MSI Raider GE78 HX review 2024: powerful gaming laptop

The MSI Raider series has always been second to the Titan, and while it’s still second in the lineup for 2023, it’s got some real power to show off. This is not a cheap machine. It has the newest and best Intel 13th generation processors and the best Nvidia RTX 40-Series graphics cards. But if you want raw power in a chassis with a unique style, it could be worth the money.

This year, the GE78 model has been redesigned from top to bottom, with a new light bar and a 16:10 form factor. Not all of these changes are great, and many of them go against how the industry usually moves forward, but they can be useful for the right kind of player. Three weeks ago, we used the 2023 MSI Raider GE78 HX 13V with an Intel i9-13950HX processor and an RTX 4080 GPU.

MSI Raider GE78 HX Specifications

Design & Display

The GE78HX Raider is proud to be a machine for playing games. MSI’s Raiders have been simple in design for the last couple of years, or at least as simple as you can get with an RGB light bar. They had a silvery-blue finish that almost made it seem like the laptop wasn’t made to help you take down enemies in first-person games. But this year, the Raider looks like its more expensive sister, the Titan, with a red-striped racecar detail and a black aluminum lid with an RGB dragon shield.

MSI’s screen looks great. It has a 17-inch screen and a resolution of up to 2560 x 1600 at up to 240 Hz. The Raider has a new aspect ratio of 16:10, which lets it have a higher screen, which we usually think of as being more useful for work than for games. So, it’s possible that the RTX 4080 can push the extra pixels above the 16:9 ratio. You can buy this laptop from its official website

Keyboard and Touchpad

The odd part is the minimalist NumPad area on the right side. It doesn’t look like a typical NumPad and has some small keys. MSI’s GS77 Stealth chassis has a similar design, and this makes it possible to put up-firing speakers to the left and right of the keyboard deck on this chassis. The arrow keys are also a bit small and close together, but this doesn’t make them hard to use.

Aside from these, the main set of keys are the right size and distance apart, so typing is not changed in any way. But the stroke depth and response on this laptop are not very good, especially for its size. So, typing on this Raider feels a lot like typing on an ultrabook.

MSI Raider GE78 HX: Connectivity

The MSI Raider GE78 HX has a lot of ways to connect that will make your game experience better. It comes with high-speed USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A and Type-C ports that let you connect game controllers and external storage devices. The laptop also has an HDMI output, which lets you connect it to external displays or monitors for a more immersive game setting. It also has Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connection for pairing wireless devices and getting online. With these connectivity options, the MSI Raider GE78 HX gives you the freedom and ease to connect different peripherals and have a smooth game experience.

MSI Raider GE78 HX: Battery Life

less efficient at light use and video streaming than other Intel Core HX devices tested last year. Manually adjusting the screen to 60 Hz and eliminating all RGB elements will extend these activities. I’ll also add that this Raider configuration comes with a large 330W power brick, but it’s smaller than the MSI charger included with the Titan series and previous Raider generations. Fast charging for the first 30 minutes and 100W USB-C charging allow the battery to charge from 10% in 2 hours. However, we haven’t tried USB-C PD power.

Final Words

If you want a powerful gaming laptop that is still small enough to carry around, the Raider GE78 HX is a great pick. It works well, has a bright screen, and a lot of ports, but it can get pretty loud.

If you want more power, you might want to look at higher-end computers like the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 or the MSI Titan GT77 HX. These are even bigger and come with Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 4090, but they cost a lot more.

MSI Raider GE78 HX review: The good and The bad

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