Inside MSI Stealth 15M – disassembly and upgrade options

Although this laptop’s disassembly requires a bit more steps, this doesn’t mean you can’t do it home. Just arm yourself with patience, and make sure you are extra careful with the tiny ribbon cables.

Check out all MSI Stealth 15M prices and configurations in our Specs System or read more in our In-Depth review.


1. Remove the bottom plate and battery

Taking this laptop apart is quite an easy process at first. You need to undo all 13 Phillips-head screws and then work your way around the bottom panel with a plastic tool.


2. Battery and storage

Unfortunately, your work is not done here. Before we proceed, you can see the battery, which has a 52.4Wh capacity. And on its left, you will find the M.2 PCIe x4 storage slot.


3. Remove the motherboard

To get access to the rest of the stuff, you need to remove the motherboard. First, unplug and remove the battery, the M.2 SSD drive, and the Wi-Fi card. Then, you have to unplug some ribbon cables, including those for the touchpad, the keyboard, and the display. After that, remove the two Phillips-head screws that are holding the motherboard in place, and carefully lift it away from the chassis.


4. Cooling system and memory

Here, you can see the two SODIMM slots, which fit a total of 64GB and work in dual-channel mode. Also, you can check out the cooling solution, which consists of two heat pipes, dedicated for the CPU, and two dedicated for the GPU. Then, there is one for the VRMs, and one, which is not connected to a heat sink and cools down the graphics memory.

Check out all MSI Stealth 15M prices and configurations in our Specs System or read more in our In-Depth review.

MSI Stealth 15M (RTX 30) in-depth review

The first thought that came to our mind when we first took the MSI Stealth 15M in our hands was "Well, this looks familiar". In fact, its body is suspiciously similar to that of the older GS65 Stealth, but even in case the chassis is reused, the design is definitely changed.With that said, this laptop is directly marketed towards gamers and "young professionals", and promotes speed and power. Moreover, according to MSI, this is the thinnest and lightest gaming notebook on the market, but as usual - take this with a pinch of salt.By the way, you should know that the Stealth 15M comes i[...]

Pros

  • Good amount of power inside a very thin and light notebook
  • 3200 MHz memory in dual-channel, one M.2 PCIe x4 slot, Thunderbolt 4 + Wi-Fi 6 support, and a MicroSD card reader
  • The display doesn't flicker at any brightness level (BOE NV156FHM-NX4)
  • Has a good contrast ratio and comfortable viewing angles (BOE NV156FHM-NX4)
  • 144Hz refresh rate paired with relatively good pixel response times (BOE NV156FHM-NX4)

Cons

  • The cooling is a bit inefficient (and sounds weird)
  • It gets pretty warm on the outside when gaming
  • Covers only half of the sRGB color gamut (BOE NV156FHM-NX4)
  • Battery life is only average
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