MSI Raider 18 HX AI 2025 vs MSI GE76 Raider Comparison

Laptop to replace

Change

MSI Raider 18 HX AI 2025

18 inches | January 2025

CHECK PRICE

Change

MSI GE76 Raider

17.3 inches | January 2021

CHECK PRICE

MSI Raider 18 HX AI 2025 vs MSI GE76 Raider Comparison Overview

MSI Raider 18 HX AI...

See at AMAZON

MSI GE76 Raider

See at AMAZON

MSI Raider 18 HX AI...

See at AMAZON

MSI GE76 Raider

See at AMAZON

In this review, we will be comparing Raider 18 HX AI 2025 and GE76 Raider, two laptops by MSI. MSI Raider 18 HX AI 2025 was introduced to market in January 2025 and MSI GE76 Raider was launched in January 2021. As you can see, GE76 Raider is 4 years older than Raider 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

MSI Raider 18 HX AI 2025

CPU:
GPU:
RAM:
DISPLAY:

MSI GE76 Raider

CPU:
GPU:
RAM:
DISPLAY:

Here is a brief look at the main features of MSI Raider 18 HX AI 2025 and MSI GE76 Raider before getting into our more detailed comparison.

MSI Raider 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 5080 Laptop 16GB
32GB Ram
404 x 307.5 x 24-32.05 mm (15.91 x 12.11 x 0.94-1.26 inches)
Weight: 3.6 kg (7.94 lbs)

MSI GE76 Raider Key Specs

Launched in January 2021
17.3" IPS LCD, 16:9 Aspect Ratio Display
CPU: Intel Core i7 10750H
GPU: GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile 6GB
16GB Ram
397 x 284 x 25.9 mm (15.63 x 11.18 x 1.02 inches)
Weight: 2.9 kg (6.39 lbs)

Let's read on the following sections in order to better understand in detail how Raider 18 HX AI 2025 and GE76 Raider 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 MSI Raider 18 HX AI 2025 over MSI GE76 Raider

Screen-to-Body Ratio	~75.6% vs ~73.2%	Larger screen area ratio
Display Size	18 inches vs 17.3 inches	Larger Screen Estate
Screen Resolution	1920 x 1200 pixels vs 1920 x 1080 pixels	Higher pixel count screen
CPU Fabrication Process	3 nm vs 14 nm	Newer Generation CPU
GPU Fabrication Process	4 nm vs 8 nm	Newer Generation GPU
GPU FLOPS	42 TFLOPS vs 13.8 TFLOPS	Faster RAM Type
RAM Type	DDR5 vs DDR4	Higher RAM potential
Max Total RAM	96 GB vs 64 GB	More advanced Wi-fi connectivity
WiFi Standard	v7 vs v6E	More advanced Bluetooth connectivity
Bluetooth	v5.4 vs v5.2	Easy login with fingerprint
Fingerprint Sensor	Yes vs No	Faster USB-C connection
USB-C Port Type	v4.0 vs v3.2

Reasons to choose MSI GE76 Raider over MSI Raider 18 HX AI 2025

Weight	2.90 kg vs 3.60 kg	0.7 kg lighter
Side Bezel Thickness	7 mm vs 8.2 mm	1.2 mm thinner bezels
Screen PPI	127 ppi vs 126 ppi	More pixels per inch
RAM BUS	PCI-E Gen 4.0 (4x) vs PCI-E Gen 5.0 (4x)	Faster RAM

Common Strengths of MSI GE76 Raider and MSI Raider 18 HX AI 2025

Screen Coating	Matte vs Matte	Less reflections on the screen
Fast Charging Support	Yes vs Yes	Charge the battery in a shorter time
Upgradable RAM	Yes vs Yes	Option to increase the RAM size
RAM Type	PCI-E Gen 5.0 (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
Thunderbolt Port	v5 vs v4	Fast data and power transfer via Thunderbolt Port
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
Ethernet RJ45 Port	Yes vs Yes	Fast connection to Network via ethernet cable
Built-in SD Card Reader	Yes vs Yes	Read & Write SD Cards
Numeric Pad	Yes vs Yes	Fast way to input numbers
Keyboard Backlight	Yes vs Yes	Easily see the keys under low light

Common Weaknesses of MSI GE76 Raider and MSI Raider 18 HX AI 2025

Touchscreen Capability	No vs No	No Touchscreen Capability
HDR Support	No vs No	No HDR Support

MSI Raider 18 HX AI 2025 vs MSI GE76 Raider: Physical Specs Comparison

In this section, we will be comparing the physical specifications and body features of the MSI Raider 18 HX AI 2025 and the MSI GE76 Raider.

