is $182 goddamned dollars. Forget about having one at work, one at home since you could buy a regular ass laptop for the price. I get why they did it this way since a goddamned 700 watt cable requires it's own set of industrial specifications that would make it far more expensive.

They get hot and shock you in bed. It also slips out very easily which is obnoxious because:

It gets about an hour of battery life no matter what you do. This is a desktop replacement. Stressing the "desk" part. The battery is only there to keep it alive as you move from one location to another.

you're definitely going to plug in a mouse everytime you use it too. It's like they put all this shit in there including the full mechanical keyboard and then said "wait where are we going to put the touchpad fuck it, here"

So it's off to the side at the wrong aspect ratio.

I am definitely not a fan of the touchpad over the side like that. Unlike mouses, touchpads are pretty easy to switch back and forth between hands. Shifting it away from the normal place for touchpads and over to the side like that completely ruins this aspect. It also makes casual use of the thing so much harder, since it's in a position that requires you to reach out your hand rather than just kind relaxedly poking at it occasionally. A pretty big drawback for web browsing or moving around documents and stuff.

So now that I've thrown salt at it, why do I like this laptop and who is it for? The mechanical keyboard is great for typing, typists, writers and of course gamers, the hardware in it means it can do anything, render videos, songs, transfer photos, videos, animation, but there's a lot of laptops that can do these things at a lower price, hell even the ultrabooks are getting in that game. The fact is this is a "portable" that I'd add the prerequisite of having another device that's better at being a portable before you buy it.

You're not going to be using this at school, ANYWHERE where there is a shortage of outlets, you pretty much need two outlets reserved for you anywhere you take it. You're going to need real estate for that large foot print and of course your mouse.

ultimately if you're looking for the most powerful gaming notebook, price and common sense be damned you're not gonna beat the MSI Titan. I haven't benchmarked yet but work my i7 6500u takes 10 minutes to do in the Alienware 13 r2 it does in about 2. But I can only recommend it to Rock Stars basically. They've got expendable income, on the road enough. This would make a great hotel PC for a gamer like Vin Diesel. Shit it's not like he couldn't afford an iPad or something else to use when he actually needs portability but this is mostly going to be a plugged in work/game station.

I could also see it being a great device to show off VR, or lan parties if you're a competitive gamer once again with a device that's actually portable for whatever you do for a living. You pretty much have to be in a position where you need the strongest portable hardware with no compromises damn form over function. That's where the GT83VR 6RF TITAN SLI wil serve you well. Like I said it's better than hauling a desktop and monitor around. Actually I just realized who this laptop is for:

It's definitely a step up for him. Me, honestly I use my ipad pro mostly and save this for the gaming sessions and rendering while searching everyday for newer technologies that will put power in this class into something...more managable.