msi lcd panel testing quotation

The MSI Summit MS321UP tries to undercut the higher-end competition while still offering the same feature sets with largely hit-or-miss results. The image quality, especially in regards to colors, is outstanding, but it also comes with a few odd hang-ups. It might not appeal to the masses, but professionals whose primary concern is image quality and who can’t afford to spend big on a top-of-the-line monitor, should consider this a solid option.

Professionals and creators looking for a 4K, 32-inch monitor with excellent color accuracy have a number of options from Dell, BenQ, and Asus, but these tend to run north of $900. MSI’s Summit MS321UP tries to stand out by delivering great image quality and a broad feature set at a reduced price. It’s worth considering despite a few quirks.

The MSI Summit MS321UP’s specifications are typical for a 32-inch 4K monitor. What stands out most could be seen as a mark against MSI’s favor: There are no Quantum Dots, no Mini-LED, and no IPS Black. This is likely what helps MSI reach an appealing base price.

The MSI Summit MS321UP doesn’t take any risks with its design which, given its focus on productivity, business, and professional use, is not a shock. The monitor’s front has slim bezels on three sides and a modestly sized chin, which is adorned with a tiny dot that houses an ambient light sensor. Around back you’ll find an expanse of black plastic with a gold MSI logo. It’s not spectacular, but that’s the point. The MS321UP will simply blend in.

MSI ships the monitor with a good ergonomic stand that adjusts for height, tilt, and swivel. It can’t rotate 90 degrees into portrait mode, though this is typical for a 32-inch monitor. The stand is basic, but sturdy, and has a small, flat base that doesn’t take up excessive space on your desk.

Setup is a hassle. The monitor stand’s neck doesn’t clip into the display panel, but uses four Phillips-head screws. An additional plastic facade clips over the neck after installation. Most competitors have a stand that snaps in, so the use of screws is a disadvantage. The display panel is compatible with a 100x100mm VESA mount for adding a third-party stand or monitor arm.

MSI packs four video inputs into the Summit MS321UP. This includes two HDMI 2.0, one DisplayPort 1.4, and one USB-C with DisplayPort Alternate Mode. Four video inputs is about average for a 32-inch professional monitor. The MS321UP doesn’t have DisplayPort-out, which you’ll find in the competition, such as most Dell Ultrasharp monitors.

The menus include many options that business and professional users may design. It has precise gamma and color temperature options and supports color hue and saturation adjustment. It also offers sRGB, AdobeRGB, and Display P3 color presets, plus three calibration presets for switching between custom calibrations and a user mode for complete customization. An ambient light sensor provides an auto-brightness mode that worked well in my testing, though some might find its preferred brightness a bit much in a dark room.

MSI certainly offers a long list of options, but the company needs to refine its menu system. Switching between modes felt a bit off, as the monitor seemed to flicker between new and old settings for a moment rather than switching straight to the new settings. I also noticed the monitor sometimes reset to the default, out-of-box color mode after a reboot, which is annoying.

The MSI Summit MS321UP is a productivity, business, and professional monitor that targets small businesses, home offices, and content creators looking for an accurate display on a mid-range budget. Image quality often exceeds expectations set by the price, despite a few quirks.

The MSI321UP’s contrast is less impressive, achieving a ratio of 1050:1. This is not a bad result for a modern 4K IPS monitor, but it does fall behind what some competitors can achieve.

Color gamut is good, achieving the entire sRGB gamut and most of DCI-P3. It’s technically a bit behind the more expensive Dell UltraSharp U3223QE but comparable to mid-range Asus ProArt monitors. AdobeRGB gamut is restricted, which is unsurprising given the display panel used here. Those who want to work in AdobeRGB should consider a monitor with Quantum Dots or OLED technology, as these usually reach much deeper into AdobeRGB.

Accuracy is a clear win for the MSI, which achieves an extremely low level of color error (remember—less error is good!) Most modern IPS monitors have adequate color accuracy even for creators and photographers, but the MSI321UP is clearly a cut above the already excellent competition.

The main quirk I noticed is that gamma and color temperature didn’t truly follow the presets shown on the menu. Default gamma was claimed to be 2.2, but my tests pegged it at 2.3, indicating an image that’s slightly darker than it should be. Color temperature was way off, testing at 7200K when it should be 6500K. The image looks much cooler and more sterile than ideal. It’s a bummer given the MS321UP’s otherwise accurate image.