Physical Specs
Weight	3.6 kg (7.94 lbs)	2.9 kg (6.39 lbs)
Surface Area	1242 cm2 (192.7 inches2)	1127 cm2 (174.7 inches2)
Screen to Surface Ratio	~75.6%	~73.2%
Side Bezel Thickness	~8.2 mm	~7 mm
Weight per Inch of Screen	0.20 kg/inch	0.17 kg/inch
	0.44 lbs/inch	0.374 lbs/inch
Colors	Black	Blue

Comparison of the MSI Raider 18 HX AI 2025 and the MSI GE76 Raider External Dimensions

Weight

Raider 18 HX AI 2025 weighs 3.6 kg (7.94 lbs), whereas the GE76 Raider weighs 2.9 kg (6.39 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

Displays size larger than 17.0 inches

MSI Raider 18 HX AI 2025

MSI GE76 Raider

Min

Average

Max

Thickness Comparison

Displays size larger than 17.0 inches

MSI Raider 18 HX AI 2025

MSI GE76 Raider

Min

Average

Max

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 MSI Raider 18 HX AI 2025 is 0.20 kg/inch.In comparison, this value for the MSI GE76 Raider 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

MSI Raider 18 HX AI 2025 vs MSI GE76 Raider: Internals (CPU, GPU, RAM, Battery, SSD, etc.) Comparison

CPU Comparison

CPU Model	Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX AMD Ryzen 9 9955HX3D	Intel Core i7 10750H Intel Core i7 10870H Intel Core i7 10875H Intel Core i9 10980HK Intel Core i7 11800H Intel Core i9 11980HK
Base Frequency	2.7 GHz	2.6 GHz
Turbo Frequency	5.4 GHz	5 GHz
Number of Cores	Arc Graphics (4-	6
Number of Threads	24	12
L3 Cache	36 MB	12 MB
Integrated GPU	Arc Graphics (4-Cores)	Intel UHD Graphics 630
CPU Fabrication Process	3 nm	14 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 MSI Raider 18 HX AI 2025 and MSI GE76 Raider.

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

Laptops with: Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX

Laptops with: Intel Core i7 10750H

GPU Comparison

GPU Model	GeForce RTX 5080 Laptop 16GB GeForce RTX 5090 Laptop 24GB	GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile 6GB GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile 8GB GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile 16GB
Base Clock Frequency	975 MHz	900 MHz
TGP (Total Graphics Power)	175 W	80 W
Nvidia Optimus	MUX	MUX
Type	Dedicated	Dedicated
FLOPS	42 TFLOPS	10.94 TFLOPS
Memory Size	16 GB	6 GB
Memory Type	GDDR7	GDDR6
Memory Bus	256 bit	192 bit
Memory Speed	~28 Gbps	1750 MHz 14 Gbps effective
Shading Units Cores	7680	3840
TMUs	240	120
ROPs	96	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. MSI Raider 18 HX AI 2025 has a FLOPS value of 42 TFLOPS whereas the MSI GE76 Raider ' has a FLOPS value of 13.8 TFLOPS. If graphical performance of the laptop is important for your use type, the MSI Raider 18 HX AI 2025 may be the better choice between these two setups.

