MSI’s CHEAPEST Gaming Laptop! Katana GF66/Sword 15 Review

[@JarrodsTech]

I use the term "cheapest" loosely in the video, what I mean is "entry level" out of MSI's range of gaming laptops, as the price might not necessarily be amazing due to regional pricing/selected specs/current supply issues etc. The point was more about the GF series as a whole, so think that when I mention it throughout the video

[@siyzerix]

The cheapest option is the GF65 thin if you want a rtx 3060 laptop. Granted its the 75w variant but still. Cheaper than most 3050ti laptops. And it went on sale briefly for $850 in US. Infact worldwide it seems to be around $1100. Just that its cpu varies between i5 10500h and i5 10300h. So I'd say good value, overall. Oh and its 1.86kg. So with a power brick it should be around 2kg. Significantly lighter than the katana gf66. Would highly suggest you review it. And also, please point out the stupid blocked vents MSI still puts in its laptops. You can clearly see the katana gf66 has no vents directly below the fans.

[@JavierB0616]

Hey jarrod could you review the Lenovo IdeaPad gaming 3 rtx 3060 (90w) yeah is a downgrade from the legion lineup but a 3060 below $1000

[@KazakhStarOG]

Too late Jarrod too late)

[@zan7838]

@@JavierB0616 would like to see how the next gen ipg3 do as well.

[@plinioandreasgaston-dabao3843]

Gotta change the 110 - 125 w on the g15 5515. It's 110 - 130 since a resent vBIOs update.

[@Trainmaster909]

MSI laptops are either super cheap or super expensive. They should release more mid-ranged offerings since that is the largest section of the market.

[@No565nwbw]

I agree

[@fatihorkunss]

There is GL series as middle I think.

[@anhiirr]

ive been saying this ever since i had a gl63 9750h/1660ti i mostly got it for the specs and price access of a 1tb nvme. BC it was just going to be a temporarly desktop replacement and i was using mouse/keyboard external monitors anyways. aesthetics didnt matter much to me at the time, IF only they had something more around the acer helios 300 is what ive been saying since 2019. But instead they shave 100-200$ off that price range for a worse trackpad/monitor/plastic build....and cooling ultimately the worst part. At least mine had full key rgb/steel series keys so it makes it easier to re-sell vs the red keys one. Gave it to my sis one day ill prob sell the gl63 for like 600 or to a family member thats entering college thats into editing that needs a workhorse. Even the super expensive ones have us looking at lenovo or even HP once the price point starts rising. If asus keeps up their top mounted speakers and improves on their sound quality their zeph line can really kill with their long battery life amd options so long as they improve cooling potential. The speakers really made using a laptop a WORTH while experience when consuming content or even listening to music while working. Those make the laptop market and price aspects a more ideal/realistic level of competitive as they solder ram on the board XD.

[@rubenverster250]

Nope... the best version for the Katana is a beast :) And it's like a couple $100 more :P

[@fatihorkunss]

@@rubenverster250 really? Katana has lower price than GL in my country :)

[@TyTystick]

I keep forgetting that companies aren't really producing laptops with gtx cards like the 1660ti anymore, so the 3060 is considered an "entry level" GPU. Once Nvidia releases a new linup of gtx cards I think the price range of laptops will be a lot more diverse

[@marshall3753]

people tend to forget nvidia's line-up naming for gpu is quite misleading though.

[@spades9681]

@@marshall3753 Sure, but the 3060 is still quite a jump from the 1660. The real problem arises when people forget that laptop processors aren't nearly as capable as their PC counterparts.

[@514filippos]

i dont think any gtx line up will come in future

[@hollowsknight]

Hey Jarrod, I just wanted to say thank you for doing what you do. You save us a lot of time in our research and help strengthen our decision to spend our hard earned money. You're probably never gonna see this, but I still wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart. You helped me buy my recent laptop upgrade; a 12th Gen GF66 Katana with 3060. It made the most sense for my use and my budget. Thank you again, for all your time and effort. We love you!

[@BGeldz]

I just picked up a version of this laptop with the same 11th-gen i7 and 16GB RAM, but with RTX 3060 and a 1TB SSD for $749 during a MicroCenter sale. At that price, I think it's an excellent deal. I always have spare parts lying around here, so I immediately upgraded it to 64 GB DDR4 3200 RAM and 2 2TB 970 Evo Plus SSDs and am *extremely* happy with the performance for the price. I don't know that I'd want this to be my primary laptop, but if you can get it on sale, I do think this is a great little laptop, even with the stock configuration I mentioned.

[@SeaconRaf]

Bro, Almost word for word, same here, i kept it at 16 gb Ram, and the microcenter deal on the 1tb 3060 was so good i got my sister one. Pluged in another NVME and use this while off duty at work (i work in emergency services and can have 12 on, 6 off 6 on.)

[@boynextdoor931]

That is such a great deal

[@mdk12172633sg]

Wow thats great 👍🏻 can you please specify the microcenter sale ... I really want to buy it i am from India

[@BGeldz]

@@mdk12172633sg I"m sorry, but it looks like the Microcenter deal ended a couple months ago.

