Acer Swift Edge SFA16-41 vs MSI Creator Z16 Comparison

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Acer Swift Edge SFA16-41

16 inches | October 2022

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MSI Creator Z16

16 inches | September 2021

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Acer Swift Edge SFA16-41 vs MSI Creator Z16 Comparison Overview

Acer Swift Edge SFA1...

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MSI Creator Z16

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MSI Creator Z16

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In this review, we will be comparing Swift Edge SFA16-41 and Creator Z16, two laptops from Acer and MSI. Acer Swift Edge SFA16-41 was introduced to market in October 2022 and MSI Creator Z16 was launched in September 2021. There is 13 months difference between Swift Edge SFA16-41 and Creator Z16 so it would still give an advantage to younger Swift Edge SFA16-41.

Click for Available Configurations of the Laptops

Here is a brief look at the main features of Acer Swift Edge SFA16-41 and MSI Creator Z16 before getting into our more detailed comparison.

Acer Swift Edge SFA16-41 Key Specs

Launched in October 2022
16.0" OLED, 16:10 Aspect Ratio Display
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 6800Uâ€‹
GPU: Radeon 680M
8GB Ram
356.7 x 242.3 x 12.95-13.95 mm (14.04 x 9.54 x 0.51-0.55 inches)
Weight: 1.17 kg (2.58 lbs)

MSI Creator Z16 Key Specs

Launched in September 2021
16.0" IPS LCD, 16:10 Aspect Ratio Display
CPU: Intel Core i7 11800H
GPU: GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile 6GB
16GB Ram
359 x 256 x 15.9 mm (14.13 x 10.08 x 0.63 inches)
Weight: 2.2 kg (4.85 lbs)

Let's read on the following sections in order to better understand in detail how Swift Edge SFA16-41 and Creator Z16 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 Swift Edge SFA16-41 over MSI Creator Z16

Weight	1.17 kg vs 2.20 kg	1.03 kg lighter
Screen-to-Body Ratio	~85.9% vs ~80.8%	Larger screen area ratio
Side Bezel Thickness	6 mm vs 7.2 mm	1.2 mm thinner bezels
Noise Level	40 dB vs 54.8 dB	Less fan noise
Screen PPI	283 ppi vs 189 ppi	More pixels per inch
Screen Resolution	3840 x 2400 pixels vs 2560 x 1600 pixels	Higher pixel count screen
CPU Fabrication Process	6 nm vs 10 nm	Newer Generation CPU
GPU Fabrication Process	7 nm vs 8 nm	Newer Generation GPU
RAM Type	LPDDR5 vs DDR4	Faster RAM Type
Webcam Resolution	1920 x 1080 vs 1280 x 720	Higher Resolution Camera
Ethernet RJ45 Port	Yes vs No	Connects to the local network via Ethernet RJ45

Reasons to choose MSI Creator Z16 over Acer Swift Edge SFA16-41

Refresh Rate	120 Hz vs 60 Hz	Smoother media experience
Screen Type	Matte vs Glossy	potentially less reflections on screen
DCI-P3 Color Gamut	100% vs 99.6%	Wider DCI-P3 Color Gamut
GPU FLOPS	10.4 TFLOPS vs 3.686 TFLOPS	Dedicated GPU unit
GPU Type	Dedicated vs Integrated	More RAM Options
Upgradable RAM	Yes vs No	Support audio, data, power and video all through one single port
Thunderbolt	v4 vs No	Read & Write SD Cards with the built-in reader
SD Card Reader	Yes vs No	Fast way to input numbers
Numeric Pad	Yes vs No

Common Strengths of MSI Creator Z16 and Acer Swift Edge SFA16-41

Launch Dates	October 2022 vs September 2021	Both laptops are recent models
Fast Charging Support	Yes vs Yes	Charge the battery in a shorter time
USB Power Delivery	Yes vs Yes	Charging via USB port gives flexibility
RAM Type	PCI-E Gen 4.0 (4x) vs PCI-E Gen 4.0 (4x)	Fast RAM type
Upgradable Storage	Yes vs Yes	Option to increase the Storage size
SSD Type	NVMe vs NVMe	Faster Data Transfers
Wi-Fi Standard	v6 vs v6	Fast and Reliable Wi-Fi Connections
Bluetooth Standard	v5.2 vs v5.2	Fast and Reliable Bluetooth Connections
HDMI Output	1x HDMI 2.1 vs 1x HDMI 2.1	Connect to External Displays via HDMI cable
VGA Output	No vs No	Connect to External Displays via VGA cable
Keyboard Backlight	Yes vs Yes	Easily see the keys under low light

Common Weaknesses of MSI Creator Z16 and Acer Swift Edge SFA16-41

Touchscreen Capability	No vs No	No Touchscreen Capability

Acer Swift Edge SFA16-41 vs MSI Creator Z16: Physical Specs Comparison

In this section, we will be comparing the physical specifications and body features of the Acer Swift Edge SFA16-41 and the MSI Creator Z16.

