This is my review of the 2024 MSI Titan 18 HX high-performance laptop.
I was dying to get my hands on this computer, and finally got to, as this is currently the most powerful and overall best-equipped high-performance work and gaming laptop available in stores. It’s also the most expensive in its class of 18-inch desktop-replacement notebooks .
As far as the specs go, this computer offers a high-power implementation of the Intel Core i9-14900HX mobile processor, an overclocked Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 16GB 175W graphics chip, 4x RAM slots and 3x SSD slots, plus a beefy thermal module with a vapor-chamber. Add in plenty of ports, a mechanical keyboard with CherryMX low-profile switches, a 4K 120Hz mini LED display, good audio and a premium chassis, and that’s the Titan 18 HX for you.
At the same time, this laptop is still slightly larger and heavier than other 18-inch options currently available with mostly similar specs (at least for the CPU and GPU) and similar performance, although it is no longer nearly as massive as its predecessor, the MSI Titan GT77. Furthermore, this remains more expensive than the competition, and, everything else considered, the performance upgrade over competitors or the previous Titan is limited to none.
All these sparked my interest to find out what is it that you’re paying extra for this MSI Titan 18 HX device, and for whom is this series worth considering. I’ve gathered my thoughts and impressions down below.
Specs sheet as reviewed – MSI Titan 18 HX gaming laptop
2024 MSI Titan 18 HX A14VIG – official page
Display 18-inch, 16:10, non-touch, matte,
Processor Intel 14th gen Raptor Lake Refresh, Core i9-14900HX, 8C+16c/32T, up to 5.8 GHz Max Turbo
Video Intel UHD + Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop 16GB graphics (up to 175W with Dynamic Boost)
Memory 64 GB DDR5-4000 RAM – up to 192 GB (4x DIMMs)
Storage 2 TB SSD (Samsung PM9A1 drive) – 1x M.2 PCI gen5, 2x M.2 PCIe gen4 slots
Connectivity WiFi 7 (Killer BE1750x – Intel BE200NGW chip) 2×2 with Bluetooth 5.4, 2.5 Gigabit LAN (Killer E3000)
Ports Left: 2x USB-A 3.2 gen2, SD card reader, Kensington lock
Battery 99.9Wh, 400 W power adapter, USB-C charging up to 100W
Size 404 mm or 15.91” (w) x 308 mm or 12.11″ (d) x 24 to 32 mm or .94 to 1.26” (h)
Weight 3.63 kg (8 lbs) + 1.15 kg (2.54 lbs) charger and cables, EU version
Extras clamshell 18-inch format with 150-degree screen angle,
This variant is the top-specced configuration of the 2024 MSI Titan 18 HX series, but in some markets you can spec some lower-tier versions with 32 GB of RAM, RTX 4080 graphics or an IPS QHD+ display.
Design and construction – premium materials, but gaming looks As mentioned earlier, this Titan 18 is one of the better made premium-tier laptops with an 18-inch display available today.
It’s still somewhat of a gaming-oriented design, though. The RGB is kept at bay with the lit Dragon logo on the lid and the RGB touchpad, which can be switched off entirely in business/school environments. But there are still some blue parts on the back of the laptop around the exhausts that stand out and point towards the gaming DNA of this series. In comparison, something like the Blade 18 or even the ROG Scar 18 or an Alienware m18 with all the RGB lights switched off look cleaner and are better suited for those strict use cases.
The build quality, on the other hand, is as sturdy as its gets here, with no flex in the chassis or the lid, and no funny noises when using and picking up this laptop.
You’ll most likely have to use both hands to move this around, though, as it weighs 8 lbs / 3.6 kilos for this tested configuration. That’s about 1 lbs heavier than the Scar or the Blade or even the Predator Helios 18. And don’t forget this also comes with a 400W power brick that adds in an extra 2.5 kg / 1.15 kilos to you backpack – that’s actually not that heavy for a 400W charger, but still larger and heavier than the 330W modern chargers offered by most competitors. So overall, we’re looking at about 1 to 1.5 lbs difference in weight between the Titan + charger vs. other 18-inch laptops, the only option that’s heavier being the Alienware m18 at around 10 lbs for the laptop + charger.
The size of this Titan, on the other hand, is within mm of the other 18-inch options, but still one of the larger footprints alongside the Alienware laptop. You’ll notice that by the bezels around the display and the thickness of the chassis. The Blade is the most compact and thinnest option, while the Scar comes in between.
For reference, though, here’s how the Titan and the ROG Scar 18 compare in overall size – they’re close. But notice those blue accents on the back that I was mentioning earlier?
Size and weight aside, the choice in materials and overall craftmanship attention to detail are top quality here, with metals (aluminum and magnesium-aluminum alloys) and glass everywhere and no loose gap or unpolished bindings.
MSI went with a three-tone color scheme, with mostly black metals, and some gray and blue elements around the bottom and the rear side. The branding is fairly minimalistic, with the RGB Dragon shield on the lid and some MSI and SteelSeries engravings on the interior – plus plenty of stickers that you should peel off, but at least they put these stickers at the top of the keyboard, in the left corner, where they’re less of a visual nuisance than having them on the arm-rest as on most other laptops.
Oh, and as far as RGB goes, there are no dedicated lightbars on this series, unlike on other gaming machines, and the only RGB elements are the Dragon Shield on the lid and the touchpad. Some of you might have preffered more RGB, but I sure don’t mind it.
One design particularity of this series is the all-glass arm-rest that seamlessly integrates the touchpad in it. This is a matte finishing and feels excellent to the touch, and surprisingly, doesn’t smudge at all. Not sure how I feel about the touchpad area not being physically delimited in any way, though, this forced me to always keep the lighting active to some degree, as otherwise I couldn’t tell where the touch area began or ended. We’ll discuss that in the next section.
The ergonomics of this Titan 18 series are pretty much what you should expect from a full-size chassis. The front lip of the laptop sits a bit tall of the desk, and the front edge and corners are a rather sharp and can dig into your wrists when not using this on an ample desk. And since most surfaces are black, they’re going to show smudges and finger oil, particularly around the keys and on the lid. But everything else is fine for me.