The MSI321UP’s spec sheet hints at acceptable HDR. The monitor is VESA DisplayHDR 600 certified, which indicates a high level of brightness, and edge-lit local dimming is available.

The MSI Summit MS321UP has a 60Hz refresh and promises a tepid 4-millisecond gray-to-gray response time. However, the MS321UP isn’t entirely hopeless.

The MSI Summit MS321UP is a good business, productivity, and professional monitor. It has an extremely colorful and accurate image and sharp, bright presentation. This makes for a vivid experience straight out of the box, and it’s helpful if you need a monitor to use in a brightly lit room.

MSI subverts expectations in several areas. The monitor’s USB-C power delivery is lacking at just 15 watts, but it packs multiple audio output options and an SDcard reader. It’s not a high refresh monitor, but it does support FreeSync for smooth gameplay. The menu system isn’t always reliable but has no shortage of options.

The monitor’s quirks make it hard to broadly recommend it, as competitors like the Dell U3223QE and Asus ProArt PA329C have fewer issues overall. The Dell U3223QE also offers a superior contrast ratio thanks to its IPS Black panel. If you want great SDR image quality at a more modest price, however, the MS321UP could be a match.

If you like the look of MSI’s powerhouse, RGB-packed GE76 Raider, but the price tag and the massive chassis are too much for you to stomach, the GS76 Stealth may be more your speed. This laptop is the GE76 junior, in specs, weight, and also price.

To illustrate the delta between the GS76 and a more expensive 17-incher: the GE76 Raider averaged at least 20 frames per second better on almost of these titles. That said, most of these games are still playable without much compromise on the GS76. Personally, as someone who likes immersive visuals, I’ll take a QHD panel over a 1080p experience (which our Raider test unit had) with a few extra frames per second any day.

Ultimately, the GS76 hits a sweet spot of portability, affordability, and power that I appreciate. I can’t promise that you’ll never have to knock down a single setting, but I encountered very few gaming hiccups. And the QHD panel combined with the 240Hz refresh rate make for a gorgeous gaming experience. Even when doing regular work or browsing through Twitter, text and pictures looked noticeably crisper, and scrolling was quite smooth. I wish the aspect ratio were taller than 16:9, but that’s not nearly as much of a problem for productivity on a 17-inch display as it is on a smaller machine.

But it still won’t be everyone’s 17-inch gaming laptop of choice. The battery life is unfortunate, and that dampens the benefit of the thin and light chassis, as you’ll need to lug the 230W charger most places you’re going. The poor webcam, the funkiness of the keyboard, and the volume of the fans may be turnoffs for those who are looking to double a device as a primary driver. Still, MSI has managed to put decent gaming performance in a chassis that’s not a big haul to carry around, and that’s worth not overthinking too much.

MSI’s Creator Z16 is one of a new cadre of “creator” laptops that have been popping up from companies that are traditionally gaming-oriented over the past two years. They tend to take the sorts of specs that you might see in a gaming laptop and cram them into a thinner chassis that looks more like something one might bring into a boardroom.

While you could certainly use the Z16 for gaming — it has an RTX 3060 discrete GPU and a heavy-duty “Cooler Boost” cooling system — it also has a more subtle look than even the most subdued of MSI’s gaming laptops, with a silvery-gray finish, a barely visible dragon logo, and MacBook-esque rounded corners. There’s a 16:10 QHD+ screen with a 120Hz refresh rate (my much-preferred aspect ratio for productivity devices). It ships with Windows 10 Pro. And the video conferencing features — the speakers, in particular — are a solid upgrade from what I often expect to see on a gaming laptop. The system would make a fantastic multimedia machine.

Unfortunately, it’s not priced like a multimedia machine — it’s priced like a workstation. That makes it a generally fine laptop that’s in a bit of an odd spot price-wise. It’s below the price of the leading laptops in this zone. My test unit (the cheapest one listed on MSI’s site, though I’ve found a few cheaper SKUs floating around other retailers) has a Core i7-11800H, a GeForce RTX 3060 GPU, a 2560 x 1600 touch display, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage for $2,599.99 (currently listed at $2,349.99 for what MSI claims is a limited time).

