This is one of those very straightforward gaming laptops so it is not trying to be super thin it is not trying to be super light, it is not trying to be the very best performing and the most extreme machine money can buy. It is just trying to offer a very decent performance.
For a somewhat reasonable price, But the most basic version will get you an eight-core i7, 16 gigs of RAM, one terabyte SSD and 144 hertz Full HD display, and a sweet 130 Watt RTX 3060, and all that will cost you around 1500 euros or dollars which is a pretty good deal.
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Leopard Fastest MSI GP66 Laptop
But the version I have right here has pretty much the same specs but then instead of a 3060.
It has 130 Watts, 3070 graphics cards, and this one will cost you a bit over 2000 euros here in the Netherlands which is, you know, quite a premium for just a GPU upgrade, but nevertheless.
MSI GP66 Leopard Laptop
| DISPLAY | 1080p 144Hz IPS |
| GRAPHICS CARD (GPU) | Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 (130W with Dynamic boost) |
| PROCESSOR (CPU) | Intel Core i7-10870H (8 cores, 16 threads) |
| RAM | 16GB DDR4 (2x8GB) |
| STORAGE | 1x 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD, (1 M.2 slot free) |
| BATTERY | 3 CELL up to 11.5 Hours |
| WiFi- | WiFi 6 (Intel AX-201) |
Design, Materials, Build Quality
Let's see what this GP 66 Lepard from MSI has to offer and how it compares to other laptops in the market. Let's go.
The Leopard series isn't new to MSI but they did redo their design. This year, they dropped their old-school read details and went with more neutral black and gray tones.
Now, that definitely gave it a bit of a modern look, but it is still very obviously a gaming laptop design-wise it is made completely out of plastic but it is well built and feels reasonably solid overall.
So I would say it doesn't look cheap, but it also doesn't give you that premium feels that you get with metal panels with a weight of 2.4 kilos, it is definitely on the heavier side, even though the dimensions are pretty standard so it will be fine to move it around when you need to, but it's not really something you want to carry around with you every single day, and then especially so if you add in the weight of the charger.
Keyboard,Touchpad
You only need one hand to open it up and I personally think that the inside is very well done, the wrist rest is comfortable, the keyboard is pretty good and very easy to get used to, and it has a nice RGB backlight that is not very bright though so you mostly see it when it's a bit darker.
I really like their function key highlight features so when you press the Function key, all the usable buttons will light up, which is a minor detail but it is so efficient, I am missing a number though.
I know that it's not an easy task to fit a Numpad on a 15-inch laptop without sacrifices, but there are some laptops like the Aorus 15P, for example, that do have it, and I think it would be a good addition here.
Now the touchpad is alright. It's a bit on the small side for a modern laptop but it is smooth and responsive, and it's well got the job done.
Connections
Now, in terms of connections, MSI did pretty well here I think I really liked that they put most of the connections on the back of the laptop so they won't get in your way, that much, there is a power connection Ethernet HDMI port, and a fast 10 gigabit USB 3.2 gen two ports with a DisplayPort support, so you can pretty much connect two monitors to this laptop if you want to.
On the left side, there is another five gigabits USB port and an audio jack, and on the right side there are two five gigabit USB ports, there is no Thunderbolt support, and no 20 gigabit USB ports, but at least you do get a 10 gigabit one while the RS 15 P, for example, doesn't even have that.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Gaming Performance
I keep mentioning this Oris 15 P because I actually think it is one of the main competitors of this laptop because it has the same CPU, And the same GPU with the same power limits so let's see how they actually compare when it comes to gaming.
So in most games the MSI GP 66 is actually a couple of percents faster. Between one and 6% in most titles.
Now there is a couple of games where the 15 P has a slight advantage, and there is a couple of games where the difference is a bit larger, but generally speaking, even though you probably wouldn't notice any actual difference between the two while gaming. The MSI does say the slightest of wins here.
