If you are a gamer, you’ve undoubtedly heard about MSI laptops. An MSI gaming laptop offer all the features you need for a productive gaming session and offer unique style on top of that. We look at all of the critical aspects of gaming and rate each of these laptops so you can find the cream of the crop without any trouble.
Finding the right laptop for gaming can be a challenging proposition. There are so many things that make a difference when it comes to performance, visuals, and general appeal. Today we’re rating the best seven MSI gaming laptop to give you an idea of what you can expect from the brand and its high-quality machines.
The Best MSI Gaming Laptop: How Our Ratings Are Chosen
We assign ratings based on everything from performance, value, and cost to average ratings from gamers who have used the machine. We delve into the specs of each machine as well as the quality in general.
Each machine is rated based on its advantages in gaming, rather than performance with menial tasks. We work hard to provide accurate ratings you can trust when you’re seeking out a laptop from MSI. Each computer is given a star rating out of five, which distinguishes the exceptional laptops from those that are average.
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Top 7 Best MSI Gaming Laptop
MSI is a powerhouse when it comes to gaming laptops and has seen great popularity over the last few years. We delved into their catalog to find the seven best gaming laptops on the market today branded with the MSI name. Below we’ll provide details of what we found and our reactions to features and level of performance. We made sure to include laptops of various prices and with varied features to ensure there is something for everyone included.
GT73VR Titan Pro-1005
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If gaming is your passion to end all passions, you want the best MSI gaming laptop possible. The Titan Pro offers numerous features designed to provide you with the best performance you can imagine. Firstly, it comes with the impressive NVIDIA GeForce GTX1080. On top of that monster, you also get an Intel i7-7700HQ along with 16 GB of DDR4 Ram.
As with any laptop of this caliber, you aren’t going to get it at a discount price. However, if you’re eying this option, you likely already know you’ll be paying more for a beast. In this case, you can expect to drop a cool $2200 for all the bells and whistles.
On top of the features listed above, the Titan has 512 GB of SSD space, along with a 1 TB traditional hard drive. It isn’t the best laptop for portability, but most gaming laptops have that same problem. The machine has tons of ports, 1080p display, and an outstanding 120 Hz refresh rate. This is a laptop that is built for intense gaming and can even handle VR without much trouble at all.
We rate this laptop 5 out of 5 stars.
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GT62VR Dominator Pro-238
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The Dominator Pro includes a powerful NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 graphics card for ultimate performance. You can expect to play every single new game at the highest settings due to the Intel i7-7700HQ paired with 16 GB of DDR4 RAM, or choose to upgrade the RAM up to 32 GB if that isn’t enough for you. The mechanical hard drive gives you 1 TB of space, while the SSD can hold 256 GB worth of games. This is an improvement on many gaming machines but still is likely to fill up quickly if you’re downloading top-of-the-line games on a regular basis.
As with most of the high-end gaming laptops from MSI, the display is full HD. It doesn’t feature 4K, but you can still expect exceptional viewing angles and bright colors that pop on the screen. It also has GSYNC to match the display panel’s refresh rate to that of the graphics card for even more impressive gaming. That said, you’re going to be spending about $1800 for this monster of a machine.
This laptop warrants a well-deserved 5 stars out of 5.
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GS63VR Stealth Pro-230
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If you care about portability, the Stealth Pro is a lightweight option that doesn’t pull punches on performance. It comes equipped with an NVIDIA GTX 1060 that can run most games on the highest-quality settings without trouble. It does have 4K, but this might drop performance a tad. For those who enjoy VR experiences, it can run them at a reasonable level. With tons of features and few things holding it back, the price of $1800 offers true value.
The processor in the Stealth Pro is an Intel i7-7700HQ, which is extremely powerful. It has a 256 GB SSD and 16 GB of RAM. You’ll also find a traditional hard drive with an impressive 2 TB of space for all your games, applications, and documents. The keyboard is backlit and garners rave reviews, but the trackpad has a mixed reputation. It can also run a bit hot in some situations and comes with some unwanted bloatware that requires uninstallation. Overall, the VR capability and portability make this one to watch out for.
The Stealth Pro is another 5-star offering from MSI.
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GL62M 7REX-1896US
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This machine is a budget option as far as gaming laptops go. You can pick it up for under $900 right now at online retailers. The graphics card is an NVIDIA GTX 1050Ti and can handle most games but isn’t made for VR. In addition to the impressive graphics card, it also boasts an Intel i7-770HG, 8 GB of DDR4 RAM, with the ability to upgrade to 32 GB in total.
It has a thinner design than many other laptops MSI offers with a black matte finish. It has a battery life of around four hours and a display that is crisp no matter what angle you’re viewing from.
The display has a resolution of 1920 x 1080 IPS and a dual hard drive setup with both an SSD and a traditional hard drive. The latter is a bit slower than we’d like, but that’s one of the only cons of the system. It has two USB 3.0 ports, an HDMI 4K port, and a mini-display. It also has a beautiful red backlight and a comfortable keyboard.
