MSI Stealth GS77 laptop review: A good Razer Blade 17 alternative?
When MSI introduced the GS76 with 11th gen Intel last year, the model would utilize a completely different chassis design from the preceding GS75. For 2022, the GS77 with 12th gen Intel has arrived to replace the GS76 with yet another fresh chassis redesign. We're definitely surprised to see a new look so soon for the MSI GS series especially since most other laptops would use the same chassis skeleton for at least a few years in a row before eventually receiving a facelift.
Our configuration in review comes courtesy of Xotic PC with a 12th gen Core i7-12700H CPU, 105 W TGP GeForce RTX 3080 Ti GPU, 32 GB of DDR5-4800 RAM, 240 Hz 1440p IPS display, and a 1 TB PCIe4 x4 NVMe SSD for approximately $3700 USD retail. Other SKUs are available with the Core i9-12900H, RTX 3070 Ti, RTX 3080, 360 Hz FHD, or 120 Hz UHD panels instead.
Competing models include other ultrathin the Razer Blade 17, Dell Alienware x17, Asus ROG Zephyrus S17, and Gigabyte Aorus 17 series.
More MSI reviews:
Potential Competitors in Comparison
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Height | Size | Resolution | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 87.2 % v7 (old) | 04 / 2022 | MSI Stealth GS77 12UHS-083US i7-12700H, GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU | 2.9 kg | 20.8 mm | 17.30" | 2560x1440 | |
| 86.2 % v7 (old) | 09 / 2021 | MSI GS76 Stealth 11UH i9-11900H, GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU | 2.4 kg | 20 mm | 17.30" | 3840x2160 | |
| 91.2 % v7 (old) | 03 / 2022 | Razer Blade 17 RTX 3080 Ti i7-12800H, GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU | 2.7 kg | 19.9 mm | 17.30" | 2560x1440 | |
| 87.5 % v7 (old) | 01 / 2022 | MSI GE76 Raider i9-12900HK, GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU | 3 kg | 26 mm | 17.30" | 1920x1080 | |
| 89 % v7 (old) | 09 / 2021 | Alienware x17 RTX 3080 P48E i7-11800H, GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU | 3.2 kg | 21.4 mm | 17.30" | 3840x2160 | |
| 90.1 % v7 (old) | 07 / 2021 | Asus ROG Zephyrus S17 GX703HSD i9-11900H, GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU | 2.8 kg | 19.9 mm | 17.30" | 2560x1440 |
Case — Bigger, Heavier, Tougher
One of our biggest complaints about the GS76 was that it sacrificed too much performance for a slimmer and lighter form factor. The redesigned GS77 has addressed this by introducing a protruding jet-engine rear much like on the Alienware x17 or MSI GT series. We're happy to see that chassis rigidity has also improved as both the base and lid are more unyielding to any twists or depressions than before.
In an interesting twist of events, the GS77 is noticeably larger and heavier than the older GS76 by 14 percent and 21 percent, respectively. The increased size and weight can be mostly attributed to the aforementioned larger rear of the GS77 and overall thicker skeleton. The model sits in between the Blade 17 and Alienware x17 in both size and weight as a result. In comparison, the older GS75 was significantly lighter by over 600 grams.
Connectivity — Same As Before
Port options are identical to the GS76 albeit rearranged. Whereas the GS76 had no ports along its rear, the GS77 has a more even spread: 3 along the left, 3 along the right, and 3 along the back.
Users should take note that only one of the two USB-C ports along the right edge supports Thunderbolt much like on the GS76. Additionally, the AC adapter port has changed and so older AC adapters are not compatible.
SD Card Reader
MSI has more than halved the speed of its integrated SD reader from the last generation GS76. Moving 1 GB of pictures from our UHS-II test card to desktop on our GS77 takes about 14 seconds compared to just 5 to 6 seconds on the GS76. Users who frequently rely on the SD reader may be disappointed by this downgrade.
| SD Card Reader | |
| average JPG Copy Test (av. of 3 runs) | |
| MSI GS76 Stealth 11UH (AV PRO microSD 128 GB V60) | |
| Asus ROG Zephyrus S17 GX703HSD | |
| Alienware x17 RTX 3080 P48E (AV Pro V60) | |
| Razer Blade 17 RTX 3080 Ti (AV Pro V60) | |
| MSI Stealth GS77 12UHS-083US (AV Pro V60) | |
| maximum AS SSD Seq Read Test (1GB) | |
| Asus ROG Zephyrus S17 GX703HSD | |
| Alienware x17 RTX 3080 P48E (AV Pro V60) | |
| MSI GS76 Stealth 11UH (AV PRO microSD 128 GB V60) | |
| Razer Blade 17 RTX 3080 Ti (AV Pro V60) | |
| MSI Stealth GS77 12UHS-083US (AV Pro V60) | |
Communication
Webcam
The webcam has been upgraded from 720p on the GS76 to 1080p on the GS77 for a sharper picture overall. IR is supported for Windows Hello and an electronic shutter is accessible along the left edge.
