MSI GT77 Titan is a nuclear fusion core of graphics and processor power, an impractical showpiece for people with more money than sense. Its mighty performance lets you enjoy games like Cyberpunk 2077 with ray tracing turned on.
Its eye-watering price tag is a serious deterrent for most, though. It also draws a lot of power and has fans that reach absurd noise levels in Extreme Performance mode.
Unveiling the MSI GT77 Titan Gaming Laptop
Prepare to be blown away as we introduce you to the formidable MSI GT77 Titan Gaming Laptop. Designed with precision engineering and crafted to deliver unparalleled gaming prowess, this laptop is a dream come true for gamers who demand only the best.
Key Features: Power Unleashed
Let’s explore the key features that make the MSI GT77 Titan Gaming Laptop a true gaming powerhouse.
1. Stunning Display with Ultra-High Refresh Rate
Experience gaming like never before with the MSI GT77 Titan’s brilliant 17.3-inch display. Boasting an ultra-high refresh rate of 300Hz and a rapid response time, the laptop ensures that every frame renders seamlessly, giving you a competitive edge in fast-paced games.
2. Dominating Performance with Cutting-Edge Processor
Under the hood, the MSI GT77 Titan is armed with an LSI-powered Intel Core i9 processor. Combining this with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX graphics card, you’ll witness smooth gameplay and jaw-dropping graphics that breathe life into your favorite gaming titles.
3. Extreme Cooling Technology
Tame the heat of intense gaming sessions with MSI’s innovative cooling technology. The Cooler Boost Trinity+ system keeps the laptop running at optimal temperatures, preventing performance throttling and ensuring prolonged gaming sessions without a hitch.
4. Immersive Gaming Experience with Nahimic Audio
Get ready to be immersed in the world of gaming with Nahimic Audio. This cutting-edge sound technology delivers 3D audio with enhanced clarity, making it easier to pinpoint in-game sounds and gain a tactical advantage.
5. Customizable Per-Key RGB Lighting
Personalize your gaming setup with the GT77 Titan’s per-key RGB lighting. Customize the colors and lighting effects to suit your style and create a captivating gaming ambiance.
6. Expandable Memory and Storage
Never worry about running out of space with the MSI GT77 Titan. Featuring multiple slots for SSD and HDD, you can expand your storage to accommodate your extensive gaming library.
7. Premium Build and Aesthetic Design
The laptop’s sturdy build and sleek design add to its overall appeal. The brushed metal finish and dragon emblem showcase the MSI heritage, making it a laptop that commands attention.
Processor
MSI has outfitted the Titan GT77 with an Intel Core i9-12900HX processor and Nvidia RTX 4090 mobile graphics, giving it the most powerful mobile gaming hardware we’ve ever seen in a laptop. It smokes our gaming laptop test suite while looking and feeling great thanks to a 17.3-inch 4K mini-LED display and a per-key RGB backlit Cherry MX keyboard.
It’s a big machine, so it won’t fit comfortably in most laps. But that’s the price you pay for this level of power.
In our Geekbench 5.4 overall performance test, the Titan achieved a downright absurd 20,617 multi-core score. That easily pips the Zephyrus M16 and ROG Strix Scar 18, while decimating our premium gaming laptop average of 8,533.
In our video encoding test, it took this powerhouse just 3 minutes and 24 seconds to transcode a 4K video to 1080p. That easily smoked the Zephyrus M16 (4:17) and the Strix Scar 18 (3:47), while also far exceeding our 5:24 category average. The system comes with two Thunderbolt 4 ports that support DisplayPort output, as well as HDMI and a Mini-DisplayPort connector.
Graphics Card
If you’re willing to shell out the eye-watering price tag, the top-spec version of MSI’s GT77 Titan offers the best combination of power and portability we’ve seen in a laptop. It features the latest Intel Core i9-13980HX CPU, Nvidia RTX 4090 graphics, 64GB of RAM, and a 4K Mini-LED 144 Hz display.
It also includes a large number of extras, like two USB-C ports (USB 3.1 Gen 2 + Thunderbolt 4) and three Type-A USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports, an SD Express card reader, HDMI ports (8K @ 60Hz / 4K @ 120Hz), and a 3.5mm audio jack. On the left side of the machine, you’ll find a rectangular power jack for the included 280W AC adapter and venting on both sides of the chassis.
A pair of large fans and seven heat pipes take care of cooling the CPU and GPU inside this massive machine. The result is a quiet machine with little fan noise and no thermal throttling during gaming sessions. A Cherry MX Ultra Low Profile mechanical keyboard with per-key RGB lighting completes the package.
RAM
MSI packs its flagship GT77 Titan with the latest mobile components, including Intel’s 16-core Raptor Lake-HX CPU and Nvidia’s brand-new RTX 4090 laptop GPU. It also includes a 4K Mini-LED display with a 144 Hz refresh rate.
I tested the GT77 Titan using my usual test suites, and its Core i9-12900HX processor did well in our Geekbench and Cinebench tests. The 16-core chip provides a lot of benefits, especially when running applications that can take advantage of many cores (like Handbrake).
The RTX 4090 was even more impressive. It scored 20,810 in 3DMark Time Spy, thousands of points ahead of the throttled RTX 4090 in the Asus Zephyrus M16 and the RTX 4080 in the Gigabyte Aero 16. At 1080p in Horizon’s Ultimate settings, the GT77 Titan averaged 157fps, and its 92fps at 4K in Borderlands 3 were nearly 50% faster than the Asus M16.
