Here we have the larger version of the MSI GS65 Stealth or the next version of the MSI GS73 Stealth… Actually, it is both, and it is clearly a stunning device. Everything from the unboxing experience to the first time you hold it in your hands (don’t be naughty), looks to be thought of. But, it is not the premium nature of the product that drives people towards it – it is the ability to cram super-powerful hardware in a minuscule chassis (in terms of volume, not area).
So, if you don’t know yet, the MSI GS75 Stealth can be configured with up to the Core i9-9880H and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q. One of the most powerful combos you can found out in the wild. However, there are also versions that come with the 8th Generation processors from Intel and you can identify them by the 8SX designation at the end of the naming sequence.
In addition to being a truly sophisticated machine, the GS75 Stealth brings a first to our lab – a 240Hz IPS display, which promises to be a gem for gamers. We will put it straight to our display evaluation and we’ll share our take on it later in the review.
You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/msi-gs75-stealth/
Contents
Specs Sheet
MSI GS75 Stealth - Specs
What’s in the box?
Inside the box, there are some cute little manuals, placed in a protective bag. In a separate compartment, we saw a 230W power brick, while the laptop, itself, is located in a black protective cloth.
Design and construction
17-inches in diameter and 19mm in thickness? Sure, MSI can do it! This device’s body is entirely made out of aluminum (with the exception of the bezel around the screen, which is traditionally plastic). This laptop is the definition of premium. Quality build materials, super incognito look and golden chamfered edges on the lid, with some gold elements here and there. More importantly, the GS75 Stealth can be handled easily and while it is far from the ridiculous weight of the LG Gram 17, it is still pretty lightweight for a 17-inch gaming laptop.
Furthermore, its lid can be opened easily, and it has pretty good resistance to flex. We are also happy to see the camera on its orthodox place – above the display.
Then, let’s move to the base. While the material is pretty strong when you push against it, which results in little, to no bend at all, the flex resistance is not that high. Quite frankly, this is expectable, given the area of the laptop and its thickness. On the top portion of the base, there is a pretty wide ventilation grill. Beneath it, there is the keyboard, which traditionally is fit with Steelseries RGB backlight. Not only does it offer almost infinite customization, but it is also per-key, meaning that every key has got its own customizable backlight LED.
This device’s Power On/Off button is located at the top of the base, while a good chunk of the bottom portion is taken by the touchpad. We saw this on the smaller GS65 and now on this one – huge glass touchpad with great tracking ability and accurate touch registration.
On the bottom plate, there is another huge ventilation grill, as well as the speaker cutouts. Hot air, on the other side, is being exhausted from the back and both from the left and right.
Ports
On the left side of the notebook, there is the power plug, the location of which means that the cable will kind of stand in the way of the left exhaust. Next, there is the RJ-45 connector, a USB Type-A 3.1 (Gen. 2) port a MicroSD card reader and two 3.5mm jacks – one for speakers and one for a microphone. Then, on the right, you will find an HDMI connector, followed by a Thunderbolt 3 port, two USB Type-A 3.1 (Gen. 2) ports and a single USB Type-C 3.1 (Gen. 1) port.
Disassembly, upgrade options and maintenance
Sadly, the MSI GS75 Stealth is not the easiest laptop to teardown. Similarly to its smaller brother, it requires the bottom panel to be removed, which is held in place by 15 Phillips-head screws. Then on the inside, you are going to find some stuff that can be removed immediately but essentially, you have to take remove the motherboard since it is turned upside down.
Let’s first give kudos to MSI for including not one but THREE M.2 SSD slots, which is unprecedented in the laptop world. With the price of SSDs going down like Cristiano Ronaldo, after being touched by a gust of wind, this is the perfect setup for the laptop owners.
Now, to take the motherboard out of the chassis, you need to remove the black protective sheet and take only two Phillips-head screws out. However, after that, there are a bunch of connectors that need to be unplugged (for reference see our video guide), as well as the connected SSDs, WiFi card, and a metal cover that holds the power plug in place.
After you’ve gone through hell, and still organized your screws along the way, you will finally greet the cooling solution. MSI has made sure it throws all the copper it can inside – there are 7 heat pipes cooling the CPU, GPU, VRMs and the graphics memory.
Battery-wise there is a beefy 80.25Wh unit inside.
