I've been playing with a different SKU of the MSI Vector 16 HX AI for the past month, and have been seriously impressed with the gaming laptop. Mostly that's because as well as being the most affordable RTX 5080 machine I've found, it's also one of the most powerful, too. The level of cooling on offer in that admittedly bulky chassis, means that the Nvidia GPU at its heart is able to really push its silicon to get great gaming frame rates.
That's a $2,500 machine, but this discounted RTX 5070 Ti-toting version is on sale for nearly $1,000 less at Newegg right now. Now, the RTX 5070 Ti is a lower spec GPU compared with the bigger RTX 5080, and uses a different RTX Blackwell chip, too, but it should be delivering gaming frame rates above the RTX 4070 and likely just shy of the RTX 4080 from the previous generation.
For a $1,600 gaming laptop to deliver that sort of performance will be excellent, and that's before we get anywhere near talking about the extra frame rates you'll be able to pull out of the system when enabling Multi Frame Generation (MFG) in DLSS 4.
MFG is also one of the features that will make this a good gaming experience, too, because with the best will in the world, if you stick this thing in performance mode you might get some stellar frame rates, but it will be LOUD. The large chassis, and the hefty heatsink and fan cooling array it encloses, mean that you will get the most out of the Nvidia silicon, but the fans will spin fast.
What I've found with this machine, however, is that if you push it back to balanced fan curves you'll get similar performance to other equivalent laptops running at top speed, but without the noise. Basically, stick it in balanced mode and never look back.
The 1200p IPS screen in this system is different to the 240 Hz IPS panel in the RTX 5080 version, but still has a relatively high refresh rate and should be bright enough for all your gaming needs. And that 1200p resolution will mean you get super-high native frame rates out of the Nvidia GPU, too.
The only real issue here is a familiar one: the lack of SSD storage. The 512 GB SSD is ludicrous for a mid-range gaming laptop in 2025. But thankfully the chassis has space for a second SSD, which means that when you feel the need to add capacity to your laptop it's the easiest upgrade imaginable—and a cheap one, too, if you look at our best SSD deals page.
It's a lot more money, but if you do want the impressive RTX 5080 version it is still available for the launch price over at Best Buy right now.
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