MSI Pulse 17 (2023) vs Katana 17 (2023)

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

Review

Evaluation of MSI Pulse 17 (2023) and Katana 17 (2023) 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
NanoReview Score
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Value for money (Beta)

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Currency
VS
31.0
(Mediocre)
Value Index
29.7
(Mediocre)

Key Differences

What are the key differences between the notebooks
Advantages of the MSI Pulse 17 (2023)
  • Can run popular games at about 55-75% higher FPS
  • Performs significantly better (up to 67%) in 3DMark Steel Nomad Lite
  • Features a much bigger (~68%) battery – 90 against 53.5 watt-hours
  • Around 13% better multi-core CPU performance in the Cinebench 2024 test
Advantages of the MSI Katana 17 (2023)
  • Slightly easier to carry: weighs 100 grams less (around 0.22 lbs)

Tests and Specifications

Comparison table of test results and technical specs

Case

Weight 2.7 kg (5.95 lbs) 2.6 kg (5.73 lbs)
Dimensions 398 x 273 x 27.2 mm
15.67 x 10.75 x 1.07 inches
398 x 273 x 25.2 mm
15.67 x 10.75 x 0.99 inches
Area 1087 cm2 (168.5 inches2) 1087 cm2 (168.5 inches2)
Screen-to-body ratio ~75.9% ~75.9%
Side bezels 7.5 mm 7.5 mm
Colors Black, Gray Black
Material Plastic Plastic
Transformer No No
Opening angle 180° 180°
Size comparison
Cooling solution
Cooling system Active Active
Vapor chamber No No
Liquid metal No No
Number of fans 2 2
Max. fan speed (RPM) 6000 RPM 6000 RPM
Noise level (max. load) 46.5 dB 59.1 dB

Display

Size 17.3 inches 17.3 inches
Type IPS LCD IPS LCD
Refresh rate 144 Hz 144 Hz
PPI 127 ppi 127 ppi
Aspect ratio 16:9 16:9
Resolution 1920 x 1080 pixels 1920 x 1080 pixels
HDR support No No
Sync technology No No
Touchscreen No No
Coating Matte Matte
Ambient light sensor No No
Display tests
Contrast 1814:1 1271:1
sRGB color space 57.5% 61%
Adobe RGB profile 39.7% 42.2%
DCI-P3 color gamut 38.4% 40.8%
Response time 28 ms 30 ms
Max. brightness
250 nits
250 nits

Battery

Capacity
Full charging time 2:00 hr -
Battery type Li-Po Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Fast charging Yes Yes
Charging via USB (Power Delivery) No No
Charging port position Left Left
Charge power 240 W 180 / 200 / 240 W
Weight of AC adapter - 740 / 852 grams

CPU

CPU name
Base frequency 2.4 GHz 2.3 GHz
Turbo frequency 4.9 GHz 4.7 GHz
Cores 10 (6P + 4E) 10 (6P + 4E)
Threads 16 16
L3 Cache 24 MB 24 MB
Integrated GPU Intel UHD Graphics (64EU) Intel UHD Graphics (64EU)
Fabrication process 10 nm 10 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 75 W
Nvidia Optimus MUX MUX
Type Dedicated Dedicated
Fabrication process 5 nm 8 nm
GPU base clock 2070 MHz 1403 MHz
GPU boost clock 2370 MHz 1635 MHz
FLOPS 13.4 TFLOPS 6.7 TFLOPS
Memory size 6 GB 6 GB
Memory type GDDR6 GDDR6
Memory bus 96 bit 128 bit
Memory speed ~16 Gbps 12 Gbps
Shading units (cores) 2560 2048
Texture mapping units (TMUs) 80 64
Raster operations pipelines (ROPs) 32 40
GPU performance 13.4 TFLOPS 6.7 TFLOPS

GPU Benchmarks

Steel Nomad Lite Score
Blender GPU 2742 1273
Solar Bay 39704 22583
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 ~78.5 dB
Microphones 2 2

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard v6 v6
Bluetooth v5.2 v5.2
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
Ports
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 No
VGA No No
Audio jack (3.5 mm) Yes Yes
Ethernet (RJ45) Yes Yes
SD card reader No No
Proprietary charging port Yes Yes

Input

Keyboard
Keyboard type Island Island
Numpad Yes Yes
Backlight Yes Yes
Key travel 1.7 mm 1.7 mm
Touchpad
Size - 10.5 x 6.5 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.

Cast your vote

So, which laptop would you choose?
16 (66.7%)
8 (33.3%)
Total votes: 24

Comments

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