MSI Titan GT77 Review: The best desktop gaming experience on a laptop

This is by no means a laptop you can use on your lap; you’ll definitely need a desk while using it. Weight aside, the MSI Titan GT77 looks the part of a gaming laptop without going over-the-top with the finish. The all-black design complements the RGB lighting, which is present on the logo and the vents.

Yes, MSI has lined 27 RGB LEDs on the back, at the rear exhaust vents. The rear intake vents just behind the screen also features an RGB LED strip.

Lastly, there’s the per-key RGB keyboard. But despite all the RGB lighting, it doesn’t feel like MSI has overdone it as most of the lighting is confined to the back of the keyboard.

Additionally, the lighting can also be customised through the SteelSeries GG app. While the Titan’s build does feel robust, it is worth noting that the laptop uses a plastic chassis. However, the upside of the plastic build is the weight is kept down despite the massive form factor.

The large form factor does have its perks though, one of which is the abundance of ports. The Titan GT77 has a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port, two USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 4, a mini-DisplayPort-out, an HDMI-out, and an Ethernet jack on the right. To the left, there are two more full size USB ports, an SD card reader, and a 3.5mm combo audio jack. The power output also sits to the left of the machine, while no ports are present on the rear. MSI has been extremely generous with the port selection on the Titan GT77.

Keyboard & Trackpad

The MSI Titan GT77 has a full keyboard with a number pad on the right. The Titan uses low-profile mechanical Cherry MX switches from SteelSeries. The keys do feel smaller than usual but the spacing between the keys is more-than adequate and contributes to the comfortable experience. However, after getting used to it, the keyboard here is as good as it gets. The keys have an excellent travel distance and are excellent for gaming and typing. It is far from the tactile feel when you push down on a key from a mechanical keyboard, but it isn’t too far off.

Moreover, the keyboard also features per-key RGB lighting, which is fully customisable via the SteelSeries GG software onboard. You also get a bunch of preset modes to choose from. The trackpad on the GT77 is large and features Windows Precision Drivers. It is quite accurate and fairly responsive, making it convenient to use for navigations. However, considering this laptop is primarily meant for use on a desk, I very rarely defaulted to the trackpad.

Display

MSI has opted for a 17.3-inch Full HD IPS LCD panel with a whopping 360Hz refresh rate. The screen boasts an above-average peak brightness, coming in at under 350 nits. The display on the Titan is particularly good for e-sports titles and does a solid job for content consumption. However, outside competitive e-sports gaming, I wouldn’t recommend this display option as MSI also offers the Titan with an impressive 4K IPS screen with a 120Hz refresh rate.

Further, considering the power under the hood, the 4K panel offers the best of both worlds, gaming and entertainment. The 4K screen is also a better option for a content creation – photo and video editing. The lack of a Quad HD display option was also a bit of a let down as they tend to offer the best balance between high-octane gaming and colour reproduction. Overall, I think Full HD 360Hz screen is a major let down considering the price of this machine.

Performance

Probably the best aspect of the Titan GT77 -- its performance. Under the hood is a 12th Gen Intel 12900HX CPU, one of the most  powerful mobile processors. Paired with the processor is an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti laptop GPU, which is pretty much as good as it gets for gaming laptops. Moreover, the Titan GT77 also comes with 64GB of DDR5 RAM that can be expanded up to 128GB. Additionally, the Titan also came with 4TB of PCIe SSD storage, while one of the four M.2 slots supports PCIe Gen 5 storage. On paper, these are some pretty impressive specs but how did they fare in real-world scenarios.

Now, let’s look at some E-sports titles with the Titan. Overwatch managed an average of 320 fps on Epic Settings. Apex Legends consistently stayed marginally above 200fps throughout our testing.  In Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, the Titan managed an average of 185 fps on high settings. Battlefield 2042 saw the laptop manage 140fps on average on Ultra settings. Moving on to some more graphics intensive titles. Forza Horizon 5 delivered around 110 fps on average on Ultra settings. Far Cry 5 consistently surpassed 150fps on Ultra settings, while GTA V averaged 150fps with the settings maxed out, whereas Cyberpunk 2077 hit an average of 110 fps on High Settings with ray tracing disabled.

