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The MSI GS65 Stealth Thin (See it on Best Buy) / ( See it on Amazon UK ) is one of the first laptops available with a brand spanking new Intel "Coffee Lake" CPU. The big deal with these processors are they are the very first six-core Intel CPUs for mobile, so thanks to Hyper-threading you get six cores and 12 threads, which is four more than laptops were capable of previously.

Model: MSI GS65 Stealth Thin

Display : 15.6-inch 144Hz (1,920 x 1,080) "IPS-level"

Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q (8GB DDR5)

Processor: Intel Core i7-8750H (Six-core, 9MB Cache, up to 4.1GHz w/Turbo Boost)

Memory: 16GB DDR4

OS: Windows 10

OS Drive: 512GB SSD

Ports: 1 x USB 3.1 Type-C Thunderbolt, 3 x USB 3.1, 1 x miniDisplay Port, 1 x HDMI, 1 X 3.5mm microphone in, 1 X 3.5mm headphone out, 1 x Ethernet port

Wireless: 802.11b/g/n/ac (2x2) Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5

Dimensions: 14.08 x 9.75x 0.69-inches (WxDxH)

Weight: 4.14-pounds

Price: $1,999

Design and Features

The GS65 Stealth is also the first laptop with a panel that sports a 144Hz refresh rate, and with its GTX 1070 Max-Q GPU it promises to be pretty much everything a gamer could ask for in a slim package. The specific configuration I'm reviewing here is exclusive to Best Buy, but there’s similar configs with slightly different component mixes on Amazon and elsewhereHere are the specifications of the laptop I’m evaluating:From top to bottom, the GS65 is impressively designed. The exterior is covered in matte black with gold highlights along the edges, and around the touchpad. On the bottom is a ventilation grille that with a design that reminds me of hundreds of tiny snowflakes. The same pattern is found just above the backlit keyboard, surrounding the power button.The RGB backlit keyboard is powered by SteelSeries 3, with each key individually lit and is impressively bright. One gripe I have about the keyboard layout is the location of the Function key to the right of the spacebar. Its placement is opposite of what I’m accustomed to using to adjust volume or screen brightness in the middle of a match, which is a distraction I don’t need. The touchpad is smooth and MacBook-like in that it provides a solid click when pressed.Despite having a 15.6-inch display, MSI slimmed down the overall footprint of the GS65 so much so that a number pad is nowhere to be found on this model. There is an additional column of keys to there right of the Enter key, complete with a shortcut key to quickly switch between presets for the keyboard backlight. The GS65 measures 14.08 x 9.75x 0.69-inches and weighs 4.14-pounds.

The GS65’s internals is another reason the GS65 is smaller than a typical gaming laptop. With a GTX 1070 Max-Q GPU, MSI can streamline the design and still provide impressive gaming power. Also inside is an Intel Coffee Lake Core i7 processor, 16GB of memory, and a 512GB SSD.

Performance

“ The cooling system on the GS65 is loud enough that you’re going to want to use headphones...

Battery Life

Software

A total of nine ports dot the perimeter of the GS65. The right side is where you’ll find a single USB 3.1 port, the only USB-C port with Thunderbolt, a mini-DisplayPort, an HDMI port, and a power port. The USB-C port is multi-purpose and provides an additional method to connect a display, external hard drive, or sync an accessory to the laptop. The opposite side of the laptop hosts an Ethernet port, two more USB 3.1 ports, and two 3.5mm ports that act as a microphone in and headphone out setup.Despite having two additional cores compared to previous laptops, the MSI GS65 didn’t outperform similarly configured laptops from the "olden" days of last month in my benchmark tests.Overall it seems like the addition of two extra cores didn't do much for the games I use for testing. I'm confident if we had any pure CPU tests that involved file encoding or rendering we'd see a healthy bump over a four-core laptop, but for gaming don't expect much of a boost. It's possible future games will be more adept at handling multithreading, but for the games we are currently using there's simply not much benefit.Despite the benchmark results, my real world experience left me impressed. There is a smooth overall feel to the laptop’s performance, with apps loading quickly, and mundane tasks like scrolling or moving windows around felt silky smooth. Admittedly, it could be a placebo effect based on my knowledge that it was "faster," but it certainly felt snappier than previous laptops to me.Despite the loud, high-RPM fans, the left side of the laptop’s housing — just to the left of the keyboard — became incredibly hot during long gaming sessions. Hot enough I couldn’t leave a finger on the metal frame for longer than a few seconds without feeling uncomfortable.One adjustment i wasn’t quiet able to make in my time with the GS65 had to do with the lack of a Fn key to the left of the spacebar location. Since there's one less key on the bottom row of the keyboard, my muscle memory forced usually allows me to consistently press the Alt key for "free look" when needed. However, with a key missing I found myself errantly hitting the space bar, causing my character to jump instead of enable free look. Outside of that, the keyboard felt smooth and responsive.Considering the relatively small size of the GS65, battery life is impressive. In fact, the GS65 now sits at the top of laptops I’ve tested with the battery powering through 162 minutes of my video test. Most high-powered laptops can only do about half of that. The Razer Blade Stealth and Alienware 15 R3 are the closest, with 157 minutes and 155 minutes, respectively.Granted, 2 hours and 42 minutes isn't enough to get through a cross-country flight or day’s worth of meetings, but it’s an impressive performance for a gaming laptop.

“ SteelSeries Engine 3 is used to customize the keyboard's backlight or search for profiles dedicated to a specific game.

Purchasing Guide

Preinstalled on the MG65 are a few different programs, each one designed to boost performance or enhance the overall experience.MSI’s Dragon Center app includes functionality such as a system monitor, system tuner, voice wizard, and a customizable Gaming Mode. Dragon Center identifies games installed on the laptop and acts as a shortcut to launch the game and customize the performance of the laptop. When starting a game from Dragon Center, the app clears system memory, changes the display to fit the game style, and switches to your desired keyboard lighting profile.I didn’t see a big performance boost when launching PUBG through Gaming Mode, but being able to begin the game, switch profiles, and optimize the system in with a couple of clicks was convenient enough that I kept using it.Theis available in several configurations, but the one we tested is a Best Buy exclusive with an an MSRP of $1,999.