CES 2021: MSI unleashes new laptops powered by Nvidia RTX 30 series

Following on from last night's announcement that Nvidia's RTX 30 series is coming to laptops, MSI has today unveiled its latest gaming notebooks, powered by Intel and Nvidia.

As part of the MSIology event hosted today at CES 2021, the company exhibited its new range of laptops. There's some familiar faces – including the Stealth and Raider series – but with all-new hardware. For now it seems MSI is keeping things with Intel on the CPU side, while Nvidia's RTX 30 series chips are used on the GPU side.

First up we have the GE76 Raider and GE66 Raider systems. These are largely identical, save for the screen size – the former is a 17.3in while the latter is 15.6in, but both sport 4K panels. Under the hood, these laptops are powered by Intel's i9-10980HK processor, while there will be a choice of GPUs up to the RTX 3080 Laptop. Memory is configurable up to 64GB thanks to two SODIMM slots, while there's also two NVMe M.2 SSD slots.

Connectivity wise, these machines have the same I/O options, with 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C / DP, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Type-C, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, and 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A. WiFi 6E is provided by Intel's AX210 chipset, with Killer E3100 2.5GbE on board. MSI is also continuing its partnership with SteelSeries with a per-key RGB keyboard, while both laptops make use of a 4-cell 99WHr battery.

Due to the difference of screen size, the GE76 Raider is the bigger of the two laptops, with dimensions of 397 (W) x 284 (D) x 26 (H) mm and a 2.9KG weight. The GE66 Raider measures in at 358 (W) x 267 (D) x 23.4 (H) mm and weighs 2.38 Kg.

MSI also showed off a GE76 Raider Dragon Edition Tiamat, featuring a very intriguing design – MSI says ‘The untold story and divine beasts are now engraved on the chassis of the GE76 Raider Dragon Edition Tiamat, which symbolizes the infinite power!' The specs are the same as the regular GE76 Raider, but it certainly looks cool!

Next we come to the GS66 Stealth. This has proved a popular design over the years thanks to its sleek appearance despite the high-end specs. In fact MSI claims it is ‘perfect camouflage for business professionals who want to conceal their inner gamer'. This time around the machine is powered by the i9-10980H processor, while graphics are configurable up to RTX 3080 Laptop.

The screen measures 15.6in and there seems to be a choice of UHD or 1080p/300Hz panels, while memory is configurable up to 64GB. There's also 2x NVMe M.2 slots, Killer E3100 2.5 GbE and Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX210. USB connectivity meanwhile consists of 1 x Thunderbolt™ 3 Type-C (support USB3.2 Gen2 / DP/ PD charging), 1 x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C and 3 x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A  ports.

As for the battery, MSI claims this 99.9WHr is the world's highest capacity battery for a laptop, and that is pretty impressive considering it measures 358.3 (W) x  248 (D) x 18.3-19.8 (H) mm and weighs 2.1KG.

We also got a look at the new GP76 Leopard and GP66 Leopard. Once more, the difference comes down to a 17.3in screen for the former and a 15.6in screen for the latter. In both cases, the panels are FHD, using ‘IPS-Level' technology, with 144Hz refresh rate. Internally, Intel's i7-10870H processor is used, while graphics provided by GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop.

We once more have up to 64GB DDR4 and 2x NVMe M.2 slots, but WiFi is reduced to ‘only' WiFi 6 (not 6E) thanks to the use of Intel's AX201 chipset. The on-board LAN port is also 1GbE, not 2.5 GbE. For ports, we find 1 x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C/DP and 3 x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A connectors. There's still a per-key RGB keyboard from SteelSeries though.

In terms of the battery, both machines share the same 4-cell 65WHr unit. The GP76 Leopard measures 397 (W) x 284 (D) x 26 (H) mm and weighs 2.9KG, while the is GP66 is naturally smaller at 358 (W) x 267 (D) x 23.4 (H) mm, weighing 2.38KG.

MSI's ultra-portable Stealth 15M also got a hefty upgrade. Using the Intel i7-11375H processor, graphics is now provided in the form of RTX 3060, which should be significantly faster than the previous-gen GTX 1660 Ti GPU. In a chassis measuring just 16.15mm thick – full dimensions are 358.3 (W) x  248 (D) x 16.15 (H) mm – this is mighty impressive. Weight is kept to just 1.7KG too.

Elsewhere, we can note the 15.6in FHD 144Hz IPS-Level display, up to 64GB DDR4 and 1x NVMe M.2 slot. Connectivity consists of 1x Thunderbolt 4 Type-C, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C/ DP, and 2 x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A ports. WiFi is provided by Intel's AX201 chipset but there's no LAN. Lastly, the battery is a 3-cell 52WHr unit.

Lastly, we also got to see the GF65 Thin. This is still a very slender chassis at 21.7mm thick, but it is beefed up a bit compared to the Stealth 15M, and accordingly the CPU is upgraded to Intel's i7-10750H, while graphics remains with the RTX 3060 Laptop. The screen has the same 15.6in FHD 144Hz IPS-Level spec however.

There's still support for up to 64GB of memory, but there's now 2x NVMe M.2 slots. Gigabit LAN also returns, as does the WiFi 6 AX201 chipset. USB connectivity consists of 2 x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-C and 2 x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A ports. Dimensions of the GE65 Thin come in at 359 (W) x  254 (D) x 21.7 (H) mm, it weighs 1.86KG, and boasts a 3-cell 51WHr battery.

You can get more details on MSI's website HERE.

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KitGuru says: That's a lot of new laptops! I am most interested by the idea of RTX 3060 graphics in a machine as small as the Stealth 15M – but what caught your eye?

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