[@aak8742]

@@vibe7416 where is it 749 £? On amazon it's 800 I think

[@pr3cious193]

*posting this here so more people who might be interested in adding a 2.5" drive can see it* At 5:20 the solid rubber block there is supposed to be removed before installing the 2.5" drive and once the bottom cover goes back on, that grating on the bottom cover will hold the 2.5" drive in place together with the plastic grating on the laptop itself in order to maintain the alignment of the 2.5" inch drive and hold it in place. So that's why there's no mounting hardware included, it's not needed. The block is hard rubber btw not foam and it's meant to keep the bottom cover from warping when theres no drive in there. I've seen a similar implementation on 2.5" sata to usb drive enclosures which are used to convert internal 2.5" drives to external drives. It's actually a pretty clever way to mount 2.5" drives without screws.

[@Depressso]

Man you make really comprehensive reviews on tech thank you for doing this

[@whitez986]

To budget friendly gamers I think it’s decent for gaming but there are better other gaming laptops. I think its really meant for people that dont play competitively on games and just want to have fun with friends or others. I think its not so bad I tried using it for 2-3 months it has decent performance not the best tho. If using you need a mouse and charge when ever playing because theres less performance when playing games with out charging. To me its a decent loptop at a price that is attracting. To be honest im also just fine with a loptop that can play overwatch, minecraft, valorant well or with decent fps and I tried its not to bad in game.

[@darrylkinslow3357]

Right. Budget friendly it is not. However, it is a beast of a gaming laptop with a 16 core processor and 16gb of ram. One could probably run several games at the same time without slowing it down. As far as other better gaming laptops, well, there really aren't many that can compare to a 16 core processor, 16gb of ram, 1gb desktop video memory (intel) and 4gb of gaming memory (Nvidia). Your "not the best tho" performance could easily have been due to not setting your Nvidia gaming graphics to run your games rather than the intel graphics. I have software called "universe simulator", it runs just fine with the desktop graphics, not great though. But it runs great with the Nvidia. Many people are unaware there are 2 graphics cards built in rather than one, and that you have to select which video card to run each game on. Many if not all older games will run perfect on the intel, they require less than 1gb of video memory, but a lot of newer games need the Nvidia for performance.

[@SaberRider-sv2lf]

I'm reading a lot of comments here about how the GF65 thin, is superior to GF66. I wouldn't be too sure about that, since the GF65 has a 10th gen. 6core i7 (12Mb) and supports slower RAM (2933).The i7 11800H is an 8core beast with 24MB L3 cache and supports(and usually has) 3200Mhz RAM. So in terms of gaming, it's average, but overall, it's a decent laptop with excellent proccessing power.

[@anhiirr]

i mean id take either one at 999$ but thats about it. Same to a 3050ti laptop if its 800$ or less with at least a 512nvme or better...and ONLY with a 8c cpu. Its a lot of PC for 800$ Sticker price on most of these is just for marketing purposes IMO and "REVIEWS" cost justifcation etc aspects at launch with all the content creators I BOG it down to sale price or the price most consumers have set email alerts for to compare laptops as some only drop 100$ as others see 300$ drops within 3-6 months of launch.

[@giovannii7519]

@@anhiirr it's for sale 860 usd

[@skayhitdalotto453]

@@giovannii7519 i saw this aswell which made me look up reviews , did you get it or are thinking of it ?

[@giovannii7519]

@@skayhitdalotto453 I am getting it this friday. It's a great deal, go for it.

[@mdk12172633sg]

@@giovannii7519 where?

[@relentless1113]

Had this laptop for 4 months now, it is CRAZY, if you're upgrading to this from some basic office laptop, there is a huge difference. The ONLY downsides I have is that the fans, even on silent are pretty loud, don't expect to be that dude sneaking on your laptop in the morning, because your parents are gonna hear you. The other downside is that the sound quality is a bit off, but that can be changed with the Niahmic app. Other than that, if you can get the 12UE model of this (which usually releases at around usual sale times), then get it, it usually comes with a 12-700H and a 3060, and is usually cheaper than the standard models. Get it. Anyway, good laptop, and remember to install the drivers.

[@siyzerix]

If you look closely, there's no vents below the fans. Thanks MSI. You've blocked vents yet again. Maybe then we can have better thermals and performance. But I'm sure MSI has some reason for blocking vents. Oh and if you want the cheapest msi option, that'd be the 75w rtx 3060 msi gf65 thin. And it'd be a lot lighter at 1.86kg. AND it costs $1100 worldwide.

[@inconnu_connue]

1k1 for shity rtx 3060 blocked at 75w absolutely no reason to buy this

[@twanc156]

Yeah. I don't know why this guy hasn't tested the MSI GF65 since it's been out awhile now, has a 3060 and is $1100 worldwide... even going as low as $850 lately for bestbuy black friday sale. It's frustrating.

[@Dries2011]

It costs 1500 in euro in my country lol

[@inconnu_connue]

@@Dries2011 some shit

[@twanc156]

@@Dries2011 Then I would avoid it like the plague. If it's going as low as $850 here

[@241troystreet]

micro center got it for $999 right now as of 2/12/2022 just got this im blown away with performance best budget gaming laptop out here get it dont waste time looking no where else gaming is butter smooth.

