MSI Katana GF76 review
Our Verdict
The MSI Katana GF76 boasts impressive hardware and decent performance, but there's a sense that its powerful components should be able to evangelize improve results
For
- Reasonable cost
- Skilful components
- Solid in-game performance
Against
- Uninspired design
- Then-and then overall performance
- Can become extremely hot and loud
Tom's Guide Verdict
The MSI Katana GF76 boasts impressive hardware and decent performance, but there'due south a sense that its powerful components should be able to deliver ameliorate results
Pros
- +
Reasonable price
- +
Skilful components
- +
Solid in-game performance
Cons
- -
Uninspired design
- -
And then-so overall performance
- -
Can get extremely hot and loud
MSI Katana GF76: Specs
CPU: Intel Core i7-11800H
GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060
Display: 17 inches, 1080p, 144 Hz
RAM: xvi GB
Storage: 1 TB SSD
Dimensions: xv.6 x x.5 x 1.0 inches
Weight: 5.1 pounds
On paper, the MSI Katana GF76 gets everything right. This $1,500 machine features an 11th-gen Intel Core i7 processor, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 GPU, and plenty of RAM and storage. With those components, it should be able to deliver spectacular gameplay and productivity performance. In reality, nonetheless, it'due south just pretty good — well-nigh of the time.
The Katana GF76 is nothing special to wait at, and information technology boasts the standard array of gaming laptop annoyances — bulky frame, high rut, lackluster sound and so forth. On acme of those, still, it often staggers during day-to-day tasks, and arguably doesn't have as many ports as it needs.
On the other paw, the Katana GF76 is not without its charms. Considering its screen size and components, it's easily one of the cheapest gaming laptops you'll get from a major manufacturer at this ability level. Furthermore, while it didn't criterion well, it ran games only fine, and offered a amend keyboard than some of its competitors.
While I can't bring myself to recommend the Katana GF76 enthusiastically every bit one of the best gaming laptops yous tin can purchase, it mostly does what it sets out to do, and at a reasonable price. Read our total MSI Katana GF76 review for more information.
MSI Katana GF76 review: Price and availability
Tom'south Guide purchased the MSI Katana GF76 11UE at Micro Center for $1,500. This model comes equipped with an Intel Core i7-11800H CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 GPU, 16 GB RAM, i TB SSD storage, and a 1080p, 144 Hz screen.
There are also two other versions available: the MSI Katana GF76 11UD and the MSI Katana GF76 11UC. The 11UD features an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti GPU; the 11UC features an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 GPU. Otherwise, the specs are identical to the 11UE.
Interestingly, the Katana GF76 11UE doesn't announced to be widely bachelor; we had trouble finding 11UD or the 11UC for auction at all. We contacted MSI, and the visitor told u.s. that you can find the 11UD at Walmart for $999; the 11UC doesn't appear to be available anywhere correct now. Micro Center as well carries other 11UE variants.
MSI Katana GF76 review: Design
If you lot were to depict a mental film for "gaming laptop," sight unseen, yous would probably come up up with something very similar to the MSI Katana GF76. It has a blackness plastic chassis, with a slightly metallic sheen and a few angular flourishes toward the front and dorsum.
At that place's an MSI logo on the chapeau, and a keyboard that lights upwardly in blood-red. It's not pretty, and in that location's some wasted space on the inside, particularly the large border effectually the keyboard and the noticeable bezels near the screen. Just information technology gets the chore done — especially the large and numerous hexagonal vents on the lesser.
Be warned, though, that if you lot want the GF76's 17-inch screen, you'll take to bargain with a pretty large, heavy laptop equally a result. The machine measures xv.vi x 10.5 x 1.0 inches, and weighs five.1 pounds. It fit in my backpack without likewise much trouble, only I can merely imagine how I'd experience after carrying information technology effectually a convention center or airport all day.
The arrangement also doesn't accept much in the way of ports. On the left side, there are two USB-A ports and a ability port. On the right side, in that location's an Ethernet port, an HDMI port, a USB-A port, a USB-C port and a 3.5 mm audio jack. Three USB-A ports is admittedly not too bad for a laptop, just only ane USB-C port feels a flake limiting, specially if you're going to apply it to plug into a monitor. A microSD port would take been handy, too.
