MSI GS77 Stealth review: don’t let the name fool you

If you buy something from a link, they may make a commission. Our ethics statement can be found here.

There is nothing stealth about this device.

The GS77 has long been the portable option amongMSI's gaming elite, and this year's 0.79 inch thick, 6.17-pound GS77 has effectively launched that. This laptop is big, thick, and bulky, and while it lacks the light strips and LEDs that other showy gaming laptops boast, it still makes very clear that it is for gaming.

The GS 76 was light for what it was, and the GS 77 has brought the Stealth series back in line with the rest of the market. It is more heavy than the other two. It is the same weight as the GE 76 Raider.

It's possible thatMSI wanted to go bigger because the chips inside have been frying all the time. One of the most powerful mobile chips in Intel's history, the 12th Gen Core i7-12900H, is included in the model we were sent, along with 32GB of RAM, 1 terabytes of storage, and a qHD screen.

The GS77 used to have an advantage over these models that has been taken away by the new girth. The device is large and heavy, the keyboard is on the flat side, the battery life isn't good, and the touchpad is not comfortable. A computer that asks many of the same compromises as the most powerful gaming laptops on the market, without bringing the same exceptional frame rates, is what we have.

See how we rate for more info.

• Intel Core i9-12900H 2.9GHz
• 32GB DDR5
• Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti 8GB GDDR6
• 1TB PCIe M.2 SSD
• 17.3-inch QHD display, 240Hz
• IR FHD webcam
• 15.65 x 11.16 x 0.79 inches, 6.17 pounds
• Four-cell, 99.9Wh battery
• 240W power brick
• SD 7.0 reader, HDMI 2.1, one Thunderbolt 4, one USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (DisplayPort), two USB-A 3.2 Gen 2, audio combo jack, ethernet
• SteelSeries per-key RGB keyboard (99 keys)
• Killer Wi-Fi 6E AX1675 (2x2), BT 5.2

The price is the main advantage of the stealth. There is a test unit for sale. The GE 76 Raider has an even beefier Core i9 as well as a fancy design, so it would be $100 more to get it. The cheapest model on the site is $2,799 and the 12th Gen Raider starts at $2,2. It's worth knowing what compromises you're making for that lower cost.

The build quality of the GS 77 is an improvement over last year. The base and lid of the GS77 are both strong and sturdy. The trackpad was able to collect some fingerprints, but the rest of the system wasn't very strong. After being battered around in a suitcase for a few days, it didn't pick up any scratches or dents, it was a nice looking computer.

The perks of previous models are still present. There are a lot of ports, including twoUSB-C, twoUSB-A, and a headphone jack. The reader is slower than it was a year ago. The display makes games look good. My games still sounded good despite the fact that they don't deliver the best audio on the 17-inch market. I had no issues with the microphones, which support noise cancellation, and the webcams, which has a physical shutter switch on the side.

I can't see myself using this device as a daily driver because of the keyboard and touchpad The lighting on the keyboard is pretty, but it is very thin to type on. There is a number pad, but the keys are too small. The keys to the arrow seem small.

There is a problem with the touchpad. I have never experienced a click like that on a touchpad. It is loud also. I had to thwack my finger down to register. I don't use a mouse when I'm testing for productivity use cases because I don't like navigating with it. These aren't uncommon compromises when it comes to gaming laptops, but they show how little I would recommend this to double as a daily driver.

How do these specifications stack up? Red Dead Redemption 2 maxed out at an average of 60 frames per second at native resolution. At the end of the show, that went up to 65. We saw an average of 83 frames per second with ray tracing on Ultra and 121 with the feature off, on Shadow of the Tomb Raider in high definition. We can call it 58 frames per second and 86 frames per second. It's more than just a game.

The GS 77 put up an insane 400 frames per second on the CS:GO in native 1920p and a still quite high 286 in native1080p. At native resolution, Cyberpunk 2077 ran at 19 frames per second, but achieved 33 at those settings in1080p.

All in all, these are an improvement over the results from last year's model, and they show that you shouldn't have difficulty running most modern games at QHD resolution, though they're below what you can get out of pricier Core i9 and RTX 3080 machines. The GS 77 doesn't have an MUX switch This component allows laptops to support adaptive features, like G-sync, and can lead to a performance difference. I think many people who are willing to pay $2,900 won't be willing to compromise on anything.

