MSI GS73 Stealth

MSI GS73 Stealth Review: A 2018 upgrade

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Gaming laptops are getting better every year because of the latest components available today. MSI has also upgraded its MSI GS73 Stealth model in 2018 along with its sibling MSI Stealth GS65 Stealth Thin with Intel latest 8th generation processors and an option of GTX1070 GB graphics card. MSI G73 Stealth is made of alloy and pretty sleek and thin in design but you have limited configuration options due to a thin design.

MSI GS73 Stealth Review

Pros:

  • 17.3″ display with 0.8 inches thickness
  • 3 Dedicated fans
  • Upgraded from GTX 1050/1060 to GTX1060/1070

Cons:

  • The 4K screen is almost useless for gaming
  • Too much flex means less durability
  • Below average gaming performance
  • Loud fans
  • Expensive

Availability:

The MSI GS73 Stealth model we have tested has its specs mentioned below. It comes out to be around $2300 USD. In the UK it sells at about £2100 and $3500 in Australia. You can purchase it directly from the MSI website or you can go to your local vendors. Amazon would be a wise option to save some bucks. In Australia, you can reach out to Computer Alliance for a cheap price of MSI GS73 Stealth 8RF-009AU (Australian model).

Specs on MSI GS73 Stealth we reviewed:

  • Latest 8th Gen. Intel® Core™ i7-8750H processor
  • Windows 10 Home / Windows 10 Pro
  • Ultra slim 17.3” gaming notebook with GeForce® GTX 1070 8GB GDDR5
  • 17.3″ Full HD (1920×1080), 120 Hz Refresh Rate and 3ms response time panel (Optional)
  • 17.3″ UHD (3840×2160), IPS level panel, 100% Adobe RGB (Optional)
  • Per-Key RGB Gaming Keyboard by Steelseries
  • All new Dragon Center with exclusive gaming mode
  • Sound by Dynaudio and High-Resolution Audio ready
  • 360° virtual surround sound powered by Nahimic 3
  • Exclusive MSI Cooler Boost Trinity with dedicated 3 fans 5 copper heat pipes
  • Equipped with HDMI, mDP, USB 3.1, and Thunderbolt™ 3 ports
  • Killer DoubleShot Pro with Smart Teaming and Killer Shield
  • Xsplit Gamecaster free premium license for 1 year
  • WTFast free premium license for 2 months

Design

Build: On our first look, we thought MSI GS73 Stealth is made up of some high-end plastic but we changed our mind on a close examining. MSI GS73 Stealth is made up of alloy metal with the new MSI Stealth design. Overall, the build quality does look flimsy and you can feel flex on most of its parts. The lid easily bends whenever you open it. The area around touchpad and bottom are equally weak. You can feel the flex on most of its parts. I cannot see a long-term durability here which we can expect from laptops such as Alienware R5 17. Measuring at 0.77 by 16.21 by 11.21 inches, this laptop weight at around 5 pounds.

Connectivity: On the front of MSI GS73 Stealth 8RF-009AU, there is an MSI logo which is too sweet for the game enthusiasts. On its left side, there is an Ethernet port, 3x USB 3.0 ports, typical lock, SD card reader, microphone and a headphone jack. The right side has ThunderBolt 3 compliant USB 3.1-C connector, 1 USB 2.0 port, miniDisplay and charging port and an HDMI 2.0. So it has most of the connectivity options that you would want on a gaming laptop. However, there is no option for an optical drive on MSI GS73 Stealth so you may have to invest in USB option if you really want it. Easy access to components is not an option here since you have to remove the entire bottom if you want to have access to RAM, battery, and HDD.

Keyboard and touchpad: You need to touch harder on the touchpad to make a click. A normal standard touch won’t work on this laptop. Even a laptop like Dell G7 7588 is half the price but has a better build. The keyboard installed is Steel Series RGB style which is pretty standard for an MSI laptop. On the top of the screen, there is a 1080p webcam installed to record your gaming. There is a single power button with no touch sensor and cooler boost button is missing which was featured in MSI GS73 Stealth’s predecessor. Gamers would hate to see it missing when their system overheats during gameplay.

Display

The MSI GS73 Stealth offers 2 screen options in its 2018 model.

  • 17.3″ Full HD (1920×1080), 120 Hz Refresh Rate and 3ms response time panel (Optional)
  • 17.3″ UHD (3840×2160), IPS level panel, 100% Adobe RGB (Optional)

The screen is the second issue on MSI GS73 Stealth. You have the 17.3 inch with 4K resolution but you cannot play 4K games on it. Why? Because the laptop is not capable enough. Sure you can watch your movies on 4K but that’s just it. The installed NVIDIA GTX1060 is not that powerful to cater for 4K gaming demands on the modern titles. You need to play on low settings if you want good performance. You can upgrade the graphics card and go for a GTX1070 8GB if you are into 4K gaming but it still won’t be too perfect.

