General Analysis

MSI has done a solid job with the GE72VR Apache Pro. For a 17'' laptop, it features a sleek design that looks good without being overly gaudy while still managing to stand out in a market of crowded lookalikes. When it comes to the Gaming brand from MSI, one can usually expect it to be overly showy, and that is still the case once you open the laptop up. An LED backlit keyboard adds that bit of flair in a multitude of colors and options, which certainly has it fall into the RGB LED craze that's been so popular as of late.

More important, however, is build quality, and like the GL62 I reviewed before it, the GE72VR is much the same. The frame is relatively solid and should handle typical abuse well enough, but it does have some flex, which is made more apparent because of the unit's size. When it comes to the screen's hinges, they feel pretty solid and should hold up for some time. However, they are not the best design. These definitely won't dethrone Apple's, but are above average for a typical laptop.

Once again, MSI has decided not to offer access hatches for the hard drive, RAM, M.2 slot, and battery. Considering the MSRP of $1599, I would have expected access to such components to be easier. Worse yet, opening the laptop to swap any of these out means potentially voiding the warranty. Granted, MSI doesn't seem to mind users adding larger drives, etc., but such a change is always a liability. That said, gaining access wasn't that difficult, but without access hatches, it is probably still beyond the scope of some users. Access hatches would be a nice addition for future units.


MSI has a few apps they pre-install that are quite useful. One such app is Dragon Center. It offers access to the Killer Network Manager, Nahimic audio enhancer, GeForce Experience and more while also offering a system monitor, LED wizard for the keyboard, and overall system tuner with preset monitor color options, etc., the list goes on. Think of it as a control panel for accessing all the apps that control various aspects of the system without needing a bunch of desktop or quick-launch icons.

The other feature is "Cooler Boost," which revs up the fans at the user's discretion to drop temperatures. When it comes to the Apache Pro GE72VR, it does indeed keep temperatures down when compared to the fan's default profile, but does result in a noise level of 47 dBA. To clarify, all it's really doing is maxing out fan speed, nothing more. Maximum temperatures for the GPU and CPU were 72°C and 81°C respectively, which is perfectly fine and were achieved in the Aida64 stability test. However, the shell itself does get quite warm around the keyboard at heavy loads, with temperatures hitting 42°C. Meanwhile, exhaust temperatures hit 61°C.


While bloatware is kept to a minimum, the unit does have Norton bundled with it, which will immediately start nagging at you to activate and pay for it. Lets face facts, it is 2016, and most users are utilizing free anti-virus software. The days of bundled trial versions needs to just stop. None of the other pre-installed applications were intrusive. Norton is the only piece of pre-installed software I would consider bloatware. While it is a viable security solution 99% of the time, it will be replaced by freeware eventually, or end users bad about keeping their PC secure will never update it, pay for it, and let it run out (I am looking at you my pesky relatives). The rest of the included software is innocent enough or actually served a purpose without slowing the machine down.