The Gigabyte A5, with its lower midrange price and significant cost savings, offers a respectable balance of power and affordability, making it suitable for general use and moderate gaming. You'll have to weigh your specific needs and budget against the increased capabilities and features of the MSI Raider GE66 compared to the more cost-effective Gigabyte A5. 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 Gigabyte A5
Good portability
Very good speakers
Advantages of the MSI Raider GE66
Very good for general use
Very good for engineering and design
Very good for gaming and AI
Very good for software development
Very good for content creation
Very good overall display quality
Very good overall build quality
Excellent keyboard
Key differences
General Use
7.3/10
8.3/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
281.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
300.0 nits
6.5 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
6.0 Hours
7.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
7.0/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
6.8/10
The MSI Raider GE66 is very good for general use, while the Gigabyte A5 is good.
The Gigabyte A5 offers a balance suitable for general use with its decent processor, ample RAM, and a full HD screen, while being lighter and boasting a higher portability score. On the other hand, the MSI Raider GE66 provides a more powerful CPU, more RAM, and a higher resolution and color-accurate display, but it is heavier and has a lower portability score, making it less convenient for frequent travel.
Gaming and AI
7.1/10
8.5/10
7.3/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.8/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
144Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
Yes
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
6.5/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.2/10
The MSI Raider GE66 is very good for gaming and AI, while the Gigabyte A5 is good.
The MSI Raider GE66 is very good for gaming and 3D because it has a more powerful Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti graphics card and a higher screen refresh rate of 240 Hz compared to the Gigabyte A5, which has an Nvidia RTX 3060 GPU and a screen refresh rate of 144 Hz.
Engineering and Design
7.3/10
8.9/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
7.3/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.8/10
16.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
The MSI Raider GE66 is very good for engineering and design, while the Gigabyte A5 is good.
The MSI Raider GE66 stands out in engineering and design because it offers a more powerful CPU, double the RAM, and a superior GPU compared to the Gigabyte A5; additionally, it has a higher resolution and brighter screen, which are crucial for detail-oriented tasks. While the Gigabyte A5 is more portable and quieter, these features are secondary to raw performance and screen quality for most engineering and design professionals.
Content Creation
7.3/10
8.3/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
16.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The MSI Raider GE66 is very good for content creation, while the Gigabyte A5 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
7.0/10
8.0/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
16.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
7.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
The MSI Raider GE66 is very good for software development, while the Gigabyte A5 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
7.2/10
8.4/10
15.6in
SIZE
15.6in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
144Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
281.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
300.0 nits
The MSI Raider GE66 has a better screen than the Gigabyte A5 for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.
For general use, both the Gigabyte A5 and MSI Raider GE66 offer screens with pleasing visuals, adequate resolution, and brightness that makes content easy to view. The MSI Raider GE66 stands out in engineering and design due to its wider color gamuts, enabling more precise color work. However, their lower refresh rates make them less ideal for 3D gaming, where smoother motion and quicker responses are crucial.
Build Quality
7.2/10
8.5/10
The MSI Raider GE66 has very good build quality, while the Gigabyte A5 has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$830
$2,499
$0
$1,000
$2,000
$3,000
$4,000
The Gigabyte A5 has a price of $830 and the MSI Raider GE66 costs $2,499.
The Gigabyte A5 has 6.5 hours of battery life. The MSI Raider GE66 has 6 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
15.6in
SIZE
15.6in
4.6 lbs
WEIGHT
5.2 lbs
1.0in
THICKNESS
0.9in
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Gigabyte A5 to have good portability, while the MSI Raider GE66 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Give feedback
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How the Gigabyte A5 and the MSI Raider GE66 compare to other laptops
"Ignoring price, the Gigabyte A5 has a hard time against the similarly fast competition. Besides the loud noise in 3D mode (performance mode), the high temperature development of the components should be mentioned on the downside. Despite the relatively thick case, the laptop gets very warm and loud under load, which does not exactly speak for the cooling system. The plastic surfaces look rather cheap and also tend to rattle. In most other disciplines - be it the input devices, the screen, the connectivity or the battery runtime - the Gigabyte laptop does not stand out from the crowd, neither positively nor negatively. However, those who primarily pay attention to the price-performance ratio will get a pretty good offer with the Gigabyte A5."
"The MSI Raider GE66 12UHS notebook passes with flying colors. The GE66 is a high-end notebook with strong performance. The keyboard and trackpad are still very good and score well with precise inputs as well as high build quality. Thanks to a new liquid metal cooling solution, the Intel Core i9 12900HK brings a performance increase of around 50 percent over the predecessor's Intel Core i9 10980HK. The installed graphics card in our device delivers up to 30 percent higher frame rates than the RTX 2070 Super in the MSI GE66 10SFS."
Get a great deal on the Gigabyte A5 or the MSI Raider GE66
About Gigabyte
Gigabyte is a Taiwanese computer hardware manufacturer. While Gigabyte mainly focuses its business on desktop hardware, Gigabyte is known for its value-oriented G series laptops, thin and light Aero series, and performance-oriented Aorus series. Gigabyte laptops offer a strong value proposition to compete with mainstream alternatives.
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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