Msi Raider Ge68 Hx 13vf Laptop Review: A Complete Design Change

The GE68HX at once succeeds ultimate three hundred and sixty five days’s GE67HX with each refreshed internals and a brand new chassis design. Excluding the predicted thirteenth gen Raptor Lake-HX CPUs and Nvidia Ada Lovelace GPUs to switch the older twelfth gen Alder Lake-HX and Ampere imaginable possible choices, the more recent taste additionally provides a bigger 16:10 16-inch display size up from the declining 16:9 15.6-inch aspect ratio.

Our unit in overview is the bottom configuration with the Core i7-13950HX, 140 W GeForce RTX 4060, and 1080p 144 Hz IPS show retailing for kind of $1700 USD or $1300 if on sale. Upper-end SKUs come with the Core i9-13980HX, RTX 4090, and 1440p 240 Hz show for over $3500.

Festival to the GE68HX come with different high-end 16-inch gaming laptops very similar to the HP Omen 16, Alienware m16 R1, Lenovo Legion Slender 7i 16 Gen 8, or the Asus ROG Zephyrus M16.

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The chassis will also be best possible imaginable described as a smaller style of the 17-inch Raider GE78HX. The LED pixel bar prematurely replaces the continual lighting on ultimate three hundred and sixty five days’s taste whilst the rear is now additional stylized with gold, pink, and shiny trims. One in all MSI’s objectives this three hundred and sixty five days used to be to create additional visually eye-catching computer designs instead of the an increasing number of not unusual jet-black and minimalist aesthetic. The producer has succeeded on this regard given that GE68HX design is indubitably unmistakable and if truth be told other from different gaming laptops from pageant.

Chassis pressure is excellent regardless of all the curves and items that make up the non-unibody skeleton. Making use of power down the keyboard middle or making an attempt to curl the corners would lead to little or no flexing and no audible creaking. We particularly admire the bigger and sturdier hinges when in comparison to ultimate three hundred and sixty five days’s GE67HX for a greater sense of longevity.

The brand new taste is each larger and heavier than the outgoing GE67HX by way of noticeable margins as showed by way of our size comparability chart beneath. In truth, the GE68HX is among the upper and heavier 16-inch gaming laptops to be had.

Port imaginable possible choices have modified moderately from ultimate three hundred and sixty five days’s GE67HX. While the GE67HX would have 3x USB-A ports and 2x USB-C ports, the GE68HX ships with 2x USB-A ports and 3x USB-C ports. All 3 USB-C ports support Displayport, on the other hand perfect the only alongside the left edge is suitable with Thunderbolt 4.

Unusually, MSI has opted to drop the Kensington lock in this three hundred and sixty five days’s design. There is not any mini-DisplayPort every now not like at the Alienware m16 R1.

The built-in SD card reader is rather sluggish for what is meant to be an upper-midrange gaming taste. Shifting 1 GB of images from our UHS-II check out card to desktop would take rather over 12 seconds whilst the an similar check out at the Alienware m16 R1 could be over 2x faster.

An Intel AX211 comes usual for Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 support. We skilled no connectivity problems when paired to our AXE11000 6 GHz check out group.

Whilst the two MP prime quality hasn’t modified, there are then again a few diversifications surrounding the webcam. The shutter, as an example, is now a bodily slider subsequent to the lens instead of an digital transfer at the keyboard. And secondly, an IR sensor is now in-built for Hi support.

Sadly, MSI laptops are turning into harder to provider these days. The ground panel is secured by way of 13 Phillips screws considered thought to be one in every of which is in the back of an anti-tamper sticky label to deter end-user servicing. The main drawback is that the plastic hooks alongside the sides of the panel are angled and tightly latched to the bottom particularly alongside the rear. Those hooks are tricky to detach and much more tricky to reinstall.

Consumers have direct get right to use to 2 M.2 2280 garage bays, two DDR5 SODIMM slots, and the WLAN module and battery as soon as inside.

The retail field integrated a cleansing fabric in conjunction with the AC adapter and paperwork. A one-year restricted producer guaranty applies if bought in the us.

