MSI thin GF63 with 4060 vs Dell G15 with 3060

OmyWomy · May 30, 2023

I am looking at getting a laptop and want to know if anyone knows how this performs.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU
Intel Core i5-12450H
512 GB PCIe SSD
DDR4 8GB*2
15.6" FHD (1920*1080), 144Hz 45%NTSC IPS-Level

For the same price, I can currently get the dell G15 with a 3060 and much better specs all around.

Processor12ᵗʰ Gen Intel® Core™ i7-12700HOSWindows
11 HomeGraphicsNVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3060
Memory16 GB DDR5
Storage1 TB SSD
Display15.6-in. display Quad HD (2560X1440) 240Hz

I don't know what kind of TDP the MSI thin is running at and if I will actually see the performance bump over a 3060, the processor is much nicer in the Dell and the display is a lot nicer.

Laptops are very confusing as it feels like its impossible to compare the GPU's, and the websites I have found seem like automated spec input sites that do not take into account the actual platforms.

Any advice?

crimraven · May 30, 2023

Assuming gaming is the goal or something else?

As much as Nvidia would like us to believe one gen is a huge jump over the last between two 60 tier cards you may see just as big of a performance difference based on whose thermal solution is better. Especially with much of gaming being either indie easy to run or graphic/poorly optimized demanding beast with little in the middle.

1080 vs 1440 is a great difference on a 27in monitor. By comparison I've got a 1080 13in laptop and a MacBook with about 2.8x the resolution at 14in. Both are glossy, both have good color depth, and the resolution makes so little difference at that size.

I have 165hz monitors at home and it's amazing but there are diminishing returns so 144 vs 240 may or may not factor in that heavy for you. Looks like a battery hit to me granted if the GPU is steadily making frames it's still taking some battery even if they aren't displaying.

Haven't used DDR5 yet but every release of ram in the past has taken time to surpass the previous. But I don't know here. Extra half terbyte is nice but no mention of speed or quality but I feel here gets diminishing returns as well. I noticed a better load time difference after awhile going from W10 to Linux after a point.

Now i5 vs i7 you may see some real difference but it depends on your purpose as most decent cpus work fine these days. I can't be objective here because my last Intel experience was bad enough for me to go Intel again would require it to come discounted with a letter of apology and a bj. (Disclaimer this was an i5 paired with an R9 390 and before Ryzen happened so it's been some years). If I'm honest 8 powerful threads +4 vs 12+8 seems more relevant for something like rendering over gaming but that all depends on what it is specifically.

tl;dr Performance wise in real use the difference is probably small unless you need that extra space, can tell the refresh difference that well, or have cpu heavy tasks you need. What you'll probably notice more is build quality. Is it light but sturdy, is the contrast and brightness good, does the keyboard feel nice, is touchpad big and responsive, etc.

Qyygle · May 30, 2023

Not direct comparisons, as the reviews are showing the G15 with 3070ti and the GF63 with 4050, but the chassis and other items should be similar enough. The G15 you're comparing will perform a bit worse, and the GF63 a bit better with the GPU options you're looking at.

That said, I wouldn't consider either of these particularly good options, but for an acceptable price, they'll do fine.

The Dell you'll be stuck using the godawful Alienware Control Center and Dell's own software (I think they've probably fixed the issues Jarrod ran into in the intro). The MSI you're dealing with the bottom tier build quality of what's already debatebly a bottom tier gaming laptop brand on the market, I think only Acer ranks lower really. The screen is also apparently particularly bad on the model Jarrod got, even worse than the previous years, but it's almost a crapshoot on what screen you get since MSI has so many models/sku's.