Let’s see how stealthy you are, red.
By Sia Zhen Ning
Gaming notebook. These words mean two things to me. One – a price tag so hefty, I’d be fasting for months trying to get it only to have it be outclassed within a year. Two – it could also function as a grill. So when I first received the GS70 Stealth Pro Red Edition, I was considering getting some steaks to cook on the back of the thing once I’m done with it. Onwards to the meat!
Velvet Sentiment
Upon taking the notebook out of the bag, the very first thing I noticed is that it comes in a vivid red colour. Well, that’s to be expected of a gaming system that bears the name Pro Red Edition. What I had not been expecting is its ultra-thin chassis. Usually, gaming notebooks are bulky pieces of hardware that are as heavy as two bricks. This is not the case with this red beast, which is surprisingly light.
The Tri-Colour Gateway
Opening up the lid reveals a SteelSeries keyboard and a huge 17in Full HD screen. Wow! When I hit the power switch, the keyboard burst into a three-colour illumination sequence. Double wow! These colours can be personalised within the SteelSeries ENGINE app and you can even make it pulse or strobe according to the sound. Can I say triple wow? (Ed: You just did!)
Feel the Power
Cool bells and whistles aside, a gaming notebook needs to be packing some serious hardware to live up to its billing. In that regard, the GS70 Stealth Pro Red Edition is impressive. Sporting an Intel Core i7-4710HQ chip, 16GB of DDR3L 1600MHz RAM, and the Maxwell-based NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M (a huge, HUGE upgrade from the original GS70 Stealth Pro), this thing can run all games at Ultra settings. Notably, and as expected, the fan plays up the word ‘stealth’ as it runs on the quiet side at all times. The only time you’ll ever hear it whirl is during intensive use, but even then it isn’t annoyingly loud either. The best bit: it manages to keep the GS70 Red from being uncomfortably hot, making this gaming wonder lap-safe – a plus for me.
No BBQs Here Tonight
The GS70 Stealth Red is pretty much what I want in a gaming notebook. It performs incredibly well, doesn’t require a bodybuilder’s physique to carry it, and won’t encourage me to fry eggs on it as well. Overall, it is a really fine powerhouse that I would have no qualms owning.
Specs
Dimensions (HxWxD): 418.5 x 287 x 21.8 mm
Weight: 2.66 kg
Processor: 4th Generation Intel Core i7 Processor
Memory: DDR3L (Up to 1600 MHz, max 16GB)
Storage: Up to 768GB Super RAID 2 + 1TB HDD 7200rpm
Operating System: Windows 8.1
Display: 17in HD (1920×1080), Anti-glare
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M GDDR5 6GB/3GB
Webcam: FHD type (30fps@1080p)
Card Reader: SD4.0 (XC/HC)
Network : Killer DoubleShot Pro Gigabit LAN, Killer DoubleShot Pro 11ac, Bluetooth 4.0
I/O : 1x HDMI 1.4b, 4x USB 3.0, 1x Mic-In, 1x Headphone-Out, 1x Line-In
Keyboard : Steelseries
Benchmarks :
PCMark 8 Home : 3130
PCMark 8 Creative : 3212
PCMark 8 Office : 3383
3DMark Fire Strike : 6491
3DMark Fire Strike Extreme : 3307
3DMark Fire Strike Ultra : 1629
3DMark Sky Diver : 17810
3DMark Cloud Gate : 20339
Value: 8/10
Features: 9/10
Performance: 10/10
Design: 10/10
Usability: 10/10
Verdict : An impressive piece of technology that would please any gamer.
Total Score : 9.4