However, when you compare it to the ACSR G Strix in G 15 which is another laptop with an RTX 3070 within an AMD CPU, the results are even more interesting MSI is 20% or faster in the majority of games with a couple of titles sitting around the 50% mark, and this is definitely something you will notice while gaming.
Now the Strix has a limited performance because of the NVIDIA Optimus feature that cannot be turned off. And the only way to go around it is to actually connect to an external monitor via the USB type C port.
But even then, the MSI is no MSA does come with the MCC switch that easily disables the optimist and gives you a proper gaming mode, but you will have to restart the PC every time to do so, which is fine.
There's really fair to compare it to a thinner laptop that features a lower power 3060 But I do think it's interesting to see how much more performance you can actually get from a higher power 3070.
So overall, you should be able to play any current or upcoming game on high settings without having to worry too much with this laptop.
Intel Core i7-10870H CPU Performance
When it comes to the CPU performance, it's the same 10th Gen eight-core Intel Core i7 that we've seen so many times by now.
It is clearly still a great CPU for gaming, and even though it's not topping the charts, it is still very capable, and it will handle fine, anything you plan to do with your laptop.
144Hz, 1080p IPS Panel Performance
The stress is a display is an interesting one, it's 144, Hertz Full HD display, and even though it feels completely fine. I do think it's a bit old school because most laptops in that 2000 Euro section, either have a much faster Full HD screen or a fast Quad HD screen.
And that being said, this is not a cheap panel, it offers a pretty good color gamut and a factory calibration that's good enough for creative work right out of the box. The contrast is disappointing, coming in at around 850 to one, but the above-average brightness kind of makes up for that, at least a bit.
Thermal Performance & Software
Thermal performance is not admirable either. I would say and it is pretty similar to the rest of the laptops from this lineup in that extreme performance mode, which is also the default mode, and besides constantly learning the CPU went up to 95 degrees which is technically within spec, but it is also way out of my comfort zone.
GPU thermals are good though and it's fairly audible but it is not extremely loud in the balanced profile to noise goes down but attempts are still pretty high up there, and in the silent profile is kind of the same.
You get less noise but it's still pushing its limits with thermals.
So the default profile is technically fine but I would really like them to make at least one performance profile that actually feels balanced.
Internals, Maintenance, Upgrades
So you need to put a bit more work to get the bottom panel loose, it has a lot more plastic clips holding it in place
Then what I'm used to, but once you're in,
- You can easily claim the funds,
- You can replace the battery,
- You can replace the network chip,
- You can upgrade both memory sticks,
- And you can replace or add a second SSD, so pretty much everything you want is right there.
Battery Life
Now the 65 watt-hour battery itself isn't that large, which means that the battery life will be pretty average.
It is better than gaming laptops from a few years ago but the Aorus 15 P for example did better, and the Strix G15 puts this laptop to shame when it comes to battery life.
Webcam, Speakers
The webcam isn't anything special but it's pretty acceptable.
If you have no flight you can easily have a work or school meeting with it, and it will do just fine. this is the test of the camera and the microphone of the GP 66 gaming laptop.
And as you can see it is completely fine the angle is completely normal.
And as long as you have a bit of white going on as I have right here it's going to be completely fine for a work meeting or a school meeting or whatever you have to do, and the speakers are okay.
I expected a bit more since they did skip on the Numpad, and that gave them a bit more space for some better sound.
But again, it's lopped off speakers they're nothing special but they will get the job done when you need them to.
And all in all, I think that MSI gave their leopard series, a much-needed upgrade. It looks modern, it is comfortable to work on and it does perform really well.
It is even slightly outperforming one of its main competitors. The Aorus 15 P, but I would still say that difference is very small and your choice will largely depend on prices in your region.
And if the price, ends up being close to the given MSRP.
Conclusions
You will get a lot of value for your money, with his laptop. I also think the diversion with the high power 3060 sounds even more interesting for 500 years less.
So, if I were you I would keep an eye on that one as well. Anyhow, that's it for today.
I really hope you liked this review, and that it was useful in any way, if you did please subscribe to topbestgoodreview to never miss a post. Bye guys, see you next one.