11th Generation Core Archives

When you think about getting yourselves a gaming rig, a few manufacturers will make your shortlist. One of those names is definitely MSI. MSI has been exclusively making gaming focused rigs since their inception, and they are rather good at it. They will not hold out as one of the top gaming brands in the world unless they are good at what they do.

Gaming PCs and laptops have evolved over the years though. Users want power from their rigs. They want even more portability and flexibility when it comes to their gaming laptops. They also want versatility, and an understated aesthetics that could fit even in a corporate meeting room. Out goes the over-the-top, sharp-edged design and in comes the sleek, understated, clean cut designs. That is 2021.

Of course, with 2021 things are also a little different. The old GPUs are outdated, the older CPU is also outdated. You need more power, you need Intel’s latest and greatest, you need NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 30 series GPU.

MSI GE76 Raider & GE66 Raider

Source: MSI
Source: MSI
Source: MSI
Source: MSI

The GE76 (17.3-inch) Raider and GE66 (15.6-inch) Raider gaming notebooks are technically MSI’s ultimate gaming laptops to date. It packs Intel’s latest 11^th Generation Core i9 for raw processing power. The Intel ultimate is also paired with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (up to) for unmatched gaming performance.

The GPUs power up to 4K (up to) in resolution on both rigs. Both displays images at 100% sRGB too for bright, saturated, and accurate colours in games like Shadow of the Tomb Raider. You feel like you are in the game itself. The CPU ensures that games are delivered to you at up to 360fps (360Hz) too (120Hz on GE76 UHD variant).

If you want, you can spec your Raider gaming laptop with up to 64GB of RAM and two NVMe M.w SSDs (1x PCIe Gen4, 1x PCIe Gen3) for up to 4TB of storage. On top of all the internals is a full RGD keyboard designed by SteelSeries, a world renown gaming peripherals manufacturer. While the GE76 weighs just under 3kg, the smaller GE66 Raider is only 2.38kg for a more agile gaming experience.

MSI GS76 Stealth & GS66 Stealth

In 2021, the name of the game is also stealth. For that, you need something ultra-thin, and ultra-light. That is the MSI GS76 Stealth and GS66 Stealth. It is everything the GE Raider series is, but in a tighter and smaller package.

In the slim body you still get the ultimate 11^th Generation Intel Core i9 that is also paired with NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 3080 (up to). The GS76 Stealth’s 17.3-inch display can also be specced up to a 4k 120Hz panel just like the GE76 Raider. The 15.6-inch on the GS66 Stealth can also get a UHD 4K IPS display like the GE66 Raider.

Everything else under the SteelSeries RGB keyboard from its RAM slot layout and storage layout can be completely similar to the GE Raider series on the GS Stealth series. All except the speakers though. The GE76 Raider gets two woofers for an extra immersion while the GS76 Stealth only gets dual stereo speakers designed by Dynaudio. Understandably though, the thinner body of the GS76 Stealth will not accommodate chunky woofers.

True to its name, the MSI GS76 Stealth is only 20.25m thick and weighs just a little just under 2.5kg. The GS66 Stealth packs in tight as well at up to 19.8mm in thickness weighing just over 2kg.

MSI Pulse GL76 & Pulse GL66

Source: MSI
Source: MSI
Source: MSI
Source: MSI
Source: MSI

Further down the line you have the MSI Pulse GS/Crosshair series. As you can already tell in the naming scheme, there are 17.3-inch and 15.6-inch variants.

You do not get Intel’s ultimate gaming processor in the Core i9 with these ones. The 11^th Generation Intel Core i7 should still prove to be a capable gaming processor though. Paired with an NVIDIA GeForce 3060 (up to), your games should still run nice and smooth at QHD resolution. You can opt to get your Pulse GL series with up to 64GB of RAM if you need to. With up to two NVMe PCIe Gen3 M.2 SSDs, you would not be wanting more in terms of storage space and speed.

The displays also refresh at 165Hz to give you a competitive edge in eSports titles. If you are using the notebook for work, you would be happy to know that both display sizes offer 100% of DCI-P3 colour gamut coverage so you know you are getting good colours from the notebook.

All of that, and its 3-cell battery are packed in underneath an RGB backlit gaming keyboard by MSI. The total package is kept under 25mm in thickness for extra portability. At 2.3kg (up to) as well, it is light enough for you to lug around to work with and to game with anywhere or at a LAN party if need be.

MSI Katana GF76/Sword 17 & Katana GF66/Sword 15

You might think QHD is a little bit of an overkill on a gaming notebook, especially since 17.3-inch is too small for you to appreciate all those pixels. Full HD gaming is all you need, and 144Hz is good enough. There is the MSI Katana GF/Sword series. The naming scheme refers to the colour options you get with the MSI GF series gaming laptops.