We rate this machine at 4.5 out of 5 stars.
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GL62M 7RDX-1408
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If you are on a strict budget but want an MSI gaming laptop that can play everything you download, the GL62M is an excellent option from MSI. You can grab this one for just under $850. It features the same case as the GL72M 7RX-800, other than having a smaller screen. It does have a full HD display with wide viewing angles and better than average colors. The SteelSeries keyboard brings in red backlighting to add a touch of style to the whole thing. The only major complaint is that the audio is not up to par compared to the competitors.
There is an Intel i7-7700HG inside, an NVIDIA GTX 1050, and plenty of RAM to play anything you want. There are adequate ports to add all your favorite peripherals. Most modern games will play at high settings at 50 to 60 frames per second. It also has Cooler Boost 4 technology to keep the machine cool no matter how hard you’re going. The battery life is low at four hours, but that isn’t uncommon for gaming laptops.
The GL62M is an excellent machine that deserves a 4-star rating.
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GE63VR Raider-075
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Moving on to the Raider, you get a premium look that will turn heads wherever you go. It has a brushed metal and aluminum finish which adds some heft to the machine. It is portable and reasonably lightweight, but the battery life makes it a poor choice for constant travel. Under the hood, you will find an NVIDIA GTX 1070 that can play almost anything on the market today at top settings. You can purchase one of these machines for around $1700.
The rest of the hardware consists of 16 GB of RAM and an Intel i7-7700HG processor. It has a SteelSeries keyboard that allows for individual backlighting for each key in whatever colors you
desire. The touchpad isn’t the best out there, but it does the job as well as any other computer. It also suffers a bit with a TN display panel, which makes your viewing angles less than outstanding. However, the inclusion of a 120 Hz refresh rate means you can play all your games smoothly and with fantastic color.
There is no other rating to give the Raider than 4 out of 5 stars.
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GL62M 7RE-407
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Another option for the gamer on a budget, the GL62M offers plenty of bells and whistles while not gutting you in the wallet. Right now, you can get one for a cool $800 and performance won’t suffer from the price. It includes a GTX 1050 Ti that promises smooth performance and higher frame rates than competitors. It has an Intel i5-7300HG, which is no slouch though it doesn’t live up to the performance of an i7 MSI gaming laptop. This is not something that is noticeable in most situations, only when multitasking or really pushing the laptop for all it has.
One thing missing from this laptop is backlit keys, which helps to drop the price to its more affordable range. It does offer 24000 MHz ram that can be upgraded all the way up to 32 GB to increase speed. It also comes with an SSD drive with 256 GB of storage, which is reasonable but likely to fill up quickly. The good news is there is room to install a SATA drive for storage purposes.
This machine is a solid choice and rates 4 out of 5 stars.
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Buyer’s Guide
Buying a laptop for gaming is completely different from buying a laptop for any other use. You need more power, better graphics, and a sweet design more than you might care about battery life and portability. Below, we’ll consider what you should look at when deciding on the right gaming laptop for your needs.
Graphics matter more than almost anything else when it comes to running the best and most modern games. Some of the budget options that offer reasonable performance are the GTX 1060, GTX 1050, and GTX 1050 Ti. For those who want a little more power in their machine, the GTX 1070 is a considerable card. Those who want to go all out should look for SLI and consider the massive GTX 1080.
A gaming laptop should have a minimum of an i5 Intel processor, but i7 is even better. Most gamers are recommended to look for quad-core rather than dual-core. You should also consider clock speed when choosing a CPU. As far as RAM goes, look for 8 GB at a minimum, but 16 or more gives substantial gains.
As gaming laptops are more expensive than traditional laptops, that makes it all the more important to determine your budget. The basic ranks are laptops for under $1000, those in the $1000 to $2000 range, machines that are $2000 to $3000, and those that are over even that price point. For most people, the $1000 to $2000 range is adequate, while budget gamers might look at machines that are below $1000.
The keyboard is something else that matters with a gaming laptop. You’ll be getting a lot of use out of your keys, so quality is important. There are a few things to look at regarding keyboards. The first is key travel, with 2mm being the ideal. You also want to consider actuation and customization. Anti-ghosting is almost mandatory nowadays for pressing multiple buttons at once.
Next up, the display is also important. If the screen looks awful or too tiny to see details clearly, it doesn’t matter how high your frame rates are. Look for a resolution of 1920 x 1080 or higher for the best results. You should also consider whether you need a touchscreen or GSYNC and whether you want a glossy or matte display.
Choosing the Right Laptop for Your Needs
Our top picks for the best MSI gaming laptop is composed of laptops of the highest quality from the brand. Once you read through the buyer’s guide and determine what features are more important to you, scrolling through the options will give you an idea of what to look for when you choose your new beast of a gaminglaptop.
Featured image CC BY 2.0, via flickr.com by Marco Verch with text, banner, and logo added.
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