Maintenance
The bottom panel comes off fairly easily after removing the 11 Philips screws underneath. Keep in mind that a factory seal sticker must be broken unlike on most other gaming laptops from competing manufacturers.
Once inside, users will have access to 2x SODIMM slots, 2x PCIe4 x4 2280 SSD slots, and the removable WLAN module. The two SODIMM slots are protected by their own aluminum cover.
Accessories and Warranty
The retail box includes a velvet screen wipe in addition to the paperwork and AC adapter. A one-year manufacturer warranty applies with extension options if purchased from Xotic PC.
Input Devices — Sideways Step
Keyboard
The keyboard keys are slightly softer and quieter than the keys on the Blade 17. Thus, it's not necessarily better or worse as some users may prefer a quieter typing experience even if it means having slightly spongier feedback. The GS77 even integrates a dedicated numpad whereas the Blade does not.
Key size is the one major drawback to the GS77 keyboard. In particular, the numpad, arrow keys, and top row of function keys are all much smaller than the main QWERTY keys and so they are therefore noticeably spongier and weaker in feedback. At least the function keys on the Blade 17 are of the same size as the main QWERTY keys for better uniformity.
Touchpad
The clickpad is ever-so-slightly larger than the one on the Blade 17 (13.2 x 8.2 cm vs. 13 x 8 cm). Traction is very smooth even when gliding at slow speeds for a very similar feel to the Blade 17 clickpad. Instead, the biggest difference between them is their respective feedback as clicking on the GS77 clickpad is both firmer and louder than on the Razer.
Display — High Refresh Rate As Standard
The GS77 is using the exact same high quality BOE NE173QHM-NZ1 1440p IPS panel that Razer is using for its Blade 17. Thus, core attributes like the native 240 Hz refresh rate, fast response times, decent ~1000:1 contrast ratio, and full DCI-P3 coverage are identical between the two competing 17.3-inch laptops.
There are nonetheless two major differences between the GS77 display and Blade 17 display. Firstly, the GS77 display does not support G-Sync or adaptive sync due to the fact that the model does not support Advanced Optimus or MUX. Secondly, the panel on the GS77 is not factory calibrated and so colors are noticeably off even when the profile is set to DCI-P3.
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Brightness Distribution: 79 %
Center on Battery: 334.8 cd/m²
Contrast: 985:1 (Black: 0.34 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 4.1 | 0.5-29.43 Ø4.9
ΔE Greyscale 5.6 | 0.5-98 Ø5.2
85.8% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
99.7% sRGB (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
96.2% Display P3 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
Gamma: 2.16
| MSI Stealth GS77 12UHS-083US BOE NE173QHM-NZ1, IPS, 2560x1440, 17.3" | MSI GS76 Stealth 11UH AUO B173ZAN06.1 (AUODE95), IPS, 3840x2160, 17.3" | Razer Blade 17 RTX 3080 Ti BOE NE173QHM-NZ1, IPS, 2560x1440, 17.3" | MSI GE76 Raider AU Optronics B173HAN05.4 (AUOE295), IPS-Level, 1920x1080, 17.3" | Alienware x17 RTX 3080 P48E AU Optronics B173ZAN, IPS, 3840x2160, 17.3" | Asus ROG Zephyrus S17 GX703HSD BOE099D (BOE CQ NE173QHM-NY3), IPS, 2560x1440, 17.3" | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Display | -21% | 1% | -21% | 3% | -2% | |
| Display P3 Coverage | 96.2 | 63 -35% | 98.7 3% | 63.1 -34% | 88.3 -8% | 94.2 -2% |
| sRGB Coverage | 99.7 | 94.8 -5% | 99.9 0% | 94 -6% | 100 0% | 98.7 -1% |
| AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage | 85.8 | 65 -24% | 86.2 0% | 65.2 -24% | 100 17% | 84.4 -2% |
| Response Times | 50% | 6% | 47% | 19% | 55% | |
| Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 17.6 ? | 8.8 ? 50% | 17.6 ? -0% | 5.6 ? 68% | 14.4 ? 18% | 4.8 73% |
| Response Time Black / White * | 12.8 ? | 6.4 ? 50% | 11.4 ? 11% | 9.6 ? 25% | 10.4 ? 19% | 8 37% |
