MSI GP72VRX Leopard Pro review

The Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 deserves credit for offering VR-capable performance for a relatively low price. The GPU showed “great” performance in the VRMark Orange Room benchmark test with a score of 5,492. 

Outside of VR, most of the games we played performed exceptionally well, but you shouldn’t expect to push every game to its max settings. 

Overwatch consistently produces between 60-70 frames per second (fps) at Ultra graphics, with similar results in Titanfall 2 at its highest settings, which is excellent performance without treading into the extreme category, given the 17.3-inch screen’s maximum resolution. 

In our tests, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided becomes unplayable with all its settings pushed to the max. Although GTA V has a respectable performance at high settings, we were limited by the GTX 1060’s 3GB of memory, making it impossible to crank everything up.

Still, this kind of performance on a 120Hz screen shouldn’t be overlooked. You might not be able to get the best graphics every game has to offer, but you will be able to play basically all PC games at decent frame rates, notched down settings or not. Unsurprisingly, the MSI GP72VRX Leopard Pro performs about the same as the Gigabyte Aero 15 when it comes to the benchmark tests, given how the configurations between the two systems are nearly identical. 

However, Gigabyte showed some better performance in Deus Ex, by about 10 extra fps. Also unsurprising is how the Leopard Pro, with its higher hardware configuration, outperformed the Dell Inspiron 15 Gaming in just about every test.

Battery life

But one area where MSI doesn’t come close to measuring up against the other two systems is in battery life. Both 15-inch notebooks lasted over 5 hours in their battery tests while 3DMark estimated the Leopard Pro’s battery life at an hour-and-a-half — a result that is backed by how the system lasted for almost the same amount of time with our looping movie test before dropping down to 10% power. 

One shouldn’t expect too much battery life from a gaming notebook, but that is especially so with this system. With the Leopard, you’ll have just enough time to watch a 90-minute movie before having to recharge, whereas the Gigabyte notebook lasted for over 6 hours, and Dell wins the battery prize with over 7 hours of video viewing.

We liked

The MSI GP72VRX Leopard Pro packs a considerable amount of performance into a relatively affordable package. The system won’t necessarily bring you to the heights of graphical performance, but it will almost certainly take you to the higher settings. It more than fits the bill when it comes to competitive shooters like Overwatch, especially given the smooth performance of the 17.3-inch, 120Hz screen.

We disliked

The fans are noticeably loud, they become white noise in the background and ultimately become a small nuisance when you’re busy scoring kills (or getting killed). Apart from the short battery life, perhaps the most disappointing aspect of the configuration we received was its awkwardly-partitioned 512GB SSD, which severely limits what games we can install. 

Final verdict

All told, it’s well worth considering this MSI monster if you’re looking for a larger gaming notebook to play first-person shooters. Features, like the SteelSeries gaming keyboard, the 4-position surround sound, and VR capabilities are just icing on the cake, and a 1TB spinning drive can be configured to shore up storage problems.

The GP72VRX Leopard Pro is by no means the most powerful gaming notebook on the market, but it could be just enough to help you score big during a match. If not, then at least your failures will look spectacular.