MSI GE76 Raider 12UHS review: Bring the bling (and performance)

Price When Reviewed

$4,200 (Core i9, RTX 3080 Ti)

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We’ve been longtime followers of MSI’s GE76 Raider. They’re solidly constructed machines that ship dependable efficiency. That stated, in the case of the outside, not a lot has modified on the most recent iteration. The insides, nevertheless, sport far superior {hardware}: Intel’s 14-core Core i9-12900HK and Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU. Not solely had been we happy with the CPU and GPU efficiency, however we additionally actually favored the 1080p webcam and the punchy audio. Read on to study extra.

Since you’re possible acquainted with the GE76 Raider, we’ll skip speaking up the outside options of it right here besides to level out the enormous RGB LED stripped throughout its entrance and go proper into what issues: The inside.

GE76 Raider Specs

• CPU: Intel 12th gen Core i9-12900HK
• RAM: 32GB DDR5/4800 in dual-channel mode
• GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti @ 175 Watt TGP
• Screen: 17.3-inch, 16:9, UHD 4K decision display with 120Hz refresh
• Storage: 1TB PCIe 4.0 Micron 3400 SSD
• Networking: Wi-Fi 6E utilizing Killer AX1675i, 2.5GbE Killer E3100G
• Size and weight: 15.6 x 11.2 x 1 inch, 6.4 kilos plus 1.2 kilos for 330 watt energy brick
• Battery Size: 99.9 Whr
• Ports: Three USB-A, one USB-C, one Thunderbolt 4, miniDisplayPort, HDMI, 2.5GbE Ethernet, analog audio jack, SD Express card reader.

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Keyboard and trackpad

The keyboard on the GE76 Raider hasn’t actually modified a lot for the reason that authentic 10th gen model. It’s not our favourite keyboard, because it’s nonetheless a tad compressed for our fats sausage fingers, but it surely’s serviceable. It continues to contains a 10-key on the aspect as effectively with a phone keyboard format, which simply isn’t as helpful as a correct calculator format.

The keyboard options per-key RGB backlighting with very clean transitions, but it surely continues to really feel dim in comparison with rivals such because the Asus ROG Strix G17. The benefit of the GE76’s 10-key is the enter button that’s positioned close to it. Oddly sufficient, Asus skips this bit on the ROG Strix G17.

We’re additionally certain the trackpad is similar because the earlier iterations as effectively, however we discovered it to be just a little too twitchy out of the field and will use extra palm rejection.

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Audio subsystem

Although some will complain about giant laptops, one benefit is usually higher audio, which is first rate on the GE76 Raider. With its 4 audio system, the laptop computer places out first rate quantity that’s enhanced by its Nahmic spatializer. The built-in microphones and noise cancellation can also be pretty efficient too.

Webcam

The GE76 Raider was amongst one of many first to maneuver from a 720p webcam to a 1080p one. The pretty vast angle of view makes it a fairly good (particularly mixed with its first rate audio system and microphones) option to host Zoom calls with multiple particular person in entrance of it.

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Build high quality and acoustics

When it involves this explicit mannequin’s construct high quality, little has modified. The excellent news is it’s nonetheless a premium gaming laptop computer with an aluminum lid and keyboard deck. The backside of the laptop computer has plastic hinge caps, however most would exhausting pressed to inform. The physique can also be pretty inflexible and in case your wrist is robust sufficient to heft a 6.4 pound laptop computer by the nook, you are able to do so with out the laptop computer feeling like it would bend.

The GE76 Raider is constructed round a set of six warmth pipes and most of them are devoted to the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU. MSI does embody, nevertheless, a brand new phase-change liquid steel pad on the CPU. When temperatures are under 58 levels Celsius, the pad is strong. When the temperature rises, the pad liquifies. MSI says the design ought to enhance not solely cooling however longevity over standard liquid steel, which might crystalize over time.