[@shaneb1377]

Got mine the other day as well the GF katana 11UE only thing I can say is the battery life is trash and the ax adapter is poor so be careful plugging it in and out lol but what u expect these triple a titles need that juice lol other than that this thins can play anything very nice for 999$

[@sarello582]

I think the moral of the video here is that the performance of Katana GF66/Sword 15 is good but keep it plugged

[@bradbeyers9028]

yikes the GF65 at least had a metal deck and lid. I can see they went full plastic and it probably costs more these days also but it seems like a decent laptop. The adaptive sync is nice I wish my GF 65 had that.

[@windwaik3r689]

I bought this laptop a month ago at a discounted price of $849US(rtx 3050ti variation) honestly I have to say this is the best gaming laptop out of the 9 I've owned over the last 2 years(I like to buy and flip laptops for new experiences) Sure the alienware 15 was a beast and the keyboard beautiful but it's beyond expensive and would overheat constantly. Are the issues? Absolutely, but at the end of the day the balance between price, style(white and blue keys is beautiful), and performance is perfect. I think I'll be keeping this one for awhile. If you don't find it at sub 1000 maybe move along. I was even able to run a heavily modded skyrim 4k textures with averages of 50fps in the highest load areas. 9/10 in my book. Biggest issue is the limited airflow around fans that is such an easy design fix and confusing drive upgrades. Also make sure drivers are updated after buying or you'll run into some power management issues out of the box

[@KilledDebtor]

Gf66 with 3050ti is comletely different notebook in same case. Different cooling, motherboard and screen.

[@mnsor_sv2062]

What about the battery how long does it last cuz he said 2 hr but is it true though

[@KilledDebtor]

@@mnsor_sv2062 1.5 - 2 hr

[@uqutz]

battery?

[@ricky1319]

the 3060 version is on sale at microcenter for 99 and you get a 1tb hd..was thinking of grabbing it..i never had a laptop though so no idea what to compare to

[@stormbreaker82]

Beware : Some msi laptops doesn't support gpu output through hdmi

[@killerra]

MSI laptops aren't the only ones connecting to Displayport

[@stormbreaker82]

@@killerra theres an msi laptops called,msi gf63 thin with i5 10 th gen and rtx 3050 ,that laptop have no other option to output display other than hdmi ,i.e no display port

[@meric12131415]

@@stormbreaker82 isn't display port an outdated concept? I mean most people use hdmi usually for connecting through to TVs

[@pr3cious193]

This laptop does support that through HDMI and also has a mux switch in the msi center software for good measure.

[@meric12131415]

@@pr3cious193 it actually has a mux switch? You sure?

[@joelconolly5574]

Shame for the thermal throttling issue. Would've gotten the GF76 it it weren't for that. MSI would've done better there. It would've been their best sellers. Shame truly.

[@vivekjoshi39]

Jarrod: Let's review MSI laptop. Also Jarrod: Legion 5 is the laptop you want to buy.

[@Bulazs250]

This was a really detailed awesome review! I didn't see something this high quality content in a while, please keep up the good work!

[@JarrodsTech]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@markvalentinguillermo4729]

Another great review, Jarrod! Good job! For us tech enthusiasts and consumers who decides which gaming laptop to pick your videos really makes a great deciding factor. Kuddos!

[@ohmyme13]

him: "the chances are, you wouldn't be playing while in meeting with someone" gaming community: let me introduce myself

[@theuphillbattle]

You should review the MSI Katana GF66 11UE-031, the current MSI $999 model offered by Microcenter. It has a 95 watts max power and up to a 1567MHz boot clock, higher than the 85 watt and 1435MHz boost clock from the Sword 15 A11UE. It performs better than what is shown in this video.

[@sweatytofu7144]

Did you get it? I got an ad from microcenter about it and it looked like a really attractive deal as there was a 300 dollar discount making it 799.99 before tax for a laptop 3060.

[@RavenAii]

I got the GF66 11UG for USD1550, which is everything like this but with an RTX3070. I do notice that the dc adapter couldn’t provide enough power for the laptop. Even on wall power, the battery is still draining a bit under heavy gaming. Probably because the 180W brick couldn’t provide enough power for the i7-11800H and RTX3070. In the Nvidia Control Panel shows the GPU is rated at 85W, dynamic boost is available but I’m not so sure whether that 85W is the base limit or the max limit. With 16GB dual channel x8 3200 memory, and 512GB storage, it is still a good buy though.

[@muhtadaali8847]

I am considering buying the same laptop. My budget is 1k gbp. I want something midrange with 3070. S Main purpose is gaming though. Do you think it's the best laptop in this price range?

[@sabagamer3052]

1550 usd? Yoj got scammed bad dude

[@RavenAii]

@@sabagamer3052 It was 2 years ago my guy, and its the cheapest RTX3070 I could find. Just a few bucks more than RTX3060. To be fair, its worth all the money I put it into for this past 2 year. I do think I should spend another 1k to get the RTX3080 laptop but this is fine.

[@WhiteRaven___]

I've had this laptop for a year now and run it through the ringer. 3d modeling in blender/3d printing, video editing with DaVinci Resolve, tons of browsing, and game with it long hours including VR. My ONLY complaint is that I've had to repaste a few times and I keep the laptop on a fan platform because the laptop runs HOT in almost every situation. 90+ in Temps even with cooler boost activated. The fans when in boost mode are loud but I dont really care about that so much. Otherwise it exceeded all expectations for the price I paid. (BTW I know you can underclock for better Temps but I'm not going to do that.)

