The arrival of Ampere architecture in the notebook world was highly anticipated. Its performance surpasses that of the previous generation, for a potentially significant leap forward compared to the past. But is it really so? In reality it depends a lot on the model, NVIDIA this year gave partners the opportunity to decide with much more freedom the TGP of the GPUs , now present in many different variants, to be able to insert them in laptops with different sizes and dissipation systems. techsmartinfo
This MSI GF65 Thin mounts an RTX 3060 with a TGP of 75 W:
considering that the RTX 3060 for laptops start from 60 to reach the 115 W of
TGP, this is a medium-low range variant, however capable of unleashing a decent
dose of power, which make it perfect for Full HD gaming.
Max-Q changes face
Before talking about MSI's notebook, it is good to clarify
the many RTX 3000 models coming to laptops. Until recently, there were few
variants for each series of GPUs. For example, in the case of the RTX 2070, you
could choose between the normal model and the Max-Q model, the latter
characterized by a lower TGP and therefore by lower performance, but also by a
lower heat generated, making installation possible. in smaller and thinner
notebooks. TGP stands for Total Graphic Power and is a value that indicates the
consumption of the GPU at full load. With the arrival of the 3000 series,
NVIDIA has decided to no longer use the Max-Q brand to indicate models with
reduced TGP, simply because it no longer makes sense given the wide variety of
GPUs available .
There are about thirty in all, from the RTX 3060 to the RTX
3080 there are models that start from 60 W of TGP up to over 150 W for the top
of the range in its most thrusting variant.
Before buying a notebook with RTX 3000 it is therefore necessary
to check the TGP that offers the card inserted inside it because, with the same
name, the performances can vary a lot. Just think that the RTX 3060 is
available in versions with TGP of 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95, 100, 110, 115
W: from 60 to 115 W there is an abyss in performance, for which you pay close
attention to the version you are purchasing.
Although no longer used in its previous use, the Max-Q brand
is not dead but is now being used to describe the set of power management
technologies available in NVIDIA video cards for laptops.
Design
GF65 Thin fully incorporates the design seen in many MSI
notebooks released in the last period. No frills, black body and little room
for extremes that can immediately identify the notebook as a gaming product.
Seen from the outside, the GF65 Thin is at ease in any context, from play to
work, thanks to the absence of LEDs or extreme aesthetic elements, the only
concession made is the dragon logo on the lid.
The notebook weighs 1.86 kg and has a 15.6 inch screen, it
is not the lightest solution to carry around but if you need power there are
not many alternatives of the same level at a lower weight. The lid and the
areas around the keyboard are made of aluminum, the rest is of decent quality
plastic.
MSI hasn't forced its hand on build quality while remaining
average, but in doing so it hasn't pushed the price to even higher levels. Even
the screen does not have particularly narrow bezels, however the sober
appearance of this model will be appreciated by many.
The thickness of 21.7 mm is also average and has allowed the
insertion of many connections, we find two USB Type C 3.1 Gen1, two USB Type A
3.1 Gen1, network socket, 3.5 mm jack for headphones and microphone and HDMI
output with support up to 4K at 60 Hz.
The keyboard is backlit and offers no particular shortcuts,
it is the same model seen in many other notebooks of the Taiwanese house. The
touchpad is not very precise and tends to flex too much, for everyday use it is
fine but we have seen better under this front.
Technical specifications
The sample sent to us by MSI is based on an Intel i7-10750H
processor , a CPU with 6 Cores and 12 Threads able to withstand practically any
workload well. Then there are 16 GB of 3200 MHz RAM and 1 TB NVMe PCIe SSD, as
well as the most interesting component for this test, the RTX 3060. This
version has a maximum TGP of 75 W and offers 3840 CUDA Core, 120 Tensor Core
and 30 RT Cores , all with 6 GB of GDDR6 RAM on 192-bit bus. Compared to the
desktop version, a few more computing units are available, however the
frequencies are very different, a RTX 3060 for notebook works 1283 and 1703 MHz
depending on the TGP, against the over 1800 MHz of the desktop variant. In this
case, we detected frequencies, during the game, between 1350 and 1400 MHz.
Particularly interesting is the fact that the Resizable Bar function is active
, unlike the RTX 3060 Ti, 3070, 3080 and 3090 desktop, which will only be able
to use it when the update promised by NVIDIA arrives.
This allows a simpler management of the video memory, giving
the CPU the possibility to access all 6 GB of RAM at the same time: without
Resizable Bar enabled the CPU would only use 256 MB at a time, in this way
latency is reduced and increased performance.
The screen is 15.6 inches with 144 Hz Full HD resolution,
MSI indicates "IPS-Level" as the type of panel, in fact it is a good
quality TN (for a TN), which we have seen on many models in the course of 2020.
Compared to traditional TN panels it shows brighter colors and a deeper black ,
however the color space coverage is narrow, good for normal use and for gaming,
less for those who intend to carry out tasks such as editing of photos and
videos at a professional level.
On the performance front, the Intel CPU is certainly not a
novelty in the notebook landscape and is well known: in single core it can
rival even higher-rated processors, in the multi-core field instead the blanket
is shorter, six computing units are fine. but there are CPUs that offer better
on this front. Cinebench R20 (452 in Single Core and 2676 in Multi Core) and
CPUz (517/3807) scores confirm Intel's processor capabilities.
The dissipation system of this GF65 Thin manages to keep the
heat at bay discreetly, however after a few benchmark cycles and reaching 96
degrees on the CPU, Thermal Throttling begins to arrive. MSI has chosen the
Cooler Boost 5 system , with two fans and six heat pipes, which does its job
well but causes considerable overheating in the upper-left part of the
keyboard, at the slot from which the hot air coming from the inside of the
notebook. Fortunately, it does not bother during use, but the heat felt in that
area is high.
The 1TB SSD offers good data storage capacity and decent
speed, reaching 2113MB / s - 1692MB / s sequential read and write respectively,
average values for an SSD of this type.
But how did this TGP 75W RTX 3060 perform? Overall
performance is superior to last year's RTX 2060 Max-Q and manages to generate
89 fps in Shadow of the Tomb Raider (1080p at Ultra settings), 53 in Metro
Exodus and 122 in Forza Horizon 4. it does well even with active ray tracing,
always remaining playable, however never reaching 60 fps, even with active
DLSS. However, we specify that the two games used for the DLSS test use the 1.0
version of the NVIDIA technology, less performing than the 2.0 used in the most
recent titles.
In general we are satisfied with the power of this variant,
however we reiterate to pay close attention to the TGP when buying a new
notebook with RTX 3000, to best calibrate the choice according to your needs.
On the battery front we did not expect miracles, the overall
power offered is high, we were sure not to be faced with a product designed for
prolonged use away from the power outlet. We slightly exceeded 4 during our
test with mixed use (web browsing, video, etc), a value that is not exceptional
but still correct for a notebook of this type.