Last updated on January 1st, 2021 at 10:09 am
In this article, we compare the Razer Blade 15 and MSI GS66. Two popular thin and light gaming laptops. And to be honest, it is a difficult choice between the two. Here’s what you need to know about the Razer Blade 15 vs MSI GS66 before pulling the trigger.
Overview
Razer Blade 15 | MSI GS65 | |
|---|---|---|
Design (5) | 4 | 5 |
Build Quality (5) | 5 | 3 |
Upgradeability (5) | 4 | 4 |
Display (5) | 4 (Full HD) | 4 (Full HD) |
Thermals (5) | 3 | 3 |
Performance (5) | 5 | 5 |
Battery Life (5) | 3 | 3 |
Total (35) | 28 | 27 |
Razer Blade 15 – Pros & Cons
Pros
Excellent Performance
Slim & Lightweight
Easy To Upgrade
Great Build Quality
Cons
Higher Configurations Are Pricey
4K Display Reduces Battery Life
Runs Hot
MSI GS66 – Pros & Cons
Pros
Excellent Performance
Slim & Lightweight
Beautiful Design
Cons
Runs Hot
- More power: The 10th Gen Intel Core i7-10750H processor provides the ultimate level of performance with up to 5.0 GHz max turbo and 6 cores.
- Ray-tracing: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is powered by the NVIDIA Turing GPU architecture and brings cinematic-quality rendering to the most...
- More frames: Incredible performance paired with the fast 144Hz 15. 6" full HD thin bezel display helps edge out the win.
- Thin and compact: The CNC aluminum unibody frame houses incredible performance in the most compact footprint possible, while remaining...
- Ready to connect: Fully loaded with Wi-Fi 6, Gigabit Ethernet, Thunderbolt 3, USB type-A and type-C ports, and HDMI, for a desktop-class...
Last update on 2021-04-13 at 17:56 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
- More Power, More Cores: The 8-Core 10th Gen Intel Core i7-10875H processor provides the ultimate level of performance with up to 5. 1GHz Max...
- Studio Ready: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Super with Max-Q Design (8GB GDDR6 VRAM) graphics is up to 25% faster than the original RTX 20...
- Vivid Visuals: The 4K OLED touch display delivers blazing fast 1ms response time and a wide color range covering 100% of the DCI-P3 space,...
- Thin and Compact: The CNC aluminum unibody frame houses incredible performance in the most compact footprint possible, while remaining...
- Innovative Cooling: A unique vacuum sealed, liquid filled, copper vapor chamber spans the heat generating components and is the key to...
Last update on 2021-04-13 at 17:56 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
- 15.6" FHD Anti-Glare Wide View Angle 240Hz 3ms NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 6G GDDR6
- Core i7-10750H 2.6 - 5.0GHz Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201(2 2 ax)
- 512GB NVMe SSD 16GB (16G 1)DDR4 2666MHz 2 Sockets Max Memory 64GB
- Thunderbolt 3 1 PD charge USB-C Gen1 1 USB 3 2 Gen2 3 Steel Series per-Key RGB with Anti-Ghost key (84 Key) 720p HD Webcam
- Win 10 PRO Dynaudio Speakers 2W 2 4 cell (99 9Whr) Li-Polymer 180W Slim
Last update on 2021-04-13 at 20:41 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Differences Between Razer Blade 15 And MSI GS66 Stealth
Configuration
The Razer Blade 15 has an Advanced and base model. Advanced models have RTX graphics whiles the Base model either has RTX 2060 or GTX 1660 Ti graphics. Both laptops have 9th Gen Intel Core i7 and can take up to 32GB RAM.
MSI GS66 belongs to the GS family which is mainly comprised of thin and light gaming laptops. The MSI GS66 has an Intel Core i7/i9 processor, up to 32GB RAM and RTX 2080 Max-Q.
Design & Build Quality
The Razer Blade 15 is available in three colours – black, mercury white and pink quartz. Black is the most common out of the three.
The Razer Blade 15 is one of the cleanest gaming laptops out there. The only giveaway is the green Razer logo that lights up. And the ports, that has green accents. Aside from that, everything else is black. Overall, it looks like a black MacBook Pro.
When it comes to build quality, the Razer Blade is solid. Made from CNC milled aluminium. The Razer Blade has no flex and warping. The gaming laptop is one sturdy and rigid device. Unfortunately, it is a serious fingerprint and smudge magnet.
The Razer Blade 4.63 lbs (2.1 kg) and it’s 0.7 inches thick. A thin and light gaming laptop that you can easily carry anywhere.
