NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Max-Q: Mid range dedicated graphics card for thin and light laptops based on the GTX 1650 but with reduced clock speeds and power consumption. Uses the Turing architecture (TU117 chip in 12nm FFN) but without Raytracing or Tensor cores. Show With these GPUs you are able to play modern and demanding games fluently at medium detail settings and HD resolution. » Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Graphics Cards and the corresponding Benchmark List. Intel Core i7: The Intel Core i7 for laptops is based on the LG1156 Core i5/i7 CPU for desktops. The base clock speed of the CPUs is relatively low, but because of a huge Turbo mode, the cores can dynamically overclock to up to 3.2 GHz (920XM). Therefore, the CPU can be as fast as high clocked dual-core CPUs (using single threaded applications) but still offer the advantage of 4 cores. Because of the large TDP of 45 W / 55 W, the CPU is only intended for large laptops. i7-8565U: Whiskey Lake based low power quad-core processor (technically identical to Kaby Lake but produced in a further improved 14nm++ process). The four cores are clocked between 1.8 and 4.6 GHz (Turbo Boost) and support HyperThreading.» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Processsors. 15.60": 15-inch display variants are the standard and are used for more than half of all laptops. The reason for the popularity of mid-sized displays is that this size is reasonably easy on the eyes, often allows high resolutions and thus offers rich details on the screen, yet does not consume too much power and the devices can still be reasonably compact - simply the standard compromise. » To find out how fine a display is, see our DPI List. MSI: Micro-Star International (MSI) was founded in 1986 in Taiwan. MSI is especially known as a manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards for PCs, but also offers computer accessories, complete systems, motherboards, graphics cards, laptops, desktop PCs, monitors and other components. However, the Microstar brand name in Germany belongs to the Medion company. MSI is known for its gaming products and has developed a wide range of gaming laptops and desktop PCs. The company is also active in workstations, servers and industrial automation. MSI has offices in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. 70%: This rating is poor. More than three quarters of the models are rated better. That is rather not a purchase recommendation. Even if verbal ratings in this area do not sound that bad ("sufficient" or "satisfactory"), they are usually euphemisms that disguise a classification as a below-average laptop. MSI has been making laptops for years, but they're not something I typically get excited about. That changed last year with impressive GS65 Stealth gaming laptop, which I still use regularly, and the unique Prestige PS42. For 2019, MSI is combining the NVIDIA GTX 1050 GPU with a tamed-down Intel Core i7 U-series processor. The result is a 15-inch Ultrabook that's light and portable but still delivers a punch for graphics without sacrificing battery life. Here's what's great about this laptop ... and the one thing that prevents it from reaching a perfect score.  From $1,499Bottom line: The MSI PS63 Modern delivers a powerful NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 (or 1050Ti) in a 15.6-inch Ultrabook, making it a rare find. The 10 hours of battery life, and excellent display and keyboard, make it ideal for creative types. For
Against
a traditional laptop MSI PS63 Modern design, specs, and featuresMSI offers a few versions of the PS63 including Modern-008, Modern-085, and Modern-091. All have a Core i7 processor but vary on the use of the GeForce GTX 1050 with Max-Q Design or the slightly more powerful GeForce GTX 1050Ti with Max-Q Design and the use of NVMe or SATA for storage. For our review, we received the 085 model with an NVMe solid-state drive (SSD) and GeForce GTX 1050. The PS63 Modern is a straight-up 15.6-inch Ultrabook laptop. There is no touch display, nor does the screen lay completely flat. But the PS63 Modern does something unique. MSI paired the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 – a moderate GPU – with a 15W Intel i7-8565 U-series processor. That's unusual because most laptops are paired with a hefty GPU like the GTX 1050 with a 45-watt CPU, like the popular Dell XPS 15. Because of the efficient 15W Ultrabook CPU, the PS63 Modern gets excellent battery life, but it can still game when needed or help creative types who want to render video, graphics or do more advanced computing. MSI uses a common