Throughout the past couple of years, there's been an increasing trend among the greatest gaming laptops: make them slimmer, lighter and more powerful than previously. But, even among all the Razer Blade and MSI GS65 Stealth laptops of the world, sometimes you want something somewhat, well, larger.

Input the MSI GT75 Titan, a hulking behemoth of a gaming laptop that will handle anything you can throw at it putting even the majority of the finest gaming PCs within their place. Rocking an Intel Core i9-8950HK processor, 32GB of RAM and an Nvidia GTX 1080 graphics processor, there will not be one game that may slow this thing down as long as you've got the money.

This laptop is prohibitively costly for many people, but if you've got the money to spare, and you also do not wish to compromise, you are not going to perform far better than the MSI GT75 Titan.

Price and availability

The MSI GT75 Titan is an expensive device, which means you are going to require a serious bankroll so as to get your hands on it.

It's possible to grab the starting configuration using a Core i9-8950HK, 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSHD, a GTX 1080 plus a 1080p, 120Hz display for $3,299 (£3,399, about AU$4,560), although this configuration is not available in Australia at the time of composing.

Compared to comparable devices, such as the the Asus ROG G703GI, that starts at $3,699 (£3,499, AU$4,599), the GT75 really seems like a much better bargain. The Asus machine rocks the exact same starting processor and graphics configuration in its starting level, but with half of the RAM, while costing $300 (£100, AU$30) more. We all know that it sounds a bit crazy mentioning'worth' on a laptop that costs more than three expansive, but contemplating the hardware offer, it matches.

On the other hand, the more persuasive option is going to be maxing this baby out. In case you've got the $4,499 (about £3,500, AU$6,226) that it costs, you can spec this item out with 32GB of RAM, 2TB of storage -- a 1TB SSD plus a 1TB HDD -- along with a 4K UHD display with Nvidia G-Sync. And, unlike a lot of laptops with 4K displays, the MSI GT75 Titan can really handle gaming in that resolution -- it is well worth the money if you're looking for a right desktop replacement.

Design

The MSI GT75 Titan defies all the tendencies of the past couple of years and delivers a product that looks just like the tank that it's. And, that should not be surprising, taking into consideration the manufacturer. Sure, MSI delivered the ultra-svelte GS65 Stealth, however, the GT75 Titan is the direct reverse -- large, thick and heavy, that is not the type of laptop that you take into people unless it is into a championship.

However, as a laptop that will probably remain at home, it's perfect. This item is packed front to rear with RGB light -- in the keyboard to the touchpad. This is not a device that's going to mix in the background, it is going to require your focus, which could be something that gives you the wrong manner. Fortunately, you can switch off the lights but you will still need to manage the loud fans.

Not that this does not match the laptop, however -- the MSI GT75 Titan steps in at 16.85 x 12.36 x 1.22 inches (427.99 x 313.94 x 30.99 mm) and weighs a huge 10.5 lbs (4.76kg). Thus, demanding attention really kind of matches. Just do not go expecting to deliver this with you to Starbucks, not only are you going to draw weird looks, but it is going to become a hassle to drag this, and its own 2 power bricks, alongside you.

This type of huge device could be useless if it was not solidly built, and fortunately, the MSI GT75 Titan is a hardy device. Both the lid and the top half of the base have a sleek aluminum finish that feels pleasant to the touch. On the other hand, the bottom half of the base is plastic and has a little more give to it. However, we realize that's essential with the ventilation that the potent hardware demands, and of course the purchase price.

This thick design is capable of, however, is a candy mechanical keyboard from SteelSeries. We have never used a keyboard in a laptop that felt this good for gaming -- interval. You are going to need to use a standalone gaming mouse, exactly like with any gaming keyboard. In general, n our experience, the keyboard here is top notch with fine, deep journey and incredibly tactile feedback.

There are a few specialization keys to the right side of the keyboard, also, that control everything from fan speed to light profiles. These are all functions that can be controlled via software, but it is far more convenient to simply hit a button.

We will need to chat about that trackpad, however. We get that the target audience of the laptop is not going to use the trackpad, but it simply does not match the grade of the remaining part of the device. The monitoring is true enough, and expressions work good, but it is so modest . In addition, we do not enjoy dedicated hardware buttons on trackpads, but that finally boils down to personal preference. Either way, you are going to need to bring the price of a top gaming mouse into the already-high cost of this laptop to get a nice desktop experience.

Fortunately, there is a comparative slew of ports to choose from to plug into your peripherals. There are just five USB-A ports, 1 Thunderbolt 3 port, 1 HDMI port, a Mini DisplayPort, two line out and 2 line in ports. That's not forgetting the conventional LAN and SD card reader. You are going to have the ability to use basically any accessory under the sun with the MSI GT75 Titan, making it a much more persuasive desktop replacement device.

