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WIRED
a day ago
- Business
- WIRED
MSI Titan 18 HX (2025) Review: The RTX 5090, Unbound
The MSI Titan is not for the faint of heart—it never has been. It's an 18-inch behemoth, fitting into that 'desktop replacement' class of gaming laptop. This one in particular is meant for PC gamers who don't just want top performance, but also some bling. You'll be hard-pressed to find a gaming laptop with this many high-end features. With a Mini-LED display, a mechanical keyboard, and an invisible haptic touchpad, there's no other 18-inch gaming laptop like it, and that means a flashy price, too. Big and Beautiful The MSI Titan is massive. It's 1.26 inches thick at its largest point and weighs nearly eight pounds. You read that right. Eight whole pounds. Gaming laptops aren't known for being particularly portable, especially ones with 18-inch screens, but the MSI Titan HX is almost a full pound heavier than the Razer Blade 18. It's hefty and well-crafted, though, as you'd hope for in a laptop north of $5,000. It's not a single piece of machined aluminum like the Razer Blade 18, but the magnesium-aluminum alloy chassis feels sturdy. The MSI Titan HX uses a thermal shelf on the back, making the laptop larger, but providing a protrusion for extra ventilation and ports. MSI keeps it fairly minimalist with the all-black interior and silver trim, especially compared to older versions of this laptop. The invisible touchpad makes this feel even more modern. And yet, both the Razer Blade 18 and Alienware 18 Area-51 are more savvy designs in my book. In the rear, you'll find the power jack, the HDMI 2.1 port, and the Ethernet. Next to some massive vents, you'll find three USB-A 3.2. Gen2 ports on the side, along with the two Thunderbolt 5 ports, the SD card slot, and a headphone jack. That's just about every port you can imagine, but the Thunderbolt 5 ports are the interesting part. Intel sent me several Thunderbolt 5 accessories to demonstrate just how much bandwidth the new spec provides. I set up two 32-inch 4K 240-Hz OLED gaming monitors, all powered through a single USB-C cable. It's magical seeing those two high-refresh-rate monitors being daisy-chained together, despite their 240-Hz refresh rates. In the past, Thunderbolt 4 ports were limited to two 4K monitors at 60 Hz. Even if you don't have two expensive gaming monitors to connect to, the MSI Titan 18 HX has a really solid Mini-LED display onboard. It can hit 414 nits of brightness in SDR and around double that in HDR. That's not quite as good as the OLED gaming monitors out there, but it's certainly bright enough to notice the difference in HDR. The color saturation is great too. You want that 4K resolution when it's spread across 18 inches of screen, even if you may not always want to play games at that native resolution. It's incredibly sharp. This really is the best screen you can get on an 18-inch laptop right now, as OLED isn't common in this larger screen size yet. MSI also offers an IPS version of this panel, as well as a lower-resolution 2560 x 1600 240-Hz IPS option. Unfortunately, the speakers and webcam aren't as premium. The 1080p camera is noisy, and the six-speaker audio system is mediocre. The speakers are almost irrelevant given how loud the fan noise is, at least when it comes to gaming. Tricks Up Its Sleeve Photograph: Luke Larsen The keyboard is unique and an absolute joy to type and game on. It's a Cherry MX low-profile mechanical keyboard that feels chunky and tactile. It's unlike any laptop I've ever typed on in that sense, capturing the feel of a mechanical keyboard right on your laptop. My only complaint is that the many keys are not mechanical, such as the arrow keys, the number pad, and the function row. Once you notice, it's a little jarring.