Physical Specs
Weight	1.17 kg (2.58 lbs)	2.2 kg (4.85 lbs)
Surface Area	864 cm2 (133.9 inches2)	919 cm2 (142.4 inches2)
Screen to Surface Ratio	~85.9%	~80.8%
Side Bezel Thickness	~6 mm	~7.2 mm
Weight per Inch of Screen	0.07 kg/inch	0.14 kg/inch
	0.154 lbs/inch	0.308 lbs/inch
Colors	Black, Silver, Gray, Blue	Black, Gray

Comparison of the Acer Swift Edge SFA16-41 and the MSI Creator Z16 External Dimensions

Weight

Swift Edge SFA16-41 weighs 1.17 kg (2.58 lbs), whereas the Creator Z16 weighs 2.2 kg (4.85 lbs). There is a notable difference in weight between these two laptops. The weight difference between the two laptops is not significant.

Weight Comparison

Displays size 16.0-16.9 inches

Acer Swift Edge SFA16-41 1.17 kg

MSI Creator Z16 2.20 kg

Min 1.17 kg

Average 2.07 kg

Max 3.00 kg

Thickness Comparison

Displays size 16.0-16.9 inches

Acer Swift Edge SFA16-41 13.00 mm

MSI Creator Z16 15.90 mm

Min 12.30 mm

Average 20.35 mm

Max 30.80 mm

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 Acer Swift Edge SFA16-41 is 0.07 kg/inch.In comparison, this value for the MSI Creator Z16 is 0.14 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
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
LG Gram 14 2-in-1 2022: 0.07 kg/inch

Acer Swift Edge SFA16-41 vs MSI Creator Z16: Internals (CPU, GPU, RAM, Battery, SSD, etc.) Comparison

CPU Comparison

CPU Model	AMD Ryzen 7 6800Uâ€‹	Intel Core i7 11800H Intel Core i9 11900H
Base Frequency	2.7 GHz	1.9-2.3 GHz
Turbo Frequency	4.7 GHz	4.6 GHz
Number of Cores	8	8
Number of Threads	16	16
L3 Cache	16 MB	24 MB
Integrated GPU	AMD Radeon 680M	Intel UHD Graphics for 11th Gen (32 EU)
CPU Fabrication Process	6 nm	10 nm

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 Acer Swift Edge SFA16-41 and MSI Creator Z16.

You may also read reviews of latest laptops with the same CPUs and compare them:

Laptops with: AMD Ryzen 7 6800Uâ€‹

Laptops with: Intel Core i7 11800H

GPU Comparison

GPU Model	Radeon 680M	GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile 6GB
Base Clock Frequency	2000 MHz	900 MHz
Boost CLock Frequency	2200 MHz	1425 MHz
TGP (Total Graphics Power)	50 W	80 W
Type	Integrated	Dedicated
FLOPS	3.379 TFLOPS	10.94 TFLOPS
Memory Size	System Shared	6 GB
Memory Type	System Shared	GDDR6
Memory Bus	System Shared	192 bit
Memory Speed	System Shared	1750 MHz 14 Gbps effective
Shading Units Cores	768	3840
TMUs	48	120
ROPs	32	48

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. Acer Swift Edge SFA16-41 has a FLOPS value of 3.686 TFLOPS whereas the MSI Creator Z16 ' has a FLOPS value of 10.4 TFLOPS. If graphical performance of the laptop is important for your use type, the Acer Swift Edge SFA16-41 may be the better choice between these two setups.

RAM Comparison

RAM	8GB 16GB	16GB 32GB 64GB
Memory Bus	2x4 GB	2x8 GB
RAM Clock	5200 MHz	3200 MHz
RAM Type	LPDDR5	DDR4
Upgradable	No	Yes
Memory Bus	PCI-E Gen 4.0 (4x)	PCI-E Gen 4.0 (4x)

The Creator Z16 provides a larger RAM capacity of 16 GB, which allows for smoother multitasking and improved performance in memory-demanding tasks compared to the Swift Edge SFA16-41's RAM capacity of 8 GB.

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 Swift Edge (SFA16-41)	MSI Creator Z16
Small Models(1-3B):Examples: Phi-2, Qwen-1.8B	✔ Run smoothly.	✔ Run smoothly.
Medium Models(7-8B):Examples: Mistral-7B, Qwen-7B	✖ Not supported.	✖ Not supported.
Large Models(13-30B):Examples: Mixtral, Qwen-14B	✖ Not supported.	✖ Not supported.
Extra-Large Models(65B+):Examples: LLaMA2-70B, Qwen1.5-72B	✖ Not supported on most systems. Requires high-end GPU or advanced setup.	✖ Not supported on most systems. Requires high-end GPU or advanced setup.

