MSI GS65 Stealth THIN-051 Gaming Laptop Review

A High Performance, Lean and Lightweight Machine

Gaming laptops have a tendency to look big, intimidating, and ostentatious. The MSI GS65 bucks that trend in about the most dramatic way possible. The “stealth” aspect of the design of this gaming laptop seems to indicate that it’s an undercover gaming laptop that could just as easily pass for a conventional personal computer, but that’s belied by the respectable power of this machine. That’s especially impressive given what a small computer it is. The slim design would be fairly impressive for a more conventional personal computer, and the fact that MSI has managed to pack such meaningful performance into such a lean and lightweight machine is a feat of craftsmanship.

Performance

The Stealth Thin may wear a substantive price tag, but it’s justified both in terms of design and the quality of the hardware. There are few corners cut in terms of components here, but the hardware most deserving of attention for most gamers is sure to be the eight generation Intel six Core processor. This latest generation constitutes a major step forward for Intel in a line of processors that usually demonstrate a much more modest evolution. This new processor is starting to become the standard for more high-end gaming laptops, and you can expect much the same from comparable competition around the board regarding the Stealth Thin’s specs. While it comes with a standard 16GB of RAM, that can be doubled via upgrade if you’re looking to really boost your loading times and overall performance.

Graphics

The Stealth THIN holds a Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 MAX-Q graphics card. It certainly isn’t NVIDIA’s highest shelf graphics card, but it’s significantly better than the 1050 you could come to expect from plenty of mid-range or budget laptops, and it should be more than sufficient for most gamers. The MAX-Q is a step up from the traditional 1060. The ability to control brightness, gamma, and contrast (as well as a wealth of other options) means that you can create the perfect visual experience for your sensibilities.

Keyboard

And despite the modest size of the Stealth Thin, this isn’t a computer that’s going to require you to wrestle with a subpar keyboard or hook up a wireless keyboard. The keys have significant spring in their step and provide feedback that’s a far cry from the shallowness you’d usually find in keyboards of this size. This is another quality where customization has been given high priority. The SteelSeries keyboard offers key by key RGB customization along with more practical personalization in the form of macro support. You can even receive real-time game stats directly through the keyboard interface. The addition of lighting presets is a nice addition that ensures you don’t have to spend hours meticulously coming up with your own configuration.

Display

We’ve already talked about how tiny this laptop is in terms of width (and after all, it wears that badge of pride directly in its name), but it bears repeating. The 14″ body may be something to be expected in a more traditional laptop built for generic professional or consumer use, but it’s practically unheard of in the gaming market. And while that means that MSI has to be especially judicious with the space they have available for hardware, the ability to pack in a meaningful screen into this compact frame can’t be understated. The ultra thin bezel allows the Stealth Thin to sport a 15.6″ screen that can offer plenty of visibility for serious gamers and those on the semi-pro circuit. The Stealth THIN supports clear and crisp resolutions up to

Cooling

Gaming machines get hot to the degree that it’s practically a feature rather than a bug, but you don’t have to worry about any fried circuits with the Stealth Thin. MSI’s Cooler Boost Trinity solution is denied specifically to handle the intense necessities of computers with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 graphics card. The Stealth Thin is stuffed with three Whirlwind Blade fans (each with up to 41 different blades) and four heatpipes strategically positioned to protect the CPU and GPU, and they’re remarkably quiet even when running the beefiest and most modern games available.

If you’re a hardcore gamer, you may wish to invest in a cooling pad to help keep things extra cool.

Virtual Reality

If you’re looking to drop two grand on a gaming rig, you shouldn’t just expect it to be ready to handle the games of today. It needs to be equipped to support the games of the future. The Stealth Thin can handle the highest settings on ultra-modern games, but it’s Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q GPU and 8GB of VRAM are also ready to confidently handle the demands of virtual reality gaming. It can support smooth and immersive virtual reality gaming at a level of clarity that few gaming laptops in its class can muster.

Networking

The world of gaming is moving online. Whether you’re a professional gamer living in a world where a microsecond of internet lag can mean the difference between a win or a loss or a solo player looking to invest in the future of cloud gaming, MSI’s machine has you covered. Bluetooth 5,802.11ac 2×2, and Killer E2500 Ethernet connections are all supported, and the Killer DoubleShot Pro technology built into the Stealth Thin will ensure that you always have the best performance. It automatically prioritizes the strongest connection and uses that exclusively for high priority traffic. That allows you to get the most out of your gaming routers.

Sound

Good sound quality can have a significant effect when you’re trying to immerse yourself in a gaming experience, and the Stealth Thin offers it in spades. The high-end loudspeakers built right into the frame are hand-crafted, and they include extensions for bass, mid-range frequencies, and volume to make sure that everything from high intensity gunfire to mood setting moments of quiet terror sound exactly like they should. But if you really want to listen to sound engineering as intended, you’ll want to make use of a good gaming headset and the microphone jack or S/PDIF jack. That’s the only way to make the most of the 3D surround sound and 7.1 enhanced audio.

Final Thoughts

The Stealth Thin isn’t cheap, but there’s no way a computer with this amount of meat could be. The combination of top shelf components make this one of the best gaming laptops on the market, but the true marvel is how they’ve managed to stuff so much into such a tiny package. It might not be the most intimidating gaming laptop in terms of aesthetics, but it can hold its own confidently against major competitors like the Digital Storm Exodus and the Razer Blade.

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