Rodrigo Andresen
We’ve been umming and ahhing in the business currently over this pair of RTX 4070 driven gaming notebook promotions. Equally of which are sat at a truly remarkable rate, while both of those of appear with their very own little caveats. Not huge ones, or we wouldn’t be recommending them, but surely sufficient to necessarily mean we cannot really make a decision which one particular we might 100{18875d16fb0f706a77d6d07e16021550e0abfa6771e72d372d5d32476b7d07ec} advise.
The alternatives are thus: a $310 discount (opens in new tab) on a single of the most effective RTX 4070 laptops around—the The Lenovo Legion Professional 7i—which has dropped down from $2,300 to just $1,990 or a less costly RTX 4070-toting $1,479 MSI Katana (opens in new tab). That is the just one with the caveat due to the fact it ships with a reduce wattage GPU variant, hence middling cooling, and a scaled-down price cut of $20.
Now, to give some context we’ve been examining the quantities on the Lenovo Legion Professional 7i’s RTX 4080 product (opens in new tab), and the figures are so effectively balanced that, in particular for its price tag, it is difficult not to appreciate. The likewise tempting Legion Pro 7i we are thinking of here is successfully the very same laptop, finish with a powerful Intel Main i9 13900HX, only it really is in its place paired with Nvidia’s RTX 4070.
You however get the exact same 1TB SSD, the exact 16:10 display, and whilst you’re not having 32GB of DDR5-6000 as with the RTX 4080 variation, its sister offers us true hope. Our main situation has been with the 60 minute battery lifestyle, which is a minimal missing towards some other laptops we’ve been tests.
As for this little dealio dilemma, you happen to be at least going to be bagging a a bit greater-energy GPU with the Legion, than with the Katana detailed listed here. That is the major difference in between the two laptop’s, essentially. The Katana packs a 105W GPU towards the Legion’s 140W RTX 4070 variant, and it’s going to imply a slight downturn when it will come to efficiency.
The MSI Katana is no slouch, while. Irrespective of the RTX 4070 remaining paired with Intel’s very last-gen Main i7 12th Gen 12650H it really is received a lot likely for it for the value. The 16GB of DDR5 memory should really see you while in most of modern use scenarios, and with a 144Hz panel and a superior chunk of storage there is hardly a thing to complain about. Other than maybe the bloatware we’ve appear to anticipate with MSI laptops, as was a major concern we pointed out in our latest MSI Cyborg 15 critique (opens in new tab). It is really also probable not the very best when it comes to temps, which aids explain the alternative of 105W GPU.
The considerably decreased price is starting to make perception now, huh? But you can see why we’re owning issues deciding which one particular to endorse.
Do you go with the Katana for $500 fewer, and take the hit to efficiency and thermals, as well as the possible bloatware… or invest the further income on the Legion, but be tethered to the wall and a very little far more out of pocket for a although? If you can find the money for it the Legion is definitely the much better equipment, with a quicker GPU, CPU, and improved display. But can you spare a further five hundred clams?
Decisions, selections. At minimum there are options, while.
