MSI GS76 Stealth
Potent power in a slick, stealthy chassis
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.
The 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 i711800H 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 LEWIS
VERDICT 9 MSI GS76 Stealth 11UG
STEALTH BOMBER Ultra fast performance; premium design, tactile Steelseries keyboard; speedy refresh rate.
LOCATION COMPROMISED Poor battery; small trackpad; fingerprint magnet.
$ 3500 (est), www.msi.com