MSI Pulse GL66

A superb choice for gamers hunting for a sub-£1,000 machine, with sacrifices made in the right places

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SCORE

PRICE £749 (£899 inc VAT) from scan.co.uk

The MSI Pulse GL66 is one of two gaming laptops submitted to this Labs, and it edges ahead of the Asus TUF Dash F15 not merely due to price but also because it's faster overall. Indeed, the gaming test graphs on p93 suggest that the MSI laptop includes a faster graphics card but in truth its chart-topping results in Dirt: Showdown and Metro: Last Light reflect that these games are limited by the CPU at 1080p.

It would be fairer to compare the two in more demanding games, where the positions were reversed. For instance, in Metro: Exodus the Pulse averaged 52fps while the Asus returned 73fps (at 1080p, High settings). The gap was narrower in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, with scores of 8ofps and 88fps respectively. And note that 3DMark Time Spy showed the greater skills of the Asus laptop's GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile chip compared to the 3050 Ti Mobile in the MSI, with a score of 7,279 versus 5,693.

What pushed the MSI to the top of the table elsewhere is its stunning Core i7-11800H processor, as this includes eight cores to the four inside the Asus. It's an astonishing inclusion for the price and means the Pulse has much to offer creative professionals as well as keen gamers.