Brett Magill
I’ve never really worked on Laptop Reviews until very recently, I’ve always enjoyed the idea of reviewing technology, and with the success of my Acer Swift 7 review, I thought I’d like to explore this topic of content creation.
To that, I reached out to the team at MSi South Africa, and asked them to unchain their beast machine, and send it to me for a taste! Let me just say, it tasted good!
Gaming on the MSi GE65
“The Beast”, is actually the new MSi GE65 Gaming Laptop, and in a nutshell; it’s a beautifully compact gaming slap of cool. When the laptop arrived, I immediately jumped into a few basic games I felt would test the overall performance, so I played DOOM 1, then I played DOOM 2016 on hardcore mode, and then Metro Exodus, and that last one is where the interesting bits of the machine come in; it’s called: ray-tracing.
What is ray-tracing? And what does it mean for gaming on the MSi GE65, and gaming in general?
What is Ray-Tracing?
I’m using Metro Exodus as the primary bench mark for this feature, as the game itself is ray-tracing applicable.
Simply, the ray-tracing feature sounds mega high-tech, something out of a Star Wars movie, and it can be, but what it is simply further immersion into your overall gaming experience. Now, games can reflect and refract images and environments in more realistic detail than ever before!
According to MSi, ray-tracing is: “Ray-Tracing is essentially about the technique of tracing every ray of light from human’s eyes to the source of light. Just like we mention above, there are uncountable rays of lights bouncing into different places at the same time. It is generally a giant task for computer to process“.
It’s an interesting and new way of rendering a game in a way that looks more detailed and immersive.
When I played Metro Exodus, I did note that everything in the game felt far more immersive and detailed, actually, I played through the whole game in the dark with the sound on high and no one else in the house to ensure I got all the immersion I could! Either way, the ray-tracing on, and ray-tracing off, I did notice that the lack of ray-tracing use on a game like Metro made the overall game feel a bit more “flat”visually.
Does this mean your games won’t be as epic on the MSi GE65 Gaming Laptop? Not at all, the machine is a monster and will perform to your highest gaming requirements.
Ray-tracing simply adds to the immersion of your current gaming experience, and you can toggle it on and off. I suggest playing with it on when ever possible, just for that little extra.
MSi GE65: Look and Feel
The laptop itself feels like it can do some damage! No really, it’s heavier than your average gaming laptop, but more compact, and could probably deal a bit of damage during a zombie apocalypse.
The design and build is robust, providing a sense of high quality and structure to the frame. The underside is complete with a 7 powerful cooling heat pipes to keep the beast running at it’s optimal settings, enabling the MSi GE65 to render the world’s fasting gaming display at a 240HZ Ultra-high refresh rate, four times more than your average gaming laptop, which adds to the overall seamless nature of graphic game play.
We mentioned compact and mobile, while still providing immersive gaming experiences? That’s where the smaller bezel screen comes in, the MSi GE65 also boasts 15.6 thin bezel display; adding to the overall goal of hyper immersive experiences in a mobile package.
All this presented in a neat and Steel Series produced RBG keyboard. Neat!
