MSI GS66 Review - Best Thin And Powerful Gaming Laptop? 

I mean I'm not going out of my way to scrape it, but can't say that's something I've noticed so far during normal use.

What would you say is better, this msi or the asus zephyrus gx502? The ones I’m looking at have similar specs and are just under $2000

Jarrod'sTech any idea when it is coming out?

@@BrchtMls It's already released, can buy it in many regions.

@@jonathansmtbclips8050 Not sure, Zephyrus has Max-P options + G-Sync so could be nice, depends on the features you're after.

Good to hear it's useful!

Me too!

No problem! Yeah based on the comments a lot of people wanted to see it, finally here!

Thanks, will do!

I agree!

What does this mean?

Yea what does that mean

He’s talking about at 6:58, how Jarrod mentions that the HDMI and Thunderbolt ports are wired directly to the graphics card, meaning that an external monitor could take full advantage of the graphics output from the computer. My current laptop does not have this so there is a bottleneck of the FPS output from the computer, where my external monitor is 144 Hz but is limited to 60 FPS by the computer.

reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Like Killer Bee 😉

This laptop is annoyingly loud. 1 Star review.

... and it's called "STEALTH"

Well don't max the fan speed then

About time! I almost unsubscribed because he took so long to make it.

Jarrod'sTech at least it came😂

@@JarrodsTech ge66?

Jarrod'sTech 😂

@@stew880 Maybe later this month, waiting on availability.

Hows it holding up? I just bought one with the 2070 and waiting to get it. Using it for Blender/Maya as well.

​@@alec57Hello, how is yours holding up ? Planning to go for gs66 or ge66

Wait for the Ti version.

@@JarrodsTech Bro, I can't wait to see that zephrus s15 liquid metal rtx 2070s. It's going to be a BEAST

@@dogdogdogdogdog2546 unfortunately ive heard LM TIM is not too reliable on laptops , might need repasting over time etc

@@JarrodsTech RTX 2080 Super Ti Max-Q

Cancerous released a month before the 3080..

UNLIMITED POWER

We need a star wars gs66 xD

May the 4th be with you!

@Daniel DeSantis Tell that to those younglings

I bet Darth Vader playing games when he had nothing to do

Nice

Nice

Nice

Nice

Nice

reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

@@JarrodsTech hahah

Hmm I didn't measure the power difference from the wall with this one, can't at the moment either as I'm using my tool for a long test of another machine haha, but yeah it made a bigger difference than expected, too bad 300Hz and 60Hz are the only options they give you by default.

No problem!

No problem!

Good to hear they're still useful! What laptop did you end up getting?

@@JarrodsTech I bought Lenovo Y540, I was choosing among Y540, Nitro 5 or Helios 300. Nitro 5 variants cant be compared to Y540 variants here while Helios 300 is way more expensive compared to Y540, plus Y540 has a better cooling and I live in a tropical country, therefore I bought it.

Thank you very much!

Woohoo!

Such a strange request... But also makes sense. Honestly you can get a decent idea by either simply comparing to any other slim 15inch laptop you can find or even just measuring it out with a ruler yourself. I don't think you will notice the size too much over the G14 both are compact for the power. I'd be more looking at price, ryzen and do you need the beefier GPU I had similar feelings when shopping for phones online trying to decide if it would go in my pocket.

It’s the same size as any other 15.6” laptop you would see at Best Buy or Micro Center. Its kind of big, but much smaller than a 17.3” laptop. Message me on Reddit (u/Syndicate909) and I can show you the difference between a 15.6” and a 14” laptop (with a 12” ruler for scale)

just look up the dimensions. i dont think a carrying demo would show what it like for you to carry the laptop because people have different body proportions.

I got the G14 and it's quite good, the 4800hs-16GB-512-2060 version. It is much smaller than the "average" 15 inches zephyrus, and it is a pound lighter. I replaced the drive with a sabrent rocket 4 1TB, it does 3500R/3500W sustained(the old 512GB 660p did 1700/1500 collapsing to 300 after a few second of real world sustained write, the 1TB 660p performs better). I also replaced the 8GB ram module with a 32GB double rank module from micron, now it has 40GB of ram. I did everything in 5 minutes, it is very easy to open. By installing drivers the keyboard lighting issue was fixed and the fingerprint reader is working properly. Buy it if you can find one :)

Jacopo Piscina where did u get it?

Cheers!