RAM Comparison

RAM	32GB 64GB 96GB	16GB 32GB 64GB
Memory Bus	2x16 GB	2x8 GB
RAM Clock	6400 MHz	3200 MHz
RAM Type	DDR5	DDR4
Upgradable	Yes	Yes
Max RAM Size	96 GB	64 GB
Total Slots	2	2
Memory Bus	PCI-E Gen 5.0 (4x)	PCI-E Gen 4.0 (4x)

With a larger RAM capacity of 32 GB, the Raider 18 HX AI 2025 offers an advantage for multitasking and resource-intensive applications compared to the GE76 Raider's RAM capacity of 16 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	MSI Raider 18 HX AI (2025)	MSI GE76 Raider
Small Models(1-3B):Examples: Phi-2, Qwen-1.8B	✔ Run smoothly.	✔ Run smoothly.
Medium Models(7-8B):Examples: Mistral-7B, Qwen-7B	✔ Good performance.	✖ Not supported.
Large Models(13-30B):Examples: Mixtral, Qwen-14B	✔ Runs smoothly on GPU.	✖ 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	99.9 Wh	99.9 Wh
Battery Type	Li-Po	Li-Po
Replaceable	No	No
Fast Charging	Yes	Yes
Charging Port Position	Right, Bottom	Bottom
Charge Power	400 W	230 / 240 / 280 W

Furthermore, both laptops have the same battery capacity of 100 Wh, ensuring comparable battery performance.

Battery Comparison

Displays size larger than 17.0 inches

MSI Raider 18 HX AI 2025

MSI GE76 Raider

Min

Average

Max

STORAGE
Both laptops, the Raider 18 HX AI 2025 and the GE76 Raider have similar max. storage capacities of 4 TB, allowing for ample space to store files and applications.

Storage Options	1 TB, 2 TB, 4 TB	512 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB, 4 TB
Upgradable	Yes	Yes
Total Slots	2	2
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.

MSI Raider 18 HX AI 2025 vs MSI GE76 Raider: Display Comparison

The display is an essential aspect to consider when comparing the MSI Raider 18 HX AI 2025 and MSI GE76 Raider 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. Raider 18 HX AI 2025 has a display size of 18.0".On the other hand, GE76 Raider has a smaller 17.3" display.The total usable screen area of the Raider 18 HX AI 2025 is 939cm² / 146inch² whereas the GE76 Raider's total usable screen area is 825cm² / 128inch².

PPI (Pixels per Inch)
Additionally, the GE76 Raider features a higher pixel density with 127 pixels per inch (PPI), ensuring sharper image details.

Screen PPI (Pixels Per Inch) Comparison

Displays size larger than 17.0 inches

MSI Raider 18 HX AI 2025

MSI GE76 Raider

Min

Average

Max

Refresh Rate
Both Raider 18 HX AI 2025 and GE76 Raider offer the same refresh rate of 144 Hz.

MSI Raider 18 HX AI 2025 vs MSI GE76 Raider Connectivity Comparison

In terms of connectivity,

Wifi
Raider 18 HX AI 2025 features a more advanced Wi-Fi standard v7, providing faster and more reliable wireless connections compared to GE76 Raider (v6E).

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 Raider 18 HX AI 2025 and GE76 Raider feature 3x USB 3.2 USB-A ports.
Both Raider 18 HX AI 2025 and GE76 Raider have USB Type-C ports. Raider 18 HX AI 2025 has 2x USB 4.0 USB Type-C ports, while GE76 Raider has 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
Both Raider 18 HX AI 2025 and GE76 Raider feature Thunderbolt ports. Raider 18 HX AI 2025 has Thunderbolt 5, while GE76 Raider has Thunderbolt 4.

HDMI
Both Raider 18 HX AI 2025 and GE76 Raider 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
Both Raider 18 HX AI 2025 and GE76 Raider come with an SD Card Reader for easy access to memory cards.

Audio Jack
Both Raider 18 HX AI 2025 and GE76 Raider 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)	v7	v6E
Bluetooth (latest: v5.4)	v5.4	v5.2
USB-A (latest: 3.2)	3x USB 3.2	3x USB 3.2
USB Type-C (latest: USB4 2.0)	2x USB 4.0	2x USB 3.2
Thunderbolt (latest: 5)	Thunderbolt 5	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	No
Optical Drive	No	No
Audio Jack 3.5mm	Yes	Yes
Ethernet RJ45	Yes	Yes
SD CardReader	Yes	Yes
Proprietary Charging Port	Yes	Yes