MSI could have gone for GTX1080 Max Q design due to its slim build. That would have solved its 4K screen issue. We tried to record our gaming video on MSI GS73 Stealth but for some reason, it was distorted and mostly coming up as a black screen. The reason could be the led which was unable to record our gameplay.

FHD vs UHD: We would recommend you to go for 17.3″ Full HD instead of 17.3″ UHD on MSI GS73 Stealth. You’ll get more battery life, a smoother experience and have to pay less. 120Hz is a good option here considering it is so slim. It has a decent color production with good viewing angles.

Performance and Hardware:

Hardware: The performance was one of the major issues on MSI GS73 Stealth Pro 2017. It was equipped with GTX1050 or GTX1060 which was unable to play latest titles on ultra settings. Also, the 4K screen was useless. Our testing showed an average of 20 fps on 4K display with medium settings which is highly unacceptable. We put HP Omen 17 on the same testing and it averaged around 90 fps. The MSI has tried to change the game this year.

MSI GS73 Stealth 2018 model is way better in terms of performance compared to last year model with 7th gen and GTX1060 graphics card. An Intel Core i7 processor 8750HK combined with a 16GB DDR4-2400MHz and factory overclocked Nvidia GTX 1070 with 8GB of GDDR5 is a pretty good combination. It’s not as powerful as the latest gaming laptops with an Intel i9 processor and GTX1080 8GB but still remarkable considering it is so slim. We still think MSI should have gone for an i9 processor and GTX1080 especially with this price range because let’s be honest here; this laptop ain’t cheap. It still comes with DDR-2400Mhz memory which they should have upgraded it to DDR4-2600Mhz.

A good news is you can use your HTC Vive Pro and Oculus Go on this laptop since it meets their minimum requirements. We tested following games on MSI GS73 Stealth at ultra settings 1080p and rendered following average results.

MSI GS73 Stealth is fast in routine tasks for instance browsing, multitasking or making daily reports. But it is not the job of this laptop. It is made for games. PCMark 8 gave its processor a 3,111 on the conventional test which is a bit less than ASUS ROG 703GI. But its CPU runs really hot on high gameplay settings and thermal throttling puts it on too much load. So gaming on ultra settings is a no-no for this laptop.

Speakers: Speakers are not as good as they should be on MSI GS73 Stealth. They are at the front on top and sounds hollow and thin. We played our music and movies on this laptop and the speakers didn’t come out to be the worst ones we have reviewed this year but they sure are bad. However, they sound pretty okay in gaming mode. Consider investing in a headphone or Bluetooth earbuds.

Keyboard: MSI GS73 Stealth comes with Steel Series RGB style keyboard which is pretty standard for an MSI laptop. You can customize your lights from the settings for each key. It feels like a mechanical keyboard just like reviewed on Gigabyte Aorus X9 but its actually not.

Battery Life and Heat:

Battery: Gaming laptops are focusing more on battery life nowadays. Take Dell G7 7588 for instance; it gives around 5 hours on average use. The Lenovo Y520 gives around 4 and a half hours. With MSI GS73 Stealth, you cannot play for long without your charger. And 4K screen will suck your battery up in no time. MSI GS73 Stealth was made slim so it could be handy and you can use it even when sitting in a restaurant or out somewhere. But what is the point if its battery time is not up to the mark? It gave us around 3 hours and 30 minutes on average use which means you can expect a maximum of one-hour gaming. I have played Resident Evil 7 and Senua Sacrifice on this laptop and the battery lasted 57 minutes on average. Heat: On the rear side of MSI GS73 Stealth, just below the lid, there are multiple exhaust ports to drive hot air out. Inside these ports are 3 cooling fans which keep the system cool. Out of these 3 fans, 2 are for the GPU and one for CPU. There is extra venting space on the sides and bottom in case you are going too fast on this laptop. MSI GS73 Stealth is thin, only 0.8 inches and there is not much space for the airflow to keep the components cool. The fans kick in as soon as you launch a game and believe me, the fan sound is pretty noticeable. You will have to increase the volume to listen if your fans are on. Heat and noise are one of its major concerns here.

Verdict: MSI GS73 Stealth

MSI GS73 Stealth has an average build quality and the specs are not up to the mark compared to its price tag. There is no 2,666Mhz memory and no i9 processor. I won’t recommend you to purchase a 4K version of this laptop because there is no option to upgrade from GTX1060/GTX1070 to GTX1080. You won’t get many benefits off of it. There are a lot of better options out there. You can go for its sibling MSI GS65 Stealth Thin if you are into MSI. The TechSeer will give it a 6.5 out of a solid 10.

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  • Tags Canada: MSI GS73 Stealth 8RF-026CA Review, MSI GS73 Stealth 8RF-020CA Review
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