Wondering about which affordable gaming rig is worth picking up as of late? MSI Katana GF66 is a budget gaming laptop with overall decent specs and build. It comes with an RTX 3050Ti GPU and is also powered by the new Intel i7 11800H Mobile CPU. With these specs, you can already tell that gaming would be one of the Katana’s strong suits.
The laptop also has a 1080p IPS display with a 144Hz Refresh Rate. which makes gaming or watching videos and movies a more enjoyable experience. On paper, at a low price of under RM5,000, the Katana GF66 should be a suitable gaming laptop for casual gamers on a budget.
Here's our video team's take on the laptop!
Table of Contents
- Specifications
- Build and design
- Thermals
- Performance (Gaming)
- Other features
- Conclusion
Specifications
- Year: 2021
- CPU: Intel Core i7-11800H Processor
- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050Ti
- RAM: 8GB
- Storage: 512GB SSD
- Display: 15.6” FHD (1920x1080), IPS-Level, 144Hz Refresh Rate
- Weight: 2.25kg
- Ports: 1x Type-C USB 3.2 Gen 1, 2x Type-A USB 3.2 Gen 1, 1x Type-A USB2.0, 1x RJ45, 1x (4K @ 60Hz) HDMI
- Dimensions: 359 (W) x 259 (D) x 24.9 (H) mm
Build and design
The MSI Katana GF66 has a sleek and stealthy look that gives off a premium and clean vibe. Despite the impression that more colours and designs equal better-quality gaming laptops, the GF66 has quality performance despite its minimalistic design. The only thing that stands out is the dragon MSI logo upfront.
This laptop is also not too heavy at 2.25kg, so it is quite suitable for users who are always on the go. In fact, the design is quite compact and is nice for everyday use at the office or school and obviously for gaming.
At the bottom of the laptop are thermal vents that give users a glimpse into the internals. While the design looks quite nice, not many people would pay attention to the underside of the laptop.
You can catch a glimpse at the copper heat pipes on the CPU and GPU that provides better airflow. There is also a fan to cool both the CPU and GPU respectively so overheating will not be an issue for the Katana GF66.
When playing games like COD Warzone, the GPU temperature goes up to 78 - 84 degrees while the CPU temperature can go even higher to 89 - 95 degrees. Keep in mind that recommended in-game settings were used, so users should configure higher fan speed to prevent overheating when running more intensive games.
The fans automatically kick in when the extreme performance profile is set up on the MSI software. They are quite loud at 48-50 DB and can go up to almost 60DB when turned up to maximum fan speed. Because of this, the Katana’s thermal management isn’t the best, but it is good enough to prevent overheating and FPS drops.
Performance (Gaming)
Moving on to the most important aspect of the Katana GF66 - performance. We tested the gaming laptop mainly on COD Warzone with the 8GB RAM variant of the laptop. The RAM amount is definitely on the lower side, especially for a gaming laptop, so we recommend upgrading the RAM. For your information, the Katana GF66 can be upgraded up to 64GB RAM.
With the recommended medium settings on COD Warzone, we averaged 85 to 90 FPS quite consistently and 50 to 60 FPS on high settings. Not the best performance in terms of FPS, but it can be improved with a RAM upgrade. As mentioned, a RAM upgrade is highly necessary if you want to run higher-end games smoothly.
In our experience, when running Warzone, CPU usage was at 40-50% while GPU usage was at 45-55%. As for the display, the IPS display at 1080p was great. The display with 144Hz was also buttery smooth and made for an enjoyable gaming experience with games that can support the Refresh Rate.
Overall, the Katana GF66 can run casual games well and smoothly without lags or stutters. The gaming experience is enjoyable at low to medium settings and it is a valid option for casual gamers who are looking to get a gaming laptop without having to break the bank..
Other features
The keyboard has a red accent with fully backlit keys. To note, the lighting and brightness of the backlit keyboard can be configured via the laptop’s keyboard shortcuts. Though, the backlight only comes in one colour, red, so no RGB here.
Meanwhile, the membrane keyboard is pretty comfortable to type on, with a 1.7mm travel distance. It is also a full-sized keyboard, so it has a number pad and some hotkeys that can be used to configure some of the laptop’s settings. Below the keyboard is a standard-sized trackpad, which is pretty responsive.
Finally, in terms of battery life, the laptop has a 3-cell 53.5 Whr battery. It is advertised to have roughly 2 hours of battery life per full charge, but overall the battery life, like most gaming laptops, is average.
Conclusion
- Our Rating: 7/10
- Pros: Unique design, great display upgradeable RAM to 64GB
- Cons: Average battery life, subpar thermal management
- Who is it for? The MSI Katana GF66 is suitable for casual gamers who are on a budget and do not mind playing with mainly mid-settings graphics quality. It is especially recommended for those who may want more leeway in customising their gaming experience thanks to the RAM upgrade option.
The laptop delivers decent quality gaming performance and is quite impressive for a budget laptop. While the casing, trackpad and speakers were quite underwhelming but other than that, the laptop performs quite well.
If you are interested in a budget laptop that allows you to play casual games at medium settings, the MSI Katana GF66 offers just that: decent gaming performance, a comfortable keyboard, and a good display that are sufficient for casual gamers.
However, if you are looking for a machine that can support more intensive AAA games, you might want to look into upgrading the RAM or consider other, more expensive options in the market.
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