| PWM Frequency | ||||||
| Screen | 26% | 13% | 30% | 12% | 13% | |
| Brightness middle | 334.8 | 474 42% | 335.9 0% | 290 -13% | 438.7 31% | 322 -4% |
| Brightness | 305 | 454 49% | 294 -4% | 290 -5% | 435 43% | 288 -6% |
| Brightness Distribution | 79 | 88 11% | 75 -5% | 96 22% | 91 15% | 72 -9% |
| Black Level * | 0.34 | 0.46 -35% | 0.38 -12% | 0.23 32% | 0.48 -41% | 0.3 12% |
| Contrast | 985 | 1030 5% | 884 -10% | 1261 28% | 914 -7% | 1073 9% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 4.1 | 1.5 63% | 2.82 31% | 1.59 61% | 4.34 -6% | 3.05 26% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 7.28 | 5.59 23% | 5.04 31% | 3.17 56% | 7.3 -0% | 5.23 28% |
| Greyscale dE 2000 * | 5.6 | 2.8 50% | 1.7 70% | 2.5 55% | 2.4 57% | 3.11 44% |
| Gamma | 2.16 102% | 2.158 102% | 2.14 103% | 2.253 98% | 2.09 105% | 2.13 103% |
| CCT | 6314 103% | 6597 99% | 6382 102% | 6640 98% | 6413 101% | 6553 99% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 calibrated * | 0.86 | 0.87 | 0.72 | 1.92 | ||
| Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998) | 84 | |||||
| Color Space (Percent of sRGB) | 99 | |||||
| Total Average (Program / Settings) | 18% /
19% | 7% /
9% | 19% /
20% | 11% /
11% | 22% /
16% |
* ... smaller is better
As mentioned above, MSI doesn't calibrate each panel at factory and this shows with our X-Rite colorimeter. Color temperature is too warm out of the box and so average DeltaE values are relatively high on the GS77 as a result. Thankfully, users can manually adjust the color temperature and RGB values via the pre-installed MSI True Color software without much trouble.
Display Response Times
| ↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
|---|---|---|
| 12.8 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 7.6 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 5.2 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. » 30 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is better than the average of all tested devices (20.9 ms). | ||
| ↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
| 17.6 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 10 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 7.6 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 (32.8 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 8684 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 343500) Hz was measured. | |||
Our 1440p display is almost 30 percent dimmer than what we recorded on the 4K GS76 to be on a more similar level to the Blade 17. Outdoor visibility is subsequently not as good as on last year's model.
Performance — 12th Gen Intel With 105 W TGP Graphics
Testing Conditions
We set our unit to Extreme Performance mode via the pre-installed MSI Control Center software prior to running any benchmarks below. We recommend users become familiar with this software as key system features are toggled here.
Processor — Big Year-to-Year Gains
CPU performance is excellent with results that are within one or two percentage points of the average laptop in our database equipped with the same Core i7-12700H CPU. Multi-thread performance is even consistently faster than the Core i7-12800H in the Blade 17 by 6 to 8 percent. Though the advantage is relatively minor, it does explain the slightly higher frame rates when gaming at lower resolutions on the GS77 versus on the Blade 17.
The GS77 comes with a pricier Core i9-12900H option, but the performance uptick should only be a few percentage points over our Core i7-12700H based on our experience with a handful of Core i9-12900H laptops already in market.
The year-over-year performance upgrade over Intel's 11th gen Tiger Lake-H series is more significant. When compared to the Core i9-11900H in last year's GS76, our Core i7-12700H is about 15 percent and 25 to 30 percent faster in single-thread and multi-thread operations, respectively.
