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MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG review: top-tier performance with a price to match

Top end performance without the polish of the Titan Series
Sebastian Kozlowski
Last Updated on
MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG review: top-tier performance with a price to match
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Table of Contents

MSI offers a wide range of hardware – from PC components and networking gear to complete systems. Among them is its lineup of powerful laptops, with the Raider series serving as one of its premium high-end gaming ranges. The MSI Raider A18 HX is one of the newest models, packing top-tier hardware into an impressively large chassis, delivering high-end performance that makes it one of the best gaming laptops on offer right now.

The A9WJG unit we tested features AMD’s Ryzen 9 9955HX3D and Nvidia’s RTX 5090 as headline components. These are paired with 62GB of DDR5 RAM, a 2TB NVMe SSD, and an 18-inch 4K MiniLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate. It’s a top-end configuration designed to showcase the platform’s full potential, though more modest variants are also available.

There’s a lot packed into this chassis, and despite its hefty weight and large footprint, the laptop delivered impressive performance in our testing – if you’re happy to deal with the temps and price point. We put it through rigorous benchmarks to determine whether it’s worth the investment, including gaming, synthetic, and thermal testing.

  • A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. On the left is a MSI laptop box with the MSI logo and name, with a red stripe across it. In front of that is a charger and plastic little bag. On the right is the laptop facing away with the lid slightly open.
  • A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. On it sits the MSI laptop box. its a black rectangle with the MSI name and logo in a red stripe across the fron top, at the bottom it reads raider in slightly shiny black font. On the right side it reads MSI true gaming.
  • A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products. In the foreground is a close up of the top bar of the laptop screen showing the camera and shutter of it.
  • A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. On it sits the black laptop, open with the screen open, on it are bloomed dandelions left to right on fire. With the green stems reflecting on the keyboard and table in front.
  • A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. It shows the closed black laptop front edge, with a sharp angle up with slits on the left and right. In the centre is a protruding edge.
  • A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. It's a close up of the front laptop edge light bar that's lit up blue.
  • A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. In the foregorund is the MSI laptop box with the logo and name in a red stripe in the top and RAIDER in black gloss at the bottom. On the right is the open MSI black laptop turned off.
  • A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. The MSI is open on it a black chassis, and blue light bar in the front. On screen is Indiana Jones and Gina from the Great Circle.
  • A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. On it sits a black MSI laptop with a blue light on the front edge. The screen is showing a sccreenshot from Indiana Jones The Great Circle with Gina sitting in a boat on water.
  • A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. An MSI laptop sits on it with a still from the Indiana Jones The Great Circle game with Indy sitting on a wooden pier on a river.
  • A photo filled wiht the MSI laptop keyboard. A full size board, with a numpad, function keys, and arrows on it. In black except for the WASD and power button that are see through. At the bottom center there is the top of the touchpad and a fingerprint sensor on the right.
  • A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. On it sits the MSI laptop, closed and from the left side. On the far left is the kensington lock slot, then there is a rectangular slit for a vent with two red lines cutting through it. On the right of that are two USB a and an SD card slot.
  • A close up of the MSI logo shield featuring a curled dragon on the lid of the Raider laptop. It is edge lit by an LED and shines ina blueish green color.
  • A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. On it sits the black MSI laptop open and on with a branch and furits of the olive tree on show.
  • A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. On it sits the MSI Raider laptop shown from the rear. A black strip mainly with red hihglights cutting diagonally every few inches. It shows three IO ports, a power cable, HDMI, and ethernet.
  • A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. On it sits the black MSI Raider laptop from the right side, closed. It has a vent on the right with two red lines diagonally cutting across it. With two USB-C, USB-A, and a 3.5mm ports to the left of it.
  • A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. On it sits the MSI Raider black laptop, open and turned on it has a bunch of roses on screen.
  • A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. On it sits the black MSI Raider laptop open adn turned on. As the background it has a gold MSI logo on black background with red lights cutting up and down either side of it.
  • A white table, with the edge of the bottom left of a black laptop coming in from the top right. IT has two stickers, a red AMD Ryzen 9HX3D, and a green Nvidia GeForce RTX.
  • A white table on which there is a close up of the top left part of the keyboard of the black MSI Raider laptop. IT shows the red slits on the black chassis, and keyboard from escape to f and c. The WASD are clear and see throgh compared to the rest of the keys.
  • A white table as the background, the foreground is a closeup on the top right part of the keyboard of an MSI Raider black laptop. There is a hinge, and red slit below it. It shows the top right of the numpad that has a clear power button with an orange light in the top right corner.
  • A close up of the MSI Raider touchpad, a slightly indented rectangle compared to the rest of the chassis. On the right of it, part of the MSI Raider spec sticker showing MSI Overboost Ultra, 6x speaker, WiFi 7.
  • A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. On it sits a MSI Raider black laptop turned on with a bunch of veggies shown on screen.
  • A close up of the MSI Raider black keyboard. It's the top left section with the WASD buttons clear instead of the black in contrast to the rest.
  • A close up of the MSI Raider black arrow keys. On each is another function with the arrows, fan control on up, display off on right, crosshair on down, and pause/play on left.
  • A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. A back profile shot of the MSI Raider logo with its lid open with the rear IO and red stripes seen at the bottom. The right side is also seen.
  • A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. A shot of the back of the MSI Raider laptop, with the MSI logo on the lid in pruple, and the rear IO at the bottom with red stripes across it.
  • A close up of the MSI Raider laptop at the bottom of the screen. A prominent MSI is written in white with a keyboard blurred in the foreground below.
Highly Recommended

MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG (RTX 5090)

4 /5
Editor’s Rating
How We Review
Specifications
  • CPU: Up to AMD Ryzen 9 9955HX3D
  • GPU: Up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090
  • Memory: Up to 64GB DDR5 6400MHz RAM
  • Storage: Up to 2TB SSD
  • Max Refresh Rate: 240Hz
  • Resolution: 3840 x 2400
  • Panel Type: Mini-LED (100% DCI-P3, G-SYNC, ACR)
What We Think

MSI packs cutting-edge hardware into a chassis that’s as large as it is powerful – an impressive feat when all things are considered. With its bulky design and premium pricing, the Raider isn’t built for everyone. Still, it’s a no-compromise gaming machine, complete with a brilliant 4K display. It also offers a flexible platform that can be customized to your needs, especially if you’d rather not spend thousands on the flagship configuration.

Reasons to Buy
  • Massive and impressive 4K display
  • Top-end hardware in a capable chassis
  • Fast RAM and storage
  • Great connectivity onboard
Reasons to Avoid
  • Extremely high price
  • Small trackpad for the dimensions
  • Too big and heavy for normal carrying
  • It could have more storage for the price

Pricing and availability

Considering this version of the laptop features an RTX 5090 GPU chip and some top-of-the-line specs, the MSI Raider A18 HX is not a cheap machine to buy. Alongside the flagship graphics card chip, this model has a Ryzen 9 9955HX3D processor, 2TB of storage, and 64GB of DDR5 RAM, so you can expect quite a premium price for it.

Currently, you can find it backordered on Newegg with a price tag of $5,099.99, as Amazon is out of stock of this model. While in the UK, I couldn’t even find the same version; instead, there is an RTX 5080 version for £3,999.98.

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It’s certainly not the cheapest option for getting an RTX 5090 laptop, but it does have plenty of other parts to it that make it more expensive compared to the others. One of which is the rather enticing X3D processor from AMD that’s now on mobile and should pair really nicely with the top-end GPU.

Featuring Nvidia’s flagship RTX 5090 GPU and top-tier specs, the MSI Raider A18 HX doesn’t come cheap. This model includes AMD’s Ryzen 9 9955HX3D processor, 2TB of NVMe storage, and 64GB of DDR5 RAM – making its premium price unsurprising.

At the time of writing, it’s backordered on Newegg for $5,099.99, while Amazon currently has no stock. In the UK, this exact configuration isn’t available; instead, a slightly lower-end version with an RTX 5080 is listed for £3,999.98.

While it’s far from the most affordable way to get an RTX 5090 laptop, the price reflects more than just the GPU. The inclusion of AMD’s mobile X3D processor, in particular, adds considerable performance potential – and helps justify the premium.

A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. On the left is a MSI laptop box with the MSI logo and name, with a red stripe across it. In front of that is a charger and plastic little bag. On the right is the laptop facing away with the lid slightly open.

MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG box contents, Image by PC Guide

A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. On it sits the MSI laptop box. its a black rectangle with the MSI name and logo in a red stripe across the fron top, at the bottom it reads raider in slightly shiny black font. On the right side it reads MSI true gaming.

MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG box, Image by PC Guide

A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. In the foregorund is the MSI laptop box with the logo and name in a red stripe in the top and RAIDER in black gloss at the bottom. On the right is the open MSI black laptop turned off.

MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG in front of box, Image by PC Guide

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Overall design

Much like the Acer Predator Helios I reviewed just recently, the MSI Raider packs down into massive dimensions with a heavy weight to match. As an 18-inch laptop, it is definitely not easy to carry around, barely fitting into my massive backpack. I definitely noticed it was there, with just how much weight it packs into it.

I wasn’t expecting such a big and powerful build from the Raider series, but rather the Titan range from MSI, which would be the top-end option to go for. Although I suppose the raider is the gaming range, and the design it goes for really makes it look the part.

The outside design, apart from being thick and opening up its vents, adds slashes of red accents at the back and sides, immediately clocking it as a gaming laptop. It also lights up in RGB, but a lot less than I expected. There is a light bar at the front, which is noticeable yet subtle and smaller than the previous generation, as well as a logo on the lid that lights up.

Even on the inside, the keyboard only had some of its keys light up. Apart from the indicator lights on the locks, the WASD and power keys were made see-through instead of the black simple caps. The clear ones are a bit odd and jarring in relation to the rest of the keyboard, but they sort of match the general gaming design of it.

Much like the Acer Predator Helios I reviewed recently, the MSI Raider is a massive laptop – both in size and weight. As an 18-inch machine, it’s far from portable, barely fitting into my oversized backpack. Its weight was impossible to ignore during transport, so keep that in mind if you plan to commute with this regularly.

I wasn’t expecting such a large and powerful build from the Raider series. That kind of bulk is usually reserved for MSI’s Titan range, which sits at the top end of the company’s lineup. Still, the Raider is positioned as a high-performance gaming machine, and its design clearly reflects that.

The exterior is thick, aggressively styled, and ventilated, with sharp red accents along the back and sides that immediately mark it as a gaming laptop. There’s also RGB lighting, though it’s subtler than we would have expected. A front-facing light bar provides a soft glow, and the MSI logo on the lid also lights up – though both are more understated than in the previous generation.

Inside, RGB is similarly restrained. Only certain keys on the keyboard are illuminated. The WASD and power keys feature transparent caps, unlike the rest of the keyboard’s standard black keys. These clear keys look somewhat out of place, but they align with the overall gamer-focused design. That said, it feels more of a novelty than a functional design choice.

A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products. In the foreground is a close up of the top bar of the laptop screen showing the camera and shutter of it.

MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG camera, Image by PC Guide

A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. It shows the closed black laptop front edge, with a sharp angle up with slits on the left and right. In the centre is a protruding edge.

MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG front edge, Image by PC Guide

A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. It's a close up of the front laptop edge light bar that's lit up blue.

MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG front light bar, Image by PC Guide

A photo filled wiht the MSI laptop keyboard. A full size board, with a numpad, function keys, and arrows on it. In black except for the WASD and power button that are see through. At the bottom center there is the top of the touchpad and a fingerprint sensor on the right.

MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG keyboard, Image by PC Guide

A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. On it sits the MSI laptop, closed and from the left side. On the far left is the kensington lock slot, then there is a rectangular slit for a vent with two red lines cutting through it. On the right of that are two USB a and an SD card slot.

MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG left side, Image by PC Guide

A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. On it sits the MSI Raider laptop shown from the rear. A black strip mainly with red hihglights cutting diagonally every few inches. It shows three IO ports, a power cable, HDMI, and ethernet.

MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG rear IO, Image by PC Guide

A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. On it sits the black MSI Raider laptop from the right side, closed. It has a vent on the right with two red lines diagonally cutting across it. With two USB-C, USB-A, and a 3.5mm ports to the left of it.

MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG right side, Image by PC Guide

A white table, with the edge of the bottom left of a black laptop coming in from the top right. IT has two stickers, a red AMD Ryzen 9HX3D, and a green Nvidia GeForce RTX.

MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG spec stickers, Image by PC Guide

A white table on which there is a close up of the top left part of the keyboard of the black MSI Raider laptop. IT shows the red slits on the black chassis, and keyboard from escape to f and c. The WASD are clear and see throgh compared to the rest of the keys.

MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG top left of keyboard, Image by PC Guide

A white table as the background, the foreground is a closeup on the top right part of the keyboard of an MSI Raider black laptop. There is a hinge, and red slit below it. It shows the top right of the numpad that has a clear power button with an orange light in the top right corner.

MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG top right, Image by PC Guide

A close up of the MSI Raider touchpad, a slightly indented rectangle compared to the rest of the chassis. On the right of it, part of the MSI Raider spec sticker showing MSI Overboost Ultra, 6x speaker, WiFi 7.

MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG touchpad, Image by PC Guide

A close up of the MSI Raider black keyboard. It's the top left section with the WASD buttons clear instead of the black in contrast to the rest.

MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG WASD keys, Image by PC Guide

A close up of the MSI Raider black arrow keys. On each is another function with the arrows, fan control on up, display off on right, crosshair on down, and pause/play on left.

MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG arrow keys, Image by PC Guide

A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. A back profile shot of the MSI Raider logo with its lid open with the rear IO and red stripes seen at the bottom. The right side is also seen.

MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG back lid, Image by PC Guide

A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. A shot of the back of the MSI Raider laptop, with the MSI logo on the lid in pruple, and the rear IO at the bottom with red stripes across it.

MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG back, Image by PC Guide

A close up of the MSI Raider laptop at the bottom of the screen. A prominent MSI is written in white with a keyboard blurred in the foreground below.

MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG bottom screen logo, Image by PC Guide

A close up of the MSI logo shield featuring a curled dragon on the lid of the Raider laptop. It is edge lit by an LED and shines ina blueish green color.

MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG lid logo, Image by PC Guide

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Despite its 18-inch screen and large chassis (404 x 307mm), the laptop’s trackpad is surprisingly small. I expected a larger surface area, but its size suggests MSI anticipates users will rely primarily on an external mouse. As a result, the trackpad feels more like a required inclusion than a design priority.

The keyboard is functional, though nothing to get too excited about. That said, the large keycaps are a welcome feature, and the spacious layout allows for a full-sized keyboard with a dedicated numpad – ideal for productivity tasks like writing and data entry.

The Raider also includes several useful features, including a fingerprint reader compatible with Windows Hello, offering a secure and convenient login option. It’s complemented by a 1080p webcam that captures 30fps video with surprisingly good image quality. A physical privacy shutter is also included, rounding out a solid set of built-in security features.

A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. On it sits the black laptop, open with the screen open, on it are bloomed dandelions left to right on fire. With the green stems reflecting on the keyboard and table in front.

MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG dandelions, Image by PC Guide

A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. The MSI is open on it a black chassis, and blue light bar in the front. On screen is Indiana Jones and Gina from the Great Circle.

MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG Indiana Jones, Image by PC Guide

A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. On it sits a black MSI laptop with a blue light on the front edge. The screen is showing a sccreenshot from Indiana Jones The Great Circle with Gina sitting in a boat on water.

MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG Indy boat, Image by PC Guide

A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. An MSI laptop sits on it with a still from the Indiana Jones The Great Circle game with Indy sitting on a wooden pier on a river.

MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG Indy fishing, Image by PC Guide

A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. On it sits the black MSI laptop open and on with a branch and furits of the olive tree on show.

MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG olives, Image by PC Guide

A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. On it sits the MSI Raider black laptop, open and turned on it has a bunch of roses on screen.

MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG roses, Image by PC Guide

A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. On it sits the black MSI Raider laptop open adn turned on. As the background it has a gold MSI logo on black background with red lights cutting up and down either side of it.

MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG screen on, Image by PC Guide

A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. On it sits a MSI Raider black laptop turned on with a bunch of veggies shown on screen.

MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG veggies, Image by PC Guide

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The MSI Raider features an impressive audio setup with four 2W speakers and two 2W woofers, delivering rich and clear sound straight out of the box. Even at maximum volume – which is surprisingly loud – the audio remains clean and free from distortion. Like most laptops, it lacks the low-end depth that a dedicated subwoofer would offer, but the clarity and volume are more than sufficient for enjoying music, movies, or games.

In terms of connectivity, the Raider includes an extensive selection of ports. With five USB ports, an SD card reader, HDMI, Ethernet, and a microphone jack, it makes excellent use of its large chassis to offer strong expandability for peripherals and accessories.

