Msi p75 creator review in Spanish (full analysis)

MSI has lent us another toy to analyze, it is the MSI P75 Creator laptop in its 8SE specification, that is, with 8th generation Intel CPU and Nvidia RTX 2060 inside. This equipment is designed for use in graphic design and multimedia content creation, with its 17-inch Full HD widescreen display and a very refined design with a super-wide touchpad and a high-quality keyboard.

A version with 9th generation Intel and 4K screen is already available on the market, but this Full HD option that we tested can be a more than attractive solution for price and performance.

Before we begin, we thank MSI for temporarily handing over this laptop to us for a thorough review.

MSI P75 Creator 8SE technical characteristics

Unboxing

MSI P75 Creator 8SE is one of the design oriented notebooks that the manufacturer MSI has for users especially enthusiasts and professionals in the field. This laptop will arrive in a rigid cardboard box and white with the huge "Prestige" badge in the central area, making it very clear that it is its series for creators.

In our case it is an analysis sample so we do not have this box available. The support CD, the user guide and the cable and external power supply of the equipment should be included inside the bundle. We don't have anything else available in principle, so let's start with the analysis.

Exterior design

MSI already has a variant of this laptop that we are analyzing with 9th generation Intel and an IPS UHD display configuration. For the rest, in design and most features we are talking about exactly the same equipment. In this way we can say that the review will be as valid for one as for the other, except for the calibration of the screen, because it will be a new evolution.

With that said, the MSI P75 Creator is presented to us with a simply exquisite design. A team completely built in aluminum both in its cover and in its lower and internal area that give it a truly Premium appearance, much more than its more expensive Gaming laptops. For this display of good taste, the natural silver color of aluminum has been used with a slight roughness that gives it a brilliant tone and a texture that feels great to the touch.

It is a fairly large team, mainly due to its 17.3-inch screen. The measures it offers are almost 40 cm wide and 26 cm deep, while its thickness is only 19 mm, so yes, we can consider it a Max-Q design. As for weight, we are approximately at 2.25 Kg with the battery included. The hinge system used also greatly improves the equipment size ratio, since they are located almost at ground level and with a curvature to support the screen at its base. They are just hard enough to withstand any tilting of the screen.

In the upper area of ​​the cover we will have the MSI logo in a large size, although it does not have lighting, which would have been a great detail. The entire edge of this cap is finished in a polished bezel shape to further enhance the presentation. It only has one disadvantage, and that is that this cover is flimsy and twists quite easily if we apply pressure. So be careful with the image panel, and always open by pushing from the central part instead of the sides.

Now we go inside to see more carefully what we have. And it is that the MSI P75 Creator is just as beautiful in this area, which is very careful and above all is extremely wide due to the measures we have. Its screen has frames of just 9 mm at the top with a webcam included, 7 mm on the sides and about 20 mm at the bottom. So the surface is very much used.

In the work area we have a very large keyboard with a numerical panel on the right, in our case it is a British configuration. This keyboard is slightly deeper than the surface so that everything is at the same height in the outer plane. And without a doubt what stands out the most is the touchpad, huge and really comfortable to work with , including a fingerprint reader. In the upper area we have a large grill that is not for the sound system, but to put air in and cool.

In fact, the lower part of the equipment is not too open, with quite thick and not very useful grids in order to be able to put in enough air. It should be said that this plate is also made of aluminum and the legs are rubber, very low indeed.

Connection ports

We are located on the sides to see what type of connectivity we are in the MSI P75 Creator, which we already warned you that will not be too little. Both in the front and rear we can see the excellent packaging that has its design giving the feeling of robustness with its clean lines and absent steps.

Standing in the right area we find:

• 1x USB 3.1 gen1 Type-C2x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A1x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C with Thunderbolt 3 and DisplayPort1x HDMI 2.0 port Kensington slot for universal padlocks

You could not miss at least one Thunderbolt 3 for a design-oriented laptop, offering those 40 Gb / s and 100W power ideal for battery charging. The HDMI connector and integrated DisplayPort support 4K resolutions (3840x2160p @ 60 FPS).

In the left area we will have the rest of connectivity:

• Jack connector for charging and power DC1x RJ-45 Ethernet LAN1x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A MicroSD2x card slot 3.5mm jack for separate audio and microphone

On both sides we have vents to expel hot air, although they are somewhat small and we intuit that they will not be enough. At least in the rear area we also have another pair that will help the cooling of the equipment.

Display and calibration

As for its screen, the MSI P75 Creator obviously has a 17.3-inch panel, like all models with the 75 in its name. It is then an IPS panel with WLED backlight technology and a native resolution of 1920 × 1080 pixels that feel great. Models with 9th generation Intel also have a 4K resolution option for the most demanding users.

