MSI GT77 Titan: two minute review
Gaming laptops have evolved at an alarming rate and none promises to be the pinnacle of that evolution more than the MSI GT77 Titan. Truly a colossal machine in terms of specs, price, and size, this gaming laptop looks like a PC gamer's dream. The GT77 Titan has a lot of potential, but with the weight of the laptop and the ridiculously loud noise it makes, I find it hard to recommend it.
This titanic laptop measures 17.3 inches and is powered by the Intel RTX 3080 Ti and i9-12900HX processor, the most powerful laptop CPU and GPU on the market today. It is not cheap; the GT77 Titan costs around €4,800 (around £4,200, AU$7,000), which is a lot of money, especially considering this laptop's substantial drawbacks. While some users may want the newer, more powerful kit, I can't say it's worth it when you can find similar processing power in cheaper, lighter models.
Simply put, the MSI GT77 Titan is not the most portable laptop ever. I carried this machine home from the office in a backpack and I can confirm that you will feel the weight of this 7.2 pound machine if you try to carry it around. The 330-watt power supply makes matters worse and decreases portability even further, unless you have a large, durable laptop bag to carry it with you.
That said, there's a lot to praise about this gaming laptop: the 4K screen is impressive, along with the vibrant RGB lights on the keyboard and the back of the machine. These LEDs are combined with Cherry MX Ultra Low Profile mechanical key switches that are a joy to type on and provide an extremely satisfying tactile experience.
MSI GT77 Titan: price and availability
- Priced at around €4,500
- Configurations vary by region
The availability of the MSI GT77 Titan is a bit uncertain at the moment, especially for the UK audience.
The test model sent to us by MSI, which has both the Core i9 and the RTX 3080 Ti, will not be the model available in the UK at the time of writing. Instead, MSI will offer a different model in the UK that will have a Core i7 and an RTX 3080 Ti. This model will retail for €3899 (about £4500, AU$6700) and will be available in November.
The MSI GT77 Titan is available to buy from the official website in select countries, so the rest of us not listed (UK, US, and Australia) will just have to wait for more details. available.
The price of the MSI GT77 is almost extremely expensive and costs much more than other laptops of the same or similar capacity. The Lenovo Legion 7 (Gen 6) laptop, for example, will give you the same performance and components for a third of the price of the Titan. Many good gaming laptops will sit and buzz in your lap for much less.
A figure like €3,899 begs the question, who is this laptop really for? It's by no means affordable and it's not entirely unique in its internal hardware, so there's not much to justify its cost other than the fact that you own such a beast.
Titan in name, titan in price.
- Price and availability: 2/5
MSI Titan GT77: Design
- Old school but stylish plastic chassis
- More than enough ports
- very satisfactory keyboard
Technical sheet
Here is the configuration of the MSI GT77 Titan sent to TechRadar for review:
Processor: Intel Core i9-12900HX Processor
Graphics: GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, 16GB GDDR6
RAM: DDR5 64 GB (32 GB x 2)
Screen: 17,3-inch, UHD, anti-glare, IPS level, 120 Hz
Storage: 2TB SSD
Ports: 2 Type-C (USB / DP / Thunderbolt™ 4), 3 USB Type-A 3.2 Gen2, 1 Mini-DisplayPort, 1 HDMI (8K@60Hz / 4K@120Hz), 1 SD Express Card Reader, 1 RJ45 :
Camera: Type IR HD (30fps@720p)
Weight: 3,3 kg
Size: 397x330x23mm
At first glance, the MSI GT77 Titan has a very retro-futuristic design and distinct gaming appearance. The 3-inch protrusion on the back of the laptop looks a bit strange at first, but with the Mystic Light RGB system, the keyboard and vents illuminate in different modes depending on the laptop's UI preferences. laptop, which can be edited with SteelSeries GG software, so you can have full control over the aesthetics of your laptop. Control RGB keyboards per key for a truly customizable experience.
The 4K 120Hz gaming display offers sharp image quality and works great with the games we tested the laptop with, and if you want to expand your workspace to up to four displays with the HDMI, Thunderbolt, and 4 mini ports Display.
The trackpad included with the MSI GT77 is easy to use and offers the same tactile satisfaction as the keyboard, it is quite large, making the user experience easier. You can zoom out of your open apps on the trackpad and group your notifications by "deskstops," which is helpful. For a laptop at this price point, you'll probably want to use it for work and play, and this feature allows you to separate those two categories.
