MSI, one of the world’s leading gaming brands, offers a diverse lineup in its gaming laptop segment, including the MSI Alpha. This lineup represents a cutting-edge series of gaming laptops that have earned their place at the forefront of the gaming industry. These laptops are known for their powerful hardware, sleek design, and superior performance, catering to both casual gamers and eSports enthusiasts.
Equipped with high-end processors, top-of-the-line graphics cards, and advanced cooling systems, MSI Alpha laptops deliver an immersive gaming experience with seamless graphics and lightning-fast response times. With features like customizable RGB lighting and high refresh rate displays, they deliver visually stunning and customizable gaming environments. Whether you’re a professional gamer or prefer to game on the go, the MSI Alpha series is a strong testament to MSI’s commitment to delivering state-of-the-art gaming technology.
The model we are going to review is the MSI Alpha 17 C7VF, which comes with a Ryzen 7945HX processor and an RTX 4060 graphics card. Not only that, but it also comes with a 2.5K IPS display, DDR5-5200MHz RAM, and an M.2 SSD (NVMe PCIe Gen4), a 4-cell 99.9Wh high-capacity battery, and a 240W charger. These high-end specifications deliver powerful performance for the ultimate computing and gaming experience.
Specifications
| Screen | 17.3″ QHD (2560 x 1440), 240Hz, IPS |
| Processor | AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX |
| Wireless Connection | Gb LAN (Up to 2.5G), 802.11 be Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth v5.4 |
| Graphics card | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, 8GB GDDR6, 140W |
| Memory | 32GB DDR5, two slots, up to 64GB |
| Storage | 1x 1TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD, 2x M.2 SSD slot (NVMe PCIe Gen4) |
| Ports | 1x Type-C (USB3.2 Gen 2 3x Type-A USB3.2 Gen 1 1x HDMI 2.1 1x Mini-DisplayPort 1x RJ45 |
| Battery | 4-Cell 99.9Wh with 240W AC adapter |
| OS | Windows 11 Home Windows 11 Pro |
| Weight | 6.17 lbs. (2.8 kg) |
MSI Alpha 17 Review: Design and Appearance
The dimensions of MSI Alpha 17 C7VF are 397 x 284 x 25.9 mm, and it weighs approximately 2.8 kg. The laptop has a slightly thicker body to accommodate powerful components and an advanced cooling system.
The MSI Alpha 17 C7VF’s display casing has a sleek black finish that is pleasant to the touch but prone to fingerprints. Thanks to its 17.3-inch display, the MSI Alpha 17 C7VF doesn’t compromise on weight or thickness.
In the center of the display casing is a small Raikage logo, which is a nice change from the bold Dragon Shield logo. The back also features a unique raised keel-like hinge on both sides. The official statement highlights that the laptop features new Axis Pro stainless steel hinges, which ensure a refined, smooth, and balanced one-handed opening and closing experience.
Opening up the laptop, we can see the 17.3-inch display with a three-sided narrow edge design. The bottom bezel is slightly wider and has an MSI logo in the center. In the center of the top bezel is an HD webcam with autofocus capabilities. It is also compatible with mainstream software, such as Skype, WhatsApp, and WeChat.
MSI Alpha 17 C7VF Review: Display
The MSI Alpha 17 C7VF features a 17.3-inch IPS screen with a 2.5K resolution (2560 x 1440) and a 240Hz refresh rate.
After testing the screen with a calibrator, we found that it supports 99.4% sRGB, 86.6% Adobe RGB, and 96.5% DCI-P3 color gamut. The color accuracy was within the average range when using the default settings. The average Delta E was around 3.22, and the maximum Delta E value reached 7.41. While this may not be a significant issue for gaming purposes, it may be somewhat lacking for tasks that require precise color representation.