SpecValue
Combined weight:3.6kg/7.94 lbs
Dimensions WxDxH:404 x 307 x 32.05 mm/ 15.9 x 12.1 x 1.26 inches
Power Supply Wattage400W

Screen

With top-tier CPU and GPU offerings inside, MSI has equipped the Raider with a display to match. The 18-inch screen features a 4K resolution, a smooth 120Hz refresh rate, and a taller 16:10 aspect ratio that provides extra vertical space – ideal for productivity and immersive gaming.

While the panel uses IPS technology, it’s enhanced by a Mini-LED backlight, allowing for improved contrast and localized dimming. Although it’s not the brightest display we’ve tested, its anti-glare coating and fluid refresh rate contribute to an overall excellent viewing experience.

A black graph with x and y axis ranging 0 to 0.9. It has a red, green, blue area that has a rough traingle between 0.18, 0.01, 0.75, 0.25, and 0.08, 0.82. IUt also has multiple triangles inside of that area. Underneath it reads: 100% of sRGB, 92% of AdobreRGB, and 96% of P3.
MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG color accuracy, Image by PC Guide

We put the screen to the test with our Datacolor SpyderX Elite, and managed to achieve full coverage of the sRGB spectrum. But even with per-unit calibration and having a custom profile, our model didn’t manage the DCI-P3 coverage to the same level, with 96% instead. We tested the AdobeRGB spectrum next, which managed to reach 92% coverage overall – making it a fairly decent screen, but one that probably isn’t the best for color-accurate work outside of the sRGB space.

When it comes to color accuracy, however, the laptop struggles to produce industry-leading results – with a high average deltaE of 3 (which peaks at around 7). With the white point reaching 7000K, it’s also a rather warm comparison to the 6500K ideal level you’d want to have it at.

We also measured the contrast to be at 22,280:1, which ideally should be as close to infinity:1 as possible, along with a black depth measurement of 0.03m². It does have the ideal gamma level of 2.2 at least.

At 100% brightness on Windows, it reaches 708.4 candela, and a low of 62.1 with 0% brightness. That is without HDR on, though, which is rated for 1,000 nits. However, within the standard range, we tested the following levels of brightness.

A table that is titles brightness, contrast, and white point at different brightness settings. It shows the various readings at 0, to 100% birghtness at 25% increments.
MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG brightness variances, Image by PC Guide

Battery life

To test battery life, I configured the laptop with its most power-efficient settings: using integrated graphics, enabling battery saver mode, reducing screen brightness to 122.5 nits (33% on this unit), and disabling all RGB lighting—though the lid logo remained illuminated despite changes made in MSI’s Mystic Light software.

I began the test by streaming a two-hour YouTube video, after which the Raider had 36% battery remaining. I then continued with light tasks such as web browsing and working on documents, which drained the remaining battery over the next 1 hour and 6 minutes. That brings the total runtime to 3 hours and 6 minutes.

While far from the most efficient system, the Raider’s battery life is respectable for a high-end gaming laptop. Compared to the Acer Helios, which lasted just over two hours in similar conditions, the Raider offers a bit more flexibility for light, unplugged use. However, under these settings, you won’t be tapping into the full power of the RTX 5090.

Software

Out of the box, the A9WJG comes with a variety of preinstalled software, including two MSI applications, three audio-related programs, and an antivirus suite. It’s a modest amount for a gaming machine, though Norton Antivirus can feel somewhat intrusive at times.

The centerpiece is MSI Center, the main control hub for system management. From here, users can monitor hardware performance and system usage, tweak RGB lighting, and adjust component behavior.

Within the User Scenario section, a MUX switch allows for easy toggling between discrete (RTX 5090), integrated, or hybrid GPU modes. Users can also choose between different fan and power profiles — ranging from full performance to unlock the system’s peak potential, to more balanced or eco-friendly modes for quieter, more efficient operation.

Mystic Light manages the system’s modest RGB lighting zones, while Live Update simplifies driver updates by consolidating them into a single interface. Despite a few unnecessary extras, MSI Center itself is a robust and intuitive control suite that gives users meaningful control over their hardware.

A screenshot of the MSI Center app in dark mode. This tab is in hardware monitoring showing CPU, GPU, disk, and memory usage. Along with the clock and specs of the GPU.

MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG MSI Center hardware monitoring, Image by PC Guide

A screenshot of the MSI Center app in dark mode. This tab is of the general settings allowing changing some actions and toggles for the laptop.

MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG MSI Center general settings, Image by PC Guide

A screenshot of the MSI Center app in dark mode. This tab is of user scenario with options to run AI Engine, Extreme perfromance, balanced (currently selected), and eco-silent. ALong with GPU switch options: Discrete (selected), MSHybrid, and Integrated modes.

MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG MSI Center user scenario, Image by PC Guide

A screenshot of the MSI Center app in dark mode. This is for Mystic Light and controlling RGB with LED, Sound, brightness and mode control.

MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG MSI Center mystic light, Image by PC Guide

A screenshot of the MSI Center app in dark mode. This tab is for live update and all the installed drivers.

MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG MSI Center live update, Image by PC Guide

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Performance and noise levels

Lastly, I put the laptop to the test, with both gaming and synthetic benchmarks, and we can see what the machine is capable of across the board. With both the 9955HX3D and RTX 5090, you’d only expect the top level of performance from them, that’s if the cooling and power design of the mobile versions allow for it.

Benchmarks

Below are the results of the tests from our PC Guide testing lab, with the laptop in ultra performance mode, and both discrete and hybrid modes to measure the difference. Testing in both native 2400p and 1080p as a baseline, it should give us a good look at what it can do, as well as being able to compare against the Acer Predator Helios 18 AI, which features the Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX and RTX 5090 as well.

Bar chart with a blue background and three laptops in comparison in Geekbench AI.

MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG Geekbench AI, Image by PC Guide

Bar chart with a blue background and three laptops in comparison in Geekbench 6.

MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG Geekebench 6, Image by PC Guide

Bar chart with a blue background and three laptops in comparison in Doom Eternal framerates.

MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG Doom Eternal, Image by PC Guide

Bar chart with a blue background and three laptops in comparison in Cyberpunk 2077 1080p framerates.

MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG Cyberpunk 2077 1080p, Image by PC Guide

Bar chart with a blue background and three laptops in comparison in Cyberpunk 2077 2400p framerates.

MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG Cyberpunk 2077 2400p, Image by PC Guide

Bar chart with a blue background and three laptops in comparison in Counter-Strike 2 framerates.

MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG CS2, Image by PC Guide

Bar chart with a blue background and three laptops in comparison in 3DMark scores.

MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG 3DMark, Image by PC Guide

Bar chart with a blue background and three laptops in comparison in Blender 4.5 benchmark scores.

MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG Blender 4.5, Image by PC Guide

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Counter-Strike 2 was tested at 4K resolution using various presets. At very high settings, the MSI Raider achieved an average of 146 FPS in hybrid mode and 139 FPS in discrete mode, outperforming the Acer Predator, which averaged 137 FPS (see table above for comparison). When set to medium, the Raider pushed 303 FPS (hybrid) and 366 FPS (discrete), while the Acer averaged 311 FPS. At low settings, the FPS rose further to 372 (hybrid), 495 (discrete), and 405 FPS for the Acer.

In Cyberpunk 2077, known for its demanding graphics and extensive configuration options, performance remained consistent across systems at the Ultra 4K preset, with all three laptops averaging around 60 FPS. This may suggest that the game’s presets include some form of internal frame target optimization. At medium settings, the Raider achieved 147 FPS (discrete) and 135 FPS (hybrid), with the Acer close behind at 139 FPS. On low, the Raider hit 175 FPS (discrete) and 158 FPS (hybrid), with the Acer at 157 FPS.

Ray tracing performance in Cyberpunk was also evaluated:

  • RT Overdrive: Raider – 42 FPS (discrete), 41 FPS (hybrid); Acer – 40 FPS
  • RT Medium: Raider – 63 FPS (discrete), 59 FPS (hybrid); Acer – 59 FPS
  • RT Low: Raider – 82 FPS (discrete), 77 FPS (hybrid); Acer – 77 FPS

In Doom Eternal, which is known for its high frame rates, the Raider averaged 178 FPS on discrete and 170 FPS on hybrid mode using the Ultra Nightmare preset. The Acer slightly edged it out at 181 FPS. On High, performance increased to 186 FPS (Raider discrete), 179 FPS (hybrid), and 188 FPS (Acer). On Low, frame rates reached 201 (Raider discrete), 191 (hybrid), and 197 FPS (Acer).

