Please select specific configurations for the laptops to get a more accurate comparative review
Review
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
Pick the usage scenario that best matches your needs
Value for money (Beta)
Key Differences
Advantages of the MSI Pulse 17 (2023)
- Thinner bezels and 4% higher screen-to-body ratio
Advantages of the MSI Alpha 17
- Higher screen refresh rate: 240 versus 144 Hz
- Around 2.3x better multi-core CPU performance in the Cinebench 2024 test
- Performs better (up to 32%) in 3DMark Steel Nomad Lite
- Can run popular games at about 10-14% higher FPS
- Features a bigger (~11%) battery – 99.9 against 90 watt-hours
- Provides 40% higher max. screen brightness: 350 vs 250 nits
- 34% sharper screen – 170 versus 127 pixels per inch (PPI)
Tests and Specifications
Comparison table of test results and technical specsCase
| Weight | 2.7 kg (5.95 lbs) | 2.79 kg (6.15 lbs) |
| Dimensions | 398 x 273 x 27.2 mm 15.67 x 10.75 x 1.07 inches |
397 x 283.9 x 25.9 mm 15.63 x 11.18 x 1.02 inches |
| Area | 1087 cm2 (168.5 inches2) | 1127 cm2 (174.7 inches2) |
| Screen-to-body ratio | ~75.9% | ~73.2% |
| Side bezels | 7.5 mm | 7 mm |
| Colors | Black, Gray | Black |
| Material | Plastic | Top: Aluminum Middle: Plastic Bottom: Plastic |
| Transformer | No | No |
| Opening angle | 180° | - |
Size comparison
| Cooling system | Active | Active |
| Vapor chamber | No | No |
| Liquid metal | No | No |
| Number of fans | 2 | 2 |
| Max. fan speed (RPM) | 6000 RPM | - |
| Noise level (max. load) | 46.5 dB | - |
Display
| Size | 17.3 inches | 17.3 inches |
| Type | IPS LCD | IPS LCD |
| Refresh rate | 144 Hz | 240 Hz |
| PPI | 127 ppi | 170 ppi |
| Aspect ratio | 16:9 | 16:9 |
| Resolution | 1920 x 1080 pixels | 2560 x 1440 pixels |
| HDR support | No | No |
| Sync technology | No | No |
| Touchscreen | No | No |
| Coating | Matte | Matte |
| Ambient light sensor | No | No |
| Contrast | 1814:1 | - |
| sRGB color space | 57.5% | - |
| Adobe RGB profile | 39.7% | - |
| DCI-P3 color gamut | 38.4% | 100% |
| Response time | 28 ms | 3 ms |
Max. brightness
Battery
Capacity
| Full charging time | 2:00 hr | 2:00 hr |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes | Yes |
| Charging via USB (Power Delivery) | No | Yes |
| Charging port position | Left | Left |
| Charge power | 240 W | 240 W |
CPU
CPU name
| Base frequency | 2.4 GHz | 2.5 GHz |
| Turbo frequency | 4.9 GHz | 5.4 GHz |
| Cores | 10 (6P + 4E) | 16 |
| Threads | 16 | 32 |
| L3 Cache | 24 MB | 64 MB |
| Integrated GPU | Intel UHD Graphics (64EU) | Radeon 610M |
| Fabrication process | 10 nm | 5 nm |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Cinebench 2024 (Single-Core)
Cinebench 2024 (Multi-Core)
Graphics Card
GPU name
| TGP | 140 W | 140 W |
| Nvidia Optimus | MUX | MUX |
| Type | Dedicated | Dedicated |
| Fabrication process | 5 nm | 5 nm |
| GPU base clock | 2070 MHz | 2295 MHz |
| GPU boost clock | 2370 MHz | 2370 MHz |
| FLOPS | 13.4 TFLOPS | 16 TFLOPS |
| Memory size | 6 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | GDDR6 | GDDR6 |
| Memory bus | 96 bit | 128 bit |
| Memory speed | ~16 Gbps | ~16 Gbps |
| Shading units (cores) | 2560 | 3072 |
| Texture mapping units (TMUs) | 80 | 96 |
| Raster operations pipelines (ROPs) | 32 | 48 |
| GPU performance | 13.4 TFLOPS | 16 TFLOPS |
GPU Benchmarks
Steel Nomad Lite Score
| Blender GPU | 2742 | 3848 |
| Solar Bay | 39704 | 49250 |
Expected FPS based on average performance across 9 popular games. Details
RAM
RAM size
| Channels | 2x8 GB | 2x8 GB |
| Clock | 5200 MHz | 5200 MHz |
| Type | DDR5 | DDR5 |
| Upgradable | Yes | Yes |
| Total slots | 2 | 2 |
| Max. ram size | 64 GB | 64 GB |
Storage
Storage size
| Bus | PCI-E Gen 4.0 (4x) | PCI-E Gen 4.0 (4x) |
| Storage type | SSD (M2) | SSD (M2) |
| Channels | 1x512 GB | 1x512 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 | ~85 dB | - |
| Microphones | 2 | 2 |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | v6 | v7 |
| Bluetooth | v5.2 | v5.3 |
| Fingerprint | No | No |
| Infrared sensor | No | No |
| Optical drive | No | No |
| Webcam | Above the display | Above the display |
| Webcam resolution | 1280 x 720 | 1280 x 720 |
| USB-A | 3x USB 3.2 | 3x USB 3.2 |
| USB Type-C | 1x USB 3.2 | 1x USB 3.2 |
| Thunderbolt | No | No |
| HDMI | 1x HDMI 2.1 | 1x HDMI 2.1 |
| DisplayPort | No | 1x v1.4 |
| VGA | No | No |
| Audio jack (3.5 mm) | Yes | Yes |
| Ethernet (RJ45) | Yes | Yes |
| SD card reader | No | - |
| Proprietary charging port | Yes | Yes |
Input
| Keyboard type | Island | Island |
| Numpad | Yes | Yes |
| Backlight | Yes | Yes |
| Key travel | 1.7 mm | 1.7 mm |
| 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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Total votes: 11