So this right here is the new GF65 laptop from MSI and this is a thin-line budget gaming laptop that comes with a six-core i7-10750H a brand new RTX 3060, 16 gigs of RAM, a 500 gig SSD, and 144 hertz & Full HD display.
So it doesn't have anything super exciting going for it, but it is supposed to be one of the more affordable gaming laptops on the market.
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Design, Materials, Build Quality
Now right off the bat, you can notice that emphasize we using one of their older designs.
It is quite thin and light, making it's pretty portable and very easy to drag around with the build quality isn't that special though.
The cover is brushed aluminum but it is quite thin. It has a bit of flex going on, and it is extremely sensitive to fingerprints so be prepared to clean it all the time.
The underside is plastic but it feels pretty solid and as you can see, there is plenty of ventilation.
Connections
Now on the left side, we have a power connection and an HDMI port, and on the right side, there are two five gigabit USB Type-A ports, a five gigabit USB type C port, and a 10 gigabit USB type C port with a DisplayPort out.
So there is a lot of connections and it is quite okay for a thinner gaming laptop like this one.
But I have to say I don't like the fact that all USB ports are here on the right side, as it does get in the way of the mouse one gaming.
Build Quality Continued, Keyboard, Touchpad
Now you can easily open this best budget thin gaming laptop 2021 with one hand and the hinges on each side feel pretty okay.
The panel itself doesn't have too much flex when you open it, but it still has a very weak spot on the base of it on the inside there's the same brushed aluminum in stage school when you use it, which is nice, but it is still a huge fingerprint magnitude.
I do like the keyboard though MSI skis don't have too much travel, they have a nice feel to them both for typing and gaming.
There is a bit of flex going on if you press hard but in normal use, it will hold up well. Some gf 65 models might have an RGB keyboard but cheaper versions like this one will come with a red backlight only the touchpad is pretty okay for a best gaming budget thin gaming laptop 2021, especially when it comes to, you know, low red models.
It has a very nice clip to it as well but again because there is some flex to it. If you press too hard towards the top of the touchpad, you will actuate the buttons as well.
RTX 3060 Gaming Performance vs Old Line-up
But let's look at the gaming performance. Now starting with Division Two against a bunch of older laptops it performs very well.
It is in line with the RTx 2070 and 2070 Super laptops from last year, and in Far Cry 5, it is in a very similar position.
And the same goes for Assassin's Creed Odyssey, which is not about at all, considering that this RTx 3060 is using around 75 watts in gaming, and it's positioned lower.
RTX 3060 Gaming Performance vs TUF Dash F15 & ASUS ROG Strix G15
And when we put it against some of the 2021 laptops I tested so far.
The gf 65 with a 75 watt 3060 is doing surprisingly well, if you compare it to the Asus TUF dash F15, which uses 80 watts, or takes 3070.
This gf 65 is faster in most games, it is slower in some, but on average, it still ends up about 8% ahead.
Even when you put it against the much more expensive RG Strix g 15 with a higher power 115 watt RTx 37. It still ends up only 7% behind so basically you can expect to play any big title on this best budget thin gaming laptop 2021 at around 60 fps or even more. And usually at high or even ultra settings.
Intel Core i7-10750H CPU Performance
Now when it comes to the CPU performance, it uses the same six-core Intel Core i7-10750H that we've seen so many times so far, so I'm not going to talk about it that much.
It's still a great CPU both for gaming and for all-around use and even though it's not as good as the recent eight-core AMD alternatives is still more than capable enough to handle anything you throw at it.
1080p 144Hz "IPS" (AH-VA) Display Performance
Now that being said you don't want to do much photo or video editing on this laptop because the panel is mediocre at best.
Now color gamut is typically poor for a budget laptop, it has around 56.3% sRGB coverage, which means that it will look a bit washed out the color accuracy is poor as well since the panel just cannot display some of the brighter colors, maximum brightness is also a quite low standing in 268 minutes so it is an indoor laptop.
You don't want to use it in, you know, bright environments, and the contrast is okay at 1233 to one. But other than that, this is just a pretty basic panel. That's it.
Now another downside of these panels is that they are not that fast, either now I don't have the tools to accurately measure the exact response time, but based on the spec sheet, it should be around 25 milliseconds
Internals, Maintenance, Upgrades
Now when it comes to the internals MSI did a pretty good job here.
The fans are easy to clean, both memory sticks can be replaced and you can add a second PCIe SSD if you want to.
Now Wi-Fi can be upgraded to but it has Wi-Fi six by default, so there is no reason to do so for the next couple of years.
Now my only gripe here is that the battery probably could have been a bit larger.
Battery Life
But, you know, it's still okay with a mid-sized battery and a pretty powerful laptop like this one I did not expect a great battery life.
But it's also not that bad, you get a bit over five hours while watching Netflix or about five and a half when just using it for light tasks around the house.
Now that's not super amazing but it's also not bad either.
Thermal Performance
What is surprising though is that even though the underside is very ventilated the best budget thin gaming laptop 2021 does get very hot MSL as the CPU runs up to 95 degrees to push performance, which I do personally find very uncomfortable.
And it is far from being the quietest laptop coming in at 49.9 decibels. Oddly enough, both the balanced and extreme performance modes show the same result.
Making me wonder if this is just a software thing that MSI just needs to, you know, check out in the future. I would expect to see these results from a high-performance mode, but for a balanced mode.
You know I would like to see the CPU going below 90 degrees Celsius, doubling this one, there is a silent mode as well that does make the laptop go a lot quieter.
It still pushes the CPU to the limit with temperatures in the 90s as well.
Now thankfully, you can just set your fan curve instead. But you know I would personally like to see more balanced presets.
Webcam
Overall, unlike shoes, MSI does think that webcams are important so they put in a pretty old ride model.
It is nothing too fancy but it will be plenty for your typical school or work meeting.
So this is a test on the camera quality and of the microphone quality of the GP 66. And as you can see it is not the best but it's white.
Speakers, SSD
Okay, the speakers are all right as well they don't sound super clear and there isn't a lot of basses.
But they do go loud enough and you know you can easily watch a video or to on this one without cringing also the SSD that they use is quite nice, and quite fast.
Conclusion
And to sum it all up the MSI gf 65 thing is a pretty basic laptop in most regards. So the build quality the designer, tricky thermals, and display are very fitting for a laptop is trying to bring decent specs to a lower price point so if you're looking for something flashy and something exciting. This is not it.
But on the other hand, it also offers very good FPS for your money with gaming performance being in line with a nice RTx 2070 a laptop from last year, and even some RTX 3070 new laptops from this year.
But this best gaming budget thin gaming laptop 2021will have to be about the price. If this turns out to be more expensive than some of the competition in the budget segment, or more expensive than last year's models with an RTX 2070 for example, I would say it will be very difficult to recommend it to anyone.
But if MSI manages to make this one of the cheapest options on the market. This best budget thin gaming laptop 2021 will be a very viable option to get.
Now that's it for today I hope you enjoyed this review.