The model that was delivered to us was so powerful that you could perform all three at once, and it can devour a Premiere Pro render. Before we travel far into the woods, you can probably estimate how powerful it is because it is equipped with an NVIDIA 3080Ti. With a digital pen available and a 17-inch touch-screen display, 32GB of RAM, and an extremely powerful processor, this computer is designed for someone who takes content production seriously. also you can check our article on MSI Creator Z17 review. It is also iPad or tablet-adjacent and aims to provide everything in one package. When we got our first glance at MSI’s most recent MacBook Killer, the Creator Z16, a few months back, we were impressed. But first, we got our hands on the brand-new version with a 12th Gen Intel processor and tested it out. It is reportedly the first 17-inch laptop featuring a touchscreen-based stylus, among other features.
Design
A 17.3-inch 16:10 IPS display with slim bezels and a 91% screen-to-body ratio serves as the centrepiece of the Creator Z17. It weighs 7.4 pounds and is 15.04 inches wide by 10.24 inches deep by 0.75 inches thick, making it a big laptop. There aren’t many 17-inch laptops to compare it against, but the Dell XPS 17 stands out thanks to its 17-inch 16:10 IPS display and slimmer bezels. The Dell weighs 4.87 pounds and measures 14.74 inches in width by 9.76 inches in depth by 0.77 inches in thickness. As a result, the Creator Z17 is surprisingly heavier and larger in all other respects except for thickness. The chassis of both laptops is made of CNC machined aluminium, with the XPS 17’s keyboard deck featuring lighter carbon fibre. I’m not clear why the Creator Z17 is so much heavier, though, despite that. There is without a doubt no difference in the construction. The keyboard deck and bottom chassis of the Creator Z17 do not flex, while the lid of the laptop just slightly bends. However, the XPS 17 is considerably more rigid and has no lid flexibility. The Creator Z17 lags somewhat behind some of its most significant rivals since the Dell XPS 15 and Apple MacBook Pro 16 are both constructed with better rigidity. The Creator Z17 was built by MSI to adhere to military durability standards, which gives users further assurance about its resilience.
Keyboard and touchpad
The Creator 17’s keyboard and trackpad were two of its most annoying design features, but they have been greatly improved in the Z17. The full-sized SteelSeries keyboard on the Creator Z17 is well-spaced, has a lovely clicky feel, and is devoid of the mush we’ve encountered with many laptop keyboards that have this much key travel. It also features a very large glass-topped touchpad. you can read our article on MSI Creator Z17 review. A smaller number pad and redesigned keyboard layout provide the main keyboard a roomier feel without sacrificing any usefulness. If you enjoy RGB lighting, you may use the integrated SteelSeries software to individually adjust each key’s lighting effects. If you’re not, the per-key backlighting still offers the advantage of offering a powerful and incredibly adaptable keyboard illumination that, regardless of how bright the surrounding light levels are, illuminates each key equally and clearly shines through each keycap.
MSI Creator Z17 review: Display
For the laptop, MSI used a glossy 17-inch touchscreen. It has a 2,560 x 1,600 resolution and a 165 Hz IPS panel (i.e. 16:10 aspect ratio). The display has a peak brightness of 400 nits, which is a respectably high level. With an 8% brightness distribution, it is also regarded as being quite evenly lighted. Regarding the values we measured, the black level and contrast are a little underwhelming. However, because of the glossy surface, colours seem to be more vivid in our subjective perceptions. The lightning-quick response speeds will also please gamers. In extremely dark environments, screen bleeding is barely noticeable along the lower edge of the screen.
Audio
On the Creator Z17, there are two stereo speakers above the keyboard deck and two downward-firing speakers at the front of the chassis. They provide music with intriguing bass, crisp mids, and highs that are crystal clear. The maximum level is the primary problem because it is so low. As a result, you may use it to binge-watch Netflix by yourself, but you’ll need more speakers if you want to share the experience. Headphones are still suggested for music. It’s amazing the keyboard and cooling fans are silent given how quiet the speakers are. DTS software does help a little bit because music is clear in a quiet area, but outdoor activities will unquestionably benefit from a pair of headphones.
