If youre going all in on performance, this is where you should probably be looking right now.
The MSI Raider 18 HX isnt the only behemoth weighing down this brands shelves.
Mostly, the price.
Thats considerably heavier than the 3.1kgRazerBlade, but actually lighter thanAlienwares 18-inch entry (4.23kg).
This is a big, chunky footprint, but not necessarily a dense one, then.
From the top down, the Raider bears a striking resemblance to theMSI Titan 18 HX.
This is a night and day difference.
Inside, the main deck has a vastly different visual design compared to the Titan.
The main deck has been gamerfied, with two diagonal lines raising the edges on the left and right.
Theres no cringey text or Warning stamps on here, though, (looking at youAsus TUF A15).
Instead, those diagonal cut-outs are framed with grills that sit fairly subtly in an all-black design.
Its a statement, but its certainly not screaming it in your face.
Thankfully, MSI has removed the all-in-one glass trackpad design from the Titan.
This is a gaming laptop set up for high-resolution, immersive gameplay rather than high-speed 1080p competitive configs.
That means MSI has gone big on internal components.
The 2024 Raider matches the Titans impressive port offerings in both breadth and placement.
Both of those USB-C Thunderbolts also carry DisplayPort compatibility for more video-out options.
The rear flank houses more permanent cables, hosting the HDMI, power, and Ethernet ports nicely.
In the middle of all that youll find a full-sized keyboard and a sizeable but ultimately disappointing trackpad.
Theres a particularly high travel in this pad which makes pushing for a click hard work.
Theres not quiteenoughfeedback on the keyboard itself to feel truly satisfying.
I quickly found myself missing the full mechanicalSteelSeriesimplementation in the Titan.
Still, Im glad to see full-sized arrow buttons remain in here.
Reaching over to these in-game feels natural and easy with no missed taps.
Like most MSI gaming laptops, the Raider 18 HX ships with the brands own control software.
It is, however, a nicely clean piece of software with no marketing gimmicks or overly gamey graphics.
Color contrast is far more muddied and movement is slower overall.
With re-runs, this is a real back-and-forth.
The Razer Blade 18s skinnier form factor keeps its own numbers down as well.
That processor isnt quite doing as much heavy lifting as in other models, though.
This is the fastest gaming laptop Ive tested yet - but that speed does come with a drawback.
Should you buy the MSI Raider 18 HX?
It performed better in my testing and comes in considerably cheaper by dropping a few more aesthetically pleasing features.
For more information onhow we test gaming laptops, check out the fullGamesRadar+ Hardware Policy.
Or, take a look at thebest gaming PCsfor a full desktop experience.