The hinges are alright, strong enough and smooth working at the same time, and they allow the screen to go back to about 150-degrees, which is fine for a desktop-replacement device. The rubber feet on the bottom are massive and grippy at the same time, and create a slight incline to the chassis that’s supposed to help airflow – don’t expect wonders, though, you’ll still want a stand for sustained gaming sessions.
I also appreciate that there are no status LEDs in the line of sight on this chassis to interfere when using the laptop at night, but there is an always-on light in the power-button key, which at least is dim and not that close to the display, due to the size of this chassis.
As for the IO, there’s everything you’ll want here, including HDMI, USB-A and USB-C slots with Thunderbolt 4, an SD card reader, a K-Lock, an audio jack, you name it. Plus, these are lined around the edges and on the rear of the laptop behind the display, despite the fact that plenty of the back and sides are reserved for cooling exhausts. Still, if there’s one thing I can complain about is that all the USB-C ports are on the left and they didn’t squeeze one on the back as well, but that’s a minor detail.
Overall, this MSI Titan 18 HX is an excellent chassis in terms of materials, build quality and ergonomics. Some of the design choices are debatable, though, with limited RGB on one hand, but on the other hand, with a questionable mix of black and gray pieces with blue accents, that might prevent this laptop from being an acceptable choice in very strict office/school environments.
Keyboard and touchpad – Cherry switches and RGB lighting The inputs on this Titan 18 HX series are quite different than what the competition offers.
The keyboard is a full design with a NumPad section, but the arrows keys are annoyingly squeezed in between the other keys, and not spaced out in any way. This layout is minimalistic as well, with no extra function keys of any kind.
Plus, MSI implemented CherryMX low-profile mechanical switches on the main keys and the arrows, but rubber dome switches on the NumPad keys, and the two sections feel different in use. Regardless, this aspect didn’t really bother me, since I seldom use the NumPad keys anyway, but might be an inconvenience for some of you.
As far as the Cherry switches go, they provide a general-use experience that takes some time to get used to, but after a while you’ll most likely end up swearing by them over any other keyboard option available on laptops. We’ve experienced these in the previous Titan GT77 laptop, and they’re also offered by Dell in their Alienware m18, while everyone else sticks with rubber-dome keyboards in 18-inch units.
It’s hard to describe the clickiness and feedback of these switches, you’ll just have to take my word on it that they’re awesome once you get used to them. You’ll have to consider their noise, though, as they are louder than regular rubber keyboards, and that again can be a nail in the coffin if you need a laptop for strict environments, where these chatty keys might draw unwanted attention.
All these keys are RGB backlit as well, with per-key control in the SteelSeries software, that offers a handful of modes and effects, as well as control over the Dragon light and the light in the touchpad. The illumination is well implemented, with bright LEDs, good uniformity, and limited light-bleed from underneath the keycaps.
The touchpad is unusual here, as it is seamlessly integrated within the arm-rest, which is an entire matte glass surface. That means there’s nothing that physically lets you know here the touch surface ends or begin, so you’ll pretty much have to keep the lighting feature on all the time to help guide you – but you can set it to a darker color that doesn’t stand out as much as the default rainbow option does.
Design aside, using this touchpad is rather weird as well. The surface feels nice to the touch and responds well to swipes and taps, but there are no physical clicks. Instead, clicks are haptic, and I struggled a lot with click and drag actions and a few other complex tasks. Perhaps MSI could fix things with software later on, but my experience with this touchpad was frustrating at times, and I’d most likely end-up using a mouse with this Titan.
Finally, as far as biometrics go, there’s no finger-sensor here, but there’s IR functionality integrated within the camera.
Screen – 4K mini LED panel The display on this Titan 18HX is an 18-inch 16:10 panel, a similar format to what you’ll find on other 18-inch laptops today, but with an UHD+ 120Hz mini LED panel that’s exclusive to this lineup. You’re also getting mini LED panels on other devices , but in QHD+ resolutions.
However, whether this panel is the best option for such a device is debatable, for a few reasons.
For daily use, this is beautiful and very sharp at 3840 x 2400 px resolution. The colors are punchy and pop-out, and everything just looks beautiful, both in SDR and HDR content. Plus, this is a matte anti-glare finishing and plenty bright, so alright for all sort of use situations, including bright office spaces.
Here’s what I got in your tests, using an XRite i1 Pro sensor:
Panel HardwareID: AU Optronics AUOC5AC (B180ZAN01.0);
technology: Mini LED 3840 x 2400 px, 10bit, 1008 dimming zones
Coverage: 99.8% sRGB, 83.5% AdobeRGB, 97.8% DCI-P3;
Measured gamma: 2.24;
Max brightness in the middle of the screen: 601.18 cd/m2 on power;
Min brightness in the middle of the screen: 32.18 cd/m2 on power;
Contrast at max brightness: 1:1;
White point: 7800 K;
Black on max brightness: 0.00 cd/m2;
PWM: Yes – to be discussed.
But then, there are a few other aspects to consider.
First of all, as far as gaming goes, this is UHD+ and 120Hz and around 7-8 ms response times, while the QHD panels on the market are lower resolution, 240Hz refresh, and faster response times at 4-5 ms. So the hardware needs to drive more pixels with this display, and the refresh/response are a step lower, albeit still plenty for most games. On top of these, MSI doesn’t implement GSync support on this panel, while all the other QHD options offer GSync. Are these critical details for your gaming experience? Not for me, but I still think they must be mentioned and considered.
And then, there are the applications like the Adobe Suite or others that require perfect accuracy in color reproduction. Since this panel is a mini LED with always on zone-dimming, the software can skew what you’re seeing on the display, making this not ideal for color-accurate work. In comparison, the ROG Scar for instance offers a choice of either single-backlighting or multi-zone backlighting in the settings, which allows to disable zone dimming when needed. As far as I can tell, there’s no such option here, but do let me know in the comments section if I’m wrong, I’m not as familiar with MSI laptops as I am with ROGs.
