The Gigabyte Aorus 17H delivers superior performance for intensive tasks like 3D rendering, machine learning, and engineering, thanks to its high-end GPU and CPU. It has a larger screen and is capable of intense gaming, but it's heavier and has a significantly higher price point. On the other hand, the MSI Modern 14 is more affordable, lighter, and offers better portability but is less powerful with integrated graphics, making it suitable for general use and lighter productivity tasks. The choice largely depends on your need for high performance and gaming capabilities versus affordability and portability. 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 Aorus 17H
Very good for engineering and design
Very good for gaming and AI
Very good for content creation
Very good overall display quality
Very good speakers
Very good keyboard
Advantages of the MSI Modern 14
Very good portability
Key differences
General Use
7.9/10
7.2/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
351.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
311.0 nits
6.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
6.0 Hours
8.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.0/10
5.9/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
8.6/10
The Gigabyte Aorus 17H and MSI Modern 14 are both good for general use, though the Gigabyte Aorus 17H is somewhat better.
The Gigabyte Aorus 17H excels in CPU and GPU performance suitable for general use and more demanding tasks, combined with a larger screen albeit at the cost of portability and shorter battery life, making it less ideal for on-the-go usage. On the other hand, the MSI Modern 14 provides a balance of moderate performance with its CPU and integrated graphics, a high-quality screen for its size, better portability due to its lighter weight and smaller size, paired with comparable battery life, typically favored for mobile professionals and students.
Gaming and AI
8.7/10
6.0/10
9.6/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
3.6/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
360Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
Yes
SUPPORTS DLSS
No
Yes
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
6.5/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
8.7/10
The Gigabyte Aorus 17H is very good for gaming and AI, while the MSI Modern 14 is only fair.
The Gigabyte Aorus 17H excels in gaming and 3D because it houses a robust Nvidia RTX 4080 GPU and a high screen refresh rate, which are crucial for smooth, high-fidelity visuals. In contrast, the MSI Modern 14, with its integrated AMD Ryzen 5 7530U Vega 7 GPU and standard refresh rate, provides a fair experience, sufficient for less demanding games and tasks.
Engineering and Design
8.6/10
6.6/10
9.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
5.6/10
9.6/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
3.6/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Gigabyte Aorus 17H is very good for engineering and design, while the MSI Modern 14 is only fair.
The Gigabyte Aorus 17H is equipped with a more powerful CPU and GPU, providing robust performance crucial for demanding engineering and design tasks, whereas the MSI Modern 14, with a less powerful CPU and integrated GPU, offers adequate yet more modest capabilities suitable for less intensive applications. Additionally, the Aorus 17H has a larger, high-refresh rate display that benefits visual-intensive work, which, along with its superior hardware, makes it less portable and heavier compared to the MSI Modern 14, which is lighter and thus easier to carry around.
Content Creation
8.0/10
7.2/10
9.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
5.6/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Gigabyte Aorus 17H is very good for content creation, while the MSI Modern 14 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.
Screen Quality
8.3/10
6.4/10
17.3in
SIZE
14.0in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
360Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
351.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
311.0 nits
The Gigabyte Aorus 17H has a better screen than the MSI Modern 14 for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, software development, and content creation.
For general use, the Aorus 17H offers a high-resolution, bright display with a panel type that renders crisp and vibrant images, making it superior to the MSI Modern 14 which provides satisfactory brightness and resolution but might not be as sharp or vivid. In the context of engineering and design, the Aorus 17H's wider color gamuts ensure more accurate color representation, which is essential for detail-oriented work, unlike the MSI Modern 14 which has more limited color range, affecting the precision of color work. However, for gaming and 3D applications, the Aorus 17H's lower refresh rate hampers the smoothness of fast-moving visuals, which is less ideal than laptops designed with higher refresh rates, though this might be less noticeable on the MSI Modern 14, it does not fundamentally change its performance in this aspect.
Portability
Poor
Very Good
17.3in
SIZE
14.0in
5.9 lbs
WEIGHT
3.0 lbs
1.1in
THICKNESS
0.6in
The MSI Modern 14 has very good portability, while the Gigabyte Aorus 17H has poor portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Cost
$2,000
$525
$0
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
The Gigabyte Aorus 17H has a price of $2,000 and the MSI Modern 14 costs $525.
The Gigabyte Aorus 17H and MSI Modern 14 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
6.0 Hours
The Gigabyte Aorus 17H has 6 hours of battery life. The MSI Modern 14 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.
Build Quality
7.4/10
7.0/10
The Gigabyte Aorus 17H and MSI Modern 14 both have 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 Aorus 17H and the MSI Modern 14 compare to other laptops
"Overall though, it’s *lots of swearing* fast, seriously. For work, rendering, gaming, it doesn’t matter, this is a true weapon of performance that’s going to run rings around most high-end desktop systems. If you absolutely have to game at ultra-high refresh rates on the go (but within thinking distance of a plug socket), this is the ticket. I can’t see such an extreme being that appealing to everyone, but if you take your gaming seriously, or even professionally, there’s nothing else out there that comes close that you can still fit in your backpack and travel with."
Alexander Tozzi, Ryan Lim, and John Peroramas | October 2023
"The MSI Modern 14 is okay for school use. It's very compact, so it's easy to carry around. It has a sharp display, a spacious keyboard, and a reasonably large touchpad. Its Intel 13th Gen CPU and integrated graphics can handle general productivity tasks like text processing and web browsing; however, don't expect to do anything intensive like 3D modeling or physics simulations. Unfortunately, the battery lasts less than five hours of light use, and the display doesn't get bright enough to combat glare."
Get a great deal on the Gigabyte Aorus 17H or the MSI Modern 14
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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