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Updated January 10, 2024·
If performance for intensive tasks such as 3D modeling, machine learning or gaming is crucial, the MSI Stealth GS66 with its dedicated high-end graphics card is a better option. However, it's typically more expensive and less portable than the Dell XPS 13 Plus, which offers competitive performance for general and engineering use, and is more lightweight. The Dell also has a high-resolution OLED screen, while the MSI has a high refresh rate, making the latter more suited for fast-paced gaming. Battery life will vary, but the tradeoff is clear: MSI for gaming and heavy tasks, and Dell for portability and everyday productivity. 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 Dell XPS 13 Plus
- Very good for general use
- Very good for software development
- Very good for content creation
- Excellent portability
- Very good battery life
- Best in class speakers
- Excellent keyboard
Advantages of the MSI Stealth GS66
- Good for gaming and AI
Key differences
General Use
8.4
7.7
3840 x 2400
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
OLED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
374.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
280.0 nits
10.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
5.5 Hours
9.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
9.1/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
7.5/10
The Dell XPS 13 Plus is very good for general use, while the MSI Stealth GS66 is good.
The Dell XPS 13 Plus excels for general use with its higher RAM, superior screen quality which includes higher resolution, brightness, and color coverage, and better battery life, all packaged in a more portable form. While the MSI Stealth GS66 offers a powerful CPU and dedicated graphics card which may benefit more intensive tasks, its screen quality, portability, and battery life are not as favorable as the Dell for general use purposes.
Gaming and AI
6.4
7.8
3.8/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.8/10
3840 x 2400
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
360Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
8.7/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
7.5/10
The MSI Stealth GS66 is good for gaming and AI, while the Dell XPS 13 Plus 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.
Content Creation
8.3
7.7
7.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
3840 x 2400
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
32.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
OLED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Dell XPS 13 Plus is very good for content creation, while the MSI Stealth GS66 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
8.3
7.5
7.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
32.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
3840 x 2400
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
9.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
The Dell XPS 13 Plus is very good for software development, while the MSI Stealth GS66 is good.
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
8.4
8.1
13.4in
SIZE
15.6in
3840 x 2400
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
OLED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
360Hz
374.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
280.0 nits
The Dell XPS 13 Plus has a better screen than the MSI Stealth GS66 for general use, engineering and design, software development, and content creation, while the MSI Stealth GS66 has a better screen for gaming and AI.
The Dell XPS 13 Plus boasts a high-resolution display with vibrant colors and impressive brightness, making the visuals crisp and clear for general tasks, while its wide color gamut ensures accurate color reproduction critical for engineering and design. However, it lacks a high refresh rate which is crucial for smooth visuals in gaming and 3D applications. In contrast, the MSI Stealth GS66, while offering enough resolution and color accuracy for general use and professional design tasks, also doesn't deliver the high refresh rate that gaming and 3D scenarios demand.
Battery
10.0 Hours
5.5 Hours
The Dell XPS 13 Plus has 10 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
Excellent
Good
13.4in
SIZE
15.6in
2.7 lbs
WEIGHT
4.6 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.7in
The Dell XPS 13 Plus has excellent portability, while the MSI Stealth GS66 has good portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
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Key similarities
Engineering and Design
8.2
8.2
7.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
3.8/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.8/10
32.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The MSI Stealth GS66 and Dell XPS 13 Plus are both very good for engineering and design.
The Dell XPS 13 Plus is robust for engineering and design, with a high-resolution OLED touchscreen, 32GB RAM, and an efficient CPU, suited for complex tasks, but the integrated GPU may limit some 3D applications. Meanwhile, the MSI Stealth GS66, with a more powerful dedicated GPU, offers better performance for GPU-intensive engineering software and gaming, though it has a lower RAM and standard resolution display compared to the Dell; both offer high-quality screens and solid build but differ in portability and overall suitability for certain tasks.
Build Quality
8.5
8.0
The Dell XPS 13 Plus and MSI Stealth GS66 both have very good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$1,849
$1,799
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
The Dell XPS 13 Plus has a price of $1,849 and the MSI Stealth GS66 costs $1,799.
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How the Dell XPS 13 Plus and the MSI Stealth GS66 compare to other laptops
Spec Comparison
 |  | |
| Dell XPS 13 Plus | MSI Stealth GS66 |
GENERAL | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | |||
$1,849 | $1,799 | ||
Release Date | |||
Release Date | May 1, 2022 | April 1, 2022 | |
Overall Dimensions | |||
Overall Dimensions | 11.6'' x 7.8'' x 0.6'' | 14.2'' x 9.7'' x 0.71'' | |
Weight | |||
Weight | 2.71 lbs | 4.63 lbs | |
Width | |||
Width | 11.63" | 14.17" | |
Depth | |||
Depth | 7.84" | 9.65" | |
INTERNAL | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Processor | |||
Processor | Intel i7-1280P | Intel i7-12700H | |
RAM | |||
RAM | 32 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 | 10 Hours | 5.5 Hours | |
Battery Capacity | |||
Battery Capacity | 55 Wh | 99.9 Wh | |
SCREEN | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Diagonal Size | |||
Diagonal Size | 13.4" | 15.6" | |
Display Technology | |||
Display Technology | OLED | IPS | |
Resolution | |||
Resolution | 3840 x 2400 | 1920 x 1080 | |
Refresh Rate | |||
Refresh Rate | 60Hz | 360Hz | |
Display Brightness | |||
Display Brightness | 374 nits | 280 nits | |
RELIABILITY, APPEARANCE & ACOUSTICS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Build Quality Score | |||
Build Quality Score | 8.5/10 | 8/10 | |
Portability Score | |||
Portability Score | 9.2/10 | 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 | 8.8/10 | 7.5/10 | |
HARDWARE FEATURES | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Keyboard Quality Score | |||
Keyboard Quality Score | 9/10 | 8.5/10 | |
Speaker Quality Score | |||
Speaker Quality Score | 9.5/10 | 8/10 | |
Webcam | |||
Webcam | 720p | 720p | |
Fingerprint Reader | |||
Fingerprint Reader | Yes | No | |
Backlit Keyboard | |||
Backlit Keyboard | Yes | Yes | |
Number Pad | |||
Number Pad | No | No | |
CONNECTIVITY | |||
|---|---|---|---|
USB Type-A | |||
USB Type-A | 0 | 2 | |
USB-C ports | |||
USB-C ports | 2 | 3 | |
USB-C Charging | |||
USB-C Charging | Yes | Yes | |
Display Outputs | |||
Display Outputs | 2 | 4 | |
Thunderbolt Version | |||
Thunderbolt Version | 4 | 4 | |
Shopping
Dell XPS 13 Plus
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Dig into reviews and images
NotebookCheck
Andreas Osthoff | July 2022
"The XPS 13 Plus is powerful, but has its drawbacks. Dell did not only update the processor generation, but also decided to offer two completely different models from now on. The XPS 13 Plus gets the faster Intel Alder Lake-P chips, and the Core i7-1260P in our review unit offers good performance figures. However, the device once again shows the problems of the current Intel CPUs, because the high performance requires a lot of power. This affects the battery runtime as well as temperatures, so the new model (even with the Optimized power profile) is louder than the older model."
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 Dell XPS 13 Plus or the MSI Stealth GS66
About Dell
Dell is a highly recognizable American technology company, and is one of the largest personal computer vendor by market share. Their laptops are very popular for both personal and professional use, and they also own the Alienware brand which makes mid to high end gaming laptops. Their premium XPS range of laptops offer great build quality and portability, while Latitude and Precision laptops are known for reliability, repairability and performance for business users.
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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