On top of these, you’ll also notice that this panel only covers about 83.5% of the Adobe RGB gamut, which once more might not suffice for color-accurate work. But it is nearly 100% DCI-P3, at least.
And then, the color-calibration out of the box on this unit was skewed, with a cold White Point, but that can be corrected with software.
Update: I wasn’t quite aware at the time I tested the laptop of how the MSI True Color app works, so I’m not sure how the Adobe RGB profile in the app changes color-volume and uniformity. As far as I can tell, I’ve tested the laptop on the default profile, which should be Display P3. So take some of my impressions regarding colors on this laptop with a grain of salt, and check out other opinions as well if this aspect is important to you.
On top of these, you should also consider that this panel is a mini LED implementation with around 1000 dimming zones, while the modern QHD 18-inch options are a denser array of 2000+ zones. That means ghosting, consistency artefacts on solid colors, and blooming are more visible on this panel than on the QHD options. For general use, I’d say the differences aren’t major and even if you’ll see some things that will bother you in certain cases, you’ll get to ignore them. But those of you interested in pristine image reproduction might not, and if that’s the case, this panel is not ideal for you.
As for PWM, this mini LED panel refreshes brightness with modulation at all brightness levels, but this implementation does so at a frequency of 2600 Hz, which means flickering should not be noticeable by the human eye.
So overall, I argue that one of the existing QHD+ 240Hz mini LED panels would have made more sense on this Titan, alongside better software control over the dimming zones, in the way Asus offer on their mini LED units. As it is, this UHD+ mini led display looks beautiful on a first glance and it plenty fine for multimedia use and even gaming with high graphics details, but it might fail to meet the mark for color reproduction, especially in specific tasks that require perfect color-accuracy and color-volume.
Oh, and for what is worth, you might be able to get this laptop at some point with an IPS 18-inch panel in some variants, most likely similar to the one on the Strix G18 and Predator Helios Neo 18 . That’s a solid panel for IPS standards.
Hardware and performance Our test model is the top-specced configuration of the MSI Titan 18 HX, code name Titan 18 HX A14VIG – 2024 generation, built on an Intel Core i9-14900HX processor, 64 GB of DDR5-4000 memory, 2 TB of fast SSD storage, and dual graphics: the Nvidia RTX 4090 16GB dGPU and the UHD iGPU integrated within the Intel processor.
Before we proceed, keep in mind that our review unit was sent over by MSI and it runs on the software available as of early-April 2024 (BIOS E1822IMS.10E, GeForce 551.76 drivers). This laptop has been available in stores for a few months now, so I expect little to possibly change with later software at this point, although a newer BIOS update has been released in mid April, and probably other will follow as well during the year.
Spec-wise, this 2024 MSI Titan 18 is built on the latest Intel and Nvidia hardware available to date.
The Core i9-14900HX is the top mobile processor in Intel’s Raptor Lake Refresh 14th-gen platform , with 24 Cores and 32 Threads. It’s a hybrid design with 8 High-Performance dual-threaded Cores, and 16 extra Efficiency cores, which work together or separately in the various loads. The design and thermal module of this Titan 18 allow the processor to consistently run at 170-180W of sustained power in demanding CPU loads, on the Extreme profile, higher than on any other i9-14900HX implementation tested so far.
However, i9-14900HX is a minor refinement of the i9-13980HX processor implemented in the MSI Titan GT77 and other 2023 HX notebooks, so don’t expect notable performance gains in either tests, but especially in real use applications.
For the GPU, the 2024 Titan 18 series is available with top-level RTX 4000 chips. On this sample we have the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop dGPU running at up to 175W with Dynamic Boost, and you can also spec this with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 175W.
There’s a MUX on this design, but there’s no GSync support and no Advanced Optimus. Instead, you can manually switch between Hybrid and Discrete GPU modes, with a restart in between.
As for the RAM and storage options, the laptop comes with four memory DIMMs and three M.2 2280 SSD slots. Because this is a 4x RAM configuration, the memory only works at DDR5-4000 speeds, even if the laptop ships with DDR5-5200 or 5600 modules. That shouldn’t matter for most applications, but it still might for certain apps that are heavily dependent of RAM speeds. There’s just no way around this aspect, it’s just an inherent hardware particularity of having 4x RAM slots on the 14th-gen Intel Raptor Lake Mobile platform.
For storage, our configuration is a fast Samsung PM9A1 2 TB drive, but this laptop supports gen5 SSDs as well, since one of the M.2 slots is compatible with gen5 drives. So if you’re interested in something like a Samsung 990 SSD, that should work here. But the default drive is plenty fast and handles sustained activity without a glitch.
With some elbow grease, you should get inside to the components. You need to take out the back panel, held in place by a dozen or so of Philips screws, and then work your way around the clips with a prying pin. There’s no pop-up screw, so if will take some effort.
Inside you’ll find all the components, the big battery, and the thermal module. The 4x RAM slots are placed behind an aluminum shield, and the 3x SSDs and the WiFi module are easily accessible. There are no thermal radiators on the SSDs, just some thermal foil.
You’ll also notice that every bit of space is put to use in this chassis, since the internal layout is created specifically for this 18-inch model and is not shared with a smaller 16-inch version, as in the case of most other brands. That allowed MSI to implemented the massive vapor chamber and radiators and the high-cfm fans, as well as 6x large speakers, both up and bottom firing units.
This video shows the entire disassembly process:
VIDEO Specs aside, MSI offer their standard power profiles in their Control Center app: Silent, Balanced and Extreme, with various power settings and fan profiles between them, summarized in the following table.
Silent Balanced Extreme
CPU only, PL1/PL2 TDP
55/100W
140/240W
160/240W
GPU only, max TGP
80W
175W
175W
Crossload
120W, 40 + 80 W
210W, 60 + 150 W
270W, 95 + 175 W
Noise at head-level, tested
<35 dBA
~45 dBA in games
~52 dBA on Auto fans
There’s also the MSI AI Engine mode that switches between these profiles based on your task. But, as far as I can tell, that’s mostly a mode switcher and little else, at least for now.