MSI Katana GF76 review: Keyboard and touchpad
While I don't call back the MSI Katana GF76 has a acme keyboard, I do have a tremendous soft spot for information technology. That's because the GF76 has a consummate number pad, too as total-size Backspace, Delete, Enter and arrow keys.
As a touch typist who hates how many compromises laptop keyboards usually brand, the GF76's keyboard design deserves some credit. Yeah, the key travel is shallow; yep, some of the key placement feels cramped. But it has every primal I wanted, and that's worth something.
The touchpad is inoffensive, which is high praise as gaming laptops go. It's slightly off-heart, which ways I didn't accidentally rest my palms on it while trying to type. My commands registered quickly and accurately. Still, I hooked up a gaming mouse as presently every bit I got the reckoner upwardly and running, and I imagine virtually prospective GF76 buyers would do the same.
MSI Katana GF76 review: Display and audio
One thing you should know about the MSI Katana GF76 is that its screen maxes out at 1080p. If yous want portable QHD or 4K gaming, yous'll take to wait elsewhere. However, the screen supports a generous 144 Hz refresh rate, and it has the capacity to push button many games up that high. With a 17-inch screen, you may non even need a separate monitor, depending on how big your gaming space is.
In terms of metrics, the Katana GF76'south screen features 247 nits of brightness, compared to 244 on the Razer Blade xv Advanced, or 361 on the Alienware m15 R4. I never had trouble discerning what was happening onscreen, whether the surrounding room was bright or nighttime.
On the other paw, the Katana GF76 does not have a very colorful screen, displaying merely 62% of the sRGB color spectrum. The Blade 15 Advanced can handle 124%, and the m15 R4 tin do a whopping 211%. The GF76's color accuracy isn't so bad, though, with a Delta-East of 0.28, compared to 0.23 on the Razer and 0.32 on the Alienware. (Closer to null is better.)
Granted, the Katana GF76 is a much cheaper machine than the Razer and Alienware models compared here, merely color range and accuracy are absolutely vital when information technology comes to gaming. Having that big, bright screen only goes so far when the colors on display fall short.
In terms of audio, the Katana GF76 has typical laptop speakers — which is to say, you'll want to get a gaming headset. The bass and treble are muddy at comfortable volume levels, and the overall sound gets distorted when you turn it up. MSI compensates for this by offering a robust suite of Nahimic audio tools, which tin can emulate 3D audio then forth. It's better than zip, but it doesn't solve the central problem.
MSI Katana GF76 review: Performance
The MSI Katana GF76's existent-world performance isn't bad. Still, it didn't perform all that impressively in our benchmarks. As such, you lot won't be able to crank upwardly the settings all the mode on the latest and greatest games — and the organization may non perform perfectly if yous elect to hook it up to a higher-res monitor. Permit'due south get-go with a numerical comparing. We measured frames per second in the games listed below at 1080p and Ultra settings:
| MSI Katana GF76 | Razer Blade xv Advanced | Alienware m15 R4 | |
| Assassinator'south Creed Valhalla | 61 | 74 | 70 |
| Yard Theft Auto V | 84 | 107 | 108 |
| Crimson Dead Redemption 2 | 53 | 70 | 68 |
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 69 | 88 | 77 |
While it's important to recollect that the Katana GF76 is a much cheaper system than either the Blade 15 or the m15 R4, the deviation in functioning is still worth discussing. Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Cerise Dead Redemption 2 and Shadow of the Tomb Raider all exceed the 1080p/threescore fps threshold, at to the lowest degree. But Scarlet Dead Redemption ii doesn't, at to the lowest degree without turning some of the settings down.
In fact, "refuse the settings" sums up my experience with the Katana GF76 pretty well overall. I tested the system with Historic period of Empires 3: Definitive Edition, Doom Eternal, Baldur's Gate III and Final Fantasy 14. I managed to get proficient framerates and smooth performance out of every single game — but I besides let the Nvidia GeForce Experience software choose the settings for me. They landed somewhere betwixt "Medium" and "High" depending on the game. The Katana GF76 tin't play the latest games at maxed-out settings; so again, based on its specs, you probably wouldn't wait it to.
