MSI Vector GP76 12UGS review: Gaming laptop on speed

Fortunately, some of the ports are located at the back of the device so that the corresponding cables are not visible. A mini DisplayPort with Adaptive Sync is present, along with an HDMI output (4K @120Hz), 2.5-GBit LAN and the proprietary power connector.

On the left side is a Kensington lock, 1x USB-A 3.2 Gen1 (5 GBit/s), 1x USB-C 3.2 Gen2 (10 GBit/s) with DisplayPort functionality. However, Power Delivery and Thunderbolt are lacking. Mobile gaming in the absence of an 800-gram power supply therefore cannot be guranteed. A stronger, external graphics card cannot be used either.

Otherwise, there is a jack connection and two more USB A 3.2 Gen1 ports on the right side of the notebook. There is no SD card reader or fingerprint reader. With an external hard drive, we achieved transfer rates of around 1 GB/s on the fastest port (USB-C at 10GBIt/s), which roughly maxes out the port. The external SSD (USB 3.2 Gen 2×2) achieves twice the transfer rate on a Thunderbolt port.

The webcam, which has a resolution of 1280×720, offers substandard quality. 1080p is to yet reach the Vector series, even in 2022. IR, Windows Hello and a mechanical shutter are also missing.

The SteelSeries keyboard, which hasn’t changed for generations, offers somewhat smaller but grippy keys with a moderate pressure point and medium travel.

Longer texts can be written without any problems, even if the stroke is a little soft. There are a few things to note about the layout: Like most other keys, the arrow keys are 15x15mm in size, but the Enter key is divided and the right Shift, number block and F keys are smaller. The keyboard thus corresponds to that of the US market with adapted DE labelling. Some function keys also have dual functions.

One advantage is the low noise level. Thanks to anti-ghosting, up to 10 keystrokes are possible at the same time and individual key backlighting can be configured using the “SteelSeries Engine 3” software.

The touchpad measures 10.5 x 6.5cm and is thus not the largest, but the gliding quality is very good and works very accurately. However, the integrated click buttons only function with a lot of pressure and do not offer optimal feedback. That said, there are much worse clickpads on the market.

The matte, 17.3-inch IPS display in 16:9 format offers a mediocre brightness of 264 cd/m², which proves to be sufficient for indoor use. The 1920×1080 (Full HD) resolution is the only one MSI offers in the Vector series and is sufficiently sharp as long as you don’t stick your nose to the display. Images are also very sharp and clear, reinforced by good subpixel quality.

The contrast of 1,096:1 is acceptable, and the good black value of 0.25 results in a rich black. While the comparison field is generally on a similar level, the smaller Vector GP66 (together with its own predecessor) is even brighter at 324 cd/m². However, the Legion 5 Pro and Zephyrus M16 outshine the competition at just under 500 cd/m² and are thus also suitable for outdoor use.

In terms of response times, nothing can compete with the GP76: In addition to the super-fast refresh rate of 360 Hz, a gray to gray signal takes only 4ms and black to white is still a very good 8ms. The competition lies between 15 and 27 ms for gray to gray. Overall, the panel corresponds to the high-end specifications appropriate for gaming. The predecessor uses a 144 Hz panel.

However, there is no internal G-Sync. Adaptive Sync is supported on an external monitor via DisplayPort. PWM flickering was not detected.

The Core i7-12700H is about twice as fast as its predecessor under sustained load and is not inferior to the Core i9-12900H. Only Lenovo’s Legion 5 Pro is faster, since it does not have a TDP lock and can consume 127 watts continuously. The Core i7 in the Vector GP76, on the other hand, is downregulated from 100 watts to 45 watts after a short time, which the Cinebench R15 loop shows. Performance is thus reduced by 20%.

The clock frequency of the performance cores is a stable 3.7 GHz and temperatures are in cooler territory at around 74°C. In terms of pure processor load, the cooling system has plenty of room for improvement. In Extreme Performance mode, the CPU treats itself to 70 watts, which does not really improve results, at least not in Cinebench R15.

In battery mode, the CPU TDP, typical for laptops with a high combined TDP, is severely limited at 15 watts. Accordingly, the Intel processor’s performance drops by a whopping 40% (See CB15 screenshots). However, this is still 45% faster than the full performance of the predecessor, and if you look at the value under sustained load, the loss is only around 25%.

AMD’s 45-watt CPUs, such as the Ryzen 7 5800H in the Asus ROG Strix G17, are generally somewhat slower, but they hardly display any performance loss when running on battery power.

The 1 TB M.2 2280 NVMe SSD from Micron uses the latest PCIe4x4 standard, but this should been seen as a budget SSD that only achieves PCIe 3.0 speeds.

