One common grudge that gaming enthusiasts always have had against laptops is that they don't offer gaming performance akin to what a similarly-priced desktop can do. Certain gaming notebooks did resolve this issue a bit, but then with most of them we faced couple of other problems other than the gaming performance. For instance, they had always been pricey, their battery life had never been really that great, and some were even found short of features.

But it seems MSI had been working really hard to come up with that perfect gaming notebook. The GX620X, a notebook from their new GX gaming series seems to have all that should please all PC gaming enthusiasts-decent performance, good enough spec sheet, and a price tag that won't burn a hole in their pocket.

Dressed in its black matte finish, which is complemented by a dollop of red color on the boundaries, this machine looks like a performer. The ergonomics are decent too. You will even find a a dedicated number keypad on it-something normally not seen on 15-inch laptops.

The 15.4 inch screen is surprisingly not full HD but displays sharp and vivid images with a max resolution on 1200x800. It is powered by an Intel Core2 Duo P7350 processor clocked at a cool 2.0 GHz which is coupled with 4 GB RAM. And the final result of such a configuration, as you know is nippy performance. The 320 GB hard drive, the Bluetooth and WiFi combo (wireless N capable) as well as HDMI, DVD RW and a card reader make it quite a package.

As I said before, this machine is quite a performer. The GX620X comes loaded with the nVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT graphics with 512 MB dedicated memory. The processor and the RAM combine well with this high performance graphics card to offer a tremendous gaming experience. It does multi-tasking effortlessly. It also fared well in all our benchmarks. In PC Mark05 it got a score of 4964 which is amongst the highest that we have got from any of the laptops reviewed in labs. The Windows Experience Index score of 5.0 is extremely good with the processor being the lowest at 5.0! A 3D Mark06 score of 5055 is testament to the fact that gamers are in for a treat. In our battery mark tests, the 6-cell battery ran out of juice after 2 hours 11 minutes, which is quite decent keeping in mind the large screen size and the fact that it is a gaming laptop.

I faced no heating issues with this machine whatsoever. It was comfortable to use even after 8 hours of usage (with some gaming and movies thrown in for good measure).

Since it is a 15.4 inch laptop, it is a bit on the heavier side at 2.7kg. But then again, gamers know that an ultra-portable just can't be a gaming machine. Right?

Overall, a machine which performs quite well on all counts, including battery life which has for long been the bane of gaming laptops. But there were a couple of things missing. Firstly, it doesn't have any dedicated media controls. Secondly, the red-colored plastic on the panels feels a bit cheap. But these two issues aren't necessarily deal breakers. For its price of around 60k, the GX620X offers a complete package and value for money. So, if you are looking for a powerful desktop replacement just for gaming, then do consider this one seriously. Other options that you can look at are the new Dell Studio XPS 13 & 16 (13-inch and 16-inch screen sizes respectively) which offer good gaming performance, great features and a starting price similar to the price of this MSI.

MSI GX620X-225ID Rs 65,000	Performance Coolness
Pros Great performance, value for money Cons No media volume controls Sold by MSI India, www.msi-in.com	Specs Intel Centrino 2 P7350 @ 2.0 GHz, 4 GB RAM, 320 GB HDD, 15.4 inch screen, Windows Vista Home Premium, NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT, 2 USB, eSATA, HDMI, Bluetooth, WiFi, webcam, 2.7kg Verdict