MSI Titan GT77 HX 13V full review

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In 2023, the MSI Titan GT77 HX 13V makes its comeback with the most advanced hardware available on the market, including the Intel Core i9-13980HX and the Nvidia RTX 4090 graphics card, which has been pushed to the limit with a TBP of 175W. Additionally, to offer maximum performance, the laptop features a 144 Hz Mini LED display with 1000 nits, which is the most powerful available in any laptop, a four-speaker system, and a mechanical keyboard. Everything has been pushed to the limit, without restrictions. Let’s see what is this laptop all about.

Design aspects

The MSI Titan GT77 HX 13V features a design that is practically identical to last year’s model, with updates to its hardware, cooling system, and display. It is a large and heavy laptop that weighs over 3 kg, and the weight of the power adapter, which is over one kilo, must be added to it.

It has an aggressive appearance inspired by the GE series, but with more notable screen hinges at the top and the MSI logo incorporating RGB. The rear diffuser keeps the entire area open and equipped with dissipators to maximize cooling, as well as an additional grille on the top that matches the two smaller fans. The standout feature is the RGB lighting system integrated into the back edge, which can be controlled from SteelSeries GG software.

The cooler of the MSI Titan GT77 HX 13V features two additional grilles on the sides, while the remaining area is dedicated to the ports. The front edge has not been sharpened or cut at the bottom because the manufacturer has utilized every space inside to place hardware, making the laptop appear a little thicker despite measuring only 23mm, the same as the GE77 series.

The base of the MSI Titan GT77 HX 13V is made of plastic and covers all the edges, making access to the interior difficult, although not impossible. In this area, there is a wide, unfiltered grille for air intake, rubber feet, and openings for the lower speakers.

When we open the MSI Titan GT77 HX 13V laptop, we notice that part of the rear area is behind the screen, which has tight frames, although not as much as other MSI gaming laptop series. This is due in part to the type of screen technology that takes up more space. The frames measure 7mm on the sides, 9mm on the top edge where the webcam is integrated, and 30mm on the bottom edge.

The keyboard of the MSI Titan GT77 HX 13V, which features a numeric panel, RGB Per-Key, and mechanical switches, integrates seamlessly into the body of the laptop. The touchpad utilizes all the available space, which reduces the UHD screen, although it appears small due to the large size of the laptop, which measures 131 x 83 mm. Speaker audio outlets are located on either side of the keyboard.

Ports and connectivity

It’s time to get to know the ports and connectivity of the MSI Titan GT77 HX 13V, which has not undergone any changes for the 2023 model.

On the right side, there are:

1x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A
2x USB-C Thunderbolt 4
Mini DisplayPort 1.4
HDMI 2.1
RJ45 Ethernet 2.5 Gbps

On the left side:

3.5mm audio and microphone combo jack
SD card reader
2x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A
DC-In port for power supply

In one of the Thunderbolt 4 ports, it is possible to charge up to 100W, according to its standard, as well as provide video output along with the Mini DisplayPort and HDMI 2.1 ports. The capacity of the Intel chipset has been well utilized with a total of 5 ports, which is quite good.

High-end display and sound

The network of the MSI Titan GT77 HX 13V features a Killer E3100G chip that provides a speed of 2.5 Gbps on LAN, and a Killer Wi-Fi 6E AX1690 wireless card, which is the most powerful version of the brand. The latter maintains its Triband capacity, offering 2.4 Gbps for 5 and 6 GHz, and 574 Mbps for 2.4 GHz, with support for 1024QAM and 160 MHz. In addition, it includes Bluetooth 5.3 and the ability to balance the load through the Killer Control Center software.

The display of the MSI Titan GT77 HX 13V is high-quality and powerful, with Mini LED technology, an IPS LCD panel, and UHD resolution (3840x2160p) at 144 Hz VRR Adaptive Sync. It is an AUO B173ZAN06.C model with AMLED technology, which combines the color quality of a design panel with the speed of a gaming screen.

The display of the MSI Titan GT77 HX 13V has similar features to a high-end desktop monitor. It has a K-Zone local dimming brightness and a sustained maximum power of 1000 nits, with DisplayHDR 1000 certification. In addition, its dynamic contrast is 1,000,000:1 and it has Calman calibration verification, capable of covering the maximum DCI-P3 color space.

The visual quality of the MSI Titan GT77 HX 13V screen panel is exceptional, with sharpness, image definition, and brightness that make colors look practically like an AMOLED panel, but without the characteristic greenish brightness of these. Viewing angles are excellent both vertically and horizontally, with only a slight loss of brightness, which is common in other cases.

The MSI Titan GT77 HX 13V includes the same sound system as its previous 2022 version, which is composed of 2 speakers + 2 subwoofers signed by DYNAUDIO, in combination with Hi-Res and Nahimic for equalization control and microphone management. This sound system is one of the best on the laptop market, as it offers a fairly high volume, a notable bass presence, and a good frequency balance.

Mechanical keyboard perfect for gaming and typing

The MSI Titan GT77 HX 13V maintains the same keyboard as its previous generation, which was already difficult to improve. It is a full-size keyboard with Cherry MX Ultra Low Profile switches specifically for ultra-thin laptops.

The switches are placed on a two-piece key mechanism that provides a tactile feel when pressed, without a clicky sound and a slightly longer travel than typical membrane keys, which feels very good in typing. The fact that it has full-size arrow keys and some separation between the main and numeric keyboard improves the user’s feeling.