Nevertheless, two faster hard drives can be retrofitted and also in RAID (0,1) configuration. The comparison field offers faster SSDs but at least the predecessor is clearly surpassed.

MSI promises a 100 MHz higher boost clock of 1,585 MHz for the RTX 3070 Ti (8 GB VRAM). Overall, the GPU performs only around 5% slower than a mobile RTX 3080 and about 10% below a desktop RTX-3070. The thin Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 is even beaten by 80%.

In the mobile sector, there are practically no GPUs that are any more powerful. It should be noted that the results in Extreme mode are about 7% higher. Silent mode reduces the results by only 10%, while the fans are much quieter and you can even use the internal speakers when gaming. However, this increases surface temperatures.

In Battery mode, the TGP and thus the performance is greatly reduced: With a total allowed consumption of 50 watts (CPU: 15 W + GPU: 35 W), the result of 3DMark Time Spy is almost tripled and is therefore roughly on the level of a GTX 1650 Ti.

When idling, the MSI Vector GP76 is almost silent and since Silent mode does not restrict CPU performance, there is no overly annoying fan noise under appropriate load and no high-pitch frequencies can be heard.

When gaming in Extreme mode, however, it becomes quite loud to the point that it can be annoying. An external sound system or headphones would be appropriate here, or you can use Silent mode. But even in Balanced mode, the noise is much better with only very slight losses in performance.

At 2.3 GHz, the CPU only works 100 MHz below the base clock speed in the combined stress test (Prime95 + FurMark), while the smaller Vector GP66 only manages 1 GHz. The GPU can also perform at full clock speed in this extreme scenario. So throttling does not come into play, and no performance reduction can be seen in the 3D benchmark directly after the stress test.

The processor initially began at 131 watts, but this was quickly throttled down to 50 watts, which kept core temperatures very low. The temperatures of the Nvidia GPU can also be described as very inconspicuous, although it still consumes over 140 watts. Under pure CPU stress, it allows itself a constant 70 watts (extreme mode) and remains quite cool at 76°C.

The speakers are decent, even if Asus goes one better with its SCAR series. But they are certainly better than Gigabyte’s Aorus series.

Trebles and mids are reproduced very well, while bass is rudimentary. The maximum volume is good. You can’t get much more out of a stereo speaker system with 2x 2.5 watts.

For a gaming machine, the idle consumption of 15.6 watts is average to good, while the standby consumption of 0.5 watts is pleasing and promises a standby time of more than 5 days (usually much longer in practice).

Permanent maximum consumption under combined load and gaming lies just under 200 watts. In principle, a high value is good here, meaning that the GPU can consume a lot of power and thus work faster. Under pure CPU load, the value (according to HWInfo) should be between 50 and 80 watts, depending on the mode.

In Balanced and Silent mode, the consumption values are lower according to the table above (“Test Conditions”). A peak load of just under 320 watts only occurs very briefly at the beginning of the combined stress test and does not occur in everyday use. Overall, the 280 watt power supply unit is sufficiently sized.

The battery life has improved by 20% on average compared to the predecessor. The rest of the test field does not offer much more even with stronger batteries, apart from the slim Zephyrus M16.

Just over 5 hours were possible in our WLAN test at 150 cd/m² brightness in balanced Windows performance mode. The 65 Wh battery took almost 2.5 hours to be fully recharged. This is significantly longer than many other notebooks of any class.

The advantages are clear: The Vector GP76 is a real gamer with its 360 Hz display and super-fast response times. In addition, the Core i7-12700H has double the power of the CPU in its predecessor and another highlight is the Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti with a real power consumption of 150 watts. This places the device in the top range of our database.

The Vector can also operate rather quietly, offers a full sound range, improved battery runtimes, a key-configurable RGB keyboard, a very stable chassis and good upgrade options. Moreover, the display produces a nice, rich and clear picture, but could shine a little more brightly and offer higher resolutions as options.

The MSI Vector GP76 operates with speed on all levels: Display, CPU and a GPU with 150-watt TGP. Criticism only applies to minor areas such as the somewhat dark screen.

Furthermore, there is no Thunderbolt and no Power Delivery via USB-C. The power supply is heavy and bulky, and there is no SD card reader. The SSD is not the fastest on the market and performance is significantly reduced in battery mode. In addition, the price of currently US$ 2,649 is a little steep.

If you can live with these limitations, you get a very solid gaming machine. Alternatively, you can go for the Zephyrus M16 if compactness is more important to you than full performance, or the Legion 5 Pro for better value, a brighter screen, a better keyboard and the unleashed Core i9. The Asus ROG Strix G17 is also a good choice with the right configuration (QHD display + RTX 3070) because not only is it affordable and extremely robust, it is very quiet and cool thanks to AMD. It also has the best keyboard in its class.