At CES 2024, MSI launched a super product called Titan 18 HX A14V, with a “giant” appearance and a massive set of parameters. So, can it provide an exceptional experience for high-end users? Let’s see this MSI Titan 18 HX review in this article.
A few days ago, I posted a review of the MSI Raider 18 HX, which had a powerful performance and conquered a series of heavy games. However, the MSI Raider 18 HX has not yet reached the perfection that users expect, and MSI has the answer with the MSI Titan 18 HX A14V.
MSI Titan 18 HX Review
Design
In this MSI Titan 18 HX review, I will discuss the laptop’s exterior design. Many technology experts are highly interested in this design. It is the predecessor of the MSI Titan GT77 HX 13V and addresses many of its weaknesses. The Titan GT77 HX offers a certain level of luxury. However, the Titan 18 HX A14V enhances the experience significantly.
The MSI Titan 18 HX A14V has a simple black exterior that may seem “monotonous” at first glance. However, its build quality and finish exceed expectations. Most contact surfaces are metal, giving the laptop a premium look that reflects its high-end status.
With the DNA of an iconic product, this laptop’s structure is more complex than it seems. The device features meticulously cut edges, with recessed areas and protruding surfaces for a distinct “gaming” and “tech” design. While some edges are sharp, I appreciate this unique, iconic style.
On the back, users will see almost nothing except the logo with integrated sRGB lights below it. The MSI logo lights synchronize with the keyboard, adding consistency and a clean look. MSI doesn’t need to add anything more to the back of the device—personally, I think it’s already beautiful.
Perhaps the thing that readers are most concerned about is the weight of the MSI Titan 18 HX. With all the modern technology inside and metal material outside, it’s no wonder it’s “heavy.” It has an 18-inch screen and dimensions of 404 x 307.5 x 24-32.05 mm (length x width x height). It weighs 7.93 pounds (approximately 3.6 kg), making it a formidable powerhouse with substantial heft and robust performance.
However, it’s important to note that this gaming laptop is significantly lighter than MSI’s previous models. The Titan 18 HX is designed for home use as a central hub. It manages multiple complex devices and handles demanding tasks simultaneously. Given its capabilities, the trade-off for its weight is justified.
One minor drawback is the device’s tendency to attract fingerprints, particularly on the back and keyboard. If you have sweaty hands, consider bringing a towel to keep the device clean and preserve its appearance over time.
It’s important to note that the MSI Titan 18 HX A14V is “heavy” in price and weight. The total weight is 3.6 kg, excluding the 600 g charger, which can make it cumbersome to carry. Additionally, its large size means that not all 17- to 18-inch laptop backpacks can accommodate it.
Extensive Connectivity
The MSI Titan 18 HX features a variety of connection ports, allowing it to serve as a control center for other devices. On the left side, it includes two USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports and an SD card slot.
The right side includes two Thunderbolt 4 ports and a 3.5mm audio jack. With USB-A ports, you can connect a mouse, an external display, a mechanical keyboard, or charge your phone.
The back of the laptop features a dedicated charging port, a LAN port, and an HDMI port. In particular, MSI Titan 18 HX supports Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, and Ethernet 2.5G standards, helping to optimize network connectivity, even reaching maximum speed when using Wi-Fi 6E.
Keyboard and Touchpad
One of the things we need to pay more attention to on the MSI Titan 18 HX is the laptop keyboard. MSI has combined the SteelSeries brand, Cherry technology, and sRGB backlight to bring a deeply customized keyboard series inside. You can easily customize the laptop backlight using the Steelseries GG application. With just one touch, you can synchronize it with the MSI logo on the back.
Similar to the MSI Raider 18 HX, this laptop is fully integrated with the necessary keys, including the number keys on the right side. One of the changes on this keyboard is that the Fn button only appears on the right navigation buttons. The left side of the hinge does not have this button.
Using this keyboard is satisfying due to its highly responsive keys. The key travel is shallow but adequate, providing a mechanical feel that enhances the gaming experience. The response speed of these physical buttons is quick, ensuring my work is never delayed. Although the Tab, Caps Lock, Shift, and Control keys are smaller, the overall experience remains positive, and I encounter no obstacles.