MSI has made a big deal of the new cooling system, which is said to contain “the world’s thinnest 0.11mm sharp-edged fan blade.” These fans didn’t seem quite able to handle the power of these specs, even with the High Performance profile (which optimizes the Z16’s power limits and cooling behavior for heavy workloads) selected in MSI’s control center. (This control center, by the way, has been much smoother to use than iterations I’ve had to use on previous MSI laptops, so props to MSI for that.) The Z16’s 30-minute Cinebench score was lower than the 10-minute Cinebench score, and the CPU was very consistently hitting 95 degrees Celsius throughout the benchmark. Basically, this wasn’t a MacBook scenario where the Z16 took whatever we threw at it with no sweat — it was working hard.

Performance aside, the Z16 is generally a well-built and nice-looking device. It’s fairly thin, at just 0.63 inches thick. It’s sturdy with a comfortable finish — a step above most MSI devices I’ve reviewed before when it comes to build quality. The display, in particular, is gorgeous, and the 120Hz refresh rate makes scrolling a very smooth experience. Details are crisp — I had no problem sifting through a batch of photos for some light editing. I also appreciate that there’s a row of handy hot keys on the right side of the keyboard, which is slightly more convenient to reach than the function row.

I also had a terrible time with the keyboard on my unit. The spacebar would every so often not register my right thumb’s tap — my colleagues can attest that I was constantly sending Slack messages with missing spaces. MSI didn’t have a replacement unit available to send me but says it’s not an issue they’ve heard about before. Still, the fact that I received a unit with this issue makes me slightly worried about the durability of the keys.

There’s also no 4K screen option. There are some upgradeability hassles as well — teardowns have shown that the RAM is a whole pill to get to due to the placement of the motherboard. And — most frustratingly to me — there’s bloatware. I was getting antivirus nagware popups as soon as I opened this thing, and I had to close all my tabs and reboot the unit in order to uninstall it. I complain when I see this kind of thing on $1,000 devices. It is unacceptable for MSI to be shipping $2,600 laptops with crapware preinstalled on them — it’s the equivalent of Hulu shoving ads on people who are shelling out for their highest subscription tier. While this won’t impact your experience long-term if you uninstall it right away, it leaves a sour taste in my mouth nonetheless.

MIL-STD 810G testing is conducted on select MSI products. The testing is not a representation of MSI products satisfying U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) requirements or for military use. Validation process is done in laboratory conditions. Test results do not guarantee future performance under these test conditions. Damage under such test conditions is not covered by MSI’s standard warranty.

The MSI Optix G27CQ4 is a very good budget-friendly gaming monitor with a 27 inch screen and 1440p resolution. It has all the features most gamers are looking for, like FreeSync variable refresh rate (VRR) support and a native 165Hz refresh rate. Its input lag is really low, but even though it has a quick response time, you may notice some motion blur in fast-moving scenes. Its VA panel has a high native contrast ratio, but it lacks a local dimming feature to improve it. The viewing angles are narrow, and the stand doesn"t offer many adjustments, so it"s hard to place it in an ideal viewing position if you need to share it with someone else. Lastly, it doesn"t support HDR, which is somewhat expected for a model in this price range.

The MSI Optix G27CQ4 is decent for mixed usage. It"s very good for gaming because it has a high refresh rate with VRR support. Its low input and quick response time deliver a responsive gaming experience, but some motion blur is visible with fast-moving objects. It"s decent for office use thanks to its high peak brightness and good reflection handling, but it has terrible ergonomics and narrow viewing angles, making it harder to share the screen with someone else.

The MSI Optix G27CQ4 is decent for office use. The high-resolution, 27 inch screen provides clear text and crisp images. It has good reflection handling and gets bright enough to combat glare in well-lit rooms. Sadly, it has narrow viewing angles and terrible ergonomics, so it"s not the best choice if you need to share your screen with others.

The MSI Optix G27CQ4 is very good for gaming. It has a high 165Hz refresh rate with native FreeSync support to reduce screen tearing. It has low input lag and a quick response time, but some people may still notice motion blur. It"s also great for dark room gaming thanks to its high native contrast ratio, but it lacks a local dimming feature.

The MSI Optix G27CQ4 is okay for watching multimedia content. It has a high resolution to deliver crisp images. It performs well both in bright and dark rooms thanks to its high peak brightness and great contrast ratio. However, it has narrow viewing angles, so those viewing from the side see an inaccurate image.

