Are you on the lookout for a laptop that can handle your gaming needs without breaking the bank? Look no further than the MSI Sword 15 Gaming laptop. This powerhouse of a laptop combines strong performance with a sleek design, making it a top choice for gamers.
MSI delivers impressive performance in a durable, lightweight chassis with the Sword 15.
Pros
- Appealing, sleek design
- A diverse range of ports
- The RTX 3060 is capable of running the majority of contemporary games
- Solid gaming performance overall
- Affordable pricing
Cons
- The keyboard is average, and the touchpad is on the smaller side
- Weak audio
- Dim screen, limited colors
- Fans get noisy when working hard
- Webcam and connections disappoint
- CPU and GPU performance lagging slightly compared to rivals.
Overview of MSI Sword 15 Gaming Laptop
The MSI Sword 15 Gaming Laptop stands out as an intriguing gaming laptop, offering competitive pricing. While many gaming laptops opt for flashy RGB lighting and bold designs, MSI takes a more understated approach with a sleek white and black color scheme, complemented by subtle blue backlighting for the keyboard.
Weighing just under five pounds, the 15.6-inch chassis is lightweight and easily portable, fitting snugly into a laptop bag for travel.
Equipped with an Intel Core i7-12650H processor and a Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 discrete GPU in our test configuration, the Sword 15 comes with a price tag of $1,349.99, positioning it as one of the top contenders among gaming laptops priced under $1,500.
It’s fascinating that MSI has developed a naming convention centered around blades, inspired by the ancient legend of the “Dragon Blade.” Hence, we have the Sword 15, a direct reflection of this theme. Interestingly, it shares its platform with the Katana GF66, another laptop named after a weapon. The key difference lies in their aesthetics: while the Katana GF66 boasts a sleek all-black exterior, the Sword 15 is white.
Don’t let that deceive you. This laptop is designed primarily for gaming. That’s why it’s equipped with a Core i7-12650H processor and an RTX 3070 with 85W TGP, making for a powerful combination. However, its most compelling aspect isn’t its internal specs; it’s the competitive price point. This places it in direct competition with Dell’s G15 5511 and Dell’s G15 5515 models offering similar specifications.
In this scenario, the Sword 15 boasts certain clear advantages, yet the question remains whether they’ll serve to seal the deal for the MSI laptop. Interestingly, the display refresh rate varies depending on the configuration, with options of either 60Hz or 144Hz IPS displays. The former is exclusive to RTX 3050 and RTX 3050 Ti configurations, while the latter is available across all configurations.
MSI Sword 15 Gaming Laptop: Features and Specs
The MSI Sword 15 is a 15.6-inch gaming laptop featuring an Intel Core i7-12650H processor, 16GB of DDR5 memory, and a Nvidia RTX 3070 GPU. Additionally, it boasts a 1920×1080 144Hz display and a 1TB PCIe Gen4 M.2 solid-state drive.
| Feature | Specification |
| CPU | Intel Core i7-12650H |
| Display | 1920×1080 144Hz IPS |
| Connectivity | 1x USB-C, 3x USB-A, 1x HDMI, 1x Ethernet |
| Memory | 16GB DDR5 |
| Graphics/GPU | Nvidia RTX 3070 |
| Storage | 1TB PCIe Gen4 M.2 solid state drive |
| Webcam | 720p |
| Audio | 3.5mm combo audio |
| Power | 1x AC barrel plug |
| Networking | Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2 |
| Biometrics | None |
| Battery capacity | 53 watt-hours |
| Dimensions | 14.13 x 10.20 x 0.98 inches |
| Weight | 4.96 pounds |
| Price | $1,299.99 |
The laptop’s specs are rather ordinary. It provides a standard selection of ports and supports typical Wi-Fi standards. The webcam resolution is limited to 720p, and there’s no biometric login feature included.
What Comes in The Package?
The package includes essential paperwork and a 150W power adapter.
MSI Sword 15 Gaming Laptop: Design and Build Excellence
The MSI Sword 15 is a robust laptop sporting an appealing design. Its lid and keyboard deck boast a white plastic construction with a glossy, pearlescent sheen. This laptop maintains a subtle profile, with even the MSI logo on the lid blending in seamlessly due to its lack of color. Additionally, there’s a captivating combination of textures; while the top of the lid and keyboard deck are smooth, the sides feature a brushed finish.
