MSI’s new gaming laptops bring the fight to their rivals
I love the production values of the MSI presentations; they are short, concise and we even got a cameo from Linus of LinusTechTips. The announcements covered both the new creator series laptops and also the gaming series, so we’ve broke these down into separate announcements. For the creator series laptops, follow this link
MSI has revamped its designs for its new 2021 range, with new and unique aesthetics across its range. Whatever your personal preference, there’s sure to be something that catches your eye. It’s not just aesthetics, of course. The New MSI laptops all come with the latest 8-core Intel 11th Gen Rocket Lake CPUs and RTX 30-series GPUs. Many of these GPU’s are full-power variants, which is very nice to see as a lot of manufacturers settle for the mid-power variants.
The optimisation of MSI’s PCs and laptops is generally excellent, meaning we can expect to see every ounce of performance squeezed out of these new devices. MSI’s new Control Center has an AI powered solution that offers 1-click optimisation, to your personal preference. For esports gamers, you can optimise for maximum framerate, Creators can optimise CPU performance for rendering tasks, and if you just want the best looking graphics at 60 fps, you can target that, too.
Wi-Fi 6E, PCIe Gen4 SSDs and improved cooling is implemented across the board, and there’s a load of display options, too, from 360 Hz FHD panels to awesome 240 Hz QHD options.
Another new feature is the MSI App player, that lets you play mobile games on your laptop. There is also a Console Mode, that works as a game launcher that can be fully operated with a game controller. If you like plugging your laptop into a large monitor and sitting back on the sofa, this allows you to replicate the console experience from your computer.
There are a lot of new laptops coming from MSI, so we’ve broken down the key features that have been revealed so far, though we expect to know much more about them as we get closer to the launch.
MSI GE Raider Series GE76 / GE66
Key Features:
- Components
- 11th Gen Intel Core i9 ‘Rocket Lake’ CPU
- Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 16GB – 165W TGP or RTX 3070 8GB
- PCIe Gen4 SSD + PCIe Gen 3 SSD slots
- Wi-Fi 6E
- 99.9 Whr battery
- Display
- GE76 – 17.3″ FHD 360Hz / FHD 240Hz
- GP66 – 15.6″ UHD 100% Adobe RGB / QHD 240 Hz / QHD 165 Hz
- True Colour
- Thin Bezels
- System
- Steelseries per-key RGB keyboard
- Mystic light-bar
- Cooler Boost 5
- Webcam – 1080p
- GE76 – 25.9mm thin 2.9kg / GE66 23.4mm thin 2.38kg
- HDMI 2.1 (8k60Hz / 4k120Hz)
- Mini-DP
MSI’s gaming flagship features enthusiast-level specs; an Intel Core i9 CPU and an RTX 3080 16GB that runs at a monstrous 165W TGP. Using an inbuilt Discrete Graphics Mode, this will give you the full power of the GPU. This essentially sounds like a MUX Switch, which allows the GPU to directly connect to the system removing the bottleneck that occurs when using Nvidia Optimus (which relays the GPU output through the iGPU).
MSI GP Leopard Series GP76 / GP66
Key Features:
- Components
- 11th Gen Intel Core i7 ‘Rocket Lake’ CPU
- Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 8GB / RTX 3070 8GB
- PCIe Gen4 SSD + PCIe Gen 3 SSD slots
- Wi-Fi 6E
- 2.5GB Ethernet
- 65Whr battery capacity
- Display
- GP76 – FHD 144 Hz
- GP66 – 15.6″ FHD 240Hz / FHD 144Hz
- System
- Cooler Boost 5
- Steelseries per-key RGB keyboard
- HDMI 2.1
- Webcam 720p
- GP76 – 25.9mm thin 2.9kg / GP66 23.4mm thin 2.38kg
MSI’s Leopard series is designed for those who use their laptops for work, as well as gaming and content creation.
MSI GS Stealth Series GS76 / GS66
Key Features:
- Components
- 11th Gen Intel Core i9 ‘Rocket Lake’ CPU
- Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 / RTX 3070 / RTX 3060
- PCIe Gen4 SSD + PCIe Gen 3 SSD slots
- 99.9 Whr battery capacity – fast charging
- Intel Killer ethernet E3100
- Killer Wi-Fi 6E
- Display
- GS76 – 17.3″ UHD 120Hz, 100% AdobeRGB / FHD 360Hz
- GS66 15.6″ UHD / QHD 240Hz / QHD 165Hz / FHD 360 Hz
- System
- Cooler Boost Trinity+
- Thunderbolt 4
- IR Webcam 720p
- Steelseries per-key RGB keyboard
The award winning Stealth series retains its minimalist styling, and along with the improved performance, now has greater battery capacity and an epic 240Hz QHD panel.
MSI GF Katana GF66 / GF76
Key Features:
- Components
- 11th Gen Intel Core i7 ‘Rocket Lake’ CPU
- Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 / RTX 3050 / 3050 Ti / 3060
- 90 Whr battery
- Wi-Fi 6
- Intel Killer ethernet E3100
- PCIe Gen 4 SSD + SATA HDD
- Display
- Up to QHD 165 Hz
- System
- RGB backlit keyboard
- Cooler Boost 5
- FHD Camera
- Steelseries RGB keyboard
- Thunderbolt 4
The GeForce GPUs in the Katana series are the full-power variants. The GeForce RTX 30-series GPUs come in a wide range of TGP options, which means you can theoretically have an RTX 3060 that is more powerful than a 3080 depending on the specific TGP version fitted. Having the full-power variants in these laptops, therefore, is quite a big deal. As MSI’s budget range of laptops, these could end up being the bargain must-buy deals of the year.
MSI GF Sword 15 / 17
Key Features:
- Components
- 11th Gen Intel Core ‘Rocket Lake’ CPU
- Nvidia GeForce RTX
- Wi-Fi 6
- Display
- Up to QHD 165 Hz
- System
- Tech-Blue backlit keyboard
- Cooler Boost 5
The GF Sword Series comes in a brand-new Clear-White colourway with a contrasting tech-blue backlit keyboard, and it looks gorgeous.
MSI GL Pulse Series
Key Features:
- Components
- 11th Gen Intel Core i7 ‘Rocket Lake’ CPU
- Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 / 3050Ti / 3050
- 53.5 Whr battery
- Wi-Fi 6
- PCIe Gen 3 SSDs in RAID 0 configuration
- Display
- QHD 165Hz 100% DCI-P3 / FHD 144Hz
- System
- Tech-Blue backlit keyboard
- Cooler Boost 5
- 24mm thin
- HDMI 2.0
In contrast to the smooth shells of the Katana and Sword series laptops, the Pulse features more angular lines, designed by 2018 ZBrush world champion Maarten Verhoeven.
MSI GL Crosshair Series
Key Features:
- Components
- 11th Gen Intel Core ‘Rocket Lake’ CPU
- Nvidia GeForce RTX
- Wi-Fi 6
- Display
- Up to QHD 165 Hz
- System
- Cooler Boost 5
The Crosshair seems to share most of the stats of the Pulse, leading us to believe they use the same core components, just wrapped up in a different shell.
MSI’s new line-up of notebooks is now available for pre-order at:
https://uk.msi.com/Landing/2021-11th-rtx30-laptops/nb
