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00:00Hey guys, I'm Tom the Tech Chap, and this is an absolute monster.
00:04RTX 3080 Ti, Intel i9-12900K, 32GB of DDR5 RAM, 4TB of storage, and as smooth as a baby's
00:14bum 360Hz screen.
00:17This could well be the most powerful gaming laptop in the world right now.
00:22Which is not surprising at all given those drool-worthy specs, although of course this
00:27does also come with an accompanying eye-watering price.
00:30This brand new, top-spec MSI GE76 Raider will cost you over £4,000.
00:37So the question is, just how fast is this?
00:40Does the new hardware really make that much difference?
00:42And is this actually worth buying?
00:44Well, to help answer that question, here's one I made earlier.
00:48This is last year's GE76 Raider, if I move my plant out of the way.
00:54So very conveniently, this 2021 model comes with the RTX 3080 and the 11th gen i9, whereas
01:00on here we have the 3080 Ti and the 12th gen i9.
01:03So this is going to be really interesting.
01:06This thing is still £4,000, but I imagine it'll get a bit cheaper when the new models
01:10come out.
01:11And in fact, here's a full spec list for both laptops I've got here.
01:14So what's the bet?
01:15How much faster do you think this is actually going to be over this?
01:19Well let's start with a couple of CPU tests.
01:22And between Cinebench and Geekbench, we're looking at an average 22% boost in single
01:27core and 62% boost in multi-core.
01:30That's actually very impressive.
01:31Good job Intel.
01:32Although of course, the new 12th gen i9 does have 14 cores and 20 threads to the 11th gen's
01:388 and 16.
01:40So that's where a big part of the multi-core boost comes from.
01:42But even the 22% single core uptick is nothing to be sniffed at.
01:47But what about the graphics card?
01:49Is this souped up Ti version of the 3080 really anything to write home about?
01:54Well across multiple 3DMark Time Spy and Wildlife benchmarks, the average increase is just 8%.
02:00Not exactly night and day, but then again this is just a Ti, not a whole new generation
02:05of card.
02:06Bear in mind though that the 3080 in last year's model is a 165W TGP variant, whereas
02:12the 3080 Ti is 175W.
02:15So part of that extra performance is just simply because the card in this is drawing
02:19more power.
02:21Although it does mean the Ti can have a higher graphics boost clock speed and also faster
02:25memory bandwidth.
02:26Even though they both share the same 16GB of GDDR6 and 256-bit interface.
02:32But how does that translate into games?
02:34Well both models of the G76 Raider are 1080p, 17-inch 1080p, although we'll come back to
02:39that in a second.
02:40But I am also going to test 1440 and 4K by using an external monitor.
02:45Because a lot of new laptops with this flagship gaming card are going to have those higher
02:49resolutions, even though these particular ones are limited to 1080p.
02:53But first, let's see if it really does help max out that 360Hz refresh at full HD.
02:59And the answer is... kind of.
03:02Across the 6 games on test, at 1080p we're looking at a decent 15% uptick in performance.
03:08Although there seems to be a negligible difference in Call of Duty Warzone.
03:13Remember though, this is with a new CPU, new GPU and faster RAM.
03:17Although I guess that's a bit academic because unlike a desktop PC where you upgrade individual
03:22components, when you buy a new generation of gaming laptop, you tend to get new CPU,
03:27faster RAM, faster storage, you know, the whole shebang all together.
03:29So while you can't really pinpoint the difference just between the GPUs of previous and current
03:35gen, you are getting a whole new package.
03:38Well I say that, but actually this is the exact same chassis and design, it's just the
03:42internal spec bump.
03:44Now to be honest with you, 1080p on a 17.3 inch screen isn't my favourite, although I
03:49do appreciate this is meant for esports and to get you the highest FPS possible.
03:54But more to the point, I want to see if the 3080 Ti has a bigger impact at higher resolutions.
03:59So I hooked it up to an external monitor and ran all the tests again and this time at 1440p
04:05we're seeing an average 11% boost in performance.
04:08And finally moving up to 4K, which realistically I think this is best reserved for desktop
04:13setups with a 32 inch or bigger screen.
04:16But on the GE76 we are seeing the smallest gain, just a 9% uptick.
04:22So the Ti, and well I guess the laptop as a whole, offers the biggest improvement to
04:26performance at lower resolutions, especially 1080p.
04:29And my guess for that is that it's just the new 12th gen Intel chips genuinely having
04:33quite a big impact and removing some of that bottleneck at the lower resolutions, which
04:37is something we've run into in the past.
04:39But I guess this is all about managing expectations.
04:42As I say, this is just a Ti update for the GPU and also you're not going to be upgrading
04:46this from a 3080 laptop.
04:48Realistically you might have a 2080 or a 1080 or something even older.
04:52But even coming from the 3080, an average 12% boost across all resolutions, it is impressive
04:57for the thermal and size restrictions of laptops, but not a mind-blowing upgrade.
05:02And I think most of the credit does actually go to Intel, although of course I haven't
05:06tested AMD Ryzen's new 6000 series mobile CPUs yet, but I do think maybe Intel is back
05:12in the game.
05:13My other takeaway though is how these two laptops are nearly identical.
05:17It's literally just a spec bump, which is a little bit underwhelming as some Asus ROG
05:22models for example have new displays or refreshed designs.
05:26Something more than just the extra performance, which by itself may tempt me to actually look
05:30at one of last year's models, which we may see discounted when these new ones come out
05:34over the next few weeks.
05:36Also bear in mind I haven't yet tested the 3070 Ti card and also I haven't yet put this
05:41through its paces with creative apps like Premiere Pro or run some extensive battery
05:45tests.
05:46But based on performance alone, this is right up there with the best, most powerful gaming
05:50laptops in the world right now.
05:53And I think especially if you are an esports pro, super enthusiastic gamer and you are
05:57playing at 1080p where you want the highest frame rates possible, then this may actually
06:01be worth considering.
06:02For everyone else, maybe let's see what the other options are, how much cheaper last year's
06:06models are and also how that 3070 Ti compares to this.
06:10Also just quickly, with this GE76, I would recommend going into the MSI control panel
06:15and turning on cooler booster mode as well as the extreme performance option.
06:20When I ran tests without cooler boost mode on, the performance was around 5% lower so
06:24it does make a difference and you can even tinker with overclocking the GPU if you want
06:28to squeeze a little bit more out of it.
06:30But what do you think?
06:31Impressed?
06:32Should I upgrade or not really?
06:34Let me know what you think of this in the comments below.
06:37Don't forget to hit that subscribe button as well as I've got loads more laptop reviews
06:40coming soon and I'll see you next time right here on the Tech Chap.