MSI Crosshair 18 HX omits this one feature that could have made it even more enticing

The MSI Crosshair 18 HX is one of the least expensive 18-inch laptops in the market as detailed in our review of the model. It cuts a lot of corners to reach lower target prices, but most of them are reasonable such as the eccentric RGB LEDs or mini-LED display technologies that many gamers could arguably do without. One particular omission, however, is a harder pill to swallow even for mainstream gamers.

The Crosshair 18 HX cannot be configured with the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti or higher as it instead tops out at the RTX 5070 only. We've stated before how the RTX 5070 Ti represents a significant boost over the RTX 5070 due in part to its much larger pool of VRAM. The overall performance advantage over the RTX 5070 can be as large as 50 percent as shown by our comparison charts below.

Of course, there are several reasons why MSI may have omitted the RTX 5070 Ti option. As a midrange gaming laptop, it's likely that MSI wants to create space between the Crosshair 18 and its higher-end flagship models like the Raider 18, Stealth 18, or Vector 18. These alternatives can all be configured with the RTX 5070 Ti albeit for significantly higher starting prices.

The Crosshair 18 HX is still a great gaming laptop for 1080p or 1440p gaming, but its RTX 5070 can struggle on more demanding titles like Black Myth: Wukong on high settings.