Before we jump to the performance section, here’s how this laptop handles everyday use and multitasking on the Silent profile, unplugged from the wall.
CPU/Graphics Performance and benchmarks On to more demanding loads, we start by testing the CPU’s performance by running the Cinebench R15 test for 15+ times in a loop, with a 1-2 seconds delay between each run.
The Core i9-14900HX processor stabilizes at ~180W of sustained power on the Extreme setting with the fans set on Auto and the laptop flat on the desk, with temperatures of around 93-95 C and scores of ~4900 points. The fans spin at ~52 dB at head level in this mode.
The CPU runs at high power for the entire duration of this test, and both a power and thermal limit kick in to a small extent after a few runs.
Voltage control is locked by default with both XTU and Throttlestop , and I didn’t get to test the advanced undervolting option in the BIOS. Based on our experience with other i9-14900HX implementations, a -50 to -80 mV undervolt should run stably here, and allow for a slight boost in sustained CPU scores of up to 3-5%. That should push the scores in this test to over 5000 points sustained.
There’s also the option of activating Cooler Boost mode, with ramps the fans to 100% rpms. This translates into a noise increase (58 dBA), but with mostly similar power settings, temperatures and scores, even when having the laptop on a stand.
On Balanced mode, the CPU stabilizes at ~140W of power, with fan levels of 45 dBA, temperatures around mid-80s C and scores of around 4600 points. That’s roughly a 5-7% decrease compared to Extreme mode. That shows how little the i9 scales in performance over 150W of power.
On the Silent profile, though, the CPU is power capped at 55W, with barely audible fans (sub 35 dB) and temperatures in the mid-60s C. The i9-14900HX scores ~3000 points in the Cinebench test, about 60% of the performance in Extreme mode. That’s fine for a quiet profile, but more aggressively limited than on other implementations of this platform, as the temperatures would easily allow for a higher limit around 75W or so, which would ensure scores around 3600 points.
I also tested the Balanced mode on PD power, which also limits the CPU to only 55W.
Finally, the CPU fluctuates between 25 to 55 W on battery, on the Extreme profile, with fluctuating results in this test. Details below.
To put these results in perspective, here’s how this i9-14900HX implementation fares in this loop test against the same i9-14900HX in the less powerful Scar 18 and Predator Helios Neo 18 laptops, as well as how it compares to the i9-13980HX and the Ryzen 9 7945HX processors available in the Titan GT77 and a few 2023 ROG devices, such as the ROG Scar 17 .
Yes, by running the Core i9 HX CPU at 180W sustained, this implementation scores the highest results in this test, but the differences are within 1-3% of the Scar 18 implementation, where the i9 runs at 135-150W. Furthermore, we’re looking at roughly 10% higher scores vs. the i9 in the Titan GT77, which was a lower sustained TDP design in this test, and still abut 10% behind the scores of the Ryzen 9 HX platform, with the 16C/32T design.
Thus, the Titan 18 HX is the fastest i9-14900HX we’ve tested in this sustained Cinebench loop test so far, yet despite its high TDP settings, it barely outmatches other options that run at lower power. That means the i9 doesn’t scale much up over 150W TDP. Sure, you could push the results further with undervolting, but that’s also an option on other models, as shown in our review of the ROG Scar 18.
Plus, you should always consider the potential differences in silicon lottery between these i9s, which alone can account for up to a 5% difference in scores.
We then went ahead and further verified our findings with the more taxing Cinebench R23 loop test and Blender – Classroom, which resulted in similar findings to what we explained above (~180W limit for Turbo, ~140W for Performance, ~55W for Silent).
We also ran the 3DMark CPU test on the Extreme profile.
Finally, we ran our combined CPU+GPU stress tests on this notebook. 3DMark stress runs the same test for 20 times in a loop and looks for performance loss over time. This review unit easily passed the test with both the laptop on the desk and with it on a raiser stand, which means that you shouldn’t worry about performance throttling of any kind on this notebook.
Next, we ran the entire suite of tests and benchmarks, on the Extreme Performance profile with the GPU set on the Hybrid mode (MUX on Optimus), with the fans on Auto, and with the screen set at the native 4K+ resolution. The CPU runs on stock voltage for these tests, and the GPU is overclocked by default at +200 MHz Core, +200 MHz memory by this profile.
Here’s what we got:
3DMark 13 –CPU profile: max – 13452, 16 – 9961, 8 – 7654, 4 – 4327, 2 – 2295, 1 -1187;3DMark 13 – Fire Strike: 35610 (Graphics – 44374, Physics – 41564, Combined – 13209);3DMark 13 – Port Royal (RTX): 13998;3DMark 13 – Time Spy (DX12): 20983 (Graphics – 21914, CPU – 16914);3DMark 13 – Speed Way (DX12 Ultimate): 5743;Uniengine Superposition – 1080p Extreme: 12914;Uniengine Superposition – 1080p Medium: 36267;PCMark 10: crashed;GeekBench 6.0.2: Multi-core: 17559, Single-Core: 2890;CineBench R15 (best run): CPU 5027 cb, CPU Single Core 309 cb;CineBench R20 (best run): CPU 11902 cb, CPU Single Core 828 cb;CineBench R23: CPU 31434 cb (best single run), CPU 30296 cb (10 min run), CPU Single Core 2151 cb;CineBench 2024: GPU 23608 pts, CPU 1745 pts (best single run), CPU 1744 pts (10 min run), CPU Single Core 125 pts;x265 HD Benchmark 64-bit: 18.13 s.