[@shiftto]

you mean repasting cpu thermal paste several times already?

[@WhiteRaven___]

@@shiftto 3 times yep. It'll work for a few months then Temps will spike and I've even had the laptop overheat many times. I thought it was just me, I tried to send it in the first time, they said nothing was wrong so I checked reddit and yep. Annoying. Its a great laptop otherwise but that factor alone knowing what I know now, I wouldn't buy it again

[@confusedhunter]

Hey, by any chance could you do a review of the Gigabyte G5 Gaming laptop? Your reviews are always the best and I can't find much useful info. Other than that, great review!

[@sonicboy678]

Being a Gigabyte product, you should probably expect baffling/catastrophic QC failures.

[@jakhongirnormatov7338]

I really like how precise you are so informative and a lot of research done for a video Fabulous job

[@kennyshi8933]

I just got the model with 11800h, rtx3060, 16gb ram and 1tb ssd for $800 from Microcenter, they have a $300 coupon for new customers, if you can get that, it's the best value gaming laptop out there.

[@spacething1959]

The laptop is great performance wise, but the lcd screen for mine cracked and I have no idea what happened. The crack is a side to side line in the bottom-left corner of the screen. Funny thing is, I couldn’t feel any cracks on the surface. Any info on what happened will be very useful. And no, I did not drop anything on it.

[@persiangamer290]

Can you please update this video with the 2022 model (3070 and i7 12700H)

[@zoid99dollars]

I was considering this but I got Lenovo Legion 5i with same specs, better screen, 1TB, and full power RTX 3060, at $1350 USD, it was around 20% discount

[@unknownposter2075]

Swap the Wi-Fi card. The one issue I have with legion laptops is that they use cr@ppy realtek Wi-Fi cards

[@anhiirr]

@@unknownposter2075 also a potential to the multi dimm ram with tighter timings. Or even a 32gb kit instead. My friend got the 17" legion 5 5800h 3060 1tb for 1200$ and then around dec 2021 within his purchase window microcenter cut it even lower to 1099 and they rectified it when he called in and they refunded him 100$. For that price point a ram upgrade or a monitor purchase becomes viable compared to the 13-1400$ laptops youre getting so much with the 1400$ spent. He mostly plays mmo/arpg so 17" was the right choice. Even then as a former laptop gamer 15" just outright blows for competitive FPS and survival shooters. EVEN looting in most games. If you lack the budget or dont own an external monitor. I also think 17" offers better cooling viability for ram/nvme

[@mukkah]

Been using my MSI Katana GF76 12UE daily for a myriad of tasks and it's a great little budget option (snagged on sale in Jan for 1450$ CDN): Intel 12700k RTX 3060 16gb ram 3200 1tb M.2 NVME 17" 1080p screen @ 144hz Really not sold on gen 4, prices for budget level are just not there while previous gen (RTX 30xx and RX 6XXX) laptops are available with sales.

[@arde5849]

hi, I would like to ask how much Watt is your gpu?

[@mukkah]

Checked in nvidia settings to confirm, it's 105w max 6gb will not age well for dedicated GPU, all buyers should be aware of what their needs are. 6gb is fine for years for me, I don't do many new high end games but for many 6gb is low. Don't know how I feel about new 4060 mobile gpu for laptop as I haven't researched them. If pricing was compareable would def consider looking into 40series and how specs are on those. For me back in Jan '23, it was the sweetest spot for an all around great laptop at a suhweeeeet price. So many good laptops by diff brands, too. Know your needs, do your research and DON'T overspend on features / performance you don't need.@@arde5849

[@rubbishping3853]

The Katana is around a mid range laptop for MSi because it has good specs and is very practical for both school and gaming.

[@Whoopy-zs7vp]

So battery’s good?

[@Niick_18]

@@Whoopy-zs7vp no no no it is 56 wh u need atleast 80 if u want to use it for school

[@Whoopy-zs7vp]

@@Niick_18 thnx got a hp tho

[@Niick_18]

@@Whoopy-zs7vp wich one?

[@Whoopy-zs7vp]

@@Niick_18 hp pro book 15.6” 1TB 16gbrm

[@VaziiX]

I got mine yesterday exact same. So far its great !

[@mohammadhajjar626]

me too, I got the 3050ti one and I think it's great (it is my first gaming laptop though). Congrats to u enjoy it

[@techaddict7611]

@@mohammadhajjar626 feeling happy for you...happy gaming m8

[@mohammadhajjar626]

@@techaddict7611 Thank you soo much!

[@Atomic-Blast-]

Hey guys, got mine 10 days ago and it runs GREAT !! Think the only 2 issues i found with it are: -can't really game with it being unplugged -low (kinda) battery life, even with Super Battery mode, battery saver, as well as battery friendly power plan. Though these 2 issues are bypassed if you have it plugged in, and you will enjoy gaming as well as browsing on it :) Congrats and enjoy !!!

[@adithyansreekumar365]

@@Atomic-Blast- Some laptops r made like that I guess I also have a Asus Tuf laptop which gives me crappy fps in battery mode 😅 and very good frames in adapter plugged in mode. If it is still present in plugged in mode then you might ask for a replacement.

