Intended for creative professionals, the Creator 15 appears to have a solid feature-set which is based around the RTX 3070. Is it a designers dream?
Product on Review: Creator 15 A10UGT-077AU
Manufacturer: MSI
Street Price: GBP £2800 | USD $3000 | AUD $4000
The Intel Core i7-10870H was launched back in Q3 2020 – almost a year ago, and already we’ve seen 11th Gen. featuring in the mobile platform. Laptop manufacturers haven’t yet fully embraced Intel’s next phase of processors as the performance SKUs haven’t yet made it to the market.
So, is 10th Gen still worth considering? Well, while the successor could be just around the corner, price-drops on Comet Lake-based laptops are inevitable, so if you’re waiting to grab yourself a good deal on a 10th Gen unit, it’d be the ideal time to check out what’s available.
Today’s model in question combines the might of Intel’s Core i7-10870H and RTX 2nd Gen. Paired up with these components we have 32GB DDR4, a 2GB M.2 SSD and a flashy multi-touchscreen display.
Are you a media specialist? Is the Creator 15 worth a look? Let’s find out!
MSI on their Creator 15
Creator 15 is made powerful and portable wherever you go. With 99.9 WHr battery capacity, it supports non-stop creativity and keeps you focused on your creative workflow.
Technical Specifications
Below are the technical details surrounding the Creator 15 from MSI:
OS
Windows 10 Pro
Display
15.6″ (1920×1080) IPS-Level Touch Screen
CPU
Intel Core i7-10870H
Graphics
NVIDIA RTX 3070
Memory
32GB (2×16) DDR4 (3200MHz)
SSD
1x 2GB M.2 SSD (WD SN720 PCIe Gen3)
Webcam
720p / 30fps
Communication
LAN – Gigabit Ethernet
WiFi – 802.11ac (WiFi 6E)
Audio Jack
1x Mic-in 1x Headphone-out (HiFi / SPDIF) 1x Line-in 1x Line-out
USB 3.2 Gen2
5x
Card Reader
None
Video Out
1 x HDMI 2.0 (4K @ 60Hz)
Battery (Cell)
4-Cell
Battery (Type)
Li-Ion
AC Adapter
230W adapter
Dimension (WxDxH) mm
358 x 248 x 18
Weight (kg w/ Battery)
2.1 KG
Windows 10 Pro
Display
15.6″ (1920×1080) IPS-Level Touch Screen
CPU
Intel Core i7-10870H
Graphics
NVIDIA RTX 3070
Memory
32GB (2×16) DDR4 (3200MHz)
SSD
1x 2GB M.2 SSD (WD SN720 PCIe Gen3)
Webcam
720p / 30fps
Communication
LAN – Gigabit Ethernet
WiFi – 802.11ac (WiFi 6E)
Audio Jack
1x Mic-in 1x Headphone-out (HiFi / SPDIF) 1x Line-in 1x Line-out
USB 3.2 Gen2
5x
Card Reader
None
Video Out
1 x HDMI 2.0 (4K @ 60Hz)
Battery (Cell)
4-Cell
Battery (Type)
Li-Ion
AC Adapter
230W adapter
Dimension (WxDxH) mm
358 x 248 x 18
Weight (kg w/ Battery)
2.1 KG
Closer Look Video Review
For this review we’ve produced a video which reveals a close, detailed overview of Creator 15. Please check out the video below for a comprehensive look at this new product:
Benchmarks: Temperatures
For our first benchmark test we observe the max. CPU/GPU temperatures of the system while allowing Unigine Heaven 4.0 to run on a 30 minute loop. To report back on the temperatures we use CoreTemp and GPU-Z which provide the peak figures.
Benchmarks: Boot Time & Battery Uptime
In this test we observe how fast the boot into Windows 10 is by using a digital stopwatch. Battery uptime is another important observation, for this we charge the notebook up to 100% and then disconnect the charging unit and leave Heaven 4.0 running on a continuous loop until the notebook loses all power.
