MSI CreatorPro Z16P laptop review - Mobile workstation with temperature problems
We already tested the Creator Z16P from MSI extensively, which is a slim 16-inch laptop for content creators. However, the manufacturer also offers the device with professional GPUs from Nvidia using the name "CreatorPro Z16P," which we examine today. We are testing the configuration labeled "B12UKST-078" for 3,499 Euros (~$3,620), which combines an Intel Core i7-12700H with the Nvidia RTX A3000. In addition, there are 32 GB of RAM and a large, 1-TB SSD as well as a 16-inch IPS display with a WQHD resolution and 165-Hz refresh rate. In this test, we mainly concentrate on the performance. You can find detailed information on the case, equipment, input devices, and speakers in our test of the Creator Z16P:
Possible Competitors in Comparison
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Height | Size | Resolution | Best Price |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
84.3 % | 11/2022 | MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST i7-12700H, RTX A3000 Laptop GPU | 2.4 kg | 19 mm | 16.00" | 2560x1600 | |
90.1 % | 11/2022 | HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA i7-12800H, RTX A2000 Laptop GPU | 1.8 kg | 19 mm | 16.00" | 3840x2400 | |
89.8 % | 11/2021 | Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00 i7-11850H, GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU | 2 kg | 17.7 mm | 16.00" | 3840x2400 | |
88.3 % | 10/2021 | Dell Precision 5000 5560 i7-11850H, RTX A2000 Laptop GPU | 2 kg | 18 mm | 15.60" | 3840x2400 | |
83.7 % | 06/2022 | MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST i9-12900H, GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU | 2.4 kg | 20.4 mm | 16.00" | 2560x1600 |
Case, Equipment, and Input Devices
The case of the CreatorPro Z16P doesn't differ from that of the regular Creator Z16P, which of course also includes the connections and input devices. You shouldn't run into any problems with the dark-gray (Lunar Gray) case even in the office, as long as you restrain yourself with the keyboard illumination, where the color can be individually configured for each key. The keyboard itself offers a very comfortable typing experience and benefits from a long key stroke. In this regard, the CreatorPro can even keep up with good business laptops. The ClickPad also works without any problems.
In terms of the connections, you get a total of three USB ports, with one of them including Thunderbolt 4, and a full-size SD card reader. On the other hand, you have to make do without a dedicated graphics output. Due to the cooling, all the connections except for the power port are in the front areas of both sides, which is less than optimal in everyday operation.
SD Card Reader | |
average JPG Copy Test (av. of 3 runs) | |
Dell Precision 5000 5560 (AV Pro V60) | |
Average of class Workstation (54.8 - 200, n=17, last 2 years) | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST (AV Pro V60) | |
MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST (AV PRO microSD 128 GB V60) | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA (Angelbird AV PRO V60) | |
maximum AS SSD Seq Read Test (1GB) | |
Dell Precision 5000 5560 (AV Pro V60) | |
Average of class Workstation (78.6 - 262, n=17, last 2 years) | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST (AV Pro V60) | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA (Angelbird AV PRO V60) |
Networking | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
iperf3 receive AXE11000 6GHz |
|
iperf3 transmit AXE11000 6GHz |
|
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA | |
iperf3 receive AXE11000 6GHz |
|
iperf3 transmit AXE11000 6GHz |
|
Dell Precision 5000 5560 | |
iperf3 transmit AX12 |
|
iperf3 receive AX12 |
|
MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST | |
iperf3 receive AXE11000 |
|
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4Z9DVUS | |
iperf3 transmit AX12 |
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iperf3 receive AX12 |
|
Display - TrueColor with 165 Hz
We can also be brief in the Display section, since there are also no differences to the regular Creator Z16P here. Although the design of the reflective TrueColor WQHD panel (2560 x 1600 pixels, IPS) in the 16:10 format is targeted more towards a content creator audience, the subjective image quality is simply very good, and other users will also enjoy the panel very much.