[@chokking5703]

the problem with lenovo legion 5 in my region is always on the hand of those scalper and the one with 3060 is priced as low as around 1800 usd

[@billy8461]

Great and very detailed review. I decided to buy the cheaper version with the intel i5 11400h and the RTX 3050 + 8gb ram for 720 USD. Also, I want to ask if it's possible to increase the GPU TGP. Because it's only 60W and it sucks...

[@anilcapo9104]

Bro I think i will buy the same as you can you direct me ? Should i buy same as you or I should look different laptops???

[@gimenaaustin7152]

After watching your video I went to buy this notebook. What convinced me was how easy it opens and the only difference is that here in Argentina they sell it without the connector to connect the 2.5 hard drive (a shame). I calculate that in a while I will weld it, it is not very complicated, but I will lose the guarantee. It's funny that you say it's a cheap notebook...here it's one of the most expensive.

[@marinbu]

que tal el brillo de la pantalla Agus?

[@gimenaaustin7152]

@@marinbu Hola, El brillo bien, funciona 10 puntos, muy rápìda, lo único que no me gusta es que calienta mucho, hace ruido los ventiladores y que la batería no dura nada. Hay que usarla enchufada. Al desarmarla le podes agregar otro disco M2. Pero el conector 2.5 sata no me vino por lo que no podes agregarle un disco de los mecánicos, pero están los pines para soldarlo.

[@JM-qv7fe]

Hey, I don't know if I should buy the rtx 3060 version. Its 95 Watts, which may affect gaming performance badly. Do you still recommend it?

[@jackpanther1889]

Straight to the point. No bullshit. I just subbed. ❤

[@JarrodsTech]

Thanks!

[@kirohennessy2123]

Nice vid, when will you make the video about best gaming laptop 2021?

[@Nidalover]

I bought this laptop with the rtx 3060 for $800 at microcenter last year

[@dailydoseofvalo33]

hows ur experience ?

[@Nidalover]

@@dailydoseofvalo33 Is my first gaming laptop I usually use my desktop pc, but in General is a 8/10 but it gets very hot and a lot of noise for me

[@rdg0011]

and it works on linux with no issue. Thanks for this sir.

[@sm71485]

This gonna keep me warm during winter; I'm getting it

[@hiranhasaranga6450]

😂😂

[@briantopf7618]

Currently $1099 if you’re a Costco member. A decent value at that price. Sale good till 11/21/21

[@expeditocedeno7538]

Thank you very much, this video helps me a lot.. keep going with this kind of stuff

[@christang9406]

5:16 MSI internals are straight forward, huge airflow, but no SSD 2.5" bracket ;( I just got my Lenovo Ideapad 5 Slim Pro 3050, going next level semi Office & slim gaming

[@zan7838]

is that a 16" gen 6?

[@covorasel]

Hello guys, i have the msi katana laptop with 12500h but in task manager i only have 4 cores and 8 treads. Is that normal? Where are those 8 ecores?

[@darrincheng771]

Usb-C without display port capabilities? There's a lot of models that I see online that state that the laptops usb-c has display port capabilities. Could it be a possibilty with the laptop being purchased from different manufacturers?

[@lukavrtaric3415]

I have seen an article about this laptop and what did i understand was that this laptop has wasted potential because it has weak power supply. So my question is can i simply buy a better supply power and would that make any difference?

[@wheatsync8054]

I dont think thats how it works

[@ralphjienegregorio9249]

I been waiting for thissss. But still legion 5 is still the best in build wise.

[@notori-di5et]

Probably no

[@_Fizzy]

What about the Dell G15?

[@mgf909]

I really liked the Legion 5 and the Ideapad Gaming 3 both from Lenovo during the middle of the year but it seems the gaming laptop market has expanded.

[@notori-di5et]

Msi is still the king of laptop maybe aside asus but lenovo done pretty good job not gonna lie

[@meric12131415]

@@notori-di5et 🤣

[@bonnibaby]

"this is MSI's cheapest laptop" *Literal seconds later* "There are cheaper options" 😅

[@shriefallam8866]

😅😅😅

[@KovanNova]

So wait there was just one thing I was a bit confused about. So can the laptop use a second monitor for better performance?

[@obamama4632]

No, this can be bypassed without using an external monitor for this specific laptop

[@KovanNova]

@@obamama4632 ah ok

[@DJ_KHALED_GAMING]

I have a msi gf66 for 11 months and the price has dropped i got it for 1000 pounds and though the fans are loud. Gaming performance in my opinion is brilliant

[@alfredobayron9812]

how is the battery life I think of get it but idk

[@DJ_KHALED_GAMING]

@@alfredobayron9812 the battery life is pretty bad. But on every gaming laptop when playing games u have to have it plugged in to have best performance other wise it is very framey. So battery life shouldn't matter as it should always be plugged in when turned on

[@dailydoseofvalo33]

@@DJ_KHALED_GAMING does it really has thermal issues ?? hows your experience?

[@DJ_KHALED_GAMING]

@@dailydoseofvalo33 well one thing which helps is a fan board for better air flow. And also because the fans r usually quite high rpm dust collection isnt a probelm. I recommend user scenario and a fan board. Also my bro got a hp victus 16 e0511na for the same price as the gf66 UE and the hp is worth less for about 800 and the msi is worth 900

[@sangeofficial1679]

Katana GF66 11UE-861IN vs Katana GF66 11UE031 NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3060 Laptop GPU 6GB GDDR6 Up to 1435MHz Boost Clock, 85W Maximum Graphics Power with Dynamic Boost On katana gf66 11UE-861 IN while on other side katana GF66 11UE031 it say its 3060 gpu max tgp is 90 ? I see this on website Is this true ??

