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Updated January 10, 2024·
The Gigabyte Aero 5 offers superior performance, better build quality, and a high-quality OLED screen with excellent color coverage, which makes it good for tasks like 3D rendering and professional photo editing. However, it is heavier and has a lower battery life, which could be a downside for frequent travelers. On the other hand, the MSI GF65 Thin is more portable and slightly less expensive, but it has a lower-screen quality and less powerful hardware, which makes it less suitable for demanding applications but still capable of gaming and general use. Consider the Aero 5 if performance and screen quality are your priorities or the GF65 Thin if portability and cost are more important to you. 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 5
- Good for general use
- Very good for engineering and design
- Good for gaming and AI
- Good for software development
- Very good for content creation
- Very good overall display quality
- Good overall build quality
- Good battery life
- Very good keyboard
Advantages of the MSI GF65 Thin
- Good portability
Key differences
General Use
7.9
6.5
3840 x 2160
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
OLED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
446.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
262.0 nits
7.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
4.5 Hours
8.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.0/10
6.7/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
7.3/10
The Gigabyte Aero 5 is good for general use, while the MSI GF65 Thin is only fair.
The Gigabyte Aero 5 outperforms the MSI GF65 Thin in general use primarily due to its superior CPU, double the RAM, and a high-quality OLED screen which offers better resolution and color accuracy. Additionally, it has a larger battery capacity which translates to longer battery life, although it is less portable due to being heavier and a bit thicker than the MSI GF65 Thin, which offers a higher refresh rate screen for smoother visuals but falls short on battery life and screen quality.
Gaming and AI
7.9
6.8
8.3/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
6.1/10
3840 x 2160
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
Yes
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
7.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.5/10
The Gigabyte Aero 5 is good for gaming and AI, while the MSI GF65 Thin 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
8.7
6.7
9.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
4.6/10
8.3/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
6.1/10
16.0 GB
RAM
8.0 GB
The Gigabyte Aero 5 is very good for engineering and design, while the MSI GF65 Thin is only fair.
PerfectRec’s Engineering and Design Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for graphic design and 3D rendering work.
Content Creation
8.2
6.8
9.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
4.6/10
3840 x 2160
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
16.0 GB
RAM
8.0 GB
OLED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Gigabyte Aero 5 is very good for content creation, while the MSI GF65 Thin is only fair.
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
6.3
9.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
4.6/10
16.0 GB
RAM
8.0 GB
3840 x 2160
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
8.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.0/10
The Gigabyte Aero 5 is good for software development, while the MSI GF65 Thin 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.
Screen Quality
8.6
6.8
15.6in
SIZE
15.6in
3840 x 2160
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
OLED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
446.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
262.0 nits
The Gigabyte Aero 5 has a better screen than the MSI GF65 Thin for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, software development, and content creation.
The Gigabyte Aero 5 boasts a high-resolution display with great brightness and a panel that accurately displays a wide range of colors, making it ideal for professionals in engineering and design who need to see fine detail and true-to-life colors. However, its lower refresh rate detracts from gaming and 3D applications, where smooth motion is crucial. In contrast, the MSI GF65 Thin offers a balanced display with adequate brightness and resolution that suffices for both general use and technical work, but like the Aero 5, its refresh rate does not cater to the high frames-per-second needed by gamers and 3D designers.
Battery
7.0 Hours
4.5 Hours
The Gigabyte Aero 5 has 7 hours of battery life. The MSI GF65 Thin has 4.5 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
Fair
Good
15.6in
SIZE
15.6in
5.0 lbs
WEIGHT
4.1 lbs
1.0in
THICKNESS
0.8in
The MSI GF65 Thin has good portability, while the Gigabyte Aero 5 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
7.8
6.7
The Gigabyte Aero 5 has good build quality, while the MSI GF65 Thin has only fair build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$1,250
$1,100
$0
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
The Gigabyte Aero 5 has a price of $1,250 and the MSI GF65 Thin costs $1,100.
