Although Nvidia briefly talked about it in a blog published on Monday, MSI has provided additional information regarding the world’s first Nvidia VR Ready professional mobile workstation, the WT72 6QN. The big news here is that the laptop is packed with Nvidia’s new Quadro M5500 GPU that includes 2,048 CUDA cores, offering up to 35 percent more performance than its previous Quadro chips. That means owners can use the HTC Vive or Oculus Rift with this laptop optimally, both of which are available now.
The WT72 6QN is offered in three configurations, two of which sport a 17.3-inch display with a 3,840 x 2,160 resolution and one with a 17.3-inch screen offering a 1,920 x 1,080 resolution. All three also include a Super RAID 4 SSD with 256GB of storage and a SATA 7,200 RPM hard drive with 1TB of storage. They even come with Windows 10 Professional already installed.
The main difference between these three models is the processor. One model uses the Intel Xeon E3-1505M v5 processor (2.8-3.7GHz) and 64GB of ECC DDR4-2133 RAM, while the second model has an Intel Core i7-6920HQ processor (2.9-3.8GHz) with 32GB of DDR4-2133 RAM. The third model packs an Intel Core i7-6700HQ (2.6-3.5GHz) processor and 32GB of DDR4-2133 RAM.
As for other bells and whistles, the laptops include a Blu-ray disc burner, an SD card reader, six USB 3.0 ports, a Thunderbolt 3 port, an FHD webcam supporting 1080p at 30 fps, two 3-watt Dynaudio Tech speakers and a subwoofer, and a 9-cell battery. The laptop weighs 8.4 pounds and measures 16.85” x 11.57” x 1.89″.
Keeping this professional laptop cool is a dual fan design for “efficient heat dissipation.” Meanwhile, the display uses MSI’s True Color Technology and offers wide viewing angles, making it a candidate for Adobe RGB certification. The keyboard is provided by SteelSeries and includes Silver-Lining Print to make the keys easier to see.
As reported earlier, Nvidia’s new Quadro M5500 GPU is based on the Maxwell 2 architecture and packs 2,048 cores. The GM204 GPU chip includes a boost clock of around 1,140MHz, 8GB of VRAM, a memory bus width of 256 bits, a memory clock of 6.6GHz (GDDR5), and a thermal envelope of 150W. The card will officially go live in May.
“The WT72 with Nvidia’s M5500 Quadro GPU is the world’s first VR Ready mobile workstation and can blaze through the most demanding tasks,” says Andy Tung, president of MSI Pan America. “Nvidia powers our workstations, from the ultra-powerful WT72 to the super lightweight WS72 and WS62, and we are delighted to partner with them to drive the VR revolution into a new dimension.”
The good news here is that MSI WT72 6QN owners will be able to use the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift right out of the box. Of course, that will set you back $800 or $600, respectively, but if you can afford one of these three workstations, buying the VR headset should be mere pocket change.
That said, the Xeon E3-1505M v3 model costs $6,900, the Core i7-6920HQ model costs $6,300, and the Core i7-6700HQ model costs $5,500. If you’re attending Nvidia’s GPU Technology Conference in San Jose starting Tuesday, this notebook will be on display in the San Jose McEnery Convention Center. Otherwise, check with MSI’s website for actual availability.
