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MagyarMSI Raider GE66 12UHS notebook review: Passes with flying colors
MSI continues to expand its repertoire of high-end gaming notebooks. With the GE66 12UHS, the Taiwanese company aims to harness the power of both the Intel Core i9 12900HK and the Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti with the help of a "Phase-Change Liquid Metal Pad" on the CPU as well as an improved heatsink. While the overall design has changed little compared to the predecessor (the MSI GE66 10SFS), the manufacturer has nonetheless made many adjustments under the hood.
In the following review, we find out whether the device can keep up with the competition in the form of the Razer Blade 15 Advanced Early 2022, the Schenker XMG Neo 15 Early 2022 and the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro 16 G7.
Possible Competitors in Comparison
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Height | Size | Resolution | Best Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 87.4 % | 06/2022 | MSI Raider GE66 12UHS i9-12900HK, GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU | 2.4 kg | 23.4 mm | 15.60" | 3840x2160 | |
| 84.6 % | 07/2020 | MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS i9-10980HK, GeForce RTX 2070 Super Mobile | 2.4 kg | 23 mm | 15.60" | 1920x1080 | |
| 89.1 % | 03/2022 | Razer Blade 15 2022 i7-12800H, GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU | 2.1 kg | 16.99 mm | 15.60" | 2560x1440 | |
03/2022 | SCHENKER XMG Neo 15 E22 (Early 2022, RTX 3080 Ti) i7-12700H, GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU | 2.2 kg | 26.6 mm | 15.60" | 2560x1440 | ||
| 88 % | 03/2022 | Lenovo Legion 5 Pro 16 G7 i7 RTX 3070Ti i7-12700H, GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Laptop GPU | 2.6 kg | 26.6 mm | 16.00" | 2560x1600 |
Case: MSI laptop with slightly altered appearance
The case and design of the MSI Raider GE66 12 UHS have not changed compared to the predecessor, except for a more pleasing as well as higher-quality light bar on the front. We thus refer you to the review of the predecessor for more details on the case: MSI GE66 10SFS.
Compared to other gaming notebooks, our review device has the second highest weight (2.4 kg). In terms of size, the GE66 is more of a laptop giant. The Razer Blade demonstrates what is possible in terms of mobility.
Connectivity: Upgraded to modern ports
All port positions also remained unchanged in relation to the MSI GE66 10SFS. Only the USB-C port on the back has been upgraded to Thunderbolt 4, and the USB-C 3.2 port on the left side now supports the DisplayPort function.
SD Card Reader
The performance of the SD card reader falls short of expectations in testing with our AV PRO V60 microSD reference card. Only the Schenker XMG Neo 15 Early 2022 performs worse in the comparison field.
| SD Card Reader - average JPG Copy Test (av. of 3 runs) | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| Razer Blade 15 2022 (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| Average of class Gaming (19 - 202, n=94, last 2 years) | |
| MSI Raider GE66 12UHS (AV PRO microSD 128 GB V60) | |
| SCHENKER XMG Neo 15 E22 (Early 2022, RTX 3080 Ti) | |
Communication
Our review device comes out at the top in Wi-Fi performance and shows excellent rates that are only just surpassed by the Razer Blade 15 Advanced Early 2022.
Webcam
The webcam offers Full HD and delivers decent images for a notebook webcam. While these tend to be noisy and blurry in low-light conditions, the overall image quality should suffice for everyday tasks such as video conferencing.
Accessories
Excluding the notebook, the scope of delivery includes the necessary documentation for the device as well as the power adapter. Like the 280 watts of its predecessor, the unchanged power supply still provides enough power for the installed hardware.
Maintenance
In 2022, service support is not always a given for every device. Some manufacturers deliberately make it difficult for users who want to maintain their devices themselves. Dell, for example, installs the motherboard back-to-front in its Alienware laptops (fan and heat sink are directly underneath the keyboard and are difficult to access). Those wanting to replace the heat conduction pads or paste are thus faced with a cumbersome procedure.
This is not the case with our MSI Raider GE66 12 UHS, where the only remotely difficult task lies in removing 11 Phillips screws to detach the baseplate. This also applies to the plastic cover behind the display. For those interested, there is a small series of photos below that show how to access the inner workings of the MSI Raider GE66 12 UHS without damaging the sensitive plastic parts.
Once you have removed the top cover and the bottom shell, you have direct access to the two PCI Gen 4 slots. You can also replace the Wi-Fi card, clean the fans and, if necessary, replace the cooling system and the SO-DIMM modules, which are located underneath a passive cooling block.
