Work From Home If You Can
The Prime Minister said: "Work from home if you can, go to work if you must but work from home if you can."
A collective sigh could almost be heard across the United Kingdom, as the directive would mean that we'd all be seeing a lot more of our spare bedrooms, home offices and - most importantly - our pets. Whilst the desktop PC has been a great asset at home, more people are moving to the flexible/hybrid method of working, which allows remote workers to spend some time in the office. For that, a laptop is the perfect workhorse.
Gamers Who Work
For eight hours a day or more, being sat at a laptop and staring at spreadsheets & projections is not a great deal of fun. If you are a gamer who is currently working from home or flexible working, then you will be looking forward to sending that last email or message on Microsoft Teams, and flicking to your Steam library for some much needed R&R.
Finding a laptop that can switch from office work to hardcore gaming is not too difficult. MSI have cemented their feet in the mobile gaming arena, with laptops that are the technology equivalent of the mullet hairstyle: Business at the front, party at the back.
The essentials for a gaming laptop are fairly obvious, but they lend themselves to multi-tasking workloads too. A multi-threading processor, a decent amount of memory, and good storage. Whilst the graphics card is somewhat superfluous when you're playing with last month's petty cash budget, it will gladly fire up and be ready and waiting when the fun starts at 5:31pm.
Why MSI?
As an award winning gaming laptop manufacturer, MSI has become known for being right where gamers needed them in times of crisis. As the GPU and CPU nightmare raged on throughout 2020 and 2021, MSI continued to release laptops built with mobile graphics cards such as the GeForce RTX 20 series, RTX 30 series and the AMD RX 5300M/5500M/5600M in the Alpha 15 series. This gave gamers the option to move toward mobile gaming, and the ability to play those shiny new RTX games into 2022.
On the performance scale, mobile gaming has done its best to keep up with ultra-powerful desktop GPUs, and the results have been outstanding mostly thanks to developers ensuring optimisation was at the forefront when releasing PC games.
In a stand-up fight, the MSI GS76 Stealth 11UH i9-11900H, 64GB RAM, GeForce RTX 3080 laptop vs a Core i9-11900K, 32GB RAM, GeForce RTX 3080 desktop PC, the difference in FPS in Grand Theft Auto 5 is vast on paper, yet barely noticeable to the naked eye:
GTA V (1920x1080 Ultra Settings)
- MSI GS76 Stealth 11UH - 98FPS 1920x1080 Ultra
- Equivalent Gaming PC - 226FPS 1920x1080 Ultra
It is widely accepted that above 90FPS you begin to start seeing diminishing returns for GPU performance, though 144FPS is an ideal target for super-smooth, silky visuals. Still, for a laptop to hit 98 frames per second in a heavily demanding game, we're in good shape for mobile gaming to replace desktop gaming in many respects.
The Cost Of Mobile Gaming
Naturally, mobile gaming comes with a cost that exceeds desktop gaming systems, and that is something that we've always expected due to the manufacturing cost of the smaller components. However, you can closely match pricing for desktop and mobile gaming when it comes to MSI laptops.
An example is the MSI Katana GF66 11SC laptop, which comes with a specification that closely resembles a mid-tier desktop PC:
- Intel Core i5 11400H Processor
- 8GB Memory
- GeForce GTX 1650 MaxQ Graphics
- 512GB Solid State Drive
At £649.97 (December 2021), this is a darn fine example of MSI's ability to hit the sweet spot for pricing & performance.
Compared with a typical self-build PC of a similar specification:
- CPU: Intel Core i5-11400 2.6 GHz 6-Core Processor
- Motherboard: MSI Z490-A PRO ATX LGA1200 Motherboard
- Memory: G.Skill Aegis 8 GB (1 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 CL16 Memory
- Storage: Western Digital Blue 500 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive
- Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER 4 GB OC Video Card
- Case: NZXT H510 ATX Mid Tower Case
- Power Supply: Corsair RM (2019) 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply
- Monitor: LG 24MK400H-B 24.0" 1920x1080 75 Hz Monitor
Approx Total Cost: £900
Of course, we've included a monitor for argument's sake, though if we remove that we're still in the ballpark of £800. Depending on the type of games you play, the Katana GF66 11SC will be suitable and you'd expect decent framerates & euphoric performance in E-Sports and competitive titles.
