The MSI Alpha 15, equipped with a Ryzen 7 5800H processor boasting 8 cores and an RX 6600M graphics card with 8GB VRAM. We’ll delve into its specifications, display, ports, battery life, and gaming performance, and then give our thoughts on whether it’s worth considering.
The MSI Alpha 15 boasts impressive hardware, including an 8-core and 16-thread Ryzen 7 5800H processor, paired with a Radeon RX 6600M GPU featuring 8GB VRAM and an 80W TGP. As part of the Advantage Edition, it combines both AMD CPU and GPU, offering extra benefits as per AMD’s claims.
Noteworthy specifications include 16GB of dual-channel RAM running at 3200MHz, a 1TB PCIe GEN 3 SSD, and support for WiFi 6 and Bluetooth V5.1. Currently priced at Rs 1,01,000, though subject to change, this laptop caters well to users seeking high-end features.
It comes with 2 RAM slots, upgradeable to a maximum of 64 GB. There are also 2 SSD slots, one occupied and one free. However, it’s uncertain whether it supports a maximum of 1 TB or 2 TB, and it’s limited to GEN 3 SSDs.
When it comes to gaming laptops, Nvidia and AMD are prominent names. The MSI Alpha 15 stands out with its AMD graphics card. AMD has a reputation for innovation and improvement, whether it’s in processors or graphics cards.
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Design and Build
The MSI Alpha 15 arrives in an attractive box, and we’re eager to see what’s inside. It’s well-protected with good packaging. After removing the white cover, we unveil the laptop itself, which looks stunning.
Along with the laptop, we find user manuals and necessary accessories, including a 180W power brick and power cord. Overall, the unboxing experience was good.
It has a metal top lid with medium flex, while the interior is made of plastic with almost negligible flex. The bottom is similarly composed of plastic and features numerous vents to allow for proper circulation. There are two air exhaust vents in the back. While the screen wobbles slightly more than usual, the hinge is strong.
On left side has a power input port, an air exhaust vent, 1 USB 3.2 GEN 1 Type-A port, and 1 USB 2.0 port. On the right side, there is an RJ45 LAN port, one HDMI 2.0 port, one Type-C USB 3.2 GEN 1 port that supports display output, one Type-A USB 3.2 GEN 1 port, and a headphone/mic jack combo.
With these ports configuration, you may use the laptop’s display, one from the HDMI port, and one from the Type-C connector to create a maximum of three displays.
Keyboard and Trackpad
The keyboard of the MSI Alpha 15 has an RGB backlight, which means that the entire keyboard shines in a single layer of RGB lighting. This functionality can be adjusted via the MSI Centre programm. The trackpad, on the other hand, is relatively small, despite being completely clickable and functioning.
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Display and Speaker
You’re getting a 15.6-inch Full HD antiglare IPS display with 72% NTSC, which is about 99% sRGB, so the color range is fantastic. With a 144Hz refresh rate, gaming on it will be smooth. Plus, it supports AMD FreeSync and is labeled as an IPS level display. There’s some debate about whether it’s truly IPS or TN, as some sources claim it’s a TN panel with IPS-level quality. I won’t weigh in on that; it’s up to you to decide.
The display quality is great, with vibrant colors. While I don’t have a tool to measure brightness, I believe it’s around 300 nits. Hopefully, we’ll get that equipment soon. The colors are really striking on this screen. It’s perfect for content creation, editing, or any work requiring color accuracy, like design. The only thing to note is that the top and bottom bezels look a bit old-fashioned compared to the trend of narrower bezels. It might bother you initially, but you’ll get used to it.
It contains two 2W down firing speakers with average sound quality. It’s neither that horrible nor that good. It is above average. This is the webcam and microphone test. This is a 720P webcam. The light is in front of me, but it will give adequate illumination for a standard room. If you have input on the mic quality, please leave it in the comments so that others can benefit from it.
Battery Life
The MSI Alpha 15 has a capacity of 90Whr. In terms of battery backup, it delivered a backup of 3-3.5 hours with the refresh rate set to 60Hz, keyboard backlighting off, screen brightness at 60%, battery saver mode on, and silent mode selected in the MSI centre programm.
Performance
You may see the Cinebench R23 multicore and single core scores, Geekbench 5 scores, and the extremely good PCMark 10 score of 6822. The results of the 3D Mark Time Spy test are also displayed on the screen. With its 8 GB VRAM GPU, you can accomplish 1080P and 4K video editing, music creation, and graphics design on this laptop. In terms of performance, it is exceptional given its Rs 87,990 price tag.
Gaming Performance
First, we tested CS:GO on high settings, and I was able to obtain an expected 200-250 FPS. Following that, we tried Valorant on high settings and obtained 270-280 FPS, which is comparable to a 3060 graphics card. When we compared it to the Omen 15 with Ryzen 7 and a 100W 3060 graphics card, we saw that the performance was nearly identical.
Moving on, we played Warzone and obtained roughly 100 FPS on a mix of high and medium settings, which was comparable to the RTX 3060’s performance. Similarly, with high settings in Red Dead Redemption 2, we achieved the same FPS as with the RTX 3060, with just a few FPS less on the MSI Alpha. In GTA V, the FPS was nearly identical in both GPUs.
However, when testing Forza Horizon 5 on ultra mode, the AMD GPU delivered dismal results. I only got 40-50 FPS, when the RTX 3060 got 70+ FPS on average.
Streaming
We ran a streaming test with Windows capture at 15,000 bitrate and 1080P 60 frames per second. Our stream was up and running, and we accessed it via an unlisted link in the browser. Valorant was running on the stream, and the change was not considerable, with a difference of 20-30 FPS.
We were receiving 250-260 FPS off stream and occasionally even 280 FPS, while on stream we were getting around 200 FPS. There was no loss in FPS in GTA V, both on and off stream. If you want to use this laptop for streaming and only use one laptop, this could be a fantastic option for you. However, if you use other features in OBS such as a webcam, microphone, and other sources, the FPS will drop. This is the game’s raw performance.
Conclusion
The MSI Alpha 15 provides excellent performance and scores and is well worth the Rs 87,990 asking price. Moving on to some of the misunderstandings and queries raised on Instagram, let’s begin with a comparison of the RTX 3060 and RX 6600M. Although the RX 6600M has 8 GB VRAM and the 3060 has 6 GB VRAM, wattage is also important, and performance is pretty close, except for Forza Horizon. Because performance varies from game to game, it’s difficult to establish a direct comparison.
Another point that was clarified was the lack of a MUX switch on this laptop. The main question was concerning DLSS vs Fidelity FX super resolution. Both are good for the price and the titles that accompany them. While DLSS is more widely supported in popular games, Fidelity FX super resolution is catching up.