Introduction

Laptops have come a long way in recent times, with modern mobile CPUs and GPUs having reached a point at which using a laptop as a desktop replacement seems like a pretty decent option even if gaming is something you are after. The biggest downside to laptops and gaming is fan noise, of course. But what if you don't care about fan noise and turn that into a feature instead? Maybe toss some big fans on the laptop so that the GPU can be overclocked too? MSI's GP76 Leopard does all that.

MSI has produced laptops for a long time, across a multitude of models and configurations. Here's what they themselves say about the GP76 Leopard:

"All ready to go, the one can adapt tenaciously and flexibly in any form. GP76 Leopard is equipped with 10th Gen. Intel Core i7 processors and powered by the latest NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 series graphics. With Cooler Boost 5, 144 Hz refresh rate screen, SteelSeries RGB keyboard and complete IO port configuration, GP76 Leopard's performance shall never be underestimated. It's exactly what you dream of."



While it claims to be "exactly what you wish for," the MSI GP76 Leopard isn't supposed to hit the top performance spot or check off every imaginable item on the list. Instead, it is a rather well-executed combination of features that nicely come together as a whole to where I personally could use the MSI GP76 Leopard as a desktop replacement. I just happen to be in the market for such a device given today's work environment with lots of people at home instead of the office. It needs to game and do work for me, and the MSI GP76 Leopard seems ready to squeeze the most performance out of the hardware on offer, with those noisy fans designed to allow you to get the most out of your laptop no matter how demanding your needs.

Packaging and Contents

The MSI GP76 Leopard makes a great first impression when you open the box. Inside the plain box, you'll find another fancier black box you'll need to slide out, embossed with the MSI Gaming dragon logo. You then need to flip this box open to get to the laptop and accessories inside.


Inside is the laptop itself, a small instruction booklet, and the power cable, all nicely nestled inside that fancy black box. The laptop floats in a nice layer of foam that keeps it in place in the box, and a black bag covers it to keep it fresh and free of dust until you tear that bag off.

• Laptop
• User guide
• Battery charger and cable

The MSI GP76 Leopard comes with a 230 W power supply manufactured by Delta Electronics. It has a fairly long cable that comes with an attached Velcro strip so you can wrap up the cable.

A Closer Look

With a big heft on the wrist, the might of the MSI GP76 Leopard is immediately noticed, coming in at almost a full whopping 7 lbs. The top has the MSI dragon logo in silver embedded. That top is made out of metal, protecting the screen while in transport and giving the MSI GP76 Leopard that high-quality feel under your fingertips.


The MSI GP76 Leopard is a huge laptop. Its expansive 17.3-inch screen provides lots of viewing space and allows for a full-size keyboard to fit in below. That keyboard comes to life when you press the power button at the top right.


That keyboard is a mechanical one designed by SteelSeries and backlit with per-key RGB lighting. The trackpad has a smoother texture than the keycaps, with a fair tilt down required to register button presses.


The right side of the laptop carries two USB plugs, while the left carries a third USB plug along with a combination audio port.


The rear features the power plug, Ethernet and HDMI ports, and a USB 3.1 Type-C plug that has DP1.4 capabilities. MSI points out that they have reinforced the hinges on the GP76 Leopard. With the hinges also recessed from the edge, they are definitely protected from random bumps while carrying the unit.


Under the laptop is a huge array of finned openings for airflow, and not-so-obvious but easy access for airflow to reach the components inside. Some user-upgradable options are still available; you just have to remove a fair number of screws to get to them.

A look Inside

Removing the bottom plate of the MSI GP76 Leopard is relatively easy... just remove the screws! There are a lot of them all over, but once they are all removed, the backplate tilts out of the way to reveal the goodies inside.


We immediately see the large heatpipes of the cooler. Four of these heatpipes come together over the GPU, while two sit over the CPU. Cooling pads have been put over the Wi-Fi card, memory, and M.2 SSD, but the Intel HM470 chipset gets nothing at all.


The motherboard has the CPU and GPU built right in, so there is no upgrading those. The cooler works really well in keeping both cool, so we left that alone and didn't remove it. You can see a large number of fins, and it appears that both fans on either side are similar, making me wonder why one produces more noise than the other?


My particular model of the MSI GP76 Leopard comes fitted with 2933 MHz memory from Kingston. There are two 8 GB modules.