[ Review] MSI Titan 18 HX A14 – A Powerhouse Desktop Replacement

The MSI Titan 18 HX A14 is undeniably the most powerful laptop in the market so far in 2024. This powerhouse desktop replacement features top-of-the-line specs, a stunning display, a huge screen, a satisfying keyboard, and other features that cater to hardcore gamers – all packed in a sleek yet hefty chassis. But with great power comes great.. financial responsibility.

Performance

The Titan 18 HX is equipped with an Intel Core i9 processor 14900HX and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU 16GB GDDR6, a dream combo for any gamer looking for the best gaming experience out of any laptop or even desktop especially with the brand new processor that was just released in the first quarter of 2024.

With its specifications, you can pretty much shred through any AAA title at maximum settings and enjoy buttery smooth gameplay at high frame rates and high resolutions. In combination with up to 192GB of DDR5 RAM and 4TB of NVMe PCIe Gen4x4 SSD storage, the Titan 18 HX is a multitasking behemoth with plenty of storage for your games, applications, and files.

Here are a few benchmark tests that we’ve performed on the Titan 18HX:

• PCMark 10: 7382

• 3DMark: 18824

• Cinebench (Multi Core): 1334 pts

• Cinebench (Single Core): 123 pts

Furthermore, we also tested the laptop’s performance by running a few games to see if the benchmark test results were accurately portrayed in practice.

Returnal

Image Credit: Digital Braves

Image Credit: Digital Braves

Image Credit: Digital Braves

Image Credit: Digital Braves

With Returnal running at Epic graphics preset with a resolution of 2560×1440 and uncapped framerate, we managed to get an average of around ~97 FPS with some zones getting as high as an average of 116 FPS and some zones as low as average of 80 FPS using the built-in benchmarking tool.

Street Fighter 6

We also experienced a few rounds of Street Fighter 6 with the highest settings at 4K resolution adjusted to 16:9 (3840×2160).

Image Credit: Digital Braves

Image Credit: Digital Braves

During gameplay, the game averages about 60 FPS with some minor drops to about 44 FPS on some maps when there are a lot of visual elements being active on screen. But overall, the performance is stable enough to not affect your journey up the rank ladder.

Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth

We also tried Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth at native 4k resolution (3840×2400) and graphic settings set to Highest, Upon arriving in Hawaii, we were welcomed with a less ideal performance.

Image Credit: Digital Braves

Image Credit: Digital Braves

Image Credit: Digital Braves

Image Credit: Digital Braves

After walking around the streets of Honolulu and trying out a few combat encounters, we got an average of ~45 FPS that could go as low as 32 FPS, especially in certain areas where there’s a bigger crowd of people.

Though of course, these FPS data are collected with extremely high graphic settings, so tweaking the graphic settings just a little bit can get you a stable 60 FPS or more.

On a side note, one thing we noticed during our benchmark testing is that the laptop can get quite hot under heavy load, and the fans of the laptop can get very loud in these situations. But overall, the laptop provides a very satisfying gaming experience as it is able to run the most demanding games at 4K resolution and stable 60 FPS.

Design

The MSI Titan 18 HX has a chassis design out of magnesium-aluminium alloy. making it incredibly sturdy and offering some improvements over previous iterations.

This year’s Titan moves away from the gamer-centric design with excessive RGB lighting. Instead, it embraces a more minimalist and professional look. The all-black lid features a subtle RGB dragon logo, adding a touch of flair without being overly flashy.

A signature feature of the Titan series, the rear of the chassis features a protruding section that houses the bulk of the cooling system. This design allows for larger fans and better heat management. While some might find the bump aesthetically disruptive, it prioritizes functionality for a powerful machine.

The Titan 18 HX is a massive laptop at 3.6kg, it’s not exactly made for portability. It’s more of a desktop replacement that you can carry around from time to time.

Display

The MSI Titan 18 HX has an 18-inch Mini LED display that’s perfect for gamers and creative professionals. Whether you’re indoors or outdoors, the vibrant colour gamut and DisplayHDR 1000 will definitely not disappoint you, reaching up to 1000 nits brightness.

With a UHD+ resolution (3840 x 2400 pixels) at a 16:10 aspect ratio, visuals are incredibly crisp and detailed. Text appears razor-sharp, and even the most demanding games will showcase stunning graphical fidelity.

The 120Hz refresh rate ensures a buttery smooth experience when playing your favourite games, especially for fast-paced games where every frame counts. Whether you’re dominating the battlefield, racing opponents or fighting on the streets, the 120Hz refresh rate delivers a significant edge in responsiveness.

