MSI’s Bravo 15 gaming laptop features an all AMD design with AMD Ryzen 5 4600H processor
and Radeon RX 5500M graphics, but just how well does it perform in games? I’ve tested it in 20
different titles and compared it with other gaming laptops to show you the differences.
All testing was done with the highest performance mode and coolerboost enabled for best results.
Microsoft flight simulator was tested in the Sydney landing challenge.
This is quite the resource heavy test, but high end settings weren't too terrible,
medium was much better though, while the low-end preset was just below 60 fps.
Death Stranding was still able to run above 60 FPS even with the highest setting preset in use,
and there was hardly any measurable difference between maxed out and the default preset either.
Red Dead Redemption 2 was tested using the game’s built in benchmark tool,
and it’s not possible to run the test at ultra settings due to the 4gb VRAM
limitation of the RX 5500M graphics, though medium still got us above 60 FPS.
Battlefield 5 was tested in campaign mode, this one was playing fairly well even with
the highest ultra setting preset, which was still able to average above 60 FPS,
then only minor additional gains stepping down to the high preset.
Control was tested with RTX disabled as that’s not currently possible with
the 5500M. I don’t think this game needs mega high frame rates to enjoy,
and medium settings were just under the magic 60 FPS point and playing well.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider was tested with the built in benchmark,
high settings were needed to surpass 60 FPS while the lowest preset boosted this over 100,
but we’ll check out how other laptops compare with the Bravo in this title and more soon.
Apex Legends was tested with either all settings at maximum,
or all settings on the lowest possible values, as it doesn’t have predefined setting presets.
It was playing well with max settings, though minimum settings would make better use of the
120Hz panel, where even the 1% low is near the screen’s refresh rate.
Call of Duty Modern Warfare was tested in campaign mode with either max or min settings for the same
reason. It was still going fine at max and was around the 60 FPS mark again, while minimum
settings would give us 1% lows above even the average of max if you prefer smoother gameplay.
Fortnite was tested with the replay feature, and as a less demanding game the highest epic
setting preset was still above 60 FPS, though medium settings would push this
above the screen’s 120Hz refresh rate, while low settings moved even the 1% low near this point.
CS:GO was tested with the ulletical FPS benchmark, and high frame rates
were possible without any problems as is typically the case from this test.
Dota 2 was tested playing in the middle lane with bots,
again no problems at all even at higher setting levels with these esports titles.
Overwatch was tested running through the practice range. Max settings was still above 100 FPS,
though ultra pushed the 1% low to around the screens refresh rate, so again no problems at all.
Rainbow Six Siege was tested with the built in benchmark using Vulkan,
again high frame rates even at the higher setting presets, so no problems here either.
Metro Exodus was tested using the built in benchmark, for some reason
the extreme preset kept crashing so I wasn’t able to collect data for it,
but based on the 32 FPS at ultra settings it probably wouldn’t be great.
Monster Hunter World was tested running through the main town. The 1% lows aren’t far behind the
averages, so the results should be fairly consistent, and high settings was above
60 for the 1% low while low settings could best take advantage of the 120Hz display.
Borderlands 3 was tested using the game’s built in benchmark,
and there was a pretty large difference between medium and high settings,
so probably worth sticking to medium for that big frame rate increase.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is another that was tested with the games benchmark,
and 60 FPS was possible with the high preset, a fair result given the game
doesn’t need a super high frame rate to play. The Witcher 3 was playable at ultra settings,
even the 1% low was near 60 FPS, but there was a substantial boost to be had by lowering just
one level to high settings, which in my opinion still looks great anyway.
F1 2020 was tested with the games benchmark tool,
and it sees a similar behaviour where lowering down one level from max offered a nice boost,
in this case high settings would push the average FPS above the screens refresh rate.
Far Cry New Dawn was also tested with the games benchmark, ultra settings was still above 60 FPS,
though this seems to be a more CPU heavy test so the 4600H might be holding up the score.
Now let’s take a look at how the all AMD Bravo 15 compares against other laptops, use these results
as a rough guide only, as they were tested at different times with different drivers.
I’ve tested Battlefield 5 in campaign mode at ultra settings,
and the Bravo 15 is highlighted in red. This is only the second 5500M laptop I’ve ever tested,
and despite the GPU reporting as running at a lower power limit compared to MSI’s Alpha 15,
the Bravo is a fair bit ahead of the Alpha, probably due to the CPU difference,
as we know the newer Zen2 options obliterate the older 3750H. Either way,
the 5500M still seems to sit in between the 1650 and 1660 Ti options on the Nvidia side.
These are the results from Far Cry 5 with ultra settings in the built in benchmark. This test
depends more on the processor, which probably explains why the Alpha 15 with the same 5500M
graphics is further below now. Interestingly the 5600M in the Dell G5 SE was just above it
with the same processor, I suppose due to the GPU mattering a bit less in this test.
Again though, the Bravo 15’s 5500M is in between the Nvidia 1650 and 1660 Ti options.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider was also tested with the games benchmark tool with the
highest setting preset. The 5600M in the G5 is now 27% ahead of the 5500M as this is a heavier
GPU test - let me know if you’d be interested in a video comparing those two graphics options.
The Bravo was just three frames ahead of the Alpha with the same GPU, so that CPU difference
matters a bit less here compared to Far Cry 5, at least at these higher setting levels.
Overall the 5500M is certainly capable of delivering a good gaming experience,
just expect medium to high settings in more demanding AAA titles if you want
to maintain 60 FPS averages, though as we’ve just seen it of course depends on the game.
The 120Hz screen in my unit has a 22.3ms average grey to grey response time, so not a great result
given we need an 8.33ms response time for all transitions to occur within the refresh window.
I’ve got a link in the description if you need an explanation on what all these numbers mean.
It’s one of the slower results when we compare it against other laptops,
but similar to a number of other more budget friendly gaming laptops,
and hey at least not as bad as the far more expensive razer blade stealth at the top.
I hope this has been useful, I wasn’t able to get this laptop in Australia so I had to
buy it and ship it over from the US with my own money. Shout out to the Patreon members
who help me cover popular models like this that you all want to see, I’ll leave a link in the
description if you want to join us in discord or check out some behind the scenes videos.
Anyway let me know what you thought of the MSI Bravo 15s gaming performance down in the comments,
and if you’re new then definitely get subscribed for the upcoming full review
video where I’ll cover everything you need to know about this gaming laptop.