In our measurements, the panel delivers decent values (average brightness ~390 cd/m²), even though the contrast ratio of ~1,100:1 could still have been a bit better and the black value could have been lower. The response times of the 165-Hz panel are excellent, and the same goes for the stability of the viewing angles. Light halos won't be much of a problem, and PWM also isn't used.
|
Brightness Distribution: 88 %
Center on Battery: 408 cd/m²
Contrast: 1131:1 (Black: 0.36 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 1.3 | 0.5-29.43 Ø5, calibrated: 0.7
ΔE Greyscale 2.1 | 0.57-98 Ø5.3
87.4% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
99.9% sRGB (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
97.6% Display P3 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
Gamma: 2.26
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST B160QAN02.N, IPS, 2560x1600, 16.00 | HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA BOE0A52, IPS, 3840x2400, 16.00 | Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00 LP160UQ1-SPB1, IPS LED, 3840x2400, 16.00 | Dell Precision 5000 5560 Sharp LQ156R1, IPS, 3840x2400, 15.60 | MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST AUOD298, IPS True Pixel (~100% DCI-P3), 2560x1600, 16.00 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Display | -0% | 0% | 4% | -0% | |
Display P3 Coverage | 97.6 | 97.5 0% | 85.7 -12% | 94.9 -3% | 97.6 0% |
sRGB Coverage | 99.9 | 99.9 0% | 99.4 -1% | 100 0% | 99.9 0% |
AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage | 87.4 | 86.3 -1% | 98.9 13% | 100 14% | 86.8 -1% |
Response Times | -1% | -327% | -290% | 7% | |
Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 12.8 ? | 15.3 ? -20% | 55.2 ? -331% | 47.2 ? -269% | 12.9 ? -1% |
Response Time Black / White * | 7.4 ? | 6.1 ? 18% | 31.2 ? -322% | 30.4 ? -311% | 6.4 ? 14% |
PWM Frequency | |||||
Screen | 11% | -11% | -59% | -25% | |
Brightness middle | 407 | 554 36% | 630 55% | 501.5 23% | 428 5% |
Brightness | 388 | 516 33% | 622 60% | 467 20% | 394 2% |
Brightness Distribution | 88 | 84 -5% | 90 2% | 83 -6% | 86 -2% |
Black Level * | 0.36 | 0.47 -31% | 0.41 -14% | 0.44 -22% | 0.42 -17% |
Contrast | 1131 | 1179 4% | 1537 36% | 1140 1% | 1019 -10% |
Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 1.3 | 1 23% | 2.2 -69% | 4.73 -264% | 1.67 -28% |
Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 2.5 | 2.4 4% | 5 -100% | 8.45 -238% | 5.71 -128% |
Colorchecker dE 2000 calibrated * | 0.7 | 0.6 14% | 1 -43% | 0.51 27% | 0.71 -1% |
Greyscale dE 2000 * | 2.1 | 1.6 24% | 2.7 -29% | 3.6 -71% | 3.1 -48% |
Gamma | 2.26 97% | 2.29 96% | 2.26 97% | 2.08 106% | 2.195 100% |
CCT | 6437 101% | 6458 101% | 6886 94% | 6447 101% | 6498 100% |
Total Average (Program / Settings) | 3% /
7% | -113% /
-54% | -115% /
-79% | -6% /
-15% |
* ... smaller is better
Our analysis with the professional CalMAN software (X-Rite i1 Pro 2) shows that the panel is already very well-calibrated in the state of delivery, and the DeltaE deviation of less than 2 advertised by MSI compared to the DCI-P3 reference color space is correct. The deviation is also very small in the Grayscale, and there is no color tint. We are able to improve the deviations further with our own calibration (available for free download from the link further above), but this isn't really necessary.
The TrueColor software also allows you to switch the color space, if you want to work in the sRGB color space, for example. In addition, the software also allows you to calibrate the display, and in this regard, the CreatorPro Z16P even offers some advantages compared to some workstations (such as HP's ZBook models with DreamColor panels that at this point don't offer any display software anymore).
Display Response Times
↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
---|---|---|
7.4 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 3.4 ms rise | |
↘ 4 ms fall | ||
The screen shows very fast response rates in our tests and should be very well suited for fast-paced gaming. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 16 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is better than the average of all tested devices (21.6 ms). | ||
↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
12.8 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 6.2 ms rise | |
↘ 6.6 ms fall | ||
The screen shows good response rates in our tests, but may be too slow for competitive gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.2 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 21 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is better than the average of all tested devices (33.9 ms). |
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
Screen flickering / PWM not detected | |||
In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 18100 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 3846000) Hz was measured. |
Even though the reflective display surface helps with the image quality, of course it also makes things more difficult outdoors. As long as you are able to avoid reflections of light sources or bright areas, the contents can still be recognized fairly easily, but those who occasionally like to do mobile work or who work in changing light conditions would be better served by a matte display.
