In 2020 Intel showed us the second generation of their processors at the 10-nm technology process. True, she did this only in the mobile segment, and even then only in his "office-working" part. The 11th generation models received a very promising architecture with 19% an increase in tact operations, but, unfortunately, limited themselves to only four cores. However, this did not interfere MSI Experiment with them in full: its new laptop ** Stealth M15 ** is based on a top processor Core i7-1185G7 Pares with very productive for modern games Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q. Now we will tell you how it all works, and we will answer the question of whether Tiger Lake is suitable for games.
We get acquainted
To begin with, the test model is incredibly compact for the game machine: some 1.7 kg weighs, in thickness-only 1.6 cm. Everything is collected in a simple rectangular body of aluminum alloy of dark gray color-no jewelry or backlight. The fact that this car will pull something except Zoom indicates only the logo-gap, which MSI gives exclusively to game models. Well, perhaps especially attentive and knowledgeable users will still alert a huge number of ventilation holes, which are dotted not only the bottom, but also all the sides and ends.
Surprisingly, with such modest sizes, the MSI model managed to maintain the stiffness of the case. To do this, of course, she had to slightly increase the dimensions of the lid with the screen: out of a total thickness of 16 mm, it accounts for as much as 7 mm. Fortunately, this did not affect the frames around the matrix – here modern 6 mm on the sides and 9 mm from above. The lower frame, however, rises to the impressive 4 cm, but it is for the best: the spaces for cooling iron were added, and bend to the display during the game or work will not have to be so strong. We will also write down the hinges here in the pluses, which not only harshly hold the panel in the chosen position, but also allow you to throw it back on normal 180 degrees, which is very important for those who often work on the road or like to play on the sofa, throwing their feet above their heads.
As for the main functions of the display, the MSI used an adult IPS-matrix with Full HD resolution and a frequency of 144 Hz. We did not notice any critical minuses in games, but the color coverage, unfortunately, is not enough: SRGB does not completely overlap.
Stealth M15 controls everything is standard: the keyboard here is full -size with caps of 16 mm, the distance between them is 3 mm and an extremely pleasant elastic stroke. In the dark, the unobtrusive RGB backlighting looks great, evenly outlining both the boundaries of the keys and the characters on them. But the touchpad here is again office – without separate buttons. However, the panel itself is not bad: it adequately reacts to the multitach, and in size – 106×76 mm – does not fail.
Filling
Now about iron: the most important and interesting part is, of course, Intel Core i7-1185G7. It is based on the architecture of Willow Cove and carries four nuclei on board up to 4.8 GHz. This processor almost does not consume energy: TDP is only 28 watts, which, against the backdrop of the usual 35-45 watts in game models, looks completely ridiculous. However, the real amount of heat released is highly dependent on the frequency and load.
In games, the processor operates in the range from 3.5 to 4.3 GHz, while consuming it from 30 to 60 watts. Under heavy loads – say, in 3DS MAX – speed drops to 3.1 GHz. At the same time, like his senior brothers at 14 nm, the temperature almost immediately jumps to 90 ° C, and the turntables reach maximum speed after a couple of minutes of work.
However, this can be slightly corrected by moving to another performance mode via FN+F7. So, for example, in a “balanced” TDP profile, a stone is cut to 30 watts, and in “economical” – up to 10 watts. In this case, the frequency immediately drops to 2.1 GHz, and the fans are almost completely subside.
Things are better with the video card: GTX 1660 Ti is so cold, and in the Max-Q version, it almost does not heat up. The maximum that we spotted on the chip is 75 ° C at a frequency of 1860 MHz. At the same time, energy consumption was laid in the interval of 40-63 watts.
RAM in our version, two strips of 8 GB of 3200 MHz were installed in our version. Permanent – 512 GB in one disk at the NVMe PCIe X4 speed 1.5 GB/s. The drive can easily be replaced if desired: the slot under it stands under the lower lid. But with RAM, if suddenly there is a need, you have to tinker: the slots under it were soldered on the back of the motherboard, under the keyboard.
All this is cooled quite serious for such a thin case Cooler Boost 5. Behind and on the sides are four set -up radiators with a 0.1 mm thick thickness. The heat is tolerated by six heating pipes: five of them pass through the video card, three through the processor – three. All this is blown by two turbines with many metal blades. As we have already said, this is enough to keep the processor within 90 ° C, and the video card is at the level of 78 ° C, but we must admit that such a system works quite noisy.
Stealth 15m networks only wireless: WiFi 802.11AX and Bluetooth 5.1, the Intel Ax201 controller is responsible for them. The sound is simple, on the Realtek codec, with a pair of small emitters on the sides and a four-contact 3.5 mm jack for headphones or a headset. Audio gives some freedom of action in configuration by Nahimic, but its capabilities can only be evaluated with headphones.
In addition to Jack, on the left edge are a small cardrider for Microsd cards, as well as USB with support for the new Thunderbolt 4 with a speed of 40 Mbps and support for permits up to 8k. On the right-another USB pair, one of which is Type-C, as well as HDMI 2.0.
Test results
We’ll say right away: the maximum settings in the games Stealth M15 are not enough, but you don’t have to fall to the minimum. IN Assassin’s Creed Valhalla , Watch Dogs: Legion And Total War: Three Kingdoms It is quite comfortable to play on medium settings graphics. A Borderlands 3 , Far Cry New Dawn , Metro: Exodus , World of Tanks , F1 2020 And even Cyberpunk 2077 They go well on "tall" without annoying frizes. The frequency of personnel is stable, although it does not sometimes reach the cherished 60.
The built -in battery for 52 VTh is enough for 2.5 hours of watching video, 2 hours of multimedia tasks or an hour of games. True, such a long time of autonomous work in games is explained by an automatic transition to an economical energy consumption profile, which is poorly suitable for any resource -intensive tasks.
In the end
MSI Stealth 15M is a very bold model with unusual iron and in fresh form factor. Another question is that the impressions of the machine leaves dual. On the one hand, it is noisy and hot. On the other hand, it is well assembled, equipped with a comfortable keyboard and designed sharply among competitors.
Technical characteristics
MSI Stealth 15M A11SDK-032RU Display : 15.6 inches, 1920 x 1080, IPS, 144 Hz (BOE NV156FHM-NX4) CPU : Intel Core i7-1185G7 (4 nuclei, 8 flows, 1.2-4.8 GHz, 28 W) Memory : 16 GB (2x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 (Samsung M471A1K43DB1-CWE, 24-22-22-52) Video card : Intel Iris Xe Graphics, Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q (1140-1860 /14000 MHz, 6 GB GDDR6) Disk subsystem : 512 GB NVMe SSD (Kingston OM8PCP3512F-AI1) Sound : https://sister-site.org/lucky-manor/ Realtek Codec Connection : Wi-Fi 802.11AX (Intel Wi-Fi 6 Ax201), Bluetooth 5.1 Connectors : 2x USB3.2 Gen1 Type-A, USB3.2 Gen2 Type-C (USB4 / DP / Thunderbolt4), HDMI 2.0, 3.5 mm Audio Jack TRRS, Microsd Cardiller operating system : Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64-bit Battery : Li-Pol, 4600 mAh, 52 VTV Dimensions : 35.8 x 24.8 x 1.7 cm Weight : 1.69 kg Price for January 2021 : 117,000 rubles ($ 1540)