And here are some workstation benchmarks, on the same Extreme Performance profile:
Blender 3.0.1 – BMW scene – CPU Compute: 1m 16s;Blender 3.0.1 – BMW scene – GPU Compute: 9.88s (CUDA), 6.40 (Optix);Blender 3.0.1 – Classroom scene – CPU Compute: 3m 01s;Blender 3.0.1 – Classroom scene – GPU Compute: 19.80s (CUDA), 10.62s (Optix);Blender 3.4.1 – BMW scene – CPU Compute: 1m 16s;Blender 3.4.1 – BMW scene – GPU Compute: 9.63s (CUDA), 5.60 (Optix);Blender 3.4.1 – Classroom scene – CPU Compute: 3m 05s;Blender 3.4.1 – Classroom scene – GPU Compute: 17.02s (CUDA), 10.17s (Optix);Blender 3.6.5 – BMW scene – CPU Compute: 1m 18s;Blender 3.6.5 – BMW scene – GPU Compute: 9.50s (CUDA), 6.19 (Optix);Blender 3.6.6 – Classroom scene – CPU Compute: 3m 08s;Blender 3.6.5 – Classroom scene – GPU Compute: 17.11s (CUDA), 9.64s (Optix);
PugetBench – DaVinci Resolve: 2167 points;PugetBench – Adobe Photoshop (25.5): 11838;PugetBench – Adobe Premiere (24.2.1): 12658.
SPECviewperf 2020 – 3DSMax: 201.74;SPECviewperf 2020 – Catia: 113.97;SPECviewperf 2020 – Creo: 137.70;SPECviewperf 2020 – Energy: 74.72;SPECviewperf 2020 – Maya: 582.89;SPECviewperf 2020 – Medical: 58.19;SPECviewperf 2020 – SNX: 37.47;SPECviewperf 2020 – SW: 454.92.V-Ray Benchmark: 21003 – CPU, 2658 – CUDA, 3600 – RTX.
These are some of the better benchmark scores you will get on any laptop today, both on the CPU and GPU side.
On the CPU side, this laptop has an advantage in PL1/PL2 power settings, which are higher than on any other mobile computer. But, as shown already, that pretty much provides a 1-3% gain in scores over something like a Scar 18 or last’s years i9-13980HX implementation in the Titan GT77. And that means nothing in real-life applications.
On the GPU side, once more this Titan 18 edges other RTX 4090 Laptop configurations by a few percentage points, but that’s because the default OC settings on Extreme mode are +200 MHz Core/Memory, more aggressive than the default OC settings in other laptops, which are usually around the +100 MHz limit.
That’s for the Extreme Performance mode. But given the heft and cooling in this laptop, thermals and performance on the other profiles should be especially of interest. We’ll get to that in a bit.
I’m going to compare these results on this Titan with the scores on the similar i9-14900HX + RTX 4090 configuration in the Asus ROG Scar 18, which is a slightly lower powered design at up to 240W crossload TDP + TGP. We’re also have an article comparing this Titan 18 with the previous Titan GT77 model.
I’ll also add that I didn’t get to test an optimized profile on this Titan, with an undervolted processor and a further overclocked GPU, although the default GPU OC is already more aggressive here than on other brands, so there’s little more you can squeeze on the GPU side. But there’s likely room for improvement on the CPU side, especially in thermals.
Extreme Performance Mode vs. Balanced, Silent I do want to touch on the Balanced and Silent profiles offered in MSI Control Center.
The laptop runs at up to 52 dB on the Extreme Performance profile, which is noisy. Thus, if you’re willing to sacrifice the performance to some extent in order to keep the fans quieter, the Balanced and Silent profiles should be of interest.
Here’s how this Titan 18 performs on the Balanced profile, which limits the fans to around 45 dBA at head level.
3DMark 13 – Fire Strike: 34301 (Graphics – 46962, Physics – 39523, Combined – 10625);3DMark 13 – Port Royal (RTX): 11341;3DMark 13 – Time Spy: 19404 (Graphics – 19861, CPU – 17169);Uniengine Superposition – 1080p Extreme: 12008;CineBench R20 (best run): CPU 10885 cb, CPU Single Core 817 CB;Blender 3.41 – Classroom scene – CPU Compute: 3m 29s.
The CPU and GPU run at slightly lower power on this profile, hence the scores take a slight hit of less than 10%. Nothing significant. Temperatures on the GPU are a little higher than on Extreme, though, and the fans are still plenty audible at 45 dBA. A mid-level profile around 40-42 dBA would have made more sense to me, even with an extra decrease in performance.
You can also opt for the Silent profile, in which case the fans mostly spin and 30-32 dBA and won’t go over 35 dBA. Here’s what we got in this case:
3DMark 13 – Fire Strike: 27266 (Graphics – 34627, Physics – 29817, Combined – 10015);3DMark 13 – Port Royal (RTX): 7736;3DMark 13 – Time Spy: 14060 (Graphics – 14222, CPU – 13208);Uniengine Superposition – 1080p Extreme: 9097;CineBench R20 (best run): CPU 7239 cb, CPU Single Core 800 cb;Blender 3.41 – Classroom scene – CPU Compute: 5m 02s.
This is interesting, as it provides about 60-70% of the performance with almost no audible noise. But the power limits on the CPU and GPU are aggressive, though, and this system could perhaps perform a little better in this mode with still solid temperatures if MSI would tweak the power allocation 10-15W higher on both components. But still, this is an alright profile as well.
So all in all, this MSI Titan 18 HX is an excellent performer on the Extreme Performance profile, and the Balanced and Silent modes are pretty good too, even if one is perhaps a bit too loud and the other a bit too power limited.
Gaming performance Let’s see how this Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop configuration of the MSI Titan 18 handles modern games.
We tested a couple of different types of games on the various available profiles at 4K+, QHD+ and FHD+ resolution, all with the MUX manually set on the Discrete Graphics Mode. The GPU is Overclocked at +200MHz Core, +200 MHz memory by default on Extreme, and a little lower on Balanced.
