Let’s face it: gaming laptops can be pricey, which is why it’s good to do your research before buying one. It’s important to take stock of the specs you’ll need to play the latest games as well as the components that make those specs possible. One of the best things about MSI is the myriad choices they offer to gamers looking to buy a new portable. But with several laptops across four different series — GE, GS, GL, and GF — picking the right one for you might seem daunting. So let’s break down what you need to know, starting with what specs and components you need to look for in 2020 before jumping into what each MSI series has to offer.
CPU
Intel processors come in four flavors: Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, and Core i9. All you really need to know is that the higher the number on the end, the better the performance – provided you’re comparing chips from the same generation. Given MSI’s new gaming laptops all use the latest and greatest 10th-generation CPUs, that’s a moot point, so we don’t need to get into the nitty-gritty here. With that in mind, the i5 is very much the entry-level chip and more than powerful enough for most games, but may prove a bottleneck as the years go by. The i9, by contrast, is top of the line if you’re interested in future-proofing your laptop – and it has a cost to match. For us, the happy medium is the i7 chip: enough processing power to run the latest games smoothly without breaking the bank. While most games list 4GB of RAM as the minimum requirement for a good gaming experience, MSI sensibly starts its range at 8GB, going all the way up to 32GB for its top-of-the-range models. For almost all gamers, 16GB is fine and probably will be in the immediate future. Upping to 32GB will help some games – demanding flight sim Digital Combat Simulator World recommends it for more complex missions – but it’s far from essential in 2020.
Graphics
If you want to splurge on any single component, this is the place to do it. Your graphics chip – or GPU – has the most say over what resolution you can play with and how high you can push that detail. It’s not that GTX GPUs are slow, and they’ll be more than enough for most titles in the short to medium term. But if you want to push triple-figure frame rates, then you’ll want an RTX card. If your budget doesn’t stretch that far, then at least opt for a GTX 1660-series card over a 1650 one. The difference between the two is sizable.
Screen Specs
The most important thing to keep in mind with laptop screens is the refresh rate, measured in Hertz (Hz), and response time measured in milliseconds (ms). The former is how often the image on a screen can be redrawn in a second, while the latter is how quickly a display’s pixels can switch from being active to inactive. Resolution is also a factor, but all of MSI’s laptops have FHD screens rather than pushing 2K or even 4K. This is sensible from a performance point of view: not only is 1080p gaming smoother, it’s also less of a drain on battery life. But with four different series to choose from, it can get a little confusing to know which laptop is right for you. So what’s the difference between the GS, GL, GE and GF series? Well according to this chart, courtesy of MSI, you can divide them like this: MSI’s gaming laptops are quite stylish, forgoing the over-the-top design that some gaming brands favor for something understated but modern that can blend in at both LAN parties and in class. If you want to make more of a statement, then the RGB-lit GF line might be up your alley. An iF Design Award winner last year, its brushed aluminum stylings certainly catch the eye, and its 0.1-inch bezels won’t distract you from the game, either. At just 0.8 inches thick when closed, and tipping the scales at just 4.1 pounds, it’s clearly designed to be at your side wherever you need it. As there’s some crossover in terms of design and components, it’s probably best to assess the laptops by their relative price points. Here’s a quick breakdown of what you can expect from each series as well as our picks for each category: At this price point, you’re almost exclusively looking at the GF series, but it’s still no slouch. The $799 GF75 10SCXR-003 comes with a 10th-generation i5 processor, 8GB RAM, and a GTX 1650 GPU – more than enough to run games like Fortnite at 1080p with graphics quality set to “high.”
Standard Level
$1200 to $1500 The cheapest machines with RTX graphics start at $1399. There’s the GF75 10SER-257, which comes with a Core i7 processor, 16GB RAM, a ray tracing RTX 2060 GPU, a 1TB NVMe SSD, and a massive 17.3” screen.
Enthusiast Level
$1500+If you have over $1500 to spend, then you can really let loose. MSI laptops at this price point offer serious power, and you should expect to push high FPS in even the most demanding games. Most of these laptops also offer screens of 240Hz and over as well! And if you break the $2000 barrier things get really powerful. The $2199 GE66 10SFS-048 takes the foundations of the GS66 and packs a 32GB RAM and a RTX 2070 Super GPU. You can learn more about MSI’s complete range of laptops here.
