Intel Alder Lake-H Core i9-12900HK Review: MSI's Raider GE76 Goes Hybrid
by Brett Howse on January 25, 2022 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
- Intel
- MSI
- Laptops
- Alder Lake
- GE76 Raider
- 12th Gen Core
- Alder Lake-H
The Test Platform: MSI's Raider GE76
For 2022, MSI has not updated the underlying chassis for the new Alder Lake product, and as such our review of the GE76 Raider from 2021 with Tiger Lake does not fundamentally change in terms of chassis design and cooling. This is still a big, relatively heavy desktop-replacement system. It features an aluminum surface where you will be touching it, and a polycarbonate base.
MSI generally builds a very solid product, and for 2022 they have upgraded the cooling with a new phase-change thermal pad which allows them to wick heat away from the processor and GPU quicker, without some of the negatives of a pure-liquid thermal compound and crystallization that can occur.
The system offers a per-key RGB backlit keyboard from SteelSeries. There is a 1080p webcam as well, and the system now offers an AI-based setting to let the system automatically switch the power levels for the user without having to manually do it, although the manual options are still there. MSI has updated their Silent mode to now leverage the microphones on the system to match the noise floor of the room, which lets them extract more power from the processor, and more fan speed, while still being inaudible.
The Raider GE76 offers lots of connectivity, including a single Thunderbolt 4 port, an additional USB Type-C port, and several USB Type-A ports. There is also a SD card reader which is still convenient when uploading from a camera.
The system offers Wi-Fi 6E support thanks to the Killer AX1675 Wi-Fi adapter, and also includes the Killer E3100G 2.5 Gbps Ethernet adapter.
MSI offers a range of display options, with a 1920x1080 144 Hz panel on their least expensive Raider GE76, a 1920x1080 360 Hz panel which is in the sampled unit, a 2560x1440 240 Hz panel, and a 3840x2160 120 Hz offering.
On our Tiger Lake sample we reviewed late last year, the display accuracy was not up to par with typical MSI offerings. Thankfully that appears to have been a one-off, which we do see from time to time even on devices that are hardware calibrated at the factory. MSI does allow you to use a built-in tool to calibrate the display, but you do need a supported colorimeter.
Thanks to Portrait Displays for the use of their Calman software so we can continue to accurately measure displays for our reviews.
As you can see, the color accuracy of this sample is much improved over the Tiger Lake model from last year that we received.
Brightness and Contrast
Grayscale
Gamut
Saturation
Gretag Macbeth
The MSI Raider GE76 is a fantastic test bed for Intel's Alder Lake system, with a powerful cooling system, and a great build quality.
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deil - Friday, January 28, 2022 - link
Does anyone have info of idle power of this thing/clocks it has on idle on p/e cores ?Just curious.
Spunjji - Friday, January 28, 2022 - link
No idea yet, everyone seems to have been seeded the same platform and its mediocre idle power characteristics have more to do with the way it's configured than the CPU / chipset combo.Rezurecta - Friday, January 28, 2022 - link
Agree with this article. This processor isn't too interesting. It is basically a full desktop part and we've seen that Intel is nice and fast with Alder Lake. Show me the U parts we'll see in normal laptops!PeachNCream - Friday, January 28, 2022 - link
Killer-branded network adapters. Disgusting gimmicky software is a no thanks.Vitor - Friday, January 28, 2022 - link
360hz is useless. No game came close to achieve that. 144hz with better colors and/or 1440p would be much better.Samus - Saturday, January 29, 2022 - link
It's like Prescott all over again, except Intel actually edges out AMD in performance too, but at what cost? Nearly double the power draw for 10-20% IPC improvement?ciparis - Monday, January 31, 2022 - link
When will this laptop be available?IUU - Tuesday, February 1, 2022 - link
Intel's processors are fine. It is just that Intel had possibly to pretend they can't move from 14 NM , so they don't kill the entire industry, which had not been competitive for ages. At 55 percent the transistor density they already beat Apple , of course by employing more wattage. Can you imagine what would happen if they were a whole node ahead, that is at a lithography comparable with TSMC' 3 NM. Desktops and laptops with performance x3 to x5 that of Apple's or AMD's at the same higher or lower prices.PS Don't Tell me you believe Intel could not transition to a new node all these years? You really believe that?
TekCheck - Friday, February 4, 2022 - link
Sounds like an industrial conspiracy against progress, something similar to what Edison did to prevent Tesla's innovations moving the world forward and faster.Except, it is not true in Intel's case. What would be a good reason to allow TSMC to rapidly gain a competitive edge by stifling own progress? Interesting hypothesis, but silly. They got complacent, their previous CEOs made several bad decisions and now they are forced to buy TSMC's process to stay in the game.
IUU - Tuesday, February 1, 2022 - link
or to put it another way they were able to efficiently or less efficiently compete with whole industry while using the same lithography for 3 Moore cycles; that's centuries in computer time. Regarding money , they have never really faced a real problem. They have their way of squeezing a river of dollars out of thin air.