MSI’s GF63 is one of the cheapest RTX 4050 gaming laptops for $1000 USD, so let’s find
out if it’s worth it!
The design and build quality seems the same as last year’s model, with an all black
brushed aluminum finish on both the lid and interior.
Don’t let the metal fool you, it feels like a cheap laptop with more flex than usual,
and it’s super easy for fingerprints to show up.
The brushed finish made it a little harder to clean too, so it always looked a bit messy.
The hinge doesn’t feel amazing, but it seemed better than my older model.
It was also easier to open up, it’s still a bit back heavy, but it didn’t tip back
like last year’s version.
The configuration I bought has an Intel i5-12450H processor, Nvidia RTX 4050 graphics, 16 gigs
of DDR4 dual channel memory with a 15.6” 144Hz screen.
The RTX 4050 graphics can run anywhere between 35 and 115 watts, quite a big range, but the
GF63 is on the lower end of this range at just 45 watts, so it won’t perform as well
as a more expensive 4050 laptop with higher power limit.
The laptop alone almost weighs 4.1lb or 1.85kg, increasing to 5.1lb or 2.3kg with the small
120 watt charger included.
It’s fairly lightweight compared to a lot of other other 15 inch gaming laptops, an
advantage in part due to the lower wattage graphics, as it means we don’t need a huge
power brick.
Less power also means it doesn’t have to be as large to fit a giant cooler, it’s
quite portable.
There’s a 720p camera above the screen in the middle, but no IR for Windows Hello face
unlock.
Here’s how the camera and microphones look and sound like, and this is what it sounds
like while typing on the keyboard.
The keyboard only has red backlighting, but all keys and secondary functions get lit up.
You can change between three brightness levels by holding function and using the page up
and down keys on the right, but the keys are still red even with the lighting off.
The key presses feel flat and not clicky at all, I probably wouldn’t want to use it
for long typing sessions, but it’s not too bad.
The plastic touchpad worked fine, but felt a little small compared to modern laptops.
The left side has the power input near the middle, and a USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A port.
Most of the ports are on the right, including separate 3.5mm headphone and mic jacks, two
more USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, a USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C port, gigabit ethernet and Kensington
lock.
The Ethernet port wasn’t facing the preferred way and it looks low, but I was still able
to remove a cable without lifting the laptop.
The back just has the HDMI port in the middle.
MSI’s spec sheet says it can do 4K 30Hz which implies HDMI 1.4, and we confirmed it
could run a 4K screen at 60Hz 8-bit, which is possible with 1.4.
The HDMI port does not support G-Sync, as like last year, it connects to the Intel integrated
graphics and not Nvidia.
However this year’s version has added DisplayPort support over USB Type-C, which can be used
to bypass optimus as it connects directly to the RTX 4050 graphics.
The Type-C port cannot be used to charge the laptop though.
Having most of the ports on the right also seems a bit weird considering most people
are right handed mouse users.
So cables are going to get in the way of your mouse hand.
But I suppose if you’re just connecting a mouse over USB Type-A you could connect
it to the left and not have anything in the way, because the power is on this side.
But once you need ethernet or any other cables plugged in then it might be a problem.
Getting inside requires unscrewing 12 Phillips head screws, all the same length.
It’s difficult to open, mostly because of the plastic on the right digging in around
the headphone and mic jacks.
You’ll definitely want some pry tools for this, the ones I use are linked below the
video.
Inside we’ve got the battery down the front, a 2.5” SATA drive bay for an SSD, or hard
drive if you like pain, two DDR4 memory slots near the middle, one PCIe Gen 4 M.2 SSD, and
the Wi-Fi 6 card up the top corner.
The Wi-Fi speed was decent compared to more expensive laptops, scoring similar to the
older GF63 which used the same model of WI-Fi card.
The 512gb SSD was about a gigabyte per second faster in sequential write speed compared
to last year’s model, a welcome improvement.
There’s also room to upgrade to a larger double sided drive, you’ll just have to
remove the included pads.
It came with two memory sticks installed for dual channel, another welcome improvement
compared to the RTX 3050 and GTX 1650 models I bought last year that only had one stick,
as one stick of DDR4 reduces performance.
I took off half a point from the upgradeability score because of how annoying it was to open,
so the same amount of upgrade options compared to last year’s model.
The speakers are found underneath towards the front on the left and right sides.
They get the job done, but they sound a bit muffled and not that good, especially at higher
volume.
The latencymon results weren’t great, but there is a known Nvidia bug at the moment
that may increase this.
The GF63 is powered by a 3-Cell 51Wh battery.
The MSI Center software has display power saver enabled by default, which automatically
lowers the screen’s refresh rate down to 60Hz when you unplug the charger to save power.
This is why the screen flashes black, and it goes back to 144Hz when you plug back in.
The battery lasted 10% longer compared to last year’s GF63 with older CPU and GPU
in the YouTube video playback test.
It also lasted at least 38% longer in the game test, which makes sense as I test with
a 30 FPS limit, and the RTX 4050 is more power efficient.