Lifting the lid exposes the keyboard, featuring white keycaps illuminated by blue LEDs. The display is bordered by black plastic, comprising the lower half of the chassis. Positioned above the 15.6-inch (16:9) 144 Hz IPS display is a 720p webcam. With a matte finish, the display boasts minimal bezels on the right and left sides. However, the top bezel is slightly thicker, and the bottom bezel, which incorporates the MSI logo, is also relatively thick.
Similar to the Katana GF66, the MSI Sword 15 Gaming Laptop features an all-plastic design, weighing 2.25 kg and measuring 24.9mm thick—both slimmer and notably lighter than the Dell models mentioned earlier. Although there’s a slight flex in the base, upon closer inspection, MSI’s meticulous engineering becomes evident. The interior base utilizes a rectangular support structure, while a metal element is positioned beneath the left side of the battery on the bottom panel.
Interestingly, the lid of this device can be opened with just one hand, although it’s a bit more flexible than the base. Additionally, the bezels are relatively slim, except for the bottom one, which is typically larger. The top bezel accommodates an HD Webcam.
Located on the base is the backlit keyboard. MSI has opted for a minimalist approach this time, offering one color option – Blue. This choice lends a refreshing look to the device with its white surface and keycaps. The key mechanism strikes a balance between clicky and soft, with a reasonable key travel distance. There are two standout features worth mentioning: the dedicated Creator Center button and the “Cooler Boost” button, which shares space with the “Up” Arrow key.
Next up is the touchpad, which appears relatively small compared to the significant expansion of touchpad sizes seen in 2021. However, there’s no cause for concern as its surface provides a smooth gliding experience, and the tracking is quite accurate, particularly when paired with the fast refresh rate display.
On the foot, we see the two speaker set patterns, as well as the colossal ventilation barbecue. Hot discussion finds its way out through two vents on the back, and one on the proper side of the tablet (when looking towards the footboard).
Gaming and Graphics Performance on the MSI Sword 15 Gaming Laptop
In our examination, the MSI Sword 15 Gaming Laptop we tested boasts an Intel Core i7-12650H processor paired with a Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 GPU. This configuration offers a performance edge over rivals like the Acer Nitro 5 (featuring a Core i5-12500H and RTX 3050). With this setup, you’re equipped to enjoy most games at 1080p resolution with all the visual bells and whistles turned on.
When I launched Control (set to High, 1080p), I experienced generally smooth frame rates, although there were occasional dips below 50 frames per second during combat scenes. Lowering the resolution to 720p and enabling DLSS helped maintain stability, with frame rates hovering around 70 fps under similar gaming conditions.
In terms of benchmarking performance in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, the Sword 15 surpassed both the Acer Nitro 5 and the Alienware x14 R1 (which features a Core i7-12700H and RTX 3070), achieving a frame rate of 70 fps. However, it trailed slightly behind the Asus TUF Gaming F15, which also packs an RTX 3070, albeit with a marginally more powerful Core i7-12700H processor.
Similar results were observed during the Grand Theft Auto V benchmark (set to Very High), with the Sword 15 matching the TUF Gaming F15 at 90 fps, leaving both the Nitro 5 and the x14 R1 far behind.
Switching to a more CPU-dependent test with Far Cry New Dawn, the TUF Gaming F15 once again demonstrated its superiority, achieving a result of 97 fps. The Sword 15 secured third place this time with 90 fps, while the x14 R1 landed in between with 94 fps.
Red Dead Redemption 2 proved to be a challenge for graphics cards, requiring some adjustments to graphical settings. Running at Medium settings and 1080p resolution, the Sword 15 outperformed the Nitro 5 and x14 R1 at 57 fps, falling just short of the TUF Gaming F15’s impressive 59 fps.
In a surprising turn, the Sword 15 emerged victorious in the Borderlands 3 benchmark at “badass” settings, achieving 69 fps. This result surpassed both the Nitro 5 and the x14 R1, and even edged past the TUF Gaming F15, which achieved 65 fps.
Finally, the Sword 15 underwent a rigorous stress test with Metro Exodus, completing 15 consecutive runs with the RTX preset. The laptop maintained an average frame rate of 56.93 fps, with consistent performance.
On the CPU side, the performance cores averaged 2.51 GHz, while the efficiency cores averaged 2.23 GHz. The CPU temperature remained at 68 degrees Celsius. Meanwhile, the RTX 3060 maintained an average speed of 1,360 MHz, with a temperature of 64 degrees Celsius.
