{"video_id":"AX5BAUL3R48","title":"This laptop is the ultimate insult - MSI Crosshair 18 HX AI A2XWX","channel":"ShortCircuit","show":"ShortCircuit","published_at":"2025-10-06T14:58:16Z","duration_s":596,"segments":[{"start_s":0.08,"end_s":7.919,"text":"I realize that you can't trademark a term as generic as crosshair in the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":5.359,"end_s":13.2,"text":"context of video gaming, but it's still a pretty big FU for MSI to take their","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":11.2,"end_s":18.32,"text":"competitor's brand for their topsp spec AMD products and put it on an Intel","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":16.4,"end_s":21.76,"text":"laptop. But that's exactly what they did. and they sponsored this video where","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":20.4,"end_s":28.4,"text":"we're going to be checking out the Crosshair 18 HX AI A2XW, which is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":25.92,"end_s":33.92,"text":"fortunately the only time that I'm going to have to say the full product name.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":30.88,"end_s":36.32,"text":"Oh, that's nice. I actually like that","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":33.92,"end_s":41.76,"text":"business in the front, party in the front. It's an 18-in laptop that puts","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":39.12,"end_s":46.879,"text":"both productivity and performance at the forefront without completely breaking","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":44.399,"end_s":52.879,"text":"the bank. For its CPU, it's got a Core Ultra 9275HX.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":49.6,"end_s":55.199,"text":"That's 24 cores that MSI claims gives it","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":52.879,"end_s":63.84,"text":"20% better performance over last gen. And on the GPU side, an RTX 5060 or RTX","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":59.52,"end_s":66.799,"text":"5070 with a total of 170 watts shared","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":63.84,"end_s":71.36,"text":"between those two main components. And man, I got to say, charger bricks have","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":69.52,"end_s":76.32,"text":"gotten so much more reasonable over the last couple years. This is a 240 W","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":73.76,"end_s":81.04,"text":"brick. And you don't even have to use it. It can do up to 100 Ws of charging","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":78.88,"end_s":85.119,"text":"with the Thunderbolt 4 port that's over on the left hand side. Since we're","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":82.799,"end_s":90.159,"text":"talking IO, we've got a type A over here as well as a Kensington lock. Lots of","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":88.159,"end_s":95.92,"text":"ventilation as we make our way around the device. HDMI 2.1 in the back for up","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":93.6,"end_s":100.72,"text":"to 8K 60 Hz output along with gigabit Ethernet. Another type A and our barrel","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":98.24,"end_s":104.72,"text":"jack connector. And finally, over on the right, we've got another type A, as well","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":102.799,"end_s":109.68,"text":"as, yes, more ventilation and a headphone microphone jack. Pretty good","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":106.96,"end_s":112.88,"text":"overall mix of IO. But man, am I the only one who couldn't focus on it with","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":111.119,"end_s":116.24,"text":"all that beautiful copper? Why don't we open this up and have a look, shall we?","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":114.479,"end_s":122.64,"text":"MSI is pretty proud of this cooling solution. So, I have","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":119.68,"end_s":127.04,"text":"going to say high expectations, but good lord. They say depending on the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":124.56,"end_s":132.4,"text":"configuration, you get up to six heat pipes, which kind of hard to keep track","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":128.879,"end_s":139.28,"text":"of which ones are which. We got one,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":132.4,"end_s":143.12,"text":"two, three. Crap, I lost track. Four,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":139.28,"end_s":144.959,"text":"five, six. Okay. We've also got, since","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":143.12,"end_s":151.04,"text":"we're in here, a couple of spots for SSDs. One Gen 5, one Gen 4 with a Gen 4","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":148.959,"end_s":155.519,"text":"pre-installed. And we've got, that's right, my friends, upgradeable. sodom","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":153.68,"end_s":162.879,"text":"memory that I'm going to be able to get at somehow. Ah, yes, my bitter foe EMI","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":160.4,"end_s":168.48,"text":"shield. Those slots are populated with 32 gigs of DDR5 5600 by default. In the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":166.72,"end_s":172.64,"text":"wireless slot, we've got an Intel Wi-Fi 6E module that could be upgraded in the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":170.8,"end_s":178.319,"text":"future. I love to see these in a modular slot. And an 88.24Wh","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":175.68,"end_s":183.36,"text":"hour battery that MSI claims gives decent battery life. and we found gives","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":181.04,"end_s":188.319,"text":"decent battery life. In our longevity test, we