The stealth was more competitive when it came to other work. It took us two minutes and fifteen seconds to complete our test. It took the Raider one minute and 56 seconds to beat it, but it is one of the few laptops that has ever done so. The 3070 GS 76 was slower last year. They aren't meant to be apples-to-apples comparisons, but they are meant to give you an idea of how long an export might take.

The GS 77 beat the GS 76 on the Puget Systems benchmark for Premiere Pro, which tests 4K and 8K performance. It lost to the Raiders by a large amount. This isn't a laptop I'd recommend people use for office work, so the GS 77's good performance isn't the biggest point in its favor.

The software is not as glitchy as it has been in the past, which is good news. I was able to adjust fan profiles with the pre-installed programs. The screen on my laptop malfunctioned when I tried to play games. There was a replacement unit that didn't show the problem. It is not the sort of thing we like to see on products of that price range.

You have to agree to the following in order to use the GS77.

• A request for your region
• A request for your keyboard layout
• Connect to Wi-Fi
• Windows Software License Terms: Windows Operating System and MSI Services Terms of Use

Yes or no can be said to the following.

• Sign into a Microsoft account (or create an offline account)
• Privacy settings (location, Find My Device, sharing diagnostic data, inking and typing, tailored experience, advertising ID)
• Sign into a Microsoft account

There are mandatory and optional agreements.

The main compromise here is the battery life. I used it for about two hours and 16 minutes a day, with some trials lasting less than two hours. I have never gotten a battery run like that out of a gaming laptop. It is a difficult pill to swallow to have to give up battery life in order to get a cheaper laptop with less powerful chips.

• The letter keys are 1.6 x 1.9 centimeters with 0.48 centimeters between them. All keys are backlit. The Caps Lock, Esc, microphone mute, volume mute, Num Lock, and power keys have indicator lights. The power button is 1.27 x 4.8 centimeters. The volume keys are 1.4 x 0.79 centimeters. The keys are black with white text and take a bit of firm force force to depress.
• The speakers reached an average of 80 decibels in my testing.
• The laptop weighs 6.17 pounds.
• Ports include: SD 7.0 reader, HDMI 2.1, one Thunderbolt 4, one USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (DisplayPort), two USB-A 3.2 Gen 2, audio combo jack, Ethernet
• The lid can be opened with one hand. It can be tilted back to 120 degrees.
• The screen is 17.3 inches with a 2460 x 1440 resolution. It reached 313 nits of brightness and a 1,010:1 contrast ratio in my testing. There is no touchscreen option.
• The touchpad is 5.48 x 3.25 inches and supports precision gestures.
• Setup involves turning the device on and clicking through several menus.
• The GS77 Stealth supports fingerprint and facial recognition logins.

• Windows 11 includes a dedicated accessibility menu.
• Windows 11 includes a built-in screen reader (Narrator). It supports third-party screen readers including NVDA from NV Access and Jaws from Freedom Scientific. A full list of compatible software can be found on Microsoft’s website.
• Windows 11 supports voice typing (accessed by Windows + H) and speech recognition (toggled with Windows + Ctrl + S).
• Color Filters including inverted, grayscale, red-green, and blue-yellow can be toggled with Windows + Ctrl + C. Contrast themes are toggled with Alt + Left Shift + Print Screen. Standard Dark Mode and custom colors are also available under Personalization.
• Caption color and size can be customized and appear close to the bottom of the screen.
• The keyboard can be remapped with Microsoft’s PowerToys. Sticky Keys is supported. An on-screen keyboard is available.
• The cursor’s size and speed can be adjusted and gestures can be remapped in Touchpad Settings.
• Windows 11 supports eye control with external eye trackers.
• Windows 11 includes a Snap Layout feature, accessed by hovering over the Maximize button on any open window.

The laptop is a good buy if you want to look at frame rates on paper. You don't have to burn your basement down to play games at QHD resolution.

The way the line has been positioned has implied that the device is a good pick for more than just gaming. Changes to the stealth line have made it more powerful at the expense of other features that made it stealthy. It's too big and heavy to carry around in a briefcase or backpack, the battery life isn't usable for daily work away from an outlet, and the keyboard and touchpad wouldn't be my choice. This is not a portable alternative to the Raiders. The Raider is a more expensive version.

It is fine if you are after that. With the Raider delivering more powerful specs, better battery life, more RGB, and an MUX switch for a couple hundred dollars more, I think it will be worth the money for people to buy it.