Gaming Tests
Metro Exodux
| Metro Exodus | Full HD,
Low |
Full HD,
High |
Full HD,
Extreme |
| Average FPS | 81 fps | 34 fps | 16 fps |
Borderlands 3
| Borderlands 3 | Full HD,
Medium |
Full HD
High |
Full HD
Badass |
| Average fps | 72 fps | 45 fps | 34 fps |
Shadow of the Tomb Raider (2018)
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider (2018) | Full HD,
Lowest |
Full HD,
Medium |
Full HD,
High |
| Average | 139 fps | 85 fps | 77 fps |
Gaming In Real Life
| NVIDIA GeForce
RTX 3050 Ti |
GPU Frequency/
Core Temp (after 2 min) |
GPU Frequency/
Core Temp (after 30 min) |
GPU Frequency/
Core Temp (Max fan) |
| MSI Sword 15 | 1633 MHz @ 73°C @ 60W | 1605 MHz @ 79°C @ 60W | 1644 MHz @ 69°C @ 60W |
| Dell XPS 15 9510 | 1187 MHz @ 74°C @ 40W | 1293 MHz @ 75°C @ 44W | – |
| Dell G15 5511 | 1882 MHz @ 71°C @ 88W | 1878 MHz @ 72°C @ 89W | – |
| Dell G15 5515 | 1857 MHz @ 76°C @ 80W | 1850 MHz @ 77°C @ 80W | – |
| Acer Nitro 5
(AN515-57) |
1616 MHz @ 70°C @ 66W | 1607 MHz @ 72°C @ 65W | 1632 MHz @ 69°C @ 66W |
| MSI Katana GF76 | 1619 MHz @ 76°C @ 60W | 1594 MHz @ 82°C @ 60W | 1632 MHz @ 70°C @ 60W |
It goes without saying that you can anticipate similar performance to that of the Katana GF66. Likewise, activating the Cooler Boost option will lower temperatures by 10°C, with a slight uptick in clock speed.
Gaming Comfort
The hottest area on the keyboard reached a temperature of 48°C. However, its placement means that your fingertips are unlikely to feel the heat. Although the laptop isn’t silent during gaming sessions, enabling the Cooler Boost setting will result in a noise level reminiscent of a Rocketship.
Efficiency Performance of the MSI Sword 15
We all want our laptops to be great for gaming and work. This setup of the Sword 15 is good for both, with its powerful Core i7-12650H processor, 16GB RAM, and spacious 1TB NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD.
Geek bench 5 is a test that checks how well the CPU performs. The Sword 15 scored 1,760 in single-core, almost as good as the TUF Gaming F15 (1,781). But in multi-core performance (10,259), it fell behind the x14 R1 and TUF Gaming F15, which have the stronger Core i7-12700H chip.
When we tested file transfers, the Sword 15 moved 25GB of data at 1,080.53 MBps, landing it in third place, behind the Nitro 5 and x14 R1.
In our Handbrake video transcoding test, the Sword 15 had a tough time, taking 7:26 to convert a 4K video to 1080p. It came in last place, with the Nitro 5 taking the third spot at 5:58, and the TUF Gaming F15 with its Core i7-12650H chip finishing first in just 4:49.
Display of MSI Sword 15
The Sword 15 features a 15.6-inch, 1080p IPS display with a matte finish. However, compared to the Nitro 5, TUF Gaming F15, and x14 R1 in our tests, its display isn’t as bright (247 nits) or vibrant.
I watched the seventh episode of “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law” and the fourth episode of “Star Wars: Andor” on the MSI laptop, and the colors appeared muted. For instance, She-Hulk’s skin often looked duller and grayish-green rather than the usual vibrant Hulk green. While the colors weren’t terrible, other laptops in this category have shown better display performance.
When we tested the Sword 15 with our colorimeter, it showed that it could reproduce 45.5% of the DCI-P3 color gamut and 64% of the sRGB color gamut. This was very similar to the performance of the Nitro 5. However, the Sword 15 didn’t do as well as the x14 R1 and the TUF Gaming F15 in the color tests, and it was behind all the competitors in brightness, with a modest 247 nits.
Touchpad and Keyboard of MSI Sword 15
Similar to its competitors, the MSI Sword 15 Gaming Laptop comes with a full keyboard that includes a number pad. It doesn’t have separate keys for common functions like volume or screen brightness; instead, you access them using the Fn key. For instance, pressing Fn + F8 lets you adjust the brightness levels for the backlit keyboard. However, I found the keyboard a bit cramped, especially around the number pad area.
I tested my typing speed and accuracy using keyhero.com. With my desktop keyboard, I achieved 98.5 words per minute at 90.53 percent accuracy. However, when using the Sword 15, my speed dropped to 86.43 words per minute with 89.46 percent accuracy.