got about 7 hours, which sure","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":186.48,"end_s":192.319,"text":"is not the most impressive if we were comparing it to, you know, thin and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":189.84,"end_s":195.92,"text":"lights, but for a gaming laptop, actually not that bad, especially","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":194.0,"end_s":200.72,"text":"considering they're powering such a big screen. Not much else of note here. So,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":198.159,"end_s":206.4,"text":"why don't I mention the NPU on Intel's latest Core Ultra processors. It's great","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":202.8,"end_s":208.72,"text":"for doing AI stuff. There. Is that all I","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":206.4,"end_s":212.72,"text":"have to say about that? Nice. I mentioned it. Now, let's talk about the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":211.36,"end_s":219.36,"text":"things that I care about. We'll get this flipped over and have a look at the keyboard. Like most larger laptops, you","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":217.04,"end_s":223.44,"text":"get a number pad. Although, I do have to say, while this could be controversial","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":220.959,"end_s":227.36,"text":"for the more accounting oriented types, I like the smaller number pad because","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":225.36,"end_s":233.04,"text":"when you've got a big full width number pad, it kind of shifts your hands over","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":229.84,"end_s":234.959,"text":"so you're always sitting misaligned. I'm","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":233.04,"end_s":238.72,"text":"not a big fan of that. This seems like a reasonable compromise to me. Here, we","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":236.879,"end_s":244.4,"text":"can go ahead and fire this up. MSI boasts 1.7 mm of key travel, which might","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":242.239,"end_s":251.68,"text":"be a little bit more impressive if their chassis wasn't on the uh girthier side,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":248.239,"end_s":254.159,"text":"but still feels very satisfying compared","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":251.68,"end_s":260.959,"text":"to an extremely short key travel. Transparent WD keys, and they boast 24","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":258.0,"end_s":264.8,"text":"zones of RGB backlighting. I do question a little bit. by the time you do 24","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":262.8,"end_s":268.639,"text":"zones, why didn't you go all the way and do individual per key backlighting? But","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":267.04,"end_s":272.639,"text":"in the interest of delivering a more bang for the buck product, I can see why","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":270.479,"end_s":278.479,"text":"they might compromise there rather than on the flexibility of the chassis, which","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":275.52,"end_s":281.479,"text":"for a plastic case actually is not that bad.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":281.6,"end_s":287.52,"text":"Can you see it flexing? >> Just a little bit. >> Yeah. Like I'm really reefing on it","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":285.919,"end_s":291.84,"text":"here. And it's the same thing for the keyboard. Like I can I can get it to go","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":290.24,"end_s":296.479,"text":"down a little bit, but that's a very stiff deck.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":294.4,"end_s":301.52,"text":"Really good. I can find a couple spots on the trackpad where I can get it to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":299.919,"end_s":305.6,"text":"kind of resonate a little bit, but overall pretty good there as well. It's","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":303.759,"end_s":312.24,"text":"the screen that's going to grab your attention though. 2560x600","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":309.199,"end_s":314.88,"text":"240 Hz refresh rate. If you go back a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":312.24,"end_s":319.6,"text":"few years, this is basically what I was asking every laptop manufacturer to put","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":317.28,"end_s":324.08,"text":"on their devices. And it really is an outstanding balance between clarity,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":321.919,"end_s":329.039,"text":"ease of driving, and cost. And when I say ease of driving, I mean in terms of","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":326.32,"end_s":334.8,"text":"how powerful a GPU you need. Obviously, a RTX 570 mobile is no slouch, as we saw","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":332.56,"end_s":340.56,"text":"in our game testing where we got over 80 frames pers in Cyberpunk 2077 at medium","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":338.4,"end_s":345.84,"text":"details at native resolution of our panel, but it's still only 80 FPS. So,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":343.68,"end_s":349.68,"text":"if we were trying to drive a 4K panel at native resolution, well, we'd either","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":347.68,"end_s":353.199,"text":"have to turn down our details, or we'd have to give up some animation","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":351.12,"end_s":356.639,"text":"smoothness, which personally, I don't see why when you're spending this kind","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":354.639,"end_s":361.759,"text":"of money, even if it is a more bang for the buck model, you should have to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":358.4,"end_s":365.12,"text":"compromise. 