I’ve got MSI’s two best gaming laptops, the new Raider GE78 and new Titan GT77,
and MSI have sponsored this early first look video for me to show you everything they’ve got!
Let’s start out with the GE78, as it’s a new design and replaces last year’s GE77.
It’s available with up to Intel’s new 13th gen 24 core 32 thread Core i9 HX processors,
and up to Nvidia RTX 4090 graphics with max power limit.
Mine has the highest possible i9-13980HX CPU, and as we can see here the extra
8 E cores and higher clock speeds this year give it a nice boost compared to the
best options from last year. This isn’t final hardware, so this is subject to change in the
upcoming full review, but still, that’s a 30% increase to multicore performance!
The 17” screen now uses the taller 16:10 aspect ratio,
and there are QHD+ 240Hz or FHD+ 165Hz options.
The most obvious thing that stuck out to me
was the new light bar down the front. Compared to MSI’s previous GE series,
the lights in the new matrix light bar are individual rectangles. Kind of like big pixels.
The WASD and arrow keys are also translucent now, so they stand out a bit more compared
to other keys as the per-key RGB backlighting can shine through easier.
The touchpad feels extremely smooth and nice to click compared to previous MSI gaming laptops,
I really hope that they use this new one going forward in their new
laptops. I think that it’s noticeably better compared to previous GE laptop touchpads.
There's also a version of the GE78 with a smartpad. Basically the touchpad area
looks flat and is instead lit up so you can see where it is,
and there’s also a number of other shortcuts and a slider for volume adjustment.
For ports the left has a Type-C Thunderbolt 4 port, SD card slot,
and 3.5mm audio combo jack, while the right has a couple of USB 3.2
Gen 2 Type-A ports and a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port, which can be used to charge the laptop.
From left to right on the back there’s 2.5 gigabit ethernet,
HDMI 2.1, a second USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port, and the power input on the right. The ethernet
port isn’t the way that I prefer, but I’m pleased to say that it sits high
enough off my desk that I can still unplug it without lifting the laptop, so all good.
Inside we’ve got the large 99.9Wh battery down the front, two DDR5-5600 memory slots,
and two M.2 storage slots, with one supporting the new PCIe Gen 5.
MSI’s previous GE77 and GE76 before this had two thinner heatpipes shared between
the CPU and GPU, so there’s more now with the new GE78.
The Advanced BIOS is still fully unlocked with options to tweak and tune both memory and the
unlocked HX processor, with way more options that most other laptop brands simply do not offer.
The speakers are improved too, last year’s GE77 had two 1 watt speakers and two 2 watt
subwoofers. Now the new GE78 has two 2 watt speakers and four 2 watt subwoofers.
There’s a new hinge design too, which feels nice and smooth to open and close the lid.
There’s also a physically sliding privacy shutter over the 1080p camera now.
Next up we’ve got MSI’s Titan GT77, their most powerful gaming laptop ever! MSI
first introduced it last year, but now it’s already been updated with the latest specs.
Think of this as more of a desktop replacement style machine that’s still portable,
because it’s the only gaming laptop I know of this year that has 4 DDR5 memory
slots and 3 M.2 storage slots, with one supporting the newer PCIe Gen 5.
I know PCIe Gen 5 SSDs are still pretty uncommon, but I don’t think that any other
brands are offering PCIe Gen 5 support in their gaming laptops this year. So I think
you could argue that this brings some level of “future proofing” into both of these laptops.
If you wanted to swap in a faster PCIe Gen 5 SSD sometime down the road then you could.
Just like the earlier GE78, the GT77 also goes right up to Intel’s Core i9-13980HX
CPU and Nvidia’s RTX 4090 graphics with maximum power limit, but don’t worry,
there will also be lower specced versions of both laptops available for less money.
The Titan sticks with 16:9 screens this year, with either a 17.3” 1440p 240Hz IPS-Level screen,
or a new 4K 144Hz Mini-LED panel, which gets 1000 nits bright!
There’s also a new privacy shutter over the camera, just like the GE78.
The cooler is a bit different this year too, as shown here. There’s still 4 fans, but we've got
8 heatpipes now compared to 7 last gen, with the extra one going across most of the laptop.
The ports are the same as last gen,
but now the Type-C port closer to the back has support for 100 watts of Type-C charge.
That might not sound that important because 100 watts certainly isn’t going to fully power all
of the beastly hardware inside this thing. But it does give you the advantage of not having
to travel with the larger and heavier 330 watt power brick if you know that you’re just going
to be running less demanding workloads. And like I always say, having choice is best!
Both of these laptops are engineering samples,
so unfortunately I can’t do any gaming on them just yet, but don’t worry I will
be reviewing both of these laptops very soon, so make sure that you’re subscribed!
Until then, you can find out about the rest of MSI’s new gaming laptops
coming out this year over here, so I’ll see you in that video next!