The Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5i offers good value, capable of handling general use and light engineering work with its hardware, and it is relatively portable with a decent battery life. On the other hand, the MSI GE66 Raider is much more powerful, especially suited for intensive gaming, 3D rendering, machine learning, and demanding engineering tasks due to its top-tier processor and graphics card, but it is heavier and less portable with a similar battery life. The tradeoff comes down to whether you need the high-end performance and larger screen of the MSI for demanding tasks and can bear the extra cost and lower portability compared to the more cost-effective and portable Lenovo. 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 Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5i
Good portability
Advantages of the MSI GE66 Raider
Very good for general use
Excellent for engineering and design
Very good for gaming and AI
Very good for software development
Very good for content creation
Very good overall display quality
Very good overall build quality
Excellent keyboard
Key differences
General Use
7.7/10
8.4/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2160
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
409.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
347.0 nits
6.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
6.0 Hours
8.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
7.5/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
6.8/10
The MSI GE66 Raider is very good for general use, while the Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5i is good.
The MSI GE66 Raider surpasses the Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5i with a more powerful processor and double the RAM, enhancing performance for general use, along with a higher-resolution screen that facilitates sharper image quality. However, it is less portable due to its heavier weight and larger size, while both laptops offer comparable battery life for everyday activities.
Gaming and AI
7.4/10
8.6/10
6.7/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.2/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2160
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
Yes
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
7.5/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.2/10
The MSI GE66 Raider is very good for gaming and AI, while the Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5i is good.
The MSI GE66 Raider exceeds in gaming and 3D thanks to its more powerful Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti graphics card, compared to the Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5i's Nvidia RTX 4050, which delivers strong but not top-tier performance. Both models have screens with the same 120Hz refresh rate, yet the MSI has a higher resolution display for sharper images, but this also demands more from the GPU.
Engineering and Design
8.1/10
9.1/10
9.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.4/10
6.7/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.2/10
16.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
The MSI GE66 Raider is excellent for engineering and design, while the Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5i is very good.
The MSI GE66 Raider is equipped with a more powerful CPU and GPU combination, as well as a higher-quality screen, making it excellent for demanding engineering and design tasks. Whereas the Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5i also has a capable CPU and GPU, and a high-quality screen that makes it very good for such tasks but doesn't quite match the top-tier performance of the MSI for intensive workloads.
Content Creation
7.7/10
8.4/10
9.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.4/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2160
16.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The MSI GE66 Raider is very good for content creation, while the Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5i 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
7.7/10
8.4/10
9.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.4/10
16.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2160
8.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
The MSI GE66 Raider is very good for software development, while the Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5i 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
7.8/10
8.2/10
16.0in
SIZE
15.6in
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2160
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
409.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
347.0 nits
The MSI GE66 Raider has a better screen than the Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5i for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.
The Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5i offers high-resolution and bright display, essential for crisp images and comfortable viewing in various lighting conditions, beneficial for general tasks. Its color accuracy and range meet the demands of engineering and design work, but its lower refresh rate could hamper the experience for gaming and 3D applications, where fluid motion is key. On the other hand, the MSI GE66 Raider's high screen quality caters well to engineering and design professionals due to its wide color gamut, but like the IdeaPad, it falls short for gaming and 3D because of its refresh rate limitations.
Portability
Good
Fair
16.0in
SIZE
15.6in
4.3 lbs
WEIGHT
5.2 lbs
0.7in
THICKNESS
0.9in
The Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5i has good portability, while the MSI GE66 Raider has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
7.6/10
8.5/10
The MSI GE66 Raider has very good build quality, while the Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5i has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$950
$3,199
$0
$1,000
$2,000
$3,000
$4,000
The Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5i has a price of $950 and the MSI GE66 Raider costs $3,199.
"Lenovo’s IdeaPad Pro 5i represents an impressive opening salvo for Meteor Lake in the ultraportable space against familiar foes from AMD and Apple. Not only does the Core Ultra 5 125H processor provide good performance across the board, but battery life remains a strong point against the Acer Swift Edge 16 with its AMD Ryzen 7 7840U processor. It can’t quite match the endurance of the 15-inch MacBook Pro, but the gap is shrinking."
"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 Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5i or the MSI GE66 Raider
About Lenovo
Lenovo is a Chinese technology company, and one of the largest personal computer vendor. They are well known for a variety of technology products, including laptops. Their consumer series include their entry level IdeaPad and LOQ series and mid-to-high-end Yoga and Legion series. On the business-oriented side, their series include their entry-level ThinkBook series and mid-to-high-end ThinkPad series. Lenovo laptops offer strong performance for reasonable prices, and are often on sale.
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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