Let’s check out thermals next.
There’s only one fan, just like last year, but the bottom heatpipe now extends over both
the CPU and GPU, last year it stopped short and did not cover both.
The intake holes on the bottom panel aren’t above the fan, but over the CPU and GPU, which
would bring air in over these.
Air gets exhausted out of the left side only, and from one corner out the back, where the
single fan is.
The MSI Center software allows us to change between different performance modes, which
from lowest to highest are silent, balanced and extreme performance.
Extreme performance gives us the option to overclock the GPU, but there’s no overclock
applied by default and we haven’t changed that.
You can also enable cooler boost, which sets the fan to full speed, or customize it a bit
in advanced mode.
The internal temperatures were cool when just sitting there idle.
The rest of the results are from combined CPU and GPU stress tests which aim to represent
a worst case full load scenario.
Extreme mode was fairly cool, so no problems with there just being one fan.
Setting the fan to max speed lowered temps a bit more, but it’s louder, and if we instead
use a cooling pad, the one I test with is linked below the video, well it’s slightly
better than maxing the fan while being quieter.
It’s about the same with or without the lid closed, so no problem docking it.
The higher fan speeds or cooling pad were able to give us slightly higher clock speeds
compared to auto fan or closing the lid, but I’m not too sure why as the temperatures
were relatively cool.
And the power levels being reached were the same in balanced and extreme mode.
The GPU maxes out at 45 watts, which is 5 watts higher compared to MSI’s older GF63
with RTX 3050 graphics, though the CPU power was slightly lower, as it was closer to 25
watts before, so that seems to be the tradeoff.
There’s not really that much of a performance difference between the different modes when
running an actual game.
Although balanced and extreme modes were running with the same CPU and GPU power levels in
the stress tests, extreme mode was 5 FPS faster than balanced here.
The CPU only gets to boost a little higher when the GPU isn’t active, like in Cinebench.
It started out at 60 watts in extreme mode, but lowered to 50 watts after just a second
or two, at which point it started thermal throttling at 50 watts, dipping down to 45
over time.
Balanced mode was thermal throttling too, but it was running fairly quietly to be fair.
This is the first i5-12450H that we’ve tested, and although it’s similar to a 10th gen
8 core 16 thread CPU from a couple of generations prior, the single core performance is much
improved compared to any laptop that’s near it in multi core.
We’re looking at a 10% boost to multi core compared to the older GF63, and a 12% boost
in single core.
Performance lowers if we unplug the charger and instead run purely off of battery power.
The older GF63 was now slightly ahead in multi core performance, and although the newer version
was still ahead in single core, the gap is smaller now.
Most laptops I test are in the low 30 degrees Celsius range on the keyboard at idle, and
the GF63 was in line with this.
It’s warmer with the stress tests running, but the keyboard didn’t feel hot.
It’s similar in the higher balanced mode, only the back section above the keyboard on
the left feels hot, but you don’t need to touch there.
Extreme mode was cooler because the fan gets louder despite the CPU and GPU running at
the same power levels as balanced mode.
It’s slightly cooler with the fan maxed out, but it’s louder now too, let’s have
a listen.
The fan was off and completely silent some of the time at idle, but it randomly turned
on for 10 seconds every minute or so.
It gets louder in the higher performance modes, and still gets fairly loud at maximum despite
it not having two fans, but we can lower the fan noise a bit as well as the temperatures
with a cooling pad.
The screen was one of the weakest points of the previous GF63, which makes sense as that’s
typically one of the first places that a company is going to cut costs on when making a cheaper
laptop.
So two years later, surely the screen in the newer 2023 model is better, right?
The GF63 still uses a 1080p 144Hz screen like before, but the color gamut is actually worse
now, the old panel reached 61% sRGB, which still wasn’t amazing, but I didn’t expect
it to get worse.
The maximum brightness was about the same though, but anything under 300 nits is just
too dim in my opinion.
It’s not too bad if you’re inside in a darker room, but this is definitely one of
the bigger compromises of the GF63.
Screen response time isn’t amazing, as you’d expect, at around 19 and a half milliseconds,
which is about the point where even I, a filthy casual, start to notice blurriness in fast
paced games.
Just like the color gamut, the response time is actually a little worse compared to the
panel used in last year’s GF63.
You’d think as time goes on tech gets better, not worse, but here we are.
There’s also no MUX switch, advanced optimus or G-Sync, those nicer features just cost
more money and aren’t available at this price point.
The total system latency is the amount of time between a mouse click and when a gunshot
fire appears on the screen in CS:GO.
Despite the objectively worse screen this year, it’s actually faster compared to the
older GF63, which is due to the newer RTX 4050 graphics, as all 40 series laptops I’ve
reviewed this year have been ahead of their 30 series counterparts.
Backlight bleed wasn’t bad at all, all other screen issues considered, but this will vary
between panels.
Alright, let’s see how well the low powered RTX 4050 graphics perform in games and how
they compare against other laptops!