The MSI Optix G27CQ4 is alright for content creators. It has a large screen and high resolution, so there"s enough space to work on your video"s timeline. It gets bright enough to combat glare and has good reflection handling if you work in a well-lit room. However, its terrible ergonomics and narrow viewing angles make it hard to share the screen with a coworker or client around you.

We tested the MSI Optix G27CQ4 in a 27 inch size, and it"s also available in a 32 inch size, which we expect to perform similarly. There are other monitors in MSI"s G Series lineup, which you can see below.

If someone comes across a different type of panel, or if their MSI Optix G27CQ4 doesn"t correspond to our review, let us know and we"ll update the review. Note that some tests, like the gray uniformity, may vary between individual units.

The MSI Optix G27CQ4 is a very good budget gaming monitor. It has most features gamers are looking for, like VRR support and a high refresh rate. It also has a great native contrast ratio, but other than that, there"s nothing that stands out against its competition. It provides good value for its price, but there are better and cheaper options available, like the Gigabyte G27QC.

The Gigabyte G27QC is much better overall than the MSI Optix G27CQ4, even though they each have a VA panel, 165Hz refresh rate, and 1440p resolution. The Gigabyte has a quicker response time, resulting in smoother motion, and its BFI feature flickers at a wider range. The Gigabyte also supports HDR10 and has a USB hub, which the MSI doesn"t.

The MSI Optix G27CQ4 and the Samsung Odyssey G5 C27G55T are both good gaming monitors. They each have a VA panel with a 1440p resolution, and they offer similar features, but the MSI has a 165Hz refresh rate compared to the Samsung"s 144Hz. The MSI is also flicker-free at all brightness levels, while the Samsung flickers at lower brightness levels. The Samsung supports HDR, which the MSI doesn"t, but it doesn"t add much because it can"t display a wide color gamut.

The Gigabyte M27Q is better overall than the MSI Optix G27CQ4. The Gigabyte has a slightly higher 170Hz refresh rate compared to 165Hz on the MSI, and they each have a 1440p resolution, but they have different panel types. The Gigabyte has an IPS panel with wider viewing angles, which is great for sharing your screen with others, while the MSI has a VA panel with a better contrast ratio. The Gigabyte also has much quicker response times and supports HDR, which the MSI doesn"t. The MSI uses an RGB subpixel layout, which is used in more programs than the BGR subpixel layout on the Gigabyte, so this helps with text clarity.

The Dell S2722DGM is much better than the MSI Optix G27CQ4. The Dell has better ergonomics, a faster response time, better viewing angles, and better black uniformity. The Dell is also significantly brighter and can better overcome glare. On the other hand, the MSI has better gradient handling and can accept a 10-bit signal.

The MSI Optix G27CQ4 and the ASUS TUF Gaming VG27WQ1B are both very good gaming monitors, as they each have a VA panel with a 1440p resolution and 165Hz refresh rate. The ASUS supports HDR10, which the MSI doesn"t, but it doesn"t add much because it doesn"t get bright enough to bring out highlights, and it lacks local dimming. In terms of gaming, they each have VRR support and low input lag. The MSI has a quicker response time at its max refresh rate, while the ASUS is quicker at 60Hz, but most people shouldn"t notice any difference between the two.

The MSI Optix G27CQ4 and the MSI Optix G27C4 are both very good gaming monitors. They"re built nearly the same, and each has a VA panel with a 165Hz refresh rate. The main difference is that the G27CQ4 has a 1440p resolution, while the G27C4 is limited to 1080p. The G27CQ4 is a better choice for well-lit rooms because it gets much brighter. However, the G27C4 delivers much smoother motion thanks to its quick response time.

The BenQ EX2780Q and the MSI Optix G27CQ4 are both very good gaming monitors with different panel types. The BenQ is a 144Hz monitor with an IPS panel with wider viewing angles, and the MSI has a 165Hz refresh rate and a VA panel with higher contrast. The BenQ supports HDR, which the MSI doesn"t, and it has quicker response times, so motion looks better.

The Dell S3222DGM is better than the MSI Optix G27CQ4. The Dell has better ergonomics, making it easier to place in an ideal viewing position. The Dell is also much better for gaming, as it has a much faster response time, especially when gaming at 60Hz.