Performance - MSI uses Intel Alder Lake and Nvidia Studio
Test Conditions
In addition to the Windows settings, MSI also offers its own power profiles in the preinstalled CenterPro software and also a Smart Auto AI mode, which controls the performance independent of the load. During our tests, we received results that varied in parts with the power profiles. We received the best results with the Performance mode, even though there were also some variations here.
Processor - Core i7-12700H
The Intel Core i7-12700H is currently used in a lot of laptops, offering very good performance values with its 6 Performance and 8 Efficiency cores, but there can be some vast differences depending on the TDP configuration. In the CreatorPro Z16P, the values are chosen fairly conservatively, and they are not always stable. Sometimes, the processor is allowed to consume up to 76 watts, but in the Cinebench loop, it is only 55-60 watts. MSI should take another stab at this and allow for reproduceable results.
However, across all the CPU benchmarks, the performance is very good overall, placing only minimally behind the HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 with the Core i7-12800H. The regular Creator Z16P in the configuration with the Core i9-12900H is about 9% faster on average. In battery operation, the power consumption of the processor is limited to 45 watts, resulting in a performance reduction of about 25% in the multicore tests. You can find additional CPU benchmarks in our mobile processors section.
Cinebench R15 Multi Constant Load Test
Cinebench R23: Multi Core | Single Core
Cinebench R20: CPU (Multi Core) | CPU (Single Core)
Cinebench R15: CPU Multi 64Bit | CPU Single 64Bit
Blender: v2.79 BMW27 CPU
7-Zip 18.03: 7z b 4 | 7z b 4 -mmt1
Geekbench 5.5: Multi-Core | Single-Core
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2: 4k Preset
LibreOffice : 20 Documents To PDF
R Benchmark 2.5: Overall mean
Cinebench R23 / Multi Core | |
MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA | |
Average Intel Core i7-12700H (4032 - 19330, n=63) | |
Average of class Workstation (4332 - 24560, n=27, last 2 years) | |
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00 | |
Dell Precision 5000 5560 |
Cinebench R23 / Single Core | |
MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA | |
Average Intel Core i7-12700H (778 - 1826, n=62) | |
Average of class Workstation (1144 - 2106, n=26, last 2 years) | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00 | |
Dell Precision 5000 5560 |
Cinebench R20 / CPU (Multi Core) | |
MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA | |
Average Intel Core i7-12700H (1576 - 7407, n=63) | |
Average of class Workstation (1669 - 9329, n=28, last 2 years) | |
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00 | |
Dell Precision 5000 5560 |
Cinebench R20 / CPU (Single Core) | |
MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA | |
Average Intel Core i7-12700H (300 - 704, n=63) | |
Average of class Workstation (528 - 816, n=28, last 2 years) | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00 | |
Dell Precision 5000 5560 |
Cinebench R15 / CPU Multi 64Bit | |
MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA | |
Average Intel Core i7-12700H (1379 - 2916, n=69) | |
Average of class Workstation (706 - 3625, n=27, last 2 years) | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00 | |
Dell Precision 5000 5560 |
Cinebench R15 / CPU Single 64Bit | |
MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA | |
Average of class Workstation (166.2 - 301, n=27, last 2 years) | |
Average Intel Core i7-12700H (113 - 263, n=64) | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00 | |
Dell Precision 5000 5560 |
Blender / v2.79 BMW27 CPU | |
Dell Precision 5000 5560 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00 | |
Average of class Workstation (137 - 684, n=27, last 2 years) | |
Average Intel Core i7-12700H (168 - 732, n=62) | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA | |
MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST |
7-Zip 18.03 / 7z b 4 | |
MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
Average of class Workstation (20087 - 99351, n=27, last 2 years) | |
Average Intel Core i7-12700H (22844 - 73067, n=62) | |
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00 | |
Dell Precision 5000 5560 |
7-Zip 18.03 / 7z b 4 -mmt1 | |
MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA | |
Average of class Workstation (4777 - 6670, n=27, last 2 years) | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00 | |
Dell Precision 5000 5560 | |
Average Intel Core i7-12700H (2743 - 5972, n=62) |
Geekbench 5.5 / Multi-Core | |
MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
Average Intel Core i7-12700H (5144 - 13745, n=63) | |
Average of class Workstation (5022 - 17487, n=27, last 2 years) | |
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00 |
Geekbench 5.5 / Single-Core | |
MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA | |
Average of class Workstation (1474 - 2095, n=27, last 2 years) | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
Average Intel Core i7-12700H (803 - 1851, n=63) | |
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00 |
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2 / 4k Preset | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST | |
Average of class Workstation (5.09 - 26, n=27, last 2 years) | |
Average Intel Core i7-12700H (4.67 - 21.8, n=63) | |
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00 | |
Dell Precision 5000 5560 |
LibreOffice / 20 Documents To PDF | |
Average of class Workstation (36.5 - 95.2, n=27, last 2 years) | |
Dell Precision 5000 5560 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00 | |
Average Intel Core i7-12700H (34.2 - 95.3, n=62) | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA | |
MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST |
R Benchmark 2.5 / Overall mean | |
Dell Precision 5000 5560 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00 | |
Average Intel Core i7-12700H (0.4441 - 1.052, n=62) | |
Average of class Workstation (0.3876 - 0.594, n=27, last 2 years) | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA | |
MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST |
* ... smaller is better
AIDA64: FP32 Ray-Trace | FPU Julia | CPU SHA3 | CPU Queen | FPU SinJulia | FPU Mandel | CPU AES | CPU ZLib | FP64 Ray-Trace | CPU PhotoWorxx
Performance Rating | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA | |
Average of class Workstation | |
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4Z9DVUS | |
MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST | |
Average Intel Core i7-12700H |
AIDA64 / FP32 Ray-Trace | |
Average of class Workstation (2619 - 25776, n=27, last 2 years) | |
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4Z9DVUS | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
Average Intel Core i7-12700H (2585 - 17957, n=62) | |
MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST |
AIDA64 / FPU Julia | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA | |
Average of class Workstation (12909 - 109059, n=27, last 2 years) | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4Z9DVUS | |
Average Intel Core i7-12700H (12439 - 90760, n=62) | |
MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST |
AIDA64 / CPU SHA3 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4Z9DVUS | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
Average of class Workstation (824 - 4981, n=27, last 2 years) | |
Average Intel Core i7-12700H (833 - 4242, n=62) | |
MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST |
AIDA64 / CPU Queen | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA | |
MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
Average Intel Core i7-12700H (57923 - 103202, n=62) | |
Average of class Workstation (26716 - 131931, n=27, last 2 years) | |
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4Z9DVUS |
AIDA64 / FPU SinJulia | |
Average of class Workstation (3105 - 14742, n=27, last 2 years) | |
MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST | |
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4Z9DVUS | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
Average Intel Core i7-12700H (3249 - 9939, n=62) |
AIDA64 / FPU Mandel | |
Average of class Workstation (6967 - 58181, n=27, last 2 years) | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA | |
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4Z9DVUS | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
Average Intel Core i7-12700H (7135 - 44760, n=62) | |
MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST |
AIDA64 / CPU AES | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST | |
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4Z9DVUS | |
Average Intel Core i7-12700H (31839 - 144360, n=62) | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA | |
Average of class Workstation (19489 - 132156, n=27, last 2 years) |
AIDA64 / CPU ZLib | |
MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
Average Intel Core i7-12700H (305 - 1171, n=62) | |
Average of class Workstation (314 - 1472, n=27, last 2 years) | |
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4Z9DVUS |
AIDA64 / FP64 Ray-Trace | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA | |
Average of class Workstation (1473 - 13800, n=27, last 2 years) | |
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4Z9DVUS | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
Average Intel Core i7-12700H (1437 - 9692, n=62) | |
MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST |
AIDA64 / CPU PhotoWorxx | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA | |
Average of class Workstation (11898 - 48483, n=27, last 2 years) | |
Average Intel Core i7-12700H (12863 - 52207, n=62) | |
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4Z9DVUS |
System Performance
It is not very surprising that there are no problems at all in the basic system performance. In our tests, the laptop is always very responsive, and the benchmark results also turn out very good.