MSI has made over the keyboard construction when in comparison to the GE67HX. There is also now an built-in numpad whilst the Ctrl and Fn keys don’t seem to be awkwardly squished in combination. Sadly, the arrow keys had been shrunk to make room for the brand new numpad.

Key comments is differently very good with company and uniform comments between the primary QWERTY keys. The Space and Input keys particularly are noticeably louder for an extra pleasant if truth be told actually really feel.

Clickpad size has larger considerably from simply 10.5 x 6.5 cm at the GE67HX to 13 x 8.3 cm at the GE68HX. Drift could be very clean and responsive and with just about no sticking despite the fact that transferring at slower speeds. Clicking is also enough, on the other hand comments isn’t utterly uniform because it feels clickier when urgent down the middle while the ground corners if truth be told actually really feel spongier.

The Raider GE68HX ships with two other panel imaginable possible choices. Our explicit overview unit comes with the bolded variety beneath:

• 2560 x 1600, 240 Hz, 100% DCI-P3, 3 ms, IPS
• 1920 x 1200, 144 Hz, 60% sRGB, 11 ms, IPS

The fairly priced 144 Hz variety isn’t if truth be told helpful because of its narrower colour protection and slower reaction instances for extra noticeable ghosting. The shallower colours are laborious to overlook even though you do not do such a lot graphics making improvements to. This panel is more healthy for fairly priced gaming laptops very similar to the MSI Pulse 17 the place slim colour levels are not unusual.

G-Sync is particularly absent on all supply configurations of the GE68HX.

The show does now not come pre-calibrated, on the other hand reasonably priced colour accuracy is not unhealthy all issues thought to be. Calibrating the panel ourselves with an X-Ceremony colorimeter would beef up reasonably priced grayscale and colour DeltaE values from 3.3 and four.6 to simply 2 and a few.04, respectively. Colours would then again turn out to be an increasing number of faulty at upper saturation ranges regardless of how such a lot you calibrate it because of the restricted colour house of the panel. Blue is possibly the worst wrongdoer as it would seem moderately Violet instead. Our ICM profile is to be had above to procure at no cost.

The 300-nit most brightness is usual of maximum gaming laptops. Direct daylight will have to be have shyed away from or else colours turn out to be washed out. For higher outdoor visibility, consumers would possibly need to imagine the Zephyrus M16 and its 2x brighter show instead.

We set Space house home windows to Efficiency mode and MSI Heart to each Excessive Efficiency mode and dGPU mode previous to working the benchmarks beneath. MSI Heart is the regulate hub for system updates, vitals, energy profiles, GPU modes, and extra. Alternatively, RGB settings are treated by way of a separate app known as SteelSeries GG.

Cooler Spice up is a submenu surroundings inside Excessive Efficiency mode. Enabling it is going to run the internals lovers at their most RPMs regardless of the onscreen load.

The RTX 4060 configuration helps MUX on the other hand now not Difficult Optimus that means a reboot is sought after when switching between dGPU, MSHybrid, and iGPU modes.

CPU efficiency and clock fee balance are very good with effects which may also be 5 to ten p.c faster than the on a regular basis Core i9-13950HX in our database or just about 2x faster than the Core i7-13700H again and again discovered on maximum different gaming laptops. This is among the quickest mobile CPUs available to be had out there nowadays and it competes with the Zen 4 Ryzen 9 7945HX for the most efficient 3 spots.

Upgrading to the pricier Core i9-13980HX variety is perfect anticipated to spice up efficiency by way of about 5 p.c in line with our time with the Alienware m18 R1. The advantages are so marginal that we recommend sticking with the Core i9-13950HX to avoid wasting a couple of hundred dollars.

PCMark benchmarks are similar to different 16-inch gaming laptops very similar to the Alienware m16 R1 or Lenovo Legion Slender 7i 16 by way of only a few percentage issues. We skilled no wake-from-sleep problems or different notable issues of our check out unit all the way through checking out.

LatencyMon reveals DPC problems when opening a couple of browser tabs of our homepage. 4K video playback at 60 FPS is imperfect with 4 dropped frames recorded all the way through a 60-second window.