The laptop also has a decent port selection including a Thunderbolt 3 port. This allows you to hook it up to high-resolution displays or the Razer Core X eGPU.
Overall, the Razer Blade 15 has a solid build quality and a clean design. One of the best out there.
The MSI GS66, also superb build quality. Far better than its previous model – MSI GS65.
The MSI GS66 is made from aluminium alloy. Smooth to the touch and somewhat a fingerprint magnet (Razer Blade is worse).
Fortunately, MSI makes it up in other areas. And that’s the design and awesome RGB keyboard. The design tells you this is not your average gaming laptop. A muted dragon logo and accents tell you that MSI gave some thought to the design. It’s beautiful and at the same time not obnoxious.
One of the main reasons why MSI GS66 is popular is because of its attractive design. Moreover, it is in the thin and light category. It weighs 4.35 lbs (1.9kg) and 0.7 inches thick. You can easily move around with it.
When it comes to the port selection, the MSI GS66 has similar ports to that of the Razer Blade including a Thunderbolt 3 port. Overall, the MSI GS66 has superb build quality but it is the design that takes your breath away.
Teardown/Disassembly/Upgradeability
Getting into the Razer Blade 15 is easy to do. Removing the few screws on the back will give you access to the internal components. Once inside, you can upgrade the RAM, SSD and WLAN card. The base model has an HDD bay but at the expense of a smaller battery.
The MSI GS65 was a pain to upgrade compared to other gaming laptops. The motherboard was been flipped upside down. So you have to remove A LOT of screws and cables just to access the RAM, storage, WIFI and other internals. You should also be delicate with it.
The good news is that MSI changed this with the MSI GS66. It’s not upside down anymore making it easy to get into and upgrade. For them to make such a change in their shows that MSI listens to their customers.
Both are easy to disassemble and upgade.
Thermals
The Razer Blade 15 employs a different cooling solution than the other gaming laptops. It makes use of a slim vapour cooling system and two fans.
First things first. Thin and light gaming laptops run hot. Only a few gaming laptops can run cool. Regrettably, the Razer Blade 15 and MSI GS66 are not part of them.
Back to the Razer Blade. The slim vapour cooling system contains a coolant (air, gas or liquid). In this case, air for the Razer Blade. The air absorbs heat from the surrounding areas and moves towards the fans.
The fans then cool the air by getting rid of the heat and the process is repeated. Unfortunately, this process doesn’t do a great job at keeping the Razer Blade cool. It gets so hot that the CPU thermal throttles for temperatures to drop.
The MSI GS66 uses the traditional cooling system. i.e fans and heat pipes. The MSI GS66 has an asymmetrical cooling system. Three fans and four heat pipes. One heat pipe is shared between the CPU and GPU. Two extra fans cool the GPU whiles the remaining fan cools the CPU.
Unfortunately, the MSI GS66 runs at high temperatures and thermal throttles. The good news is that it doesn’t thermal throttle below base clocks.
Thin and light gaming laptops rarely run cool. That’s why undervolting and applying thermal paste is important. This will improve temperatures and improve the longevity of your laptop.
However, you will have a much more difficult applying the thermal paste on the MSI GS66 because of the flipped motherboard.
Display
The Razer Blade has more display options than the MSI GS66. For the display resolutions, you can choose between a Full HD (1920 x 1080), 4K (3840 x 2160) and 4K OLED. The 4K OLED has the highest colour accuracy, gamut, great viewing angles and brightness.
Everything about the display is superb. Second place is the 4K UHD and the last place is the FHD. The FHD display is decent and has above colour accuracy. However, it is dim and outdoor use will be quite difficult.
The good news is that it has the highest refresh rate options. You can choose between a 60Hz, 144Hz and 240Hz refresh rate. That means if your Razer Blade 15 can play games on high FPS. You won’t experience screen tearing, stuttering and ghosting.
The 4K and 4K OLED only have 60Hz refresh rate. On a side note, the 4K options are a touchscreen.
The MSI GS66 only has a single display resolution – Full HD. There are no options for 4K and 4K OLED. Also, the Full HD comes with a 144Hz or 240Hz refresh rate.
The MSI GS66’s display has a higher colour accuracy than the FHD Razer Blade. In addition to that, it has great viewing angles and sharpness. The brightness is the same as the FHD Razer Blade.
Overall, both laptops offer fast displays that are great for gaming. Unless you pick the 4K or 4K OLED Razer Blade 15. The MSI has the advantage in colour accuracy and gamut.
