The MSI GE63VR 7RF Raider 213 configuration looks stellar for the price on paper. An NVIDIA GTX 1070, Intel i7 7700HQ, 16 GB of 2400 MHz DDR4, 120 Hz display, and even a 256 GB SSD. Extra storage is possible via an M.2 slot or a 2.5" SATA drive at the end user's convenience. Its 15.6" form factor is also the right size and weight for daily use when on the go. In general, these specifications look great considering the $1699 price tag.

The 256 GB SSD from Kingston performs well for the price and has a large enough capacity to get by. Adding a 1 TB storage drive is cheaper for the end user than paying for it via a different configuration. Dropping down to a 128 GB SSD will net you a 1 TB storage drive, but costs $100 more. It makes more sense to grab this model to then add your own storage at a cost of $50, give or take. The 16 GB of memory is also nice and more than enough for games and daily tasks for some time to come. Sadly, it's also a single-channel configuration, which is unacceptable at this performance tier.

Gaming performance in some titles and in synthetic tests is exceptional; however, other titles see performance tank due to the use of single-channel memory. Fallout 4 and Dota 2 are hammered rather hard. Multiple driver versions, a reinstall of the OS, etc., did not change their performance numbers. It was intriguing enough for me to retest the Zotac MEK1 that is similarly priced and specced in both its single- and dual-channel memory configurations. Suffice it to say that a performance drop was visible, though it wasn't quite as large. However, the same games were impacted. These results were within the realm of possibility after speaking with MSI. Having seen these results, I am in the process of further testing single vs. dual channel memory performance.

Build quality is quite good with some interesting features built in, such as a button to max out cooling performance. Speaking of which, the unit's thermals are not all that bad. While noise can be a problem with fans at full tilt under regular load, it's not bad. At full tilt, the unit hits 49 dBA at 1 foot/30 cm away. That drops to 46 dBA under regular load. The system did not thermal throttle while gaming on it, which is nice to see. However, it did throttle under AVX FPU load with the GPU heavily stressed. While this is an unlikely scenario, it doesn't change the fact that it throttled.

Battery life is also a bit inconsistent. Under gaming loads, the GE63VR did not do all that badly by staying in relative parity with other units. However, in PCMark 8 and the video test, it proved to be far worse. Overall, the unit is likely to be a desktop replacement more than your on-the-go unit as you will regularly seek an outlet for extended use. If the battery were removable without tearing the unit apart first, you might be able to get away with packing a second one. Then again, I can't think of the last laptop I used which had an easily removable battery these days.

In general, the MSI GE63VR is not a bad laptop. Its issues are correctable—a change to dual channel memory will let the GeForce GTX 1070 operate at its maximum potential, which is the biggest reason for this review score. With these specifications, you expect a certain level of performance which is just not being delivered. The other issue is bad battery life, but considering its size and specifications, let's face facts: battery life was never going to be all that amazing anyway. In the future, MSI could easily improve this unit by going back to a 2x 8 GB memory configuration and upping the battery capacity.

If you're looking for a decent deal and are willing to upgrade the memory and add your own high-capacity storage, the MSI GE63VR 7RF Raider is a decent option.