What you need to know
- MSI has a huge assortment of new laptops and refreshes on the docket.
- Among those are the Katana GF76 and GF66, Pulse GL76 and GL66, Vector GP76 and GP66, as well as the Sword 15 and 17.
- The laptops range in price from $1,099 to over $3,000.
MSI has so, so many laptops on its CES 2022 docket. For those with the absolute most pocket change lying around, there are the Raider and Stealth laptops. And for everyone else, there are the Pulse, Katana, Vector, and Sword product lines.
These fancy series names translate to a straightforward sales pitch: Each of the laptops in the aforementioned lines contains displays with gaming-friendly refresh rates, high-end GPUs and CPUs, respectable storage and Windows 11.
Each laptop varies a little in terms of size, weight, and horsepower ceilings, but they're (in general) fairly similar. Check out the following spec tables to see how much overlap there is across the seven machines we have details about.
Katana GF76
| Category | Spec |
|---|---|
| Operating System | Windows 11 Home |
| Display | 17.3" Full HD (1920x1080)144 Hz Refresh RateIPS-Level panel |
| Processor | Up to latest 12th Gen Intel Core i7-12700H Processor |
| Graphics | Up to latest NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Laptop GPU 8GB GDDR6 |
| Memory | Up to 64GB |
| Storage | Up to 1TB SSD |
| Camera | 30fps@720p |
| Dimensions | 15.67"(W)x10.75"(D)x0.99"(H) |
| Weight | 5.73lb |
| Ports | 1x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-C2x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A1x USB 2.0 Type-AHDMI |
| Audio | 2x 2W Stereo Speakers1x Audio combo jackNahimic 3 Audio EnhancerHi-Res Audio ready |
Katana GF66
| Category | Spec |
|---|---|
| Operating System | Windows 11 Home |
| Display | 15.6" Full HD (1920x1080)144 Hz Refresh RateIPS-Level panel |
| Processor | Up to latest 12th Gen Intel Core i7-12700H Processor |
| Graphics | Up to latest NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Laptop GPU 8GB GDDR6 |
| Memory | Up to 64GB |
| Storage | Up to 1TB SSD |
| Camera | 30fps@720p |
| Dimensions | 14.13"(W)x10.20"(D)x0.98"(H) |
| Weight | 4.96lb |
| Ports | 1x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-C2x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A1x USB 2.0 Type-AHDMI |
| Audio | 2x 2W Stereo Speakers1x Audio combo jackNahimic 3 Audio EnhancerHi-Res Audio ready |
Pulse GL76
| Category | Spec |
|---|---|
| Operating System | Windows 11 Home |
| Display | 17.3 inchesFHDUp to 360HzIPS-level panel (optional) |
| Processor | Up to latest 12th Gen Intel Core i9-12900H Processor |
| Graphics | Up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU 8GB GDDR6 |
| Memory | Up to 64GB |
| Storage | Up to 1TB SSD |
| Camera | 30fps@720p |
| Dimensions | 15.67"(W)x10.75"(D)x0.95"(H) |
| Weight | 5.73lb |
| Ports | 1x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-C2x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A1x USB 2.0 Type-AHDMI |
| Audio | 2x 2W Stereo Speakers1x Audio combo jackNahimic 3 Audio EnhancerHi-Res Audio ready |
Pulse GL66
| Category | Spec |
|---|---|
| Operating System | Windows 11 Home |
| Display | 15.6 inchesFHD144HzIPS-level panel |
| Processor | Up to latest 12th Gen Intel Core i9-12900H Processor |
| Graphics | Up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU 8GB GDDR6 |
| Memory | Up to 64GB |
| Storage | Up to 512GB SSD |
| Camera | 30fps@720p |
| Dimensions | 14.13"(W)x10.20"(D)x0.94"(H) |
| Weight | 4.96lb |
| Ports | 1x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-C2x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A1x USB 2.0 Type-AHDMI |
| Audio | 2x 2W Stereo Speakers1x Audio combo jackNahimic 3 Audio EnhancerHi-Res Audio ready |
Vector GP76
| Category | Spec |
|---|---|
| Operating System | Windows 11 Home |
| Display | 17.3 inchesUp to QHDUp to 360HzIPS-level panel |
| Processor | Up to latest 12th Gen Intel Core i9 Processor |
| Graphics | Up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU 8GB GDDR6 |
| Memory | Up to 64GB |
| Storage | 1TB SSD |
| Camera | 30fps@720p |
| Dimensions | 15.63"(W)x 11.18"(D)x 1.02"(H) |
| Weight | 7.65lb |
| Ports | 1x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-C3x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A1x USB 2.0 Type-AHDMIMini-DisplayPort |
| Audio | 2x 2W Stereo Speakers1x Audio combo jackNahimic 3 Audio EnhancerHi-Res Audio ready |
Vector GP66
| Category | Spec |
|---|---|
| Operating System | Windows 11 Home |
| Display | 15.6 inchesFHDUp to 360HzIPS-level panel |
| Processor | Up to latest 12th Gen Intel Core i9 Processor |
| Graphics | Up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU 8GB GDDR6 |
| Memory | Up to 64GB |
| Storage | 1TB SSD |
| Camera | 30fps@720p |
| Dimensions | 14.09"(W)x 10.51"(D)x 0.92"(H) |
| Weight | 5.25lb |
| Ports | 1x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-C3x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A1x USB 2.0 Type-AHDMIMini-DisplayPort |
| Audio | 2x 2W Stereo Speakers1x Audio combo jackNahimic 3 Audio EnhancerHi-Res Audio ready |
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And that's not all! The Sword 17 and Sword 15 are en route as well, and we have the specs for the Sword 15 right here:
| Category | Sword 15 |
|---|---|
| Operating System | Windows 11 Home |
| Display | 15.6" Full HD (1920x1080)144 Hz Refresh RateIPS-Level panel |
| Processor | Up to latest 12th Gen Intel Core i7-12700H Processor |
| Graphics | Up to latest NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Laptop GPU 8GB GDDR6 |
| Memory | Up to 64GB |
| Camera | 30fps@720p |
| Dimensions | 14.13"(W)x10.20"(D)x0.98"(H) |
| Weight | 4.96lb |
| Ports | 1x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-C2x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A1x USB 2.0 Type-AHDMI |
Pricing for the laptops is as follows: The Katana line starts at $1,099, the Pulse line starts at $1,299, Vector begins at $1,899, and Sword begins at whatever price MSI decides to eventually announce.
If those price ranges and spec tables aren't winning you over to the MSI side of the force, don't even sweat it. The best gaming laptops offer a ton of options besides MSI machines, so you're not totally out of luck if you're not in love with the company's CES 2022 slate.
