MSI has vital presence within the high-end gaming laptop computer phase, and provides choices unfold throughout quite a lot of totally different value factors. I’ve been fairly impressed with the MSI’s GE lineup that has frequently been providing highly effective choices, and are priced beneath the competitors. The GE66 Raider was introduced final 12 months packing among the greatest {hardware} you could possibly get on a transportable gaming machine. This was earlier than the introduction of the brand new RTX 3000 collection GPUs into the market and the Ryzen 5000 collection that’s giving Intel a run for its cash. Even in in the present day’s panorama, the GE66 Raider makes for a really attention-grabbing proposition. For a value of Rs 1,94,990, the laptop computer is heavy in your pockets however on paper, it does provide the total gamut when it comes to internals. Right here’s a full assessment of the gadget to see if it is smart to splurge on it.
Desk of Contents
Construct, design and show
The GS66 Stealth from MSI, launched alongside the GF66, supplied a slim chassis whereas packing in one of the best internals. Nonetheless, the GE66 forgoes portability for higher thermals. This laptop computer doesn’t have that beastly exterior akin to the Alienware Space 51m, however you do get a agency hinge design with simple one-handed operability of the lid. The aluminium chassis is extraordinarily properly constructed when it comes to sturdiness too. The color scheme is silverish-grey and just under the palm relaxation, there’s a strip of LED lighting that stretches from one finish to the opposite. You possibly can’t name the laptop computer flamboyant when it comes to design, in contrast to among the ROG or Alienware laptops out there, but it surely nonetheless has the gamer aesthetic.
The MSI emblem dominates the again. I additionally just like the design on the base the place the lid meets the huge heating vents. The light slope of the palm relaxation doesn’t lower into my wrists throughout extended utilization. The corners appear barely jagged on all sides however that hardly issues since a lot of the utilization of the machine might be with it positioned on a desk. The audio system are positioned on the sides of the chassis just under the thermal retailers. On the underside is one thing MSI likes to name “Dragon armor carving” and the hexagonal shapes aligned with each other do remind me of the Alienware M15 R3’s (assessment) underside. The GE66 is undoubtedly fairly heavy and can in all probability not match inside your backpack simply. Nonetheless, I’ll reiterate that for the internals it provides, having to take care of the marginally extreme weight is a compromise any gamer might be keen to make. So far as ports go, the GE66 Raider has a plethora of them. On the left, there’s a USB-A 3.2 port, a 3.5mm socket, and a USB-C port. On the again, there’s a energy port, an HDMI 2.0 port, an Ethernet slot, one other USB-C port, a Kensington lock, and a Mini-DisplayPort. Lastly on the proper are two extra USB-A 3.2 ports together with an SD card reader.
MSI has included a top-notch display screen on the GE66 Raider with a refresh fee of 240Hz, though there’s a maxed-out 300Hz variant as properly. It’s a 15.6-inch IPS LCD panel that has FHD (1,920 x 1,080) decision with ample brightness ranges. You can use this laptop computer below considerably harsh daylight and nonetheless flick through the display screen’s contents with out an excessive amount of bother. Throughout my indoor utilization, I by no means felt the necessity to set the display screen luminosity above 50 %. The bezels across the show are fairly trim with the chin being barely greater because it homes the MSI emblem. The corporate is claiming one hundred pc protection of the DCI-P3 color gamut, which is one thing that’s fairly evident within the vibrancy of a number of AAA sport titles I threw on the machine. Whereas most of it was GPU heavy lifting, I might make out textures to the best particulars on Far Cry 5, the greyness within the smoke whereas capturing in Name of Obligation: Black Ops Chilly Battle, and the mesmerising reflections on Cyberpunk 2077 buildings on a puddle of water. It is a wonderful show, not just for gaming but in addition for another form of content material viewing.
Keyboard and trackpad
The GE66 doesn’t function a devoted numpad, although the standard six rows of keys are extraordinarily spacious. I truly loved typing on it and, by extension, gaming on the gadget, because the keys don’t really feel cramped up. The journey was excellent and the response was fast. Nonetheless, the location of the Fn key’s one thing I’m not a fan of. It nearly all the time requires a two-handed method to succeed in any of the Operate keys on the highest whereas urgent the Fn key. With its shut proximity with the management key on the proper, each of which have the identical small dimension, I nearly all the time blended up one with the opposite. Anybody who makes use of the proper management button in gaming can be prone to face such an issue. MSI’s Mystic Lighting gives for quite a lot of backlighting results on the keyboard in addition to the strip just under the palm relaxation. The brightness ranges are fairly constant which makes it simple to kind even in pitch blackness.
The trackpad has a barely small space than I might’ve favored, however the contact response is extraordinarily good. The supplies used are easy with my finger normally gliding over the floor. Home windows Precision drivers assist in multi-touch and provide gestures that work in addition to you possibly can count on on a non-macOS gadget. As with all gaming laptop computer, most customers would in all probability connect a wired mouse for one of the best expertise, which is what I’ve been doing for the longest time.
