MSI GS65 8SG-005

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Reviews for the MSI GS65 8SG-005

85% MSI GS65 Stealth Thin 8SG review (2019 model – i7-8750H, RTX 2080 Max-Q)
Source: Ultrabook Review Archive.org version
The 2019 iteration of the MSI GS65 Stealth Thin is pretty much a hardware bump of last year's model, with Nvidia Turing graphics and a few minor refinements on the side. It remains one of the lightest and most stylish devices in its class, and while Ray Tracing on its own might not be enough to justify the high pricing of the RTX models, combined with the roughly 20% performance gain in regular games and lower inner/outer temperatures, these updated models might offer enough to get on your map, as long as you're not shopping on a budget.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 04/11/2019
Rating: Total score: 85%

Comment

Model: Nvidia’s Turing GPUs are starting to take over mobile gaming laptops; especially, the high-end ones. Now, compared to Pascal GPUs, there is definitely a performance gain, but is using them in every model possible? I find it a bit of an overkill. Just like the usage of the RTX 2080 Max-Q here.

When you look at the case, it is very easy that nothing has changed from last year's model. Everything is the same, except the hardware. Now, it is the latest tech in an old body, which is by the way super thin and very light for a very high-end gaming laptop. Just 1.9 kg! So much power, very wow. Of course here comes the but.

When you have something so powerful, yet so thin; thermodynamics gets into play. You need air flow, you need good coolers. What does the GS65 have in its thin case? Heatpipes and some fans. Do they perform well? Well, it depends. Meaning in terms of cooling, yes they do their job, but with a compromise, fan noise. Playing games can be a bit disturbing, if you don't have headphones with you all the time. You have the option to reduce the fan power of course through software, but then things get a bit hot. Other than that everything is good.

I don’t think that I have to mention performance here. Because, well, you can’t currently get anything better than this. Actually, you can, but in a bigger case, so that does not count. This is one of the best laptops that you can get in this form. Period. Price? That is something else, we don’t want to talk about. It is definitely certain that the GS65-8SG is not a budget laptop and it will hurt you financially. Is it worth it? That is a question I cannot answer. Because it totally depends on your preferences. If you like the opportunity to be mobile and carry your rig wherever you go, then it is for you. Keep in mind, with this case you have to give up the chance to do future upgrades. Then the other option is buying a desktop machine, which is a totally different experience.

Speaking of mobility. For gaming laptops, mobility means just being able to carry them around, not playing games far away from a power outlet. The same applies here. Even though the device has a 80 Wh battery, with RTX 2080 Max-Q and 8750H processor, it will only take 3-4 hours tops to drain the full battery. So, keep an eye on that.

Overall, if you have the money and like playing games in very high details, well go buy it. I can not criticize the device that much, since it is really a high-end device and MSI apparently really tries to make its users happy. Besides small things like fan management all looks fine and improved over last year's model.

Hands-on article by Ümit Yılmaz Güneş

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q: High-End laptop graphics card based on the TU104 chip with 2,944 shaders and 8 GB GDDR6 VRAM. Runs at reduced clock speeds compared to a laptop RTX 2080 to achieve a much lower power consumption.

With these GPUs you are able to play modern and demanding games fluently at medium detail settings and HD resolution.

» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Graphics Cards and the corresponding Benchmark List.

i7-8750H: On Coffee Lake architecture based processor for big and heavy laptops. Integrates six processor cores clocked at 2.2 - 4.1 GHz (4 GHz with 4 cores, 3.9 GHz with 6 cores) that support HyperThreading. Manufactured in an improved 14nm process (14nm++). » Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Processsors.

15.60":

15-inch display variants are the standard and are used for more than half of all laptops.

The reason for the popularity of mid-sized displays is that this size is reasonably easy on the eyes, often allows high resolutions and thus offers rich details on the screen, yet does not consume too much power and the devices can still be reasonably compact - simply the standard compromise.

MSI: Micro-Star International (MSI) was founded in 1986 in Taiwan. MSI is especially known as a manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards for PCs, but also offers computer accessories, complete systems, motherboards, graphics cards, laptops, desktop PCs, monitors and other components. However, the Microstar brand name in Germany belongs to the Medion company. MSI is known for its gaming products and has developed a wide range of gaming laptops and desktop PCs. The company is also active in workstations, servers and industrial automation. MSI has offices in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.

85%: This rating is slightly above average, there are somewhat more devices with worse ratings. However, clear purchase recommendations look different.

» Further information can be found in our Notebook Purchase Guide.

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