The ASUS Vivobook 17 offers a budget-friendly option with decent performance for general use, a large screen, and better battery life, suitable for tasks like web browsing, office work, and media consumption. It's lighter, making it more portable. Conversely, the MSI GP66 Leopard is tailored for intensive gaming, 3D rendering, and engineering tasks due to its high-performance graphics card and processor. Despite its shorter battery life and heavier build, it provides a higher-refresh-rate screen and more power for demanding applications. The tradeoff between the two comes down to your need for performance versus portability and price, with the Vivobook leaning towards affordability and basic tasks, while the GP66 Leopard suits power users and gamers. 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 Vivobook 17
Good portability
Good battery life
Advantages of the MSI GP66 Leopard
Good for engineering and design
Good for gaming and AI
Good for software development
Good overall display quality
Very good overall build quality
Good speakers
Very good keyboard
Key differences
Gaming and AI
6.0/10
7.8/10
3.6/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.7/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
9.5/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.5/10
The MSI GP66 Leopard is good for gaming and AI, while the ASUS Vivobook 17 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
6.3/10
7.9/10
6.2/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
3.6/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.7/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The MSI GP66 Leopard is good for engineering and design, while the ASUS Vivobook 17 is only fair.
The ASUS Vivobook 17, with its Intel i3 processor, integrated graphics, and lower screen color coverage, is less powerful and displays colors less accurately than the MSI GP66 Leopard, which boasts a higher-end Intel i7 processor, Nvidia RTX 3080 graphics, and superior screen color representation for engineering and design work. While the Vivobook 17 offers a larger screen and is lighter, which enhances portability, the GP66 Leopard has a smaller screen but compensates with better performance-related features, which is crucial for engineering tasks that need more computing power and precise visuals.
Screen Quality
6.2/10
7.5/10
17.3in
SIZE
15.6in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
263.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
362.0 nits
The MSI GP66 Leopard has a better screen than the ASUS Vivobook 17 for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.
The Asus Vivobook 17's fair screen for general use reflects its adequate resolution and brightness, but for engineering and design, it lacks the broader color coverage critical for precision work. The MSI GP66 Leopard offers a high-quality display with solid color accuracy suitable for engineering, but it falls short for gaming and 3D where a high refresh rate is key for fluid visuals. Both laptops, while fine for everyday tasks and professional design, would not be ideal for the most immersive gaming or 3D modeling experiences due to the lower refresh rates.
Build Quality
6.5/10
8.0/10
The MSI GP66 Leopard has very good build quality, while the ASUS Vivobook 17 has only fair build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$429
$1,400
$0
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
The ASUS Vivobook 17 has a price of $429 and the MSI GP66 Leopard costs $1,400.
The MSI GP66 Leopard and ASUS Vivobook 17 are both good for general use.
The ASUS Vivobook 17 has a less powerful CPU and half the RAM of the MSI GP66 Leopard, which may affect multitasking and intensive applications, and its screen quality is lower, offering limited color coverage which may be less appealing for tasks requiring color accuracy. In contrast, the MSI GP66 Leopard, while more capable in performance with a high-end CPU and GPU combination, sacrifices some portability due to its weight and has marginally shorter battery life.
Content Creation
7.0/10
7.4/10
6.2/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The MSI GP66 Leopard and ASUS Vivobook 17 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
6.9/10
7.2/10
6.2/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
6.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.0/10
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers MSI GP66 Leopard to be good for software development, while the ASUS Vivobook 17 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.
Battery
6.0 Hours
5.0 Hours
The ASUS Vivobook 17 has 6 hours of battery life. The MSI GP66 Leopard has 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
Good
Fair
17.3in
SIZE
15.6in
4.6 lbs
WEIGHT
5.2 lbs
0.7in
THICKNESS
0.9in
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers ASUS Vivobook 17 to have good portability, while the MSI GP66 Leopard has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
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How the ASUS Vivobook 17 and the MSI GP66 Leopard compare to other laptops
"The ASUS Vivobook 17 is an affordable 17-inch laptop with passive cooling. On one hand, you get a really quiet and cool work device with a good system performance, many connections, good maintenance options, speakers acceptable for multimedia enjoyment, and a sharp and clear matte FHD IPS display with the Asus VivoBook 17 (F712JA). On the other hand, the USB-C port lacks Power Delivery and DisplayPort, and the display, a higher brightness and better color space coverage."
"The MSI GP66 Leopard is a good budget high-performance gamer. The MSI also does a lot right outside of the pure performance despite it's low price. For example, the adaptive cooling system really surprised us positively, even in Extreme Performance Mode. And the display is not a budget panel either, but at least outshines the competition in terms of brightness. Of course, you also have to accept a few compromises in this price category. These include the Leopard's poor battery runtimes and the less than optimal build quality, which is also noticeable in the more complicated maintenance."
Get a great deal on the ASUS Vivobook 17 or the MSI GP66 Leopard
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.
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