LaptopMSI55% by External Reviewers

MSI Katana GF76 11UX / Sword 17 A11U 17.3"

Gaming Laptop

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Photo 0of MSI Katana GF76 11UX / Sword 17 A11U 17.3"Photo 1of MSI Katana GF76 11UX / Sword 17 A11U 17.3"Photo 2of MSI Katana GF76 11UX / Sword 17 A11U 17.3"Photo 3of MSI Katana GF76 11UX / Sword 17 A11U 17.3"Photo 4of MSI Katana GF76 11UX / Sword 17 A11U 17.3"Photo 5of MSI Katana GF76 11UX / Sword 17 A11U 17.3"Photo 6of MSI Katana GF76 11UX / Sword 17 A11U 17.3"

Product Overview

MSI Katana GF76 is an entry-level 17.3-inch gaming laptop. It is also available in white as the Sword 17. They share the same characteristics with Pulse GL76 / Crosshair 17: the difference is that the Katana GF76 / Sword 17 have plastic chasses.
Like other 11th-gen Intel gaming laptops from MSI this year, the Katana GF76 / Sword 17 is powered by up to Core i7 Tiger Lake chips combined with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30-series graphics up to RTX 3060.
Unfortunately, as it is the case with Pulse GL76 / Crosshair 17, MSI has mised on the spec list, leaving the Katana GF76 / Sword 17 with just WiFi 6, USB 3.2 Gen1, and PCIe Gen3 and without any Thunderbolt port.
A difference (besides the chassis material) from the Pulse / Crosshair models is that the Katana / Sword versions are limited to a 144Hz FHD IPS display.
Alongside the new GF76, MSI also refreshed its entire gaming laptop lineup with the new Tiger Lake processors.

Ratings

What we found

Pros
  • Matte IPS display
  • Good keyboard
  • Good system performance
  • Good battery life
Cons
  • Nothing in particular

What external reviewers found

External score 55%
Pros
  • Good gaming performance
  • Good battery life
  • Decent graphics performance
  • Fast CPU and GPU
Cons
  • Poor productivity performance
  • No Thunderbolt 3
  • Extremely loud fan

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Price Comparison

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Specifications

Sword 17Katana GF76

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External Reviews

notebookcheck[1]

Reviewer score 54% (normalized by Neofiliac)
Reviewers from notebookcheck have found:
MSI Katana GF76 doesn't show any weaknesses here yet, but it could eventually reach its limits in future and even more demanding games. All the games that we tested ran without issues and very smoothly at the maximum supported resolution of 1920x1080 pixels and the highest settings. The relatively loud stereo speakers are suitable when it comes to drowning out the noise generated by the fans. As in most laptops, however, bass is lacking.
Pros
  • Full HD resolution
  • Fast CPU and GPU
  • Good battery life
  • Decent graphics performance
Cons
  • No Thunderbolt 3

tomsguide[2]

Reviewer score 55% (normalized by Neofiliac)
Reviewers from tomsguide have found:
MSI Katana GF76 can't play the latest games at maxed-out settings. It transferred 25 GB worth of files from a thumb drive at a rate of 651 Mbps. It's too hot to hold in your lap, since you'll need to keep it plugged in at all times.
Pros
  • Powerful CPU and GPU
  • Good gaming performance
  • Long battery life
Cons
  • Extremely loud fan
  • Poor productivity performance

References

  1. ^ MSI Katana GF76 review: Gaming laptop with room for improvement. [notebookcheck].
  2. ^ MSI Katana GF76 review. [tomsguide].

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