We take a look at our first Intel 11th Gen and RTX 30 Series combo with the new MSI Stealth 15M gaming laptop. Should this affordable laptop be on your shortlist?
Product on Review: Stealth 15M A11UX
Manufacturer: MSI
Street Price: GBP £1400 USD $1400 | AUD $2899
We’ve been eagerly waiting for laptop manufacturers to revamp their product lines and bring them up to date with the latest Intel 11th Gen. processors. The 2nd generation of NVIDIA RTX mobile GPUs have been in circulation for some time but now we can finally see the Intel and NVIDIA combo play out in today’s review.
Under consideration today is the Stealth 15M. This laptop is placed at the low-mid-range of MSI’s portfolio and has already come in with Intel 10th Gen and GTX 1660 Ti/RTX 2060 variants but today we see this unit marry up 11th Gen and the RTX 3060.
Along with the exciting new CPU and GPU, we have 16GB of DDR4, a 1GB M.2 SSD and a 144Hz display. All sounds good right? Let’s see how it stacks up!
MSI on their Stealth 15M
Inspired by urban style, the new Stealth 15M is the thinnest and lightest 15-inch gaming laptop that comes in Carbon Gray or Pure White. Powered by the latest 11th Gen. Intel® Core™ i7 processor and NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3060 Laptop GPU, the Stealth 15M perfectly balances portability and performance, also with the new generation technology including PCIe Gen 3 and Thunderbolt™ 4. With the support of the new Cooler Boost 5 with 0.1 mm thin fan blades, the Stealth 15M lets gamers and young professionals easily speed through games and daily tasks.
Technical Specifications
Below are the technical details surrounding the Stealth 15M from MSI:
OS
Windows 10 Pro
Display
15.6″ (1920×1080) IPS-Level 144Hz
CPU
Intel Core i7-11375H
Graphics
NVIDIA RTX 3060
Memory
16GB (2×8) DDR4 (3200MHz)
SSD
1x 1GB M.2 SSD (Kingston PCIe Gen3)
Webcam
720p / 30fps
Communication
WiFi – 802.11ax (WiFi 6)
Audio Jack
1x Mic-in 1x Headphone-out
USB 3.2 Gen2
2x
Card Reader
Yes – UHS-III compliant
Video Out
1 x HDMI 2.0 (4K @ 60Hz)
Battery (Cell)
3-Cell
Battery (Type)
Li-Ion
AC Adapter
130W adapter
Dimension (WxDxH) mm
358 x 248 x 16
Weight (kg w/ Battery)
1.7 KG
Windows 10 Pro
Display
15.6″ (1920×1080) IPS-Level 144Hz
CPU
Intel Core i7-11375H
Graphics
NVIDIA RTX 3060
Memory
16GB (2×8) DDR4 (3200MHz)
SSD
1x 1GB M.2 SSD (Kingston PCIe Gen3)
Webcam
720p / 30fps
Communication
WiFi – 802.11ax (WiFi 6)
Audio Jack
1x Mic-in 1x Headphone-out
USB 3.2 Gen2
2x
Card Reader
Yes – UHS-III compliant
Video Out
1 x HDMI 2.0 (4K @ 60Hz)
Battery (Cell)
3-Cell
Battery (Type)
Li-Ion
AC Adapter
130W adapter
Dimension (WxDxH) mm
358 x 248 x 16
Weight (kg w/ Battery)
1.7 KG
Closer Look Video Review
For this review we’ve produced a video which reveals a close, detailed overview of Stealth 15M. 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
Stealth 15M uses the RTX 3060 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
We quite enjoy looking at the lower-end of the laptop market from time to time as it gives a broader outlook of what’s on offer. The new Stealth 15M with its hardware spec and pricing slots into the low-to-mid range and is likely to be a popular choice for gamers wanting to keep to a tighter budget.
15M arrives in a beautiful chassis which looks pleasant to the eye and feels great to touch. Although the keyboard is RGB backlit, the rest of this model is subdued, elegant and blends into the office environment very well.
Found within 15M we have the 4-core, 8 Core i7 11th Gen CPU, 16GB DDR4, 1TB M.2 SSD and the RTX 3060. Under this configuration we’re able to tap into some good performance. Just bear in mind if you are gaming, the maximum detail preset will be out of reach at this level. Instead, gamers will have to settle for medium or high to keep framerates comfortable. We love that MSI has included just one display option with this unit and that it’s a 144Hz IPS-level panel. The display is buttery smooth and a pleasure to work with, both in and out of games.
Since we have an Intel 11th Gen processor, we now have greater functionality and some new tech such as Thunderbolt 4. 15M benefits from a Thunderbolt 4 port/USB 4 and also receives a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C. We are somewhat disappointed there are only two USB Type-A ports though, as this will limit some users.
Having no option to perform upgrades (due to the nature of the design within) and being fixed to a 1TB storage drive is short-sighted. If a user’s photos, videos, docs and games library exceeds 800GB – this could present a few issues.
Pricing is for the Stealth 15M sees it hit shelves for: GBP £1400 | USD $1400 | AUD $2899. That dips into the mid-range selection of laptops – for the money, we feel it represents good value for money.
On the hunt for a reasonably priced gaming laptop with a decent configuration and features? The Stealth 15M presents a compelling option to consider!
Pros
+ Clean, simple design
+ Thin and lightweight
+ 144Hz IPS display
+ RGB backlit keyboard
+ Good overall performance for price
+ Offers Thunderbolt 4/USB 4
+ Features a micro-SD card slot reader
Cons
– Just two USB Type-A ports
– CPU temperatures still north of 90C
– Lacks secondary storage drive
– Upgrades are not possible due to design
– Just a 720p webcam
+ Clean, simple design
+ Thin and lightweight
+ 144Hz IPS display
+ RGB backlit keyboard
+ Good overall performance for price
+ Offers Thunderbolt 4/USB 4
+ Features a micro-SD card slot reader
Cons
– Just two USB Type-A ports
– CPU temperatures still north of 90C
– Lacks secondary storage drive
– Upgrades are not possible due to design
– Just a 720p webcam
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