MSI also offers a screen color management software called MSI True Color (current version 4.0) on its official website. Users can quickly switch between sRGB, Adobe RGB, and other display modes with a single click on the software’s main interface. In addition, each color gamut, including DIC-P3, supports custom adjustments and offers a range of versatile options. The software provides various display modes tailored to specific usage scenarios, offering complete control over precise color management on the display.
It is worth noting that after switching to other color gamut modes, the corresponding color gamut volume and color gamut coverage will also change. It’s great to see that the laptop’s color accuracy has improved significantly in both sRGB and DCI-P3 color modes, making it suitable for tasks such as office work and basic design and editing.
MSI Alpha 17 C7VF Review: Keyboard and TouchPad
The MSI Alpha 17 C7VF comes with a Per-Key RGB gaming keyboard designed by SteelSeries. It also has a numeric keypad, which is quite helpful when gaming. The manufacturer has removed the Fn key and increased the size of the Ctrl key, which seems to be a better move in gaming laptops, as the Ctrl key plays a crucial role in many games.
MSI has also partnered with SteelSeries to customize the RGB backlighting for a single key, allowing users to customize the lighting effects and synchronization via Mystic Light. You can even set up individual lighting effects for each key.
Below the keyboard is the TouchPad, which is relatively small and located on the left side of the keyboard. It has an exceptionally smooth surface, but is prone to fingerprints. It features an all-around press design, where the left and right halves serve as the left and right mouse buttons, which produce a satisfying and balanced tactile response when pressed.
MSI Alpha 17 C7VF: Ports
On the left side, there is an anti-theft lock hole, a USB 3.2 Type-A Gen 1 port, a USB 3.2 Type-C Gen 2 port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. There are two USB 3.2 Type-A Gen 1 ports on the right side. The rear of the laptop has a Mini-DisplayPort port, an RJ45 port, an HDMI 2.1 port, and a charging port. With this abundance of ports, you won’t have to worry about carrying an extra USB dock.
MSI Alpha 17 C7VF: RAM, SSD, and Network
The model we received came with a 16GB DDR5 memory module, and we added another 16GB DDR5 memory module for benchmarking purposes. As a result, the laptop has 32GB of DDR5 dual-channel memory (2x16GB) operating at 5600Hz. It is worth mentioning that the RAM can be extended up to 64GB.
For the memory performance tests, we used AIDA64 Cache and Memory Benchmark software, and the results were as follows: a read speed of 62,015 MB/s, a write speed of 61,859 MB/s, a copy speed of 87,471 MB/s, and a latency of 95.2 ns.
The MSI Alpha 17 C7VF supports NVMe PCIe Gen4 SSDs and offers two slots. The model we got comes with a 1TB Samsung PM9A1 SSD, which is the OEM version of the Samsung 980 Pro SSD. For the SSD performance test, we used CrystalDiskMark software, and the results were as follows: 6,682 MB/s for sequential reads, 4,932 MB/s for sequential writes, 74.38 MB/s for 4K reads, and 212.55 MB/s for 4K writes. According to the official claims, the SSD has a bandwidth of up to 7.79 GB/s.
The benchmark scores for both the SSD and RAM appear to be average, and compared to the laptops we’ve reviewed before (ASUS ROG Flow X13 and MSI Titan GT77), they don’t meet our higher expectations in terms of performance.
This laptop is the only one in the industry that supports Qualcomm Wi-Fi 7. It comes with the Qualcomm Fast Connect 7800 wireless card, which delivers peak speeds of up to 5.8 Gbps with an impressive latency of as low as 2 ms. This ensures users can enjoy online gaming without any connectivity issues.
MSI Alpha 17 C7VF: Battery and Charging
The MSI Alpha 17 C7VF features a 99.99Wh, 6,578mAh lithium-polymer battery. To charge this high-capacity battery, MSI offers a 240W slim fast charger.
In a battery test using PCMark 10 software, we activated power-saving mode via MSI Center before testing. The results showed an impressive battery life of 5 hours and 38 minutes. This is a satisfactory result for a laptop with a 17.3-inch display and an AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX processor.
