LAPTOPS WERE DESIGNED as a portable
and practical on-the-go alternative to
your desktop computer. However, 17-inch
laptops tend to fall somewhere between
the two. As good as they are at providing
you with the equivalent of desktop power
or more, plus they often have better
cooling solutions and specs than smaller
alternatives, what they can’t deliver is
the same level of practicality. You can’t
sling one of these into a backpack, as they
aren’t the easiest nor the lightest devices
to carry around. Yet, they offer something
pretty cool and if you are unsure whether
to get a desktop or a traditional laptop,
they are an ideal compromise.
MSI is no stranger to 17-inch devices
and the GS76 Stealth is certainly a looker,
with some pretty hefty specs under
the hood. Let’s start with the design,
which certainly lives up to the Stealth
name. Compared with the MSI GE76
Raider, another 17-inch MSI laptop we
tested recently, this is a more slick and
premium-feeling device. Finished in
full-core black metal, it’s one of the best
designs we have seen from MSI.
It’s pretty subtle for such a
large device and that gives it an
illusion of being smaller than
it actually is. It’s also pretty
slim for this configuration,
coming in at 0.8-inches thick. At
a glance, and with the RGB keyboard
turned off, you’d struggle to know that
this was a gaming-focused laptop—it
seems like a more mature step up from
its GE76 Raider sibling.
Potent power in a slick,
stealthy chassis
MSI GS76 Stealth
9
VERDICT MSI GS76 Stealth 11UGSTEALTH BOMBER Ultra fast
performance; premium design,
tactile Steelseries keyboard; speedy
refresh rate.
LOCATION COMPROMISED Poor battery;
small trackpad; fingerprint magnet.
$3500 (est), http://www.msi.comSPECIFICATIONSCPU Intel i7-11800H
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070
GDDR6 8GB
RAM 32GB DDR4 3200MHz
Screen 17.3” 1080p @ 360 Hz
Storage 1TB NVME M.2 SSD
Ports
2x Type-A USB 3.2 Gen2,
1x Type-C USB 3.2 Gen2 (DP),
1x Type-C (Thunderbolt 4),
1x RJ45 Ethernet, 1x SD, 1x (8K
@ 60Hz / 4K @ 120Hz) HDMI 2.1.
Connectivity
Killer WiFi 6E AX1675 (2x2),
Bluetooth v5.2,
Killer E3100 2.5GbE LAN
Weight 5.4Ibs
Size 0.8 x 10.2 x 15.5-inchesThe screen fits the chassis nicely too,
with the same thickness of bezel around
the sides and the top, and fitting a 720p
webcam along the top edge. It’s nothing
too fancy, but this cam does allow for
Windows Hello login, which is handy and
does the job for the occasional zoom call.
Back to the screen, this model
features the 360Hz Full HD IPS panel. It’s
not the punchiest of displays, with pretty
low contrast, but that 360Hz refresh rate
means it is super-snappy. There is a QHD
screen in the range, with a 240Hz refresh
rate, but we would opt for the model we
have on test here. More than likely, you’ll
be using this laptop quite close to the
display and will benefit more from the
extra Hz and smoother feel in games.
Below this, you get a fairly deep air
vent which is great for cooling, however,
it does take up rather a lot of space at
the bottom that could have been better
employed for a larger mouse pad. Below
the air vents is the impressive keyboard
from Steelseries, featuring per-key RGB
lighting. The keys deliver deep travel
without feeling too spongy and yet still
provide a satisfying click. You can alter
bindings and the RGB in the Steelseries
GG application that’s pre-installed too.
Below the keyboard, are the speakers.
Fitted with a Dynaudio sound system, the
GS76 Stealth delivers a deep and warm
sound that is easily good and loud enough
for media consumption. It’s more than
likely that you’ll pair up a headset for
gaming or playing videos, but it’s nice to
fall back on nonetheless.Also underneath the lid is the
mousepad, which is fairly narrow for a
17-inch laptop, but has a soft finish and is
perfectly good enough for everyday use.
The right-click is nice and responsive but
on our sample, the left button had lost its
click. Hopefully, it was just a problem for
us, but it hindered our time with it. As for
ports, the GS76 Stealth has plenty to offer
with the power, ethernet, headphone jack,
and two USB-Cs on the left. On the other
side, there are ports for the HDMI, SD
card reader, Thunderbolt 4, and USB-C.
Where this PC fires into life though
is underneath the chassis. Intel’s i7-
11800H is the brain behind this beast and
powering alongside it is an Nvidia Geforce
RTX 3070 card. It is super powerful,
which is backed up by the benchmarks.
It breezes past the 60fps target with
the sliders cranked up. It performed
exceptionally well on the Crystal Disk
scores, thanks to the PCIe Gen4 x4 NVMe
M.2 SSD inside. Overall, it doesn’t seem
to struggle with anything we throw at it.
Thermals aren’t too bad either, thanks
to an array of cooling vents around the
fan. If you are after flat-out power and a
gaming aesthetic, MSI’s chunkier, crazier
sibling, the GE76 Raider, might be more
up your street. However, if you want
something that is still lightning fast but
in a more premium package, then the MSI
GS76 Stealth could be the one. –SAM LEWISOur gaming laptop zero-point is the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G15, with an AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS, Nvidia GeForce RTX
3080 and 32GB of DDR4-3200. All game tests are performed at 1080p at the highest graphical profile.BENCHMARKS
ZERO-
POINT
CineBench R15 Multi (Index) 2,137 1,835 (-14%)
CrystalDisk Q32T1
Sequential Read (MB/s) 3,595 6,944 (93%)
CrystalDisk Q32T1
Sequential Write (MB/s) 3,107 5,249 (69%)
3DMark: Fire Strike (Index) 20,529 21,055 (3%)
Rise of the Tomb Raider (fps)^107 137 (28%)
Total War: Warhammer II (fps) 83 96 (16%)
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon:
Wildlands (fps)
61 93 (52%)
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%FEB 2022 MAXIMU MPC 77