1600p, it's a good place to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":361.759,"end_s":367.12,"text":"be. All right, we're fired up. Now, just","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":365.12,"end_s":371.44,"text":"quick note, I could see someone looking at the positioning of all the various","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":368.96,"end_s":374.4,"text":"USBA ports on this and going, \"MSI, make up your mind.\" But I actually love that","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":373.36,"end_s":380.479,"text":"because depending on what you're plugging in, if you have something that has like a longer housing on it, for","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":378.24,"end_s":384.4,"text":"instance, you might not want to plug in your, you know, dongle on the right side","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":383.199,"end_s":389.199,"text":"cuz it could interfere with your mouse movement. I really like having the option to put it on any side that I","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":387.6,"end_s":394.639,"text":"want. There are laptops that have modular IO, investment disclosure, but","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":392.72,"end_s":398.96,"text":"this is not one of them. Coming back to the screen for a second, MSI doesn't","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":396.88,"end_s":403.199,"text":"make any claims with respect to the brightness, which is kind of a surprise","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":401.12,"end_s":409.039,"text":"to me because when Labs measured it, they got over 550 nits peak brightness","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":406.96,"end_s":412.88,"text":"on this display. It looks kind of freaking awesome. About as good as you","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":411.28,"end_s":417.84,"text":"can get without stepping up to something with HDR, so local dimming or OLED. But","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":416.319,"end_s":422.479,"text":"again, that would drive the price up quite a lot. One thing MSI does claim is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":420.16,"end_s":426.24,"text":"100% coverage of the DCIP3 color space. So, you can expect your colors to pop. I","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":424.479,"end_s":429.599,"text":"still got to actually play this game. Probably I'll play with headphones if","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":427.759,"end_s":433.28,"text":"I'm using this laptop, though. In the high power profile, she does get a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":431.919,"end_s":436.72,"text":"little bit on the noisier side. But the good news is that MSI includes their","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":434.96,"end_s":441.56,"text":"control center software, which allows you to fine-tune aspects like","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":441.759,"end_s":449.12,"text":"how loud the fans are. Look at that. Now, we're in extra turbo mode. Man,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":447.039,"end_s":452.639,"text":"that's a lot of CPU cores. She responsive even with a game running in","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":451.039,"end_s":459.28,"text":"the background. I must be running at lower details than when we did our benchmarking. I'm getting like over 100","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":456.88,"end_s":465.199,"text":"FPS in my 1% lows. I thought that felt really smooth. What are we running at","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":460.96,"end_s":467.919,"text":"here? Oh yeah. Okay. So, we are using","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":465.199,"end_s":472.96,"text":"DLSS super resolution because it uses an NVIDIA GPU. The crosshair is of course","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":470.479,"end_s":478.879,"text":"packed with NVIDIA features. So, the reason it looked so smooth but felt a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":476.08,"end_s":482.319,"text":"little bit not as responsive, that's because we're using DLSS frame","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":480.319,"end_s":487.599,"text":"generation right now. We can also use DLSS AI assists to increase the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":484.479,"end_s":489.36,"text":"perceived resolution, or we can turn the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":487.599,"end_s":492.879,"text":"whole thing off. They have a potential solution to the input lag that is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":490.96,"end_s":499.36,"text":"inherent to these frame generation technologies, reflex 2, but as much as","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":496.319,"end_s":501.199,"text":"NVIDIA is marketing it, we haven't","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":499.36,"end_s":505.199,"text":"actually seen it in action yet. So, it remains to be seen how good it's going","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":503.039,"end_s":509.84,"text":"to be. The good news is that you can absolutely enjoy this game without any","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":507.599,"end_s":513.36,"text":"upscaling should you desire. That's what I'm running right now on medium settings","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":511.44,"end_s":517.599,"text":"with no rate tracing. It's worth noting while we're in here that MSI claims this","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":514.959,"end_s":522.08,"text":"is one of the most powerful RTX 5070 laptops thanks to their dynamic