Cinebench R15 Multi Loop
Cinebench R23: Multi Core | 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 | 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
* ... 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 GE76 Raider | |
| Average Intel Core i7-12700H | |
| MSI Stealth GS77 12UHS-083US | |
| Razer Blade 17 RTX 3080 Ti | |
| AIDA64 / FP32 Ray-Trace | |
| Average Intel Core i7-12700H (2585 - 17957, n=62) | |
| MSI GE76 Raider | |
| MSI Stealth GS77 12UHS-083US | |
| Razer Blade 17 RTX 3080 Ti | |
| AIDA64 / FPU Julia | |
| Average Intel Core i7-12700H (12439 - 90760, n=62) | |
| MSI GE76 Raider | |
| MSI Stealth GS77 12UHS-083US | |
| Razer Blade 17 RTX 3080 Ti | |
| AIDA64 / CPU SHA3 | |
| MSI GE76 Raider | |
| MSI Stealth GS77 12UHS-083US | |
| Average Intel Core i7-12700H (833 - 4242, n=62) | |
| Razer Blade 17 RTX 3080 Ti | |
| AIDA64 / CPU Queen | |
| MSI GE76 Raider | |
| Razer Blade 17 RTX 3080 Ti | |
| Average Intel Core i7-12700H (57923 - 103202, n=62) | |
| MSI Stealth GS77 12UHS-083US | |
| AIDA64 / FPU SinJulia | |
| MSI GE76 Raider | |
| MSI Stealth GS77 12UHS-083US | |
| Average Intel Core i7-12700H (3249 - 9939, n=62) | |
| Razer Blade 17 RTX 3080 Ti | |
| AIDA64 / FPU Mandel | |
| Average Intel Core i7-12700H (7135 - 44760, n=62) | |
| MSI GE76 Raider | |
| MSI Stealth GS77 12UHS-083US | |
| Razer Blade 17 RTX 3080 Ti | |
| AIDA64 / CPU AES | |
| MSI GE76 Raider | |
| MSI Stealth GS77 12UHS-083US | |
| Average Intel Core i7-12700H (31839 - 144360, n=62) | |
| Razer Blade 17 RTX 3080 Ti | |
| AIDA64 / CPU ZLib | |
| MSI GE76 Raider | |
| MSI Stealth GS77 12UHS-083US | |
| Average Intel Core i7-12700H (305 - 1171, n=62) | |
| Razer Blade 17 RTX 3080 Ti | |
| AIDA64 / FP64 Ray-Trace | |
| Average Intel Core i7-12700H (1437 - 9692, n=62) | |
| MSI GE76 Raider | |
| MSI Stealth GS77 12UHS-083US | |
| Razer Blade 17 RTX 3080 Ti | |
| AIDA64 / CPU PhotoWorxx | |
| Razer Blade 17 RTX 3080 Ti | |
| MSI GE76 Raider | |
| MSI Stealth GS77 12UHS-083US | |
| Average Intel Core i7-12700H (12863 - 52207, n=62) | |
System Performance
PCMark results are consistently ahead of last year's GS76 but slightly behind the latest Blade 17.
We experienced a couple of issues related to Sleep mode and refresh rate worth mentioning on our review unit. When putting the system to sleep, power consumption would sometimes be abnormally high and with very warm surface temperatures. Meanwhile, certain games including Witcher 3, Far Cry 5, and Strange Brigade would turn to black when the native refresh rate of the display was set to 240 Hz instead of 60 Hz. None of these issues appeared on our Blade 17 unit even though both laptops are using the same 240 Hz panels from BOE.