Display quality
MSI GS75 Stealth is equipped with a Full HD IPS screen with a blazingly quick 240 Hz refresh rate and a model number AUO B173HAN05.0 (AUO509D). Its diagonal is 17.3″ (43.94 cm), and the resolution – 1920 х 1080. Additionally, the screen ratio is 16:9, the pixel density – 127 ppi, their pitch – 0.1995 x 0.1995 mm. The screen can be considered Retina when viewed from at least 69 cm (from this distance, the average human eye can’t see the individual pixels).
Its viewing angles are excellent. We have provided images at 45 degrees to evaluate quality.
The maximum measured brightness is pretty high – 249 nits (cd/m2) in the middle of the screen and 218 nits (cd/m2) average across the surface with a maximum deviation of 7%. The Correlated Color Temperature on a white screen and at maximum brightness is 7340K (average) – colder than the 6500K optimum for sRGB. The average color temperature through the grey scale before profiling is 7070K.
In the illustration below you can see how the display performs from uniformity perspective. The illustration below shows how matters are for operational brightness levels (approximately 140 nits) – in this particular case at 57% Brightness (White level = 139 cd/m2, Black level = 0.11 cd/m2).
Values of dE2000 over 4.0 should not occur, and this parameter is one of the first you should check if you intend to use the laptop for color-sensitive work (a maximum tolerance of 2.0 ). The contrast ratio is good – 1300:1.
To make sure we are on the same page, we would like to give you a little introduction to the sRGB color gamut and the Adobe RGB. To start, there’s the CIE 1976 Uniform Chromaticity Diagram that represents the visible specter of colors by the human eye, giving you a better perception of the color gamut coverage and the color accuracy.
Inside the black triangle, you will see the standard color gamut (sRGB) that is being used by millions of people in HDTV and on the web. As for the Adobe RGB, this is used in professional cameras, monitors, etc for printing. Basically, colors inside the black triangle are used by everyone and this is the essential part of the color quality and color accuracy of a mainstream notebook.
Still, we’ve included other color spaces like the famous DCI-P3 standard used by movie studios, as well as the digital UHD Rec.2020 standard. Rec.2020, however, is still a thing of the future and it’s difficult for today’s displays to cover that well. We’ve also included the so-called Michael Pointer gamut, or Pointer’s gamut, which represents the colors that naturally occur around us every day.
The yellow dotted line shows MSI GS75 Stealth’s color gamut coverage.
Its display covers 99% of the sRGB/ITU-R BT.709 (web/HDTV standard) in CIE1976.
Our “Design and Gaming” profile delivers optimal color temperature (6500K) at 140 cd/m2 luminance and sRGB gamma mode.
We tested the accuracy of the display with 24 commonly used colors like light and dark human skin, blue sky, green grass, orange, etc. You can check out the results at factory condition and also, with the “Design and Gaming” profile.
Below you can compare the scores of MSI GS75 Stealth with the default settings (left), and with the “Gaming and Web design” profile (right).
The next figure shows how well the display is able to reproduce really dark parts of an image, which is essential when watching movies or playing games in low ambient light.
The left side of the image represents the display with stock settings, while the right one is with the “Gaming and Web Design” profile activated. On the horizontal axis, you will find the grayscale and on the vertical axis – the luminance of the display. On the two graphs below you can easily check for yourself how your display handles the darkest nuances but keep in mind that this also depends on the settings of your current display, the calibration, the viewing angle, and the surrounding light conditions.
Response time (Gaming capabilities)
We test the reaction time of the pixels with the usual “black-to-white” and “white-to-black” method from 10% to 90% and vice versa.
We recorded Fall Time + Rise Time = 8 ms. Gamers – rejoice.
Health impact – PWM / Blue Light
PWM (Screen flickering)
Pulse-width modulation (PWM) is an easy way to control monitor brightness. When you lower the brightness, the light intensity of the backlight is not lowered, but instead turned off and on by the electronics with a frequency indistinguishable to the human eye. In these light impulses, the light/no-light time ratio varies, while brightness remains unchanged, which is harmful to your eyes. You can read more about that in our dedicated article on PWM.
MSI GS75 Stealth’s display doesn’t flicker at any brightness level. This means the laptop is not going to present any additional strain to your eyes during long work periods.
