
Explore open-world environments with this 15.6-inch MSI Stealth gaming laptop. Its VR-ready NVIDIA GeForce GTX graphics card produces immersive visuals, and its hexa-core Intel Core processor and 16GB of RAM run Windows 10 smoothly. Store and access large applications efficiently thanks to the 512GB solid-state drive of this MSI Stealth gaming laptop.
A: The trade-offs to achieve this price point were as follows: 1) Swapping the Killer 1550 wifi card for the Intel 9560 - In my opinion a negligible tradeoff as the Killer 1550 is at its core an Intel 9260. The 9560 is technically a newer chip and offers all the same hardware specs (1.73Gbps, BT 5.0, etc.) as the Killer 1550. The only advantage I can see in the Killer 1550 is the six-tier packet prioritization in the Killer utility, but for all practical purposes this won't be useful for most people, and may actually be more of a headache than it's worth. If you absolutely must have the Killer 1550 it can be found on Amazon for $30. 2) Swapping the NVMe SSD for a SATA SSD. The 512GB SSD in the Best Buy model is "OK" by gaming laptop standards. It still performs faster than a hard disk, but is slower than the performance NVMe drives on the market today. I have been using this model for the past week and have not been disappointed with the drive performance. I am adding an NVMe drive soon, but strictly for additional storage, not because I am unsatisfied with the drive that is already in it. After looking high and low, these are the only two compromises that I see in the Best Buy model. Other than these all hardware within it is identical to the higher priced, similarly spec'd non-Best Buy version. So it's still impressive that they were able to offer this unit at this price. To add to some of the other answers, MSI offers several variants of the GS65, some with 16GB RAM and some with 32GB RAM. If you are using this laptop primarily for gaming, 16GB is more than adequate to last the useful life of the laptop and beyond. The 32GB model is targeted for people who will be doing RAM-intensive editing and rendering work. 32GB of RAM is not necessary for gaming, and you won't see additional performance over the 16GB model.
A: First of all, opening it to upgrade RAM or SSD will not void MSI warranty. Also in the US, there is "right to repair" law that make voiding warranty upon opening illegal. With that said, the Best Buy model (037) already comes with two 8GB SODIMM memory sticks and therefore already dual channel memory. If you want to upgrade to 32GB, you'll need to replace both. There is a great video on YouTube titled "MSI GS65 Teardown" that shows you step by step. it removes all guessing game for a straightforward DIY project.
A: It has two M.2 slots, both capable of NVMe PCIe per MSI website. One also does regular (slower) SATA, which is what this 037 model comes with.
A: ChicoStateStudent and Dagstar...I was quite aware of the speed of RAM but was hoping for more responses to my question. The demo unit at my BB, sticker, right palm rest, stated 2400MHz and even today the specifications list 2400MHz. YT reviews (most) state 2400MHz. So I was assuming that maybe if we bought an early build it came with the 2400 MHz and then the newer build dates, in my case June, 2018, at the 2666MHz. Also most state the 9250 Intel Wi-Fi card, mine the 9650 card. Confirmed using HWiNFO64 and CPUID CPU-Z. Thanks!
A: It automatically overclocks to 4.2 Ghz on a single core, and up to 3.9 Ghz when all cores are under load. It does this automatically based on CPU temperature and work load.
Q: Is there room inside to add an additional HD? Or will I have to replace the existing drive?
A: There are two M.2 slots only so you can use a SATA-based drive or a PCI-e -based one. This model ships with a SATA-based M.2 drive.
Q: Does the laptop have a fingerprint sensor?
A: This laptop has the firmware and hardware to support a fingerprint sensor but as of now it does not utilize it. From what I understand MSI has stated that they will enable the fingerprint sensor in a future update but other then that I do not know when the update will be available.
A: Are you pressing the finger sensor or the barely visible "power" symbol? You should not have any issues turning it on if you use the finger sensor as the power button, if you are then you need to use the warranty Thanks!