MSI Cyborg 15 (RTX 4060) Review: The Best Budget Gaming Laptop?

This is a small gaming laptop that is good for people who don’t have a lot of money. It has a lot of power and doesn’t cost a lot.

The price is a big reason why people buy it. It costs about $1000 or £750. You can get an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 graphics card for that price. This GPU is not bad. It works great with new games. This makes the MSI Cyborg 15 RTX 4060 review a hot topic among gamers who don’t want to spend a lot of money.

But the laptop isn’t perfect. There are a few problems that make it not our first choice. The Cyborg 15 has a cool design and lets you play games in 1080p. The 12th-generation Intel Core i7-12650H processor is what it uses. Most tasks can be done with this CPU. It works well for gaming and productivity in the middle range. But it can seem a little behind newer laptops from other companies.

You’ve come to the right place if you want pure graphics power.  It’s hard to complain about the performance when it costs less than a thousand dollars. It gives a good experience where it matters most.

Quick Look at the MSI Cyborg 15 (A12VF-025UK)

Design and Features: A Hint of Retro-Futurism

The design of the MSI Cyborg 15 is really unique. Its sides and base are made of a special see-through plastic.  This makes it look very different, like something from the future.

The WASD keys are also see-through. This makes me think of gaming accessories from the late 1990s. It’s a nice and smart touch. This design makes the laptop look different. It looks cool, but it doesn’t scream “gaming laptop” in a coffee shop. It’s not too obvious for use in public.

This is something that happens a lot with cheap computers. The area around the keyboard, on the other hand, is a cool, matte metal. It doesn’t weigh much and is comfortable for your wrists during long sessions. Most gamers will still use an outside mouse.

Keyboard and Backlighting

People say that MSI laptops have comfortable keyboards. The Cyborg 15 is no different. The keys are spaced out well and make a very satisfying click when you press them.

The backlight on the keyboard is always blue and only one color. You can’t change this color. There is no control for RGB. We tried to set up the MSI Center software. You can’t change the backlighting even with the software. You can only have blue. You can easily change the brightness levels with a function key if the color is too bright. You can also turn it off completely.

Fast but pale display

The Cyborg 15’s screen is made to be fast. It has a resolution of Full HD 1080p. It also refreshes quickly at 144Hz. This mix makes playing games very smooth. Motion looks smooth, which is great for action games and esports games that move quickly.

The display does have a big problem, though: the quality of its colors. The screen isn’t very bright; it only has about 250 nits. This is fine to use inside, but it might have trouble in bright rooms. Color coverage is the bigger problem. It covers a little more than 60% of the sRGB color space. Colors can look dull and faded because of this. The graphics in both games and movies won’t be as bright as they are on other screens. It’s fine for just gaming. This screen is a big problem for creative work like editing photos or videos.

Performance: The Machine’s Heart

The best thing about the MSI Cyborg 15 review is how well it plays games. For the price, the features are good. It works well for playing the most popular games right now. It has an Intel Core i7-12650H CPU and an Nvidia RTX 4060 Laptop GPU.

You might not be able to set every single option to the highest level in new games. But it works great at 1080p with high settings. This is how it works.

Gaming Benchmarks and Experience

The 144Hz display will be great for esports fans. The Cyborg 15 easily gets over 120 frames per second (fps) at maximum graphics settings in less demanding games like World of Warcraft or Metro 2033: Redux.

The results are still great in more demanding modern games.

At Ultra settings, Cyberpunk 2077 runs at an average of 89 frames per second. It still runs at a very playable 62 frames per second, even with Ray Tracing and DLSS turned on.

Solid 87 frames per second at 1080p.

This laptop has enough power to run any major single-player game for the next few years. This is especially true if you’re okay with changing a few settings. This is fast enough for any esports game.

You can find users on Reddit who say that the MSI Cyborg 15 works well when you read a review. It often beats laptops with older RTX 3060 cards by a large margin.

How It Stacks Up

The MSI Cyborg 15 works as well as you would expect for the price. The performance is very similar to that of the Acer Predator Helios 16. It is about 8 frames per second slower than the Asus ROG Strix 15. The graphics card in all of these laptops is the same: the RTX 4060. The CPU and cooling are usually what make the difference.

MSI Cyborg 15 FAQ: Answering Your Questions

Getting to know the different model variations

It’s important to remember that the Cyborg 15 comes in more than one version. This review is mostly about the A12VF model with an RTX 4060.

MSI Cyborg 15 RTX 4050 review: The RTX 4050 model isn’t as good as the RTX 4050. It costs less, but games will run at lower frame rates. It’s still a good 1080p card, but you’ll need to lower the settings more often.

This older MSI Cyborg 15 RTX 3050 review shows that it is even more affordable. The RTX 3050 is a card for beginners. It works well for esports and older games, but it will have trouble with the newest AAA games at high settings. The A13VF model is better if the price difference isn’t too big.

So, who should buy the MSI Cyborg 15?