Warranty
As in the case of the predecessor, MSI grants the Raider GE66 a 24-month warranty with pick-up & return service. This applies to Germany only, so the warranty policy may differ in other countries. Important to note is that the warranty seal has no relevance for German-speaking countries insofar that the user is allowed to open the device for upgrading and maintenance without the warranty becoming void. However, this applies only under the condition that the work is carried out professionally. If damage or defects indicate that the work was not done professionally, this can render the warranty invalid. Furthermore, the device must be restored to its original configuration if servicing is required, since parts may have to be replaced for the repair and MSI requires the original parts.
Input devices: Great gaming keyboard with sleek light bar
The keyboard and layout as well as the touchpad have not changed compared to the MSI GE66 10SFS. We therefore again refer you to the review of the predecessor model.
One point worth mentioning is the light bar, which has been enlarged and offers even more lighting on the chassis and front for RGB fans. The illumination also looks more pleasant and of higher quality.
Display: 4K panel with 120 Hz
MSI has installed a non-reflective IPS panel with a refresh rate of 120 Hz in the Raider GE66 12UHS, which has 4K resolution and subjectively looks excellent. Whether a 4K panel is suitable for a 15-incher is debatable: it is definitely an advantage for professional users who are also into gaming. Beyond that, the installed hardware falls into the absolute high-end range and is definitely configured to run games smoothly in 4K resolution. MSI also offers alternatives, starting with a QHD panel with 240 Hz or 165 Hz (and 100% DCI-P3 coverage in each case), up to a Full HD panel with 360 Hz.
Comparing the values of the 4K display in the review device with those of the FHD panel (240 Hz) in the predecessor, the following picture emerges: The GE66 12UHS with its 4K panel is 20% brighter at 347 cd/m² and offers a higher color space coverage at 80.4% DCI-P3 versus 68% as well as 94.7% AdobeRGB versus 69.8%. The review device with its 4K display does not use PWM, even though the predecessor had this only at a very high frequency. However, there are also disadvantages, such as higher response times and poorer black and contrast values.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brightness Distribution: 90 %
Center on Battery: 351 cd/m²
Contrast: 1003:1 (Black: 0.35 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 2.54 | 0.5-29.43 Ø4.95, calibrated: 0.67
ΔE Greyscale 4.1 | 0.5-98 Ø5.2
94.7% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
98.4% sRGB (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
80.4% Display P3 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
Gamma: 2.089
| MSI Raider GE66 12UHS AUO51EB, IPS, 3840x2160, 15.6" | MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS Sharp LQ156M1JW03 (SHP14C5), IPS-Level, 1920x1080, 15.6" | Razer Blade 15 2022 Sharp LQ156T1JW03, IPS, 2560x1440, 15.6" | SCHENKER XMG Neo 15 E22 (Early 2022, RTX 3080 Ti) BOE0A67 (BOE CQ NE156QHM-NZ1), IPS, 2560x1440, 15.6" | Lenovo Legion 5 Pro 16 G7 i7 RTX 3070Ti NE160QDM-NY1, IPS, 2560x1600, 16" | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Display | -13% | 6% | -14% | ||
| Display P3 Coverage | 80.4 | 68 -15% | 99.1 23% | 68.7 -15% | |
| sRGB Coverage | 98.4 | 99 1% | 99.9 2% | 97.6 -1% | |
| AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage | 94.7 | 69.8 -26% | 86.8 -8% | 70.9 -25% | |
| Response Times | 16% | 16% | 20% | 24% | |
| Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 18.8 ? | 16.4 ? 13% | 14.4 ? 23% | 14.4 ? 23% | 17.6 ? 6% |
| Response Time Black / White * | 12.8 ? | 10.4 ? 19% | 11.6 ? 9% | 10.8 ? 16% | 7.6 ? 41% |
| PWM Frequency | 23580 ? | ||||
| Screen | 23% | -19% | 4% | 9% | |
| Brightness middle | 351 | 291 -17% | 286 -19% | 295 -16% | 502 43% |
| Brightness | 347 | 278 -20% | 271 -22% | 277 -20% | 491 41% |
| Brightness Distribution | 90 | 91 1% | 89 -1% | 62 -31% | 91 1% |
| Black Level * | 0.35 | 0.25 29% | 0.25 29% | 0.28 20% | 0.37 -6% |
| Contrast | 1003 | 1164 16% | 1144 14% | 1054 5% | 1357 35% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 2.54 | 1.19 53% | 2.74 -8% | 2.36 7% | 2.7 -6% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 8.36 | 3.04 64% | 5.21 38% | 4.24 49% | 4.5 46% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 calibrated * | 0.67 | 2.52 -276% | 1.4 -109% | ||
| Greyscale dE 2000 * | 4.1 | 1.9 54% | 1.1 73% | 3.43 16% | 2.7 34% |
| Gamma | 2.089 105% | 2.216 99% | 2.2 100% | 2.44 90% | 2.44 90% |
| CCT | 7036 92% | 7018 93% | 6408 101% | 6266 104% | 6326 103% |
| Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998) | 70 | ||||
| Color Space (Percent of sRGB) | 92 | ||||
| Total Average (Program / Settings) | 9% /
13% | 1% /
-9% | 12% /
7% | 6% /
6% |
* ... smaller is better
The color accuracy of the display ex werks can be improved, especially grayscale. Upon calibration with the photospectrometer, we achieved very good average grayscale and color DeltaE values of 0.8 and 0.67, respectively. The ICC profile of our calibration is available for download here.
