Acer Predator Helios 18 AI (2025) vs MSI Crosshair 18 HX AI 2025 Comparison

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MSI Crosshair 18 HX AI 2025

18 inches | January 2025

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vs MSI Crosshair 18 HX AI 2025 Comparison Overview

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MSI Crosshair 18 HX...

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In this review, we will be comparing Predator Helios 18 AI (2025) and Crosshair 18 HX AI 2025, two laptops from Acer and MSI. was introduced to market in January and MSI Crosshair 18 HX AI 2025 was launched in January 2025. As you can see, Predator Helios 18 AI (2025) is 55 years older than Crosshair 18 HX AI 2025. Let's see if this age difference between two laptops makes a big difference.

Click for Available Configurations of the Laptops

Predator Helios 18 AI (2025) and Crosshair 18 HX AI 2025 are members of MSI's series of laptops. Below you can find the latest models from this series.

Acer Series History

	Release Date	Screen Size	Dimensions	Weight
Acer Aspire Go 15 AG15-71	August 2025	15.6"	362.9 x 237.5 x 19.9 mm	1.8 kg (3.97 lbs)
Acer Predator Triton 14 PT14-52	May 2025	14.0"	321.8 x 221 x 17.31 mm	1.6 kg (3.53 lbs)
Acer Predator Helios Neo 14 AI PHN14-71	May 2025	14.5"	323.9 x 254.7 x 20.8 mm	1.9 kg (4.19 lbs)
Acer Swift Go 14 AI OLED SFG14-75	May 2025	14.0"	312.4 x 227.4 x 9.7 mm	1.24 kg (2.73 lbs)
Acer Nitro Lite 16	April 2025	16.0"	362.2 x 248.47 x 22.9 mm	1.95 kg (4.3 lbs)
Acer Nitro 18 AI AN18-61	April 2025	18.0"	400.9 x 310.3 x 15.08-24.95 mm	3.02 kg (6.66 lbs)
Acer Nitro V 16S AI ANV16S-61	April 2025	16.0"	357.7 x 264 x 19.95 mm	2.1 kg (4.63 lbs)
Acer Nitro 16S AI AN16S-61	April 2025	16.0"	356.8 x 275.5 x 12.1-20.0 mm	2.18 kg (4.81 lbs)

Here is a brief look at the main features of and MSI Crosshair 18 HX AI 2025 before getting into our more detailed comparison.

Key Specs

Launched in January 1970
" , Aspect Ratio Display
CPU: Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX
GPU: GeForce RTX 5080 Laptop 16GB
16GB Ram
()
Weight:

MSI Crosshair 18 HX AI 2025 Key Specs

Launched in January 2025
18.0" IPS LCD, 16:10 Aspect Ratio Display
CPU: Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX
GPU: GeForce RTX 5060 Laptop 8GB
16GB Ram
404 x 280 x 25.6-29.9 mm (15.91 x 11.02 x 1.01-1.18 inches)
Weight: 3.1 kg (6.84 lbs)

Let's read on the following sections in order to better understand in detail how Predator Helios 18 AI (2025) and Crosshair 18 HX AI 2025 compares and decide which one is better for you.

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Reasons to choose Acer Predator Helios 18 AI 2025 over MSI Crosshair 18 HX AI 2025

Weight	kg vs 3.10 kg	3.1 kg lighter

Reasons to choose MSI Crosshair 18 HX AI 2025 over Acer Predator Helios 18 AI 2025

Screen-to-Body Ratio	~83% vs	Larger screen area ratio
Screen Type	Matte vs Glossy	potentially less reflections on screen
RAM Type	DDR5 vs	Faster RAM Type
WiFi Standard	v6E vs	More advanced Wi-fi connectivity
Bluetooth	v5.3 vs	More advanced Bluetooth connectivity
Thunderbolt	v4 vs No	Support audio, data, power and video all through one single port
HDMI Port	1x HDMI 2.1 vs No	Connect to external monitors directly via HDMI cable
Ethernet RJ45 Port	Yes vs No	Connects to the local network via Ethernet RJ45
Numeric Pad	Yes vs No	Fast way to input numbers
Keyboard Backlight	Yes vs No	Easily see the keys under low light

Common Strengths of MSI Crosshair 18 HX AI 2025 and Acer Predator Helios 18 AI 2025

VGA Output	vs	Connect to External Displays via VGA cable

vs MSI Crosshair 18 HX AI 2025: Physical Specs Comparison

In this section, we will be comparing the physical specifications and body features of the and the MSI Crosshair 18 HX AI 2025.