alloy for the frame of the PS63 Modern, and it feels ridged with little flex. Blue chamfered "diamond-cut" accents add some pizzazz to an otherwise serious design – the PS63 Modern is an attractive laptop. Swipe to scroll horizontally CategoryXXProcessor8th Gen Intel Core i7-8565U (up to 4.6GHz)RAM16GB (x1) DDR4 2666MHzStorage512GB NVMe SSD or SATADisplay15.6-inch FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS level Anti-Glare Wide View Angle Non-touchGraphicsNVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 or GTX1050TI Max-Q Design 4G GDDR5PortsTwo USB 3.1 Gen 2 Two USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C 3.1 Gen 1 (with Display) HDMI (4K at 30Hz) Headphone jack micro SDAudioDual 2W speakersWirelessIntel 9560 802.11 A/C (2 x 2) Bluetooth 5.0CameraFront-facing 720pKeyboardWhite backlight keyboard (84 Key)TouchpadPrecisionBiometricsFingerprint reader for Windows HelloBattery4 cell (82Whr)Weight3.53 lbs to 3.6 lbs (1.6 kg to 1.63 kg)Dimensions14.05 in x 9.20 in x 0.63 inOSWindows 10 Home MSI provides three USB Type-A "classic" ports, as well as USB Type-C. A microSD slot is also available. That Type-C port can only do data and display out, and it is not Thunderbolt 3 nor can it be used to charge the PS63 Modern, which is a huge letdown. Instead, users must rely on the included (and tiny) 90-watt barrel charger. In other words, you cannot use a Type-C phone charger in a pinch. Two two-watt speakers are placed on the bottom of the laptop near the edges. Sound output is decent for volume but lacks bass and richness, making these speakers merely adequate and at most average or slightly worse than average. Finally, weighing just 3.6 pounds (1.63 kg), the PS63 Modern is one of the lightest 15-inch laptops that also has a full GeForce GTX 1050 or 1050Ti GPU. a bit low res MSI PS63 Modern displayMSI tends to use top display panels, and the PS63 is no exception. The 15.6-inch screen is matte (anti-glare) with a 16 x 9 aspect ratio and a full-HD 1920 x 1080 resolution. Color accuracy is 95 percent of sRGB and 75 percent AdobeRGB, which, while not perfect, is still very good. Brightness is also excellent, peaking at 315 nits, which when combined with the anti-glare design makes it perfect for office environments with overhead lights. Being a traditional laptop, the PS63 Modern does not support touch and or inking, nor does the display lay flat. Overall, if you are OK with full HD resolution at 15.6-inches the PS63 is excellent. Nailing the fundamentals MSI PS63 Modern typing and trackpadThe PS63's keyboard is excellent for typing, with well-sized keys that are spaced appropriately. The keys are backlit and viable in all lighting conditions due to the color combination. Key travel is also good, hovering around the 1.2 to 1.3mm mark. The trackpad on the PS63 Modern is excellent, as well. MSI uses Microsoft Precision drivers, and the exceptionally spacious (elongated) physical trackpad is smooth with a very satisfying click; it's one of the best trackpads we've tested. Located on the top left of the trackpad is small fingerprint reader for Windows Hello bio-authentication. While it's an odd placement compared to other laptops, the reader is very good with no missed or false reads. Considering MSI positions the MS63 for creatives, the typing and trackpad match the company's ambitions, delivering well above average performance. GPU punch MSI PS63 Modern performance and fansMSI uses the latest 8th Generation Intel Core i7-8565 "Whiskey Lake" processor, which deliver the expected results. The quad-core chip provides excellent performance, and while it's far-behind current hexa-core 45-watt processors, like the one in the Dell XPS 15, the GPU makes up for it. The GeForce GTX 1050 is not a new GPU, but there are no RTX 2050's on the market yet, either, making it a solid choice for this laptop. Performance falls in line with expectations, and it allows for gaming, including some 2D titles and Microsoft's latest Crackdown 3, which runs flawlessly. CPUGeekbench 4.0 benchmarks (higher is better) Swipe to scroll horizontally DeviceCPUSingle coreMulti coreMSI PS63 Moderni7-8565U4,90914,466LG gram 17i7-8565U5,16113,370LG gram 15 (2018)i7-8550U5,03312,906Samsung Notebook 9 Pro 15i7-7500U4,4318,669Lenovo Yoga 720 15i7-7700HQ3,78410,255HP Spectre x360 15i7-7500U4,0988,022Dell XPS 13 (9370)i7-8550U4,68114,816Huawei MateBook 13i7-8565U5,33617,062Huawei MateBook X Proi7-8550U4,70614,342Surface Laptop 2i5-8250U4,20313,233 GPUGeekbench 4.0 CUDA (higher is better) Swipe to scroll horizontally DeviceGPUCompute scoreMSI PS63 ModernGTX 105074,815Dell XPS 15 (9570)GTX 105076,948LG gram 