The Gigabyte Aero 17 offers a larger screen and higher storage capacity, making it suitable for multimedia work and those who prefer a spacious display. With its lower price, it's also a cost-effective option. However, it's heavier, which affects its portability. On the other hand, the MSI GE66 Raider, despite its higher price, provides a more powerful processor and graphics, more memory, and a variety of ports, making it a strong contender for intensive gaming and engineering tasks. Both laptops have comparable battery life and high-resolution displays, but the MSI's additional memory can be particularly beneficial for demanding software and multitasking. If portability and cost are your main concerns, the Gigabyte Aero 17 is appealing, while for peak performance in gaming and engineering activities, the MSI GE66 Raider stands out. 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 Aero 17
Excellent overall display quality
Advantages of the MSI GE66 Raider
Excellent for engineering and design
Very good for gaming and AI
Very good for software development
Good battery life
Excellent keyboard
Key differences
Gaming and AI
7.9/10
8.6/10
7.8/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.2/10
3840 x 2160
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2160
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
Yes
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
6.5/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.2/10
The MSI GE66 Raider is very good for gaming and AI, while the Gigabyte Aero 17 is good.
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.
Screen Quality
9.2/10
8.2/10
17.3in
SIZE
15.6in
3840 x 2160
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2160
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
368.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
347.0 nits
The Gigabyte Aero 17 has a better screen than the MSI GE66 Raider for general use, gaming and AI, and engineering and design, while the MSI GE66 Raider has a better screen for content creation.
The Gigabyte Aero 17 boasts a high resolution and brightness, with advanced color gamut coverage, making it excellent for precise design work and pleasant for everyday tasks, though its lower refresh rate is not ideal for gaming or 3D applications. The MSI GE66 Raider offers very good screen quality with ample brightness and resolution for general and engineering tasks, but similar to the Aero, it falls short for gaming due to not prioritizing a high refresh rate. Both laptops emphasize attributes such as color accuracy and resolution over refresh rate, which benefits professionals and general users, but not those focused on gaming or 3D use where fluid motion is key.
Cost
$2,071
$3,199
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
$3,500
$4,000
The Gigabyte Aero 17 has a price of $2,071 and the MSI GE66 Raider costs $3,199.
The MSI GE66 Raider and Gigabyte Aero 17 are both very good for general use.
PerfectRec’s General Use Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for general productivity, web browsing, streaming, video calls, and running a wide variety of apps and programs.
Engineering and Design
8.8/10
9.1/10
9.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.4/10
7.8/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.2/10
16.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers MSI GE66 Raider to be excellent for engineering and design, while the Gigabyte Aero 17 is very good.
The Gigabyte Aero 17 is very good for engineering and design due to its high-quality Mini LED screen, ample storage, and potent RTX 3070 Ti GPU but has less RAM compared to the MSI GE66 Raider, which is excellent for such tasks given its top-tier Intel i9 processor, maximal RTX 3080 Ti GPU, and a significant amount of RAM; however, the Aero has a larger screen which may benefit design work where screen real estate is crucial. While both laptops offer high screen resolution and quality, the Raider's slightly higher portability and superior processing power make it better suited for highly demanding engineering applications, despite its smaller display size.
Content Creation
8.4/10
8.4/10
9.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.4/10
3840 x 2160
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2160
16.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The MSI GE66 Raider and Gigabyte Aero 17 are both very 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
7.9/10
8.4/10
9.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.4/10
16.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
3840 x 2160
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2160
8.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers MSI GE66 Raider to be very good for software development, while the Gigabyte Aero 17 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.
Battery
5.5 Hours
6.0 Hours
The Gigabyte Aero 17 has 5.5 hours of battery life. The MSI GE66 Raider 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
Fair
Fair
17.3in
SIZE
15.6in
5.7 lbs
WEIGHT
5.2 lbs
0.9in
THICKNESS
0.9in
The MSI GE66 Raider and Gigabyte Aero 17 both have only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
8.0/10
8.5/10
The MSI GE66 Raider and Gigabyte Aero 17 both have very good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
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How the Gigabyte Aero 17 and the MSI GE66 Raider compare to other laptops
"Not only is the Aero 17 a very good laptop for gamers but also for content creators. With the upgrade to the Intel Core i9-11980HK, Gigabyte particularly improved the system performance. In addition, the hardware package is rounded by the extremely fast SSD and 32 GB of working memory in dual-channel mode. Compared to the predecessor, the battery life is reduced only moderately, and the 4K display also basically keeps its good qualities."
"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 Aero 17 or the MSI GE66 Raider
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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