MSI GS65 Stealth

MSI offers a broad range of gaming laptops in all form factors and performance segments. The GS line is in many ways the opposite of MSI’s 15.6″ and 17.3″ GT Titan laptops. MSI’s aim with the GS series has instead been to keep both the footprint and the performance tradeoffs to a minimum, hence the ‘Stealth Thin’ naming. The 15-inch GS65 weighs in at 4.19 lbs/1.9 kg and is only 1.16 in/17.9 mm thin.

MSI GS65 Stealth Configurations

MSI offers three base configurations of the GS65 Stealth in 2019: 9SE, 9SF, and 9SG. The key difference between the three designations is the graphics card. There’s an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 in the 9SE, an RTX 2070 Max-Q in the 9SF and an RTX 2080 Max-Q in the 9SG. As a result of the cards’ varying power draw, the RTX 2060 model comes with a 180W AC adapter, while the 2070 and 2080 models require a 230W adapter.

Compared to the preceding 2018 models, 8SE, 8SF, and 8SG, the default CPU has been upgraded to a 6-core Intel Core i7-9750H, which is slightly faster than the Core i7-8750H. Otherwise, the newer models are nearly identical to their predecessors. One additional difference is that the newer models may be equipped with either a 144Hz or a 240Hz 1080p display (the predecessor only had a 144Hz option). Also, one of the USB-A ports has been upgraded to USB 3.2 Gen2 bandwidth.

The GS65 Stealth normally ships with 16 GB of RAM, but can be upgraded to 64 GB in total using the two available RAM slots. As for storage, the GS65 has two M.2 slots (PCIe/NVMe), but no space for a 2.5″ conventional hard drive or SSD.

All configurations are equipped with an 82 Wh Battery.

GS65 Performance

The GS65’s GPU is the component that ultimately determines the amount of gaming performance. Since the GeForce RTX 2080 (9SG/8SG) and RTX 2070 (9SF/8SF) are the Max-Q Design versions, they don’t offer desktop-level performance due to lower clocks and other power optimizations.

The above scores are averages of a range of benchmark runs (user-submitted and/or professional) on representative systems. Exact scores will vary between systems and individual runs.

When moving up from the RTX 2060 to the RTX 2070 Max-Q, the performance difference will not be as substantial as if it were a desktop or non-Max-Q card.

Other Features

Like most other gaming laptops from MSI, the GS65 Stealth Thin is equipped with a keyboard by SteelSeries. This particular model offers individually customizable RGB-backlit keys.

Reviews

Video review, MobileTechReview (Core i7-8750HK + RTX 2080 Max-Q, 144Hz 1080p panel)

This laptop is also featured in our roundup of current laptops with the RTX 2070 Max-Q.