This is a review about a really powerful gaming laptop, the MSI Titan GT77. It has super fast parts like an i9 processor and an RTX 4090 graphics card for playing games at the best settings. The screen is also really nice. But, it costs a lot, starting at $4000! This review will tell you all about the good and bad things about this laptop so you can decide if it’s worth the money.
Design and Build Quality
Black metal finish on both the lid and interior.Fairly solid build quality, but not as nice as some competitors like Razer’s Blade 18 or ASUS’s Scar.
Little flex to the keyboard and lid.3.5cm or 1.4 inches thick at the section closer to the back where hinge is.Weighs over 3.5kg or 7.7lb, increasing to almost 4.9kg or 10.9lb with the 330 watt power brick included.
Charger is notably larger compared to the 330 watt options from other brands.Deeper compared to most laptops due to the big cooler at the back
Specifications and Features
Highest specced Titan with Intel’s Core i9-13980HX processor, Nvidia’s RTX 4090 graphics, 64 gigs of memory and a new Mini-LED screen.720p camera above the screen in the middle with privacy shutter and IR for Windows Hello face unlock.
Mechanical keyboard uses Cherry MX ultra-low profile switches and lights up in RGB, customizable per-key RGB backlighting, and all keys secondary functions get lit up.4 levels of brightness which can be adjusted with the F8 shortcut.
RGB lighting effects can be adjusted through the included SteelSeries software.Power button is part of the keyboard, and an accidental press doesn’t do anything.
Touchpad feels nice and smooth, works well, and is a bit bigger than last year’s model.Fingerprint scanner to the right of the touchpad, just under the arrow keys, works fast and accurately
Two front-facing speakers and two woofers underneath get very loud with some bass, but not as clear as some competitors.
| Component | Specification |
|---|---|
| Processor | Intel Core i9-13980HX |
| Graphics Card | Nvidia RTX 4090 |
| Memory | 64 GB |
| Display | Mini-LED screen |
| Camera | 720p with privacy shutter and IR for Windows Hello face unlock |
| Keyboard | Mechanical with Cherry MX ultra-low profile switches |
| Backlighting | Per-key RGB backlighting with all secondary functions lit |
| Brightness levels | 4 levels, adjustable with F8 shortcut |
| Lighting Effects | Customizable through SteelSeries software |
| Power Button | Integrated into keyboard with accidental press protection |
| Touchpad | Smooth and responsive, slightly larger than last year’s model |
| Fingerprint Scanner | Located to the right of the touchpad, accurate and fast |
| Speakers | 2 front-facing speakers and 2 woofers with some bass, but not as clear as some competitors |
Ports and Connectivity
MSI Titan GT77 Left side has the power input at the back, two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports, an SD card slot, and 3.5mm audio combo jack.Right side has a third USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port, two Thunderbolt 4 Type-C ports, Mini DisplayPort, HDMI 2.1, and 2.5 gigabit Ethernet.
Ethernet port isn’t facing the preferred way, but it’s high enough that you can still remove it without lifting the laptop.Type-C port closest to the back can be used to charge the laptop with up to 100 watts, a feature that last year’s Titan did not have
Neither of the Type-C ports offers DisplayPort support, however both Mini DisplayPort and HDMI ports connect directly to the Nvidia graphics whether optimus is on or off.
Memory and Storage
MSI Titan GT77 Four memory slots, three M.2 slots, and Wi-Fi 6E card on the left.Can support up to 128 gigs of memory with four memory slots, which is unique as almost no other gaming laptops out there have 4 memory slots.
Unfortunately, if you do this, by default it will run at DDR5-3600, a limit of Intel’s HX platform.Last year’s Titan had four M.2 slots, but they had to remove one because the PCH is physically larger now
Mine came with two 2TB SSDs in RAID 0, giving us a total capacity of 4TB and some of the fastest speeds.SD card speed wasn’t amazing, but good slots can run the same card in excess of 250 megabytes per second.
Battery Life and Thermals
The MSI Titan GT77 has a 99.9Wh battery that can last for 4 hours and 14 minutes in a YouTube video playback test.The Wi-Fi speed is decent and faster than last year’s Titan.
The upgradeability score is lower compared to last year’s Titan because last year’s had four M.2 storage slots instead of one.The Titan has three M.2 slots that can fit double-sided SSDs and four memory slots, which gives it more upgradeability than most other laptops.
The MSI Center software has a super battery performance mode and a display power saver option.The display power saver option lowers the screen’s refresh rate down to 60Hz when you unplug the charger and goes back to 144Hz when you plug it in.
When it comes to thermals, the Titan has four fans with the CPU and GPU covered by plenty of heat pipes, with one extra compared to last year’s Titan.The MSI Center software allows us to change between different performance modes, which from lowest to highest are silent, balanced, and extreme performance.
The internal temperatures were cool when just sitting there idle.The GPU was thermal throttling and hitting Nvidia’s 87-degree Celsius limit in silent mode, but that’s fine as the point of this mode is to run quietly.