MSI Alpha 17 C7VF: CPU and its Benchmark
The MSI Alpha 17 C7VF is powered by an AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX processor, which is based on an advanced TSMC 5nm FinFET process. With 16 cores and 32 threads, it delivers unrivaled performance for mobile computing. It has a core frequency of up to 5.4 GHz and a design TDP range of 55W to 75W.
We also benchmarked the CPU in a 24°C air-conditioned office. To get the best results, we selected “Violent Mode” in the MSI Center to maximize performance. The benchmark results are shown below:
- Cinebench R20: 740 points on single-core and 12,365 points on multi-core.
- Cinebench R23: 1,952 points on single-core and 31,804 points on multi-core
- V-Ray CPU: 23,951 (vsamples) points on multi-core
MSI Alpha 17 C7VF: GPU and its Benchmark
This laptop comes with the NVIDIA RTX 4060 graphics card with 8GB of GDDR6 video memory and utilizes Dynamic Boost technology to boost the clock frequency up to 2370 MHz with a maximum power consumption of 140W. The RTX 4060 comes with 3072 CUDA cores and a 128-bit memory bus.
We also benchmarked under the same conditions as the CPU benchmarks. The results are below:
- 3DMark Time Spy: The overall score is 10,451, while the GPU score is 10,672.
- 3DMark Fire Strike Extreme: The overall score is 12,411, while the GPU score is 13,306.
- V-Ray GPU CUDA: The GPU has scored 1,202 vpaths.
- V-Ray GPU RTX: The GPU has scored 1,842 VRays.
The performance of both CPU and GPU is entirely satisfactory when compared with competitor models (powered by Intel Core i9-13980HX).
MSI Alpha 17 C7VF: Gaming Test
In the gaming test. We selected six well-known games, including CS: GO and several other popular games, some of which are particularly well-suited for AMD hardware. We ran two rounds of testing at 1080p and 2K resolutions.
- CS:GO: 716 fps at 1080p resolution and 560 fps at 2K resolution, running at 240Hz refresh rate.
- Tomb Raider Shadow: 115 fps at 1080p resolution and 78 fps at 2K resolution
- Forza Horizon 5: 162 fps at 1080p resolution and 125 fps at 2K resolution
- Cyberpunk 2077: 95 fps at 1080p resolution and 58 fps at 2K resolution
MSI Alpha 17 C7VF: Cooling System and Pressure Test
The MSI Alpha 17 C7VF comes with a reforged cooling solution with a shared-pipe design (as named by the officials). This innovation employs heat pipes connected to both the CPU and GPU to enhance thermal performance, especially during demanding tasks. When combined with MSI Cooler Boost 5, it ensures optimal cooling during long gaming sessions.
The bottom of the laptop has an impressive design, with air intakes arranged symmetrically on the left and right sides. Additionally, there are two sets of heat vents located on the back. After removing the back cover, we found that the MSI Alpha 17 C7VF uses the MSI Cool cooling system with dual fans and six heat pipes, which completely covers the CPU and GPU. The fan is equipped with high-flow fan blades and features an enhanced air pressure-bearing noise reduction design for improved stability and durability.
CPU Stress Test: We tested the CPU and GPU at a constant room temperature of 24°C. First, we used AIDA64 to perform a stress test on the CPU. After running the test, the CPU power consumption stabilized at 86W, the temperature rose to 86.2°C, and the CPU core frequency remained at 3.71 GHz.
GPU Stress Test: We tested this with the FurMark GPU. During the tests, the GPU consumed an average of 140W, with temperatures staying around 81.6°C, and the core frequency hovering around 2365MHz.
Summarize:
One of the most striking aspects of the MSI Alpha 17 C7VF is its price tag of $1,849, which pairs impressively with its solid hardware configuration. During our testing, the actual performance and user experience of the MSI Alpha 17 C7VF met our expectations.