Display, screen and speakers

We are going to be fair, if the display and speakers were not up to snuff about the GT75 Titan, we'd be somewhat angry. Thankfully, this could be one of the best implementations we have seen up to now. Sound is full, rich and pleasurable on these cans, which is probably because of the subwoofer contained here. That's right, this laptop is really large, it's a sub. Watching movies and listening to music is a treat with this laptop. Even playing games which, let us face it, is 90% of what this desktop replacement is intended for -- sounds amazing.

Then you've got the screen, and boy, it is beautiful. MSI went the excess mile to be certain that the display with this item is top notch. It is nice and bright and the colors just pop off of the screen. Additionally, it's G-Sync, meaning that gameplay is smooth and slick, even in 4K. And, using a technically'portable' system that has a built-in 4K G-Sync panel is definitely a wonderful thing to get at a laptop that costs up to this one.

But, we must mention the entrance model's display. On the entry model, you can get a 1080p panel using a 120Hz refresh speed. And, we believe that's the ideal track for a GTX 1080 -- not only are you really going to have the ability to pump up each of the settings, but you are going to get a far smoother gaming experience. Is it worth mentioning that the excess 16GB of memory along with the SSD? That's your decision, but that's a sacrifice we would be inclined to create, and you may always update the RAM and storage afterwards.

Performance

You simply have to look at the GT75 after to have the ability to work out that this item is a monster of a celebrity. Regardless of what you are attempting to do on this laptop, it is very likely to finish the task without breaking a sweat.

As you can see in our benchmarks into the right, the MSI GT75 Titan completely smoked all of our evaluations. Not merely did the Core i9 CPU ruin Cinebench using a CPU score of 1,020 but it particularly excels when it comes to gaming benchmarks.

Back in 3DMark, this laptop absolutely excels, scoring a whopping 6,509 in Time Spy -- that could be an impressive score to get a desktop. This score was mirrored throughout our package of 3DMark tests, also -- it scored 16,750 in Fire Strike and 36,309 at Sky Diver. It is kind of crazy that performance such as this is possible in a laptop, thick as it might be.

However, what about real games? Well, it should not be surprising that the GT75 kills it there also. We conducted our benchmarks in 4K with this matter, and also we could get 32 fps at Shadow of the Tomb Raider with everything maxed out, again, on a laptop.

That was the benchmark, also. We played with a little of Shadow of the Tomb Raider on here (perhaps a bit too far ), and turning down a couple of settings we could get a strong 45-50 fps and, because of G-Sync, that 45-50 fps felt smooth like butter.

Of course, the GT75 is blisteringly fast in non-gaming applications too. One of the coolest things about gaming laptops, and even gaming PCs, is that they make for leading workstations, on account of the quantity of horsepower packaged inside. From the extreme PCMark 8 Home evaluation, the MSI GT75 Titan scored 4,789 points, meaning that it can get work done.

But we must mention that this item will get hot under load, and you are certainly going to observe the fans pop whenever you are doing anything. After playing Shadow of the Tomb Raider for a couple of hours, we'll tab over to MSI Dragon Center to see that the temps are reading at 88 degrees Celsius. That's not quite large enough to thermal throttle, but it is certainly hot enough to detect if you are using a gaming mouse alongside one of the vents.

Nonetheless, if you would like a gaming laptop that you are going to have the ability to play games and edit any ailing gaming montages later on, you can not go wrong here.

Battery life

The greatest downside to the GT75 Titan, just like the majority of gaming laptops such as it, would be the battery life. It is practically non-existent. Within our TechTnet movie evaluation, at which we loop Guardians of the Galaxy over and over again before the device dies, we weren't even able to complete the movie. That's right, the GT75 Titan lasted only one hour and 45 minutes on battery power.

The PCMark8 battery evaluation was equally harsh with this laptop -- scoring only one hour and 39 minutes. You will not be able to do much of anything about this laptop on battery life, which means you are going to spend the majority of your time plugged to the wall.

Plus, you must be prepared to take an whole wall outlet -- the MSI GT75 Titan requires two big power bricks to control. Be careful once you're plugging it in, also. When we were originally setting the laptop up, we plugged it in and watched a few of sparks -- there's a great deal of voltage being delivered via the charger.

General assessment

The MSI GT75 Titan has just one goal, 1 target audience and it succeeds where it counts. In case you're looking for a no-compromises desktop replacement, you would like the MSI GT75 Titan. This gaming laptop is less garish compared to other devices in its own category, and it contains the raw energy you need out of a laptop that may cost almost five grand.

That is a laptop that is not much of a laptop -- you are going to have to possess the GT75 plugged at virtually all instances, therefore moving around is simply not a very handy option. However, this is not that surprising at a desktop replacement like this, only something that you ought to be aware of if you are intending to pick up this.

It's easy to advocate the MSI GT75 Titan to anybody that wishes to play all the latest settings without compromise, so long as they have the budget to back this up. For everyone else however, it may be better to simply build a desktop computer -- you are not saving that much distance with this laptop on a mini-ITX PC. But, hey, sometimes you need to go all out and treat your self, and we are not here to judge.