Graphic and gaming
There are 8 GB of video RAM in the Z17’s GeForce RTX 3070 Ti. This little Z17 graphics card is theoretically a very powerful graphics card, even though it only has access to 90 watts of power (with Dynamic Boost). The GPU of the Blade 17 has access to 150 watts, in contrast. Because of this, the Creator Z17 performs in the simulated 3DMark benchmarks at least 5% poorer than the average of all laptops with the same GPU. In 3DMark 11, the laptop’s GPU performance decreased by around 45% when running on battery power. Far Cry 5’s outstanding performance appears to be more or less an outlier. The RTX 3070 Ti’s overall performance was at least 5% to 10% below average while having a 90 watt rating. Depending on the game and settings, performance differences from the Blade 17 can be anywhere between 5% and 20%. The difference is, however, much less pronounced in the majority of games.
MSI Creator Z17 review: Performance
The potent Core i9-12900H with the RTX 3070 Ti should delight both gamers and content producers. Particularly the excellent touchscreen is going to draw in content producers. Additionally, the laptop has substantial 32 GB of RAM, which is plenty for creative endeavours. There are three different ways to configure the Z17. In addition to the combination for the review, there are other configurations available, including one with an RTX 3080 and 2 TB of SSD storage and the top-spec model, which has an RTX 3080 Ti, 64 GB of RAM, and 2 TB of SSD storage. The CPU and display are the same across all three variants. The laptop comes with MSI Center Pro, a piece of proprietary software from the manufacturer that enables you to modify a number of system settings. The laptop was used in high-performance mode for all benchmarks other than the battery test in order to produce the best results. After you turn on the laptop, the software takes some time to launch. One of the quickest current-generation Alder Lake CPUs, the Intel Core i9-12900H, was installed in the Z17 by MSI. For a device with such a tiny physical factor, this is really remarkable. There are a total of 14 cores—20 threads—with clock rates ranging from 1.8 to 5 GHz. There are 6 P-cores and 8 E-cores. The processor is compatible with all of vPro’s “Enterprise” capabilities (management features). On the Xe Graphics that are integrated, all 96 EUs are operational.
Battery life
With the MSI Creator Z16 and MSI Creator Z17, battery life has been a problem. Even though there are some modest advantages, having this much power and portability usually requires some trade-offs. During the PCMark 10 Battery Life test, the 90W battery inside the Creator Z17 lasted seven hours and fourteen minutes. The laptop battery ran out after seven hours and ten minutes of our HD Movie loop test. also you can learn our article on MSI Creator Z17 review. Thankfully, the MSI Center Pro software offers more possibilities to change different settings to aid with battery preservation. One thing is certain: playing games and undertaking intensive media processing will quickly deplete your battery. However, there is a quick charge feature that can charge the device to approximately 50% in under an hour.
MSI Creator Z17 review: Heat
If you believed that the loud fans would at least keep the chassis cool, you would be mistaken. In the centre of the bottom panel, which was under load, there were hot areas with temperatures as high as 68°C (154°F). Under load and when playing games, competing goods from other firms are at least 10°C (50°F) cooler. During the stress test, the temperature of the palm rests even reached 36°C (97°F) when Witcher 3 was operating on the laptop. These are also the highest values in the group under comparison.
Configuration options
Three different versions of the Creator Z17 are offered, all of which make use of the identical 17.3-inch display. At a pricey $3,249 for a Core i7-12700H, 32GB of DDR5 RAM, a 1TB PCIe 4 solid-state drive (SSD), and the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti, my review device is the entry-level model. The next configuration costs $3,999 and includes an RTX 3080, a Core i9-12900H, 32GB of RAM, and a 2TB PCIe 4 SSD. The most expensive computer costs $4,599 and comes equipped with an RTX 3080 Ti, 64GB of RAM, a 2TB SSD, and a Core i9-12900H.
Conclusion
The MSI Creator Z17 is a fantastic laptop that makes use of the benefits of Intel’s 12th generation CPUs to give outstanding performance in a stylish package. It’s undoubtedly not a budget laptop, but for creatives who are serious about performance and aren’t worried by the display’s restrictions or the battery life’s generally subpar performance, it offers a lot. We all know it’s practically impossible, but after two weeks with the Z17, we are beginning to doubt our own allegiances, which is evidence that this is a highly alluring package.