The MSI Cyborg 15 (A12VF-025UK) is a laptop that has a clear goal. Its goal is to give you the best gaming performance for the least amount of money. It mostly succeeds in that mission.

But to get to this price, some compromises had to be made. The 12th-generation Intel CPU is good, but it’s not as good as the competition. The display is the biggest problem. The 144Hz refresh rate is great for gaming, but the colors aren’t very accurate, and the brightness is low, so it’s not good for creative professionals and not as fun to watch movies on.

If you want to buy the MSI Cyborg 15, you should

• For professional use, you need the best CPU performance possible.
• You don’t like backlighting that is only one color; you want RGB that you can change.

It knows its audience well and gives them what they want most: in-game.

Going Deeper: Community Feedback, Upgrades, and Cooling

This is a very important question for any laptop that plays games. Why do MSI laptops get so hot? It’s because they put powerful parts that make heat into a thin case. The real question is how well they handle that heat.

For the price, the MSI Cyborg 15 has a good cooling system. It uses fans and heat pipes to move heat away from the CPU and GPU. It works well for most gaming sessions.

So, does it have a big problem with heating? No. But it can get hot. Here are some ways to deal with it.

• Clear the Vents: Make sure the vents for air intake and exhaust are not blocked.
• Use MSI Center: The software that comes with your computer is the best way to keep it cool.

How to Make the MSI Cyborg 15 Fan Go Faster

Using the MSI Center app, you can easily improve the cooling performance of your computer. This is the best way to get the laptop ready for a long gaming session.

1. Open MSI Center: On your laptop, look for and start the MSI Center software. You can get it from the MSI website if you don’t already have it.
2. Go to Features and look for a tab or section with the name “Features” or “System Diagnosis.”
3. Find User Scenario: In this part, you can see different performance profiles. They could be called Silent, Balanced, or Extreme Performance.
4. To turn on Cooler Boost, choose “Extreme Performance” mode. In this mode, you should see a choice for “Cooler Boost.” Clicking on this will make the fans run at their highest speed. The fans will be loud, but they will cool down the best.

Is the MSI Cyborg 15 upgradeable?

One of the best things about many gaming laptops is that you can upgrade them. This helps them last longer. The MSI Cyborg 15 is a good choice for a budget computer because it has good upgrade options.

RAM: There are two slots for RAM on the laptop. Two 8GB sticks usually fill these slots on the 16GB model. In the future, you can add more memory to this, up to 32GB or even 64GB. This is an easy upgrade that can make it easier to do more than one thing at once and make some professional apps work better.

Storage: The Cyborg 15 usually has one or two M.2 SSD slots for storage. One slot is already taken in the base 512GB model. If you have a second slot, you can either replace the current SSD with a bigger one or add another SSD for more game storage. This is a big plus because modern games can fill up 512GB quickly.

The motherboard has the CPU and GPU soldered to it. You can’t upgrade them. But an RTX 4060 has enough graphics power to last for years. The Cyborg 15 is a good long-term investment because you can add more RAM and storage.

What do other people think? What do most people think?

A lot of MSI Cyborg 15 reviews on Reddit talk about how good of a deal it is. People say that the RTX 4060 works well for the price.

Notebookcheck’s review of the MSI Cyborg 15 is an example of a professional review that goes into a lot of technical detail. They agree with what we found. They praise the keyboard and how well the games work. They don’t like the dim, low-color screen or the 12th-gen CPU, which is old news in a market that is moving to 13th-gen chips.

Should you buy new, used, or refurbished?

You have made up your mind that the Cyborg 15 is right for you. How do you buy it the best way?

You might be wondering if refurbished laptops are good. Yes, they can be a great deal.

Pros of Refurbished:

• You can save a lot of money.
• You get a laptop that works perfectly, and the seller usually gives you a warranty.
• It’s better for the environment.

Cons of Refurbished:

• It could have small scratches or other cosmetic flaws.
• The warranty period is usually shorter than it is for a new item.

Taking a Closer Look at GPU Choices

• You can buy the Cyborg 15 with different graphics cards. Depending on which one you pick, your gaming experience will be different.
• We looked at the MSI Cyborg 15 RTX 4060. Here is our review. It’s the perfect spot. It works great in 1080p and lets you use features like Ray Tracing and DLSS 3. For years to come, it will be able to play all new games at high settings.
• MSI Cyborg 15 RTX 4050 review: This is a good choice for people on a budget. The RTX 4050 is a good 1080p card. It will run most games well, but for the most demanding ones, you may need to use medium settings. It also works with DLSS 3, which is a big plus.
• MSI Cyborg 15 RTX 3050 review: This is an older, lower-end graphics card. It’s okay for games like Fortnite and Valorant that are esports. It will have trouble with new AAA games.
• Is the RTX 2050 a good gaming card? You might even find a model with an RTX 2050. This is a very basic GPU for beginners. It is better than built-in graphics, but not as good as the RTX 3050. It can only run older games or newer ones with the lowest settings.
• There is a big difference in performance between the 4050 and 3050.

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