Review: msi nightblade my

Technical specifications

OS Windows 10 Home CPUIntel® Core ™ i5-4460S Chipset Intel® B85 Memory 8GB up to 16GB, DDR3 at 1600MHz, 2 x Long DIMMs VGANVIDIA® GeForce GTX960 2GB GDDR5 Storage SSD: 1 x 128GB up to 256GB 2.5 ″ SSD

HDD: 2 x 1TB up to 6TB SATAIII 6Gb / s Hard drive Optical Drive Slim Type Super Multi Communication 802.11 AC + BT 4.0 Audio 7.1 Channel HD Definition Audio I / O (Front) 2 x USB 3.0

1 x Mic-in

1 x Audio jack I / O (Rear) 1 x PS / 2 keyboard / mouse combo

1 x LAN (RJ45)

4 x USB 2.0

2 x USB 3.0

1 x Optical S / PDIF OUT connector

6 x OFC audio jacks

1 x HDMI

1 x Display Port System Fan Exclusive Silent Storm Cooling Power Supply 350W 80 PLUS Bronze Size 10 Liter Dimension 127.6 x 234.8 x 340.6 mm Weight 8 kg Accessories 1 x Manual

1 x Quick guide

1 x Screw pack

1 x Warranty card

1 x Power cord

1 x Gaming DM Software Drivers & MSI Utilities

MSI Gaming center

Xsplit Gamingcaster

MS Office 2013 (30 days trial)

Anti-Virus (60 days trial)

MSI Nightblade MI

The box is of generous proportions, especially with the small of the apparatus. On the front page, a picture of the equipment, and inside a correct packaging with the cables in a separate box

Detail of accessories, power cable, driver CD and full list of specifications:

It is surprising how small the volume of this equipment is, even though it is slightly larger than the ROG G20 it does not appear at all, with a more sober design but also better used.

Size comparison with an xbox one controller:

Aesthetically it has relatively conservative lines, with some more aggressive details such as the power button and triangular HDD, but both in the corner without standing out too much. USB3.0 is shown in red

The illumination of the power button stands out in white, while the disk activity light stands out in red:

The team comes in handy with connections. In the graph, a fairly powerful model such as a 960, we find a DVI, 3 Displayport and 1 HDMI. The processor is cooled by heatpipes that evacuate heat to the rear rack.

In the part of the board, just below, a PS / 2 connector for lovers of that standard, still common in some mechanical keyboards, two USB2.0, DP and HDMI of the integrated one, a Gigabit network port, another two USB2.0, and finally two USB3.0 and the audio connectors

As for the power supply, it is a slim model, common in 350W and 80+ Bronze rack format servers. It is effective, more than enough for the consumption of the equipment, although we will also say that it adds enough noise to the set because of its small fan. Back detail:

Disassembly and interior

We see a much simpler and friendlier disassembly than in the ROG G20, in part due to the more austere and streamlined design. Unfortunately, in this model we see again a sticker that will void the warranty if we open it, a small disappointment for lovers of updates, especially because, as we will see, it comes very well prepared for the changes we want.

Just remove the side screws and the cover comes out in one piece:

At the top we see a Transcend SSD370 SSD, a fairly inexpensive solution with very acceptable performance for the needs of the team.

Next to it, two 3.5 ″ bays allow us to install a large amount of storage, a great plus for such a small team. As standard we see that they have opted for a disk with good performance and proven reliability, such as the 1TB WD Blue:

On the front, what stands out the most is the graphics, which take the air from the side grille with a very intelligent design. It is observed that there is room to use longer graphics, leaving us a simple upgrade to the 970 that other models in the series mount.

We check that the source also comes prepared, with an extra 6-pin PCIE connector in addition to the one used in the graphic, which will allow us to put a considerable variety of graphics as long as they fit in this housing and the 350W of the source is sufficient:

Rear of socket

The wireless network is the responsibility of an intel card, with support for 802.11ac and good performance. We note that despite having two antennas, it is a 1 × 1 chip, that is, limited to 433mbps theoretical, but it is a good solution to have a high-speed network without greatly increasing the cost.

The RAM is expandable, two sticks from 4GB to 1600mhz are included as standard, a good choice for the B85 chipset:

Undoubtedly a collected team, but very easy to dismantle and with all the possibilities open to expansion. A 10 for MSI at this point, unfortunately clouded by the exterior warranty sticker.

Test of performance

The CPU performance is very good as despite being a low TDP model the i5-4460S has very high core performance thanks to its aggressive turbo boost while maintaining reasonable multithreading power and reduced consumption. We start with Cinebench R15, which gives us an idea of the expected performance using all the cores.

Although it does not reach the result of the laptop i7, we see enough performance, which almost doubles the Pentium G3258, a processor that defends itself well, even today, in most games. Of course, it leaves AMD's A10 behind with plenty of room as well.

The performance in games is very good, since it is a balanced configuration between graphics and processor, and both give the size with margin to play 1080p

It is surprising to see results in fact slightly superior to the more powerful G20 with the 780. Since this uses more recent drivers and has Maxwell's optimizations, it is not a very fair comparison, and it is not surprising to see a good result, although perhaps it is superior. to a high-end graphics such as the 780. Unfortunately, we do not have the G20 to be able to carry out tests with recent drivers again, also the usual thing is that this Nightblade is slightly below, as also indicates its price.

WE RECOMMEND YOU Sharkoon Rush ER2 Review in Spanish (Complete analysis)

The pc is agile thanks to the SSD, to which we are going to perform a basic performance test with ATTO. It is a consumer SSD, so we do not expect spectacular performance.

Indeed, the album defends itself very well in reading, but in writing the results are fair to pass. Also for the functionality requested by the team, it amply complies, it looks very agile and starts in seconds, although it would have been a very grateful extension to include a 256GB model and a little more pointer.

Unfortunately not everything is good things. The cooling system is good, and maintains very good temperatures for the dimensions of the equipment. Even with its size content, it is no louder on load than an average gaming device. Now, at rest the thing changes, the source fan is noticeable, and in a computer that is likely to be used as a living room PC it seems to us a too serious failure to ignore it. And it's a shame, because both the graphics and the CPU fan have a very low noise. If I may have a suggestion, I would say that many users prefer a slightly taller tower, with an SFX source perhaps, but very low noise at rest.

Final words and conclusion

Based on the price of the Nightblade B85C with similar characteristics, it is expected that this specific model can be purchased for around € 1, 000, with more expensive and cheaper options with better and worse components, which seems to us a correct price given the small size. Personally, this is the model I would choose, as it seems to me the most balanced and one of the best performance / price ratio it will give us.

As a good part, it is a simple equipment to open and with many facilities to change or improve parts, within the small size. We even have two antennas to put a better network card, like an intel 7260.

There are more and more options with adjusted prices in these sizes now that they have become popular, and certainly with an adjustment of prices we would see it as an even clearer option.

Its biggest drawback: The noise at rest is moderate. It's a shame, because under load the cooling system works fine without much more noise, but the fountain fan tarnishes the end result.

For the rest, good feelings, small size and good gaming performance. Little more can you ask for.

ADVANTAGE

	DISADVANTAGES
+ EASE OF DISASSEMBLY AND EXPANSION	- LOUD AT REST, ESPECIALLY AS HTPC
+ ONLY 10L OF VOLUME, IDEAL AS A SALON EQUIPMENT
+ SSD + MECHANICAL DISC, SPEED AND CAPACITY
+ LOW CONSUMPTION IN IDLE AND PLAYING VIDEO
+ RED INALÁMBRICA AC
+ GOOD BALANCE OF COMPONENTS