But that’s just my weird interests in a gaming laptop, here’s some stats for your nerdy brains:
MSi GE65 Specs:
I reviewed the MSi GE65, with CPU: i7 9750H, GPU: RTX 2070, 32 GB DDR4 RAM, 1 TB SSD, 240Hz 1080p Display. But the following breaks down the specifications on the model you’re more than likely to pick up in your local stores:
GE65 Raider 9SF |
GE65 Raider 9SE |
| CPU | Up to 9th Gen. Intel® Core™ i9 Processor | Up to 9th Gen. Intel® Core™ i9 Processor |
|---|---|---|
| OS | Windows 10 Home | Windows 10 Home Windows 10 Pro |
| DISPLAY | 15.6″ FHD (1920×1080), 144Hz, IPS-Level 15.6″ FHD (1920×1080), 240Hz, IPS-Level |
15.6″ FHD (1920×1080), 144Hz, IPS-Level 15.6″ FHD (1920×1080), 240Hz, IPS-Level |
| CHIPSET | Intel® HM370 | Intel® HM370 |
| GRAPHICS | NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 2070 with 8GB GDDR6 | NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 2060 with 6GB GDDR6 |
| MEMORY TYPE | DDR4-2666 | DDR4-2666 |
| NUMBER OF DIMM SLOT | 2 Slots | 2 Slots |
| MAX CAPACITY | Max 64GB | Max 64GB |
| SSD | 1x M.2 SSD slot (NVMe PCIe Gen3) 1x M.2 SSD Combo (NVMe PCIe Gen3 / SATA ) |
1x M.2 SSD slot (NVMe PCIe Gen3) 1x M.2 SSD Combo (NVMe PCIe Gen3 / SATA ) |
| HDD | 1x 2.5″ SATA HDD | 1x 2.5″ SATA HDD |
| WEBCAM | HD type (30fps@720p) | HD type (30fps@720p) |
| KEYBOARD | Per-Key RGB Backlight Keyboard | Per-Key RGB Backlight Keyboard |
| LAN | Killer Gb LAN | Killer Gb LAN |
| WIRELESS LAN & BLUETOOTH | Killer ax Wi-Fi + Bluetooth v5 | Killer ax Wi-Fi + Bluetooth v5 |
| SPEAKER | 2x 2W | 2x 2W |
| WOOFER | 2x 3W | 2x 3W |
| AUDIO JACK | 1x Mic-in 1x Headphone-out (HiFi / SPDIF) |
1x Mic-in 1x Headphone-out (HiFi / SPDIF) |
| RJ45 | 1x | 1x |
| CARD READER | 1x SD (XC/HC) | 1x SD (XC/HC) |
| HDMI | 1x (4K @ 60Hz) | 1x (4K @ 60Hz) |
| MINI-DISPLAYPORT | 1x | 1x |
| BATTERY (CELL) | 6-Cell | 6-Cell |
| BATTERY (TYPE) | Li-Ion | Li-Ion |
| BATTERY (WHR) | 51 | 51 |
| AC ADAPTER | 280W adapter | 180W adapter |
| DIMENSION (WXDXH) MM | 357.7 x 248 x 26.9 mm | 357.7 x 248 x 26.9 mm |
| WEIGHT (W/ BATTERY) | 2.27 kg | 2.27 kg |
| I/O PORTS | 1x Type-A USB3.2 Gen2 1x Type-C USB3.2 Gen2 2x Type-A USB3.2 Gen1 1x RJ45 1x SD (XC/HC) 1x (4K @ 60Hz) HDMI 1x Mini-DisplayPort |
1x Type-A USB3.2 Gen2 1x Type-C USB3.2 Gen2 2x Type-A USB3.2 Gen1 |
| STORAGE | 1x M.2 SSD slot (NVMe PCIe Gen3) 1x M.2 SSD Combo (NVMe PCIe Gen3 / SATA ) 1x 2.5″ SATA HDD |
|
| COMMUNICATION | Killer Gb LAN Killer ax Wi-Fi + Bluetooth v5 |
|
| DIMENSION (WXDXH) | 357.7 x 248 x 26.9 mm | |
| MEMORY | DDR4-2666 Memory Type 2 Slots Number of DIMM Slot Max 64GB Max Capacity |
|
| AUDIO | 2x 2W Speaker 2x 3W Woofer |
|
| BATTERY | 6-Cell Li-Ion Battery (Type) 51 Battery (Whr) |
Overall, a rather tasty and effectively created beast of gaming machine.
Price of MSi GE65 Raider Gaming Laptop:
The price of the MSi GE65 at it’s peak build goes for roughly $2,699, but here’s a breakdown for everyone else who doesn’t work in USD:
- USD 2,699
- AED 13,985
- ZAR 23,799 / 25,799 on Evetech
If I was in the market for a new gaming laptop, everyone knows I prefer quality of popularity, and this machine provides that, and a way of gaming to the ultimate while remaining mobile, which works for a techno nomad such as myself.
I hope this little review has been valuable and somewhat entertaining, and I’d like to thank the team over at MSi South Africa for giving in to my requests to review one of their devices. Thank you.
Have you played on the MSi GE65 Raider? Tell me what you thought in the comments. Or if you have any feedback at all, them comments are waiting. Until next time!
MSi
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