Digital Trends
22-05-2025
- Digital Trends
3 Gaming Laptops You Should Buy Instead of the Lenovo Legion Go S
Over the past few years, gaming handhelds have exploded in popularity. And with each new iteration, we are seeing performance and ergonomic improvements that have pushed them as a serious alternative for gaming on the go. After all, if you can carry a portable device like the Lenovo Legion Go S for casual gaming indulgence, why bother lugging around a bulky laptop? A few of my friends have even tried the idea of using these Windows-powered handhelds as a stop-gap PC for getting work done. But let's be real. As convenient as they are, handhelds won't be able to match what a gaming laptop can deliver in terms of raw performance, immersiveness, and, of course, overall value for your money. Recommended Videos What to keep in mind? If you've been eying the Legion Go S, for instance, there are a few things worth keeping in mind. As Digital Trends highlights, paying $760 for a quad-core silicon intended for playing PC games is a bottleneck in itself. Then there are Windows optimization challenges for handhelds, and the battery life caveat. Now, if you're planning to look at laptop alternatives, there are a few aspects you should keep in mind for the best experience. First, try to pick an option that offers a faster display. Even a 120Hz or 144Hz panel will lift your gaming experience discernibly. Game files take up quite a lot of space. So, if you're picking up a machine, make sure it offers at least 1TB of SSD storage. I know, configurations often come with an upsell, but you should aim higher, regardless. And most importantly, don't splurge on a flashy new graphics card just because it's new. You can save a lot of money by going with an older-generation silicon, but still fairly capable GPU, instead of splurging on the latest that Nvidia has to offer. Of course, where possible, explore the options between Intel and AMD, as well. That's a lot of technical considerations to remember. To ease things up for you, consider these three gaming laptops that don't fall too from the Legion Go S budget: Acer Nitro V15 Playing closest to the price of Legion Go S is the Acer Nitro V15, an AMD-powered budget laptop that is quite well-received, as well. If your budget can't go beyond the handheld's range, but you'd still like a fairly competent package, this Acer laptop is a compelling choice. The base configuration at $749, which is lower than the Lenovo handheld itself, offers the hexa-core AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS processor clubbed with Nvidia's GeForce RTX 4050 mobile graphics. That combination is decent for 1080p gaming, and at medium to high settings, you can play AAA titles such as Far Cry 6, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and Borderlands 3 in the 45-60 fps range comfortably. You also get a 15.6-inch full-HD display with a 144Hz refresh rate, which is a pleasant surprise in this price bracket. As far as the memory configuration go, you get 16GB of DDR5 RAM and 512GB of onboard SSD storage. Unlike the older iterations, the keyboard is backlit on this one. The port situation is not too bad either, as you get plenty of them, including a Thunderbolt port. View on Amazon Dell G15 (5530) Consistently ranked among the best laptops you can buy on a gaming budget, the Dell G15 sets the starting price at a thousand dollars, but delivers a fantastic package. It's one of the best-looking gaming laptops in its segment, especially from a thermal design perspective. This one offers a 15.6-inch full-HD display with a 120Hz refresh rate. Powering the machine is the 14-core Intel Core i7-13650HX processor, paired with 16GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD. It is one of the only few laptops in the price bracket that offer a higher-end 13th Gen Intel processor, and that reflects in the performance, as well. On the graphics side, you get Nvidia's RTX 4060 mobile GPU that can tap into 140 watts of peak output. At benchmarks, it performs in the same league as laptops with a capped GeForce RTX 4070 mobile graphics. In titles such as Shadow of the Tomb Raider at 1080p and the highest graphics preset, the output is comfortably above the 100fps range. Cyberpunk 2077 easily manages over 60fps at the same resolution, which is quite impressive. Port selection is also fairly diverse and spaced across all sides, but the only miss is just one USB-C port on the laptop. Irrespective of the configuration you pick, you get two fans, four heat pipes, and plenty of external vents for heat management. Overall, this is a solid pick, if getting the best gaming performance for the price is your top priority. View at Best Buy Gigabyte G6X KG If the Dell machine caught your fancy, and you were wondering if it could somehow offer a little extra oomph for future-proofing, the Gigabyte G6X offers just that. This one doubles