The standout feature of the MSI Titan 18 HX is its touchpad. Although modest in size—approximately 5 inches wide and 3 inches deep—it’s smaller than those found on other laptops in this segment. However, its flat surface seamlessly integrates with the palm rest, creating a unique “hidden” design. You can easily change the color of this touchpad, giving it a new feeling and creating a certain excitement during the experience.
This design has some drawbacks, especially when users struggle to accurately aim at the touchpad’s position and movement range when it is not illuminated. However, MSI has incorporated vibration feedback technology to provide users with a pressing sensation, blending familiarity with innovation. Overall, I am pleased with this design.
Is the MSI Titan 18 HX Screen Up to Expectations?
The next factor I want to talk about is the screen. MSI 4K laptop has impressive screen specifications, especially when the device belongs to the high-end segment and reaches professional customers. Specifically, the MSI Titan 18 HX is equipped with:
- Screen size: 18 inches, 16:10 ratio
- Mini-LED IPS panel, 1,000 nits brightness
- Resolution 3,840 × 2,400 pixels (4K)
- 120 Hz refresh rate (customizable)
The MSI Titan 18 HX features an expansive 18-inch display, enhancing the viewing area and allowing for more efficient multitasking. Users are familiar with the 16:9 ratio. However, the 16:10 ratio is gradually gaining popularity as the practicality of a larger screen offers more advantages.
The sharpness of the screen is a significant advantage. The 18-inch 4K panel has a pixel density of 251 ppi, while a 27-inch 4K screen has 163 ppi. This high pixel density ensures that image details are crisp. It greatly benefits content creators, video editors, and professional photographers who require high-quality zooming and editing.
The MSI Titan 18 HX features a Mini-LED panel that offers high contrast and a maximum brightness of 1,000 nits. It is much brighter than the 400-500 nits that most OLED displays can achieve. With HDR games, this laptop delivers vivid, deep, impressive images and reaches 1,008 independent brightness zones. However, the Mini-LED panel causes the laptop screen to “bloom” (halo) around the edges.
The last factor I want to mention is the refresh rate. The laptop has a refresh rate of 120 Hz, much lower than the 144 Hz or 240 Hz parameters. However, note that the 4K screen will increase the price if you raise the refresh rate. In return, the 120 Hz screen still ensures a smooth experience in scrolling frames, especially in FPS and AAA games,…
MSI Titan 18 HX review test
Coming straight to what readers are interested in: The actual performance of the Titan 18 HX. First, MSI has equipped this laptop with robust specifications, featuring a bulky design and significant internal power, as mentioned at the beginning of the MSI Titan 18 HX review.
- CPU: Intel Core i9-14900HX, 24 cores, 32 threads, and Turbo Boost speed up to 5.8 GHz
- Discrete graphics card: Nvidia RTX 4090, 24 GB GDDR6X VRAM, DLSS 3
- RAM: DDR5, 128 GB capacity
- SSD: Solid state drive, PCIe NVMe type, 4 TB capacity
PCMark 10
Technology experts tested the MSI Titan 18 HX’s performance using PCMark 10 software. The laptop scored up to 8,872 points, outperforming the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 and the Acer Predator Triton 17X. However, its score is slightly lower than the MSI Titan GT77 HX 13V, released last year, which achieved 8,890 points.
Cinebench R20
Next is Cinebench R20, which tests the multi-threading factor of the CPU. With up to 32 threads, the Intel Core i9-14900HX has fully exploited its potential in the MSI Titan 18HX, providing impressive power and effective cooling. As you can see, the laptop scores up to 12,011 points and overwhelms all 3 products below.
Handbrake
To evaluate objectively, technology experts used Handbrake software to test multi-threaded CPU, with a longer test duration to give the most objective laptop heat results. Surprisingly, the machine has quite a good cooling capacity, with performance equivalent to ROG Strix Scar 18 and slightly better than Predator Triton 17X.