We did test the Titan is a few benchmarks. The laptop saw a multi-core score of 22,551 points and a single-core score of 1931 points in Cinebench R23. The Cinebench 10-minute throttling test saw the single-core score fall to 1841 points and the multi-core score fall to 20431 points. In Geekbench 5, the Titan GT77 managed a single-core score of 1895 points and a multi-core score of 15904 points. The laptop RTX 3080 Ti GPU managed a CUDA score of 156090 points and a Vulkan score of 91349 points in Geekbench 5. In PCMark 10 the Titan managed 8151 points.

Judging by some of the results, there’s no doubt that the MSI Titan GT77 is an absolute beast. But how hot did this beast run under pressure? Despite being one of the most powerful gaming laptops on the market, the Titan GT77’s Core i9 CPU rarely crossed the 80-degree C mark, while the RTX 3080 Ti runs around 5 to 10 degrees Celsius cooler. Additionally, the GT77’s keyboard and palm rest areas remain relatively cool, offering a comfortable gaming experience. One of the reasons that the Titan stays cool under pressure is the addition of four fans, while both the CPU and GPU have a new ‘Phase Change Thermal Pad’.

Additionally, several intake vents are placed all over the laptop, while there are exhaust vents on the back as well as the left and right sides of the laptop. MSI’s software can also be used to switch between the different performance modes. The software can also be used to adjust fan speed manually. The fans do tend to ramp up in Extreme mode and get very loud, which will force you to default to external audio hardware. However, even in ‘Silent mode’, the laptop can push most games above 100fps on their highest settings. The MSI Titan GT77 is one of the most powerful gaming laptops I’ve tested.

Battery

Despite the massive 99.9Whr cell on the MSI Titan, battery life here was average at best. Battery life has always been the bane of most gaming laptops and that fact is never more prevalent than in these powerful gaming laptops with over-the-top hardware. However, by gaming laptop standards, I’d say average is rather impressive. I got over five hours of battery life on a single charge when browsing the web and using MS Word simultaneously. This was well above the average of past laptops I’ve tested with a top-end CPU and GPU.

But, you will have to make a few compromises to get over the five-hour mark, like switch to MSHybrid mode and switch the Super Battery mode while using the screen at 50 percent brightness. I also turned off all the LEDs. For a laptop this powerful, battery life certainly exceeded my expectations, although I’ve seen gaming laptops hit the eight-to-nine-hour mark, which gives the Titan an average rating in the battery department.

Audio & Webcam

The Titan has two large upward firing speakers that deliver superb audio quality. The sound is tuned by Dynaudio and doesn’t distort even on max volume. I also found that the sound was sufficient enough to fill a large room with a fan running in the background. Additionally, SteelSeries’ Nahimic software allows you to access an EQ and configure virtual surround sound.

However, as good as the speakers are here, they simply aren’t enough to drown out the noise from the fans. Lastly, the 720p webcam on the Titan is adequate for video calling but footage looks grainy. It is perhaps the most underwhelming part of the Titan GT77.

Verdict

With a staggering price of Rs 4,99,999, the MSI Titan GT77 is the most expensive gaming laptop I’ve reviewed, surpassing the likes of the Alienware Area-51m (Review). However, what’s on offer here is the most powerful mainstream gaming laptop in 2022, i.e., if you can call it a laptop. The Titan GT77 is a full-blown desktop replacement, not meant for use on a lap due to its massive size. On the flip side, the Titan isn’t as heavy as desktop replacements I’ve tested before. Moreover, the Titan is the most powerful gaming laptop you can buy in 2022, offering the best frame rates and benchmark scores I’ve seen.

The display here is also perfect for e-sports gamers, although I’d have liked to see a Quad HD option rather than just 4K and 1080p panel options. Furthermore, the selection of ports and the mechanical keyboard, which is arguably the best I’ve tested so far, only serve to enhance the gaming experience here. The laptop also has powerful speakers and a reliable trackpad and battery life. So should you buy the MSI Titan GT77?

If you are looking for the best-performing gaming laptop money can buy, then ‘yes’. The Titan is perfect for professional creators by day and enthusiast gamers by night. However, going over-the-top doesn’t get you the best bang for your buck. Even among the top-tier laptops, the Titan stands out for its pricing. There’s no doubt that this is the closet you’ll ever come to desktop gaming performance on a gaming laptop. But you’ll have to spend a hefty amount to get that close.