MSI Crosshair 16 Max HX (2026) vs Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI

Please select specific configurations for the laptops to get a more accurate comparative review
Display
Battery 80 Wh
CPU
GPU
RAM
Storage

Review

Evaluation of MSI Crosshair 16 Max HX (2026) and Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI important characteristics
Performance
System and application performance
Gaming
Performance in popular 3D games
Display
Viewing angle, color accuracy, brightness
Battery Life
Potential battery life in light and average use
Connectivity
Ports, webcam and other interfaces
Portability
Design, materials, durability and usability
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Primary usage:

Value for money (Beta)

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Key Differences

What are the key differences between the notebooks
Advantages of the MSI Crosshair 16 Max HX (2026)
  • Higher screen refresh rate: 240 versus 165 Hz
  • Slightly easier to carry: weighs 100 grams less (around 0.22 lbs)
  • Can run popular games at about 39-53% higher FPS
  • Performs significantly better (up to 49%) in 3DMark Steel Nomad Lite
  • Features a a little bigger (~5%) battery – 80 against 76 watt-hours
Advantages of the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI
  • Higher number of cutting-edge USB Type-C ports: 2 versus 1
  • Better webcam recording quality
  • Provides 25% higher max. screen brightness: 500 vs 400 nits

Tests and Specifications

Comparison table of test results and technical specs

Case

Weight 2.2 kg (4.85 lbs) 2.3 kg (5.07 lbs)
Dimensions 363 x 269.7 x 21.95-23.85 mm
14.29 x 10.62 x 0.86-0.94 inches
360.1 x 271.09 x 19.9 mm
14.18 x 10.67 x 0.78 inches
Area 979 cm2 (151.8 inches2) 976 cm2 (151.3 inches2)
Screen-to-body ratio ~75.8% ~76%
Side bezels 9.2 mm 7.8 mm
Colors Black Blue
Material Plastic Top: Aluminum
Middle: Plastic
Bottom: Plastic
Transformer No No
Opening angle - 145°
Size comparison
Cooling solution
Cooling system Active Active
Vapor chamber No No
Liquid metal No Yes
Number of fans 2 2
Noise level (max. load) - 54 dB

Display

Size 16 inches 16 inches
Type IPS LCD OLED
Refresh rate 240 Hz 165 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate - No
PPI 189 ppi 189 ppi
Aspect ratio 16:10 16:10
Resolution 2560 x 1600 pixels 2560 x 1600 pixels
HDR support No Yes, HDR10
Sync technology No G-Sync
Touchscreen No No
Coating Matte Matte
Ambient light sensor No No
Display tests
Contrast - 1000000:1
DCI-P3 color gamut 100% 100%
Response time 3 ms 1 ms
Max. brightness

Battery

Capacity
Battery type Li-Po Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Fast charging Yes Yes
Charging via USB (Power Delivery) Yes, 100 W Yes
Charging port position Left Bottom
Charge power 240 W 230 / 330 W
Weight of AC adapter - 730 / 780 grams

CPU

CPU name
Base frequency 2.9 GHz 2.4 GHz
Turbo frequency 5.1 GHz 5.2 GHz
Cores 18 (6P + 12E) 20 (8P + 12E)
Threads 18 20
L3 Cache 30 MB 30 MB
Integrated GPU Arc Graphics (4-Cores) Arc Graphics (4-Cores)
Fabrication process 3 nm 3 nm

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Cinebench 2024 (Single-Core)
Cinebench 2024 (Multi-Core)

Graphics Card

GPU name
TGP 115 W 70 W
Nvidia Optimus MUX Yes, Advanced Optimus
Type Dedicated Dedicated
Fabrication process 4 nm 5 nm
FLOPS 18.4 TFLOPS 10.8 TFLOPS
Memory size 8 GB 8 GB
Memory type GDDR7 GDDR7
Memory bus 128 bit 128 bit
Memory speed ~24 Gbps ~24 Gbps
Shading units (cores) 3328 2560
Texture mapping units (TMUs) 104 80
Raster operations pipelines (ROPs) 48 32
GPU performance 18.4 TFLOPS 10.8 TFLOPS

GPU Benchmarks

Steel Nomad Lite Score
Blender GPU 3779 2515
Solar Bay 54912 38243
Expected FPS based on average performance across 9 popular games. Details

RAM

RAM size
Channels 2x8 GB 2x8 GB
Clock 6400 MHz 6400 MHz
Type DDR5 DDR5
Upgradable Yes Yes
Total slots 2 2
Max. ram size 128 GB 64 GB

Storage

Storage size
Bus PCI-E Gen 5.0 (4x) PCI-E Gen 4.0 (4x)
Storage type SSD (M2) SSD (M2)
Channels 1x1024 GB 1x1024 GB
Upgradable Yes Yes
Total slots 2 2
NVMe Yes Yes

Sound

Speakers 2.0 2.0
Power 2x2W 2x2W
Dolby Atmos No No
Loudness - ~74 dB
Microphones 2 2

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard v6E v6E
Bluetooth v5.3 v5.4
Fingerprint No No
Infrared sensor No Yes
Optical drive No No
Webcam Above the display Above the display
Webcam resolution 1280 x 720 1920 x 1080
Ports
USB-A 3x USB 3.2 3x USB 3.2
USB Type-C 1x USB 4.0 2x USB 4.0
Thunderbolt Thunderbolt 4 Thunderbolt 4
HDMI 1x HDMI 2.1 1x HDMI 2.1
DisplayPort No No
VGA No No
Audio jack (3.5 mm) Yes Yes
Ethernet (RJ45) Yes Yes
SD card reader No Yes
Proprietary charging port Yes Yes

Input

Keyboard
Keyboard type Island Island
Numpad Yes Yes
Backlight Yes Yes
Key travel 1.7 mm -
Touchpad
Size - 12.6 x 8.3 cm
Surface Plastic Plastic
Windows Precision Yes Yes
*Disclaimer! Ports, speakers, display, and other specifications can vary depending on the laptop's specific configuration or region.

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