CES 2024 | Wallet-friendly MSI Sword 16, Sword 17 HX mid-range gaming laptops get MUX, Intel 14th Gen CPUs, sleek new chassis

As part of MSI's CES 2024 product launch line-up, which includes a brand new handheld gaming PC and a slew of innovative cases and gaming desktops, the company has overhauled its Sword gaming laptop line-up. Not only do the new Sword 16 HX and Sword 17 HX have Intel's latest 14th Gen Core i7-14700HX CPUs, rumoured to have 8 P-cores and 12 E-cores, they also feature new 16:10 IPS displays with up to 240 Hz refresh rates.

For the most part, the internals of the Sword 16 HX and Sword 17 HX are the same. Both laptops are powered by Intel's 14th Gen Core i7 HX processors and the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050, RTX 4060, or RTX 4070 Laptop GPUs running at up to 105 W and 1980 MHz. Feeding the CPU with data is up to 64 GB of DDR5-5600 RAM installed in two slots on the motherboard. MSI doesn't specify, but presumably this RAM will run in dual-channel mode.

The biggest difference between the two refreshed laptop series, and the biggest improvement over the previous generation, comes from the new displays. Both the Sword 16 and Sword 17 have been upgraded to 16:10 displays, but resolutions and refresh rates have also been bumped up. The Sword 17 and 16 now both max out at QHD+ (2560 × 1600), 240 Hz, IPS-level (usually code for TN) displays, although both lay claim to 100% coverage of the DCI-P3 colour space.

It remains to be seen how well the displays perform when it comes to delta-E values, which will determine whether the displays are effective tools for colour-sensitive work.

Both laptops again feature a MUX switch, which allows players to connect the display directly to the discrete GPU in order to unlock maximum graphical performance.

Ports situation is also a pleasant surprise in today's laptop landscape, with one USB Type-C 3.2 Gen2 port with USB-PD, three USB Type-A 3.2 Gen1 ports, an HDMI 2.1 port for 4K 120 Hz or 8K 60 Hz output, and an RJ45 ethernet port.

While the new chassis refreshingly forego the garish gamer aesthetics, there is still a hint of gamer glam in the 24-zone RGB keyboard and flashy metallic MSI logo on the smooth lids. Although the chassis of the Sword 16 and Sword 17 bear new, modern designs, they are by no means particularly thin or light. The Sword 16 takes up more than an inch in the Z-axis — 27.7 mm (1.09 inches) — at its thickest point and weighs in at 2.3 kg (5.07 lbs), while the Sword 17 is 0.4 mm thinner and 500 g heavier, at 27.3 mm (1.07 inches) and 2.8 kg (6.17 lbs).

MSI has not yet announced pricing or availability for the new Sword gaming laptop series, but it's usually a fairly inexpensive line-up, so you can expect them to start at around $1,300–1,500.

If you can't wait on MSI's newly announced CLAW gaming handheld, check out the Asus ROG Ally with its AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme at Best Buy.