The Gigabyte A7 offers good performance at a lower midrange price, making it budget-friendly for gaming and general use. It's less portable due to its bulkier build and heavier weight. The MSI Stealth 17, on the other hand, is high-end, boasts superior performance for 3D rendering, machine learning, and engineering tasks, with a more powerful processor and GPU, more memory, and a higher resolution display with better colors and sharpness. Its higher price reflects these premium features, but it also offers improved battery life, portability, and overall build quality. Select the Gigabyte A7 for cost efficiency or the MSI Stealth 17 for top-of-the-line performance and features. 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 A7
The Gigabyte A7 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
7.3/10
8.7/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
318.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
384.0 nits
4.5 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
5.5 Hours
7.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
6.0/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
6.4/10
The MSI Stealth 17 is very good for general use, while the Gigabyte A7 is good.
The MSI Stealth 17 has a superior main processor and more RAM, which provides a significant performance advantage over the Gigabyte A7 for general use, and despite its higher weight, it offers a better screen quality with higher resolution and better color coverage, contributing to its very good general use status, while the A7's less powerful components and lower screen quality place it at just good for general use. However, the Gigabyte A7 is more affordable and offers a decent balance between performance and cost, making it a satisfactory option for less demanding tasks.
Gaming and AI
7.3/10
9.1/10
7.3/10
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
6.5/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
8.0/10
The MSI Stealth 17 is excellent for gaming and AI, while the Gigabyte A7 is good.
The Gigabyte A7's Nvidia RTX 3060 GPU and screen refresh rate of 144 Hz make it a solid choice for gaming and 3D applications, while the MSI Stealth 17's superior Nvidia RTX 4090 GPU and higher refresh rate at 240 Hz deliver exceptional gaming and 3D performance, justifying its excellence in these areas.
Engineering and Design
7.6/10
9.4/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.5/10
7.3/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.7/10
16.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
The MSI Stealth 17 is excellent for engineering and design, while the Gigabyte A7 is good.
The MSI Stealth 17 is excellent for engineering and design because it offers a very powerful CPU and GPU combination that outperforms the Gigabyte A7, alongside a higher RAM capacity that is crucial for demanding tasks and multitasking. Additionally, the MSI Stealth 17 provides superior screen quality with higher resolution and better color accuracy, but it is heavier and less portable than the Gigabyte A7, which might still be sufficient for some engineering and design work with its respectable hardware and good screen.
Content Creation
7.3/10
8.8/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.5/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
16.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The MSI Stealth 17 is very good for content creation, while the Gigabyte A7 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
8.5/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.5/10
16.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
7.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
The MSI Stealth 17 is very good for software development, while the Gigabyte A7 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
7.3/10
8.6/10
17.3in
SIZE
17.3in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
144Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
318.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
384.0 nits
The MSI Stealth 17 has a better screen than the Gigabyte A7 for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.
The Gigabyte A7's display offers the clarity and brightness ideal for everyday tasks, as well as the color accuracy necessary for engineering and design work, its refresh rate, however, doesn't meet the high standard required for smooth gaming and 3D rendering. The MSI Stealth 17 provides a sharp, luminous screen with expansive color range, thus enhancing both daily use and professional design tasks, yet it also falls short for gaming and 3D purposes, lacking the high refresh rate that's crucial for those applications. In both cases, while suitable for general usage and precise color work, their screens are not optimized for the fast-paced visuals demanded by gaming and 3D animation.
Battery
4.5 Hours
5.5 Hours
The Gigabyte A7 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 Gigabyte A7 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
$940
$3,899
$0
$1,000
$2,000
$3,000
$4,000
The Gigabyte A7 has a price of $940 and the MSI Stealth 17 costs $3,899.
"In terms of looks, the Gigabyte A7 X1 is certainly not a trendy, slim, and ultra-mobile gaming laptop. But it does what it's supposed to do, namely bringing games smoothly onto the screen, very well. Both the processor and the GeForce RTX 3070 are able to unleash their performance without restrictions thanks to the well-ventilated case. The Gigabyte A7 X1 brings modern games smoothly onto the screen and offers excellent maintenance options."
"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 Gigabyte A7 or the MSI Stealth 17
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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