Testing Thermals with the MSI GE66 Gaming Laptop

To find out how hot the MSI GE66 gaming laptop gets and to understand its thermal performance, we tested it using various methods. We started by testing its thermals under different conditions, including when the system was idle, running a gentle load, and experiencing heavy stress.

First, let's look at our testing setup for thermals. The MSI GE66 is equipped with dual fans that are capable of producing a significant amount of airflow to help dissipate heat away from the laptop's components. We used a thermometer to measure the temperature of the laptop's exterior surfaces, including the wrist rests and the back panel.

At idle in silent mode, the temperatures were quite standard. The wrist rests were cool, with temperatures ranging from 27°C to 30°C (81°F to 86°F). However, as we moved towards the center of the laptop where the heat source is located, temperatures started to rise. In this area, temperatures reached up to 38°C (100°F), which is still relatively comfortable and within a safe range for human handling.

However, when we subjected the MSI GE66 to stress testing under heavy load, temperatures began to rise significantly. The wrist rests remained cool, but the back panel started to feel hot, with temperatures reaching as high as 45°C (113°F). This increase in temperature was expected given the amount of heat generated by the laptop's components.

Now that we've looked at how thermals perform under different conditions, let's consider how these results compare to other laptops. We tested a range of laptops, including some more expensive models with desktop processors. These laptops produced significantly higher temperatures than the MSI GE66, especially in the center where the heat source is located.

Performance Comparison

Now that we've discussed thermals, let's move on to performance comparison. The MSI GE66 is equipped with the Intel Core i7-10870H processor, which provides a good balance between performance and power efficiency. We tested the laptop using various benchmarking tools, including Cinebench and Geekbench.

In single-core tests, the MSI GE66 performed closely to the 9900K, which was one of the best single-core processors we've ever tested. The multicore score was also respectable, with a performance that rivaled other laptops in our testing.

In actual gaming tests, the MSI GE66 performed extremely well, with some games producing frame rates above 60 FPS at high graphics settings. However, there were moments where performance was slightly reduced due to thermal throttling, which is likely caused by the lower CPU power limit when both the CPU and GPU are under heavy load.

Overclocking Opportunities

One of the standout features of the MSI GE66 is its overclocking capabilities. We discovered that by manually boosting the fans or using a cooling pad, we could achieve significant performance gains. The most impressive result was a 6% boost in frame rates when all three components were optimized for overclocking.

Overall, the MSI GE66 offers a good balance between performance and power efficiency. While thermals can be a concern under heavy load, the laptop's thermal design helps to mitigate this issue. With the right cooling solutions, it's possible to achieve excellent performance without sacrificing thermal comfort.

Fan Noise

Finally, let's consider fan noise. We tested the MSI GE66 in various modes, including silent mode, balanced mode, and extreme mode with cooler boost enabled. In quiet situations, such as when watching a YouTube video or browsing Chrome, the fans were barely audible. However, when we subjected the laptop to stress testing under heavy load, the fans became louder.

Interestingly, the fan noise was not excessively loud compared to other gaming laptops on the market. This is because MSI has designed the fans to be quiet but still effective in dissipating heat away from the components. The sound level of the fans increased with the mode selected, but it remained within a comfortable range for most users.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we were impressed by the performance and thermal design of the MSI GE66 gaming laptop. While thermals can be a concern under heavy load, the laptop's thermal management system helps to mitigate this issue. With the right cooling solutions, it's possible to achieve excellent performance without sacrificing thermal comfort.

MSI has also included several advanced features that set their laptops apart from others in the market. These include the option to unlock undervolting, which allows users to customize their CPU power levels for optimal performance. Additionally, the laptop's BIOS offers a range of settings and options that can be used to customize fan speeds, cooling solutions, and other aspects of the laptop's performance.

