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
But for how long?How many Joules of Energy did it consume to perform the same task in the same time period?
TekCheck - Tuesday, January 25, 2022 - link
Benchamark tech-tubers and tech website must start publishing performance+power benchmarks for laptops, to give us better context behind high bars in any test. This is less important for desktops, but as laptops are usually portable devices, it is paramount that we know the power behind performance.If 12900HK is winning in any bars, say 20% over 6900HX, we need to know at which power level. Is it at 45W? At 60W? At 115W? If the win is at high wattage only, users will have a wrong impression that such CPU has "better" performance, which is untrue without knowing the power needed for such performance.
Kamen Rider Blade - Tuesday, January 25, 2022 - link
AlderLake is "American Muscle Car" with max performance with no regards to Fuel/Energy Efficiency or Heat Output.Ryzen 6000 is European / Japanese thoughtful design that cares about Energy/Heat Output Efficiency
TekCheck - Tuesday, January 25, 2022 - link
Well put.BillBear - Tuesday, January 25, 2022 - link
Which is another way to say that AlderLake is a chip to use in a luggable computer, but not a laptop.Kamen Rider Blade - Tuesday, January 25, 2022 - link
It should be considered a "BagTop" computer.You're going to need a Large 'BackPack' or 'LapTop Bag' to carry it around.
It's not designed to fit or sit on your Lap.
drothgery - Wednesday, January 26, 2022 - link
Adler Lake H. Just like every 45W+ notebook chip before it (though that we're now calling sub-7 lb machines 'luggable computers' instead of laptops is a mark of how much has changed on that score).Adler Lake P and U are much lower-power parts (on basically the same die).
Brett Howse - Tuesday, January 25, 2022 - link
That's a very poor analogy. I wrote in the review that the AMD system also pulls the same numbers at load.Kamen Rider Blade - Tuesday, January 25, 2022 - link
You wrote this:Battery Life Summary
In a word the battery life could be summed up as "unimpressive". The Raider GE76 is not an ideal test bed to determine CPU efficiency under load since the underlying power draw is significant. To see how Alder Lake compares we will have to wait for more power efficient platforms to get more meaningful results.
You showed the results.
The battery is piss poor compared to the AMD equivalent when doing similar work loads.
Brett Howse - Tuesday, January 25, 2022 - link
Yes exactly. Alder Lake doesn't have much to do with the battery life in the Raider GE76. There is a massive amount of power being used by the display/GPU/memory/storage which is masking any impacts Alder Lake can or can't have. As I said, we need to wait for different systems to get a better feel for how Alder Lake impacts battery life.