Display Response Times
| ↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
|---|---|---|
| 12.8 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 6.8 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 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 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 29 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is better than the average of all tested devices (21.1 ms). | ||
| ↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
| 18.8 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 9.2 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 9.6 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 0.165 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 28 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is better than the average of all tested devices (33.1 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 17263 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 3846000) Hz was measured. | |||
Even with a non-reflective display and a brightness of 347 cd/m², we cannot recommend the Raider GE66 12UHS for use in direct sunlight, at least when we work without MSI True Color. With this tool and its diverse settings, the legibility of display content can be improved somewhat. But in terms of overall outdoor use, you should look for a shady spot for optimal conditions.
The inbuilt IPS panel of our review device remains viewing-angle stable even when viewed from an extremely wide angles. The brightness remains unchanged and the colors do not become distorted either.
Performance: Clever liquid metal cooling solution for the MSI GE66 12UHS
The MSI GE66 12UHS is available in various configurations. So you can purchase the system with an Intel Core i7 12700H instead of the Intel Core i9 12900HK. Regarding the GPU configuration, the system is either available with the RTX 3080 with 8 GB VRAM and 150 watts of TDP (Total Dynamic Power) or with the RTX 3080 Ti, which is equipped with 16 GB VRAM and also has TDP of 150 watts. Both configurations use either 16 GB of DDR5 RAM at 4,800 MHz or 32 GB of DDR5 RAM at the same clock rate, each running in dual-channel mode. SSDs are installed in either the 1 TB or 2 TB size.
Our review device is the top-end version with the Intel Core i9 12900HK, the RTX 3080 Ti and 32 GB DDR5 RAM, rounded off by a 2 TB SSD.
Test Conditions
For optimal benchmark results, we set our laptop to "Extreme Performance" mode via the MSI Center (otherwise set to "Smart Auto" as the default setting). Many important system settings can be adjusted via the platform (no account creation necessary). These include the fan profiles as well as general settings and other features such as "Live Update" for finding the latest system drivers. Unfortunately, not all drivers can be installed automatically and some have to be installed manually. We also liked the option of running the GPU either in "Discrete Graphics Mode" (RTX 3080 Ti only) or in "MSHybrid Graphics Mode" (Advanced-Optimus) to not only save battery life but also to be able to use the Thunderbolt 4 video output, since this is disabled in "Discrete Graphics Mode". A system restart is necessary in each case.
Several shortcomings were observed in the form of occasionally long waiting times during the start up of MSI Center, which also frequently crashed for no apparent reason, and the constant freezing of the "Hardware Monitoring" tool in our review device.
Processor
Our review device uses an Intel Core i9 12900HK, one of the strongest mobile CPUs from Intel alongside the soon-to-be released Intel Core i9 12950HX. The Intel Core i9 12900HK has 14 cores (20 threads), 6 performance and 8 efficiency cores, which offer a Turbo Boost of up to 5 GHz and 24 MB L3 cache.
In the Cinebench R23 benchmark with automatic fan control as well as the "Extreme Performance" profile, the CPU briefly consumes 86 watts before being thermally throttled. The maximum score in this scenario is 16,236 points in the multi-core benchmark. This score drops to 12,729 points in battery mode under the same conditions. If you leave performance and fan control to the AI (artificial intelligence) in "Smart Auto Mode", the score increases only marginally to 16,533 points and the CPU briefly consumes 90 watts instead of 86 watts. If you change the fan mode to "Cooler Boost" in the "Extreme Performance" profile, you reach almost 17,000 points and a peak load of 92 watts, but you have to put up with considerably higher levels of noise.