Keyboard & Touchpad
The Razer Blade 15 has a stiff keyboard. The keys are shallow and the tactile feedback is average. It is a full-size keyboard with no Numpad. The keys are RGB backlit which Razer calls Chroma. All in all, there is nothing special about the keyboard.
The trackpad, however, is great. It’s large, smooth and accurate thanks to Windows Precision drivers. It also supports Windows gestures.
The MSI GS66 has a slightly better keyboard than the Razer Blade 15. The key travel is decent and keys are spongy. Tactile feedback is also decent. The MSI GS66’s keyboard is also RGB backlit. The touchpad is Windows Precision and gestures enable. It also large and has a smooth finish.
Performance
The most important part – performance. Both gaming laptops are powerful. And you will be able to get high FPS on AAA title games. If both have the same configuration. The performance difference won’t be much.
Overall, performance especially gaming performance won’t be an issue here. Because both gaming laptops will tear through a lot of AAA title games and heavy loads.
Battery Life
The Razer Blade 15 has different battery capacities depending on the model. The base model packs a 56WHr because of the HDD bay. Battery life will be between 4-5 hours under consistent use with Wi-Fi on and medium brightness. The Advanced model has an 80WHr battery and it’s able to last 6-7 hours.
The MSI GS66 also has the same battery capacity as the Razer Blade 15 Advanced – 99WHr. It can also last 6-7 hours under normal use.
Both the Razer Blade Advanced and MSI GS66 have decent battery lives for a gaming laptop. Other gaming laptops can last 3-4 hours under consistent use.
Razer Blade 15 vs MSI GS66 – Which One To Get?
To be honest, choosing between the two gaming laptops is a difficult choice. Both are powerful, light, thin and have decent battery life. However, the Razer Blade 15 has the better build quality and it is easily upgradeable.
- More power: The 10th Gen Intel Core i7-10750H processor provides the ultimate level of performance with up to 5.0 GHz max turbo and 6 cores.
- Ray-tracing: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is powered by the NVIDIA Turing GPU architecture and brings cinematic-quality rendering to the most...
- More frames: Incredible performance paired with the fast 144Hz 15. 6" full HD thin bezel display helps edge out the win.
- Thin and compact: The CNC aluminum unibody frame houses incredible performance in the most compact footprint possible, while remaining...
- Ready to connect: Fully loaded with Wi-Fi 6, Gigabit Ethernet, Thunderbolt 3, USB type-A and type-C ports, and HDMI, for a desktop-class...
Last update on 2021-04-13 at 17:56 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
- More Power, More Cores: The 8-Core 10th Gen Intel Core i7-10875H processor provides the ultimate level of performance with up to 5. 1GHz Max...
- Studio Ready: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Super with Max-Q Design (8GB GDDR6 VRAM) graphics is up to 25% faster than the original RTX 20...
- Vivid Visuals: The 4K OLED touch display delivers blazing fast 1ms response time and a wide color range covering 100% of the DCI-P3 space,...
- Thin and Compact: The CNC aluminum unibody frame houses incredible performance in the most compact footprint possible, while remaining...
- Innovative Cooling: A unique vacuum sealed, liquid filled, copper vapor chamber spans the heat generating components and is the key to...
Last update on 2021-04-13 at 17:56 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
The MSI GS66, on the other end, has a better design, full HD display and keyboard.
The Razer Blade has more display options – 4K and 4K OLED. That is miles above the MSI GS66’s full HD display. Unfortunately, the power consumption is great and reduces battery life.
Overall, if you want an easily upgradeable gaming laptop with great build quality. Then the Razer Blade 15 is the better choice.
If you want a beautiful laptop with a slightly better Full HD display. Then the MSI GS66 will automatically become your favourite.
- 15.6" FHD Anti-Glare Wide View Angle 240Hz 3ms NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 6G GDDR6
- Core i7-10750H 2.6 - 5.0GHz Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201(2 2 ax)
- 512GB NVMe SSD 16GB (16G 1)DDR4 2666MHz 2 Sockets Max Memory 64GB
- Thunderbolt 3 1 PD charge USB-C Gen1 1 USB 3 2 Gen2 3 Steel Series per-Key RGB with Anti-Ghost key (84 Key) 720p HD Webcam
- Win 10 PRO Dynaudio Speakers 2W 2 4 cell (99 9Whr) Li-Polymer 180W Slim
Last update on 2021-04-13 at 20:41 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
