Intel Alder Lake-H Core i9-12900HK Review: MSI's Raider GE76 Goes Hybrid
by Brett Howse on January 25, 2022 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
- Intel
- MSI
- Laptops
- Alder Lake
- GE76 Raider
- 12th Gen Core
- Alder Lake-H
The Test Platform: MSI's Raider GE76
For 2022, MSI has not updated the underlying chassis for the new Alder Lake product, and as such our review of the GE76 Raider from 2021 with Tiger Lake does not fundamentally change in terms of chassis design and cooling. This is still a big, relatively heavy desktop-replacement system. It features an aluminum surface where you will be touching it, and a polycarbonate base.
MSI generally builds a very solid product, and for 2022 they have upgraded the cooling with a new phase-change thermal pad which allows them to wick heat away from the processor and GPU quicker, without some of the negatives of a pure-liquid thermal compound and crystallization that can occur.
The system offers a per-key RGB backlit keyboard from SteelSeries. There is a 1080p webcam as well, and the system now offers an AI-based setting to let the system automatically switch the power levels for the user without having to manually do it, although the manual options are still there. MSI has updated their Silent mode to now leverage the microphones on the system to match the noise floor of the room, which lets them extract more power from the processor, and more fan speed, while still being inaudible.
The Raider GE76 offers lots of connectivity, including a single Thunderbolt 4 port, an additional USB Type-C port, and several USB Type-A ports. There is also a SD card reader which is still convenient when uploading from a camera.
The system offers Wi-Fi 6E support thanks to the Killer AX1675 Wi-Fi adapter, and also includes the Killer E3100G 2.5 Gbps Ethernet adapter.
MSI offers a range of display options, with a 1920x1080 144 Hz panel on their least expensive Raider GE76, a 1920x1080 360 Hz panel which is in the sampled unit, a 2560x1440 240 Hz panel, and a 3840x2160 120 Hz offering.
On our Tiger Lake sample we reviewed late last year, the display accuracy was not up to par with typical MSI offerings. Thankfully that appears to have been a one-off, which we do see from time to time even on devices that are hardware calibrated at the factory. MSI does allow you to use a built-in tool to calibrate the display, but you do need a supported colorimeter.
Thanks to Portrait Displays for the use of their Calman software so we can continue to accurately measure displays for our reviews.
As you can see, the color accuracy of this sample is much improved over the Tiger Lake model from last year that we received.
Brightness and Contrast
Grayscale
Gamut
Saturation
Gretag Macbeth
The MSI Raider GE76 is a fantastic test bed for Intel's Alder Lake system, with a powerful cooling system, and a great build quality.
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Kamen Rider Blade - Tuesday, January 25, 2022 - link
So the ASUS G513QY w/ it's Ryzen 9 5900HX + Radeon 6800M + It's display / Memory don't also impact power consumption?That the ASUS that you chose wasn't similar enough?
Brett Howse - Tuesday, January 25, 2022 - link
Of course they do. AMD does way better on battery life but not because of the CPU. That's the point I've been trying to convey.AMD's power gating on their GPU is very impressive.
You said Alder Lake is "max performance with no regards to Fuel/Energy Efficiency" but in both the AMD system and the Intel system, neither CPU is the determining factor for battery life. They are almost irrelevant. Even in a thin and light system with no GPU, the display draws more power than any other component including the CPU.
I would love an apples to apples comparison but I don't have a Raider GE76 with RTX 3080 Ti and Ryzen 5900HX. Sadly we are constrained by what we have been provided to test, and what manufacturers build.
Kamen Rider Blade - Tuesday, January 25, 2022 - link
=(Kamen Rider Blade - Tuesday, January 25, 2022 - link
MSI Raider GE76CPU = Intel Core i9-12900HK w/ 85 Watts TDP
GPU = NVIDIA RTX 3080 Ti for Laptops
RAM = 32 GB DDR5-4800
Display = 17.3" 2K | 1080p @ 360 Hz
Battery = 99.9 Wh
Asus ROG Strix G15 G513QY
CPU = AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX __ w/ 45 Watts TDP
GPU = AMD Radeon RX 6800M
RAM = 16 GB DDR4-3200
Display = 15.6" 2K | 1080p @ 300 Hz
Battery = 90.0 Wh
IntelUser2000 - Wednesday, January 26, 2022 - link
5900HX in the G15 isn't running at 45W, that's his whole point, but either you are choosing to ignore it or didn't see it."The ASUS G513QY with the AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX has a similar system, and it also draws around 85 Watts in its maximum performance mode on a 45-Watt processor."
That's the *same* power as Alderlake-H.
undervolted_dc - Wednesday, January 26, 2022 - link
alder lake it's not at maximum performance mode 85w, it's 115w a good test should account for power and price, a cpu which cost 2x because it's the super top 1% binning for 10% median better perf in benchmarks or that consume 2x for the same should be accounted in each bench results, top performance is a factor but the most important one for laptops are perf/watt/price and for servers is perf/TCO , perf alone is useless ( or useful to reach a certain wanted point from the press.... )Kamen Rider Blade - Tuesday, January 25, 2022 - link
The specs are similar enough, the only difference is that extra 1.7" display diagonal and extra 16 GB of RAM, but MSI has the more efficient DDR5 instead of older DDR4.MSI also has an extra 9.9 Wh to it's advantage.
Yet the AlderLake laptop was "UnImpressive"
jjjag - Wednesday, January 26, 2022 - link
Brett you are hilarious trying to reason with a fanboi. It's like trying to convince a trumper to get vaxxed because of all the past success we've had with smallpox and polio. For them, it's a religious argument. "Religious" because it ignores all real data and observations, and it just makes them feel better about themselves to hate something. But A+ for trying!TheinsanegamerN - Friday, January 28, 2022 - link
Funny, I didnt know the black community was full of trumpers. Or the hispanic community, for that matter......Sunrise089 - Wednesday, January 26, 2022 - link
But Brett, you’re giving the Intel system credit for the GPU+memory+storage. I don’t understand the rationale behind crediting the PCMark scores to Alder Lake but ‘crediting’ the poor battery life to MSI.