The MSI GE76 Raider Review: Tiger Lake Plus Ampere Equals Framerate

Final Words

If you are after a fast gaming system, read no further. MSI’s GE76 Raider is an absolute beast of a device, with the best gaming performance of any system we have ever tested. The combination of the Core i9-11980HK, GeForce RTX 3080L, and plenty of cooling allows for impressive framerates in any title.

The design of the GE76 Raider is nicely executed as well. The Titanium Blue finish is handsome, and although there are some “gamer” touches, none of them are outlandish. The light bar at the front is a nice touch if you like RGB, and if you don’t when it is disabled it looks like there is nothing there.

MSI offers a nice array of options on the new GE76 Raider as well to hit different price points, and different use cases. The laptop shipped for review is clearly targeting eSports gamers, with the biggest CPU and GPU combination offered, but paired with a 360 Hz FHD display.

Unfortunately, the display was a bit of a let-down. MSI has historically offered very accurate displays, but the panel in our review unit was anything but. The 360 Hz refresh is an impressive number, but even with the performance of this device, no game we tested was anywhere near that kind of framerate at FHD resolution. The previous generation GE75 Raider’s 144 Hz panel was very accurate, and fast enough. The Raider series is also missing any cariable refresh rate technology, which is a shame on something so clearly targeting gaming.

The keyboard is good, but not great. The per-key RGB option is a big plus, and allows not only customization, but also usability. For instance, when you press the Fn key, all of the keys except those with a Fn function get turned off, making it much easier to find what you were looking for. Being able to set specific keys a specific color really helps find keys you use often, but maybe not every day, and is a big step up over zoned backlighting.

The key caps are the biggest disappointment, with very little traction on the caps themselves, and an overall very flat design. It makes typing not as comfortable as some of the competition, or even MSI’s Titan laptops. Good, but not great. Likely not a dealbreaker for most, unless you are really into keyboards.

The GE76 Raider offers a tremendous amount of expansion. There is a Type-C Thunderbolt 4 port, as well as a second Type-C port, as well as three Type-A USB ports. Despite the Type-C ports also providing DisplayPort, MSI has still included a mini-DisplayPort option, as well as HDMI video outputs if you do want to connect this to an external display. Including a SD card reader is a nice touch as well for those with SD-based cameras.

The GE76 Raider’s cooling system is up to the task, keeping everything from overheating no matter how long your gaming session goes. The Extreme Performance mode unlocks additional power for the internal components but can also get a bit loud. Thankfully the balanced mode is most of the performance, for far less noise.

MSI laptops are not the least expensive on the market, but the company tends to deliver high-quality devices for every generation. They seem to have delivered again with the GE76 Raider. There is plenty of performance, lots of expansion, and lots of choices to hit different price ranges, or to target different use-cases. It is nice to see them include options high-refresh displays across the range, from FHD to QHD to UHD.

The MSI GE76 Raider packs a wallop. If you are in the market for a gaming system, this system needs to be on the short list for anyone who craves framerate. At $3399 for the model we tested, it is silly season on GPUs right now, but as a gaming replacement system, it's going to be a fun option to consider.