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How the Gigabyte Aero 5 and the MSI GF65 Thin compare to other laptops
Spec Comparison
 |  | |
| Gigabyte Aero 5 | MSI GF65 Thin |
GENERAL | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | |||
$1,250 | $1,100 | ||
Release Date | |||
Release Date | May 1, 2022 | January 1, 2021 | |
Overall Dimensions | |||
Overall Dimensions | 14'' x 10'' x 1.08'' | 14.1'' x 10'' x 0.85'' | |
Weight | |||
Weight | 5.07 lbs | 4.1 lbs | |
Width | |||
Width | 14" | 14.13" | |
Depth | |||
Depth | 10" | 9.99" | |
INTERNAL | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Processor | |||
Processor | Intel i7-12700H | Intel i5-10500H | |
RAM | |||
RAM | 16 GB | 8 GB | |
DDR Memory Version | |||
DDR Memory Version | 4 | 4 | |
RAM Slots | |||
RAM Slots | 2 | 2 | |
Storage | |||
Storage | 1024 GB | 512 GB | |
BATTERY | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Battery Life | |||
Battery Life | 7 Hours | 4.5 Hours | |
Battery Capacity | |||
Battery Capacity | 99 Wh | 51 Wh | |
SCREEN | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Diagonal Size | |||
Diagonal Size | 15.6" | 15.6" | |
Display Technology | |||
Display Technology | OLED | IPS | |
Resolution | |||
Resolution | 3840 x 2160 | 1920 x 1080 | |
Refresh Rate | |||
Refresh Rate | 60Hz | 144Hz | |
Display Brightness | |||
Display Brightness | 446 nits | 262 nits | |
RELIABILITY, APPEARANCE & ACOUSTICS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Build Quality Score | |||
Build Quality Score | 7.8/10 | 6.8/10 | |
Portability Score | |||
Portability Score | 6.7/10 | 7.4/10 | |
Gaming Laptop Appearance | |||
Gaming Laptop Appearance | Yes | Yes | |
Premium Business Laptop | |||
Premium Business Laptop | No | No | |
Fan Noise Score | |||
Fan Noise Score | 7/10 | 6.5/10 | |
HARDWARE FEATURES | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Keyboard Quality Score | |||
Keyboard Quality Score | 8.5/10 | 7/10 | |
Speaker Quality Score | |||
Speaker Quality Score | 6.8/10 | 6.8/10 | |
Webcam | |||
Webcam | 720p | 720p | |
Fingerprint Reader | |||
Fingerprint Reader | No | No | |
Backlit Keyboard | |||
Backlit Keyboard | Yes | Yes | |
Number Pad | |||
Number Pad | Yes | No | |
CONNECTIVITY | |||
|---|---|---|---|
USB Type-A | |||
USB Type-A | 3 | 2 | |
USB-C ports | |||
USB-C ports | 1 | 2 | |
USB-C Charging | |||
USB-C Charging | Yes | No | |
Display Outputs | |||
Display Outputs | 3 | 1 | |
Thunderbolt Version | |||
Thunderbolt Version | 4 | N/A | |
Shopping
Gigabyte Aero 5
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Dig into reviews and images
The Tech Revolutionist
Zhi Cheng | May 2022
"It is unfortunate that the Gigabyte AERO notebook series have seem to lost its charm, as it’s not exactly any much different from the AORUS series now. Regardless, content creators and designers will certainly still appreciate the features on the AERO 5 XE4, which are fundamental to their work. This largely revolved around the notebook’s display, which is colour calibrated and validated, high resolution (4K) and with great AMOLED colour representation. Now that the AERO 5 XE4 has improved its performance with the latest CPU and GPU, the professionals can also appreciate the improved productivity from the notebook."
MSI GF65 Thin
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Dig into reviews and images
NotebookCheck
Allen Ngo | March 2021
"The MSI GF65 Thin offers a GeForce RTX 3060 on a budget. The MSI GF65 is a relatively inexpensive RTX 3060 laptop and, perhaps not coincidentally, it also comes with a slower-than-average RTX 3060 GPU. Other laptops we've tested thus far with the same GPU are about 10 to 15 percent faster. CPU performance is also slightly slower than average unless if users decide to enable Cooler Boost mode. Colors, black-white response times, Thunderbolt, and DisplayPort are either average or completely omitted. Gamers who want to maximize performance-per-dollar without sacrificing RAM or SSD upgradeability will find the lightweight MSI GF65 attractive."
Get a great deal on the Gigabyte Aero 5 or the MSI GF65 Thin
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.
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