MSI Titan GT77 Review. The most powerful laptop with RTX 3080Ti

Here we have probably the most powerful and heaviest laptop we’ve ever seen – the MSI Titan GT77. It’s equipped with the best graphics card in the mobile segment at the time of reviewing it, the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, and a 12th gen i9-12900HX processor which has 16 cores compared to the 14 cores in the H series.

The model is really far from the most compact and portable. The MSI Titan GT77 weighs an impressive 3.3 KG and the Delta Electronics 330W power supply adds about another 1.5 KG. Not surprising that the manufacturer positions this laptop more as a mobile workstation rather than a portable laptop.

Appearance

At the same time, the outside of the MSI Titan GT77 still resembles a gaming laptop – the design uses futuristic elements, and the multi-colored gaming backlight is generously built into all the details. In addition to the Steelseries keyboard, the MSI logo on the lid, the grille backplate, and the top grill element behind the display are also RGB-lit. By tradition, all illumination is conveniently configured and synchronized in a proprietary application.

The keyboard in the MSI Titan GT77 is one of the most interesting on the market. It uses Cherry MX Ultra Low Profile switches, which have long been synonymous with quality in mechanical keyboards. With this model, you will hear the usual clicks during operation, and this is a rarity for laptops.

The device is also additionally equipped with a small fingerprint scanner and a webcam, which, unfortunately, is not something to praise. For some reason, the company installed a standard camera with a 720p resolution.

The 17.3-inch display supports 4K resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. For now, this is the most optimal solution, achieving higher frame rates in modern games is not an easy task. Only fans of session games and shooters would benefit from a higher refresh rate. The display itself isn’t outstanding – it’s fast, but in dark scenes, you can see the backlight from below.

On the left of the laptop are the following ports: power, 2x USB, SD Express card reader, and a mini-jack for your headset.

On the right are another USB, 2x Thunderbolt ports, a Mini-Display port, an HDMI port, and an RJ45 for connecting to the network.

The rear part and all the impressive space behind the display is given over to cooling. The model uses a Cooler Boost Titan system with 4 fans, seven heat pipes, and a new Phase-Change Thermal Pad. The phase change thermal pad has 2 states – when the temperature reaches 58℃, the solid pad melts and fills the space between the CPU and the fuser, allowing for more efficient heat transfer.

Powerful iron – massive cooling, it doesn’t work otherwise. Note that the noise at full load of the video card and processor is noticeable, but not too loud – no howling or humming, only the fans running at full power.

Specifications:

• Display: 17.3 Inch, 1920×1080, IPS, 360 Hz
• Processor: Intel Core i9-12900HX
• Memory: 32GB DDR5-4800 (Max: 128GB)
• Video: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti 16GB GDDR6 for Notebooks
• HDD: 2 TB M.2 SSD (1x PCIe Gen5, 3x Gen4; Up to 8 TB)
• Network: Gb LAN (up to 2.5G), Killer AX Wi-Fi 6E + Bluetooth v5.2
• Ports: 2x USB Type-C (USB / DP / Thunderbolt 4), 3x Type-A USB 3.2 Gen2, 1x RJ45, 1x HDMI (8K @ 60 GHz / 4K @ 120 GHz), 1x Mini-Display port, 1x SD Express
• Dimensions: 397 (W) x 330 (D) x 233 (H) mm
• Weight: 3.3 Kg

Performance in synthetic tests

We tested the laptop in Cinebench R23, CPU-Z, and CrystalDiskMark. The results are below in the screenshots.

We also tested the performance of the laptop in 3DMark: Time Spy, Time Spy Extreme, Port Royale, CPU Profile, and Storage Benchmark to check the speed of loading games on its SSD.

Performance in real games

All game tests were carried out in maximum performance mode with ultra settings in games. The temperature of the processor and video card reached 90 degrees Celsius, but usually, it kept around the 85-degree mark. The heat could be felt closer to the screen on the right side, while the keyboard itself just remained warm.

• The Callisto Protocol. The new action-horror game with quite a poor optimization. It was more interesting to see how the laptop would handle the game. The internal benchmark showed an average of 42 frames per second. Not the best result for smooth gameplay. Therefore, if you want a good experience, you will have to sacrifice ray tracing.
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. The updated version of the game makes even the best hardware choke. Ultra settings provided to be a manageable task for the laptop, but the frame rate was hovering in the 30 – 35s. For a smooth experience, you will have to lower ray tracing or completely turn it off. Then you can expect around 60 – 70 FPS.
• Cyberpunk 2077. The internal benchmark on ultra settings with maximum ray tracing got us an average of 30 FPS. Quite the expected result with graphics maxed out. Playing with max settings and reducing ray tracing, you can expect 60 FPS.

Our verdict

Does the Titan GT77 handle today’s games? It’s embarrassing to even ask this question. Yes, yes and yes again! The only problem is the ultra-ray tracing settings. In all other cases, this is one of the most powerful and fastest solutions on the market, even at the end of 2022.

Who is this device suitable for? Probably gamers who want the most powerful hardware and professionals who need better performance for their applications. And users who don’t want to move it as much – with its weight and dimensions, it is difficult to call it portable.