Once I configured each game at a reasonable level, though, I was very pleased with the system's performance. The 144 Hz screen turned out to be an specially useful tool for games like Doom Eternal and Last Fantasy XIV, both of which hovered in the 120-140 fps range, depending on whether I was exploring or fighting. Even the enervating Baldur'southward Gate III rarely dropped below 90 fps.
In fact, I was generally pleased with the Katana GF76's gaming performance. Its productivity functioning, on the other hand, is where it ran into trouble. In spite of its powerful CPU and decent RAM allocation, the Katana GF76 doesn't always run Windows or everyday apps all that well. The system often stuttered, and occasionally froze up, using the Nvidia GeForce Experience software. Microsoft Word lagged between my keystrokes and seeing my words onscreen; even Chrome would occasionally take ages to maximize from the taskbar.
We contacted MSI about these bug, and the visitor informed united states that updating all relevant Windows, Nvidia and MSI drivers might assistance. We did so (even though the MSI Eye software froze up when we tried at first), and performance has been a flake ameliorate overall since then. When hooked upward to a monitor via HDMI, still, there's nonetheless a bit of lag.
The Katana GF76's productivity benchmarks were striking-or-miss. Information technology transferred 25 GB worth of files from a thumb bulldoze at a rate of 651 Mbps. That's slower than the Blade 15 (890 Mbps) or the m15 R4 (1147 Mbps), simply still pretty fast on its own merits. In fact, on the artificial Geekbench 5.4 benchmark, which measures a organisation's overall power, the Katana GF76 vanquish the Blade xv: 8,897 to 6,531. (There are no units.)
As far equally I could tell, this isn't an issue of resource distribution. Monitoring Task Manager, the computer rarely exceeded nearly 1-quarter of its CPU power, or one-half of its retention.
Furthermore, the games described in a higher place — which are many magnitudes more demanding than productivity tools — never encountered any slowdown or setbacks.
MSI Katana GF76 review: Oestrus
Our lab tester, Madeline Ricchiuto, theorizes that the MSI Katana GF76'due south productivity problems are due to its intense estrus, and it'due south a possibility. The Katana GF76 is positively searing when it's firing on all cylinders: 128 degrees Fahrenheit while gaming, and 100 degrees Fahrenheit while on the desktop. That's as well hot to hold in your lap either way, and since hot systems don't run equally efficiently, information technology's likely slowing downward the whole operation.
To recoup, yous can employ the congenital-in MSI software to adjust the fan functioning, but your options are limited. You can keep the fan on a low setting, which does nothing to alleviate the rut. Or you tin turn it up very high, which Madeline did not recommend:
"The fan on this thing when running in Extreme Performance mode is so freaking loud, you demand ear protectors," she wrote in our testing certificate. "When the estimator was in this mode and idling, I could hear the fan three rooms away."
MSI Katana GF76 review: Bombardment life
It'southward just as well that you can't use the MSI Katana GF76 in your lap, since you'll need to keep it plugged in pretty much at all times. While gaming, the system gets only an hour of life; while non gaming, it can get upwardly to two hours and 30 minutes. That'south long enough for brusk bursts abroad from a power outlet, but you're non going to get whatsoever serious work, or play, done untethered.
MSI Katana GF76 review: Verdict
The MSI Katana GF76 has its charms, and its bug. It has powerful, modern components, and runs games very well at high settings. Above all else, that's what a gaming laptop needs to do. Nonetheless, its bulky design, inconsistent performance and farthermost heat make information technology tough to recommend wholeheartedly.
I practice retrieve the Katana GF76 is worth a await for PC gamers who dream of acquiring a powerful laptop on a limited upkeep. But if y'all're willing to brand compromises on either the price or the components, something like the Bract 15 or the Acer Predator Triton 500 might work amend.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/msi-katana-gf76
Posted by: johnsonvionfichis.blogspot.com
0 Response to "MSI Katana GF76 review"
Post a Comment