MSI Raider GE78 HX 13VH laptop review: 13th gen Core i9-13950HX and GeForce RTX 4080 upgrades

[Redaktion]

Are you growing tired of all the minimalistic notebook designs these days? MSI is trying something new with its latest GE78 by mixing retro aesthetics with the latest technology for a more eye-catching chassis.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/MSI-Raider-GE78-HX-13VH-laptop-review-13th-gen-Core-i9-13950HX-and-GeForce-RTX-4080-upgrades.701867.0.html

[RobertJasiek]

"As per usual for MSI, a 'factory seal' sticker must be broken if owners want to remove the bottom panel for any servicing."

In countries allowing product return within ca. 14 days, a factory seal is a sufficient reason not to buy a notebook because one cannot even test whether inserting SSD or RAM works without getting trouble with the retailer.

"Games that often utilize the arrow keys, such as racing titles, can be more difficult to play on the MSI system."

Not only games.

[LL]

Interesting the 175w 4080 gets only 15 sec in Blender GPU classroom vs  9 sec 175w 4090.  It shows how much less efficient the lesser RTXs are from the 4090.

[Neenyah]

"Games that often utilize the arrow keys, such as racing titles, can be more difficult to play on the MSI system."
 
Hmm, playing racing games/sims without a gamepad (non-sims) or a wheel and pedals (sims) is exceptionally not fun.

[RobertJasiek]

Interesting the 175w 4080 gets only 15 sec in Blender GPU classroom vs  9 sec 175w 4090.  It shows how much less efficient the lesser RTXs are from the 4090.

IIRC, not all 4080s are that slow. It rather shows how weak this notebook's cooling is.

[Superguy]

"As per usual for MSI, a 'factory seal' sticker must be broken if owners want to remove the bottom panel for any servicing."

In countries allowing product return within ca. 14 days, a factory seal is a sufficient reason not to buy a notebook because one cannot even test whether inserting SSD or RAM works without getting trouble with the retailer.

I've dealt with MSI on my GT60 in the US on upgrades and warranty service.  They told me the warranty sticker was there mainly to keep people out who didn't know what they were doing.  Otherwise, they would only service parts that came in the original laptop.

I upgraded to 24 GB of RAM, upgraded the WiFi card and added an SSD.  Then my motherboard died and they replaced both the mobo and the CPU.  Reinstalled all my other parts and sent it back.

No issues.