boost","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":519.519,"end_s":525.56,"text":"2.0. Enough gaming for now. Why don't we check out the speakers?","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":528.16,"end_s":533.839,"text":"Not the loudest laptop speakers I've ever heard. Clarity is a strong point,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":532.399,"end_s":538.16,"text":"though, and it's got a decent amount of rumble. No dedicated subwoofer, though,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":536.16,"end_s":541.76,"text":"so that's going to hurt it a little bit. I'm also probably not evaluating it","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":540.08,"end_s":546.16,"text":"totally fairly right now, too, because we're on a soft surface and it has","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":543.68,"end_s":550.24,"text":"downward firing speakers. So, let's go ahead and move this back.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":548.72,"end_s":554.72,"text":"Yeah, that helps a little because it relies on reflections from the surface","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":552.08,"end_s":560.24,"text":"under it. But no, they're not the strongest performing speakers out there.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":557.36,"end_s":564.32,"text":"adequate, which leaves the webcam. It does have a dedicated switch for hiding","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":562.08,"end_s":568.0,"text":"it. Love to see that integrated. As usual, we recognize that this is a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":566.08,"end_s":573.279,"text":"relatively challenging scenario with this backlight directly behind me. But","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":571.12,"end_s":578.64,"text":"if all you really want is to be able to join video conference calls, this will","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":575.6,"end_s":580.32,"text":"certainly do the ticket. And this could","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":578.64,"end_s":585.36,"text":"be your ticket to a well-rounded gaming productivity laptop that with the RTX","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":582.399,"end_s":590.32,"text":"570 is going to cost around $1,700 at the time of filming. Now, finally, you","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":587.6,"end_s":594.72,"text":"should stamp your ticket to more ShortCircuit videos like this one by hitting","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":591.839,"end_s":594.72,"text":"the subscribe button.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0}],"full_text":"I realize that you can't trademark a term as generic as crosshair in the context of video gaming, but it's still a pretty big FU for MSI to take their competitor's brand for their topsp spec AMD products and put it on an Intel laptop. But that's exactly what they did. and they sponsored this video where we're going to be checking out the Crosshair 18 HX AI A2XW, which is fortunately the only time that I'm going to have to say the full product name. Oh, that's nice. I actually like that business in the front, party in the front. It's an 18-in laptop that puts both productivity and performance at the forefront without completely breaking the bank. For its CPU, it's got a Core Ultra 9275HX. That's 24 cores that MSI claims gives it 20% better performance over last gen. And on the GPU side, an RTX 5060 or RTX 5070 with a total of 170 watts shared between those two main components. And man, I got to say, charger bricks have gotten so much more reasonable over the last couple years. This is a 240 W brick. And you don't even have to use it. It can do up to 100 Ws of charging with the Thunderbolt 4 port that's over on the left hand side. Since we're talking IO, we've got a type A over here as well as a Kensington lock. Lots of ventilation as we make our way around the device. HDMI 2.1 in the back for up to 8K 60 Hz output along with gigabit Ethernet. Another type A and our barrel jack connector. And finally, over on the right, we've got another type A, as well as, yes, more ventilation and a headphone microphone jack. Pretty good overall mix of IO. But man, am I the only one who couldn't focus on it with all that beautiful copper? Why don't we open this up and have a look, shall we? MSI is pretty proud of this cooling solution. So, I have going to say high expectations, but good lord. They say depending on the configuration, you get up to six heat pipes, which kind of hard to keep track of which ones are which. We got one, two, three. Crap, I lost track. Four, five, six. Okay. We've also got, since we're in here, a couple of spots for SSDs. One Gen 5, one Gen 4 with a Gen 4 pre-installed. And we've got, that's right, my friends, upgradeable. sodom memory that I'm going to be able to get at somehow. Ah, yes, my bitter foe EMI shield. Those slots are populated with 32 gigs of DDR5 5600 by default. In the wireless slot, we've got an Intel Wi-Fi 6E module that could be upgraded in the future. I love to see these in a modular slot. And an 88.24Wh hour battery that MSI claims gives decent battery life. and we found gives decent battery life. In our longevity test, we got about 7 hours, which sure is not the most impressive if we were comparing it to, you know, thin and lights, but for a gaming laptop, actually not that bad, especially considering they're powering such a big screen. Not much else of note here. So, why don't I mention the NPU on Intel's latest Core Ultra processors. It's great for doing AI stuff. There. Is that all I have to say about that? Nice. I mentioned it. Now, let's talk about the things that I care about. We'll get this flipped over and have a look at the keyboard. Like most larger laptops, you get a number pad. Although, I do have to say, while this could be controversial for the more accounting oriented types, I like the