To coincide with today’s launch of both the latest 10th generation Intel Core H-Series parts, as well as NVIDIA’s launch of their new RTX Super laptop GPUs, MSI is announcing a trio of new models to cover a wide-spectrum of the market, with two gaming-focused models in the GS66 Stealth and GE66 Raider, as well as the content-creator focused Creator 17.

MSI 10th Gen Intel Core Launch Lineup
  GS66 Stealth GE66 Raider Creator 17
CPU Core i7-10750H
Core i9-10980HK
Core i7-10875H
RAM 16-32 GB
64 GB Max
GPU NVIDIA RTX 2060 6GB
NVIDIA RTX 2070 Max-Q 8GB
NVIDIA RTX 2070 Super Max-Q 8GB
NVIDIA RTX 2080 Super Max-Q 8GB
NVIDIA RTX 2070 8GB
NVIDIA RTX 2070 Super 8GB
NVIDIA RTX 2080 Super Max-Q 8GB
NVIDIA RTX 2060 6 GB
NVIDIA RTX 2070 Max-Q 8GB
NVIDIA RTX 2070 Super Max-Q
NVIDIA RTX 2080 Super Max-Q
Display 15.6-inch 1920x1080 144 Hz sRGB IPS-Level
1920x1080 240 Hz
1920x1080 300 Hz
15.6-inch 1920x1080 240 Hz
1920x1080 300 Hz
17.3-inch 1920x1080 thin-bezel IPS-level 144 Hz sRGB
3840x2160 HDR1000 mini LED 60 Hz P3
Storage 512 GB - 1 TB NVMe 512 GB - 2 TB NVMe
Networking Intel AX201 Wi-Fi 6
Killer E3100 Ethernet
Killer AX1650 Wi-Fi 6
Killer E3100 Ethernet
Intel 9560 WiFi 5
Intel I225 Ethernet
Battery 99.9 Wh
180-230W slim adapter
99.9 Wh
230-280W adapter
82Wh
230W Slim adapter
USB-PD charging
Ports Thunderbolt 3 x 1
USB 3.2 Gen 2 x 3
HDMI 2.0
USB Type-C Gen2 x 1
USB 3.2 Gen 1 x 2
USB 3.2 Gen 2 x 1
SD Card Reader
SPDIR ESS Sabre HiFI
HDMI 2.0
mDP 1.4
Thunderbolt 3 x 1
USB 3.2 Gen2 x 3
micro SD
HDMI 2.0
Included 720p Webcam
SteelSeries per-key RGB keyboard
Dynaudio 2Wx2 speakers
1080p Webcam
SteelSeries per-key RGB keyboard
Dynaudio Speaker with passive raditor x 2
720p Webcam
white backlight keyboard (84-key)
IR camera
fingerprint reader
Dimensions 14.17 x 9.65 x 0.71 inches 14.09 x 10.51 x 0.92 inches 15.59 x 10.21 x 0.8 inches
Weight 4.63 lbs 5.25 lbs 5.29-5.51 lbs
Starting Price $1,599 $1,799 $1,799
Available Available April 15

GS66 Stealth

Gaming laptops tend to be flashy affairs, and there is certainly a segment of the market that would prefer the same performance and capabilities, but with a more understated look. Meet the MSI GS66 Stealth. Featuring a sandblasted finish, the all-black GS66 Stealth features a design which does its name proud. This is the ultimate sleeper from MSI. At 4.63 lbs and 0.71-inches thick, the 15.6-inch laptop is also very portable, and despite the small size, MSI has crammed in a 99.9 Wh battery, which is the largest allowed as carry-on in an airplane. The chassis still features the SteelSeries per-key RGB keyboard, which is one of the best in the gaming market, so you can still turn on a bit of bling if you are in the mood.

The GS66 Stealth offers up to a Core i9-10980HK and up to 32 GB of DDR4, expandable to 64 GB. On the GPU side MSI has tapped the brand new NVIDIA GeForce RTX Super lineup as options, with the RTX 2080 Super Max-Q at the top end, RTX 2070 Super Max-Q, RTX 2070 Max-Q, or RTX 2060 options as well. Due to the thin and light design, Max-Q is a necessity despite the new Cooler Boost Trinity+ system which MSI has designed with 0.1 mm fan blades.