MSI equips the installed processor with a "Phase-Change Liquid Metal Pad", whose function is to act as a heat conduction pad in solid form until it melts at 58 degrees Celsius and turns into liquid metal, which is then supposed to significantly improve thermal conductivity at high temperatures.
Our test results: Even with liquid metal, the 15-incher does not fully exhaust the potential of its Intel Core i9 12900HK and is even beaten by the Intel Core i7 12700H of certain comparison devices. The big brother of the MSI GE66 12UHS, the GE76 12UHS, also manages "only" 2,722 points in our Cinebench R15 multi sustained load test with the same CPU. The Lenovo Legion 5 Pro 16 G7 and the Schenker Neo 15, both with 12700H processors, outperform both the GE66 and the larger MSI GE76 12UHS. Compared to the predecessor with the Intel Core i9 10980HK, our review device nevertheless manages a remarkable performance increase of over 50%.
Cinebench R15 Multi Sustained Load
* ... 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 | |
| Average of class Gaming | |
| Lenovo Legion 5 Pro 16 G7 i7 RTX 3070Ti | |
| SCHENKER XMG Neo 15 E22 (Early 2022, RTX 3080 Ti) | |
| MSI Raider GE66 12UHS | |
| Average Intel Core i9-12900HK | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| Razer Blade 15 2022 | |
| AIDA64 / FP32 Ray-Trace | |
| Average of class Gaming (4986 - 60169, n=197, last 2 years) | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| Lenovo Legion 5 Pro 16 G7 i7 RTX 3070Ti | |
| SCHENKER XMG Neo 15 E22 (Early 2022, RTX 3080 Ti) | |
| Average Intel Core i9-12900HK (2677 - 13948, n=13) | |
| MSI Raider GE66 12UHS | |
| Razer Blade 15 2022 | |
| AIDA64 / FPU Julia | |
| Average of class Gaming (25360 - 252486, n=197, last 2 years) | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| Average Intel Core i9-12900HK (12762 - 70764, n=13) | |
| SCHENKER XMG Neo 15 E22 (Early 2022, RTX 3080 Ti) | |
| Lenovo Legion 5 Pro 16 G7 i7 RTX 3070Ti | |
| MSI Raider GE66 12UHS | |
| Razer Blade 15 2022 | |
| AIDA64 / CPU SHA3 | |
| Average of class Gaming (1339 - 10389, n=197, last 2 years) | |
| Lenovo Legion 5 Pro 16 G7 i7 RTX 3070Ti | |
| SCHENKER XMG Neo 15 E22 (Early 2022, RTX 3080 Ti) | |
| MSI Raider GE66 12UHS | |
| Average Intel Core i9-12900HK (841 - 3504, n=13) | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| Razer Blade 15 2022 | |
| AIDA64 / CPU Queen | |
| Average of class Gaming (50699 - 200651, n=197, last 2 years) | |
| MSI Raider GE66 12UHS | |
| Lenovo Legion 5 Pro 16 G7 i7 RTX 3070Ti | |
| Average Intel Core i9-12900HK (60202 - 107161, n=13) | |
| SCHENKER XMG Neo 15 E22 (Early 2022, RTX 3080 Ti) | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| Razer Blade 15 2022 | |
| AIDA64 / FPU SinJulia | |
| Average of class Gaming (4800 - 32988, n=197, last 2 years) | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| SCHENKER XMG Neo 15 E22 (Early 2022, RTX 3080 Ti) | |
| Lenovo Legion 5 Pro 16 G7 i7 RTX 3070Ti | |
| MSI Raider GE66 12UHS | |
| Razer Blade 15 2022 | |
| Average Intel Core i9-12900HK (3225 - 10402, n=13) | |
| AIDA64 / FPU Mandel | |
| Average of class Gaming (12321 - 134044, n=197, last 2 years) | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| Lenovo Legion 5 Pro 16 G7 i7 RTX 3070Ti | |
| SCHENKER XMG Neo 15 E22 (Early 2022, RTX 3080 Ti) | |
| Average Intel Core i9-12900HK (7417 - 34233, n=13) | |
| MSI Raider GE66 12UHS | |
| Razer Blade 15 2022 | |
| AIDA64 / CPU AES | |
| Average of class Gaming (19065 - 328679, n=197, last 2 years) | |
| Lenovo Legion 5 Pro 16 G7 i7 RTX 3070Ti | |
| MSI Raider GE66 12UHS | |
| Average Intel Core i9-12900HK (32382 - 112254, n=13) | |
| SCHENKER XMG Neo 15 E22 (Early 2022, RTX 3080 Ti) | |
| Razer Blade 15 2022 | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| AIDA64 / CPU ZLib | |
| Average of class Gaming (373 - 2409, n=197, last 2 years) | |