Fan noise on the GE76 Raider is much like earlier fashions. It can run annoyingly loud—roughly 51dB—when it’s in excessive efficiency mode. MSI now contains a Smart Auto mode with “AI” that dynamically tunes the followers and efficiency to eek as a lot efficiency as doable. Certainly these wanting probably the most efficiency in all probability gained’t thoughts the fan noise, however we’d want setting the laptop computer to its Smart Auto mode. This mode noticed the fan noise at a really affordable 45dB vary when working 3DMark Time Spy.

You would possibly assume the leap from 45dB to 51dB (a large distinction) would end in an enormous efficiency distinction, but it surely’s not that dangerous. In truth, in 3DMark Time Spy, it really works out to about 6 to 7 % efficiency discount in trade for a really giant discount in noise.

Upgrades

Laptop upgrades on the GE76 are typical for a big gaming laptop computer. There are two DDR5 SO-DIMM slots and two M.2 slots for storage. The wi-fi card is a Killer/Intel Wi-Fi 6e, which might be changed. Access can also be pretty simple with out having to take away the motherboard.

Performance

Big gaming laptops are often purchased for his or her pace, so we’ll begin with Maxon’s Cinebench R20, which is a benchmark based mostly on the engine utilized in its skilled Cinema4D utility. More cores means higher efficiency and the 14-cores of the 12th gen Core i9 doesn’t disappoint. That shouldn’t shock anybody as 14 is greater than 8. The MSI GF76 Katana listed here’s a 14-core CPU too, however at its inventory settings, it doesn’t push the CPU very exhausting. On its efficiency setting, it truly strikes into the 2nd greatest place right here. You ought to take the rating for the GE76 Raider as a superb indicator that it’ll usually carry out multi-threaded or multi-core duties reminiscent of 3D rendering, CPU-based encoding, and even heavy-duty Excel evaluation fairly effectively.

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The overwhelming majority of purposes individuals use, nevertheless, don’t actually stretch all of the CPU cores in a system. That’s why we run Cinebench R20 utilizing a single-core or thread. That ought to provide you with a greater indicator of how the GE76 Raider performs duties like searching, photograph modifying and normal Office use. This laptop computer is clearly the quickest machine laptop computer right here, which ought to translate right into a snappier really feel over the others in most capabilities.

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Cinebench R20 is a reasonably quick working check that doesn’t actually stress the cooling system of a laptop computer, which is a essential characteristic of any efficiency machine. To push the laptops tougher, we activity them with transcoding a 30GB 1080P file utilizing Handbrake 0.9.9 and the default Android Tablet preset. A shorter bar signifies a given laptop computer is quicker. The winner once more is the GE76 Raider, which completed our conversion in roughly 13 minutes. That’s a beefy enchancment over say, the Asus ROG Zephyrus S17 with its 8-core Core i9-11900H, which takes virtually one other 5 minutes to wrap up the job.

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Our ultimate non-GPU targeted check makes use of UL’s PCMark 10 utility efficiency, which measures a laptop computer’s efficiency whereas working numerous duties in open-source Office, Photo Editing, and 3D rendering purposes. This is a check that usually helps us notice that as thrilling as it’s to see some superb multi-core rating, in actuality it in all probability doesn’t matter that a lot. You can form of see that within the outcomes for a lot of the laptops right here, which, we must always admit, possible could be indistinguishable from the others. After all, can you actually inform the distinction between laptop computer A and laptop computer B when all you’re doing is typing a letter? We’d nonetheless argue that no you may’t, however the knowledge additionally tells us that the GE76 Raider goes to be just a bit bit snappier than the others.

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Let’s be sincere: You don’t purchase a laptop computer with this a lot RGB to do Zoom calls. You’re right here for the gaming efficiency, so to take a look at that, we’ll begin with UL’s 3DMark Time Spy. It’s a well-liked and dependable artificial graphics benchmark that’s largely GPU-focused. The total rating does issue within the CPU of the laptop computer, however what does the GE76 Raider and its GeForce RTX 3080 Ti get you over the others? Almost a 25 % higher rating.

