General Analysis Continued

Overall performance of MSI's GE72VR Apache Pro is quite good. The Intel i7 6700HQ tackles CPU loads with ease while the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 absolutely crushes games at 1920x1080. The inclusion of a Kingston SSD greatly improves the laptop's responsiveness over units with a normal HDD, like the GL62 I tested previously. Dual-channel memory also makes an appearance, and when everything is added together, you end up with a system that offers performance similar to that of a 4770k and GTX 1060. While not top-of-the-line, that is still a massive amount of power to have in a laptop that weighs in at just under 6lbs. While the Apache Pro may not be the best laptop ever in every category, it does exceptionally well in terms of general performance, especially if you compare it to the slightly pricier Monster 4 with the previous generation GTX 970M graphics processor.

When it comes to drive performance, the Kingston SSD won't be winning any awards, but it does leave traditional HDDs in the dust even though it is not a performance SSD. With 256GB of SSD storage and 1TB of HDD storage, there is also more than enough storage space available. Battery life could be seen as below average. Not often will someone play AAA games on a laptop running off the battery. However, the 38 minutes at 60 FPS and 56 minutes at 30 FPS were definitely on the short side. Watching Ted looped via VLC had MSI's notebook last nearly 2 hours 20 minutes, which is still lacking. Try getting any real work done and you will get around 1 hour and 30 minutes of usage out of the battery. Considering there is an SSD, Intel CPU, and Nvidia's new and incredibly efficient Pascal GPU in the GTX 1060, I honestly expected battery life to fare much better.

When it comes to audio, the MSI GE72VR had no issues driving my KRK KNS6400 headphones, and the sound quality was pretty good. The laptop's speakers are alright, but the addition of a subwoofer inside was quite unexpected. While it is no miracle worker, it does bring some of the bass that is generally missing with tiny laptop speakers back. Overall, the Realtek audio is adequate, same with the speakers, but it will not give you anything remotely close to audiophile quality. Then again, I can't think of a laptop that ever has, so with that said, if you like crisp, clean audio, what's provided here, while good, won't be what you're looking for. You will need some good headphones and an external DAC to get the best sound possible. When looked at in terms of built-in audio, it's more than enough, especially for a gamer on the go. This laptop's built-in subwoofer even gives explosions in games a bit more oomph, so it's definitely a step up over a normal speaker configuration. Just don't expect a miracle of sound that will melt your mind.

I myself found the MSI GE72VR Apache Pro notebook to be a solid all-around offering. It won't "wow" you, but it isn't a disappointment either. Given it has solid specifications, a decent touchpad, and above average keyboard, it hits a lot of the right notes. Sadly, there is the lackluster battery life for a unit that has what is essentially a mid-range GPU and a high price tag, which drags it down. For a secondary system, or gaming system you can take with you and plug in somewhere, it definitely will serve its purpose, but its battery life is abysmal. When it comes to the RGB LED craze as of late, I just find myself scratching my head. A backlit keyboard is definitely a plus, but I would have liked the font on the keys backlit rather than white to really let that feature shine. Overall, the Apache Pro GE72VR is a capable unit that just barely misses the mark for me when it comes to extras. Its performance exceeded my expectations.