All-AMD gaming laptop. With the 17-inch Alpha 17, MSI gives gamers a gaming laptop that isn"t powered by Intel technology. Both the CPU and the graphics card come from AMD and will have to show what they can do in our test.

MSI is well positioned in the gaming sector and also has a wide product range of very large laptops. For example, we reviewed the quite inexpensive 17-inch

MSI has made the base unit of the Alpha 17 out of plastic and the back of the display out of aluminum. This makes the gaming laptop look sturdy and stable all around. Furthermore, the screen only bends minimally when opened, even if it"s only lifted from one corner. The maximum aperture angle is about 160 degrees. Overall, the build quality is very high and leaves no room for criticism in any area.

The MSI Alpha 17 offers numerous ports that cover the essential needs. In addition Gigabit LAN and Mini DisplayPort connections, a USB Type-C port is also offered, but it failed to transmit image output to our test monitor using a suitable adapter.

The memory card reader of the Alpha 17 achieves speeds of up to 77 MB/s for copying data and up to 86 MB/s for reading data with our reference memory card, the 64 GB Toshiba Exceria Pro UHS-II SDXC. This allows MSI"s gaming laptop to lead our test field. Moreover, inserted memory cards protrude about four millimeters beyond the case"s edge.

With our Netgear Nighthawk AX12 reference router, the MSI Alpha 17 reaches WLAN speeds of up to 1,100 Mb/s for receiving and up to 1,010 Mb/s for sending data. Although these rates are very good, they are still surpassed by our chosen competitor devices.

Besides the laptop, the MSI Alpha 17 only comes with a power adapter. However, the manufacturer offers numerous accessories on its website such as headsets, keyboards, mice, monitors, and more.

The MSI Alpha 17 can be opened after removing all screws on the bottom. Removing the bottom cover in the area of the hinges is a bit difficult, so patience is required. Inside, the storage drive and RAM can be accessed, and the WLAN module can also be replaced. While nothing stands in the way of using an additional SSD thanks to the second M.2 slot, only one RAM slot is available. In our test configuration, RAM is, therefore, divided into 8 GB that is permanently installed (soldered) and another 8 GB that is installed as a module.

The MSI Alpha 17"s keys offer a clear pressure point and a good grip for the fingertips. This makes them well suited not only for gaming but also for typing. The manufacturer also refrains from reducing the size of the arrow keys and provides special keys such as Del, Ins, and the scroll keys as separate keys. Only the Home and End keys are exclusively accessible as secondary keys.

MSI has also installed an RGB backlight for the keyboard. This can be adjusted in four brightness levels and illuminates the keys uniformly. It"s possible to adjust the colors and effects extensively in the corresponding software.

The screen of the MSI Alpha 17 consists of a 17-inch IPS panel with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels and offers a refresh rate of 144 Hz. The average brightness of 254 cd/m² is usually high enough for indoor environments, and the brightness distribution of 93% is the highest in our test field.

Our measurements show that the MSI Alpha 17"s display has a good contrast ratio of 1,104:1 and a relatively low black level of 0.23 cd/m². As a result, colors are well separated from each other, and black image content is only covered by a slight gray haze. However, color-space coverage is poor at 59% (sRGB) and 41% (AdobeRGB), respectively.

Outdoors, the MSI Alpha 17 can be used well in places in the shade. The screen surface is matte, but there are still very slight reflections from objects in the environment.

The IPS panel of the Alpha 17 is very viewing-angle stable. Image content can be read from almost any angle without it becoming distorted or displayed with the wrong colors.

MSI"s Alpha 17 is aimed at price-conscious gamers who are looking for a gaming laptop with the largest possible screen. The installed hardware can display modern games smoothly at high frame rates, but it might be necessary to reduce the resolution in very demanding titles.

In the PCMark 10 test for system performance, the MSI Alpha 17 shows a slightly below-average result. While the result of the individual discipline "Digital Content Creation" ensures the first place in our test field, the scores of the remaining individual tests are only enough for the penultimate place. The system always runs smoothly in everyday use and doesn"t experience any micro stuttering or the like.

