MSI Katana GF76

amazon MSI Katana GF76 reviews

MSI Katana GF76 is a mid-range gaming laptop with high performance and a large screen. The machine owns an 11th generation Intel Core i7 chip, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 graphics card, and maximum ram support up to 64GB. With this power, you can play all the new games that come out today smoothly.

With the level of performance and screen size it offers, the MSI Katana GF76 is one of the cheapest laptops in its segment.

Specifications

CPU: Intel Core i7-11800H

GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060

RAM: 16GB

Memory: 1TB SSD

Display: 17-inch, 1080p, 144 Hz

Dimensions: 15.6 x 10.5 x 1.0 inches

Weight: 2.31 kg

Design

The MSI Katana GF76 is a large gaming laptop with a 17-inch screen, the machine has a familiar design with a matte black plastic outer shell, finished with an imitation metal surface.

The keyboard set is a bit small compared to the body size, it doesn’t look very eye-catching. The screen is wrapped in a slightly thick bezel compared to today’s laptop standards, but because the machine belongs to the popular segment, this is acceptable.

MSI Katana GF76 is quite bulky, the length of 3 sides is 15.6 x 10.5 x 1 inch, and weighs 2.31 kg. This makes carrying the laptop quite difficult, if you often have to move you can refer to the GF66, a smaller version of this machine.

Despite its size, the MSI Katana GF76 is not equipped with too many ports compared to the segment. Located on the left side, the laptop is equipped with 2 USB Type-A ports, 1 USB Type-C port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Keyboard and touchpad

Although the key travel is not too deep, I still have a pretty good experience with the MSI Katana GF76 keyboard. The main reason lies in the number pad cluster located on the side, and the function keys of the machine are full-sized, such as the Backspace, Delete, and Enter keys and the arrow button cluster.

The touchpad of the device has a fairly small area, and it is quite difficult to operate, but I think it is not too important because most of you who use gaming laptops already have a wireless mouse. MSI Katana GF76 is a practical gaming laptop with high usability value.

Screen

The strength of the MSI Katana GF76 monitor lies in its 144Hz refresh rate, coupled with a performance level powerful enough to let you make the most of the monitor’s full potential while gaming.

On the other hand, the Katana GF76 is not equipped with an excellent one, with the ability to cover 62% of the sRGB color gamut, this machine can only be used for entertainment and for tasks that are not too important color accuracy.

Performance

Using Katana GF76 gives a quite good performance, much better than competitors in the same segment, but does not achieve too high results in benchmark tests. As a result, you may not be able to play every new game that comes out today at the highest settings. At the same time, the laptop may not operate smoothly if you link the machine to a screen with a higher resolution. Below is a table of frame results in different games when playing at 1080p resolution.

Although the Katana GF76 is a cheaper gaming laptop than both the Blade 15 and m15 R4, the performance difference is still worth analyzing. The laptop hit frames above 60 fps in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Grand Theft Auto V, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider titles. Only the game Red Dead Redemption 2 has a frame rate lower than 60 fps unless you lower the configuration a bit.

In fact, “downgrade” is a phrase that pretty accurately describes my overall experience with the Katana GF76. I continued to test the graphics processing capabilities of the machine with high-profile games such as Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition, Doom Eternal, Baldur’s Gate III, and Final Fantasy XIV. To get high frame rates and smooth gameplay, I had to downgrade these games by a notch. At the right configuration level, I get a very good experience when playing games, especially on the machine’s 144Hz screen.

However, the laptop has a bit of a limitation in terms of processing performance in work tasks. Although equipped with a high-performance chip and a large amount of RAM, the Katana GF76 cannot run Windows or daily work applications smoothly.

In the data write speed test, the MSI Katana GF76 copied a 25GB file with an average speed of 651 MBps. This speed is slower than the Blade 15 (890 MBps) and m15 R4 (1147 MBps).

Heat dissipation ability

The performance problems of the Katana GF76 may be due to the laptop’s inefficient heat dissipation. During gaming, the laptop’s highest temperature was measured at 53.3 degrees Celsius, and when left on the main screen, the laptop has a temperature of 37.7 degrees Celsius. With such a high-temperature threshold, you will not be able to place the laptop on your lap and use it comfortably.

To fix it, you can use the application that MSI pre-installed in the machine to customize the ventilation fan speed, but these options are quite limited. With this application, you can slow down the fan’s speed, or speed up the fan to the maximum. However, this is not an option to use because the noise the fan emits is too loud.

Battery life

As a high-performance gaming laptop, the battery life of the Katana GF76 is only mid-range. When playing games, the laptop only lasted about 1 hour. In our basic battery life test, the laptop lasted 2 hours and 30 minutes after continuous web surfing over wifi, with a screen brightness of 150 nits.

Summary

MSI Katana GF76 possesses modern and powerful components, allowing users to smoothly play many games at high frame rates. However, with a bulky design, unstable performance, and high heat levels, you will have to consider this carefully before choosing to buy a laptop. Even so, the MSI Katana GF76 is still a pretty good choice if you’re looking to buy a high-performance gaming laptop at a mid-range price.

Advantage

Affordable price

Smooth gaming performance

Display 144Hz

Disadvantage

The design is not too impressive

Mid-range performance

There is a heat level that is hot in the hand

Mid-range battery life

where can you get a MSI Katana GF76 online

MSI Katana GF76 17.3″ 144Hz FHD Gaming Laptop: Intel Core i7-12700H RTX 3060 16GB 512GB NVMe SSD, Type-C USB 3.2 Gen 1, High-ResoluTion Audio, Cooler Boost 5, Win11 Home: Black 12UE-026: Buy it now

MSI Katana GF76 17.3″ 144Hz FHD Gaming Laptop Intel Core i7-11800H RTX3050TI 16GB 512GBNVMe SSD Win11 – Black (11UD-663): Buy it now

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MSI Katana GF76 17.3″ 144Hz FHD Gaming Laptop: Intel Core i9-12900H RTX 3070 Ti 16GB 1TB NVMe SSD, Type-C USB 3.2 Gen 1, High-ResoluTion Audio, Cooler Boost 5, Win11 Home: Black 12UGSK-831: Buy it now

MSI Katana GF76 11UD-001 17.3″ 16GB 512GB SSD Core i7-11800H 2.3GHz Win10H, Black: Buy it now