In this case we do not have gaming features, such as 1 ms of response or 144 Hz, since it is intended for design and this is not necessary. This panel should offer us great support for color spaces, specifically we have 100% Adobe RGB, a variant of the traditional sRGB. In any case, during the calibration tests we will see how it behaves. In this case we do not have HDR technology, while the new models do implement it. We miss more performance details about this screen.

The viewing angles are 178 °, as we can expect from an IPS panel, without any distortion in colors. The truth is that this large screen is a magnificent workspace like users who are especially dedicated to CAD and BIM design, since it allows a greater field of vision. In many cases a 15.6-inch panel is too small for this type of task.

Creator Center and TrueColor

There are two programs that we consider most important and that are integrated into this MSI P75 Creator through the operating system. Both are oriented to use in design, and providing interesting options that we will now see.

First, we will have the MSI Creator Center, which is similar to the Dragon Center although a little more design oriented. In fact, on the main screen we have a list of applications, or rather icons, that will be activated in the event that we have these applications installed. It just makes the dashboard function quick with performance optimization for those applications. On successive screens, we have a system performance monitor inherited from Dragon Center, different options about the image and the screen and finally a screen with support options.

The second program is MSI True Color which will be very useful for the user due to the fact that it has integrated screen calibration options. We can modify the entire image representation system in different profiles such as sRGB. Rec. 709, and other very interesting modes. In the tools section it offers us the possibility of calibrating the screen whenever we have a compatible colorimeter.

This program is highly recommended to interact in an advanced way with the screen, something that we can practically not do on any laptop.

Calibration

In the case of the MSI Creator series, we consider it of interest to the public to give a brief overview of the screen calibration of this MSI P75 Creator 8SE laptop. To do this, we have used our Colormunki Display colorimeter that is X-Rite certified and is giving us very good results in screen testing. Similarly, we have used the HCFR software with the GCD Classic color palette that we have been using in all the reviews for now. Finally, we emphasize that the results have been obtained with a screen brightness of 50%, which is the level where the colors adjust best to reality.

Contrast and brightness

This panel offers a maximum contrast of almost 1300: 1 which is high enough to be of the IPS type. While its brightness distribution with the maximum placed is about 330 nits, with a very constant distribution throughout the panel. Very good quality in this regard and great uniformity in color.

SRGB color space

We have used the MSI True Color software to fix the screen image in sRGB and we have carried out the corresponding tests. We see a Delta E = 4 calibration on average, which is a rather discreet result if we talk about a design-oriented screen. In the rest of the graphics, we do see a pretty good fit to the ideal references, with a high level of black and white in this IPS panel, although not fully complying with the color space we studied.

Rec. 709 color space

This space is considerably wider than the previous sRGB, but since the True Color integrated software has an option to activate this mode, we have decided to incorporate it.

In this case the calibration is a little bit worse when it comes to color gamut and graphics. Obviously the RGB and color temperature levels are still as good as before, remembering that this space is intended for HDTV multimedia content.

DCI-P3 color space

Great reference for the creators of content in HD and UHD video format, with a large space and color that in this case has remained somewhat large for the performance of the screen. In principle, MSI does not offer a guaranteed numerical percentage for this space, but it should be around 80%. In the Color Delta, we have an average of E = 6.16.

In general terms, if we are professional users we should consider recalibrating this screen with a suitable colorimeter and with X-Rite certification, which will surely improve performance.

NOTE: We also remember that the new 9th generation MSI P75 Creator with Intel offers better features on its Full HD and UHD screens with 100 in sRGB and TrueColor 2.0.

Web camera, microphone and sound

In the capture section, this MSI P75 Creator is no different than other laptops, since we have a web site that can take photos at a resolution of 1280 × 720 pixels and also has face detection. In the same way, we can record at 720p @ 30 FPS, as is customary with this sensor.

But this time we must break a spear in favor of MSI, since the image quality, especially in photography, seems to have improved a lot, providing us with captures with better detail and not so extremely pixelated. On both sides of the camera we have the typical unidirectional double microphone array that captures good quality audio for video calls and that kind of basic use.

Here we leave a couple of screenshots from the camera to appreciate its performance:

Finally we are left to see the sound system, which in this case is exactly the same as many of MSI's GS and GE gaming series, with a 2W dual speaker configuration. They are located in both front corners to be closer to the user and gives us a strong sound, although with a notable absence of bass and some distortion in the higher parts. Very standard in quality of we see say, without great deficiencies, but neither great virtues.

Touchpad and keyboard

The MSI Creator series is always characterized by mounting excellent keyboards and touchpads on their computers, and with this MSI P75 Creator, it will be no exception.

