The ASUS TUF Gaming F17 offers a lower midrange price with decent performance suitable for general use and some gaming. It's more affordable but also less powerful than the MSI Stealth 17, providing a balance for those who need a capable machine without the higher cost. Its battery life is reasonable, though it may not last as long as some alternatives.
On the other hand, the MSI Stealth 17 is a high-end laptop with powerful components aimed at heavy tasks like 3D rendering, machine learning, and engineering work. It boasts a higher resolution screen, better color accuracy, and a significantly more powerful processor and graphics card than the ASUS, making it ideal for intensive gaming and professional applications. This comes at a higher price, and the laptop is slightly less portable due to increased power and capabilities.
Choose the ASUS TUF Gaming F17 for a more budget-friendly option with satisfactory performance for everyday tasks and some gaming. Select the MSI Stealth 17 if you need top-tier performance for demanding software and applications, and are willing to invest more in a premium device. 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 ASUS TUF Gaming F17
The ASUS TUF Gaming F17 has no clear advantages over the MSI Stealth 17.
Advantages of the MSI Stealth 17
Very good for general use
Excellent for engineering and design
Excellent for gaming and AI
Very good for software development
Very good for content creation
Very good overall display quality
Best in class speakers
Excellent keyboard
Key differences
General Use
7.1/10
8.7/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
264.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
384.0 nits
4.5 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
5.5 Hours
7.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
6.4/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
6.4/10
The MSI Stealth 17 is very good for general use, while the ASUS TUF Gaming F17 is good.
The ASUS TUF Gaming F17 is adequate for general use largely due to its middle-tier CPU and RAM, which are less powerful compared to the MSI Stealth 17's top-end CPU and significantly more RAM, making it very good for multitasking and more demanding applications. Additionally, the MSI has superior screen quality with higher resolution and color coverage, along with better battery life that outweighs its slightly lower portability due to minor increases in weight and size, overall providing a more premium user experience.
Gaming and AI
6.6/10
9.1/10
5.2/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.7/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
144Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
Yes
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
7.5/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
8.0/10
The MSI Stealth 17 is excellent for gaming and AI, while the ASUS TUF Gaming F17 is only fair.
PerfectRec’s Gaming and AI Score strongly emphasizes graphics processing capability, while also taking into account other factors that impact suitability for gaming and AI work.
Engineering and Design
6.9/10
9.4/10
6.2/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.5/10
5.2/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.7/10
8.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
The MSI Stealth 17 is excellent for engineering and design, while the ASUS TUF Gaming F17 is only fair.
The ASUS TUF Gaming F17 is equipped with a mid-tier CPU and GPU, making it a reasonable choice for some engineering and design tasks, with sufficient screen size and quality for general use. On the other hand, the MSI Stealth 17 offers a top-tier CPU and GPU with more RAM and a higher resolution display, providing exceptional performance and visual clarity for more demanding engineering and design work, albeit at a higher price and slightly less portability.
Content Creation
7.1/10
8.8/10
6.2/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.5/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
8.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The MSI Stealth 17 is very good for content creation, while the ASUS TUF Gaming F17 is good.
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
6.7/10
8.5/10
6.2/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.5/10
8.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
7.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
The MSI Stealth 17 is very good for software development, while the ASUS TUF Gaming F17 is only fair.
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.
Screen Quality
6.9/10
8.6/10
17.3in
SIZE
17.3in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
144Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
264.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
384.0 nits
The MSI Stealth 17 has a better screen than the ASUS TUF Gaming F17 for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.
For general use, the MSI offers superior visual clarity and brightness, providing a comfortable viewing experience for tasks like browsing and video streaming, while the ASUS provides a satisfactory screen that's fine for everyday tasks. In the realm of engineering and design, the MSI shines with its wider color gamuts, offering more accurate representation for professional color work compared to the ASUS. However, when it comes to gaming and 3D applications, both laptops fall short due to their lower refresh rates, which means less fluid motion and responsiveness in fast-paced scenarios.
Battery
4.5 Hours
5.5 Hours
The ASUS TUF Gaming F17 has 4.5 hours of battery life. The MSI Stealth 17 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.
Build Quality
7.2/10
7.8/10
The MSI Stealth 17 and ASUS TUF Gaming F17 both have good build quality, though the MSI Stealth 17 has somewhat better build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$1,000
$3,899
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
$3,500
$4,000
The ASUS TUF Gaming F17 has a price of $1,000 and the MSI Stealth 17 costs $3,899.
"One of the Asus TUF Gaming F17’s highlights is without a doubt its excellent gaming performance. The fact that Asus configured the RTX 3060 GPU for its specified maximum of 140 W is became immediately noticeable in our benchmarks. For a 17-inch notebook the F17 also offers a very long battery life, which makes it somewhat portable. On the flip side is the display. It may be saved by its good overall contrast ratio, but its overall brightness is simply too low, and its response times are too slow for a gaming device. The F17’s successor needs to improve upon this."
"The MSI Stealth 17 Studio is a laptop with a quiet RTX 4080 for almost every occasion. The MSI Stealth 17 Studio is equally capable of high-level media processing and playing current games. It remains pleasantly quiet, even if a few percentage points of power have had to be sacrificed in the process. But, it is not quite perfect: To some extent, the Stealth 17 is well thought out. It packs tons of graphics power and high-end components in a slim case. The laptop's cooling system can be set such that, noise-wise, it doesn't even reach low volume. However, small flaws cloud otherwise exceptionally positive impressions."
Get a great deal on the ASUS TUF Gaming F17 or the MSI Stealth 17
About ASUS
ASUS, a Taiwanese electronics brand, is one of the largest personal computer vendor by market share. The majority of their laptops are targeted towards personal use or gaming. Their most popular product lines include the budget-friendly VivoBook, more premium ZenBook, and their TUF and ROG gaming laptops, the latter of which has a reputation for excellent gaming performance.
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.
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.
By the numbers
380
Laptops evaluated
48,640
Laptops stats compiled
13
Proprietary Laptops ratings developed
100,095
Recommendations made
21,688
Consumer hours saved
About the laptop team
Joe Golden, Ph.D
CEO and Laptops Editor
Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
Jason Lew
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Jason is a staff expert and software engineer that has been making laptop recommendations for 7 years and moderates one of the largest laptop subreddits.
Chandradeep Chowdhury
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Chandradeep is a staff expert and software engineer and expert in televisions and monitors. He’s been making monitor recommendations for ten years.
Craig Russell
Laptops Expert
Craig is a UK-based laptops expert. Craig works in IT, where he recommends and supports laptops and PCs for clients and has been recommending laptops on Reddit for five years.