the amount of RAM to 32GB, the storage is boosted to 1TB, and you get an extra USB-C port, as well. It offers a large 16-inch full-HD display with a 165Hz refresh rate. Running the performance show is a 14-core Intel Core i7-13650HX processor that offers a peak frequency of 4.9 GHz and boost mode output worth 157W. On the graphics front, the Gigabyte G6 KF offers Nvidia's GeForce RTX 4060 GPU with 8GB of graphics memory. With ray-tracing enabled, it can handle Cyberpunk 2077 at high graphics settings and resolutions up to 1200p with a respectable output close to 30fps. In titles like Horizon Zero Dawn and Metro Exodus Enhanced, it can manage over 60fps with ease. Playing games at moderate to high FPS presets can take you above 100fps on this one. The only downside of this laptop is a slightly dull screen compared to the rivals, and the overall build doesn't feel nearly as premium as the competition. However, if those are aspects you can live with, the Gigabyte G6X 9KG will serve you just fine. View at Best Buy
The Verge
19-05-2025
- The Verge
Asus refreshes its gaming laptops with cheaper RTX 5060 options
Asus is updating three of its gaming laptop lines with configurations featuring the new GeForce RTX 5060 GPU, offering features like Multi Frame Generation for higher framerates at slightly lower prices. Nvidia's mid-range graphics are coming to the beefy ROG Strix G16 and G18, ROG Zephyrus G14 hybrid gaming / creativity laptop, and the entry-level TUF Gaming A14, A16, A18, and F16. That's seven new laptops from Asus. And with the 5060 becoming the new entry-level card for each line, the new configs can be around $300 to $400 cheaper than their 5070 versions. Prices on the new 5060 models are as low as $1,499.99 to slightly higher configurations (with faster CPUs, more RAM, and more storage) as pricey as $2,099.99. Image: Asus Image: Asus That low $1,499.99 and high $2,099.99 both lie in the ROG Strix G16. The Strix G16 and G18 look much like stripped-down versions of their pricier Strix Scar counterparts, with 16- and 18-inch 2560 x 1600 240Hz displays and the same wraparound RGB light bars built into their chassis. Though, the more simplified Strix G models have IPS panels instead of Mini LED, and no fancy lid with animated LEDs. The new RTX 5060-equipped G16 and G18 are offered with Intel (Raptor Lake Refresh / Arrow Lake) and AMD (Dragon Range / Fire Range) chip options, 16GB or 32GB of RAM, and up to 2TB of storage. As Strix laptops are bulky machines (weighing as much as seven pounds in the 18-inch model), they're loaded with ports, including HDMI 2.1, ethernet, 3.5mm audio jack, five total USB ports for Intel models (three USB-A, one USB-C, and one Thunderbolt 4), and four total USB ports for AMD configs (two USB-A and two USB4). The new Asus TUF Gaming laptops also come in a variety of sizes and flavors, all now equipped with less costly RTX 5060 configurations than just their current RTX 5070 configurations. Like the Strix G models, the TUFs are fairly chunky gaming-focused laptops but they make some sacrifices for the sake of reaching certain price points, like lower 144Hz and 165Hz refresh rates and the TUF A18 having an ancient USB 2.0 plug among its five total USB ports. (Heresy, I know.) At $1,599.99 there's the 18-inch TUF A18 and 16-inch TUF F16. The A18 comes with an AMD Ryzen 7 260 (Hawk Point) CPU and the F16 has an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX (Arrow Lake). The TUF A14 and TUF A16 are next up at $1,699.99, with the 14-inch packing an AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 (the same Krackan Point chip I recently tested on the Framework Laptop 13) and the 16-inch getting the same Ryzen 7 260 as its bigger 18-inch sibling. The simplest update is for Asus's ROG Zephyrus G14 laptop, which is getting a $1,799.99 configuration with RTX 5060 graphics. The Zephyrus is Asus's thinner gaming laptop that leans a little more towards the conventional, lending itself to traveling and not looking totally out of place in a cafe or library. The laptop still looks as it did when the G14 was redesigned back in early 2024, with a 14-inch 2880 x 1800 120Hz OLED display, AMD Ryzen AI 9 270 CPU, 16GB of RAM, 1TB SSD, one USB4, one USB-C, two USB-A, HDMI 2.1, and a 3.5mm audio jack. Just as the recently refreshed models from CES using higher-end RTX 50-series GPUs, its USB-C ports got a tiny upgrade that allows you to use Power Delivery charging on either side. But, of course, if you want to get the most graphics power out of this compact gaming laptop you'll have to plug in its hefty charger with reversible proprietary connector. Since all of these laptops are equipped with the RTX 5060, they're compatible with Nvidia's DLSS 4 and Multi Frame Generation. While some models are available now through Asus's online store and select retailers, the full availability of all configs is expected through June.