[@bradillingworth8660]

Thanks for the awesome review jarrod 🔥

[@qu3nt0r]

I found this model in my country for about 1089$ for i7 and 3050ti(discount). But I am more in favor of the dell g15 5511 with i5 and 3050 for 899$ (discounted until the end of the year). I tried to ask them for the 5511 with i7 and 3050ti, but they haven’t respond yet. I’m buying a laptop soon.

[@anjolaisnotmyname7926]

if you have gotten a laptop, which one did you get?

[@qu3nt0r]

@@anjolaisnotmyname7926 I got the nitro 5. With an i7, 16gb ram, qhd 165hz display and a RTX 3060 for $1149. It has been awesome. Tho be a of the storage. I haven’t download much games.

[@anjolaisnotmyname7926]

@@qu3nt0r nicee thank you

[@rohanredwan1587]

the cheapest MSI 3060 laptop would be GF65 thin. Believe it costs 1100usd on bestbuy and often goes for 850usd on sales

[@darkansh2291]

Any better options under $1500 or less for an Australian ( I am an international student and I really need a gaming laptop that would allow me to play new titles on medium and low settings as I only want the fps)

[@kakarot2503]

Hello, i have question should i get Acer Nitro5 RTX3060 I5 11400H OR MSI GF66 KATANA RTX3060 11400H? MSI cheaper.

[@saturnotaku]

This laptop is available in the US from Costco for $1100 on sale.

[@rhajibasadil7674]

great video, does the msi logo on the lid lights up?

[@ethanjensen1445]

The gf63 thin still exists with Rtx 3050s and 1650s only which is a little more budget friendly.

[@FriendlyPCGamers]

0:50 11800 and 3060 = Entry Level Gaming Laptop lol Jarred... considering the options available, it seems so true.

[@siyzerix]

No, its not. There was a literal rtx 3060 75w with a i5 10500h for $850 during black Friday. This 11800h and 3060 is not entry level. Its high end. Entry level would be r5 5600h and 3060. Or a i5 10500h or 11400h and 3060.

[@theinktician]

@@siyzerix sarcasm my guy

[@siyzerix]

@@theinktician Eh, I mean I would cut holes in it if I could.

[@Sessu108s]

Hi Jarrod, hope you are doing well... currently I am planning to get a laptop I have 2 choices within my budget the MSI Katana GF66 - Intel i5 - 11400H , RTX 3060 , 6GB GDDR6 or Lenovo Legion 5 - Ryzen R7 R7-5800H, RTX 3050. 4GB GDDR6.... both are almost at the same price albeit + - a couple of dollars in my currency. Specifications wise, it seems like MSI wins over the Legion, but I am unsure of the chipset performance etc. Which would you choose and why ? I use it mainly for light gaming, and some casual surfing on the net. Hope to hear from you soon. Cheers.

[@waktor1976]

We have same problems bro hahaha, If I'm picking pro and cons Msi gf66 i5 gen11 rtx 3060 : more storage(because have sata), more graphic power(rtx 3060 tdp?) Legion 5: good cpu, good battery (upgradeable to 80wh+ u can get easy the original battery compared with other brand that when we order original battery you always get stupid fake battery ), storage u can substitute by more port with high speed the 2 type c port u can use 1 for seagate desktop hdd (6tb more if you have it ) In my opinion : portable use big storage : Msi gf66 Stayhome computer: Legion 5 Lenovo has more good option with the additional damage protection User complaint for now i just research on Legion group

[@islandwolfington]

it's $1000 at best buy rn, ty for the review!

[@sigilwinningngl5284]

I just ordered one for £720 and the specs are i7-11800H 16gb ram 512ssd and a rtx 3060 6gb. Did i get a good deal?

[@joifashion8355]

Yes

[@steinbauge4591]

I got real cheap: the i5 rtx 1650 with 17.3 screen at around 500 GBP. Already doubled memory to 16

[@aymanrifzan4089]

I have narrowed it down to 2 laptops and I need help on deciding which to go with. The MSI katana Gf66 i5 11400H, Rtx 3050, 16GB Ram, 512GB SSD or The Dell G3 i5 10300H, Gtx 1650, 8GB Ram, 256GB SSD + 1TB Sata HDD. I'm considering the G3 because of the lower price.

[@tedarcher9120]

Buy 3060 or 5600 one, both of these aren't worth it

[@pandesal2022]

They said 3050 is crap.

[@darrylkinslow3357]

I just found out within the past few days, this laptop outputs power through the power jack. I plugged in a different adapter, and when I unplugged it later on, there was still power getting to the adapter from the laptop. Now I wish I could find a battery mod that worked for me, then I can charge it up and be able to charge my other laptop with it on the go.

