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What we think
The PerfectRec laptop team Learn more
Updated January 10, 2024·
The Acer Aspire 3 14 is more budget-friendly, with decent performance for general use, longer battery life, and it's lighter for better portability. The MSI Stealth GS66, on the other hand, is more expensive but offers high-end performance, making it suitable for 3D work, machine learning, gaming, and engineering tasks. It has a better screen, more RAM, a more powerful processor and graphics card, but it's heavier and has shorter battery life, making it less portable than the Acer. Choose the Acer for cost-effectiveness and everyday tasks, or the MSI if you need a powerful laptop for specialized, intensive tasks. Give Feedback
this description is based on the product variant with some specs and product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars and the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Advantages of the Acer Aspire 3 14
- Very good portability
- Good battery life
Advantages of the MSI Stealth GS66
- Very good for engineering and design
- Good for gaming and AI
- Very good overall display quality
- Very good overall build quality
- Very good speakers
- Very good keyboard
Key differences
General Use
7.0
7.7
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
250.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
280.0 nits
9.5 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
5.5 Hours
6.2/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
8.3/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
7.5/10
The MSI Stealth GS66 and Acer Aspire 3 14 are both good for general use, though the MSI Stealth GS66 is somewhat better.
The MSI Stealth GS66 outperforms the Acer Aspire 3 14 due to its superior CPU and double the RAM, providing faster and more efficient performance for general use. Despite having similar storage and screen resolution, the MSI offers better screen quality, a higher quality keyboard, and more robust speaker quality, though it's heavier and has a shorter battery life, making it less portable than the slim and lightweight Acer.
Gaming and AI
5.9
7.8
3.5/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.8/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
360Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
10.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
7.5/10
The MSI Stealth GS66 is good for gaming and AI, while the Acer Aspire 3 14 is poor.
The Acer Aspire 3 14 has an AMD Radeon 610M GPU and a screen refresh rate of 60Hz, making it only fair for gaming and 3D applications, whereas the MSI Stealth GS66 boasts a more powerful Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti GPU and a higher screen refresh rate of 360Hz, delivering good performance in those areas.
Engineering and Design
6.1
8.2
4.3/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
3.5/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.8/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The MSI Stealth GS66 is very good for engineering and design, while the Acer Aspire 3 14 is only fair.
The Acer Aspire 3 14, with moderate RAM, a basic GPU, and an average screen quality, is adequate for less demanding engineering tasks, whereas the MSI Stealth GS66 features a more powerful CPU, double the RAM, a high-end GPU, and superior screen quality, thus offering better performance for complex engineering and design work. While the Aspire 3 14 is lighter and has longer battery life for improved portability, the Stealth GS66, albeit heavier with shorter battery life, compensates with higher specs essential for intensive applications and a better overall build including superior keyboard and speaker quality.
Screen Quality
6.1
8.1
14.0in
SIZE
15.6in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
360Hz
250.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
280.0 nits
The MSI Stealth GS66 has a better screen than the Acer Aspire 3 14 for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.
When considering general use, the Acer Aspire 3's screen provides adequate colors and detail for everyday tasks like browsing and video streaming but falls short in brightness and sharpness compared to higher-end displays. For engineering and design work, both laptops offer satisfactory screen quality with decent color accuracy, but the MSI Stealth GS66 stands out with its better coverage of color gamuts, making it more suitable for professional photo editing and precision tasks. Lastly, for gaming and 3D applications, despite the good resolution and panel technology, both laptops' screens underperform due to an insufficient refresh rate, which is pivotal for smooth motion and gameplay rendering.
Battery
9.5 Hours
5.5 Hours
The Acer Aspire 3 14 has 9.5 hours of battery life. The MSI Stealth GS66 has 5.5 hours of battery life.
Battery life estimate is based on a mix of common use patterns. More portable and higher performing laptops tend to have less battery life.
Portability
Very Good
Good
14.0in
SIZE
15.6in
3.0 lbs
WEIGHT
4.6 lbs
0.7in
THICKNESS
0.7in
The Acer Aspire 3 14 has very good portability, while the MSI Stealth GS66 has good portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
6.2
8.0
The MSI Stealth GS66 has very good build quality, while the Acer Aspire 3 14 has only fair build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$434
$1,799
$0
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
The Acer Aspire 3 14 has a price of $434 and the MSI Stealth GS66 costs $1,799.
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Key similarities
Content Creation
7.2
7.7
4.3/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The MSI Stealth GS66 and Acer Aspire 3 14 are both good for content creation.
PerfectRec’s Content Creation Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for photo editing, video editing and other content creation tasks.
Software Development
7.1
7.5
4.3/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
6.2/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
The MSI Stealth GS66 and Acer Aspire 3 14 are both good for software development.