Here are the results:
MSI Titan 18, 4K+ Extreme, QHD+ Extreme, QHD+ Balanced, QHD+ Silent, FHD+ Extreme,
Cyberpunk 2077 48 fps (40 fps – 1% low)
102 fps (73 fps – 1% low)
92 fps (66 fps – 1% low)
60 fps (46 fps – 1% low)
132 fps (90 fps – 1% low)
Doom Eternal 182 fps (130 fps – 1% low)
354 fps (282 fps – 1% low)
–
–
480 fps (352 fps – 1% low)
Far Cry 6 81 fps (62 fps – 1% low)
131 fps (100 fps – 1% low)
119 fps (92 fps – 1% low)
90 fps (74 fps – 1% low)
136 fps (100 fps – 1% low)
Metro Exodus 75 fps (58 fps – 1% low)
122 fps (70 fps – 1% low)
–
–
147 fps (72 fps – 1% low)
Red Dead Redemption 2 86 fps (64 fps – 1% low)
143 fps (102 fps – 1% low)
–
–
159 fps (108 fps – 1% low)
Resident Evil 4 88 fps (66 fps – 1% low)
164 fps (104 fps – 1% low)
146 fps (101 fps – 1% low)
102 fps (76 fps – 1% low)
210 fps (112 fps – 1% low)
Shadow of Tomb Raider 99 fps (76 fps – 1% low)
170 fps (110 fps – 1% low)
151 fps (102 fps – 1% low)
120 fps (94 fps – 1% low)
179 fps (116 fps – 1% low)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (v4.04) 90 fps (64 fps – 1% low)
138 fps (70 fps – 1% low)
136 fps (68 fps – 1% low)
116 fps (74 fps – 1% low)
140 fps (76 fps – 1% low)
Battlefield V, Cyberpunk, Doom, Witcher 3 – recorded with Fraps/in-game FPS counter in campaign mode;
Far Cry 5, 6, Metro, Red Dead Redemption 2, Tomb Raider – recorded with the included Benchmark utilities;
Red Dead Redemption 2 Optimized profile based on these settings .
Those above are rasterization tests, and here are some results for RTX – Ray Tracing performance, with and without DLSS.
MSI Titan 18, 4K+ Turbo, dGPU QHD+ Turbo, dGPU FHD+ Turbo, dGPU
Cyberpunk 2077 (v2.11) 24 fps (18 fps – 1% low)
54 fps (42 fps – 1% low)
70 fps (59 fps – 1% low)
Cyberpunk 2077 (v2.11) 63 fps (50 fps – 1% low)
136 fps (80 fps – 1% low)
200 fps (138 fps – 1% low)
Doom Eternal 138 fps (110 fps – 1% low)
256 fps (212 fps – 1% low)
362 fps (290 fps – 1% low)
Doom Eternal 170 fps (122 fps – 1% low)
300 fps (244 fps – 1% low)
398 fps (305 fps – 1% low)
Far Cry 6 71 fps (53 fps – 1% low)
109 fps (83 fps – 1% low)
113 fps (86 fps – 1% low)
Shadow of Tomb Raider 84 fps (50 fps – 1% low)
123 fps (68 fps – 1% low)
145 fps (82 fps – 1% low)
Shadow of Tomb Raider 90 fps (52 fps – 1% low)
128 fps (68 fps – 1% low)
141 fps (80 fps – 1% low)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (v4.04) 55 fps (43 fps – 1% low)
94 fps (62 fps – 1% low)
102 fps (78 fps – 1% low)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (v4.04) 82 fps (60 fps – 1% low)
110 fps (71 fps – 1% low)
150 fps (84 fps – 1% low)
This configuration handles smoothly all these modern games even at 4K resolution and Ultra settings, with few exceptions that dip under 60 fps at this resolution. RT performance is also impressive for this 4090 variant, especially with DLLS3 in supported titles.
These framerates are about 5% higher than on the RTX 4090 Scar 18 recently tested, which again, is due to the OC settings. At similar settings, I expect both units to perform the same. However, the 1% lows are notably higher on the Titan, at 10-20% better at the same QHD+ resolution. Not sure why, but that is important to consider as well for a complete picture at the gaming capabilities of this laptop.
Compared to last year’s Titan GT77, this Titan 18 is within a few percentage points faster in framerates, because the GPUs are identical between generations, and the transition between Intel 14th and 13th gen platforms barely impacts anything when it comes to real-use or gaming.
With that out of the way, let’s go over some performance and temperature logs.
First, Extreme Performance mode, with the fans in Auto and the laptop flat on the desk. This ramps up the fans to ~52 dBA, which is loud even for a gaming laptop, so you’ll most likely need headphones to properly cover it up.
The CPU runs at around 75-85W of power in the tested titles, so not quite at the advertised 95W limit, with OverBoost Ultra. That’s mostly because this CPU also averages temperatures around the 95C throttling point between the tested titles.
The GPU, on the other hand, pulls sustained 175W of power and runs at 75-80 degrees C. There’s no sort of throttling or performance limitation of any kind on this GPU.
Here are some logs for this Extreme Performance profile with the laptop flat on the desk.
And then, you can lower these temperatures by 5-10 degrees if you bump up the back of the laptop off the desk, as this improves the airflow of fresh air underneath the chassis and into the fans.
In this case, the CPU consistently runs at ~85-90 degrees Celsius, and the GPU at 70-75 degrees Celsius. Thus, placing this laptop on a stand or at least bumping up the rear part by a few cm is recommended for sustained gaming sessions, even if the laptop is still perfectly usable even when kept flat on the desk.
These logs are for Extreme mode with the laptop raised up.
You could also set the fans on Cooler Boost, which means they’ll spin a tad faster and notably louder, at 58 dBA. But the difference in performance from Auto fans is marginal, so this mode doesn’t make much sense to me here.
The Balanced profile lowers the fans’ noise to 45 dBA at head level, and limits the CPU/GPU power (55W CPU, 150W GPU). This translates into 10-15% reduction in framerates, with temperatures fairly similar to Extreme mode.
Here are the logs for Balanced mode with the laptop on the desk – 90 C on the CPU and 80 C on the GPU.
Of course, lifting the laptop on a stand will impact temperatures in this mode as well – low-80s on the CPU, low-70s on the GPU. This Balanced mode with the laptop on a stand is the best rounded option for gaming, even if perhaps a bit too loud for my liking and a bit too limiting on the GPU.