The SSD installed in the MSI Alpha 17 achieves solid write and read rates, but these are surpassed by the other devices in our test field. The results achieved by other mass storage devices can be found in our

According to our measurements, the MSI Alpha 17 can get very loud at up to 54 dB(A). However, it"s very quiet or even inaudible in daily use, especially during office and Internet tasks. In gaming mode, the volume depends on the selected fan profile. Depending on the game and the desired frame rate, moderate noise level is also possible here.

dB(A)0102030405060708090Deep BassMiddle BassHigh BassLower RangeMidsHigher MidsLower HighsMid HighsUpper HighsSuper Highs2049.145.247.439.944.42538.939.840.239.140.2315047.949.142.647.24033.932.534.428.235.35041.939.738.937.632.96331.228.232.727.840.9802726.5281831.710023.823.22418.126.6125282626.319.427.916032.230.130.123.127.620029.627.327.226.128.825026.125.625.923.830.131527.124.725.117.740.640023.918.219.313.835.750025.619.118.912.936.763026.220.220.112.239.880023.817.418.211.237.3100026.920.420.911.240.2125032.224.224.311.244.1160027.819.520.111.44420002518.518.711.444.8250023.917.918.21246.6315022.316.416.812.942.4400021.81717.512.340.5500019.816.416.612.640.3630015.913.91412.937.4800014.713.213.312.93510000141313.112.731.61250014.112.812.912.627.61600013.512.112.611.822SPL37.831.431.625.554.1N2.61.61.60.78.9median 23.9median 18.5median 18.9median 12.7median 37.3Delta3.94.243.15.9hearing rangehide medianshow medianFan NoiseMSI Alpha 17 A4DEK

The surfaces of the MSI Alpha 17 heat up to 46 °C (~115 °F) in gaming mode. The warmest point is at the rear left corner of the bottom, and the gaming laptop should no longer be placed on the lap by then, for example. The palm rests only heat up moderately, but they still feel warm to the touch at a maximum of 36 °C (~97 °F).

During our approximately one-hour endurance stress test, the temperatures inside the MSI Alpha 17 rise up to 94 °C (~201 °F). The PL2 of 65 watts is also reached in the process, whereby the average power consumption corresponds to the PL1 of 45 watts. In addition, the cooling system can keep the temperatures at 87 °C (~189 °F) on average and the clock rates at around 3.1 GHz. Consequently, users don"t have to expect a drop in system performance due to excessive temperatures even during heavy use.

The speakers of the MSI Alpha 17 offer a relatively high volume and a wide sound spectrum. This makes them well suited for playing media content. However, headphones are still recommended depending on the selected fan profile.

dB(A)0102030405060708090Deep BassMiddle BassHigh BassLower RangeMidsHigher MidsLower HighsMid HighsUpper HighsSuper Highs2039.9542539.147.93142.651.64028.237.35037.644.56327.839.2801842.210018.154.612519.461.516023.163.520026.164.125023.867.231517.76540013.86650012.976.163012.276.980011.277.8100011.277.3125011.272160011.475.8200011.477.525001278.6315012.979.4400012.377.9500012.674.7630012.971.5800012.976.21000012.776.71250012.671.11600011.865.1SPL25.588.6N0.782.3median 12.7median 74.7Delta3.15.535.335.132.931.831.83236.535.132.428.93328.936.328.848.32761.52752.924.860.92462.822.763.32269.521.267.82174.82075.919.472.718.97117.770.117.86917.671.817.668.117.671.417.673.717.670.417.571.617.671.617.669.617.459.717.583.630.662.51.5median 69.6median 17.84.62.4hearing rangehide medianshow medianPink NoiseMSI Alpha 17 A4DEKApple MacBook 12 (Early 2016) 1.1 GHz

According to our measurements, the MSI Alpha 17 shows a maximum power consumption of up to 222 watts. While this is the highest value in our test field, the average power consumption is at a comparatively low level both in idle usage as well as under load.

In our practical WLAN test, MSI"s gaming laptop achieves a runtime of 7:18 hours. The "Balanced" performance profile was used for this, leading to a good utilization of the 65 Wh battery.

