In recent months, there’s been a trend towards slimmer, lighter gaming laptops that offer a degree of portability rather than simply spending their entire life indoors.

In contrast, MSI’s 17-inch Raider GE78HX takes a much more old-school approach. It’s big and heavy, built like a tank, and is a desktop replacement laptop that will likely spend most of its time sitting on a (rather sturdy) desk and plugged into the mains.

But, free from the need to follow the latest fashions, the Raider is able to go all-out on offering high-end gaming performance. The 17-inch display provides a 240Hz refresh rate and is driven by high-end HX processors from Intel, along with Nvidia’s GeForce 4000-series graphics cards.

MSI even goes overboard with features such as the six-speaker audio system and a wildly gratuitous array of lighting effects. The drawback, of course, is that such a heavyweight performer comes with an equally heavyweight price, weighing in at over $3000 / £3000, so it’s very much a no-compromise option for the hardcore gamer who is prepared to spend what it takes to achieve gaming nirvana.

Price, specs and availability

Unfortunately, MSI doesn’t make it easy to find your desired model and configuration. The company’s website in the US lists several configurations with a variety of i7 and i9 processors, GeForce RTX 4070, 4080 and 4090 graphics cards, and different memory and storage options. However, few of these can be bought directly from MSI itself, and there’s no option to “build your own” PC by specifying the required features. All you get is a list of links to a variety of third-party online retailers, who may offer different configurations and different prices, so it’s up to you to do the legwork and find the price and options that you require.

The model tested here costs $3299.99 with an i9-13950HX processor, RTX 4080 graphics card, 32GB of memory and 2TB solid-state drive, and a 17-inch display with 2560×1600 resolution and maximum 240Hz refresh rate.

Customers in the UK are able to purchase a handful of models from MSI’s website, although pricing is pretty high, with the model tested listed at £3599.00 (around $4,390.00). Thankfully, if you shop around, you can get better prices from online stores such as Amazon in the UK, which lists the same model at around £3000.

Design

Old school looks

The Raider GE78HX does look rather like a blast from the past. It measures 28.75mm thick along the back edge, with large cooling vents running along the back and sides. It weighs in at a hefty 3.1kg, too, so this is not a laptop that you can just slip into your backpack when heading to your local coffee shop.

The power supply is pretty big as well and adds another 1.2kg to the overall weight, so the Raider is very much an old-school desktop replacement laptop that will only occasionally venture forth into the great outdoors.

It is sturdily built, though, with a firm keyboard that feels like it can take a pounding in the heat of battle – although I find the location of the Function key, far over on the right of the keyboard, a little irritating at times. I’m not keen on having some of the ports and connectors running along the back of the laptop either, while others are also located on both the right and left sides too. This forced me to pick up the laptop and balance it on its front edge for simple tasks such as plugging in the power supply.

But while the Raider isn’t particularly elegant, its design does provide plenty of room for a good assortment of connectivity features. There’s an HDMI port connecting an external display and a Thunderbolt 4 port providing video output. And, randomly, scattered along the left and right edges are two USB-C ports, two USB-A, an SD card slot and an audio In/Out connector, so you can certainly plug in a good selection of peripherals when the Raider takes up residence on your desk. Networking is good, too, with 10Gb Ethernet for a wired connection, along with WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.

Of course, there are the compulsory lighting effects that we’ve come to expect from gaming laptops. As well as the usual selection of pulsating lights on the keyboard, the Raider also has a ‘light bar’ that runs along the front edge as well, making the laptop look more like an over-exuberant Christmas tree rather than a state-of-the-art gaming rig.

More usefully, MSI also includes an app called MSI Centre that allows you to fine-tune the laptop’s performance, adjusting both gaming performance and the noise of the cooling system. And, unusually for a gaming laptop, there’s even a ‘super battery’ option designed to maximize battery life if you do decide to head into the great outdoors with it in tow.

More than meets the eye

The Raider’s 17-inch display is something of a mixed bag. Its 2560×1600 resolution might seem relatively modest for such a large and expensive laptop, but it boasts a 240Hz refresh rate, which helps create very smooth motion.

I find that it adds to the sense of immersion as I trek through the lush forests of Rise Of The Tomb Raider, with grass swaying gently in the breeze all around me. Somewhat oddly, MSI doesn’t quote a brightness level for the display, but while it’s not outstandingly bright, it does seem perfectly adequate for gaming and streaming video, and I’m able to turn the brightness down to 50 per cent quite comfortably during my battery tests as well.

The display also supports the DCI-P3 colour standard used for professional video editing and other graphics tasks, so it can turn its hand to more serious work when it needs to.

The sound system proves to be a pleasant surprise, too, as the large chassis is able to accommodate no less than six separate internal speakers. Admittedly, the bass is still a little weak, but the high and mid frequencies sound full and detailed. And, with 12W total output, the six-pack of speakers are even powerful enough to cover up the – fairly loud – sound of the fans when the laptop is running in its ‘extreme performance’ mode.

The only disappointment here is the webcam, which provides 1080p resolution but still looks a little grainy, and – in the middle of Storm Ciarán in November – doesn’t perform very well in low-light conditions. It’s a relatively minor complaint, but still annoying, given the high cost of the Raider – especially for Twitchers and streamers who might want to use the webcam during late-night gaming sessions.

Performance and battery

A gamer’s dream

The Raider’s i9 chip packs have no less than 24 cores, with eight performance cores and 16 power-efficient cores for running on battery power. This scores a solid 2,580 for single-core performance in GeekBench 6, but the multi-core performance shows what it can do. Its multi-core score of 17,290 pulls ahead of most of the laptops I’ve reviewed recently, with only the Ryzen 9 7945HX of Asus’ more expensive Zephyrus Duo coming close at 15,850.

Backed up with its RTX 4080, the Raider breezes to 196 frames per second in the Unigine Valley test for 3D graphics performance – only beaten in recent reviews, once again, by the 200fps achieved by the RTX 4090 of the Zephyrus Duo. When running Rise Of The Tomb Raider with its highest graphics settings and maximum 2560×1600 resolution, the Raider managed to cross the line to hit 202fps.

The Raider never showed signs of overheating during my tests, but those scores were produced with the laptop running in ‘extreme performance’ mode, producing a fair amount of noise from the fans and cooling system. As mentioned, the speaker system is loud enough to drown the noise out, but a good headset will probably come in handy, especially if you’re playing late at night.

Unsurprisingly, MSI is a bit coy about battery life, but switching the Raider into ‘super battery’ mode allowed it to last for five hours and three minutes when streaming video via WiFi. That’s not bad for such a large, powerful laptop, so it will at least let you watch a couple of films on a long journey by train or plane.

Verdict

The Raider GE78HX is very much a desktop replacement system, so – perhaps unsurprisingly, given its target audience – it may not be suitable for people who need a laptop that they can carry around with them on a regular basis.

There are also one or two rough edges, such as the sub-par webcam. But, if you want power rather than portability, then the Raider really delivers the goods with impressive performance and a 240Hz display that immerses you with its smooth, realistic motion.

The old-school design also means that the Raider spends its money where it counts, delivering impressive performance at a relatively competitive price for such a high-end gaming system.