Synthetic Benchmarks

3DMark results show strong synthetic performance across both machines:

BenchmarkRaider (Hybrid)Raider (Discrete)Acer
Steel Nomad6,2266,3076,169
Port Royal16,39816,63715,865
Time Spy Extreme11,75111,97012,096
Fire Strike Ultra16,43216,75215,749

Geekbench 6 – CPU:

ModeRaider SingleRaider MultiAcer SingleAcer Multi
Discrete3,16320,1562,84317,208
Hybrid3,11018,858——

Geekbench 6 – GPU (OpenCL & Vulkan):

ModeRaider (OpenCL)Raider (Vulkan)Acer (OpenCL)Acer (Vulkan)
Discrete224,900217,018236,274214,376
Hybrid229,946223,059——

Geekbench 6 – AI (CPU):

ModeSingle PrecisionHalf PrecisionQuantized
Raider Discrete6,4232,65711,880
Raider Hybrid6,6482,60712,138
Acer6,5272,27310,572

Geekbench 6 – AI (GPU):

ModeSingle PrecisionHalf PrecisionQuantized
Raider Discrete32,73056,74525,117
Raider Hybrid33,09257,26825,303
Acer30,19350,47323,572

Thermals

At the end of it all, I checked out the thermal performance of the laptop. Checking out what temperatures its components can achieve while keeping up its performance. I did so by running Furmark 2 CPU and GPU stress tests for over 20 minutes and tracking the behavior with HWInfo.

An image of the Generic log viewer of the HWInfo of the MSI Raider 18 HX A9WJG over 30 minutes while running Furmark 2 stress test. The first shows the GPU and CPU power, the second is the CPU Die and GPU temperature, and the third is the average clock rates of the CPU and GPU.
MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG thermals, Image by PC Guide

Before any workloads were applied, both the CPU and GPU ran warm. Within the first five minutes, power draw averaged around 19W for the CPU and 15W for the GPU, with respective temperatures at 53°C and 43°C. At this stage, clock speeds remained low, averaging under 200MHz.

Once Furmark 2 was initiated, both components ramped up significantly. The CPU reached an average power draw of 85W, while the GPU pulled approximately 175W. Under this load, temperatures climbed to 90°C for the CPU and 81°C for the GPU. During sustained stress, the CPU averaged a clock speed of 3,300MHz, while the GPU held around 1,500MHz.

When the load was removed, both components quickly downclocked, and power draw dropped accordingly. Temperatures decreased gradually, and the fans slowed down, reducing noise to a more tolerable level.

Even in maximum performance mode, fan noise remained within reasonable bounds – more akin to a vacuum cleaner than a jet engine. However, under extended load, the exhaust produced a noticeable amount of heat. During testing, heat expelled to the right side of the chassis made using a mouse uncomfortable. For long sessions, reducing power levels might be necessary to maintain comfort.

