MSI Crosshair 16 HX D14V review: Excellent overall, albeit a bit too enthusiastic with its choice of screen
Reviewed By: Sebastian Kozlowski
Table of Contents
We’re back with another gaming laptop review, this time from the good folks at MSI. With 50-series laptops soon to take the crown as the most powerful on the market, it’s still worth remembering that the good-old 40-series is still very much in the game when it comes to laptops. This time around, I got my hands on the MSI Crosshair 16 HX D14VFKG – a laptop very much geared towards gamers.
Here’s how I got on.
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- CPU: Intel Core i7-14700HX
- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060
- RAM: 16GB DDR5-5600
- Storage: 1TB NVMe SSD
- Max Refresh Rate: 240Hz
- Resolution: 2560×1600
- Screen Size: 16-inch
- Panel Type: IPS
Overall, I enjoyed the MSI Crosshair 16 HX, and feel that overall it ticks all the boxes – excellent build quality, well-executed design choices, and pretty decent performance also, with lots of expandability for RAM, storage, and IO.
Its core specs are a bit more toned down with the RTX 4060 and i7 CPU, so as it stands, it’s a little mismatched with the display onboard. Diving into the settings and using frame generation should be able to push framerates to match the impressive screen however.
Another impressive option from MSI, and one worth considering if you’re not quite ready to make the leap to the 50-series anytime soon.
- Great display solution
- A strong selection of IO and connectivity
- Excellent cooling and general design
- Great customization and expandability
- GPU can struggle to reach framerates to match the refresh rate
- Quite a bit of pre-installed apps
- Can be expensive in comparison to similar-spec laptops
Pricing
The same specced machine on a laptop can be complex to come by at times. So it’s not always easy for them to be found for the right price. However, the MSI Crosshair can be found on Best Buy for around $1,400; while in the UK, it’s at Overclockers for around £1,700.
That can be quite a fair price for what the laptop offers, especially for its more premium features. It is in a similar price range to the Acer Predator Triton Neo 16 I reviewed previously. However, there are also cheaper options, such as the MSI Katana A15, so it might be best to compare and see which type of model best suits your needs and budget, as this one can get more expensive.
Design and specs
The MSI gaming laptop comes in a Cosmo gray colorway, giving it a sleek yet professional look. That said, it also adds some edge – especially with its circuitry markings on the bottom right of the lid.
It doesn’t try to hide that it’s more a gaming laptop either. You’ll find rather prominent cooling exhausts on the back and around the side. This adds a bit of size to it, with this laptop coming in at 359 x 266 x 27.9mm. It also weighs 2.5kg which isn’t as beefy as the MSI Titan 18, but may be a little tiring if you’re lugging it around for ages.
MSI Crosshair 16 HX D14V back, Image by PC Guide
MSI Crosshair 16 HX D14V logo and keyboard, Image by PC Guide
MSI Crosshair 16 HX D14V front closed, Image by PC Guide
MSI Crosshair 16 HX D14V front open profile, Image by PC Guide
On the inside, the design and build are relatively robust. The keyboard might not be the Cherry switches and SteelSeries powered option as in some of MSI’s higher-end devices, but it still has a great implementation with both the feel and customization of lighting available in the RGB keys.
Although it does have a few slightly different keys, mainly WASD and the power button, that are more translucent than the rest. This can make things a little jarring. It still offers a Numpad but is crammed right to the edge, squishing the keys. It just about fits my fingers without hitting each key around the one I want, so it’s still usable and a nice feature for those who enjoy full keyboard features like me.
Below the keyboard, you have a decently sized, centred, and out of the way touchpad. That’s good as nothing is worse than it registering a click when your wrist lay on it. Then, above the keyboard, you have the attached screen, which is a 16-inch size, with a larger 2560×1600 resolution that makes it a 16:10 aspect ratio, along with a 240Hz refresh rate. That gives it a great gaming experience with a smooth-looking display and plenty of pixels to fill it and bring those games to life.