I bought this laptop and really like the solid build and quality. But, the real downer is the verticle edge right on the front. This edge will feel as though it is a dull knife sliding back and forth on your wrists and can be quite bothersome. I almost returned the computer over that problem. If the front edge is a concern, then shift to the GE66 Raider. It is almost identical but lacks the Thunderbolt port, has limited screen rotation and has the light bar on the front. I was wanting the Thunderbolt port and liked the 180° rotation of the screen. I did not return the computer because it has excellent performance, solid quality (except that front edge) that cool screen rotation and, besides, the GE66 was not yet available. As to the 300 hrtz display, I like having it but think it is more of a future value awaiting future programs and they will come. The fan noise is not an issue and it will definitely cool off the laptop. The rgb back lighting is just fine. The sound is definitely not as though you are in a theater. But, my expectations are not high so it works fine for me. Besides, use a headset if you want the best sound. Overall, I deemed it a keeper with the biggest concern, for me, being that front edge.

@@francisdrelling4060 Thanks for your feedback, one year later do you appear to have any other issues? Is it overheating really hard or something else?

@@AB-cd5gd One year in and my comments would be pretty much the same. I essentially love how it performs, have no overheating problems with those great fans running as needed, it handles all the video work I can throw at it and is doing everything I ask of it. I do, however, still really dislike that front edge. So much so that from time to time I have rogue thoughts of getting a replacement which doesn't have that issue. But, other than that, the computer is great.

that would be too good

@@AmeenArshek98 LOL don't count on that, 2080 super laptop for 2000 dollars? i9 isn't 1000 dollars more expensive than Ryzen 9 LOL, 500 dollars tops but even that isn't for sure

Maybe next gen, they have seen the demand for Ryzen now

Ryzen chips aren't showing a track record of handling GPUs more powerful than the 2060 at the moment

@@RexGalilae because no oems are paring them with higher end gpus

Thanks! Yeah 144Hz would have been nice. I only had a couple of instances where the fan changed at idle, think I mentioned it either here or in the thermal testing. Hopefully I can get the blade with same specs so I can do a dedicated comparison video in future, just waiting on availability from Razer, anyway thanks for sharing your experience with it so far, always good to hear what others found 👍

To be fair, if you’re larger channel with more comments, it might be harder to reply the most of them.

Sure, but at the same time there are much smaller channels than me who don't reply to any 🙃 it is starting to get pretty hard for me to keep up.

Probably not, for what it's worth 33 is about my noise floor where I film. That said, at idle the fan did seem to vary a little.

Yes, but you probably will not need the fans if you are typing only. You need them with videos

No problem, hope you enjoy it!

No problem, thanks, hopefully we get there one day!

Yes

Nice... And thanks for another great review👍👍

I've had the i7 rtx 3060 model for a few weeks now and I managed to have the fans off completely by setting up a user profile in the MSI dragon software. Go to the advance cooling screen and put the fan speed to 0%. I have this done up until the temp on the CPU gets to roughly 60oC, then have the fans go on to 25% to cool it. This is all for while I'm scrolling online, or light productivity. When I game I just change the settings back to balanced. Hope this helps 👍

Not something I'm able to test out unfortunately, otherwise the next reviewer it goes to will unknowingly report different results due to what I've done.

expect anything b/w 80-85 degrees in stress test with LM

Jarrod'sTech I understand no worries ;) it’s will coming on Reddit in few months anyway ! Thank a lot for your video they are very complete (we don’t have that in France) ! Carry on my friend :)

Z K I did it on my Alienware m15 r2 and the result are amazing (70 to 80 on full stress with i9 and 2080). So I can’t imagine with 3 fans !!!!

Not with that name, mate.

Cool username. Anyways, you can’t bring it with you.

Depends whether or not you need portability.

Thanks!

www.reddit.com/r/GamingLaptops/comments/gcrqba/availability_of_gs_66_10se044_144hz_model/

bye

😂😂👌

That's a good way of explaining max-q.

@@JarrodsTech Haha! Facts

Me too!

Is there a release date?

heh

Too bad they're capped only up to rtx 2060,guess I'll have to wait for rtx3000 with ryzen before upgrading

Good thanks! Do you mean GX502GW? I can't see an ASUS GL502. The ASUS will probably perform similarly, it has a more powerful 115W 2070 graphics, but you can see how that stacks up in the game graphs in this video. It has G-Sync, which is a nice extra the GS66 is missing, gets pretty hot from memory due to the high powered specs in a slightly thinner chassis.

@@JarrodsTech oh yes GX502GW..thanks for advice.

@@JarrodsTech oh one more thing, whats the difference between RTX 2070 and RTX 2070 with super Max-Q?thanks Jarrod

lol, yeah open it up and clean the dust out 😅

@@JarrodsTech its not simple for me to do i never done this and my laptop is in warranty

Cool let us know how it goes!

Ahmed Ali, how was it? I'm looking to buy one, and I want to know if it's actually worth the 2500 cad

If you're just playing a CPU heavy game, then that's normal and going to be expected. CPU resources are clearly in demand, undervolting may help if you're hitting power or thermal limits.

It's not ideal but it will just throttle back automatically to keep itself running within the 'safe' parameters that have been defined.

Jarrod'sTech thanks for your information 🤩

Why wouldn't you just take off the stickers? It would be the first thing I'd do if it was mine lol.