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

📌 MoE Models: Some models like Mixtral 8x7B and Qwen3-30B-A3B use a Mixture of Experts (MoE) design, activating only part of the model during inference. This means they can often run efficiently on laptops with 12–16 GB of VRAM when quantized.

BATTERY

BATTERY	54 Wh	90 Wh
Battery Type	Li-Ion	Li-Po
Replaceable	No	No
Fast Charging	No	Yes
USB Power Delivery	Yes	Yes
Charging Port Position	Left	Left
Charge Power	65 W	180 W
Full Charging Time	1:30 hr
AC Adapter Weight	260 grams	770 gramm

On the other hand, the Creator Z16 features a higher battery capacity of 90 Wh, delivering longer usage time compared to the Swift Edge SFA16-41's 54 Wh.

Battery Comparison

Displays size 16.0-16.9 inches

Acer Swift Edge SFA16-41 54 Wh

MSI Creator Z16 90 Wh

Min 38.00 Wh

Average 74.15 Wh

Max 100.00 Wh

STORAGE
Both laptops, the Swift Edge SFA16-41 and the Creator Z16 have similar max. storage capacities of 2 TB, allowing for ample space to store files and applications.

Storage Options	512 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB	256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB
Upgradable	Yes	Yes
Total Slots	1	1
Storage type	SSD (M2)	SSD (M2)
NVMe	Yes	Yes

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.

Acer Swift Edge SFA16-41 vs MSI Creator Z16: Display Comparison

The display is an essential aspect to consider when comparing the Acer Swift Edge SFA16-41 and MSI Creator Z16 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. Both Swift Edge SFA16-41 and Creator Z16 screens have the same size of 16.0".The total usable screen area of the Swift Edge SFA16-41 is 742cm² / 115inch² whereas the Creator Z16's total usable screen area is 742cm² / 115inch².

PPI (Pixels per Inch)
Additionally, the Swift Edge SFA16-41 features a higher pixel density with 283 pixels per inch (PPI), ensuring sharper image details.

Screen PPI (Pixels Per Inch) Comparison

Displays size 16.0-16.9 inches

Acer Swift Edge SFA16-41 283 ppi

MSI Creator Z16 189 ppi

Min 137 PPI

Average 169 PPI

Max 283.00 PPI

Refresh Rate
The Creator Z16 offers a higher refresh rate of 120 Hz, resulting in smoother motion and improved visual experience.

Brightness
Both Swift Edge SFA16-41 and Creator Z16 offer the same maximum brightness of 400 nits (cd/m²).

Brightness Comparison

Displays size 16.0-16.9 inches

Acer Swift Edge SFA16-41 400 nits

MSI Creator Z16 400 nits

Min

40 nits

Average 413 nits

Max 1250.00 nits

Acer Swift Edge SFA16-41 vs MSI Creator Z16 Connectivity Comparison

In terms of connectivity,

Wifi
Both laptops offer the same Wi-Fi standard (v6), ensuring fast and reliable wireless connections.

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
Both Swift Edge SFA16-41 and Creator Z16 feature 2x USB 3.2 USB-A ports.
Both Swift Edge SFA16-41 and Creator Z16 feature 2x USB 3.2 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
Creator Z16 is equipped with Thunderbolt 4 port. Swift Edge SFA16-41 does not have Thunderbolt port.

HDMI
Both Swift Edge SFA16-41 and Creator Z16 feature an HDMI port (1x HDMI 2.1) for connecting to external monitors.

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
Creator Z16 is equipped with an SD Card Reader for easy access to memory cards. Swift Edge SFA16-41 does not have an SD Card Reader.

Audio Jack
Both Swift Edge SFA16-41 and Creator Z16 are equipped with a 3.5mm Audio Jack, providing seamless connection to headphones and speakers.

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

Connectivity and Ports
WiFi Standard (latest: v7)	v6	v6
Bluetooth (latest: v5.4)	v5.2	v5.2
USB-A (latest: 3.2)	2x USB 3.2	2x USB 3.2
USB Type-C (latest: USB4 2.0)	2x USB 3.2	2x USB 3.2
Thunderbolt (latest: 4)	No	Thunderbolt 4
HDMI (latest: 2.1)	1x HDMI 2.1	1x HDMI 2.1
Display Port (latest: v2.0)	No	No
VGA	No	No
Fingerprint Sensor	Yes	Optional
Optical Drive	No	No
Audio Jack 3.5mm	Yes	Yes
Ethernet RJ45	Yes	No
SD CardReader	No	Yes
Proprietary Charging Port	No	Yes