Armed with the latest 16GB RTX 3080 Max-Q GPU and an impressive 300Hz IPS display, we take a look at MSI’s latest GS66 Stealth gaming laptop and see if its worth the big price-tag.
Product on Review: GS66 Stealth 10UH
Manufacturer: MSI
Street Price: GBP £3498 | USD $3000 | AUD $5500
The debut of Gen. 2 RTX GPUs for laptops took place at the beginning of the year at the CES 2021 virtual summit were NVIDIA announced a bevy of new innovations – including the upcoming RTX 3060. In what is a first for gaming laptops, this fresh wave of mobile GPUs support PCIe 4.0 and other features such as PCIe Resizable BAR.
While we may have to wait for a combo of Intel 11th Gen and RTX 2nd Gen in one unit, today we’ll be exploring a new MSI gaming laptop which combines the Intel Core i7-10870H and the 16GB RTX 3080 Max-Q Design. Accompanying these core components, we have 32GB DDR4, a 2GB M.2 SSD and a whopping 300Hz IPS display.
Does it get much better than this? Let’s find out!
MSI on their Stealth GS66 Stealth
GS66 Stealth is a robust portable laptop packed with up to 10th Gen. Intel® Core™ i9 processor and the NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3080 Laptop GPU 16GB GDDR6. To unleash its full potential, the new exclusive Cooler Boost Trinity+ with 0.1 mm thin blades to maximize airflow. The 99.9Whr large battery and up to blazing-fast 300Hz refresh rate display ensures unstoppable productivity and fluid gameplay.
Technical Specifications
Below are the technical details surrounding the GS66 from MSI:
OS
Windows 10 Pro
Display
15.6″ (1920×1080) 300Hz
CPU
Intel Core i7-10870H
Graphics
NVIDIA RTX 3080
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)
6-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) 300Hz
CPU
Intel Core i7-10870H
Graphics
NVIDIA RTX 3080
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)
6-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 GS66 Stealth. 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 GS66 Stealth uses the RTX 3080 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
This is the first 2nd Gen. RTX gaming laptop that we’ve had the pleasure of taking a look at and the results are as you would expect, fantastic. Pairing up a 16GB RTX 3080 with a 300Hz IPS panel is a match made in heaven.
Having a solid hardware configuration, the GS66 Stealth 10UH tackles varying tasks with ease. A brief mention of the 8-core, 16 thread processor, 32GB DDR4, 2TB M.2 SSD and powerful graphics delivery from that RTX 3080, highlights how ferocious this laptop is. It’ll probably outperform most desktop computers. So, this laptop shows no signs of performance weakness and is able to offer reliable 3D performance in the latest triple-a gaming titles and will be proficient in content creation workflows too.
GS66 Stealth benefits from being thin and lightweight but this does introduce some caveats by way of high temperatures. Despite having a triple fan cooler with 7 copper heatpipes, the CPU temperatures in particular will sky rocket to 95C. The GPU however, presents no real cause for concern as it settles at approx. 10-15C less.
In terms of connectivity, we’re really pleased to see all ports adopting USB 3.2 Gen 2 with the inclusion of Thunderbolt 3. This brings the laptop right up to the date and provides the consumer with the ability to use high-performance devices such as portable SSDs which use this inferface.
There are a few other things to note with GS66 which need to be mentioned. It lacks a 1080p webcam, SD card reader and a secondary storage drive. For a gaming laptop costing this much, we expect all of these as standard and there shouldn’t be such cutbacks.
GS66 arrives at the princely sum of GBP £3498 | USD $3000 | AUD $5500. It isn’t cheap by any means. We feel it either needs some additional items such as those stated above, or the price needs to be nudged down somewhat.
The new GS66 Stealth with its RTX 3080 is a powerful machine which will not disappoint when it comes to performance. You will need deep pockets to afford it though!
Pros
+ Clean, simple design
+ Thin and lightweight
+ Powerful graphics card
+ RGB Backlit keyboard
+ Great overall performance
+ Offers all USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports with Thunderbolt 3
Cons
– Expensive
– Lacks SD card reader
– RGB LED lighting on keyboard weak
– CPU temperatures soar above 90C
– Lacks secondary storage drive
– Just a 720p webcam
+ Clean, simple design
+ Thin and lightweight
+ Powerful graphics card
+ RGB Backlit keyboard
+ Great overall performance
+ Offers all USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports with Thunderbolt 3
Cons
– Expensive
– Lacks SD card reader
– RGB LED lighting on keyboard weak
– CPU temperatures soar above 90C
– Lacks secondary storage drive
– Just a 720p webcam
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