The keyboard of the MSI Titan GT77 HX 13V is a little more audible than membrane keyboards, but it feels firmer and more robust, especially when used for gaming. It includes an RGB Per-Key lighting system that can be managed from SteelSeries GG software. In addition, all F keys have double function, and it is possible to map each key from the software itself.

The touchpad of the MSI Titan GT77 HX 13V is large and perfectly integrated, without looseness or strange sounds, making it very comfortable to use. The buttons have a medium-low actuation force and are quiet, making them a little faster. Next to the touchpad, we will find the fingerprint reader compatible with Windows Hello.

The MSI Titan GT77 HX 13V webcam remains a typical 720p HD @30 FPS sensor with mediocre quality, but at least it has an IR sensor for facial recognition in Windows. It is accompanied by two microphones with far-range capture capability and noise cancellation by software.

Hardware and internal components

Before we proceed, we need to remove the bottom panel of the MSI Titan GT77 HX 13V, which covers the entire edges of the device. It is important to be careful when removing it, starting from the front and ending at the back, which is the weakest point. The device has used all the available space to increase the volume of its heatsink.

The CPU of the MSI Titan GT77 HX 13V is the Intel Core i9-13980HX, the top-of-the-line version of the Raptor Lake architecture from the blue brand. This CPU operates at 5.60 GHz Turbo Max 3.0 for its 8 P-Cores and is capable of maintaining 5.2 GHz on its 8 P-Cores, figures practically identical to the desktop model. In addition, it includes the complete package of 16 E-Cores at 4.00 GHz in turbo mode. In total, it has 32 threads with 36 MB of L3 cache, with a PBP fixed at 55W (PL1) and a PL2 of no less than 157W, although MSI sets an average figure of 75W. It also integrates Intel Iris Xe graphics at 1.5 GHz and 96 execution units, which is sufficient for 3D tasks in battery mode.

Nvidia has once again released its most powerful GPU for laptops, the Nvidia RTX 4090, with the AD103 chip in its maximum expression. This GPU is based on the 4 nm TSMC Ada Lovelace architecture, with a silicon formed by 76 SM (58 units in the RTX 3080 Ti), which adds up to a total of 9728 CUDA Cores, 304 4th Gen Tensor Cores, and 76 3rd Gen RT Cores. The GPU has 304 TMUs and 112 ROPs.

MSI has been able to maintain the Nvidia RTX 4090 stable at a TBP of 175W, which is theoretically the maximum unlockable capacity for laptops, reaching a boost frequency of 2240 MHz. The VRAM configuration remains at 16 GB GDDR6 at a frequency of 2250 MHz (18 Gbps) on a 256-bit bus that generates 576 GB/s of bandwidth. From the MSI Center, the GPU boost can be increased by +200 MHz and the VRAM with another +200 MHz, but it does not allow for any changes to the CPU.

The MSI Titan GT77 HX 13V has a RAM memory configuration of 128 GB DDR5 spread over 4 SODIMM modules of 16 GB each, operating at 3600 MHz in Dual Channel. The laptop unlocks the full capacity of the CPU, but in exchange, the modules are slower than usual for DDR5. The storage configuration consists of a 2 TB Samsung PM6A1 PCIe 4.0 SSD, and it has 2 PCIe Gen4x4 M.2 expansion slots.

The Cooler Boost Titan heatsink has been slightly modified from last year to support the immense TBP of up to 250W. It is composed of 4 turbine-type fans, 8 copper heat pipes, and 6 heatsinks on the periphery where the heat will be expelled to the outside. The heatsink uses phase-change thermal paste, but it is not a liquid metal composition. At maximum performance, the heatsink will inevitably be very noisy, perhaps the noisiest on the market, but it is the price for unrivaled power.

Battery

The MSI Titan GT77 HX 13V maintains the same battery configuration as its predecessor, with 4 cells that offer 99.99 Whr of power and a real capacity of 6250 mAh. The charger is quite large and heavy, with a power of 330W.

In our tests, we achieved a battery life of 4.13 hours using 20% brightness, deactivating the dedicated GPU, turning off the RGB backlight, and performing web browsing and Word editing tasks. This result is similar to the previous model and makes sense, as the CPU is at a minimum power consumption without using additional resources. Although it is a low figure, it could be improved with the extreme battery mode in the MSI Center, although this mode limits the CPU to 800 MHz.

Final words on the MSI Titan GT77 HX 13V

So far, the MSI Titan GT77 HX 13V is undoubtedly the most powerful laptop we have tested. MSI has taken advantage of all the potential that Intel and Nvidia offer to build a beast capable of offering ridiculous performance, comparable to a desktop Nvidia RTX 4070 Ti graphics card and surpassing the RTX 3090, with 128 GB of RAM and 2 TB of SSD, and with two additional slots available to expand it even further.

The hardware is the main attraction of the equipment, but we should not overlook its impressive screen, the best in the market in terms of quality and power, comparable to a desktop monitor that would cost more than $1000 USD. In addition, the sound, with four speakers, keyboard with mechanical switches, and touchpad with greater amplitude, is also at a level that is difficult to surpass.

So, what is the downside of this laptop? Undoubtedly, its weight and size, which make it difficult to transport, and its high power consumption, even in basic tasks. The cooler will be noisy while gaming, but it is the price to pay for such performance figures.

The MSI Titan GT77 HX 13V has a price of $6,000 USD, while the version with Nvidia RTX 4080 drops to $4,900 USD, a significant difference to consider. It is likely to be the most expensive laptop of the moment, as its competitors have a more competitive price.