Physical Specs
Weight		3.1 kg (6.84 lbs)
Surface Area		1131 cm2 (175.3 inches2)
Screen to Surface Ratio		~83%
Side Bezel Thickness	~	~8.2 mm
Weight per Inch of Screen	kg/inch	0.17 kg/inch
	0 lbs/inch	0.374 lbs/inch
Colors		Black

Comparison of the and the MSI Crosshair 18 HX AI 2025 External Dimensions

Weight

Predator Helios 18 AI (2025) weighs , whereas the Crosshair 18 HX AI 2025 weighs 3.1 kg (6.84 lbs). There is a notable difference in weight between these two laptops. However, it's important to consider that comparing their weights directly may not provide a complete picture since they also have different display sizes.

Weight Comparison

Avg: "

MSI Crosshair 18 HX AI 2025

Avg: larger than 17.0"

Thickness Comparison

Avg: "

MSI Crosshair 18 HX AI 2025

Avg: larger than 17.0"

Another value that we use for comparing the weights of the laptops is the Weight per Inch of Screen, which is calculated by dividing the total weight of the model with its usable diagonal screen size. This value for the is kg/inch.In comparison, this value for the MSI Crosshair 18 HX AI 2025 is 0.17 kg/inch.Here are some of the best performing laptops in this area:

Microsoft Surface Go 4: 0.05 kg/inch
LG Gram SuperSlim 15.6 2023: 0.06 kg/inch
Asus ProArt PZ13 HT5306: 0.06 kg/inch
Asus Zenbook A14 UX3407: 0.06 kg/inch
Microsoft Surface Pro 12: 0.06 kg/inch
Dell Latitude 7330: 0.07 kg/inch
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 2: 0.07 kg/inch
LG Gram 14 2022: 0.07 kg/inch

vs MSI Crosshair 18 HX AI 2025: Internals (CPU, GPU, RAM, Battery, SSD, etc.) Comparison

CPU Comparison

CPU Model	Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX	Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX
Base Frequency		2.7 GHz

Above you can see the CPU options and the CineBench and GeekBench test scores for both laptops, which gives an idea about what kind of performance difference you may experience between the and MSI Crosshair 18 HX AI 2025.

You may also read reviews of latest laptops with the same CPU ( Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX ) and compare them:

GPU Comparison

GPU Model	GeForce RTX 5080 Laptop 16GB GeForce RTX 5090 Laptop 24GB	GeForce RTX 5060 Laptop 8GB GeForce RTX 5070 Laptop 8GB
TGP (Total Graphics Power)		115 W

GPU is as critical as the CPU for graphic heavy applications and the table above gives a picture of how the two GPU compares. FLOPS is a measure of a GPU's performance based on the number of floating-point arithmetic calculations that the processor can perform within a second. has a FLOPS value of whereas the MSI Crosshair 18 HX AI 2025 ' has a FLOPS value of 18.4 TFLOPS. If graphical performance of the laptop is important for your use type, the MSI Crosshair 18 HX AI 2025 may be the better choice between these two setups.

RAM Comparison

RAM	16GB 32GB 64GB 96GB 192GB	16GB 32GB 64GB 96GB

Both laptops, the Predator Helios 18 AI (2025) and the Crosshair 18 HX AI 2025, come with similar RAM capacities of 16 GB, providing comparable performance in memory-intensive tasks.

LOCAL LLM Compatibility Evaluation

This quick guide shows what types of large language models (LLMs) each of these laptops could support, based on their respective hardware specifications. It's meant to help you compare their suitability for running AI models locally.

LLM Category	Acer Predator Helios 18 AI (2025) CPU/NPU: Intel Core Ultra 9 275hx (NPU)RAM: 16 GBGPU: Geforce Rtx 5080 Laptop 16gb	MSI Crosshair 18 HX AI (2025) CPU/NPU: Intel Core Ultra 9 275hx (NPU)RAM: 16 GBGPU: Geforce Rtx 5060 Laptop 8gb
Small Models(1-3B):Examples: Phi-2, Qwen-1.8B	✖ Not supported.	✔ Expected performance: "Runs Well" 2B model with Q4 quantization (recommended): Requires ~2.5 GB memory - fits in your 8 GB VRAM (See performance table below for details)
Medium Models(7-8B):Examples: Mistral-7B, Qwen-7B	✖ Not supported.	✔ Expected performance: "Runs Well" 7B model with Q4 quantization (recommended): Requires ~5.3 GB memory - fits in your 8 GB VRAM (See performance table below for details)
Large Models(13-30B):Examples: Llama 3 14B, Qwen1.5 14B, Dense 30B	✖ Not supported.	✔ 13–15B: Supported (Q4). 20–30B: Not practical — VRAM insufficient without heavy offload.
Extra-Large Models(65B+):Examples: LLaMA2-70B, Qwen1.5-72B	✖ Not practical on most laptops (64GB+ workstation laptops may be exceptions).	✖ Not practical on most laptops (64GB+ workstation laptops may be exceptions).