The MSI Alpha 17 is predominantly big. However, the good battery life in office or WLAN mode makes it suitable for work on the road as long as the dimensions don"t get in the way of its transportation and you don"t use the device outdoors (poor display brightness). Naturally, the power adapter has to be connected when gaming in order to fully utilize the power of the CPU and GPU. The Alpha 17 shows good performance here, but it"s not quite sufficient for very demanding games. These can be run smoothly, but depending on the title, reducing the detail levels is necessary.For a good price, buyers of the MSI Alpha 17 get a large 144 Hz screen and enough performance for extensive mid-range gaming.

Assembly of the base, upright and panel requires a Phillips-head screwdriver. The base’s captive bolt doesn’t have one of those little handles on it, which is a minor annoyance. The panel locks in place with two provided bolts. They are then covered by a small bit of plastic. The power supply is internal, unusual for an ultra-wide, so you get an IEC cord. Video is supported by HDMI and DisplayPort cables. The user manual comes in printed (another rarity).

The back of the panel is completely smooth, broken only by a polished MSI logo. Interestingly, the dragon shield shown in the photo is not present on our sample. Even the box art shows the graphic, but we didn’t get one. Perforations on the top and bottom edges provide ventilation. The internal power supply takes quite a few minutes to warm up, during which time the panel clicks softly. Once up to temperature, the noise goes away.

Navigating the OSD is a chore, thanks to the aforementioned stiff and tiny buttons. We’d have loved a joystick or at least buttons that don’t hurt to press. Like most monitors, once set up, you won’t have to visit the menu often. The Eye Saver mode offers low blue light, which MSI calls “Less Blue Light.” Like every display with that feature, it warms up the color temp to make reading easier on the eyes. Note, you won’t want to use it for gaming as it will flatten the image considerably.

We really enjoyed the extra color and contrast afforded by the wide-gamut, VA panel. Though some color inaccuracies crept up during testing, it didn’t diminish the gaming experience. VA’s greater dynamic range is always an asset, and contrast is the most important element of good imaging. Color errors can be overlooked when they’re not too far off the mark and contrast is as deep as what we saw with the MAG341CQ.

The MSI GS66 Stealth is one of the first gaming laptops to support not only these new graphics, but also a 1440p 240Hz screen. Lightning-fast refreshes and high resolutions? Sign me up.

Aside from the internals, the display is the biggest change to the MSI GS66 Stealth this year. It now has the option for a 2,560 x 1,440 resolution IPS screen, measured diagonally at 15.6 inches. While 1440p screens are still a rarity in laptops, that’s the case even more so on gaming laptops. The primary reason, of course, is that the older GPUs were never powerful enough to push that many pixels at fast enough frame rates to please gamers. A refresh rate above 60Hz never would have made sense.

The MSI GS66 Stealth handles 1440p beautifully in most games. And while 240Hz might be a little overkill, it’s much more versatile than the 300Hz 1080p models.

Because this is a new panel, I also wanted to test image quality and make sure MSI didn’t cut any corners. They were some surprises, to say the least.

The color saturation is the real shocker. At 100% sRGB and 98% AdobeRGB, this panel is significantly more colorful than your average 1080p gaming screen. If it wasn’t for the poor color accuracy, I’d say it would make for a good photo- and video-editing machine. But with a Delta E of 6.67, it’s more calibrated for bold and bright colors in games than for precision color grading.

I saw some great results when testing the game in the 3DMark Time Spy benchmark. The system scored 9,907, which sits at a solid 18% ahead of last year’s model featuring the RTX 2080 Super. That’s well beyond a standard year-over-year performance increase. It was also only 8% behind the desktop version of the RTX 2070 Super that I tested in 2020. That’s because the mobile RTX 3080 is technically the same GPU as the desktop RTX 3070.

The advantage wasn’t quite as strong in Fortnite, at least not compared to the desktop RTX 2070 Super. But take that comparison out of the equation for a moment and just revel in the glory of 1440p gaming at well over 60 fps. The MSI GS66 Stealth averaged 81 fps at Epic settings and 115 fps at High with 3D rendering at 100%. You’ll get an extra 30 to 60 fps by lowering the resolution to 1080p, of course. Regardless, you’ll never have to settle for less than 60 fps.

Throughout long gaming sessions, the surface temperatures are kept manageable, resulting in a more comfortable gaming experience than on laptops like the Razer Blade. Unlike that laptop, the MSI GS66 Stealth keeps the palm rests and keyboard cool under lighter loads as well. Then again, like the Zephyrus G14, the MSI GS66 Stealth always runs with a slight hum.

