The Gigabyte Aorus 17 has a better screen than the MSI Stealth GS66 for content creation.
The Gigabyte Aorus 17 and MSI Stealth GS66 have displays with higher resolutions and brightness, which make them excellent for everyday tasks and detailed engineering work, while their color accuracy benefits professional design by providing a wide color range. However, their screens may not be optimal for gaming or 3D work due to lower refresh rates, which can affect the smoothness of fast-moving visuals. The panel types on these laptops, although sufficient for sharp images and good viewing angles, do not prioritize the high refresh rates that are crucial for an immersive 3D experience.
Portability
Fair
Good
17.3in
SIZE
15.6in
5.9 lbs
WEIGHT
4.6 lbs
1.0in
THICKNESS
0.7in
The MSI Stealth GS66 has good portability, while the Gigabyte Aorus 17 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
7.4/10
8.0/10
The MSI Stealth GS66 has very good build quality, while the Gigabyte Aorus 17 has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
The Gigabyte Aorus 17 and MSI Stealth GS66 are both good for general use.
The Gigabyte Aorus 17 is praised for general use due to its large screen with high refresh rate and decent battery life, complemented by a solid CPU and ample RAM, though its weight makes it less portable. Meanwhile, the MSI Stealth GS66 also offers a robust CPU and sufficient RAM for everyday tasks, with a more portable design and higher screen pixel density, but has a slightly shorter battery life and less storage space. Both laptops feature high-quality displays and manage heat and noise effectively, while offering good keyboard and speaker quality; however, the MSI is more portable, whereas the Gigabyte provides a larger screen for those who prioritize visual workspace over portability.
Gaming and AI
8.1/10
7.8/10
8.3/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.8/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
360Hz
REFRESH RATE
360Hz
Yes
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
6.5/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
7.5/10
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Gigabyte Aorus 17 to be very good for gaming and AI, while the MSI Stealth GS66 is good.
The Gigabyte Aorus 17 and MSI Stealth GS66 are both equipped with the powerful Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti GPU and offer high screen refresh rates of 360Hz, ensuring smooth gaming and 3D experiences. Despite similar processing capabilities, the Aorus 17 provides a larger screen size, which might enhance visual experience for gaming and 3D work, while the Stealth GS66's smaller size gives it a slight edge in portability.
Engineering and Design
8.4/10
8.2/10
9.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
8.3/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.8/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Gigabyte Aorus 17 and MSI Stealth GS66 are both very good for engineering and design.
The Gigabyte Aorus 17 and the MSI Stealth GS66 are both tailored for engineering and design due to their powerful CPUs, ample RAM, and high-quality GPUs, coupled with their screens that support high resolution and refresh rates. However, the Aorus 17 has a slightly larger and brighter screen preferred for design, whereas the Stealth GS66 is lighter and more portable, featuring a better color range for detailed work, with both having solid keyboard and speaker quality and moderate operating noise.
Content Creation
8.0/10
7.7/10
9.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Gigabyte Aorus 17 to be 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
7.5/10
7.5/10
9.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
8.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
The Gigabyte Aorus 17 and MSI Stealth GS66 are both good for software development.
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
6.0 Hours
5.5 Hours
The Gigabyte Aorus 17 has 6 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.
Cost
$1,700
$1,799
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
The Gigabyte Aorus 17 has a price of $1,700 and the MSI Stealth GS66 costs $1,799.
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How the Gigabyte Aorus 17 and the MSI Stealth GS66 compare to other laptops
"The Gigabyte Aorus 17 is a powerful high-end gaming machine. The Aorus 17 is a potent gaming notebook in a 17.3-inch format designed for FHD gaming at maximum settings. A Core i7-12700H processor and GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Laptop GPU make this possible. A lightning-fast PCIe 4 SSD (1 TB) provides the necessary storage space and ensures short loading times. With the Aorus 17 XE4, Gigabyte delivers a well-rounded, high-performance gaming notebook."
"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 Gigabyte Aorus 17 or the MSI Stealth GS66
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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