Have you ever found a deal so good, you were convinced it must be a mistake? I have, when I first cast my eyes across this MSI Vector 16 HX for $1,299 at Walmart earlier this month.
I had a funny feeling that, after honouring a few early orders, Walmart would realise that it was listed far too cheaply for an RTX 5070 Ti gaming laptop—and those lucky few that bagged one would be laughing all the way to the bank. Or maybe they might only have a few to sell and it would go out of stock faster than a Razer Blade 14 for $1,700. Awww.
- We're curating all the best Black Friday PC gaming deals.
Apparently not. It's still there, shining so brightly on our Black Friday gaming laptop deals page it's making all the machines around it look overpriced. They're not, for reference. But this is such a good price for an RTX 5070 Ti gaming laptop, it casts a shadow over all the rest.
Now I shall tell you why, so get settled for a second.
Beyond the fact that the RTX 5070 Ti mobile is an excellent gaming GPU (and here even in 140 W trim it's far more powerful than the RTX 5070 mobile at its top spec) it's also been paired with a previous generation AMD mobile CPU. Doesn't sound that exciting, right? Well, perhaps you'll change your mind when I tell you its a 16-core, 32-thread Dragon Range beastie, which is a monstrous chip to stick in a gaming laptop.
Oh sure, it'll likely run hot and spin those fans up something fierce. This is a noisy machine, as our Dave found when he reviewed the Intel-chipped version, the MSI Vector 16 HX AI. This one's got the same chassis, and they're likely to be very similar in many ways, including sounding like hairdryers at full-whack.
Still, you should be able to tweak the power modes in the MSI software to bring that chip into line, which will cut down on the fan noise significantly without denting the gaming performance much.
What's next? Ah, the screen. Like the AI variant, this model's also got a 240 Hz IPS display, which is a fantastic thing to find on any gaming laptop deal under $1,500, never mind one this cheap.
Still, it's not perfect. I'd like to see 32 GB of RAM rather than the 16 GB of DDR5 you get here, as it's not the affordable upgrade that it used to be. That being said, 16 GB is fine to get started with—and if you do manage to pick up some extra modules for anything less than silly prices, installing them is simple enough.
And the chassis does deserve some comment. I remember Dave and I passing the Vector 16 HX AI back and forth in the office earlier this year, and alternately shrugging our shoulders. It's that kind of laptop frame—not exactly bad, but hardly cutting edge, "oooh isn't this lovely" stuff. But it has a kind of retro gaming laptop chic that is still kind of charming. And there's so much exposed copper inside that it's actually a treat taking the back of.
And for the price? Screw it, it's grand. Ultimately, what you're getting is a set of components that normally retail together for much more cash than what you're paying here, so plonking them in an old-school chassis is no great loss. Enjoy the frame rates, put your saved money towards some new games. That sounds like an upcoming holiday season to enjoy, doesn't it?
👉Check out all the Walmart gaming laptop deals right here👈
1. Best overall:
Razer Blade 16 (2025)
2. Best budget:
Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 10
3. Best 14-inch:
Razer Blade 14 (2025)
4. Best mid-range:
MSI Vector 16 HX AI
5. Best high-performance:
Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 10
6. Best 18-inch:
Alienware 18 Area-51
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