For more detailed LLM evaluation (subcategories, performance ranges, memory breakdown)

Acer Predator Helios 18 AI (2025)|MSI Crosshair 18 HX AI (2025)

Note: Optimized (e.g., 4-bit) models may run on limited hardware. Performance depends on runtime and setup.

📌 Model Types: Dense 30B Q4 models typically require around 19–22 GB of total memory, so they run best on systems with ≥24 GB unified memory. MoE models like Mixtral 8x7B (≈47B total parameters, usually ≈23–26 GB in 4-bit) also need high memory because all experts must be loaded, even though only a few are active per token. They reduce compute cost per token (similar to a ~12–13B dense model), but not memory usage, so they are not practical on 14–16 GB systems. Note: iGPU laptops use shared (unified) memory with lower bandwidth, making them more sensitive to memory pressure and offloading.

🚀 Modern NPU (Neural Processing Unit): Modern processors like AMD Ryzen AI and Intel Core Ultra feature NPU and unified memory architecture. NPUs provide modest performance gains (0-30% faster) with better power efficiency compared to iGPU-only execution. Real-world tests show ~3-10 tok/s range on 13B models with 32GB RAM (varies by runtime, quantization, and context), comparable to iGPU but more power-efficient. Note: These figures are examples from various NPU systems; actual performance depends on your specific hardware configuration.

Understanding Performance Categories

💡 Since this system uses iGPU, it typically falls in the "Modest Speed" range; more comfortable with short-medium context, expect noticeable slowdown with long context.

The performance descriptions use general categories because actual speed varies greatly based on your specific hardware, model optimization, context length, and runtime software.

Performance Level	Typical Range	User Experience
Runs Smoothly (High-end dGPU)	50+ tok/s	Real-time response. Feels instant, like ChatGPT.
Runs Well (Mid-range dGPU)	20-50 tok/s	Good interactive performance. Slight delay, but usable.
Modest Speed (iGPU/NPU/CPU)	5-20 tok/s	Usable for tasks that don't need instant responses. Noticeable typing delay.
Borderline / Slow (Limited hardware)	2-5 tok/s	Very slow. Patience required. Better for batch processing.
Not Practical	<2 tok/s	Too slow for regular use. May cause system hangs or instability.

💡 Tip: Your actual results may be higher or lower than these ranges. Test with your specific hardware to know for sure!

⚠️ Note: Performance categorization is based on how much total memory is available for the model (unified RAM) and whether it needs to spill into slower storage. GPU type (memory bandwidth, compute power) can also affect actual performance. Currently, we prioritize whether the model fits in available unified memory for classification. We may refine this categorization in future updates based on more detailed benchmarks.

BATTERY

BATTERY	99 Wh	90 Wh

In addition, the Crosshair 18 HX AI 2025 features a battery capacity of 90 Wh.

STORAGE
With a larger storage capacity up to 8 TB, the Predator Helios 18 AI (2025) provides more space for storing files and applications compared to the Crosshair 18 HX AI 2025's max. storage capacity of 4 TB.

Storage Options	1 TB, 2 TB, 4 TB, 8 TB	1 TB, 2 TB, 4 TB

If your budget allows, we recommend opting for the largest possible disk size, considering the potential increase in storage capacity needs in the future. However, please keep in mind the question 'What will the laptop be used for?' when making this decision. Of course, you can later upgrade the hard disk capacity by getting a larger disk. However, if your laptop has only one disk slot, it may not be as straightforward as a RAM upgrade, where you simply add or replace a module, as moving or cloning files to a new disk may be necessary.

vs MSI Crosshair 18 HX AI 2025: Display Comparison

The display is an essential aspect to consider when comparing the and MSI Crosshair 18 HX AI 2025 since its is the component that you interact the most and significantly impact the experience.

Screen Area and Dimensions

Now let's look at the comparison of the actual display areas of both laptops below, keeping the bezels around the screens out of the equation. Predator Helios 18 AI (2025) has a display size of ".On the other hand, Crosshair 18 HX AI 2025 has a larger18.0" display.The total usable screen area of the Predator Helios 18 AI (2025) is 0cm² / 0inch² whereas the Crosshair 18 HX AI 2025's total usable screen area is 939cm² / 146inch².