Image Credit: Digital Braves

Image Credit: Digital Braves

Image Credit: Digital Braves

The Titan 18 HX’s display boasts 100% DCI-P3 colour gamut coverage, which is fantastic for creative work like photo and video editing. Colours are reproduced with exceptional accuracy, ensuring your work looks exactly as intended.

Keyboard and Mouse

The Titan 18 HX features a mechanical keyboard with Cherry MX Ultra Low Profile switches, providing a satisfying typing experience with excellent tactility, it’s perfect for gamers who appreciate a responsive keyboard. It also offers RGB lighting with per-key customization.

Image Credit: Digital Braves

Image Credit: Digital Braves

The haptic touchpad design is also nice to look at and while it’s supposed to offer a more responsive experience, we did not like the feel of it and prefer traditional touchpads. At times when we were trying to move around files and folders it would suddenly stop as if I had my fingers off the touchpad, which is quite an inconvenience sometimes.

Image Credit: Digital Braves

Image Credit: Digital Braves

The RGB lighting system allows for extensive customization but it can feel a bit awkward to use without lighting as it blends in with the body of the chassis.

Both the RGB lighting system through MSI’s Mystic Light allow you to change both the keyboard and the haptic touchpad lighting so the laptop’s aesthetics match your personality.

Battery Life

The MSI Titan 18 HX isn’t known for its battery life. It prioritises raw power over extended unplugged use. It has a large 99Wh battery, which seems impressive on paper. However, the high-end components like the Intel Core i9 processor 14900HX and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU 16GB GDDR6 are quite power-hungry. 

You can expect around 2-3 hours of battery life for demanding tasks like gaming or running professional software. Browsing the web, watching videos, or using productivity applications on low power settings could stretch it to 4 hours, but that’s not what this laptop is designed for.

The MSI Titan 18 HX is a desktop replacement, not a true mobile workstation. If you need a powerful gaming laptop for on-the-go use, you might be better off looking at options with more balanced performance and battery life.

Audio Quality

The laptop features two front-facing speakers located on either side of the keyboard and two more underneath with two subwoofers towards the front corners.

The speakers are just average, as they can produce loud audio, but it is not really clear or audible. Furthermore, the speakers are also lacking in bass, which does affect the gaming experience for certain games.

Image Credit: Digital Braves

Image Credit: Digital Braves

However, considering the Titan is designed to be more of a desktop replacement than a portable gaming machine, most users will likely use headphones or external speakers for a more immersive audio experience. 

I/O Ports

There are several ports available on the MSI Titan 18 HX A14, namely:

Image Credit: Digital Braves

Image Credit: Digital Braves

Image Credit: Digital Braves

Image Credit: Digital Braves

• 2x Thunderbolt 4 (1 x PD3.1)
• 3x Type-A USB3.2 Gen2
• 1x Full size SD card (UHS-III)
• 1x Audio combo jack
• 1x Kensington Lock
• 1x HDMI 2.1 (8K @ 60Hz / 4K @ 120Hz)
• 1 x DC jack, 1x RJ45

Last year’s Titan GT77 had all the ports only on both sides and this year MSI decided to change it up a bit by putting all the ports that use thicker cables, like the HDMI 2.1, DC jack, and the RJ45, at the back.

MSI Center

The MSI Titan 18 HX comes pre-installed with MSI Center, a utility software suite that manages and enhances your gaming experience on MSI laptops.

You’ll be able to monitor your hardware including CPU usage, GPU usage, disk usage, memory usage, temperature, clock speed, fan speed, and many more. You can also adjust your system performance to suit your needs and preferences such as gaming, battery saving, or silent operation.

Through the MSI Center, you’re also able to change the lighting for MSI’s Mystic Light products and even synchronize compatible lighting accessories using Ambient Link.

When you enable MSI AI Engine through MSI Center, the system will detect the user scenario by AI, and adjust to the most suitable setting, e.g. Performance, Keyboard Backlit, Audio Mode, etc. Even more, users can add apps into different modes, and adjust to their preferred mode while launching the app the next time.

Conclusion

The MSI Titan 18 HX is definitely an absolute powerhouse of a gaming laptop, offering excellent performance, a stunning display, and premium build quality. However, the biggest problem for a lot of people will be the price and lack of portability due to its size and weight. The Titan 18 HX starts at a staggering RM21,499, and for that kind of money, you could build a high-end desktop PC with even more power.

If you demand the absolute best out of your gaming experience and portability isn’t a concern, the Titan 18 HX won’t disappoint. But for most gamers, a more affordable option with slightly lower specs might be a more reasonable choice.

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