The GT77 Titan is big, and it’s definitely not something you’ll want to lug around town, but it looks great set up on your desk. The large lid sports a MSI logo and per-key keyboard lighting, and the huge cooling module in the back even spills out customizable RGB lighting.
Storage
A healthy selection of ports lines the Titan GT77 HX’s flanks, including two Thunderbolt 4 / USB-C ports that support DisplayPort Alternate Mode. The laptop also has HDMI 2.1 and mini-DisplayPort for video output.
With its latest 16-core Intel Core i9-12900HX processor and Nvidia RTX 4090 mobile graphics, the Titan sets a new standard for high-end gaming laptop performance. In my Metro Exodus test, it smoked last year’s top-of-the-line desktop laptops and ran a blistering 88 frames per second at 1080p Extreme detail settings with DLSS enabled.
However, that kind of performance doesn’t come cheap. You’ll need a massive power brick to carry around with you and the Titan doesn’t offer any kind of all-day battery life. It only lasted four hours and 25 minutes on our web browsing test, which is well below the Razer Blade 17 and Asus ROG Strix Scar 18. You’ll also be paying for a behemoth of a machine that’s likely to exceed the capacity of most backpacks, plus a dull, mushy 720p webcam and dated aesthetic that may make you feel embarrassed to whip it out in public.
Sound
MSI carried over the same 720p webcam, speakers, and Cherry-branded keyboard from its previous Titan. The latter has plenty of travel and a good, crisp feel. But it doesn’t click audibly, so hardcore gamers will still want to use a headset or external speakers for teleconferencing and media consumption.
In our benchmarks, the GT77 Titan performed like a desktop replacement. Its Intel Core i9-13980HX clocked in at the top of the new tier of mobile processors, besting last year’s cream-of-the-crop machines in both Cinebench and Geekbench.
Nvidia’s RTX 4090 mobile GPU is another big plus here, out-performing even last year’s best laptops in our Metro Exodus 4K Ultra detail test with DLSS turned off. Turning DLSS on, however, drops the Titan to 30 frames per second, a respectable score for such a powerful system. That said, Titan’s fans can become quite noisy in gameplay. It’s easy to drown them out with a game’s soundtrack, though.
Keyboard
The GT77 Titan packs the latest desktop-inspired hardware. It’s powered by Intel’s Core i9-13980HX processor, which has 24 cores, 8 of them dedicated to performance and 16 of them for efficiency. This is joined by Nvidia’s RTX 3080 Ti laptop GPU. The system also has 64GB of memory and an SSD for quick boot times.
The Titan’s keyboard is a delight, with Cherry MX Ultra Low Profile mechanical switches specifically designed for laptops. It offers superb tactile feedback and precise actuation, and you can customize the lighting through MSI’s Mystic Light software.
However, the Titan’s touchpad is less impressive. It’s small and lacks haptics, but it’s still serviceable. It’s not a problem, but it is a little disappointing given the premium MSI is charging for this laptop. The display is another bright spot. It’s 313 nits and has good color accuracy, with a Delta-E of just 0.8. It’s a fine panel, and it would have been nice to see a better one for this price.
Display
The Titan name is synonymous with high-end gaming notebooks and MSI doesn’t hold back when it comes to packing the latest mobile hardware. This 2023 model packs a full desktop Intel Core i9-12900HX CPU and Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti laptop GPU into a 17-inch form factor.
The display is a standout feature, as the GT77 keeps with its classic aesthetics and opts for a gorgeous 4K Mini-LED panel. The panel supports HDR1000, gets plenty bright, and is able to maintain an outstanding contrast ratio. The viewing angles are great, the saturation is excellent, and everything looks sharp as a tack.
There are a lot of ports on the left side, including a rectangular power port for the included 280 Watt AC adapter and two USB-A 3.2 Gen2 ports. There’s also an SD Express card reader, a HDMI port (8K @ 60Hz), and a 3.5mm audio jack. On the right, there’s a Mini-DP port and an RJ45 jack for the onboard 2.5G Ethernet controller.
MSI GT77 Titan Gaming Performance
If you’re in the market for a laptop with benchmark-breaking speed and a 4K Mini LED display, the MSI GT77 Titan is worth consideration. It packs a desktop-inspired Intel Core i9-12900HX CPU, Nvidia’s RTX 3080 Ti mobile GPU, 64GB (4x16GB) of RAM, and three 1TB Samsung PM9A1 PCIe 4.0 NVMe solid-state drives (SSD). During our gaming tests with Metro Exodus, the GT77 Titan averaged 88 frames per second at 1080p Extreme detail settings, which is incredible given even last year’s cream-of-the-crop laptops struggle to break the 30-frame mark at these settings.
In our productivity tests, the GT77 Titan also excelled. It finished first in our photo editing benchmark and scored well in all other categories. However, the Titan’s extreme performance comes at a cost. Its fans are loud and the chassis gets very warm when under load. It’s also incredibly expensive and won’t fit comfortably in most laps. For the few people who can afford and are willing to pay for it, the Titan is a remarkable machine. My hope is that it’s a sign of what’s to come in the next generation of high-end gaming laptops, and not simply a reminder of how insanely expensive the current crop has become.