Cyberpunk 2077 was tested the same on all laptops, and I’ve got the GF63 shown by
the red highlight.
At 1080p it was basically matching the RTX 3060 in the thinner but far more expensive
Alienware x14, despite that using more power, as the 4050 is more power efficient, though
higher powered 3060s were ahead.
Even at just 45 watts, it’s ahead of an RTX 2060 at 110 watts from the generation
before that.
Red Dead Redemption 2 was tested with the game’s benchmark, and again the 4050 in
the GF63 was close to the 3060 in the x14, not bad considering the big gap in price difference.
It’s even ahead of the RTX 3070 in ASUS’s TUF Dash F15, as that one was heavily limited
by its quad core processor.
Control is quite GPU heavy, even at 1080p, and the 4050 was closer to the 2060 now, but
with more dips in performance, as shown by its worse 1% low.
Otherwise it was ahead of all 3050 Ti results, but beaten by all 3060 results this time,
granted all my 3060 results are also using more power too.
Here are the 3DMark results for those that find them useful, now for some content creator
tests.
Adobe Premiere was tested with the Puget Systems benchmark tool, and the cheaper GF63 was ahead
of last year’s Legion 5 with better CPU and high powered 3060, as this test seems
to favor Intel based laptops.
Adobe Photoshop generally likes single threaded performance, and although the i5-12450H was
better in this regard compared to last year’s i5-11400H, older laptops with that processor
were ahead, though only by a small amount.
GPU power usually matters more in DaVinci Resolve, but unlike the games, the 4050 was
now beaten by higher powered 3050 and 3050 Ti laptops.
It’s basically scoring the same as a similar powered 3050 Ti here, so not as impressive
as the games.
Blender is entirely dependent on the GPU, and like the games the GF63 was behind most
of the higher powered 3060s.
We’ve also tested SPECviewperf which tests out various professional 3D workloads.
Despite this being a lower end gaming laptop, MSI are still giving us full access to their
advanced BIOS after you enter this keyboard shortcut.
There’s a crazy amount of stuff you can customize through here from thermal and power
limits, memory speeds and way more, so make sure you know what you’re doing and don’t
brick the machine.
Linux support was tested with an Ubuntu 22.10 live CD.
By default the keyboard, touchpad, camera, speakers, ethernet and Wi-Fi all worked fine.
All keyboard shortcuts to adjust screen brightness, key brightness, and volume also worked too,
so a good result.
Let’s discuss pricing and availability next.
This will of course change over time, so refer to the link below the video for current prices
and sales.
And speaking of sales, check out my gaminglaptop.deals website to get the best deal on your next
gaming laptop!
We update it daily to include the latest deals.
When Nvidia first announced RTX 4050 gaming laptops at CES in January, they said they’d
start from $1000 USD, so given MSI’s GF63 is an entry level design it makes sense to
see it for this price on Amazon.
Though for some reason, it’s $100 more on Newegg.
The problem is, Acer’s Nitro 5 is available for the same $1000 price with a better CPU
that has 4 more E cores and a GPU power limit that’s more than twice as high, so better
performance.
Not only that, but the Nitro 5 chassis is just better in my opinion.
With both of those laptops at $1000 USD, I just can’t picture any scenario where I’d
ever recommend the GF63.
Now to be fair I have not tested the 2023 Nitro 5 yet, I’m just basing this from my
experience with last year’s model, but I will have it soon, so make sure that you’re
subscribed for the review!
As for the GF63, it’s just too expensive for what you’re getting.
Last year $1000 could get you a full powered RTX 3060 laptop with a good sale, like a Lenovo
Legion 5 or Acer Helios 300.
Both of which have a much nicer build quality, a better screen, bigger batteries, the list
goes on..
As we saw in games, a high powered 3060 is going to perform better, at least until we
take frame generation into account, which is only possible with RTX 40 laptops.
Look, I think frame generation is a nice feature in supported games, but when the tradeoff
is a GF63 chassis compared to a more premium option that’s better in most aspects, I
don’t think that it’s worth paying the RTX 4050 tax.
I’ll save all the frame generation comparisons between this laptop and the 3050 version of
the GF63 last year for an upcoming video.
Again, make sure you’re subscribed!
There are some small improvements with this year’s GF63, like the extra heat pipe for
cooling, 5 watt higher GPU power limit, better CPU performance thanks to 12th gen and better
GPU performance thanks to RTX 40, which I assume is also the reason that we get DisplayPort
on Type-C now.
The screen looks ok and you can get by gaming on it, is what I would say if this was a $600
laptop, which is what MSI’s GF63s usually are.
But yeah basically to summarize, it just costs too much for what you get.
If you are on a tighter budget then a GF63 might make more sense with GTX 1650 or RTX
3050 graphics.
Check out this video next to find out all of the differences between those two laptops.
With the GTX 1650 being about half the price compared to this one, well again, as I said
it’s not really worth paying the RTX 4050 tax, so I’ll see you in that one next.