MSI Crosshair 16 HX D14V webcam, Image by PC Guide
MSI Crosshair 16 HX D14V left side IO, Image by PC Guide
MSI Crosshair 16 HX D14V right side IO, Image by PC Guide
MSI Crosshair 16 HX D14V rear IO, Image by PC Guide
MSI Crosshair 16 HX D14V WASD, Image by PC Guide
MSI Crosshair 16 HX D14V arrow keys, Image by PC Guide
MSI Crosshair 16 HX D14V info sticker, Image by PC Guide
MSI Crosshair 16 HX D14V Intel and Nvidia sticker, Image by PC Guide
MSI Crosshair HX D14V internals, Image by PC Guide
MSI Crosshair HX D14V backplate, Image by PC Guide
As for the specs featured on the machine, our model features an RTX 4060 laptop GPU alongside an i7-14700HX. The GPU can also be improved to a 4070, with the same 140W rating but a lower clock and yet improved TOPS performance. It also has 16GB of DDR5 RAM in two upgradeable slots and a 1TB NVMe SSD that can be replaced or added to, as I found when taking off the underside. That itself is relatively easy with 13 screws and a bit of prying making for great repairability and prolonging its life.
Along with all that, you get a 720p 30fps webcam with a physical shutter, which is fine for a laptop camera but nothing too exciting. With the physical ports featuring:
- 1x Type-C – USB3.2 Gen2
- 3x Type-A – USB3.2 Gen1
- 1x HDMI 2.1
- 1x RJ45
That offers connectivity by plugging in various peripherals or devices. Although it lacks an SD card reader, some may appreciate it; the fast Type-C connector offers plenty of speed for expansions. It also has a strong wireless offering with WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3, giving you plenty of lighting-fast ways to connect to your laptop.
Performance and experience
Starting up and running the laptop was reasonably straightforward. But MSI adds a bit of bloat, not the most I’ve seen, but neither is it a fresh Windows install to enjoy. It features various MSI apps and includes the Norton antivirus program.
I like MSI’s app, though, as it makes updating drivers and controlling the machine straightforward. You have to be aware of the list of 3rd party apps it might try to install at the same time, but the control of the MUX switch and fan curves lets you get the best control of performance and fan noise to make the laptop behave as you want it wherever you’re using it.
After updating everything, including the graphics drivers, I put the laptop through our testing lab to see how well it did—connecting up the power cable, putting the machine into performance mode, and testing both the MSHybrid and discrete mode to see if there’s much difference. Below are the graphs of my results of framerates, scores, and temperatures.
MSI Crosshair 16 HX D14V 3DMark, Image by PC Guide
MSI Crosshair 16 HX D14V Geekbench AI, Image by PC Guide
MSI Crosshair 16 HX D14V Blender, Image by PC Guide
MSI Crosshair 16 HX D14V Cinebench, Image by PC Guide
MSI Crosshair 16 HX D14V Cyberpunk 2077, Image by PC Guide
MSI Crosshair 16 HX D14V Temps, power, and clocks, Image by PC Guide
From that, we see the strong capability of the laptop. Although the 4060 may need some help getting adequate framerates for the display, as testing it in Cyberpunk 2077 at Ultra settings in pure rasterization only produces 41FPS. However, with DLSS 3 and frame generation enabled, that doubles up to 93 on discrete mode, but surprisingly, hybrid mode pushes ahead with more substantial lows that make it a better experience.
That can also be seen with ray tracing and punishing path tracing moves from 18/17 to 42/44 FPS with DLSS. Synthetic results show a strong performance, too, without a big difference between the two modes, but the GPU proves its prowess over the CPU in AI and rendering tasks, as you might expect.
Lastly, I put the laptop through a Furmark 2 stress test to see its power and thermal performance. There, it shows the prioritization of the GPU in power and thermals as it jumps to its 140W rating and the CPU drops to just over 20W allocated power. Alongside reaching their thermal limits as the GPU gets to 82°C and the CPU around under 80°C.
You’ll unlikely have scenarios pushing both components this hard, but it shows the cooling capability. It is shared between both components as it features three large heat pipes and two smaller ones running around the back to the heatsinks behind the fans to blow it out. But still, it manages to reach the GPU-rated power, which is the most important, and not having to limit it much.
Verdict
- CPU: Intel Core i7-14700HX
- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060
- RAM: 16GB DDR5-5600
- Storage: 1TB NVMe SSD
- Max Refresh Rate: 240Hz
- Resolution: 2560×1600
- Screen Size: 16-inch
- Panel Type: IPS
The MSI Crosshair 16 is a firm middle ground of a gaming laptop. Bringing a bit more mid to lower-tier specs but a higher price for it. It’s design sits well between Stealth and Titan models, implementing a mix of sleek and stylish yet gamer designs and features, and I personally think MSI has done well in this department.
A fast, high-resolution screen combined with a reasonably large size makes it a great portable display for various content. It’s a slight shame the GPU can’t satisfy it to the full extent. But in general, with the great expandability and personalization, the laptop is great to use and enjoy throughout any task.
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