With this in mind, we can take a look at the most popular MSI laptop deals that are not just good for gaming, but great multi-taskers when needed.
Best Value MSI Gaming & Work Laptops
The three laptops we have chosen here represent excellent value, considering the time of year and the prices we're seeing for similar specifications in desktops. Not only can you play the majority of the top 100 games at high resolutions, you can also expect to be able to thrash though the daily grind as if your processor was caffeine-powered.
MSI Katana GF66 15.6" RTX 3060 Gaming Laptop
"A workhorse that eats office tasks and delivers smooth 1080p gaming on the move."
*Free GameMax Razor Mouse with this laptop while stocks last
MSI Katana GF66 15.6 inch RTX 3060
We've covered this laptop before, and for good reason. At under £1000, this great value mobile gamer will be able to handle all of the usual office tasks, with an 8-core Intel Core i7 11800H processor and huge 16GB RAM. When it's time for the games to begin, the RTX 3060 takes charge, with incredible 1080p framerates and smooth visuals on the 15.6" IPS-level screen.
Specification
- Intel Core i7 11800H Processor
- Enormous 16GB Memory
- GeForce RTX 3060 Graphics
- Optical Drive: None
- 512GB Hard Drive
- Windows 10 Home
December Price: £999.00
Get This Laptop With Next Day Delivery >> (Discontinued)
MSI Stealth 15M 15.6" RTX 3060 Core i7 Laptop
"Slimline, ultra-portable, capable of delivering 1080p Ultra gaming and flying through the daily grind."
*Free GameMax Razor Mouse with this laptop while stocks last
MSI Stealth 15M 15.6 inch RTX 3060 Core i7
A cut above the Katana GF66, the Stealth 15M is the slimline gaming laptop that combines the 11th generation Core i7 at 3.3GHz with an Nvidia RTX 3060 GPU, along with 16GB RAM, and a 1TB SSD for storing your game library and work files. Being a slimline laptop means the laptop is much more portable, so makes it ideal for flexible remote workers who may even have a dabble with Assassin's Creed Valhalla at 1080p Ultra on the morning commute.
Specification
- Intel Core i7 11375H Processor
- Massive 16GB Memory
- GeForce RTX 3060 Graphics
- 8 Hour Battery
- Enormous 1TB Solid State Drive
- Windows 10 Home
December Price: £1,198.59
Get This Laptop With Next Day Delivery >> Discontinued
MSI GE66 Raider 15.6" RTX 3070 Gaming Laptop
"A no-compromise gaming laptop that will speed through your workflow, and multi-task with ease."
*Free GameMax Razor Mouse with this laptop while stocks last
MSI GE66 Raider 15.6 inch RTX 3070
The MSI GE66 Raider is fully equipped with the latest 10th Gen, 8-core Intel Core i9 processors, with gaming sessions powered by Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 graphics. Complete with Mystic Light, fill your workspace with a panoramic aurora of lighting, putting an end to the beige & grey world of work. With extreme 300Hz refresh rates and powerful 99.9Whr battery, the GE66 Raider is more than capable of gaming on the move, handling daily tasks, or even being used as a video editing & creator studio.
Just playing games at 1920x1080 High presets, you will see a huge jump in framerates with the RTX 3070:
Using Ultra settings, the performance continues to surpass the mobile RTX 3060:
Source: TechnicalCity
Specification
- Intel Core i7 11800H Processor
- Huge 16GB Memory
- GeForce RTX 3070 Graphics
- Just 2.38Kg
- 1TB Solid State Drive
- Windows 10 Home
December Price: £1,799.97
Get This Laptop With Next Day Delivery >> Discontinued
Last Word
These work & gaming laptops are available for Next Day Delivery at CCL, so whether it's a last minute Christmas gift or a treat for yourself going into the New Year, you can order with confidence.