PerfectRec’s Software Development Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for software developers.
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How the Acer Aspire 3 14 and the MSI Stealth GS66 compare to other laptops
Spec Comparison
 |  | |
| Acer Aspire 3 14 | MSI Stealth GS66 |
GENERAL | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | |||
$434 | $1,799 | ||
Release Date | |||
Release Date | March 1, 2023 | April 1, 2022 | |
Overall Dimensions | |||
Overall Dimensions | 12.9'' x 8.5'' x 0.74'' | 14.2'' x 9.7'' x 0.71'' | |
Weight | |||
Weight | 3.09 lbs | 4.63 lbs | |
Width | |||
Width | 12.9" | 14.17" | |
Depth | |||
Depth | 8.5" | 9.65" | |
INTERNAL | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Processor | |||
Processor | AMD Ryzen 5 7520U | Intel i7-12700H | |
RAM | |||
RAM | 8 GB | 16 GB | |
DDR Memory Version | |||
DDR Memory Version | 5 | 5 | |
RAM Slots | |||
RAM Slots | 0 | 2 | |
Storage | |||
Storage | 512 GB | 512 GB | |
BATTERY | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Battery Life | |||
Battery Life | 9.5 Hours | 5.5 Hours | |
Battery Capacity | |||
Battery Capacity | 40 Wh | 99.9 Wh | |
SCREEN | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Diagonal Size | |||
Diagonal Size | 14" | 15.6" | |
Display Technology | |||
Display Technology | IPS | IPS | |
Resolution | |||
Resolution | 1920 x 1080 | 1920 x 1080 | |
Refresh Rate | |||
Refresh Rate | 60Hz | 360Hz | |
Display Brightness | |||
Display Brightness | 250 nits | 280 nits | |
RELIABILITY, APPEARANCE & ACOUSTICS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Build Quality Score | |||
Build Quality Score | 6.3/10 | 8/10 | |
Portability Score | |||
Portability Score | 8.4/10 | 7.5/10 | |
Gaming Laptop Appearance | |||
Gaming Laptop Appearance | No | Yes | |
Premium Business Laptop | |||
Premium Business Laptop | No | No | |
Fan Noise Score | |||
Fan Noise Score | 10/10 | 7.5/10 | |
HARDWARE FEATURES | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Keyboard Quality Score | |||
Keyboard Quality Score | 6.3/10 | 8.5/10 | |
Speaker Quality Score | |||
Speaker Quality Score | 6/10 | 8/10 | |
Webcam | |||
Webcam | 720p | 720p | |
Fingerprint Reader | |||
Fingerprint Reader | No | No | |
Backlit Keyboard | |||
Backlit Keyboard | Yes | Yes | |
Number Pad | |||
Number Pad | No | No | |
CONNECTIVITY | |||
|---|---|---|---|
USB Type-A | |||
USB Type-A | 2 | 2 | |
USB-C ports | |||
USB-C ports | 1 | 3 | |
USB-C Charging | |||
USB-C Charging | Yes | Yes | |
Display Outputs | |||
Display Outputs | 1 | 4 | |
Thunderbolt Version | |||
Thunderbolt Version | N/A | 4 | |
Shopping
MSI Stealth GS66
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Dig into reviews and images
NotebookCheck
Florian Glaser | February 2022
"The MSI Stealth GS66 is powerful enough for QHD. The Core i7-12700H and the GeForce RTX 3070 Ti found in the 12UGS model that we tested run all modern games smoothly in the native QHD resolution. The 15-inch display is very fast with its 240 Hz refresh rate, and it also offers a great color space (almost 100% DCI-P3) on top of that, which should please gamers as well as content creators, although we would have still wished for a higher brightness. Case, input devices, and connectivity (Thunderbolt 4) are at a good level. However, among other things, the GS66 loses points due to the high temperature development in 3D mode and its poor webcam."
Get a great deal on the Acer Aspire 3 14 or the MSI Stealth GS66
About Acer
Acer is a prominent Taiwanese electronics brand which makes a wide range of laptops, with multiple product lines catering to personal use, gaming, and business use. They are renowned for having exceptional value for money, as they frequently offer good specifications at a lower price than other manufacturers.
About MSI
MSI, also known as Micro-Star International, is a Taiwanese technology corporation. MSI is known for their wide range of gaming devices. Their series include the entry-level Cyborg/Thin and Sword/Katana series, the mid-range Bravo/Delta and Crosshair/Pulse series, and their high-end Vector, Raider, Stealth, and Titan GT series. At every performance level, MSI offers a variety of devices with varying balances between performance, battery life, weight, and price, making them a solid option to consider at every price point.
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This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec laptops team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest laptop information and makes it digestible for you.
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