Our unit ships with the fairly priced 1 TB Samsung PM9B1 instead of the pricier Samsung PM9A1 a lot more more likely to save loads of on prices. The PM9B1 is more or less segment as speedy with most sequential learn charges of round 3600 MB/s in comparison to ~7000 MB/s at the PM9A1. SSD efficiency is forged on the other hand without a throttling.

Our RTX 4060 plays smartly with effects which may also be simply moderately above the on a regular basis gaming computer in our database supplied with the an similar GPU. Upgrading to the RTX 4070, 4080, or 4090 is predicted to spice up efficiency by way of 10 to twenty p.c, 60 to 80 p.c, and 80 to 100%, respectively, over the RTX 4060. The efficiency hole is widest between the RTX 4070 and 4080.

Annoyingly, MSI has programmed MSI Heart to robotically transfer to Excessive Efficiency mode each time it detects that 3DMark is working and there’s sadly no simple solution to disable this. We discover this irritating because it takes regulate clear of the highest specific individual. The automated switching would now not happen when working video video video games.

Enabling Cooler Spice up does now not seem to significantly impact CPU or GPU efficiency as showed by way of our Fireside Strike effects beneath. Thus, the characteristic isn’t essential for maximum efficiency and it is just if truth be told helpful if cooler working temperatures are desired.

Similar to the RTX 2060 and RTX 3060 earlier than it, the RTX 4060 is perfect for 1080p60 gaming. All examined video video video games run slightly smartly at 1080p most settings, on the other hand more recent and extra tough video video video games like Ratchet and Clank Rift Aside maximum incessantly usually generally tend to drop beneath 60 FPS. Decrease settings or DLSS are if truth be told helpful in such instances particularly given that primary show lacks G-Sync support.

Fan noise is a blended bag. The 2 lovers are very delicate to onscreen slightly fairly that means they will ramp up sharply and briefly when merely launching programs or surfing the internet despite the fact that set to the Balanced energy profile. There is also audible fan noise on Silent mode as smartly, on the other hand pulsing is a long way so much a lot much less now not odd. On the entire, consumers may also be expecting a noise stage all the way through the 25 to 38 dB(A) vary when surfing or streaming video even though on Silent mode.

Fan noise when gaming can range wildly relying at the energy profile decided on. Working Witcher 3 on Balanced or Excessive Efficiency modes would lead to a noise stage of 46.2 dB(A) or 57 dB(A), respectively. If Cooler Spice up is enabled, the utmost would jump even upper to 60.1 dB(A) to be one of the crucial an important loudest 16-inch gaming laptops. Fortunately, the graphics efficiency loss when gaming on Balanced mode could be very marginal and so the Excessive Efficiency and Cooler Spice up settings are perfect if truth be told helpful whilst you happen to pray cooler working temperatures or are manually overclocking the GPU.

Floor temperature construction is symmetrical because of how the cooling answer is designed. The keyboard middle can reach as much as 40 C which is a long way cooler than what we recorded at the HP Omen 16 or Legion Slender 7i 16 G8 the place hotspots will also be as much as 45 to 50 C every. Essentially the most incessantly louder lovers and thicker compile of the GE68HX artwork in choose of MSI from this standpoint.

The CPU would spice up to 4.1 GHz and 183 W when beginning Prime95 power earlier than settling at 3.6 GHz, 134 W, and 93 C only a few seconds later. Repeating this check out on ultimate three hundred and sixty five days’s taste with the older twelfth gen Core i7-12800HX would lead to a miles decrease CPU bundle deal energy of simply 55 W to turn how a lot more tough the brand new thirteenth gen CPU will also be.

GPU clock fee and temperature would stabilize at 2475 MHz and 84 C when working Witcher 3 on Balanced mode. It sort of feels that, the clock fee would building up simply marginally to 2490 MHz if working on Excessive Efficiency mode whilst GPU temperature would lower additional considerably to 70 C and even simply 63 C if Cooler Spice up is energetic as showed by way of our screenshots and desk beneath. Maximum different MSI gaming laptops would show off similar effects as smartly. It is due to this fact if truth be told helpful to game on Balanced mode given that hit to GPU efficiency could be very marginal relative to the immense fan noise diversifications between the preset energy profiles. The efficiency diversifications between Balanced and Efficiency modes are maximum incessantly additional necessary on different gaming laptops harking back to at the Asus Zephyrus collection.

