The GL75 is a gaming laptop from MSI which has some powerful specs, but how well does
it actually perform in games? I’ve tested 20 different games at all setting levels and
also compared it with other laptops to help you decide if it’s worth it.
I’ve got the 9SEK version of the GL75, so there’s an Intel i7-9750H CPU, 90 watt Nvidia
RTX 2060 graphics, 16gb of memory in dual channel, and a 17.3” 1080p 144Hz screen.
It’s also available with some different specs though, you can find different options
and updated prices linked in the description.
The MSI Dragon Center software allows us to set different performance profiles. I’ve
tested with turbo mode enabled for best performance and with cooler boost enabled which increases
the fan speed for optimal performance.
We’ll only be covering gaming performance in this video, so if you’re new to the channel,
you'll definitely want to get subscribed for the upcoming full review. Let’s start out
by going through all games at all setting levels, then afterwards we’ll see how the
GL75 compares with some other laptops.
Red Dead Redemption 2 was tested using the game’s built in benchmark tool with Vulkan.
I usually use Direct X 12, but for some reason on this laptop it didn’t work too well.
In any case, even high settings was able to average above 60 FPS in this intensive title.
Battlefield 5 was tested in campaign mode, and I’ve got RTX on shown by the green bars,
and RTX off shown by the purple bars. It was playing well with RTX on at medium and below,
but given it both looks and performs better at ultra with RTX off it doesn’t really
seem worth using in this game.
Control was also tested with and without RTX, I’ve used the highest RTX setting and it
was somewhat playable at low settings but not a great experience. Performance was significantly
better with RTX off though, and was just able to average 60 FPS with high settings.
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. At minimum settings the 144
FPS frame cap was being hit, and the difference wasn’t that much lower at max settings so
you could play maxed out no problem.
Call of Duty Modern Warfare was tested in campaign mode, and I’ve also tested it with
the settings either maxed out or at minimum. Even at max settings it was still playing
quite well, and minimum settings only boosted performance by around 20 FPS.
Borderlands 3 was tested using the game’s built in benchmark, and the high setting preset
was above to average above 60 FPS, with 100 and above being hit at medium settings and
lower.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider was tested with the built in benchmark, and this was one of
the best results I’ve ever seen in this test compared to other 2060 laptops that I’ve
tested, but we’ll see how the GL75 compares with other laptops in this game soon.
Ghost Recon Breakpoint was also tested with the benchmark tool, and even with the highest
ultimate setting preset 60 FPS averages were still possible, though half as much was seen
in terms of 1% low performance, but it was possible to boost this up to 60 with very
high settings.
Far Cry New Dawn was tested with the games benchmark, and the results are pretty similar
compared to most other i7 based laptops that I’ve tested recently.
Fortnite was tested with the replay feature, and as a less demanding game epic settings
was easily able to average above 100 FPS and play without any problems, however it was
possible to greatly push the average frame rate above the refresh rate of the display
at lower settings.
Overwatch is another less demanding game and was tested in the practice range. Again, even
with the epic setting preset the average frame rate is quite high, with above 100 FPS even
for the 1% low, so absolutely no issues at all here.
CS:GO was tested using the Ulletical FPS benchmark, and as a game that depends primarily on CPU
power the results were a little ahead of most other i7 based laptops that I’ve tested.
Dota 2 was tested playing in the middle lane, and as another primarily CPU heavy game the
results were pretty similar when compared to many other i7 based laptops that I’ve
tested, which seem to hit around 200 FPS at low settings. Ultra wasn’t that far behind
though and was still playing extremely smoothly.
Rainbow Six Siege was tested with the built in benchmark, and once again very high frame
rates even with the highest ultra setting preset which were close to the screen’s
refresh rate.
Metro Exodus was tested using the built in benchmark, most parts of the game perform
a fair bit better than this, so don’t take these results as a good indication of what
to expect throughout the entire game, it’s more of a worst case.
The Division 2 was also tested with the built in benchmark, and although it was possible
to average above 60 FPS at ultra settings, the 1% low was less than half, so lower settings
would likely be needed for a more stable experience.
PUBG was tested using the replay feature. Ultra settings was able to average above 100
FPS and the 1% low performance wasn’t too far behind, and given there’s not too much
improvement with lower settings you could still get a good mix of decent performance
while having it look good.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey was tested with the built in benchmark, and as more of a CPU
heavy test the results aren’t much different compared to many other i7 laptops I’ve tested.
Given the game doesn’t really need super high frame rates and we’re able to pass
60 FPS at very high settings there are no problems with these results.
The Witcher 3 was playing ok at high settings, and ultra settings was definitely playable,
with almost 60 FPS for 1% low performance, however simply stepping down 1 setting level
was able to boost average FPS by almost 30 while still looking good.
F1 2019 was tested using the game’s benchmark tool, and although max settings had decent
average FPS, the 1% low performance was down substantially, however stepping down just
one level to high increased performance significantly.
Let’s also take a look at how this config of the MSI GL75 compares with other laptops,
use these results as a rough guide only as they were tested at different times with different
drivers.
In Battlefield 5 I’ve got the GL75 highlighted in red near similarly specced machines. In
this case it’s basically right on par with MSI’s GE65 with the same specs, and both
were a fair bit ahead of the other RTX 2060 laptops that I’ve recently tested, granted
those have 8th gen CPUs, and in the case of the Scar II also a lower 80w power limit.
These are the results from Far Cry 5 with ultra settings in the built in benchmark.
Again the GL75 was performing very similarly to the GE65 with just a slight edge here this
time, and once more was a fair bit higher than the other 2060 laptops that I’ve got
data for.
These are the results from Shadow of the Tomb raider with the built in benchmark at highest
settings. Yet again the results are right in line with the GE65 with same specs, so
nice results and again a fair step ahead of the other 2060 machines, and even the 1070
in the GE75.
Overall the gaming performance from the MSI GL75 gaming laptop was great for the specs.
Compared to most other RTX 2060 laptops that I’ve tested this one is definitely up there
without even making any tweaks such as undervolting, which I’ll investigate in the upcoming full
review video. There were minimal issues playing almost all of these games at 1080p even with
max settings, the specs are a great match up for the 144Hz screen, offering a nice gaming
experience.
Let me know what you thought of the gaming performance from the MSI GL75 9SEK gaming
laptop down in the comments, and if you’re new to the channel consider getting subscribed
for the full review to see everything this gaming laptop has to offer.