Efficiency and battery
The time for brand new RTX 3000 collection GPUs is right here whereas Intel’s Eleventh-gen Tiger Lake CPUs want to take the struggle to the Ryzen 5000 collection. The GE76 from MSI, the successor to the GE66, is by the way making use of the previous whereas the processing remains to be being dealt with by the Tenth-gen Intel i7 10870H. Nonetheless, the GE66 is certainly no slouch, because it packs within the barely lower-powered Intel i7 10750H CPU and the NVIDIA 2070 Tremendous Max-Q GPU. The efficiency metrics on the GE66 are simply among the greatest within the trade. Nonetheless, my each day utilization of the laptop computer, outdoors of heavy gaming, doesn’t contain a number of strenuous duties. Probably the most I can go together with is opening a ton of Chrome tabs (and I imply rather a lot) whereas watching one thing on the media participant. Whereas doing this, I additionally opened a few moderately GPU-intensive titles and confronted little to no lag whereas working at most graphics settings.
I even have some extraordinarily good benchmark numbers to again up the gadget’s efficiency on each the CPU and GPU entrance. On Geekbench 5, the GE66 will get single-core and multi-core scores of 1,091 and 5,817 that are on level for the i7 10870H. There’s 16GB of DDR4 RAM on the gadget and a 2TB PCIe NVMe which achieves a learn and write rating of three,384MB/s and a pair of,264MB/s respectively. Shifting on, Cinebench’s R23 additionally noticed a really excessive multi-core rating of seven,576 whereas single-core was respectable at 1,166. The machine’s means as knowledgeable workstation may be measured with PCMark 10’s benchmark during which the GE66 received 5,252, which is sort of good in its value vary. GPU-wise the gadget is barely above the competitors with 3DMark’s Time Spy returning a rating of seven,807. Compared, the Alienware M15 R3 was at 7,113. Unigine’s Heaven benchmark yielded a rating 3,633, which is to be anticipated from a 2070 Tremendous Max-Q.
The gaming efficiency is the crux of the matter and boy does this machine actually fly. I had earlier talked about taking part in video games of pretty good graphical depth alongside a number of Chrome tabs working within the background. Nonetheless, the check of a gaming machine does rely rather a lot on how properly it handles AAA titles. Available, I had Cyberpunk 2077, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Titanfall 2, Name of Obligation Chilly Battle, and Far Cry 5. To preface, I had turned on Ray Tracing wherever I might and maxed out the graphics settings. For Shadow of the Tomb Raider, at Highest Graphics, the gadget was pulling an ever-impressive 92fps. The M15 R3 was doing simply 71fps for a similar sport. Cyberpunk 2077 was at 32fps with ray tracing on on the Highest graphic setting though taking part in at an inexpensive Excessive setting with ray tracing off put the body charges at a suitable 80. Titanfall 2, being an almost six-year-old title, delivered 120fps whereas Chilly Battle was additionally spitting greater than 70fps.
Thermals are managed properly with followers spinning at full throttle inflicting a number of din, so I’d advise you to put on noise-canceling headphones or ones with a very good seal whereas gaming. Lots customisation may be carried out by means of MSI’s Dragon Heart app on the GE66. It primarily offers with the elements whereby you possibly can toggle between totally different efficiency modes, fan speeds, and alter the Mystic Lighting. The laptop computer provides the standard wi-fi connectivity choices of Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1 and the audio is managed by two 2W audio system that sound common at greatest.
So far as battery goes, the GE66 Raider has a monstrous 99.9Whr pack which is simply shy of the 100Whr restrict that’s allowed on a flight. Nonetheless, the massive battery additionally has to take care of a really vibrant display screen and a excessive refresh fee. For regular utilization, the laptop computer gave me just under 5 hours of display screen on time, which isn’t nice however not unhealthy both. In any case, you would wish to make use of the behemoth of a 230W charging adapter in case you are to sport on the gadget.
Closing Verdict
The MSI GE66 Raider does make for a really tempting deal at Rs 1,94,990, which is the present value of the gadget on Flipkart. Within the coming months, the value is sure to fall much more, however the worth it could actually provide by way of its efficiency needs to be there for for much longer. The laptop computer packs in among the greatest {hardware} you could find within the phase proper now, though the 2TB model that I’ve will price you barely extra. Even so, 1TB of storage ought to suffice for many necessities, and there may be all the time the choice of utilizing exterior SSDs. Regardless, the 240Hz refresh fee, glorious show, top-notch GPU, intensive keyboard backlighting, and an general clear design aesthetic make the GE66 Raider an excellent deal.
Editor’s score: 4 / 5
Execs
- Strong efficiency
- Superlative show
- Good thermal administration
Cons
- Might use higher audio system
- Fn key not positioned properly