Benchmarks: Cinebench R20 & 7-Zip
Cinebench is a real-world cross-platform test suite that evaluates your computer’s hardware capabilities. Improvements to Cinebench Release 20 reflect the overall advancements to CPU and rendering technology in recent years, providing a more accurate measurement of Cinema 4D’s ability to take advantage of multiple CPU cores and modern processor features available to the average user. Best of all: It’s free.
Benchmarks: PCMark 10
PCMark 10 is the latest version in our series of industry standard PC benchmarks. Updated for Windows 10 with new and improved workloads, PCMark 10 is also faster and easier to use.
PCMark 10 features a comprehensive set of tests that cover the wide variety of tasks performed in the modern workplace. With express, extended, and custom run options to suit your needs, PCMark 10 is the complete PC benchmark for the modern office.
PCMark 10 features a comprehensive set of tests that cover the wide variety of tasks performed in the modern workplace. With express, extended, and custom run options to suit your needs, PCMark 10 is the complete PC benchmark for the modern office.
Benchmarks: 3DMark TimeSpy & Port Royal
Time Spy is a DirectX 12 benchmark test for gaming PCs running Windows 10. With its pure DirectX 12 engine, built from the ground up to support new API features like asynchronous compute, explicit multi-adapter, and multi-threading, Time Spy is the ideal benchmark for testing the DirectX 12 performance of the latest graphics cards.
Benchmarks: Metro Exodus, Apex Legends, AC: Odyssey, Fortnite
The Creator 15 uses the RTX 3070 for graphics delivery, in this section we test popular gaming titles to see how effective the 3D capabilities are. We report on the average framerate using FRAPS or in-game benchmark tool.
Conclusion
If you’ve checked out other MSI models you may realise that by its nature, Creator 15 is very similar to other units in MSI’s portfolio. We checked out the GS66 Stealth recently and Creator 15 adopts the same chassis, size, weight, ports and features.
There is however one distinct difference, on our variant we have a multi-touchscreen display. While this may be a novelty for some, for others who are designing and sharing work, it will come in extremely handy. It’s just a shame it operates at a mere 60Hz – those involved in a creative workflow would benefit from a higher refresh rate.
Under the hood, the components are reputable, Creator 15 comes in with an 8-core, 16 thread processor, 32GB DDR4, 2TB M.2 SSD and powerful graphics delivery from the RTX 3070. The GPU may not be a flagship SKU under ampere architecture, but it still packs a punch. If you are engaging in high intensity work such as video editing 4K and above, as well as 10-bit footage, we would highly recommend looking for a model which carries the RTX 3080, the extra cuda cores and VRAM will be especially beneficial.
It’s great that we’re treated to Thunderbolt 3 on this unit and that it is fully kitted out with USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports. For the designer or creator, this type of connectivity will be imperative.
MSI has made some cutbacks with Creator 15 which will probably affect those who this laptop is targeted at. We get a 720p webcam which is disappointing, and to our surprise there is no SD card slot reader. There is allocation for a secondary storage drive within, but just primary has been installed. Those who are managing large file sizes will undoubtedly need to invest in another drive and get that installed – which is an additional expense.
Pricing is likely to fluctuate over the coming weeks and months as we see new hardware hit the mobile channel – this model is likely to see a price drop but at the moment it sits at around: GBP £2800 | USD $3000 | AUD $4000.
The Creator 15 has similar attributes to other high-performance MSI laptops but separates itself by offering a fancy multi-touch display for content creators. It won’t be for everyone though!
Pros
+ Clean, simple design
+ Thin and lightweight
+ Powerful graphics card
+ Great overall performance
+ Offers all USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports with Thunderbolt 3
Cons
– Expensive
– Lacks SD card reader
– CPU temperatures soar above 90C
– Lacks secondary storage drive
– Just 60Hz display
– Just a 720p webcam
+ Clean, simple design
+ Thin and lightweight
+ Powerful graphics card
+ Great overall performance
+ Offers all USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports with Thunderbolt 3
Cons
– Expensive
– Lacks SD card reader
– CPU temperatures soar above 90C
– Lacks secondary storage drive
– Just 60Hz display
– Just a 720p webcam
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