[@ekam9402]

I just bought the 3050 version yesterday, here in my country it was approximately 30% cheaper than the next offering, so for what I’ve seen in your video I think it was a good deal

[@SYmotgang]

I don't want to rain on your parade.. but 3050 is A LOT slower than 3060... even at 80w. And its 4gb, which has been less than optimal for the many years already. Its more than 30% slower (more like 40-50 depending on game) so I belive it would be worth it to pay 30% more. I remeber when i bought a laptop with a 1050 ti instead of a 1060... i had huge regrets and ended up selling the laptop to buy a 1060 one because after less than a year, i could not get proper fps in new games.

[@ekam9402]

@@SYmotgang I know that, still, this laptop is almost half the price of 3060 laptops, the market here is crazy lol. With 30% I was referring to other 3050 laptops

[@SYmotgang]

@@ekam9402 ah, understand. It all depends on what you game of course. Even a mid/low tier laptop can bring hours upon hours of good gaming experience. Its mostly aaa titles that might suffer a bit. Enjoy your new device :)

[@anhiirr]

ive owned 3 1660ti laptops and can safely say a 3050 is viable if you have no intent on playing AAA titles maxed or survival shooters/koth games. Sure the 1660ti is somewhat better. bc it has more vram. But a 3050ti per ex ive seen it with 8c 11th gen and 5800h cpus for 800$ which is hard to beat at that price point. Weather or not ppl think the GPU is viable for games like bfv apex or other games that require more vram for its textures. IF ppl are just going to play arpgs/moba/competitive shooters 800$ for an 8c cpu for "school/work" is hard to beat while still being able to play the run of the mill free to play e-sports titles that are largely played/popular and tbh its somewhat insulting when im dragged into these games with my irl friends on my power rig ngl.

[@ItzCardinalYT]

I've been thinking of getting this gaming laptop but I wanted to know if I'm gonna stream/record games on this one, is it good for streaming/recording?

[@gibingeorge3352]

Hey Jarrod, does the screen response time and total system latency change when connected to an external screen?

[@doge-of-venice]

The screen response time is a measurement of the panel, so yeah. And as for the total system latency, it is affected by the screen response time and would be faster when the visual signal is fed directly from the dGPU, so also yeah.

[@gibingeorge3352]

@@doge-of-venice So, I can overcome the slow screen response time of a laptop by connecting to an external screen with faster srt?

[@doge-of-venice]

@@gibingeorge3352 Yup.

[@gibingeorge3352]

@@doge-of-venice Thanks. I am planning on buying a gaming laptop, but my budget is pretty tight. Most cheap laptops have slow response times. But since I have an external screen, I don't have to worry about that now.

[@Arshar]

Thank you for the review !

[@stone8519]

Hey when are you going to do the comparison for the Laptop vs Desktop RTX 3080 GPU, i'm excited!

[@mohammedajam9007]

I hope my comment is not deleted I bought this laptop and it is very bad The temperature always rises even without playing games The battery also lasts an hour and a half or an hour Please believe me If someone wants to prove it Can you talk to me on Discard or Messenger? I'm really frustrated how they lie to us after the purchase you will see something else in just one month I hope the comment is not deleted Thanks 😥😥😪

[@dailydoseofvalo33]

hows ur expeirence?

[@Baleur]

OOOOOF the contrast on the screen. NOPED straight out, back to considering Lenovo Legion 5

[@lukanikolic2060]

Hi man, love the content. I got the i5-11400H with 3050Ti version, as I don't game much anymore. All things considered, do I need a laptop cooler for it? Or is just a laptop stand with some holes below enough to make the airflow work? Thanks!

[@KennyFromthaA]

I would get cooler fan pad if I were you

[@Gridges_]

Awesome review Jarrod!!

[@JarrodsTech]

Thanks!

[@kazkas000]

i wouldnt say it's cheap, in europe the price is almost 2x. I just bought it a week ago for €1540 which is about 1630 USD

[@ernestofelix6734]

msi sucks

[@ronaldchristiankollman5452]

Hi Jarrod! For its original MSRP, I agree with you that this laptop is overpriced for the overall product, but what would you say with BestBuy’s regular sale for $899 US?

[@drmcnasty4300]

well at the end of the video he said if you could get the 3060 model for under $1100 it would be more attractive and last I checked 899 is less than 1100!

[@FeryCZ81]

In Costco US is now this laptop for 1099$ do you think that's good time to buy it?

[@glara8295]

No best buy is 899.99

[@sullivanseanp]

@@glara8295 That's the i5 w/8gb ram although the rest looks the same.

[@armedjaquar]

If I were to buy this, Do I have better options available around the same price range (+ or - 100$)?

[@muu1994]

I got Sword 15 i7-11800H, 8GB, 512GB SSD, RTX 3050ti for 899$ from BestBuy on BF sale. Is it a good deal? or Should i buy Legion 5 R7-5800H, 3050ti for 1050$ / Legion 5 R7-4800H, 1660ti for 1300$?

[@1kwokwo459]

Which site says that msi gf66 has an adaptive sync? I confused, wherever i see msi gf66 laptop spec, either onlineshop or their official site. I cant found their detailed spec like Lenovo psref. Too bad because i think an adaptive sync would be a good feature even it is doesnt has a good color gamut.

[@pruthviraj2660]

We recently purchased msi katana gf66 RTX 3060 model and the seller said it has 18 way cooling. But, I didn't know about it. So, what's 18 way cooling and what's the difference between 18 ,12, 10 and 8 ways cooling system???