CrossMark: Overall | Productivity | Creativity | Responsiveness
PCMark 10 / Essentials | |
MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST | |
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00 | |
Dell Precision 5000 5560 | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
Average Intel Core i7-12700H, NVIDIA RTX A3000 Laptop GPU | |
Average of class Workstation (9151 - 12197, n=27, last 2 years) | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA |
PCMark 10 / Productivity | |
MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
Average Intel Core i7-12700H, NVIDIA RTX A3000 Laptop GPU | |
Average of class Workstation (7846 - 10820, n=27, last 2 years) | |
Dell Precision 5000 5560 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00 | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA |
PCMark 10 / Digital Content Creation | |
MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST | |
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00 | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
Average Intel Core i7-12700H, NVIDIA RTX A3000 Laptop GPU | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA | |
Average of class Workstation (5399 - 13947, n=27, last 2 years) | |
Dell Precision 5000 5560 |
CrossMark / Overall | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
Average Intel Core i7-12700H, NVIDIA RTX A3000 Laptop GPU | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA | |
Average of class Workstation (1154 - 1972, n=26, last 2 years) | |
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00 |
CrossMark / Productivity | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
Average Intel Core i7-12700H, NVIDIA RTX A3000 Laptop GPU | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA | |
Average of class Workstation (1188 - 1842, n=26, last 2 years) | |
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00 |
CrossMark / Creativity | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
Average Intel Core i7-12700H, NVIDIA RTX A3000 Laptop GPU | |
Average of class Workstation (1180 - 2248, n=26, last 2 years) | |
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00 |
CrossMark / Responsiveness | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
Average Intel Core i7-12700H, NVIDIA RTX A3000 Laptop GPU | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA | |
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00 | |
Average of class Workstation (990 - 1865, n=26, last 2 years) |
PCMark 10 Score | 7086 points | |
Help |
AIDA64 / Memory Copy | |
MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA | |
Average of class Workstation (24508 - 74486, n=27, last 2 years) | |
Average Intel Core i7-12700H (25615 - 80511, n=62) | |
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4Z9DVUS |
AIDA64 / Memory Read | |
MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA | |
Average Intel Core i7-12700H (25586 - 79442, n=62) | |
Average of class Workstation (25882 - 73331, n=27, last 2 years) | |
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4Z9DVUS |
AIDA64 / Memory Write | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA | |
Average of class Workstation (22240 - 92336, n=27, last 2 years) | |
Average Intel Core i7-12700H (23679 - 88660, n=62) | |
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4Z9DVUS |
AIDA64 / Memory Latency | |
Average of class Workstation (83.4 - 138.9, n=27, last 2 years) | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA | |
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4Z9DVUS | |
Average Intel Core i7-12700H (76.2 - 133.9, n=60) |
* ... smaller is better
DPC Latencies
With the BIOS at the time of our testing, the test unit shows no limitations in our latency test (surfing the Internet, 4K YouTube reproduction, CPU load). Even though one of the drivers causes a slight outlier, there shouldn't be any problems using real-time audio applications.
DPC Latencies / LatencyMon - interrupt to process latency (max), Web, Youtube, Prime95 | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA | |
MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST | |
Dell Precision 5000 5560 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00 | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST |
* ... smaller is better
Storage Solution
The MSI CreatorPro Z16P includes two slots for M.2-2280 SSDs with the fast PCIe 4.0 interface. Our test unit is equipped with the fast PM9A1 from Samsung (OEM version of 980 Pro). Its storage capacity is 1 TB, with 870 GB of that available to the user after the first startup. The transfer rates are very high, but due to temperature problems, the performance doesn't remain stable, dropping from more than 6 to around 4 GB/s after a few minutes. However, this is still fast, and there shouldn't be any limitations in practice. You can find additional SSD benchmarks here.
* ... smaller is better
Disk Throttling: DiskSpd Read Loop, Queue Depth 8
Graphics Card - Nvidia RTX A3000
Our test unit is equipped with the professional Nvidia RTX A3000 that received an upgrade from 6 to 12 GB of GDDR6-VRAM in 2022. There are many technical similarities with the consumer GeForce RTX 3060, but the RTX A3000 offers an additional 256 CUDA cores. This is the version with a TGP of 80 watts, with an additional 10 watts of dynamic boost that can be used by the CPU.
The graphics performance falls fully within the target for the RTX A3000, and we also see a significant advantage to the smaller RTX A2000 in the ZBook Studio 16 G9. In terms of pure performance, the RTX 3070 or 3080 Ti consumer GPUs are of course faster, but the professional tests also show the advantage of the driver certifications. The MSI passes the 3DMark Time Spy stress test with 97.9%.