Energy intake when idling on desktop is ready the an similar as on ultimate three hundred and sixty five days’s taste. Idling on iGPU mode with the LEDs off would save up to 8 W in comparison to idling on dGPU mode with the entrance LEDs energetic.

Working Witcher 3 would identify for 22 p.c so much a lot much less energy than on ultimate three hundred and sixty five days’s RTX 3070 Ti-powered GE67HX which correlates with the ten to fifteen slower uncooked graphics efficiency of our RTX 4060. Conversely, working Prime95 would identify for 21 p.c additional energy than earlier than for a 35 to 40 p.c building up in multi-thread efficiency.

We are able to report a short lived most draw of 365 W from the massive (~18 x 8.5 x 3.5 cm) 280 W AC adapter when beginning each Prime95 and FurMark power. This fee would fall and stabilize at round 204 W after only a few seconds as showed by way of the graphs beneath. MSI has then again to undertake GaN charging now not like on the newest Razer Blade laptops.

Battery capability is as excessive as it might in truth legally be at 99.9 Wh. Runtimes are very good for a 16-inch gaming computer at simply over 6.5 hours of real-world WLAN surfing at the Balanced energy profile with the iGPU energetic. This is among the longer-lasting 16-inch gaming laptops we’ve got examined thus far.

Sadly, charging from empty to complete capability is somewhat sluggish at 2.5 hours in comparison to 1.5 hours on maximum different laptops. Moreover, none of our USB-C AC adapters would worth the computer by the use of any of the 3 USB-C ports despite the fact that MSI advertises Energy Supply.

Whilst we admire the producer for getting into a singular path with its gaming computer designs, we firmly imagine that the adjustments will have to now not come on the expense of end-user serviceability. The GE68HX is more challenging to open up than on ultimate three hundred and sixty five days’s design and this will also be particularly problematic on a gaming computer the place householders are much more most definitely so to add further RAM and garage themselves. Secondly, the brand new design is noticeably thicker and heavier than the “cleaner” glance of the GE67HX which would possibly not sit down down smartly with a large number of consumers.

There are then again a handful of advantages with the more recent chassis. To start with, the hinges if truth be told actually really feel sturdier than earlier than whilst the remainder of the chassis is simply as tough. Secondly, core temperatures are cooler than at the GE67HX for higher overclocking imaginable. Efficiency is even moderately faster than anticipated at the default energy profile and settings. And in any case, some consumers would perhaps admire the bigger clickpad and new numpad for programs as opposed to gaming.

Efficiency and temperatures take pleasure in the thicker chassis design, on the other hand now not everybody might be happy in regards to the heavier weight, harder serviceability, and low-end show imaginable possible choices taking into account the excessive beginning price.

For $1700 USD and up, then again, the scale back corners to show colours, G-Sync, and SSD efficiency appear pointless for some way all the way through the high-end GE collection. Such compromises are additional anticipated for fashions all the way through the lower-end MSI Sword or Katana collection instead. The producer is also falling in the back of in charging technology; smaller and extra transportable GaN chargers from Razer can output simply as such a lot energy whilst USB-C charging support at the GE68HX seems unreliable.

Possible imaginable possible choices very similar to the Lenovo Legion Slender 7i 16 Gen 8, Asus ROG Zephyrus M16, or Razer Blade 16 would possibly not always be offering Core-HX CPUs, on the other hand they’re a lot more transportable whilst sporting similar graphics imaginable possible choices and higher displays.

The MSI Raider GE68HX is now extensively to be had beginning at $1900 USD on Amazon, Newegg, and Perfect imaginable Achieve for our Core i7/RTX 4060/FHD+ configuration as much as over $4000 if utterly configured with the Core i9/RTX 4090/QHD+.