I wanted to also try some ray tracing that was a bit more subtle. Battlefield V was one of the first games to announce support for ray tracing and DLSS, and the effect isn’t nearly as pronounced as in Fortnite. The MSI GS66 Stealth fared a bit better here, but hitting 60 fps at 1080p Ultra was still out of reach without resorting to lower graphics settings. Story-driven or exploration games like Cyberpunk 2077 or Minecraft are a bit more suited for this performance trade-off, but even there, heavy ray tracing effects still aren’t ready for prime time on gaming laptops.

The MSI GS66 Stealth uses a thoroughly boring, yet satisfactory Intel 10th-gen processor. The Core i7-10870H has eight cores and 16 threads, with a 5.0GHz boost clock speed. Of course, the chip usually runs closer to its base clock of 2.2GHz, except in bursty workloads. As a gaming processor, it’s more than capable and happy to leave the heavy lifting to Nvidia. This is a slightly slower processor, though, than the Core i7-10875H used in the previous GS66 Stealth I reviewed in 2020.

If you’re looking to do some actual video editing or streaming on the MSI GS66 Stealth, the power of the RTX 3080 comes in to save the day. Its 7,949 is a great score in the PCMark 10 Creation test, a big step up from what was possible in older gaming laptops.

The MSI GS66 Stealth was an early adopter of the thin-and-light gaming laptop trend. When the design first launched, the 4.6-pound weight and 0.71-inch thickness were revolutionary. In 2021, it’s a bit more commonplace. The Razer Blade is a bit lighter, as is the Asus ROG Zephyrus G15. Meanwhile, there are new ultrathin gaming laptops like the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 or the Acer Predator Triton 300 SE, though those max out at the RTX 3060. For the components stuffed inside, the GS66 Stealth is still quite a portable gaming laptop.

MSI has cut a few more vents in the chassis than what you’ll find in the Razer Blade, though. There are some along both sides of the laptop, as well as across the top. That makes for a slightly less sleek appearance, though it certainly helps keep temperatures lower.

The touchpad and keyboard are some of my least favorite aspects of the laptop. In trying to maximize the size of the touchpad, MSI has made it significantly wider than normal. Normally, I would applaud that attempt. But as it’s been in the past, having the majority of your palms rest on the touchpad is unsettling. I ran into the problem of accidental touchpad clicks on more than one occasion.

As for ports, the MSI GS66 Stealth throws in the kitchen sink. That includes HDMI 2.0, USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (Thunderbolt 4), USB-C 3.2 Gen 2, and three USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports. The Thunderbolt 4 port can be used for display input, as well as charging. While you’re gaming, though, you’ll want the full power of the old-school barrel plug. The laptop even manages to squeeze in an RJ45 Ethernet jack.

I never go into a gaming laptop review with high expectations for battery life. But the MSI GS66 Stealth has always had some of the best battery life of any gaming laptop I’ve ever tested. The introduction of a higher-resolution screen had me worried it might lose that crown.

There’s no doubt that 1440p is the future of laptop gaming. More than ray tracing, higher fidelity makes every game you play look sharper, smoother, and more immersive. The MSI GS66 Stealth is finally a gaming laptop that can run at 1440p at decent frame rates. It might not be my favorite design for a gaming laptop, but the combination of a superfast, high-resolution screen and excellent gaming performance make it one of the best gaming laptops you can buy.

Only a few gaming laptops have announced 1440p models, and just the Razer Blade 15 matches the MSI in refresh rate. The matching configuration of the Razer Blade costs $2,900, so you can expect MSI’s model to fall just a couple hundred dollars below that if it follows historical pricing patterns.

The Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 pairs its 1440p screen with a Ryzen processor, and its refresh rate is capped at 165Hz. Based on the games I tested, 165Hz is plenty fast when playing in 1440p. It does mean 1080p gaming is a bit more limited, but it’s likely fast enough for all but the most serious competitive gamers. At $2,500, the Zephyrus G15 may be a bit cheaper than the MSI GS66 Stealth will likely end up being.

Like most laptops, you can expect the MSI GS66 Stealth to last four to five years. The high-end graphics card and higher-resolution screen are good futureproofing, as are the Thunderbolt 4 ports. The lack of HDMI 2.1 is the only miss in this regard.