Blue light emissions
Installing our Health-Guard profile not only eliminates PWM but also reduces the harmful Blue Light emissions while keeping the colors of the screen perceptually accurate. If you’re not familiar with the Blue light, the TL;DR version is – emissions that negatively affect your eyes, skin and your whole body. You can find more information about that in our dedicated article on Blue Light.
Conclusions
MSI GS75 Stealth’s IPS panel has a Full HD resolution, high contrast ratio, comfortable viewing angles and covers practically the entire (99%) sRGB color gamut. Additionally, its backlight doesn’t use PWM for brightness adjustment. What is more impressive about it, however, is that the color accuracy of this unit is amazing. Especially, when our Gaming and Web design profile is applied. Then, the Average dE has a value of 0.7 and the maximum dE is only 1.2! Let’s also not forget the 240 Hz refresh rate and super quick reaction times, which are both mouthwatering stats for gamers.
Buy our profiles
Since our profiles are tailored for each individual display model, this article and its respective profile package are meant for MSI GS75 Stealth configurations with 17.3″ AUO B173HAN05.0 (AUO0509D) (FHD, 1920 × 1080) IPS.
*Should you have problems with downloading the purchased file, try using a different browser to open the link you’ll receive via e-mail. If the download target is a .php file instead of an archive, change the file extension to .zip or contact us at [email protected]l.com.
Read more about the profiles HERE.
In addition to receiving efficient and health-friendly profiles, by buying LaptopMedia's products you also support the development of our labs, where we test devices in order to produce the most objective reviews possible.
Office Work
Office Work should be used mostly by users who spend most of the time looking at pieces of text, tables or just surfing. This profile aims to deliver better distinctness and clarity by keeping a flat gamma curve (2.20), native color temperature and perceptually accurate colors.
Design and Gaming
This profile is aimed at designers who work with colors professionally, and for games and movies as well. Design and Gaming takes display panels to their limits, making them as accurate as possible in the sRGB IEC61966-2-1 standard for Web and HDTV, at white point D65.
Health-Guard
THealth-Guard eliminates the harmful Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) and reduces the negative Blue Light which affects our eyes and body. Since it’s custom tailored for every panel, it manages to keep the colors perceptually accurate. Health-Guard simulates paper so the pressure on the eyes is greatly reduced.
Sound
MSI GS75 Stealth’s speakers are not the best and their low, mid and high tones have some deviations.
Drivers
All of the drivers and utilities for this notebook can be found here: https://www.msi.com/Laptop/support/GS75-Stealth-9SX
Battery
Now, we conduct the battery tests with Windows Better performance setting turned on, screen brightness adjusted to 120 nits and all other programs turned off except for the one we are testing the notebook with. This device’s 80Wh battery was able to provide 8 hours and 10 minutes of both Web browsing and video playback.
In order to simulate real-life conditions, we used our own script for automatic web browsing through over 70 websites.
For every test like this, we use the same video in HD.
We use F1 2017’s built-in benchmark on loop in order to simulate real-life gaming.
CPU options
So, as we mentioned, there are two versions of the MSI GS75 Stealth – 8SX and 9SX. The former features the 8th Generation Core iX processors from Intel, while the latter is equipped with the Coffee Lake (9th Gen) of the same lineup. Since we got the 9SX model, our unit was equipped with the Core i7-9750H. However, if you need extra CPU horsepower, there is the option of the behemoth Core i9-9880H.
Results are from the Cinebench 15 CPU test (the higher the score, the better)
Results are from the Fritz chess benchmark (the higher the score, the better)
Results are from our Photoshop benchmark test (the lower the score, the better)
MSI GS75 Stealth CPU variants
Here you can see an approximate comparison between the CPUs that can be found in the MSI GS75 Stealth models on the market. This way you can decide for yourself which MSI GS75 Stealth model is the best bang for your buck.
Note: The chart shows the cheapest different CPU configurations so you should check what the other specifications of these laptops are by clicking on the laptop’s name / CPU.
Results are from the Cinebench 15 CPU test (the higher the score, the better)
Results are from the Fritz chess benchmark (the higher the score, the better)
Results are from our Photoshop benchmark test (the lower the score, the better)
GPU options
No matter which CPU generation you choose, the graphics card of choice is the GeForce RTX 2060 with 6GB of GDDR6 memory, the RTX 2070 Max-Q with 8GB of GDDR6 memory, and the RTX 2080 Max-Q, also equipped with 8GB of GDDR6 memory.