MSI has also stepped up to the new 300 Hz display territory with the GS66, although the base model offers “just” 144 Hz, and mid-tier features a 240 Hz 1920x1080p IPS-Level display.

Rounding out the features, MSI offers NVMe storage up to 1 TB, Wi-Fi 6 thanks to the Intel AX201, Ethernet featuring the Killer E3100, USB Type-C with Thunderbolt 3, and three USB 3.2 Gen2 ports.

The new GS66 Stealth is available for pre-order today starting at $1599, and will be shipping on April 15th.

GE66 Raider

If the Stealth was too laid back in the styling department to suit your tastes, don’t worry. MSI has you covered. The new GE66 Raider is a larger, heavier, and flashier version of the GS66 Stealth. The cool-touch aluminum chassis features the MSI Mystic Light panoramic RGB light bar on the front, offering 16.7 million colors. The bottom of the laptop showcases dragon armor carving with hexagons, offering more grip and style, and MSI has tweaked the GE66 Raider’s hinge as well to make it more durable.

If you like really flashy laptops, MSI will be offering a Star Wars themed “Dragonshield Edition”, designed in-part with Industrial Light and Magic veteran Colie Wertz. This theming isn’t just skin deep either. The design is actually laser etched into the laptop, providing contrast and texture.

The GE66 Raider offers much of the same internal offerings as the GS66 Stealth, with up to a Core i9-10980HK, and up to 32 GB of RAM, but thanks to the chassis being a bit thicker (0.92” vs 0.71”) and slightly heavier (5.25 lbs vs 4.61 lbs) MSI was able to skip the Max-Q on the RTX 2070 and RTX 2070 Super, although the top-end offering still needs the Max-Q thermals for the RTX 2080 Super Max-Q.

The 15.6-inch laptop offers either a 240 Hz 1920x1080, or a 300 Hz on the higher-tier models.

This laptop offers the Killer Double Shot feature with the Killer E3100 Gigabit Ethernet coupled with the Intel based Killer AX1650 wireless, and although it offers USB Type-C, unlike the Stealth, there is no Thunderbolt 3 support. This laptop also ships with the same 99.9 Wh battery, so despite the powerful internals, battery life should be reasonable.

The GE66 Raider will be available on April 15th starting at $1799.

Creator 17

MSI has seen a large growth segment in the creator market, and has found that many content creators have been purchasing their gaming laptops to get access to the more-powerful CPUs and beefy GPUs that gaming laptops offer. The company has started to offer models targeted at this crowd now, and their latest model is the Creator 17, which features the first Mini LED display in a laptop.

The 17-inch Creator 17 offers a 144 Hz 1920x1080 IPS panel offering sRGB on the base models, but the top models step up to a 3840x2160 resolution mini LED display, offering P3 color gamut, and HDR1000. The mini LED display offers 240 zones of local dimming, 1000 nits brightness, and a 100,000:1 contrast ratio thanks to the new backlighting. The laptop somewhat surprisingly offers user-choice of both the DCI-P3 as well as the P3 D65 color space. The majority of devices marketed as DCI-P3 are actually P3 D65, whereas the DCI-P3 color space is the one used in digital cinema, so offering both on a device like this is a smart move. In addition to the True Color gamut selection, the laptop will feature per-unit factory calibration which is verified by CalMAN – the same software we leverage for our laptop reviews.

On the CPU side, MSI is only offering the Core i7-10875H, which is an eight-core, sixteen-thread processor which can turbo up to 5.1 GHz. This should offer plenty of muscle for most content tasks, and for GPU-accelerated workflows, MSI will offer the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060, RTX 2070 Max-Q, RTX 2070 Super Max-Q, and RTX 2080 Super Max-Q, so you can pick your performance level depending on your GPU needs. The base model ships with 16 GB of DDR4, and MSI offers 32 GB on the higher-tier units, and all models support up to 64 GB.

Creators need storage. MSI is shipping up to 2 TB of NVMe storage, along with micro SD, and for external storage there is a Thunderbolt 3 port. The Thunderbolt port can also be used to charge the laptop in a pinch, and provides 27-Watts of power for charging external devices.