[@KilledDebtor]

More is cooler :D

[@pruthviraj2660]

@@KilledDebtor thanks 👍

[@endrizulfikar9040]

finally review out 😁

[@DarKaoZ]

Damn, your channel has helped me a lot to see what can I get from these laptops, thank you! But I'm conflicted to which one to get, the MSI Pulse GL66 or the Gigabyte AERO 15 OLED, both have 3060 and Intel gen 11th CPU, also they are ATM close in price because of BF, but dunno which one to get. Which one you recommend? I heard bad things on Gigabyte software and my previous PC was a MSI, so i know what I get in a way. I'm conflicted to far the least 😅

[@meric12131415]

Ever consider the asus tuf dash f15?

[@DarKaoZ]

@@meric12131415 yes, but my issue with that one was the lack of Number pad, and even if it's small, I appreciate a number pad.

[@meric12131415]

@@DarKaoZ oh yeah the thing on the right side of the keyboard although if it help most laptops don't usually use numpads anymore you don't really see them as often on laptops like how you would on keyboards

[@DarKaoZ]

@@meric12131415 So true, but I ended up going for the GL66 afterall. The Aero was not available at 1250 anymore unfortunately. But hopefully it's a good buy until I can easily get the 3000 series for PC and Win 11 gets stable lol Still amazing work! I'll definitely keep checking you out, lots of great info and good breakdown. 😄

[@meric12131415]

@@DarKaoZ 🤣 something tells me you've seen one of my videos but thanks man😁 happy to help

[@Exsanguine]

I really hate that lenovo prices their laptops so high for Indian laptop market. I wanted a legion but this laptop made more sense to me than a 3050 legion. 3050ti legion was priced higher than this laptop.

[@siyzerix]

Yeah, msi reins king here. And asus, lenovo's ideapad and asus. Sometimes HP.

[@ciuwas1122]

Intresting, my older msi stealth i7-10750h with rtx 2600 got 88Fps in Shadow of the Tombrider wothout external display, on paper my specs way worse but..... 😁 tried harser and manage 92fps

[@rapidphonk]

Ok so I have the gf76 i7 12 gen and 3060 ti, 16 ram and there isn't any heating problems why does the gf66 heat up fast?

[@sicko990]

Is 920$ for it a good deal? I just can't make up my mind here, the thermal issue and the battery are killing it for me. I was going to get the legion 6600m model but it's more money and this msi is the absolute cheapest right now. The laptop I have now is a Samsung i7 5500U and it's painfully slow.

[@Musta1Pha]

Legion 5 rtx 3060 or msi katana rtx 3050ti HELP ME TO CHOOSE ONE OF THESE

[@yoiboitrash8411]

Legion 5

[@GOLOMBAS]

Anyone knows why after fresh windows 11/10 installation keyboard backlight is not working for me? FN + F8 doesnt work at all... other FN keys are working fine

[@JarrodsTech]

You could also try fn and +\- this usually works on an MSI

[@muneernafees8977]

Hello I just want to know i have the same laptop but whenever i open some high graphic game my laptop stops charging other than that it works fine but because of not charging during game fps drops and game started to lag.. if someone knows the solution please reply me…. ???

[@pippylunalove]

I want to play stuff like planet zoo and the Sims and have a laptop last like 4 years. I was looking at the rtx 3050 cause it's £100 cheaper than the rtx3060. Do you think it can handle it?

[@AdhitamaW]

which one is the worth to buy , This msi or DELL G15 or ideapad gaming 3 with same price ???

[@darkansh2291]

Any better options under $1500 or less for an Australian ( I am an international student and I really need a gaming laptop that would allow me to play new titles on medium and low settings for upto 3 years, as I only want the fps)

[@meric12131415]

Ok all things considered your looking to play low to medium range games yeah? Ok I recommend the tuf dash f15 it gets a bad rap yeah but it does the job your looking for plus it has kick ass battery life

[@darkansh2291]

@@meric12131415 Thank you so much brother 👍

[@ESC_Adrian]

very good review, thanks

[@cristis1619]

The screen brightness how many nits please? What should i buy between legion 5 r7 rtx 3060 120hz or this msi?

[@GypsyEyez_]

Is the Katana 15 i7 with 16GB RAM, 1TB and a RTX4070, 144hz screen worth the 1000€ price tag? I don't play high end games... Just love to mod some of them sparsely.

[@bat_vals]

Hi, I got the GF66 11UC. I wanted to know if there is a way to limit the battery charge. I wanted to set it up so it would only charge till 50 or 60%, bc I'm going to be using it mostly connected and for the battery.

[@vedangnagar6747]

Hi Vals, I hope you are doing well. I am thinking to buy this GF66 UC, how is the plastic build quality? Does screen is quite wobbly and what about the hinges. I have seen many negetive reviews about this laptop. I need high configuration like this with 64 GB ram

[@souheilbichiou6644]

how do you find your g66 ? is it worth it to buy ? does it make noise when idle ?

[@namanseth7072]

10:15 😂 fan noise isn't bad though, it gives vibes of sitting in aircraft.

[@108_hariswirananda7]

@Jarrod'sTech This is out of topic, but do you still have the dell g5 15 se with the rx 5600m? I'm really curious if that would offer better price to performance than gf 66?

[@AB-sg4xu]

That laptop is terrible, avoid it