MSI Thin GF63 (12Vx) review – good budget gaming laptop with some flaws
Verdict
Is the MSI Thin GF63 (12V) a true budget gaming laptop? The answer is yes but there are some compromises in the mix which is expected. The build quality is adequate, the lid (that can’t be opened with a single hand) and the top side of the base are made of brushed aluminum. The backlit keyboard is quiet during typing or gaming and has large keycaps. On the other hand, the touchpad is smooth but the unit is moving during usage and it makes loud click sounds – that’s not good.
The gaming performance of the machine is normal for the hardware. You can play Assassin’s Creed Valhalla on 1080p with 66FPS on Ultra or Far Cry 6 with maxed-out visual quality with 71FPS – not bad. The notebook that we bought has just one stick of 16GB DDR4 memory which is hindering the overall performance by some degree. As always, a memory in dual-channel mode is a better choice.
The cooling solution isn’t massive and it has just one fan. In longer periods of 100% CPU stress, the Core i7-12650H can maintain ~2.30GHz for both P and E cores and 55W limit. That’s enough for normal daily usage and playing games with bumped visuals. The mobile GeForce RTX 4060 can sustain a stable TGP of 45W and 1729MHz core clock after 30 minutes of non-stop gaming which is an expected result for such a modest power limit. Oh, yes, and the keyboard will not burn your fingers during gaming because the WASD section and the palm rest areas are cool enough for comfortable usage. The noise levels under heavy load are average.
The battery life isn’t something unseen but it’s not bad either. More than 6 hours of Web browsing or video playback sounds good for a battery with a 52.4Wh capacity paired with an H-series processor. The 1080p IPS display (AUO B156HAN15.1 (AUOD0A2)) has a 144Hz refresh rate and it’s also PWM-free which is nice if you plan to use the laptop for long hours of gaming. The sRGB coverage is low but that’s normal for an inexpensive notebook that isn’t meant for content creation.
The upgrade options include two SODIMM slots for up to 64GB of DDR4-3200MHz memory, one M.2 slot for Gen 4 SSDs, and a SATA slot. Alright, that’s more than acceptable but note that the upgrade process is a bit complicated and the battery is glued to the chassis. The laptop has a decent amount of ports but all of them are rated at 5GBps which sounds a bit outdated in 2023.
The MSI Thin GF63 (12V) is a good budget offer. It has a 144Hz PWM-free display and a quiet backlit keyboard. Its performance is enough for playing games on 1080p with greatly increased visual quality.
You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/msi-thin-gf63-12vx/
Pros
- Decent gaming performance
- 1x M.2 PCIe x4 Gen 4 slot, 1x SATA slot, and 2x DDR5 RAM SODIMM slots in dual channel
- 144Hz refresh rate (AUO B156HAN15.1 (AUOD0A2))
- No PWM (AUO B156HAN15.1 (AUOD0A2))
- Good and quiet keyboard
- Adequate build quality
Cons
- No SD card and No Thunderbolt 4
- All ports are rated at 5GBps
- Covers only 54% of sRGB (AUO B156HAN15.1 (AUOD0A2))
- The touchpad quality is questionable
- The fan has a weird temperature hysteresis in idle
- The removal of the bottom plate is complicated
- The battery is glued to the base
Author: Nikolay Palaozov
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Slaby ten laptop. Malo wydajny i makabrycznie się przegrzewa. Przy przegladaniu neta 95 stopni. Juz raz odsylalem i nadal potrafi sie grzac. Odradzam. Aha ta karta graficzna rowniez za slaba do gier
Did you get a replacement for it? Because we’ve tested it under much heavier scenarios than web surfing, and it worked at 79°C for the CPU and 70°C for the GPU. Check this out: Temperatures and comfort Your unit could have been a faulty one? The GF63 has a lot of flaws, as we’ve stated in the Conclusion and Pros/Cons section. But 95°C while just surfing definitely shouldn’t happen. —— Czy otrzymałeś już zamiennik? Testowaliśmy go w znacznie cięższych warunkach niż przeglądanie internetu, i pracował przy 79°C dla CPU i 70°C dla GPU. Sprawdź to: Temperatures and comfort Czy twój… Read more »
Hey, I had the same overheating issue, the laptop would go sometimes even over 95° just by browsing the internet. Playing games would also be bad, becouse the laptop would overheat quickly and becouse of that, the game would run really poorly. The only thing that is helping me is a cooling pad which i bought for couple of bucks. Overall i think the laptop is ok, its not that expensive (well not sure if it is still, becouse i bought it some time ago), and it can run most games on the highest graphics+60 fps. The only thing that’s… Read more »