Then there’s the Silent mode, which limits the CPU to 40W and the GPU to 80W. Of course, the framerates take a major hit, but you’re still getting about 60-75% of the performance in Extreme mode. That’s not bad for sub 35 dBA noise levels, but you’ll most likely have to trim the graphics settings a bit for 60+ fps at higher resolution in modern games.
As for gaming on battery power, I didn’t get to test that on this unit.
Noise, Heat, Connectivity, speakers, and others The thermal module in this laptop is advanced and fully takes advantage of the space inside this 18-inch chassis, with two high-capacity fans, four big radiators and a beefy thermal module covering all the important hardware components.
As far as I understand, there’s liquid metal on the CPU, and regular thermal paste on the GPU here.
Image Source: NBC
MSI also mention these taller rubber feet underneath the laptop meant to ensure better airflow into the fans, but as shown in the tests, the CPU in particular runs very hot here with the laptop flat on the desk, and all internal temperatures benefit greatly from raising this chassis on a stand, in all modes. So keep that in mind for your gaming sessions.
As far as noise levels go, expect 58 dBA on Extreme with Cooler Boost max-fans, 52 dBA on Extreme with Auto fans, 45 dBA on Balanced, and sub-35 dBA on the Quiet profile.
For the outer case temperatures, this laptop runs warm and even uncomfortably so around the arrows keys and the middle of the chassis, which is the hottest part in all modes and goes over 50+ Celsius. The metal chassis further enhances heat transfer and makes the contact surfaces feel hotter than on other devices with a plastic interior, such as the ROG models.
Keep in mind that I’m recording these FLIR images in a 24-25C ambient with the laptop flat on the desk. Your thermals will vary based on your ambient temperatures, and placing the laptop on a stand will help slightly lower these readings, but only by 1-3 degrees or so.
I haven’t tested Cooler Boost, since that’s insanely loud.
Gaming aside, this laptop keeps quieter and cooler with everyday use and general multitasking. I haven’t looked much into this, but the fans seem to never idle, so you’ll still hear them in a quiet environment. They rarely go over 30 dBA, though.
I also haven’t noticed coil whine or other sorts of electronic noises on this unit, but that’s no guarantee you won’t on yours. So make sure to properly listen for anything funny when you get the laptop.
For connectivity, there’s Wireless 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 on this unit, as well as 2.5G Gigabit Lan, so the best tech a available at this point. This sample performed well on wi-fi with my setup, but I don’t have a WiFi7 router to test with yet. The LAN port is also conveniently placed on the back of the laptop if you plan to use a wired connection, so the cable won’t get in the way.
The audio quality is solid here, with 6x speakers inside this device, firing downwards and upwards through the grills that flank the keyboard. There’s still not a lot of bass, but these speakers are sure punchy at 85+ dBA at head-level. That means they’re louder than on the Scar 18, but the audio quality is about similar and arguably clearer on the Scar. Nonetheless, given the fan noise, expect to use headphones on this laptop when running games or demanding workloads.
Finally, there’s a FHD camera placed at the top of the screen and flanked by microphones, with decent image quality. It supports IR with Windows Hello as well, which is fairly rare on such a gaming machine.
Battery life There’s a 99.9Wh battery inside this Titan, the largest capacity possible in a laptop.
Here’s what we got on our review unit in terms of battery life, with the Nvidia GPU on Optimus mode, the screen’s brightness set at around 120 nits (~50 brightness) and on the default 120Hz refresh.
25 W (~4 h of use) – text editing in Google Drive, Silent Mode, screen at 50%, WiFi ON;23 W (~4-5 h of use) – 1080p fullscreen video on Youtube in Edge, Silent Mode, screen at 50%, WiFi ON;22 W (~4-5 h of use) – Netflix 4K HDR fullscreen in Edge, Silent Mode, screen at 50%, WiFi ON;35 W (~3 h of use) – browsing in Edge, Balanced Mode, screen at 50%, WiFi ON;85 W (~1 h of use) – Gaming – Witcher 3, Balanced Mode, screen at 50%, WiFi ON, no fps limit.
This implementation is a more power hungry than the other i9-14900HX models we’ve tested, and that’s no surprise, given the 4K display weighs in as well. So expect about 3-4 hours of daily use on a charge, which is fine, as you’re not getting and Intel HX platform for efficiency on battery power anyway.
I’ll also add that this Titan 18 notebook comes with a 400W power brick, a fairly chunky and heavy unit at 2.5+ lbs, and with quite a short cable on the part that’s attached to the brick; that means you can’t really leave the brick on the floor and only route up the cable to the desk, you’ll have to bring the charger on the desk with you. In comparison, the 330W modern chargers offered by competing laptops are a bit smaller and tend to offer longer and more ergonomic cables.
USB-C charging is supported on this laptop, up to 100W, through one of the the USB-C slots on the left side. I didn’t get to test the general behavior on USB-C power, or whether there’s USB-C passthrough implemented, but I’d expect not.
Price and availability- MSI Titan 18 HX The MSI Titan 18 HX is listed in stores around the world at the time of this post.
Thing is, I’m only seeing some top-specced variations of this Titan 18 HX A14VIG unit tested here in stores, with the Intel Core i9-14900HX processor, RTX 4090 dGPU, 128 GB of RAM, 2 TB of SSD storage and the mini LED display, and that goes for $5399 in US stores and around 6499 EUR here in Europe. Holy molly!
Some similar configurations with 32 GB of RAM are available over here in Europe, for around 5000 EUR or so. But I’m not seeing any of the 4080 models (the Titan 18 HX A14VHG series) or the IPS screen options. Still, even those will retail for 4000+ easily.
Follow this link for updated configurations and prices in your region at the time you’re reading this article.
Final thoughts- Should you buy the 2024 MSI Titan 18? This MSI Titan 18 series is insanely expensive as of right now, around May 2024. Both because this is an expensive series with everything that’s offered, but also because MSI only seem to sell this in highly specced configurations with lots of RAM and storage, and that means you have to pay an MSI tax for these as well and cannot get an lower configuration and add extra RAM/storage yourselves how and if that’s needed.