3DMark Time Spy
In addition to the powerful CPU, don’t forget that the MSI Titan 18 HX also has an additional opponent, the Nvidia RTX 4090 discrete graphics card. In tests, this discrete card has a maximum power consumption of 150W, which increases to 175W when Dynamic Boost is enabled. When using 3DMark Time Spy software, the machine brings a score of up to 19,693 points and almost destroys all 4 opponents on the evaluation board.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
In Shadow of the Tomb Raider (console from the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One generation), the MSI Titan 18 HX still shows its undefeated ability to conquer this game with an average FPS of nearly 200 FPS. Although this game brings a lot of hardship to the battleships in the technology market, the Titan 18 HX still knows how to shine subtly.
Metro Exodus
Metro Exodus, a more demanding game from the same console generation, was also included in this test. With Full HD graphics (no Ray Tracing), the machine achieved an average frame rate of about 87 FPS (Extreme mode). With this result, the laptop surpassed the two competitors on the other side of the battle line, even though they both have RTX 4090 inside.
All the benchmark results above were recorded in Balanced mode. MSI offers customizations within the laptop software, allowing users to switch to Performance mode for enhanced gaming performance. The proof is that when switching to Performance, the MSI 4K laptop scored up to 20,915 points in 3DMark Time Spy.
Additionally, I want to highlight RAM and SSD in the performance section. Compared to the MSI Raider 18 HX, the MSI Titan 18 HX features a significant upgrade with up to 128 GB of RAM, essential for efficient multitasking. This large RAM capacity enables users to run multiple applications smoothly without freezing, lagging, or needing to reload, thereby enhancing overall productivity.
Additionally, the 4 TB SSD is an excellent option for this price range. Users can choose many versions with lower capacity, but personally, I find 4 TB too spacious and allows me to store many important documents and professional applications with large capacity.
Optimal Heat Management
The cooling system is the main factor that helps the MSI Titan 18 HX achieve maximum performance, accounting for 1/3 of the laptop’s weight. With a vapor chamber design and 4 heat dissipation slots (2 sides and 2 rear), the airflow is evenly circulated, helping to effectively cool the internal components.
When you enable Extreme Performance mode on MSI Center and turn on the Cooler Boost fan, the temperature when playing AAA games at max 4K settings is very stable. For example, with the game Black Myth: Wukong, the GPU is only 60-65 degrees, and the CPU is about 75-80 degrees. Although the keyboard is not too hot, the fan noise will attract attention!
Audio Quality Enhancements
In addition to these factors, the MSI Titan 18 HX features a powerful speaker system positioned along both sides of the keyboard, enhancing sound clarity.
Inside the device is a 2W subwoofer that enhances the bass, creating a sharp, pleasant sound experience with bass-heavy music. Even in FPS games, the quality of sound brings a lively space and helps users immerse themselves in the virtual world with high quality.
Final line
There’s no denying that the MSI Titan 18 HX is a high-end laptop that perfectly meets all the requirements that users expect. With a vibrant 4K Mini-LED display, exceptional performance compared to the ROG Strix Scar 18, and the capability to tackle challenging tasks, it is undoubtedly a powerful gaming laptop.
With its current “monstrous” configuration, the MSI Titan 18 HX A14V has almost no competitors in the market—unless NVIDIA or Intel releases breakthrough hardware technologies. It remains one of the top choices for gamers and professionals.
Even the tiniest things like cooling, keyboard experience, and touchpad innovation, MSI has subtly integrated them all to create a product that resonates with the technology-loving community. What do you think about the MSI Titan 18 HX review? Leave a comment below and let me know.
With what the MSI Titan 18 HX A14V brings, users will surely feel satisfied with the money they spend. You can buy it on Amazon.com for $4,171. Alternatively, it is listed on Newegg.com for $4,799.99. In the UK, the price on Amazon.co.uk is £4,599. Please note that prices may fluctuate based on stock and availability. However, the product price is a bit high, and difficult to reach the mid-range user segment.
