MSI Prestige 14 Evo laptop review: What are the capabilities of the new Core i7-1195G7?

In our test unit, MSI uses the same panel as in the Prestige 14 Evo A11M-005 that we already tested, and you can find the description of our impressions in the corresponding review.

With the Prestige 14 Evo, MSI offers a laptop with good performance and pronounced mobile characteristics. This should allow you to run office applications and creative applications whose demands on the system performance aren't too high without any problems on the road.

The Intel Core i7-1195G7 used here is a Tiger Lake processor that was manufactured in an improved process. The four cores are able to operate on up to eight tasks simultaneously and reach clock speeds between 2.9 and 5 GHz. However, the latter is only possible for a single core, while the simultaneous maximum for all cores is 4.9 GHz.

How much of this performance is available in everyday operation depends on the configured TDP value and the cooling system. With a short-time limit (PL2) of 64 watts and a constant limit (PL1) of 36 watts, MSI supplies the system with high power limits. As our Cinebench R15 constant load test shows, the Prestige 14 Evo achieves the same result with this as the predecessor model with the Intel Core i7-1185G7, which itself was only able to deliver the same performance as the Intel Core i7-1165G7 in the Schenker Vision 14.

In the single disciplines, the Intel Core i7-1195G7 in the MSI Prestige 14 Evo is able to achieve one of the top places in our test field particularly in the multi-core performance. However, thanks to their higher number of cores, the current AMD mobile processors such as the AMD Ryzen 7 5800U in the ZenBook 13 have a clear advantage here (despite their lower power consumption). Only in the single-core tests, the Intel chips still have a slight advantage thanks to their high Turbo boost rates, and here, the new i7-1195G7 also has a slight advantage compared to the i7-1185G7.

In battery operation, we were unable to determine any performance drop, neither in the CPU, nor the GPU performance.

In the PCMark 10 test to evaluate the system performance, the MSI Prestige 14 Evo achieved a very good result that was only surpassed by the Asus ZenBook 13. In the single disciplines, it was able to achieve first place in the Essentials test, while only getting third place in the Productivity test.

During our testing period, the MSI laptop always ran smoothly, never showing any micro stutters or anything similar. Applications started up quickly, and the data access also succeeded without any delay. You can see how other devices fared in comparison in our CPU benchmark list.

MSI has equipped the Prestige 14 Evo with a 512-GB SSD from Samsung. In our storage benchmarks, this achieves very good read and write rates and is only surpassed by the SSD in the Schenker Vision 14, which also comes from Samsung.

Information on how other storage solutions fare in comparison can be found in our HDD/SSD benchmark list.

The internal Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs graphics unit is responsible for the display of image contents in the Prestige 14 Evo. It shares the working memory with the processor and benefits from a dual-channel configuration as we see it here. It achieves results in the 3DMark benchmarks that are comparable with the level of other laptops with this GPU.

Since the graphics performance should not be improved by the Tiger Lake refresh, the values should be considered very good and above average. While in most of the single disciplines the predecessor model of the Prestige 14 is able to occupy first place, our test unit achieves the highest result of our comparison field in the Time Spy test.

You can find out what performance to expect from other graphics cards in comparison to this in our GPU benchmark list.

The Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 in the Prestige 14 Evo is also able to display games with slightly higher demands on the graphics performance, as long as you use reduced detail levels. In this way, smooth frame rates around 30 fps are also possible in Full HD resolution. The Witcher 3 constant load test also shows that the performance remains constant in games over a longer time period.

You can find out what performance you can expect from other games in our GPU games list.

With a noise level of up to 43.7 dB(A), the fan of the MSI Prestige 14 Evo is clearly noticeable under load. However, in daily operation with office applications and browsing the Internet, the Windows laptop remains mostly silent.

The coil whine from the Prestige 14 Evo A11M cannot be heard in our current test unit anymore.