Overall, we believe that the MSI GE66 is an excellent choice for anyone looking for a powerful gaming laptop with advanced thermal management capabilities. With its impressive performance, quiet fans, and customizable settings, this laptop is sure to appeal to gamers and enthusiasts alike.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enThe MSI GE66 gaming laptop performs well ingames, but just how hot does it get and whatperformance improvements can we make?To find out, I’ve tested thermals with thehighest specced configuration, so we shouldbe looking at more of a worst case here.The 2070 models aren’t Max-Q though, sothe GPU would use a little more wattage, youcan check out other options and updated priceslinked in the description.Air comes in through the vents underneathtowards the back, and is exhausted out ofthe back corners, and on the left and rightsides towards the back.Inside there are a couple of fans, as wellas two heatpipes that cross over to the otherside.They’re not strictly shared in the sensethat the pipes don’t touch both CPU andGPU, and it looks like we’ve got some niceVRM coverage.Too nice perhaps, my unit appears to havean overflow of paste, it doesn’t look likea factory application so might just be myreview unit, I’m not sure, but it couldpotentially affect the results a little.The MSI Dragon Center software lets you selectbetween different performance modes, whichfrom lowest to highest are silent, balancedand extreme modes.You’ve got the option of overclocking theGPU in extreme performance mode, however nooverclock was applied by default.You can also toggle coolerboost here, whichsets the fan to max speed, however there issome manual customization that can be doneto CPU or GPU fan.There’s also no undervolting done out ofthe box, and by default it’s disabled, howeverif you boot into the BIOS and then press thisepic cheat code you’ll be able to enableundervolting, as well as a ton of other options,so be careful and only change what you understand.Although the RTX 2080 Super is Max-Q, it’susing Nvidia’s new Dynamic Boost, whichmeans the power limit can boost higher dependingon if there is power available.I saw a 105 watt average in a GPU only stresstest, but it will be less with the CPU active,closer to its regular 90 watt limit whichis what happens if dynamic boost were to bedisabled.Thermals were tested with a 21 degree Celsiusambient room temperature.Idle results down the bottom were ok.Worst case stress tests were done with theAida64 CPU stress test with CPU only checkedand the Heaven benchmark at max settings atthe same time, while gaming was tested withWatch Dogs 2 as I find it to use a good combinationof processor and graphics.Temperatures were the warmest in silent modewhen under either workload, which makes senseas this mode is designed to run the fans quieter,and the GPU was thermal throttling.In the stress test, the CPU was thermal throttlingin balanced mode at 95 degrees Celsius, butthe increased fan speed from extreme modewas enough to remove this, meanwhile in thisparticular game CPU thermal throttling wasless of an issue long term, there were justsome spikes.When we enable coolerboost, so set the fansto max speed, there’s a decent improvementto thermals.Undervolting didn’t affect temperatureswith the stress test running but helped thegame a little, then a cooling pad helped afair bit more.These are the average clock speeds while runningthe same tests.Basically performance increases as we stepup through the modes, however we’re nothitting the full all core turbo boost speedof the i9.The best we’re able to do is 4.0 to 4.1GHzover all 8 cores with undervolting, stillan ok result though, and I’d expect betterresults with the 6 core option as there wouldbe fewer cores to power.This is a result of the power limits.With the stress test running, the CPU wouldnot pass 45 watts, despite PL1 being set higher.The GPU would often run at 90 watts, thoughin a GPU only workload Max-Q dynamic boostwas able to push this up to 105 watts.As both of these workloads hit the processortoo, we’re only really seeing the GPU boostup with the game running in silent mode.I’m assuming this is due to the game notbeing as heavy as the stress test, but theCPU still uses less power so the GPU is ableto take it instead.Interestingly with this game, the CPU powerlimit was also able to boost higher comparedto the 45 watts noted in the stress tests,so it seems to depend on the workload, butagain that could be part of dynamic boost.Anyway this explains why the temperaturesin extreme modes were quite good for the mostpart, we’re being hit with that processorpower limit.In a CPU only stress test with the GPU nowidle, silent mode still has the same 30 wattlimit, however this increases with any ofthe other modes.Basically thermal throttling was being hitin this stress test any time we increase fromsilent mode, but as the fan speed also increasesthroughout the modes we still observe a steadyimprovement to the clock speeds.I’ve used Cinebench to show you how thesedifferent modes perform, and surprise surprise,the multicore score closely follows the clockspeeds that we just saw.When we look at how this stacks up againstothers, the single core result is one of thebest tested, not far off the 9900K in theGT76.The multi core score is decent, the secondbest 10980HK I’ve tested so far, thoughit’s worth noting the cheaper RP-15 withRyzen 7 4800H is doing far better there, especiallyconsidering how much cheaper it is.When we look at how an actual game performsin these different modes, it’s not all thatdifferent, silent mode is still giving excellentperformance as we’ve still got high GPUpower levels here, as noted earlier.For a CPU heavier game performance differencesmay be more pronounced, but when I was testingwatch dogs 2 it was still running smoothly.We can also get a nice 6% boost by overclockingthe GPU, undervolting the CPU, and using acooling pad which is more than what I typicallysee with these changes.If you want to see more gaming benchmarksfrom the GE66, check the card in the top rightor link in the description where I’ve tested21 games at all setting levels.As for the external temperatures where you’llactually be putting your hands, at idle insilent mode it was in the low 30s, prettystandard.With the stress tests going the wrist restsare cool, it’s quite warm in the centerand hot to the touch up the back, though youdon’t need to touch there.It’s a little cooler in balanced mode asthe fans increase here, perhaps a little coolerstill with extreme mode, the middle was abit warm but not bad.With coolerboost enabled it gets a fair bitcooler to the touch and the wrist rests arestill cool, let’s have a listen to how loudthe fans get.At idle the fans were just audible, but fromtime to time they would boost up a bit louder,and this was to a similar level as just watchinga YouTube video and browsing Chrome.With the stress tests going in silent modeit’s still on the quieter side, and if yourecall gaming performance was still quitegood there, so gaming with a quieter machineis definitely possible at the expense of highertemperatures.Balanced mode was louder, but still lowercompared to most gaming laptops.Extreme mode was more in line with other gaminglaptops at max, then cooler boost is quiteloud, you’ll definitely want headphonesor something, but I think this is a good thing.As there is some fan control and the differentmodes it gives you the choice of running ithow you like, cooler and louder, or warmerand quieter.Overall I think the performance from the GE66is quite good.There are a number of different performancemodes to choose from, you’ve got the optionof running quieter while still getting greatperformance.You can boost the fans if you want to runmuch cooler, and unlike the Lenovo 7i youcan manually boost them, though at the endof the day the clock speeds are only a littleahead of the 7i, but the GE66 runs a fairbit cooler.Thermals are generally kept in check due tothe lower CPU power limit when the GPU isactive.This does unfortunately mean that when boththe CPU and GPU are being hit hard, some performanceis lost, but as we saw in actual games theperformance is excellent and it’s good tohave plenty of options.What MSI is offering in their advanced BIOSsuch as the option to unlock undervoltingis great, many other laptops are simply notdoing this.In any case, the performance being lost clearlyisn’t really making a difference in games.If you caught my game benchmark video, linkin the description, the GE66 with this hardwareis performing extremely well, basically onlybeing beaten by thicker more expensive modelswith a desktop processor, so yeah quite impressiveall things considered.Let me know what you thought about the thermalsfrom the MSI GE66 gaming laptop down in thecomments, and if you’re new to the channelyou’ll definitely want to get subscribedfor the upcoming full review to see everythingthis machine has to offer.\n"