You also still get the power of Intel’s 11^th Generation Core i7 processor in the Katana/Sword series. You can pair that CPU to a budget friendly NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 or a powerhouse of an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 GPU. With two RAM slots, the MSI Katana/Sword series can pack up to 64GB in RAM. Although, to be reasonable, 16GB or up to 32GB is more than enough in this case. There are also two NVMe PCIe Gen3 M.2 SSD slots for you to spec up to 4TB of high-speed SSD space on the MSI GF series.

There are no fancy RGB here too, no fuss. The Katana variant gets red backlit keyboard while the sword gets a blue backlighting. Everything is packaged in a body about 25mm thick. Still, at 2.3kg for the 17-inch variant, the GF series notebooks are still portable enough for a good LAN party. Before that though, you are going to bring it into your boardroom.

Rocket Lake is here! Some might say, “about time”. We say, let the games begin.

Intel’s 11^th Generation Intel Core processor for Desktop systems, while inevitable, seems to be something that should have come a while ago. Then again, taking their time to introduce a new product after the big game changer that was AMD’s new Ryzen 5000 series processor could be a smart thing to do. So here is the new Rocket Lake processors that has been teased and highly expected since the end of 2020.

500 Series Chipsets

The introduction of the new Rocket Lake processors also means that there is a new on-board chipset to pair to, as usual with Intel. Intel’s new 500 series chipset adds support for PCIe 4.0, which also means you can now take full advantage of new PCIe Gen 4.0 devices like the newer NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 series and AMD Radeon 6000 sieres GPUs. It also means you can get the newer, faster PCIe 4.0 SSDs to work with too. Of course, there is some new improvements in Intel Optane Memory.

Source: Intel
Source: Intel

The new chipset is also supposed to open up more USB bandwidth on the new boards too, which also means more USB lanes and faster ports. You also get to put in faster memory modules at DDR4-3200. The new 500 series chipset also allows memory overclocking on the H570 and B560 chipsets, so you are less restricted when you have a budget to work with.

Back to the new processing chips. Of course, the are not just launching a single Intel Core i9-11900K. The range topper is coming with a whole slew of Intel Core processors from the low-end, low-power Core i3-10105T with four cores and eight threads all the way to the superpower that is the flagship Core i9-11900K. The new Rocket Lake launch also include the launch of the new Pentium series with the Pentium Gold G6605 two core processor leading the way.

More Power

As per usual, Intel’s big focus on the new processors that were introduced is gaming. The headline figures for the class leading Intel Core i9-11900K unlocked processor is eight cores, 16 threads, and 16MB of Intel Smart Cache. The flagship chip clocks at up to 5.3GHz on Thermal Velocity Boost. Most games these days have not been able to capitalise on high multicore clocks too, so the Intel Rocket Lake platform processors are still expected to perform very well.

Of course, the new Rocket Lake Core processor will come with Intel’s UHD graphics with enhanced Intel X^e graphics architecture. Intel’s X^e GPU architecture pretty much has proven itself in the mobile computing space. It also means you technically can game on the on-board graphics. Intel claims 50% more graphics performance over the older generation Intel UHD Graphics. They also claim up to 19% generational improvement on the overall IPC performance. That is one of the larger leaps in terms of generational performance in Intel’s line-up. Oddly enough, the 11^th Generation Core processors are still built on top of 12nm technology instead of AMD’s cutting-edge 7nm technology. AMD has also touted 5nm technology in their next Ryzen series.

Price and Availability

Source: Intel
Source: Intel
Source: intel

The biggest surprise from Intel’s new generation of processors though is their price tag. This time, their offering their CPUs at lower prices than their competitors. The range topping Core i9-11900K for example will be sold at US$ 539 (MYR 2,220*), US$ 10 (MYR 41*) cheaper than its competition the AMD Ryzen 9 5900X at US$ 549 (MYR 2,261*). The Core i5-11600K, which would most likely be the processor of choice for most users will sell at US$ 262 (MYR 1,079*), a whopping US$ 30 (MYR 124*) less than AMD’s Ryzen 5 5600X at US$ 299 (MYR 1,231*).

Intel’s 11^th Generation Rocket Lake Core processors for desktop is announced to be available later in March 2021. There are no solid leads regarding its local (Malaysia) availability just yet. That also means there are no official pricing locally just yet. Of course, we will keep you posted. For more information, you can head to Intel’s website.

*Approximate value based on conversion rate US$ 1.00 = MYR 4.12 on xe.com as of 17/03/2021

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Tag Archives: 11th Generation Core

MSI Launches new 11th Generation Intel and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 series Laptops for Gamers.