The Cherry Switch mechanical keyboard is a highlight of this laptop and is unique to this model. The click and pop you get when typing is almost like a desktop keyboard, which bolsters my argument that this beast is a great desktop replacement laptop.
I would also like to highlight the biometric fingerprint reader and facial recognition webcam for easy login. It's a pretty nifty security feature that suggests versatility in its design so it could be used in broader contexts outside of gaming and is useful for quick and easy access.
All in all, I think the MSI GT77 Titan is an aesthetically pleasing laptop that can stand out from other gaming laptops that have the same clunky design and RGB settings without falling into the realm of weird or boring. . It has a very distinctive look that enthusiasts would love, but again, all of that is offset by its weight. It would make a great desktop replacement if you're happy to put down the cash for it.
MSI GT77 Titan: Performance
- Impressive in-game benchmark scores
- The cooling system works quite strong.
References
Here's how the MSI GT77 Titan fared in our benchmark test suite:
3DMark Night Raid: 35 636 Fire Strike: 28 857 Time Spy: 14 072
Cinebench R20 multicore: 21.747
GeekBench 5: 1856 (single core); 7933 (multicore)
PCMark 10 (Modern Desktop): N/A
PCMark 10 (battery life test): 3 hours 3 minutes
TechRadar battery life test (movie test): 3 hours and 30 minutes
Total War: Warhammer III (1080p, Ultra): 99fps; (1080p, low): 282fps
Cyberpunk 2077 (1080p, Ultra): 129fps; (1080p, low): 151fps
There is no doubt that the MSI GT77 is one of the most powerful gaming laptops on the market today. It ran big games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Spider-man: Remastered like a dream, and the fps of both games were very impressive. Ray Tracing reduced fps a lot in Cyberpunk, but not enough to spoil the gaming experience.
The RTX 3080 Ti at the heart of this laptop performs as you'd expect, paired with the 9th Gen Intel Core i12900 12HX processor. Like I said, this is a behemoth of a gaming laptop and the Titan has the specs to prove it. The choice of RTX 3080 Ti and Intel i9 components seems to suit a laptop of this size and they work well together to run even the most graphically demanding games. Ray tracing looked particularly beautiful in Cyberpunk, especially when DLSS is there to help.
DLSS, or Deep Learning Super Sampling, uses AI to render your games at a lower native resolution and increase your screen resolution. Basically this gives you higher resolution images at the lower resolution frame rate. We were able to see this effect in Cyberpunk when DLSS was enabled, and the game ran fine. Along with the lush display, this combines to create a truly immersive gaming experience.
The Cyberpunk 2077 benchmark managed an impressive 150fps on low settings without DLSS and an average of 128fps on ultra-high performance, which is pretty incredible. The colors on the screen are very bright and clear, and it's really nice to see the RGB lighting built into the chassis and keyboard light up with the screen. The fact that the lights glow depending on what's on the screen adds to the immersion factor and is a unique use of RGB lights. The GPU can certainly be pushed to higher numbers if desired, although the gaming experience already feels top notch at this configuration. We were disappointed with how the laptop handled Stray, which was odd since no in-game settings had been changed, but it performed particularly poorly.
We had trouble getting some of our benchmarks to work on the GT77 Titan, even after trying to run the test or game multiple times. Dirt 5 kept producing very strange numbers when we ran the benchmarks, and we had to double and triple check that everything was set up correctly (we did) and it still produced strange results. PCMark 10 Home didn't even work and turned itself off.
The Titan cooling system kicks in quite frequently and quite strongly, even during general laptop use, which can be a bit distracting while gaming. Although expected for a gaming laptop, it is exceptionally loud. The cooling system works using the PC's four fans, seven pipes, and six built-in exhausts, which would be overkill on any other laptop, but it seems fine with the GT77 Titan.
Although the fans can feel like they're taking off, the laptop doesn't get as hot as expected during gaming, and the cooling system can be put on silent mode if the need arises (and it's often the case). The cooling system does not discriminate and will try to keep your laptop cool even if all you have done is open the web browser.
Often when we tested and used the MSI GT77, the fans turned off as soon as we turned it on, or when doing very simple tasks like opening Steam or setting up the laptop. It is enough...