| Lenovo Legion 5 Pro 16 G7 i7 RTX 3070Ti | |
| SCHENKER XMG Neo 15 E22 (Early 2022, RTX 3080 Ti) | |
| MSI Raider GE66 12UHS | |
| Average Intel Core i9-12900HK (314 - 1209, n=13) | |
| Razer Blade 15 2022 | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| AIDA64 / FP64 Ray-Trace | |
| Average of class Gaming (2540 - 31796, n=197, last 2 years) | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| Lenovo Legion 5 Pro 16 G7 i7 RTX 3070Ti | |
| SCHENKER XMG Neo 15 E22 (Early 2022, RTX 3080 Ti) | |
| Average Intel Core i9-12900HK (1501 - 7616, n=13) | |
| MSI Raider GE66 12UHS | |
| Razer Blade 15 2022 | |
| AIDA64 / CPU PhotoWorxx | |
| Razer Blade 15 2022 | |
| MSI Raider GE66 12UHS | |
| SCHENKER XMG Neo 15 E22 (Early 2022, RTX 3080 Ti) | |
| Average of class Gaming (10805 - 60161, n=198, last 2 years) | |
| Average Intel Core i9-12900HK (24903 - 42462, n=13) | |
| Lenovo Legion 5 Pro 16 G7 i7 RTX 3070Ti | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
System Performance
As expected, system performance turns out to be high. Our MSI GE66 12UHS wipes the floor with the competition and displays excellent performance in all tested categories.
CrossMark: Overall | Productivity | Creativity | Responsiveness
| PCMark 10 / Score | |
| MSI Raider GE66 12UHS | |
| Average Intel Core i9-12900HK, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU (7149 - 8186, n=5) | |
| Average of class Gaming (5776 - 9852, n=177, last 2 years) | |
| Razer Blade 15 2022 | |
| Lenovo Legion 5 Pro 16 G7 i7 RTX 3070Ti | |
| SCHENKER XMG Neo 15 E22 (Early 2022, RTX 3080 Ti) | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| PCMark 10 / Essentials | |
| MSI Raider GE66 12UHS | |
| Average of class Gaming (9057 - 12334, n=176, last 2 years) | |
| Average Intel Core i9-12900HK, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU (9870 - 11205, n=5) | |
| Razer Blade 15 2022 | |
| SCHENKER XMG Neo 15 E22 (Early 2022, RTX 3080 Ti) | |
| Lenovo Legion 5 Pro 16 G7 i7 RTX 3070Ti | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| PCMark 10 / Productivity | |
| MSI Raider GE66 12UHS | |
| Average Intel Core i9-12900HK, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU (9173 - 10422, n=5) | |
| Lenovo Legion 5 Pro 16 G7 i7 RTX 3070Ti | |
| Average of class Gaming (6662 - 14612, n=176, last 2 years) | |
| Razer Blade 15 2022 | |
| SCHENKER XMG Neo 15 E22 (Early 2022, RTX 3080 Ti) | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| PCMark 10 / Digital Content Creation | |
| MSI Raider GE66 12UHS | |
| Average Intel Core i9-12900HK, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU (10951 - 13098, n=5) | |
| Razer Blade 15 2022 | |
| Average of class Gaming (6703 - 18475, n=176, last 2 years) | |
| Lenovo Legion 5 Pro 16 G7 i7 RTX 3070Ti | |
| SCHENKER XMG Neo 15 E22 (Early 2022, RTX 3080 Ti) | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| CrossMark / Overall | |
| Lenovo Legion 5 Pro 16 G7 i7 RTX 3070Ti | |
| Average of class Gaming (1247 - 2344, n=160, last 2 years) | |
| Average Intel Core i9-12900HK, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU (970 - 2138, n=5) | |
| CrossMark / Productivity | |
| Lenovo Legion 5 Pro 16 G7 i7 RTX 3070Ti | |
| Average of class Gaming (1299 - 2204, n=160, last 2 years) | |
| Average Intel Core i9-12900HK, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU (921 - 2038, n=5) | |
| CrossMark / Creativity | |
| Average of class Gaming (1275 - 2660, n=160, last 2 years) | |
| Lenovo Legion 5 Pro 16 G7 i7 RTX 3070Ti | |
| Average Intel Core i9-12900HK, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU (1007 - 2210, n=5) | |
| CrossMark / Responsiveness | |
| Lenovo Legion 5 Pro 16 G7 i7 RTX 3070Ti | |
| Average Intel Core i9-12900HK, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU (1012 - 2234, n=5) | |
| Average of class Gaming (1030 - 2330, n=160, last 2 years) | |
