So many good things to say. RTX 2070 and "budget" don't usually belong in the same product description. Somehow, MSI made it work with a super powerful gaming machine that kicks ass and. Well, for the budget-oriented high-end gamer, this is all you ever need. ————————— PERFORMANCE - 5,555/5 This is not something you need worry about on this laptop. This machine pulls 100+ the most AAA demanding titles at the highest settings, thanks to the full RTX 2070 mobile GPU (not Max-Q). My Frames in some FPS games (high/ultra settings, 1080p): Warzone: 90s-120s Planetside 2: 140s (VR training), 60s-80s (huge fights) Apex Legends: 90-100s The main performance "bottleneck" is the i7-10750h CPU, which is obvious when comparing with the stupidly powerful RTX 2070 graphics card. Also makes sense since the CPU hits the 90+ C while GPU hits 70s. That being said, hitting the above framerates in games, I can’t complain. ————————— THERMALS - 4/5 Totally competent. Runs a little hotter than I hoped for, but won't thermal throttle out of the box (default “User” mode in Dragon center with high CPU, auto fans). Undervolting with XTU can be unlocked in the Advanced BIOS settings. I played around with some sliders, but I couldn’t get better performance than stock settings. YMMV. The fans are LOUD. When gaming, air blasts out the back and right side. Hot air blasts out the left side. Don’t leave any accessories to bake next to this laptop, and you’ll be fine. Thankfully, the keyboard stays cool and comfortable during long gaming sessions. I give 4/5 because it’s not something you’d really notice. ————————— SCREEN - 5/5 Tech reviewers give the response time as 5 ms, close to the advertised 3 ms. Without a way to test for it myself, I’d trust this figure. 144 hz refresh rate is buttery smooth to the eye and more than good enough for FPS and action games. The screen is has deep contrast, though it seems biased towards darker colors. Full brightness may hurt your eyes though. ————————— BUILD QUALITY/AESTHETICS - 4/5 Impressive for the budget. Very thin screen bezels. Almost all metal except for the bottom panel. (But the screen does flex a little bit). It’s not the thinnest or prettiest laptop, but you won’t have to worry about people judging you outside. You won’t be bringing this outside! (with a weight of 9 pounds!). All in all, this laptop might be most portable desktop I ever had. ————————— KEYBOARD - 5/5 Unfortunately, compromises had to be made to fit a keyboard and numpad under a 15.6” size screen. The keyboard is slightly smaller than full size (but it’s easy to get used to). The keys feel pleasantly precise and have a decent amount of travel. All complaints are automatically nullified when you turn on the laptop. YIPPE KIYAY at how sick the RGB looks, thanks to Steelseries support. ————————— TOUCHPAD - 4/5 It’s meh. It is a Windows Precision trackpad, so it tracks smoothly. The surface is plastic, so it’s not smooth as glass, and skin oils/sweat quickly collects on the surface. The trackpad goes back to the old days when we had physical click and right click buttons. I would have preferred if the. But then again, you’re probably using a mouse anyways, so not a con. ————————— I/O - 5/5 A lot better than I expected (although I’m new to gaming laptops in general). HDMI, separate audio in/audio out, USB-C, 3x USB 3, SD card slot, ethernet, mini Displayport. Charging port on the right side. I would have preferred the ports to be on the back (would help clean up the cables a but), but it’s not something you notice while gaming. ————————— SPEAKERS - use headphones They’re pretty bad, but who cares?