Screen PPI (Pixels Per Inch) Comparison

Avg: "

MSI Crosshair 18 HX AI 2025

Avg: larger than 17.0"

vs MSI Crosshair 18 HX AI 2025 Connectivity Comparison

In terms of connectivity,

Below, you'll find a Wi-Fi Versions Table, along with their release dates and speeds, to provide a brief overview of its development.

Wi-Fi Versions and Speeds

Standard	Speed	Release Date	Network	Frequency Bands (GHz)
Wi-Fi 7	up to 40 Gbps (5 GB/s)	2023	802.11be	2.4, 5, 6
Wi-Fi 6E	up to 9.6 Gbps (1.2 GB/s)	2020	802.11ax	2.4, 5, 6
Wi-Fi 6	up to 9.6 Gbps (1.2 GB/s)	2019	802.11ax	2.4, 5
Wi-Fi 5	up to 6.93 Gbps (866.25 MB/s)	2014	802.11ac	2.4, 5
Wi-Fi 4	up to 600 Mbps (75 MB/s)	2009	802.11n	2.4, 5

* Please note that the provided transfer rates are maximum theoretical values, and real-life performance may vary based on environmental factors.

USB
Crosshair 18 HX AI 2025 is equipped with 3x USB 3.2 USB-A ports. Predator Helios 18 AI (2025) does not have USB-A ports.
Crosshair 18 HX AI 2025 is equipped with 1x USB 3.2 USB Type-C ports. Predator Helios 18 AI (2025) does not have USB Type-C ports.

Below, you'll find a table of USB ports, along with their release dates and speeds.
To mitigate the confusion caused by generation names, the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) suggests using marketing names like USB 5Gbps, USB 10Gbps, and so forth, based on their respective transfer rates.

USB Type and Speeds

USB Type	Version	Speed	Date	Other Features/Explanations
USB4	Gen 4 (2.0)	80 Gbps	2022	Also known as USB 80Gbps
USB4	Gen 3×2	40 Gbps	2019	Also known as USB 40Gbps
USB 3.2	3.2 Gen 2x2	20 Gbps	2019	Double the data transfer rates of Gen 2
USB 3.2	3.2 Gen 2	10 Gbps	2017	Previously known as USB 3.1
USB 3.2	3.2 Gen 1	5 Gbps	2017	Previously known as USB 3.0
USB 3.1	3.1 Gen 2	10 Gbps	2013	Faster data transfer rates
USB 3.0	3.1 Gen 1	5 Gbps	2010	SuperSpeed USB, improved data transfer rates
USB 2.0	2.0	480 Mbps	2000	High-speed data transfer
USB 1.0	1.0	1.5 Mbps	1996	Original USB standard

Thunderbolt
Crosshair 18 HX AI 2025 is equipped with Thunderbolt 4 port. Predator Helios 18 AI (2025) does not have Thunderbolt port.

HDMI
Crosshair 18 HX AI 2025 features an HDMI port (1x HDMI 2.1) for connecting to external monitors. Predator Helios 18 AI (2025) does not have an HDMI port.

Below, you'll find a comparison table detailing different HDMI versions, including their bandwidth, color depth, maximum resolution, and release dates. This information can be helpful in understanding the capabilities of each HDMI version and choosing the most suitable one for your needs.

HDMI Comparison Table

HDMI Version	Maximum Resolution	Bandwidth (Gbps)	Color Depth (bits)	Release Date
HDMI 2.1-2.1b	7680 x 4320 *(8K)* @ 60p 3840 x 2160 *(4K)* @ 120p	48.0	48	2017
HDMI 2.0-2.0b	3840 x 2160 *(4K)* @ 60p	18.0	48	2013
HDMI 1.4-1.4b	3840 x 2160 *(4K)* @ 30p	10.2	48	2009
HDMI 1.3-1.3a	2560 x 1440 @ 60p	10.2	48	2006
HDMI 1.0-1.2a	1920 x 1200 @ 60p	4.95	24	2002

* Please note that the provided resolution values represent the maximum supported resolution, and actual display quality may depend on other factors such as source content and connected devices.

SD Card Reader
Neither Predator Helios 18 AI (2025) nor Crosshair 18 HX AI 2025 has an SD Card Reader.

Audio Jack
Crosshair 18 HX AI 2025 is equipped with a 3.5mm Audio Jack, allowing seamless connection to headphones and speakers. Predator Helios 18 AI (2025) does not have a 3.5mm Audio Jack.

To summarize the connectivity and ports details, please refer to the table below to see them listed.