expired Posted by fuddus99 • Dec 16, 2024
Dec 16, 2024 4:08 PM
Item 1 of 2
Item 1 of 2
expired Posted by fuddus99 • Dec 16, 2024
Dec 16, 2024 4:08 PM
MSI Stealth 16 AI Studio A1VHG-027US UHD 120hz RTX 4080 Gaming Laptop $1599.99 at Adorama
$1,600
$3,299
51% offAdorama
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- the screen
- excellent battery life (for a gaming laptop)
- runs relatively quiet versus other gaming laptops, but still loud as they all are
- port selection with full-size hdmi, usb-c or Thunderbolt on both sides, sd card reader, 3.2 usb-a
- overall specs
Negatives:
CPU performance is well below what you'd expect coming in slower than even lower-tiered alternatives. It appears that to get that battery life and somewhat quieter performance, all while in a thin chassis, MSI gimped the cpu from sustaining max clocks and just overall thermal limits. Probably a great machine if you want a slim office machine that can still offer good gaming when at home, but expect those 1% low fps numbers etc to struggle versus the thicker or more gaming oriented competition.
- the screen
- excellent battery life (for a gaming laptop)
- runs relatively quiet versus other gaming laptops, but still loud as they all are
- port selection with full-size hdmi, usb-c or Thunderbolt on both sides, sd card reader, 3.2 usb-a
- overall specs
Negatives:
CPU performance is well below what you'd expect coming in slower than even lower-tiered alternatives. It appears that to get that battery life and somewhat quieter performance, all while in a thin chassis, MSI gimped the cpu from sustaining max clocks and just overall thermal limits. Probably a great machine if you want a slim office machine that can still offer good gaming when at home, but expect those 1% low fps numbers etc to struggle versus the thicker or more gaming oriented competition.
Pros:
- The 16:10 4K Mini-LED screen is beautiful, bright, and it seems to scale well to 1600p - haven't noticed the difference between the lower resolution and the 4K. 120hz is nice and most games can actually reach that in fps. Mini-LED is nice to not have to worry about burn-in or other issues related to longevity.
- The battery life is solid as long as you leave it in hybrid mode
- The ports are nice, especially having an ethernet port to hardwire in. The locations of the ports are a little stupid, especially the charger and the 1 USB-A being on the right, about halfway toward the front of the laptop because there are cooling fins at the rear. They sort of get in the way of a mouse if desk space is limited
- The fans are quiet most of the time - even during games. It stays much quieter on an elevated cooling pad.
- RAM, 2 SSD slots, and WiFi card are accessible and user swappable, it was easy to install a 2nd SSD
- RTX 4080 performs well enough to keep up with screen refresh rate, logged 132fps with Ultra settings and Balanced DLSS at 1600p in Forza Horizon 5's benchmark.
- MSI and Steelcase software is stable and consistent, though there were some odd issues initially where settings in the MSI app kept overwriting settings over in the NVIDIA app (like WhisperMode)
- Blue color of the Mg-Al body is unique and is fairly fingerprint resistant. Other than the dragon logo on the lid (which can be easily covered with a sticker) the design is understated and can blend in anywhere without screaming "GAMER"
- Comes with 2 chargers
Cons:
- This machine gets toasty, CPU & GPU typically bounce around 75C and 65C respectively during long gaming sessions. Fans will ramp up pretty high for brief moments.
- RTX 4080 does not keep up with other 4080 laptops with higher TGP, this one is capped at 105W, but does still have 12GB of VRAM.
- As mentioned above, some of the ports are in dumb places.
- Magnesium-Aluminum feels a little cheap/plasticky
- The biggest disappointment has been the built-in speakers. MSI really hypes up the Dynaudio speakers & subwoofers with Nahimic but they have rubbish bass and sound kind of hollow/tinny, even though they do get loud. Compared to the 2024 ASUS G14 or G16 those laptops sound significantly better. I've left it plugged into some Creative Pebble speakers for the last couple of weeks.
It's not perfect by any means and the MSRP of $3299 is insane - but all in all, considering the whole package I haven't been able to find a better system for less than $2k quite like this. If anyone has questions about this laptop, let me know, happy to help!
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