On the other hand, the gaming benchmarks show a slightly different picture, since the performance drops after a few minutes here, as you can also see clearly in our The Witcher 3 test. We were able to observe a similar behavior in the Creator Z16P with the RTX 3080 Ti, although there is no real technical reason for this, and we again suspect some problems with the performance profiles as the culprits here.
In battery operation, the RTX A3000 is allowed to consume a maximum of 40 watts, leading to a significant performance reduction of 75%. You can find additional GPU benchmarks here.
3DMark 11 - 1280x720 Performance GPU | |
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00 | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
Average NVIDIA RTX A3000 Laptop GPU (23699 - 27523, n=3) | |
Average of class Workstation (7432 - 54334, n=27, last 2 years) | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA | |
Dell Precision 5000 5560 | |
MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST |
3DMark | |
1920x1080 Fire Strike Graphics | |
MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST | |
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00 | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
Average NVIDIA RTX A3000 Laptop GPU (17034 - 20417, n=3) | |
Average of class Workstation (4816 - 35868, n=28, last 2 years) | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA | |
Dell Precision 5000 5560 | |
2560x1440 Time Spy Graphics | |
MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST | |
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00 | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
Average NVIDIA RTX A3000 Laptop GPU (6530 - 7536, n=3) | |
Average of class Workstation (1882 - 16218, n=28, last 2 years) | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA | |
Dell Precision 5000 5560 |
V-Ray Benchmark Next 4.10 - GPU | |
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00 | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST | |
Average NVIDIA RTX A3000 Laptop GPU (242 - 362, n=3) | |
Average of class Workstation (44 - 986, n=19, last 2 years) | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA |
Geekbench 5.5 - OpenCL Score | |
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00 | |
MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
Average NVIDIA RTX A3000 Laptop GPU (87630 - 93937, n=3) | |
Average of class Workstation (4201 - 174402, n=27, last 2 years) | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA |
3DMark 11 Performance | 24865 points | |
3DMark Fire Strike Score | 18097 points | |
3DMark Time Spy Score | 7703 points | |
Help |
Blender / v3.3 Classroom OPTIX/RTX | |
HP ZBook Firefly 14 G9-6B8A2EA | |
Average of class Workstation (15 - 269, n=23, last 2 years) | |
Dell Precision 5000 5470 | |
HP Envy 16 h0112nr | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA | |
Dell Precision 7670 | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
Average NVIDIA RTX A3000 Laptop GPU |
Blender / v3.3 Classroom CUDA | |
HP ZBook Firefly 14 G9-6B8A2EA | |
Dell Precision 5000 5470 | |
Average of class Workstation (21 - 285, n=23, last 2 years) | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA | |
HP Envy 16 h0112nr | |
Dell Precision 7670 | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
Average NVIDIA RTX A3000 Laptop GPU |
Blender / v3.3 Classroom CPU | |
HP ZBook Firefly 14 G9-6B8A2EA | |
HP Envy 16 h0112nr | |
Dell Precision 5000 5470 | |
Average of class Workstation (254 - 1326, n=27, last 2 years) | |
Dell Precision 7670 | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
Average NVIDIA RTX A3000 Laptop GPU | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA |
* ... smaller is better
The Witcher 3 FPS Chart
low | med. | high | ultra | QHD | |
GTA V (2015) | 185.8 | 182.5 | 168.5 | 95.3 | 71.3 |
The Witcher 3 (2015) | 381 | 262 | 151 | 59.6 | |
Dota 2 Reborn (2015) | 182 | 166.8 | 155.8 | 147.1 | |
Final Fantasy XV Benchmark (2018) | 176 | 83.8 | 64.3 | 45.6 | |
X-Plane 11.11 (2018) | 142.1 | 120.7 | 97.5 | ||
Far Cry 5 (2018) | 170 | 128 | 117 | 108 | 76 |
Strange Brigade (2018) | 344 | 152 | 121 | 108 | 85 |
F1 2021 (2021) | 334 | 187 | 151.1 | 77.5 | 56.3 |
Cyberpunk 2077 1.6 (2022) | 77 | 66 | 53 | 43 | 27 |
F1 22 (2022) | 181 | 167.5 | 120.9 | 39 | 26.2 |
Emissions and Power Management
Noise Levels
The two fans of the CreatorPro Z16P are always running, but you can only hear their whirring when holding your ear directly to the case in a quiet room. In everyday operation, you also benefit from the defensive fan curve, since it takes about 30 seconds even under full load, before they become louder. While gaming, we then measure around 44 and under full load 47 dB(A), with the whirring being clearly audible without being offensive. We do not hear any other electronic noises such as coil whine.