Despite the impressive performance inside, the Creator 17 still comes in at a starting weight of 5.29 lbs, although the mini LED model adds another 0.22 lbs to the total, and the laptop is just 0.8” thick. For a 17-inch laptop, that is quite reasonable.

The MSI Creator 17 will be available on April 15th starting at $1799.

Source: MSI

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  • damianrobertjones - Thursday, April 2, 2020 - link

    It's nice to have a thin machine, but for a few extra millimeters we could have bigger batteries or better cooling. How they keep on getting away with this is just madness (Oh yeah, we buy them).
  • Unashamed_unoriginal_username_x86 - Thursday, April 2, 2020 - link

    There's the problem though of 100Wh max battery capacity on flights, and fans using power.

    That said, I find it ridiculous OEMs refuse to just make airplane-forbidden batteries. Not everyone is working during a business class flight... Or even catching flights.
    Hell, they could market it as "a battery so big it's illegal!" and "undeniably better than all its competitors!"
  • PeachNCream - Thursday, April 2, 2020 - link

    I'd like to see some 11.6 inch fanless notebooks with much larger capacity batteries. The extra thickness could also support slots for removable RAM and storage versus soldered down 4GB and 32GB or if you're buying a premium model, 64GB of eMMC. Then I could do a little more on the road with a reasonable sized laptop instead of having to purchase something in the 13-15 inch screen size class that does not fit anywhere. It's stuff like this that just makes me leave the PC at home and make do with a phone for any work on the road even if it is heavy lifting that is better suited to something with a keyboard and larger screen.
  • eastcoast_pete - Thursday, April 2, 2020 - link

    If I understand it correctly, the problem is that Lithium batteries above 100 Wh aren't allowed in the cabin, period. And most of us aren't comfortable shipping our laptops in the checked luggage; many companies even forbid it for their employees' work laptops.
  • 0ldman79 - Thursday, April 2, 2020 - link

    Some of us aren't a "flight risk" as it were.

    The only way you'll find me on a plane is if someone is shipping my remains home, so I'll take the 200Wh battery, thanks.

    It always drives me nuts, as the OP says, they make better laptop CPUs, say the introduction of the 15W CPU, then they use that capability to offer thinner and lighter laptops instead of keeping the form factor the same and giving us massive battery life.

    They're starting to get their act together *finally*.
  • zmatt - Thursday, April 2, 2020 - link

    So are you guys going to review any of the 4000 series mobile Ryzen laptops? PC World did their review on Monday and it makes all of these Intel laptops obsolete. I understand logistics can be tricky with everyone working from home, but I've been checking every morning since Monday and nothing. Looks even worse when more than one Intel laptop review dropped today.
  • wolrah - Thursday, April 2, 2020 - link

    AT often doesn't have a day one review because they tend to go in depth. Give 'em time, these laptops have only just come out and those who have put out reviews said they didn't get much time with 'em so it's all early reporting.

    Also, what are you talking about with "Looks even worse when more than one Intel laptop review dropped today."? AT hasn't posted any reviews of either new platform, they've basically just posted the press releases with a bit of commentary.
  • DanNeely - Thursday, April 2, 2020 - link

    AMD changed the embargo date for 4000 mobile laptops and forgot to tell anyone at Anandtech. According to the twitter feed they're intending to have a review out for Monday.
  • 0ldman79 - Thursday, April 2, 2020 - link

    I don't know how Ian didn't hear about it.

    I run in the same circles on twitter and even I knew it was March 30th. I think it was an ad on twitter actually.

    I suppose he probably has better things to do than pay attention to ads... lol
  • Guspaz - Friday, April 3, 2020 - link

    I'm not sure 240 backlight zones really counts as "mini LED"... Just because a display has FALD doesn't mean you can call it "mini LED". It means a specific thing (chip size), so maybe they technically used LED chips that fell into the "mini LED" size range, but normally it's used to represent a much larger number of backlight zones than that.

    A 4K screen with 240 zones mean that each backlight zone is responsible for 34,560 pixels, so you're going to see some serious haloing there.

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