17UHD 62036,801LG gram 15 (2018)UHD 62022,334Huawei MateBook 13MX15048,430Huawei MateBook X ProMX15041,730Samsung Notebook 9 15MX15048,536 SSDCrystalDiskMark (higher is better) Swipe to scroll horizontally DeviceReadWriteMSI PS63 Modern3,300 MB/s1,875 MB/sLG gram 17536 MB/s500 MB/sLG gram 15 (2018)554.1 MB/s449.6 MB/sHuawei MateBook 133,436 MB/s2,553 MB/sSamsung Notebook 9 152,952 MB/s1,948 MB/sSurface Laptop 21,509 MB/s811 MB/sSurface Laptop486 MB/s244 MB/sSurface Pro 61,632 MB/s814 MB/s For storage, at least in our model, MSI uses a Samsung SSD that brings outstanding results including 3,300 MB/s for reads and 1,875 MB/s for write speed, which is exceptional. There are two fans for the PS63 Modern, one for the CPU and one for the GPU, that operate independently depending on the compute load. The fans are relatively quiet, though under heavy duress they are audible. Overall, the thermals are very good for this laptop with no observed throttling or performance issues. All good but the sound MSI PS63 Modern is easy to recommend, if ...In using the PS63 Modern for a few weeks, there are some things that make this laptop truly unique right now:
Not all those things may be relevant to you, but the combination of all five is scarce in a single device. Battery life is outstanding due to the sizeable 82WHr battery combined with the efficient Core i7 U-series processor. Getting 10 or more hours of regular usage is easy, but of course, that could drop if you use the power-hungry GPU regularly. That GPU is far from outrageous for performance when compared to a proper gaming laptop (usually GTX 1060 or higher), but it's much better than the NVIDIA MX150 processor most Ultrabooks rely on. When it comes to photo or video editing, the PS63's GPU can do some serious work, and it's rare to find it in such a light and thin laptop. The speakers are not great in the MSI PS63 Modern. Build quality is also the best I have seen in any MSI laptop, and while it feels a bit plasticky, that's due to the materials used, and they also deliver that light weight. The display is fantastic considering it is just full HD (another power-saving trick). However, I would have preferred the same panel but at a 2K resolution. Creatives would appreciate the extra clarity, and I think 4K could be overkill and a power drain. The one thing that MSI flubbed is audio. The speakers are average at best. It's not terrible and that's a non-issue when wearing headphones, but it sticks out as one area where MSI can improve. HP and Lenovo show how audio should be done these days, demonstrating that Windows PCs don't have to have terrible sound. MSI PS63 Modern (Image credit: Windows Central) There's also the lack of Thunderbolt 3. While not a deal breaker, the inability to connect the PS63 Modern up to an external GPU or use Thunderbolt 3 external drives seems like a missed opportunity, especially for those using this for creative purposes. For people seeking an easy-to-carry 15-inch laptop that has a real GPU on board, the MSI PS63 Modern is something unique. It's great for typing, writing, media editing, and it's just fun to use. While you surrender 2-in-1 functionality or inking compared to other laptops, the PS63 Modern gets crazy battery life, with the ability to utilize true NVIDIA graphics power, in a smooth, handsome package. A rare combo of power and battery life MSI created a laptop for creative that brings a powerful GPU and a power-efficient processor into one laptop with a substantial internal battery. Weighing just 3.6 lbs, this is a 15-inch laptop that will let you edit photos and videos for hours on end without breaking the bank. Daniel Rubino is the Editor-in-chief of Windows Central. He is also the head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft since 2007, when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, laptops, next-gen computing, and watches. He has been reviewing laptops since 2015 and is particularly fond of 2-in-1 convertibles, ARM processors, new form factors, and thin-and-light PCs. Before all this tech stuff, he worked on a Ph.D. in linguistics, watched people sleep (for medical purposes!), and ran the projectors at movie theaters because it was fun. How much is the MSI ps63 modern?One of the things that made me get this laptop is that it has a 1 TB ssd drive and the price is $1,499. Is MSI Prestige 15 good?The MSI Prestige 15 costs less than the competition and still manages to impress in important departments. Its Core i7 processors handle mainstream coding, it has all-day battery life, and it's slimmer and lighter than rivals. The keyboard is good, and connectivity is fine. |