Results are from the 3DMark: Fire Strike (Graphics) benchmark (higher the score, the better)
Results are from the Unigine Heaven 3.0 benchmark (higher the score, the better)
Results are from the Unigine Heaven 4.0 benchmark (higher the score, the better)
Results are from the Unigine Superposition benchmark (higher the score, the better)
MSI GS75 Stealth GPU variants
Here you can see an approximate comparison between the GPUs that can be found in the MSI GS75 Stealth models on the market. This way you can decide for yourself which MSI GS75 Stealth model is the best bang for your buck.
Note: The chart shows the cheapest different GPU configurations so you should check what the other specifications of these laptops are by clicking on the laptop’s name / GPU.
Results are from the 3DMark: Fire Strike (Graphics) benchmark (higher the score, the better)
Results are from the Unigine Heaven 3.0 benchmark (higher the score, the better)
Results are from the Unigine Heaven 4.0 benchmark (higher the score, the better)
Results are from the Unigine Superposition benchmark (higher the score, the better)
Gaming tests
| Far Cry 5 | Full HD, Normal (Check settings) | Full HD, High (Check settings) | Full HD, Ultra (Check settings) |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q | 114 fps | 105 fps | 99 fps |
| Rise of the Tomb Raider (2016) | Full HD, Medium (Check settings) | Full HD, Very High (Check settings) | Full HD, MAX (Check settings) |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q | 138 fps | 77 fps | 51 fps |
| Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands | Full HD, High (Check settings) | Full HD, Very High (Check settings) | Full HD, Ultra (Check settings) |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q | 90 fps | 79 fps | 52 fps |
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider (2018) | Full HD, Medium (Check settings) | Full HD, High (Check settings) | Full HD, Highest (Check settings) |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q | 95 fps | 93 fps | 60 fps |
Temperatures and comfort
Max CPU load
In this test we use 100% on the CPU cores, monitoring their frequencies and chip temperature. The first column shows a computer’s reaction to a short load (2-10 seconds), the second column simulates a serious task (between 15 and 30 seconds), and the third column is a good indicator of how good the laptop is for long loads such as video rendering.
Average core frequency (base frequency + X); CPU temp.
| Core i7-9750H (45W TDP) | 0:02 – 0:10 sec | 0:15 – 0:30 sec | 10:00 – 15:00 min |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSI GS75 Stealth | 3.56 GHz (B+37%)@ 95°C | 3.36 GHz (B+29%)@ 95°C | 3.20 GHz (B+23%)@ 95°C |
| Dell XPS 15 7590 | 3.25 GHz (B+25%)@ 98°C | 3.00 GHz (B+12%)@ 99°C | 2.69 GHz (B+3%)@ 92°C |
| Acer Predator Helios 300 17 (2019) | 3.09 GHz (B+19%)@ 55°C | 3.10 GHz (B+19%)@ 59°C | 2.99 GHz (B+15%)@ 66°C |
| HP Pavilion Gaming 15 2019 | 3.57 GHz (B+37%)@ 81°C | 2.88 GHz (B+11%)@ 73°C | 2.66 GHz (B+2%)@ 73°C |
| Lenovo Legion Y7000 (2019) | 3.34 GHz (B+28%)@ 72°C | 3.15 GHz (B+21%)@ 82°C | 2.99 GHz (B+15%)@ 79°C |
| Lenovo Legion Y540 | 2.78 GHz (B+7%)@ 74°C | 3.08 GHz (B+18%)@ 90°C | 2.87 GHz (B+10%)@ 79°C |
| ASUS ROG G731 | 3.38 GHz (B+30%)@ 87°C | 3.43 GHz (B+32%)@ 94°C | 2.63 GHz @ 73°C |
| ASUS ROG G531 | 3.41 GHz (B+31%)@ 95°C | 3.23 GHz (B+24%)@ 95°C | 2.72 GHz (B+5%)@ 79°C |
The fact that we see such high clock speeds running at such a high temperature, means that MSI is using quite an agressive approach. With that said, the limiting factor here is not the power, but the temperature, meaning that with some undervolting, you can receive some very interesting results.