The touchpad on the MSI Sword 15 Gaming Laptop measures 2.5 x 4.12 inches and sits to the left of the keyboard’s center. Although MSI could have made it larger, they opted not to.
During testing, I noticed that my left wrist struggled for space while typing because of the touchpad’s left offset. This became particularly bothersome when trying to access the WASD keys during gaming. On the other hand, there was plenty of room for my right wrist both while typing and gaming. Fortunately, you can turn off the touchpad by pressing Fn + F4. And of course, most gamers prefer using a mouse.
Audio of MSI Sword 15
The MSI Sword 15 has two 2-watt speakers positioned above the keyboard, right under the display. While the speakers don’t sound terrible, they give off a somewhat muddy vibe. When I watched “Thor: Love and Thunder” on Disney Plus, it felt like I was hearing the action with my hands covering my ears.
Listening to “Dreaming Tree” from Dave Matthews Band’s album “Before These Crowded Streets” was underwhelming. Stefan Lessard’s bass guitar, usually prominent in this track, was barely noticeable on the Sword 15’s speakers.
You can tweak audio settings using the Nahimic and Realtek apps included, but I didn’t notice a significant improvement in audio quality.
Webcam of MSI Sword 15
The Sword 15 comes equipped with a 720p webcam, so it’s not the highest quality available. Positioned centrally above the display, it’s just about adequate for the current work-from-home situation. However, the brightness is subpar, and colors appear dull and lifeless due to the low resolution. For instance, my purple shirt appeared grey, and details like the hair on my mustache and beard were blurry due to excessive smoothing.
Adding to the issues, the resulting image is grainy overall, and there’s no infrared support for Windows Hello. It seems MSI opted for the bare minimum here. On the positive side, there’s a small white LED that blinks when the webcam is active. If clear video calls are important to you, it might be worth considering one of the top external webcams available.
Upgradations of MSI Sword 15
Opening up the Sword 15 is simple. You just need to take out 13 Phillips-head screws and gently remove some plastic clips, especially near the exhaust vents at the back. Once the bottom panel is off, you can easily access the SSD, two memory slots, and the Wi-Fi/Bluetooth combo card.
It appears that the battery can be replaced by taking out three extra screws and disconnecting one connector on the motherboard. Additionally, there’s a spare slot available if you want to install a second M.2 2280 PCIe SSD. In our testing setup, both memory slots were occupied with 16GB of DDR4-3200 RAM.
Battery Life of the MSI Sword 15
We don’t anticipate long battery life from a gaming laptop, considering the powerful hardware inside, and the Sword 15 is no different. Among similar laptops, the Sword 15 had the shortest runtime in our battery test, lasting three hours and 55 minutes. Our test involves tasks like video streaming, web browsing, and graphics work over Wi-Fi, with the display set at 150 nits.
Among the laptops tested, the TUF Gaming F15 outperformed the others, nearly doubling the Sword 15’s runtime with 7 hours and 35 minutes.
Warranty and software of MSI Sword 15 Gaming Laptop
Our MSI Sword 15 came with Windows 11 Home preinstalled, along with some handy OEM utilities. These include the MSI App Player and MSI Center, where you can monitor hardware and adjust fan speed profiles.
In any case, it too comes with normal Windows bloatware, such as Disney Additionally, Spotify, TikTok, and Adobe Express. The latter two are pinned apps in the Start Menu and only install when clicked.
You’ll also find audio add-ons like Nahimic and Realtek apps.
MSI offers the Sword 15 with a one-year guarantee.
Configurations of MSI Sword 15 Gaming Laptop
The MSI Sword 15 Gaming Laptop we tested is the A12UE-605 model, sold at Best Buy for $1,349.99. This configuration includes an Intel Core i7-12650H processor, 16GB of DDR4-3200 RAM, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 (6GB) GPU, a 15.6-inch 1080p 144 Hz display, and a 1TB PCIe SSD.
There’s also a more affordable A12UC-295 model available at Best Buy for $949.99. This model features a lower-end Core i5-12450H processor, GeForce RTX 3050 (4GB) GPU, 8GB of DDR4-RAM, and a 512GB PCIe SSD.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the MSI Sword 15 Gaming Laptop is a solid choice for gamers looking for a powerful and affordable laptop. With its strong performance, sleek design, and impressive display, it offers everything you need to take your gaming experience to the next level. Whether you are a casual gamer or a prepared master, the MSI Sword 15 is beyond any doubt to surpass your desires.