In comparison, other 18-inch laptops specced with the same i9-14900HX processor and RTX 4090 graphics start at $3249 right now for the Alienware m18 r2, $3799 for the MSI Raider 18, or $3899 for the Scar 18, all with 32 GB of DDR5-5600 RAM and 2 TB SSDs. But the Scar offers a mini LED display for that kind of money, while the other two are IPS displays. In fact, the only other laptop that comes close to the Titan in pricing is the Blade 18, where Razer asks $5399 for the 64 GB/ 4 TB SSD model, although that’s quite a different laptop in design and feel.
And the thing is, realistically, all these laptops are going to perform similarly, especially in mixed uses and games, where they all implement the same 4090 chip, with minor differences in power and OC settings between them. The Titan gets a real potential advantage with the RAM slots and faster storage, but at the same time, the RAM on this unit also works slower compared to the other options with only 2x RAM modules. So even this feature is a two-way blade.
On top of these, you’re also not really getting an advantage in cooling with this Titan either; in fact, this feels even hotter and runs noisier than the Scar 18 and most likely than the Alienware m18 R2 as well, although I haven’t yet tested that.
Oh, and you should perhaps consider barebone designs such as Clevo, Sager, XMG or Eluktronics in your decision, especially if performance is what you’re mostly after as those get water-cooling in some versions. But those aren’t yet available in 18-inch formats. I don’t have any experience with them, so can’t really factor them in this review.
So then, what are you getting with the Titan that’s supposed to at least partially justify the pricing? Well, the chassis design is excellent, ergonomics are solid, the Cherry keyboard is an excellent typer once you get used to it, the mini LED display is beautiful (as long as you don’t need it for photo/video editing), and the speakers and rich and punchy. And of course, the performance is excellent, pretty much the best offered in this class, but only by a fer percentage points compared to the alternatives in this same space.
But are these worth the 1 to 2K USD/EUR extra over other options? For most people, I’d say no, not really. Unless you really need 4x RAM slots and 128+ GB of RAM on your mobile computer, the other 18-inch laptops out there are a better-value proposition today. But then, value isn’t really a concern in a 4090 laptop anyway, and if money’s no object to you and you’re fine with the particularities and quirks of this Titan, than this is the one for you.
That wraps-up my time with this MSI Titan 18 HX series. I’d love to hear your thoughts on it, though, so get in touch down below in the comments section.
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Review by: Andrei Girbea
Andrei Girbea is a Writer and Editor-in-Chief here at Ultrabookreview.com . I write about mobile technology, laptops and computers in general. I've been doing it for more than 15 years now. I'm a techie with a Bachelor's in Computer Engineering. I mostly write reviews and thorough guides here on the site, with some occasional columns and first-impression articles.
PHVM_BR
May 1, 2024 at 5:01 pm
Have a laptop like that with Intel HX, especially i9, without undervol it is a waste.
In addition to the performance that increases considerably (+10%), the entire usage experience improves with much lower temperatures in IDLE and in light use with less noise, much fewer consumption/temperature spikes…
AlexS
May 9, 2024 at 7:57 am
Yeah, this model and many others are marred by a choice of a CPU that is too strong for the cooling solution.
Davedpro2024
May 6, 2024 at 6:26 pm
What is the temperature on cpu and gpu if turn on cooler boost(max fan mode)? (It means far cry 6 and cyberpunk)
What is the wattage?
Andrei Girbea
May 7, 2024 at 2:26 pm
The power settings are similar to regular Extreme, not affected by Cooler Boost. The temps are a little lower, but I haven't logged that use scenario, since I find it too noisy to consider, and regular extreme with Auto fans is already cool enough
Altandmain
May 7, 2024 at 1:12 am
Although the laptop is arguably the best high performance laptop, it feels like it has too many compromises for its price range. At this price range, it should be nearly perfect.
There's plenty of areas for improvement:
1. The speakers are not fit for a laptop of this price range. At this price point, the speakers should be as good as the Asus G16 or Macbook Pro 16.
2. Although the keyboard is using Cherry MX switches, the Numpad and certain other keys are not Cherry MX. Why did MSI save money on a few switches on a laptop at this price point?!
3. When I tried it out, I found the Haptic Touchpad to be lacking – and not having borders made it hard to see where your fingers were leaving the Touchpad area. Personally I think the best implementation of a Haptic Touchpad is Apple and on the Windows side, the laptops with Sensel Touchpads.
4. Adopt the CAMM memory standard. One of the reasons why the laptop is slow is because it uses 4x SO-DIMM slots. The problem is that the DDR5 standard has effectively saturated this standard. The CAMM standard was made for overcoming the limitations. Slow RAM can be a bottleneck in some games and where memory bandwidth is an issue.
There are some things that MSI should do to address the fact the fans are always spinning – a more quiet fan curve that would not require changes to the hardware. This should also come with a "lower power" performance profile.
MSI did improve the build quality of their previous generation chassis. Yet it doesn't seem to give any advantages in performance compared to its cheaper counterparts. They are charging a premium for the 4k higher refresh rate Mini-LED. I personally prefer a 4k 120Hz over a QHD 240Hz, but it's nice to have options.
That reminds me – we may be unable this generation to run >120 fps @ 4k. Perhaps when the 5090 comes out, then we will see GPUs with that ability.
Another problem I see is that Intel seems to have built a very inefficient CPUs as measured by performance per watt. One can only hope that the Arrow Lake CPUs are more efficient. Certainly, there is a huge gap between this generation and Apple's M3 Max CPUs, which is the closest comparison to this laptop that Apple has.
Andrei Girbea
May 7, 2024 at 2:27 pm
Thanks for your input, all solid points. 3 and 4 especially are quite difficult to accept imo. And the pricing.
Altandmain
May 11, 2024 at 8:36 pm
There is one other major issue – no G-Sync. On a laptop at this price point, I have to be harsh. The display is otherwise beautiful though and one of the brightest that ships in a laptop right now.
Apparently more recent reviews indicate that the latest software updates have improved the haptic touchpad, which is a big improvement.
To me, the good news is that MSI has made considerable improvements over their last generation, but there's still a lot of work to do.