| PCMark 10 / Score | |
| MSI GE76 Raider | |
| Razer Blade 17 RTX 3080 Ti | |
| Alienware x17 RTX 3080 P48E | |
| MSI Stealth GS77 12UHS-083US | |
| Average Intel Core i7-12700H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU (6868 - 7638, n=7) | |
| Asus ROG Zephyrus S17 GX703HSD | |
| MSI GS76 Stealth 11UH | |
| PCMark 10 / Essentials | |
| Razer Blade 17 RTX 3080 Ti | |
| MSI GE76 Raider | |
| Asus ROG Zephyrus S17 GX703HSD | |
| Average Intel Core i7-12700H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU (9987 - 11318, n=7) | |
| MSI Stealth GS77 12UHS-083US | |
| Alienware x17 RTX 3080 P48E | |
| MSI GS76 Stealth 11UH | |
| PCMark 10 / Productivity | |
| MSI GE76 Raider | |
| Alienware x17 RTX 3080 P48E | |
| MSI Stealth GS77 12UHS-083US | |
| Average Intel Core i7-12700H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU (8944 - 10726, n=7) | |
| Razer Blade 17 RTX 3080 Ti | |
| Asus ROG Zephyrus S17 GX703HSD | |
| MSI GS76 Stealth 11UH | |
| PCMark 10 / Digital Content Creation | |
| MSI GE76 Raider | |
| Razer Blade 17 RTX 3080 Ti | |
| Alienware x17 RTX 3080 P48E | |
| MSI Stealth GS77 12UHS-083US | |
| Average Intel Core i7-12700H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU (8956 - 12249, n=7) | |
| Asus ROG Zephyrus S17 GX703HSD | |
| MSI GS76 Stealth 11UH | |
| PCMark 10 Score | 7435 points | |
Help | ||
| AIDA64 / Memory Copy | |
| MSI GE76 Raider | |
| Razer Blade 17 RTX 3080 Ti | |
| MSI Stealth GS77 12UHS-083US | |
| Average Intel Core i7-12700H (25615 - 80511, n=62) | |
| AIDA64 / Memory Read | |
| Razer Blade 17 RTX 3080 Ti | |
| MSI GE76 Raider | |
| MSI Stealth GS77 12UHS-083US | |
| Average Intel Core i7-12700H (25586 - 79442, n=62) | |
| AIDA64 / Memory Write | |
| Razer Blade 17 RTX 3080 Ti | |
| MSI Stealth GS77 12UHS-083US | |
| MSI GE76 Raider | |
| Average Intel Core i7-12700H (23679 - 88660, n=62) | |
| AIDA64 / Memory Latency | |
| MSI Stealth GS77 12UHS-083US | |
| MSI GE76 Raider | |
| Average Intel Core i7-12700H (76.2 - 133.9, n=60) | |
| Asus ROG Zephyrus S17 GX703HSD | |
| Alienware x17 RTX 3080 P48E | |
| Razer Blade 17 RTX 3080 Ti | |
* ... smaller is better
DPC Latency
LatencyMon shows DPC issues when opening multiple browser tabs on our homepage. 4K video playback at 60 FPS is otherwise completely smooth and with no dropped frames during our tests on the iGPU.
| DPC Latencies / LatencyMon - interrupt to process latency (max), Web, Youtube, Prime95 | |
| Alienware x17 RTX 3080 P48E | |
| MSI Stealth GS77 12UHS-083US | |
| MSI GE76 Raider | |
| Asus ROG Zephyrus S17 GX703HSD | |
| Razer Blade 17 RTX 3080 Ti | |
| MSI GS76 Stealth 11UH | |
* ... smaller is better
Storage Devices — Up To 2x PCIe4 x4 NVMe SSDs
Our test unit shipped with a Micron 3400 PCIe4 x4 NVMe SSD. Though it's a high-end drive, performance appears to be consistently slower than the Samsung PM9A1 that comes standard on most flagship gaming laptops. Performance sustainability is nonetheless excellent when subjected to our DiskSpd loop test.
| Drive Performance Rating - Percent | |
| Asus ROG Zephyrus S17 GX703HSD | |
| MSI GE76 Raider | |
| Razer Blade 17 RTX 3080 Ti | |
| MSI GS76 Stealth 11UH | |
| MSI Stealth GS77 12UHS-083US | |
| Alienware x17 RTX 3080 P48E | |
* ... smaller is better
Disk Throttling: DiskSpd Read Loop, Queue Depth 8
GPU Performance — Slightly Faster Than The RTX 3080
The GeForce RTX 3080 Ti in the GS77 offers a 12 to 15 percent performance uptick over the RTX 3080 in last year's GS76. When compared to the 165 W RTX 3080 Ti in the Blade 17, however, our 105 W RTX 3080 Ti is about 13 to 18 percent slower. This performance delta is most visible when gaming on higher resolutions where our GS77 would consistently fall behind the Razer alternative. Otherwise, the performance difference between a 105 W RTX 3080 Ti and 165 W RTX 3080 Ti will be much more minor at 1080p or lower resolutions where titles are likely to be CPU-bound.
Running the GS77 on the Balanced power profile instead of Extreme Performance will cut GPU performance by about 12 percent.
The desktop GeForce RTX 3080 Ti is still significantly faster than our mobile version by about 65 to 80 percent.
| 3DMark 11 Performance | 32875 points | |
| 3DMark Cloud Gate Standard Score | 55980 points | |
| 3DMark Fire Strike Score | 24745 points | |
| 3DMark Time Spy Score | 10987 points | |
Help | ||