Noise Level
Idle |
| 27.1 / 27.1 / 27.1 dB(A) |
Load |
| 42.9 / 47 dB(A) |
| ||
30 dB silent 40 dB(A) audible 50 dB(A) loud |
||
min: , med: , max: Earthworks M23R, Arta (15 cm distance) environment noise: 24.1 dB(A) |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST RTX A3000 Laptop GPU, i7-12700H, Samsung PM9A1 MZVL21T0HCLR | HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA RTX A2000 Laptop GPU, i7-12800H, Micron 3400 1TB MTFDKBA1T0TFH | Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00 GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, i7-11850H, Samsung PM9A1 MZVL21T0HCLR | Dell Precision 5000 5560 RTX A2000 Laptop GPU, i7-11850H, Samsung PM9A1 MZVL22T0HBLB | MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU, i9-12900H, Samsung PM9A1 MZVL22T0HBLB | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Noise | 2% | 3% | 15% | -4% | |
off / environment * | 24.1 | 24 -0% | 23.8 1% | 23.4 3% | 26 -8% |
Idle Minimum * | 27.1 | 24 11% | 23.8 12% | 23.6 13% | 27 -0% |
Idle Average * | 27.1 | 27.7 -2% | 23.8 12% | 23.6 13% | 29 -7% |
Idle Maximum * | 27.1 | 27.7 -2% | 28.3 -4% | 23.6 13% | 31 -14% |
Load Average * | 42.9 | 39.8 7% | 38.6 10% | 25.8 40% | 43 -0% |
Witcher 3 ultra * | 44 | 44.3 -1% | 47.4 -8% | 40.1 9% | 43 2% |
Load Maximum * | 47 | 47.7 -1% | 47.4 -1% | 41.4 12% | 46 2% |
* ... smaller is better
Temperatures
The temperature development was already a big problem in our test unit of the Creator Z16P with the Core i9 and the RTX 3080 Ti. The CreatorPro with the weaker Core i7 and RTX A3000 fares slightly better but still remains problematic, even though it also uses a vapor chamber cooling system. Subjectively, the problem is also increased by the metal case. With less demanding tasks, there are no limitations, but already after some brief load phases of only a few minutes, the top of the base unit heats up very strongly, and using the keyboard actually becomes uncomfortable. In addition, under no circumstances should you run the device on your lap under load, since we measure almost 70 °C (158 °F) at the case bottom. The cooling system is simply too weak overall, even for the slower components.
The stress test shows that the system gives preference to the GPU, which remains fairly stable at around 80 watts, while the CPU drops below 20 watts. There is no performance reproduction following the stress test.
(-) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 56.3 °C / 133 F, compared to the average of 38.1 °C / 101 F, ranging from 22.2 to 69.8 °C for the class Workstation.
(-) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 68.3 °C / 155 F, compared to the average of 41.3 °C / 106 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 24.1 °C / 75 F, compared to the device average of 32 °C / 90 F.
(-) Playing The Witcher 3, the average temperature for the upper side is 44 °C / 111 F, compared to the device average of 32 °C / 90 F.
(±) The palmrests and touchpad can get very hot to the touch with a maximum of 38.2 °C / 100.8 F.
(-) The average temperature of the palmrest area of similar devices was 27.8 °C / 82 F (-10.4 °C / -18.8 F).