Balanced and extreme modes were fairly cool, setting the fans to max speed was able to lower the temps by an extra 3-4 degrees, but at the expense of more fan noise.The cooling pad was able to lower temperatures more than setting the fans to full speed.
Display performance
MSI Titan GT77 left side of the display shows transitions from lighter to darker colors, which were generally quite good.Slower transitions were seen on the upper right part of the table, which show transitions from darker to lighter shades of gray.
It takes longer for the dimming zones to wake up and turn on when going from dark to light, which results in slower transitions.The response time is extremely close to two other Mini LED laptops that were tested, ASUS’s Zephyrus Duo 16 and Flow X16.
Razer’s Blade has Mini LED too, and that was notably faster compared to the Titan.The total system latency is the amount of time between a mouse click and when gunshot fire appears on the screen in CS:GO.
The Titan wasn’t too bad compared to others here, despite its screen’s response time not being amazing in all scenarios.There’s no backlight bleed as it’s Mini LED, the zones turn off when showing black.
The dimming zones seem to be bigger than Razer’s Blade 16.The screen uses PWM too, so flicker may show on camera due to that your eyes wouldn’t perceive.
Gaming performance MSI Titan GT77
MSI Titan GT77 was tested with two different memory configurations, the stock DDR5-4000, and DDR5-4800 after modifying it in the BIOS.Cyberpunk 2077 was tested the same on all laptops, and at 1080p resolution, Titan had a lower FPS compared to others.
At the higher 1440p resolution, Titan was on top, with the highest average FPS.Red Dead Redemption 2 was tested with the game’s benchmark, and Titan with faster memory was only 4 FPS ahead of the stock.
At the lower 1080p resolution, ASUS’s Scar 18 still had a 7% lead over the best Titan result.There’s no change between different memory speeds at the higher 1440p resolution as we’re more GPU bound now, and RAM tends to affect CPU heavier games.
Control is quite GPU heavy, even at the lower 1080p resolution where Titan finally has a win.The faster memory was a couple of FPS behind, however, it had a higher 1% low, so a more stable result.
Blender is entirely dependent on the GPU, and the Titan’s 4090 was only a little behind other 4090’s that were tested so far.MSI’s advanced BIOS allows its users to change things from power limits, temperature limits, memory timings, and far more, which makes the Titan unique.
Linux support was tested with an Ubuntu 22.10 live CD, and by default, the keyboard, touchpad, camera, speakers, ethernet, and Wi-Fi all worked fine.
System Tuning MSI Titan GT77
MSI’s advanced BIOS provides almost unlimited customization once entering the usual cheat code to access it.Users can change things from power limits, temperature limits, memory timings, and far more, which makes the Titan unique.
With the right tuning, it is possible to get it outperforming most other laptops.Although the Titan does let us overclock the GPU in extreme performance mode, testing was done at stock.
Previous MSI laptops have had GPU overclocks by default anyway, so if you really wanted to make this thing perform better out of the box, then they would have done that here as well.
Is the Titan worth buying?
MSI Titan GT77 only worth it for enthusiasts who enjoy overclocking and tuning their machine for the best performance.It is also suitable for those who need plenty of RAM and SSD spots, as not many laptops offer much upgradeability.
The Titan has great cooling and lots of potential with the fully unlocked BIOS, but straight out of the box, it was beaten by ASUS’s cheaper Scar 18 in many tests.The Titan can sustain a higher combined CPU and GPU power level, but it seems MSI could have tuned it better out of the box.
For its price, which ranges from $4000-5000 USD, it’s expected to perform better and have features like advanced optimus and G-Sync.
Lack of advanced features
For its price, the Titan lacks advanced optimus and G-Sync, which is a bit of an oversight.The 720p camera is also a disappointment, especially since even MSI’s GE series has 1080p in 2023.
However, the Titan does have a privacy shutter and Type-C charging.
Comparison with ASUS Scar 18
In many tests, the Scar 18 outperformed the Titan, despite the latter’s higher combined CPU and GPU power level.The Scar 18 is smaller, lighter, and has fewer fans, yet it runs quieter and has advanced optimus and G-Sync.
The Scar 18 also has better sounding speakers and a nicer-feeling build.
Pricing MSI Titan GT77
in 2023 MSI’s Titan GT77 gaming laptop with a maxed-out CPU, GPU, RAM, and SSD goes for $5300 USD, and it was out of stock for another few weeks.For $1000 less, you can get the RTX 4080 configuration with half RAM and storage.
A: The MSI Titan GT77 is a high-end gaming laptop designed for serious gamers who demand the best performance and features. It features a large 17.3-inch display, powerful Intel Core i9 processor, up to 64GB of RAM, and the latest Nvidia GeForce RTX graphics card.
A: Yes, the MSI Titan GT77 is designed with upgradeability in mind, allowing users to easily upgrade components such as the RAM, storage, and even the graphics card.
A: The battery life of the MSI Titan GT77 can vary depending on usage, but it is generally considered to be on the lower end due to the high-performance components and large display. Users should expect to get around 2-3 hours of battery life when using the laptop for gaming or other demanding tasks.