smaller number pad because when you've got a big full width number pad, it kind of shifts your hands over so you're always sitting misaligned. I'm not a big fan of that. This seems like a reasonable compromise to me. Here, we can go ahead and fire this up. MSI boasts 1.7 mm of key travel, which might be a little bit more impressive if their chassis wasn't on the uh girthier side, but still feels very satisfying compared to an extremely short key travel. Transparent WD keys, and they boast 24 zones of RGB backlighting. I do question a little bit. by the time you do 24 zones, why didn't you go all the way and do individual per key backlighting? But in the interest of delivering a more bang for the buck product, I can see why they might compromise there rather than on the flexibility of the chassis, which for a plastic case actually is not that bad. Can you see it flexing? >> Just a little bit. >> Yeah. Like I'm really reefing on it here. And it's the same thing for the keyboard. Like I can I can get it to go down a little bit, but that's a very stiff deck. Really good. I can find a couple spots on the trackpad where I can get it to kind of resonate a little bit, but overall pretty good there as well. It's the screen that's going to grab your attention though. 2560x600 240 Hz refresh rate. If you go back a few years, this is basically what I was asking every laptop manufacturer to put on their devices. And it really is an outstanding balance between clarity, ease of driving, and cost. And when I say ease of driving, I mean in terms of how powerful a GPU you need. Obviously, a RTX 570 mobile is no slouch, as we saw in our game testing where we got over 80 frames pers in Cyberpunk 2077 at medium details at native resolution of our panel, but it's still only 80 FPS. So, if we were trying to drive a 4K panel at native resolution, well, we'd either have to turn down our details, or we'd have to give up some animation smoothness, which personally, I don't see why when you're spending this kind of money, even if it is a more bang for the buck model, you should have to compromise. 1600p, it's a good place to be. All right, we're fired up. Now, just quick note, I could see someone looking at the positioning of all the various USBA ports on this and going, \"MSI, make up your mind.\" But I actually love that because depending on what you're plugging in, if you have something that has like a longer housing on it, for instance, you might not want to plug in your, you know, dongle on the right side cuz it could interfere with your mouse movement. I really like having the option to put it on any side that I want. There are laptops that have modular IO, investment disclosure, but this is not one of them. Coming back to the screen for a second, MSI doesn't make any claims with respect to the brightness, which is kind of a surprise to me because when Labs measured it, they got over 550 nits peak brightness on this display. It looks kind of freaking awesome. About as good as you can get without stepping up to something with HDR, so local dimming or OLED. But again, that would drive the price up quite a lot. One thing MSI does claim is 100% coverage of the DCIP3 color space. So, you can expect your colors to pop. I still got to actually play this game. Probably I'll play with headphones if I'm using this laptop, though. In the high power profile, she does get a little bit on the noisier side. But the good news is that MSI includes their control center software, which allows you to fine-tune aspects like how loud the fans are. Look at that. Now, we're in extra turbo mode. Man, that's a lot of CPU cores. She responsive even with a game running in the background. I must be running at lower details than when we did our benchmarking. I'm getting like over 100 FPS in my 1% lows. I thought that felt really smooth. What are we running at here? Oh yeah. Okay. So, we are using DLSS super resolution because it uses an NVIDIA GPU. The crosshair is of course packed with NVIDIA features. So, the reason it looked so smooth but felt a little bit not as responsive, that's because we're using DLSS frame generation right now. We can also use DLSS AI assists to increase the perceived resolution, or we can turn the whole thing off. They have a potential solution to the input lag that is inherent to these frame generation technologies, reflex 2, but as much as NVIDIA is marketing it, we haven't actually seen it in action yet. So, it remains to be seen how good it's going to be. The good news is that you can absolutely enjoy this game without any upscaling should you desire. That's what I'm running right now on medium settings with no rate tracing. It's worth noting while we're in here that MSI claims this is one of the most powerful RTX 5070 laptops thanks to their dynamic boost 2.0. Enough gaming for now. Why don't we check out the speakers? Not the loudest laptop speakers I've ever heard. Clarity is a strong point, though, and it's got a decent amount of rumble. No dedicated subwoofer, though, so that's going to hurt it a little bit. I'm also probably not evaluating it totally fairly right now, too, because we're on a soft surface and it has downward firing speakers. So, let's go ahead and move this back. Yeah, that helps a little because it relies on reflections from the surface under it. But no, they're not the strongest performing speakers out there. adequate, which leaves the webcam. It does have a dedicated switch for hiding it. Love to see that integrated. As usual, we recognize that this is a relatively challenging scenario with this backlight directly behind me. But if all you really want is to be able to join video conference calls, this will certainly do the ticket. And this could be your ticket to a well-rounded gaming productivity laptop that with the RTX 570 is going to cost around $1,700 at the time of filming. Now, finally, you should stamp your ticket to more ShortCircuit videos like this one by hitting the subscribe button."}