  • A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. On the left is a MSI laptop box with the MSI logo and name, with a red stripe across it. In front of that is a charger and plastic little bag. On the right is the laptop facing away with the lid slightly open.
  • A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. On it sits the MSI laptop box. its a black rectangle with the MSI name and logo in a red stripe across the fron top, at the bottom it reads raider in slightly shiny black font. On the right side it reads MSI true gaming.
  • A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products. In the foreground is a close up of the top bar of the laptop screen showing the camera and shutter of it.
  • A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. On it sits the black laptop, open with the screen open, on it are bloomed dandelions left to right on fire. With the green stems reflecting on the keyboard and table in front.
  • A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. It shows the closed black laptop front edge, with a sharp angle up with slits on the left and right. In the centre is a protruding edge.
  • A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. It's a close up of the front laptop edge light bar that's lit up blue.
  • A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. In the foregorund is the MSI laptop box with the logo and name in a red stripe in the top and RAIDER in black gloss at the bottom. On the right is the open MSI black laptop turned off.
  • A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. The MSI is open on it a black chassis, and blue light bar in the front. On screen is Indiana Jones and Gina from the Great Circle.
  • A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. On it sits a black MSI laptop with a blue light on the front edge. The screen is showing a sccreenshot from Indiana Jones The Great Circle with Gina sitting in a boat on water.
  • A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. An MSI laptop sits on it with a still from the Indiana Jones The Great Circle game with Indy sitting on a wooden pier on a river.
  • A photo filled wiht the MSI laptop keyboard. A full size board, with a numpad, function keys, and arrows on it. In black except for the WASD and power button that are see through. At the bottom center there is the top of the touchpad and a fingerprint sensor on the right.
  • A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. On it sits the MSI laptop, closed and from the left side. On the far left is the kensington lock slot, then there is a rectangular slit for a vent with two red lines cutting through it. On the right of that are two USB a and an SD card slot.
  • A close up of the MSI logo shield featuring a curled dragon on the lid of the Raider laptop. It is edge lit by an LED and shines ina blueish green color.
  • A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. On it sits the black MSI laptop open and on with a branch and furits of the olive tree on show.
  • A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. On it sits the MSI Raider laptop shown from the rear. A black strip mainly with red hihglights cutting diagonally every few inches. It shows three IO ports, a power cable, HDMI, and ethernet.
  • A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. On it sits the black MSI Raider laptop from the right side, closed. It has a vent on the right with two red lines diagonally cutting across it. With two USB-C, USB-A, and a 3.5mm ports to the left of it.
  • A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. On it sits the MSI Raider black laptop, open and turned on it has a bunch of roses on screen.
  • A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. On it sits the black MSI Raider laptop open adn turned on. As the background it has a gold MSI logo on black background with red lights cutting up and down either side of it.
  • A white table, with the edge of the bottom left of a black laptop coming in from the top right. IT has two stickers, a red AMD Ryzen 9HX3D, and a green Nvidia GeForce RTX.
  • A white table on which there is a close up of the top left part of the keyboard of the black MSI Raider laptop. IT shows the red slits on the black chassis, and keyboard from escape to f and c. The WASD are clear and see throgh compared to the rest of the keys.
  • A white table as the background, the foreground is a closeup on the top right part of the keyboard of an MSI Raider black laptop. There is a hinge, and red slit below it. It shows the top right of the numpad that has a clear power button with an orange light in the top right corner.
  • A close up of the MSI Raider touchpad, a slightly indented rectangle compared to the rest of the chassis. On the right of it, part of the MSI Raider spec sticker showing MSI Overboost Ultra, 6x speaker, WiFi 7.
  • A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. On it sits a MSI Raider black laptop turned on with a bunch of veggies shown on screen.
  • A close up of the MSI Raider black keyboard. It's the top left section with the WASD buttons clear instead of the black in contrast to the rest.
  • A close up of the MSI Raider black arrow keys. On each is another function with the arrows, fan control on up, display off on right, crosshair on down, and pause/play on left.
  • A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. A back profile shot of the MSI Raider logo with its lid open with the rear IO and red stripes seen at the bottom. The right side is also seen.
  • A blurred background of a bookshelf filled with blurred boxes of tech products, with a white table in the foreground. A shot of the back of the MSI Raider laptop, with the MSI logo on the lid in pruple, and the rear IO at the bottom with red stripes across it.
  • A close up of the MSI Raider laptop at the bottom of the screen. A prominent MSI is written in white with a keyboard blurred in the foreground below.
Highly Recommended

MSI Raider A18 HX A9WJG (RTX 5090)

4 /5
Editor’s Rating
How We Review
Specifications
  • CPU: Up to AMD Ryzen 9 9955HX3D
  • GPU: Up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090
  • Memory: Up to 64GB DDR5 6400MHz RAM
  • Storage: Up to 2TB SSD
  • Max Refresh Rate: 240Hz
  • Resolution: 3840 x 2400
  • Panel Type: Mini-LED (100% DCI-P3, G-SYNC, ACR)

Conclusion

The MSI Raider delivers a powerful desktop-replacement experience in a familiar, unapologetically gamer-focused chassis. Across gaming benchmarks, the RTX 5090 and Intel CPU combo consistently pushes out top-tier frame rates, especially in titles like Doom Eternal and Cyberpunk 2077, even at 4K and with ray tracing enabled. Compared to competitors like the Acer Predator Helios, the Raider consistently matches or outperforms across synthetic and real-world tests, particularly in high-power configurations.

However, this performance comes at a steep price – over $5,000 – placing it in Titan-level territory without quite matching the premium build quality and refined design of that higher-end series. Still, if you value aggressive gaming aesthetics, a high-resolution display, and powerhouse performance, the Raider A18 HX is a solid choice.

About the Author

Sebastian Kozlowski

With a fascination for technology and games, Seb is a tech writer with a focus on hardware, news, and deals. He is also a tester and reviewer for the site. Contact him @ [email protected]