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST Intel Core i7-12700H, NVIDIA RTX A3000 Laptop GPU | HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA Intel Core i7-12800H, NVIDIA RTX A2000 Laptop GPU | Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00 Intel Core i7-11850H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU | Dell Precision 5000 5560 Intel Core i7-11850H, NVIDIA RTX A2000 Laptop GPU | MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST Intel Core i9-12900H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Heat | 6% | 1% | -6% | -12% | |
Maximum Upper Side * | 56.3 | 38.7 31% | 51 9% | 48.2 14% | 67 -19% |
Maximum Bottom * | 68.3 | 53.4 22% | 53.5 22% | 42.6 38% | 69 -1% |
Idle Upper Side * | 25.2 | 27.3 -8% | 28.8 -14% | 34.8 -38% | 29 -15% |
Idle Bottom * | 25.9 | 31.6 -22% | 29.3 -13% | 35.2 -36% | 29 -12% |
* ... smaller is better
Speakers
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST audio analysis
(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (83.3 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 18.7% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (7% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 3% away from median
(+) | mids are linear (6.8% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 4.6% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (6.4% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(±) | linearity of overall sound is average (15.2% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 27% of all tested devices in this class were better, 7% similar, 66% worse
» The best had a delta of 7%, average was 18%, worst was 35%
Compared to all devices tested
» 17% of all tested devices were better, 4% similar, 79% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA audio analysis
(±) | speaker loudness is average but good (81.6 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(±) | reduced bass - on average 8.7% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (10.4% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 3.7% away from median
(+) | mids are linear (4.6% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 2.7% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (3.5% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(+) | overall sound is linear (10.6% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 5% of all tested devices in this class were better, 4% similar, 91% worse
» The best had a delta of 7%, average was 18%, worst was 35%
Compared to all devices tested
» 4% of all tested devices were better, 1% similar, 95% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%
Power Consumption
Our measurements of the consumption show now surprises. The powerful components including the WQHD panel simply need power, and we already measure almost 17 watts at full display brightness during idle operation. Under load, the values then increase significantly higher, and we measure about 150 watts while gaming. During the stress test, there is a short load peak at almost 180 watts, but the value also levels out quickly to around 157 watts here. As already with the Creator Z16P sibling model, MSI includes a hefty 240-Watt power supply with the CreatorPro, even though in our configuration, a more compact 200-Watt power supply (or even only 180 watts) would have been completely sufficient.
Off / Standby | 0.26 / 0.28 Watt |
Idle | 10.8 / 16.3 / 16.9 Watt |
Load |
111.7 / 177.4 Watt |
Power Consumption The Witcher 3 / Stress Test
Power Consumption With External Monitor
Battery Life
Mobile workstations are only rarely able to score with a long battery life, particularly configurations with high-resolution displays. Although the 90-Wh battery of the CreatorPro Z16P is very large, we still only measure barely 6 hours in our WLAN test at 150 cd/m², corresponding to 39% of the maximum brightness. At full brightness, it even lasts only about 4.5 hours.
With the laptop turned on, a full charging process takes 142 minutes, but 65% of the capacity are already reached after almost 37 minutes and about 80% after 54 minutes. The charging curve flattens significantly only after that.
Battery Runtime | |
WiFi Websurfing | |
Average of class Workstation (252 - 897, n=26, last 2 years) | |
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00 | |
Dell Precision 5000 5560 | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST | |
WiFi Websurfing max. Brightness | |
Average of class Workstation (272 - 724, n=14, last 2 years) | |
MSI Creator Z16P B12UHST | |
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST | |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 62U04EA | |
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00 |
Pros
Cons
Verdict - The cooling of the CreatorPro Z16P is overwhelmed
While the professional graphics card turns the MSI Creator Z16P into the CreatorPro Z16P, there are no other differences. So it is not surprising that the devices also share the advantages and disadvantages. The advantages definitely include the good case, the great display, and also the good keyboard. But there are also some problems, since the performance of the components was not always reliable (even though we used the Highest Performance profile). The temperature development also remains a massive problem. Using the keyboard becomes uncomfortable already after short load phases, and under longer loads, we were able to measure surface temperatures higher than 65 °C (149°F).
The performance of the MSI CreatorPro Z16P doesn't always remain stable, and the surface temperatures become too high under load. Using the keyboard becomes uncomfortable already after a few minutes.
Overall, we are having some difficulties in recommending the MSI CreatorPro Z16P as a workstation. Although there are some positive aspects, the problems with the performance and the extreme surface temperatures are not good qualifications for a workstation. The recently tested HP ZBook Studio 16 G9 was able to leave a significantly better impression overall and is also available with more powerful GPUs. We will also test the other current workstation models from the competitors in the coming weeks.
Price and Availability
A top configuration of the MSI CreatorPro Z16P with an Intel Core i9-12900H, RTX A5500, 64GB of RAM, 1 TB SSD, and QHD+ display is available from Amazon for $4862.
MSI CreatorPro Z16P B12UKST
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11/14/2022 v7
Andreas Osthoff