| PCMark 10 Score | 8178 points | |
Help | ||
| AIDA64 / Memory Copy | |
| SCHENKER XMG Neo 15 E22 (Early 2022, RTX 3080 Ti) | |
| Average of class Gaming (21842 - 94222, n=197, last 2 years) | |
| MSI Raider GE66 12UHS | |
| Razer Blade 15 2022 | |
| Average Intel Core i9-12900HK (44442 - 62959, n=13) | |
| Lenovo Legion 5 Pro 16 G7 i7 RTX 3070Ti | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| AIDA64 / Memory Read | |
| Average of class Gaming (23681 - 99713, n=197, last 2 years) | |
| MSI Raider GE66 12UHS | |
| SCHENKER XMG Neo 15 E22 (Early 2022, RTX 3080 Ti) | |
| Razer Blade 15 2022 | |
| Average Intel Core i9-12900HK (44775 - 66989, n=13) | |
| Lenovo Legion 5 Pro 16 G7 i7 RTX 3070Ti | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| AIDA64 / Memory Write | |
| Razer Blade 15 2022 | |
| Average of class Gaming (22986 - 108954, n=197, last 2 years) | |
| SCHENKER XMG Neo 15 E22 (Early 2022, RTX 3080 Ti) | |
| MSI Raider GE66 12UHS | |
| Average Intel Core i9-12900HK (45952 - 65268, n=13) | |
| Lenovo Legion 5 Pro 16 G7 i7 RTX 3070Ti | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| AIDA64 / Memory Latency | |
| Lenovo Legion 5 Pro 16 G7 i7 RTX 3070Ti | |
| Average of class Gaming (59.5 - 259, n=197, last 2 years) | |
| MSI Raider GE66 12UHS | |
| Average Intel Core i9-12900HK (79.9 - 109, n=13) | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| SCHENKER XMG Neo 15 E22 (Early 2022, RTX 3080 Ti) | |
| Razer Blade 15 2022 | |
* ... smaller is better
DPC Latencies
Testing of the DPC latencies reveals that our review device is not suitable for real-time video processing with the current drivers and system software. Latency issues were detected in both YouTube 4K video and real-time audio processing.
| DPC Latencies / LatencyMon - interrupt to process latency (max), Web, Youtube, Prime95 | |
| MSI Raider GE66 12UHS | |
| Razer Blade 15 2022 | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| SCHENKER XMG Neo 15 E22 (Early 2022, RTX 3080 Ti) | |
| Lenovo Legion 5 Pro 16 G7 i7 RTX 3070Ti | |
* ... smaller is better
Storage Devices
The 2 TB SSD (designation PM9A1, OEM counterpart to the Samsung Evo 980 Pro) installed in our system delivers very good performance and is only beaten by the 1 TB version of the same SSD, which is also installed in Lenovo's Legion 5 Pro 16 G7. However, our diskspeed benchmark showed a massive drop in performance that persisted over the entire test period. We also observed the same problem in our review of the Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 G533ZW, equipped with the same SSD. MSI has been informed about the issue.
Two reasons for the poor values: the main reason is a problem with the firmware that cannot be solved automatically via Windows or via the MSI support page. For the outdated firmware (version: GXB7401Q), there is now a fix with which you can update to the current version (GXB7601Q) via the command prompt. Unfortunately, the driver cannot be installed via the device manager. Further research revealed that this is a well-known problem of the Samsung PM9A1 in the 256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB and 2 TB formats.
The second cause for the SDD performance drop during longer sustained loads is due to its passive cooling. This cannot be cooled sufficiently even in "Cooler Boost Mode", so the Samsung Elpis S4LV003 controller, which is the heart of the SSD, begins to throttle from 74 degrees Celsius. Experienced users who are confident enough to open their device may be able to remedy the issue by placing a good thermal pad for SSDs underneath the passive cooling plate.
In the following series of images, we show you how to install the update without loss of data. The firmware can be downloaded here (source: Reddit). Caution: Flashing of the firmware is done at your own risk.