Depends what you expect from these laptops, what will you mainly be using it for

10th gen i9 and 2080 in portable form. The 2060 and i7 is 1600. Don't forget the 300hz panel. If it keeps temps good, then its a good all rounder.

You can see more options in the undervolting video (linked in the description).

Oh yeah thanks a lot. I will still wait for the Asus S15(I saw your comment there XD) and your review of it before getting one. If thermal performance is better I'll get that, even though I like being able to use my laptops with the lid closed.

Thanks, still waiting on that, unexpected issues with it are delaying hardware unboxed lending me theirs.

I don't understand why people hate Max-Q, it's the same chip with a lower power limit, so I guess you want more power which also means a thicker chassis? That's the trade off. Just trying to understand why people write it off.

@@JarrodsTech Personally I hate it due to naming rather than max-q design as a whole, if Nvidia prompt OEM to name their GPU ''RTX 2080 80W'', it would allow much clearly comparison. Instead of this max-q/max-p and all kind of different voltage we get.

What are you using it for? Aero seems to let you boost the CPU power limit higher, plus OLED and SD card slot, I'd pick it for content creation, GS66 for gaming as option to disable Optimus will boost performance in games.

@@JarrodsTech ok, where can I find a gs66 with a 140 or 240hz, to save some money

Leonardo Medrano González msi.com shows retailers. all of them are on backorder now. Bestbuy has the 144hz, I believe it also runs dual channel ram by default (not 100% sure as mine hasn’t come in yet)

2070

Just wait till next year when the new GPUs come out. They'll have competition finally.

No problem!

@@JarrodsTech oh and does the usb-c charging cater up to a 100w charging brick?

To bad about not braking your back.. otherwise xmg laptops could have been an option 😁 (actual desktop CPUs) It's actually not to bad 2.6kg. bestware.com/en/xmg-apex-15.html

That's good to hear, hopefully they can help you decide!

🤯🤯

Never used thinkpad keyboard so can't compare unfortunately, would depend how resource heavy that workload, but yeah if you're fine with higher chassis temp but accept some performance loss for quieter fans it should work.

Hmm I would have thought the 2060 wouldn't be max-q, anyway hard to say as there are a lot of new models coming out right now with new 10th gen CPU/Nvidia Super and this is one of the first I've used so honestly hard to compare it right now as it's still early on in the product release cycle.

Jarrod'sTech i agree, thanks for the feedback- i think i’m going to wait and see what else releases this year and decide then: i was thinking of this one in specific because i thought the 3 ms response time would be good

Thanks! No sorry, much more benefit showing the data in graphs, easy to compare between videos, I don't feel showing the game footage offers any benefit.

Ok...as u wish ..

I think G-Sync only works with Type-C/DisplayPort, not sure Nvidia supports variable refresh rate over HDMI yet.

@@JarrodsTech thanks for replying!!!

Cheers!

Thanks, welcome to the channel!!

The gs66 has a configuration with a 2070 super and i9-10980hk or i7-10705h depending on how much preformance you want i hope this helps :)

Discrete = optimus disabled = better gaming performance for the reasons covered here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-RJfHr-Y57LY.html

Not sure, maybe they don't want to pay the Nvidia tax.

Thanks, they told me May for review units so just waiting on availability in my country.

A lot of ultrabooks with better screen and CPU open up if you don't need discrete graphics, I just have not tested many at all to really suggest any :(

Well as I said, anything will work except gaming ones. Only want something powerful in a notebook design. In the end I don't want for gamin; I only want it to multitask.

Panels do differ even between same models yeah, though not sure about sRGB going above 100%. The brightness difference sounds within expected tollerance.

😎

No problem! That's good to hear, some people don't seem to grasp the concept of a conclusion and get mad that I repeat the info at the end 😂

Jarrod'sTech Jarrod'sTech people nowadays is sooo sensitive and delicate in my opinion 😂 And also too demanding for higher/best performance for the minimum amount of money. It’s like come on, you can’t expect flying in first class when you’re paying for economy, isn’t it? 😹

I don't have any plans on making an undervolting guide as Bob already has that covered well: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-yNt9L3BWOFo.html As for all the other cooling differences, this comparison should have them set: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-tXvKiy65pwg.html

@@JarrodsTech Thank you so much! Helped drop about 20-30% in temperatures lol! Only underside about it was that when i shift battery mode to "Better Performance" instead of "Best Performance" there's a slight loss in performance.

I have it for a couple of months now and I must say it really is an amazing laptop. However, to get 10+ hours of battery you need to tweak a little bit the laptop, undervolting is the most important thing

@@Siuulolñ just a little question, how much did you undervolt so that you have no crash? the max I succeeded to reach was -0,60 mv in core , cash, and intel gpu, otherwise if I set it lower, it crashes after some time gaming