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Time Spy is extra about standard DirectX12 gaming efficiency, so we ran 3DMark’s Port Royal check to gauge ray tracing efficiency. The GeForce RTX 3080 Ti GPU, in the event you don’t know, options about 20 % extra ray tracing cores and CUDA cores than the plain GeForce RTX 3080 GPU. With the upper energy and warmth limits of the MSI GE76 Raider including to the equation, we’re seeing a 23 % benefit over the subsequent quickest laptop computer in our checklist.

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Real video games matter too, so our subsequent check is the now the aged Rise of the Tomb Raider, which we run at 1080p decision in DX11 mode. This older recreation possible leans on the CPU just a little tougher than a more moderen recreation, but it surely’s nonetheless largely pushed by the GPU. No shock, the GE76 Raider and its GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU simply outpaces the opposite laptops together with a stack of GeForce RTX 3080 GPU laptops.

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Moving on to a recreation that’s more durable on the GPU. To work the laptop computer just a little tougher, we run Metro Exodus on its Extreme preset at 1080p. The GE76 Raider has a transparent benefit in opposition to all different gaming laptops right here, but it surely seems to run lifeless even with the Asus ROG Zephyrus S17, which options an 11th gen Core i9 and RTX 3080.

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Our final check focuses on battery life, which might be necessary to some of us. However, anybody who expects to run a laptop computer with a power-sucking 4K display configured with a high-power CPU and GPU is certain to be “using it wrong.” All laptops right this moment are restricted to a most battery measurement of 100 watt hours on account of aviation rules that forestall big lithium ion batteries on planes.

With a set “gas tank,” the excessive efficiency components aren’t going to provide you very satisfying battery life whereas doing one thing as intense as, say, gaming. We’ve been saying roughly an hour or two based mostly on the sport and laptop computer for years and that hasn’t modified.

The key level is that driving the CPU or GPU exhausting at all times means lackluster battery life (sure, you too M1 Max followers). But doing light-weight duties reminiscent of watching a video would possibly yield higher battery life than you’d anticipate.

For that check, we loop a 4K video file with the display set to a comparatively brilliant 250 to 260 nits with the laptop computer in airplane mode and ear buds plugged in. The thought is to simulate watching a film on a aircraft or an workplace with the cabin lights on.

With its 99.9 watt hour battery, the GE76 Raider truly coughs up an honest battery life contemplating its giant 17.3-inch 4K panel. High density screens want brighter backlighting to realize the identical brightness as a decrease decision display.

We noticed nearly 6.5 hours of video run time on the GE76 Raider, which may be very aggressive with laptops with lower-resolution screens (albeit smaller batteries, too). Basically, you need to anticipate truthful battery life doing lighter duties and much worse battery life below heavy hundreds.

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Conclusion

This iteration of the GE76 Raider is the quickest one but! That’s simply lazy reviewer converse searching to be quoted in firm ad-copy. The sincere fact is that this: This laptop computer is the perfect we’ve seen with vital will increase over earlier iterations.

And we’re not speaking 5 years, both. The first time we noticed the GE76 Raider was early 2020 when it was outfitted with a 10th gen Intel 8-core Core i7-10870H. Two years later, the most recent mannequin contains a hefty 85 % increased rating in multi-core efficiency.

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It doesn’t primary that edge in single-core efficiency, however a 58 % enchancment in efficiency is nothing to scoff at. If there’s one knock we have now on the GE76 Raider, it’s the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, because it doesn’t fairly impress as a lot. On paper, the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti provides 20 % extra to, effectively, all the things from shader cores to ray tracing cores, but it surely washes out from 4 to 12 % in the long run. That’s good however not the punch some might need anticipated.

One factor actually price whining over is the worth. With its 4K UHD 120Hz panel, 12th gen Core i9, GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU, and 32GB of DDR5/4800, the GE76 Raider 12UHS pushes $4,200. That’s a severe, severe chunk of change.

In the top, whereas we expect the GE76 Raider is due for a makeover, we will’t complain a couple of laptop computer that’s now providing a considerable efficiency increase over the model bought simply two years in the past.