Another one of the gaming notebooks MSI unveiled at CES in January has crept onto the market, with units readily available on sites like Newegg. The 17-inch GX740 features a 1680x1050 resolution, Intel Core i5 and i7 processors (the model on Newegg packs a 1.60GHz i7-720QM), up to 4GB of DDR3 1066MHz RAM, and ATI Radeon HD 5870 graphics with 1GB of GDDR5 VRAM.
Hard drives range in capacity from 250GB to 500GB and some models are equipped with a Blu-ray drive, but the GX740 on Newegg only lists a DVD burner. A subwoofer accompanies the notebook's speakers and connectivity includes gigabit Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n, optional Bluetooth, VGA and HDMI-out, three USB 2.0 ports (one eSATA combo), a multi-card reader, and an Express Card slot.
The GX740 ships with a nine-cell battery and there's no mention of how far that'll get you, but battery life is mostly irrelevant when discussing a 7lb Core i7 and Radeon HD 5870-powered laptop. It's backed by a one-year warranty, has Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit preloaded, and the GX740-0749US listed on Newegg costs $1,400, so expect to see a similar price tag elsewhere.