Real-life gaming
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q | GPU frequency/ Core temp (after 2 min) | GPU frequency/ Core temp (after 30 min) | GPU frequency/ Core temp (Turbo mode) |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSI GS75 Stealth | 1425 MHz @ 74°C | 1380 MHz @ 81°C | – |
| Acer Predator Helios 300 17 (2019) | 1364 MHz @ 66°C | 1351 MHz @ 78°C | 1529 MHz @ 71°C |
| Lenovo Legion Y740 17″ | 1269 MHz @ 76°C | 1236 MHz @ 80°C | – |
It is obvious by now that the GS75 Stealth has a great performance, but at what cost. Very high noise levels and 81C on the graphics card. Needless to say, this is not the most comfortable experience for gamers.
Gaming comfort
Both the base and the bottom plate of this laptop were pretty warm after playing for half an hour. In addition to that, the noise levels were higher than comfortable, and you would most probably want a headset.
Verdict
So, what did we learn? Well, this laptop possesses great performance capabilities. It seems like MSI has extracted everything it cans from the hardware. Without even tinkering with the Dragon Center, it was able to run above the maximum boost frequency of the RTX 2070 Max-Q at all times. However, there is one big problem – heat. While this issue is not that notorious for the hardware, itself, but more for the user, actually. Honestly, there was nothing more to be expected from a chassis that light and thin.
What we would suggest would definitely be to play games only on a desk and never on your lap, as you will boil your nuts faster than a pressure cooker. Of course, there are a couple of things you can do. First – get a cooling pad. While it won’t drastically improve the thermals of this notebook, it is surely going to protect your legs and precious gems (should you have ones).
Then, you can dive into the realms of undervolting. Nowadays, it is pretty easy to do so with certain utilities like the Extreme Tuning Utility by Intel and MSI Afterburner for your GPU. Just be careful, while everything is made very secure to prevent you from frying your hardware, there is still some chance for you to do so and it is needless to say that this is not covered by any warranty.
Sadly, though, the speakers of this unit sound shallow and are definitely not the loudest out there. You would definitely need headphones or a dedicated speaker set.
MSI GS75 Stealth’s IPS panel (AUO B173HAN05.0 (AUO509D)) has a Full HD resolution, high contrast ratio, comfortable viewing angles and covers practically the entire (99%) sRGB color gamut. Additionally, its backlight doesn’t use PWM for brightness adjustment. What is more impressive about it, however, is that the color accuracy of this unit is amazing. Especially, when our Gaming and Web design profile is applied. Then, the Average dE has a value of 0.7 and the maximum dE is only 1.2! Let’s also not forget the 240 Hz refresh rate and super quick reaction times, which are both mouthwatering stats for gamers.
As usual, a 240 Hz 17-inch display needs a power plant to power it up. More interestingly, the 80Wh is actually able to provide quite a decent battery life – 8 hours and 11 minutes in both Web browsing and video playback.
When we add the crazy amount of M.2 SSDs it has (3), this laptop becomes one very interesting prospect. Sure, the price tag is premium but in this case, you definitely get what you pay for. All of the customization options in the Dragon Center, including the Steelseries software for per-key RGB backlight adjustment are awesome. Additionally, the keyboard and touchpad are great. If it only ran quieter, cooler and was easier to upgrade, it would be the perfect device.
Even though it is not perfect, the MSI GS75 Stealth definitely deserves our Editor’s choice award. If you want to check a similar package, take a look at the ASUS ROG Zephyrus S GX701.
Pros
- Decent battery life for a 17-inch laptop with 240 Hz display
- Satisfactory keyboard design
- Blazingly fast 240Hz display (AUO509D)
- Good color coverage – 99% of sRGB (240 Hz variant (AUO509D))
- Doesn’t use PWM to adjust brightness (240 Hz variant (AUO509D))
- Our Gaming and Web design profile makes it one of the most color-accurate laptops out there (240 Hz variant (AUO509D))
- Supports RAID 0, has 3 M.2 SSD slots, a MicroSD card reader and supports Thunderbolt 3
- Seamless work thanks to the responsive touchpad, fast SSD and high refresh rate screen
- Thin and light aluminum design
Cons
- Runs really hot
- Not the best speakers out there
- Get’s pretty loud under pressure
You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/msi-gs75-stealth/
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