Hey GS65 owners, I followed this thread voraciously when I was trying to decide between the GS65, the 2018 Razer Blade, or the Aero 15X v8 for my new laptop. I'm pleased to say that I decided to go with the GS65 -- mine arrived last Friday and so far I'm really happy with it. What follows is a quick review of that laptop that I'm writing because MSI promises me a SteelSeries Siberia 200 headset if I do.
Full disclosure: I'm writing this review in exchange for a gaming headset. You can decide for yourself if that compromises its legitimacy.
Towards the end of June, I bought an MSI GS65 Stealth THIN-054 from GenTechPC. The interesting specs are:
- 2x8GB RAM
- GTX 1070 Max-Q
- 256GB SATA III SSD
The list price for this unit is $2,000.00 USD. Additionally, I bought it during GenTechPC's spring sale, so I got a free thermal compound upgrade (Thermal Grizzly Cryonaut) and a 30-day dead pixel warranty for the display. I also opted for GenTechPC to install Fujipoly thermal pads, perform a clean Windows 10 install, and include a USB recovery drive with my order. By taking advantage of GenTechPC's 3% student discount, I ended up paying $2,026.66.
This model is very similar to the Best Buy exclusive one, whose specs are identical except for the SSD. The Best Buy model has a 512GB SATA III SSD. I decided to purchase from GenTechPC over Best Buy for three reasons:
- The free thermal paste upgrade. This was very important to me because my old machine (a 2014 Razer Blade) couldn't get through an hour-long gaming session without shutting off due to extreme temperatures.
- Buying from GenTechPC saved me about $140 in sales tax over buying in person from Best Buy.
- I planned to install a 1TB NVMe SSD as soon as I got the machine, so the initial disk capacity was irrelevant.
The value proposition is one of my favorite things about the GS65. This thing has the same internals as laptops $300 (the Aero 15X v8) or even $600 (the 2018 Razer Blade) more expensive. The only real tradeoff is the case quality, which I'll address below.
The second thing I did upon receiving the laptop (after making sure that it booted) was crack it open and install my brand-new HP EX920 1TB SSD (which I found on Amazon for $279.99; that brings the total cost of this machine up to $2,306.65, for those of you keeping score). This brings me to the first negative point I want to make: the motherboard inside this thing is inverted. In order to access the SSD slots or RAM, you have to remove the motherboard from the chassis, which involves disconnecting various cables and connectors. This isn't that big of a deal to me because 1) I personally know my way around the guts of a computer and am comfortable dealing with ribbon cables; and 2) I don't expect to have to do this more than once or twice throughout the life of the laptop.
I did have one "uh-oh" moment while installing my SSD, though. After I had put everything back together, I tried to power the machine on without plugging it in first, and nothing happened. It turns out that disconnecting the battery from the motherboard flips a switch or something that requires the laptop to be plugged in before it will power on. It took me about 90 seconds to sort that out, and it's been running fine ever since.
As for performance, guess what? This thing is really fast! The CPU and GPU are both at the bleeding edge of thin-and-light laptop components, and it shows. So far, I've been playing games on my external 2048x1152 60Hz display, and the GTX 1070 Max-Q achieves more than 60 FPS at maximum settings on every game I've thrown at it. I also tried running Deus Ex: Mankind Divided on the built-in 1920x1080 144Hz display, and, yep, at least 144 FPS there too. I've never used a high refresh rate display like that before, but it definitely makes a difference for games that require a lot of rapid camera adjustments (like first-person shooters). It kind of bums me out that I'm going to have to decide between the higher resolution of my external display or the smoother motion of the built-in display going forward. Maybe I'll have to upgrade my external display soon.
In terms of thermals, my system idles around 45-50C. While gaming I see temperatures in the low to mid 70s, but I've seen it spike to the upper 80s. I've also undervolted the system by -0.125v (via Intel's Extreme Tuning Utility) and tweaked the fan profile via MSI's Dragon Center to be a little more aggressive in order to ensure cool temperatures. Naturally, the laptop's fans do make noise, although I don't hear any fan whine, and subjectively I'd say they're quieter than the 2014 Razer Blade's fans, which they are replacing.
I like the SteelSeries keyboard. Some people say it's mushy, but I find it quite comfortable. I especially like the way the keys are designed -- I have fairly big fingers and I find myself missing keys on this keyboard less than I did on the Razer, although most of the time I use an external keyboard anyways. The per-key RGB lighting is fun, although I don't care too much about that kind of thing. Right now I have it on the "Static ColorShift" setting, which is just a slow cycle through the rainbow. I need to figure out how to integrate it with my calendar so that it switches to "American Flag" on July 4th.
The touchpad is a touchpad. I'm not a touchpad connoisseur because I use a mouse most of the time.
Connectivity is awesome. In particular, I think the RJ-45 ethernet port gets omitted from too many devices these days. I personally am happy to add an extra few millimeters to the case so that I don't have to use a dongle in order to get a wired network connection.
What I'm really thrilled about, though, is the Thunderbolt 3 support. I think this is a very thoughtful inclusion on MSI's part, as it gives me something of an upgrade path going forward. The component that's going to become obsolete the soonest is the graphics card, and with Thunderbolt 3 I can connect to an external GPU instead of having to replace the entire machine.
Finally, there's the case.
First of all, I really like the copper/gold accents and the understated dragon logo. This thing looks sweet.
What people have been saying about the case is true: the aluminum is too thin. It gives in some places and flexes in others. However, I don't think it's fair to call the case flimsy. It's not machine from a solid piece of metal, like a Razer Blade or a MacBook Pro, but it's not made out of plastic either. In order to get it to bend, you have to apply force. Probably more force than you should be applying. There are only two spots where the bending and flexing actually bother me: 1) the power button; and 2) the display. The power button is fairly stiff and situated in an area that's perforated to provide airflow, and I don't like that I have to press down so hard to use it. The display, well, use two hands when you open this laptop, unless you're opening it from the middle. The display definitely needs to be sturdier.
At the end of the day, though, if you're like me and this thing is going to sit on a laptop stand on your desk 90% of the time, the case is a non-issue. The other 10% of the time, the laptop is still a $2,000 machine, so treat it like one and you'll be fine.
tl;dr
If you're a value-focused shopper like I am, the MSI GS65 Stealth THIN-054 or THIN-037 (Best Buy) are by far the best choices in the cutting-edge thin-and-light gaming laptop space right now. None of the competition comes close to matching MSI's $2,000ish price point, and (in my opinion) none of the competition offers anything to justify the markup, either. Bonus points if you can get freebies from a reseller.
Handle it like the $2,000 laptop it is and you'll be fine.
PROS
- CPU/GPU performance
- Ethernet port
- Thunderbolt 3 support
- Value proposition compared to competitors
CONS
- Inverted motherboard
- Take care while opening the display
EDIT: Phrasing/grammar.
Last edited:
Jul 11, 2018
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.
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