The ample space we have thanks to the 17.3-inch screen is more than enough to install a keyboard in complete configuration with its respective numeric keyboard on the right. In this case we have a British version, but there is no problem if we configure it in Spanish. It is of course chiclet type and with a backlight style keyboard, that is, its backlight will allow its edges to light up too.

As for sensations, we have exactly the same and so good that the SteelSeries left us that mount the top range of the brand and now also the Leopad series, whose unit we tested a short time ago. It has an intermediate stroke of about 3.5 mm, with a very smooth texture and very accessible island-type keyboard. The only thing that changes is its lighting, since in this case it is only fixed white. We also have the typical “Fn” accesses although in this case we have lost the button to control the fans, a real shame.

The touchpad is a delight, as we see, it has an ultra panoramic configuration. Measuring 65 mm high and no less than 140 mm long, perfect for moving around the screen comfortably. And what good is such a wide touchpad? Very simple, to improve the precision of the pointer by increasing the travel of the fingers, thus being able to carry out design work more comfortably.

This keyboard comes from Microsoft, and it already comes with the pre-installed Windows Precision Touchpad drivers, which support up to 17 gestures with two, three and four fingers. In addition, we have an integrated fingerprint detector, so we can configure biometric authentication through Windows Hello.

Network connectivity

In this section we do not have great news, since MSI P75 Creator in its range and complete family, 8th and 9th generation of Intel, has the same connectivity.

We are talking about a Qualcomm Atheros AR8171 / 8175 controller that provides us with a bandwidth of 10/100/1000 Mbps under an ethernet connection. It is striking to do without the traditional Intel I221 chip, but for practical purposes, we have exactly the same performance. We should not worry about its drivers, since Windows detects them perfectly.

And for wireless connectivity we have a CNVi Intel Wireless 9560NGW card, the most used by laptops in the world surely. In this case, MSI has not opted for the Killer-oriented gaming version, although it also offers the same bandwidth capacity as this one. We are talking about a maximum of 1.73 Gbps in the 5 GHz frequency with MU-MIMO.

Internal features and hardware

Now we are going to see the rest of the internal characteristics of this MSI P75 Creator, which on the other hand are the most important to mention since the final performance of the equipment and the price depend on them.

With the photo that we show, we can practically not see anything at all, but it was not a plan to disassemble the entire team to see something that you will have seen a lot of times. And calm down, then we will talk about the heatsink…

As for the processor, we have an 8th generation Intel Core i7-8750H CPU, while the most current range has the i7-9750H. This CPU offers a frequency of 2.2 GHz in base mode and 4.10 GHz in turbo mode. In addition, we have 6 cores and 12 threads with Hyper Threading along with 9 MB of L3 cache that work spectacularly thanks to an Intel HM370 chipset. Next to it we have a total of 16 GB of RAM at 2666 MHz in Dual Channel configuration thanks to two modules from the manufacturer Samsung. We will have the possibility of expansion of up to 32 GB with two SO-DIMM slots

For the graphics section we have nothing less than a Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB DDR6 graphics card and Max-Q design. A GPU that offers a performance of 70% compared to its desktop version, consuming only a third. In this RTX 2060 we have a GPU of 1110 MHz in base mode and 1335 MHz in turbo mode, under a 192-bit interface and with 1920 CUDA cores, 160 TMUs and 48 ROPs, consuming only 80 W of power. Undoubtedly performance almost at the level of desktop, and we will find out immediately with performance tests.

And it only remains to talk about storage, since this case has left us a little cold, due to the senselessness and the strange choice. The manufacturer has opted for a dual 256GB Kingston M.2 PCIe x4 SSD making a total of 512GB. We do not understand the reason for occupying two slots with SSD so small. It would have been better to opt directly for a 512 GB one. In any case, we have three slots available, the third being only SATA compatible.

Refrigeration

For the MSI P75 Creator cooling system in the 8th generation of Intel, the manufacturer has chosen the Cooler Boost Trinity system provided with 5 heat pipes built in copper, which collectively and independently collect the heat from the GPU and the CPU. The peculiarity in this case is that the system is inverted to the range of gaming laptops, such as the GS63 and others. Only the triple 47-fan turbine fan is visible, which collects air from both the top and bottom.

The fact of opting for this placement has caused, on the one hand, that we can not access its dismantling just by removing the rear casing. And, on the other hand, the cooling of a CPU that a priori should be less powerful than the i7-9750H has worsened. Consequently, we have obtained quite high temperatures especially in the CPU, although it is true that the GPU has remained more comfortable. Teams with 9th generation Intel should have improved in this regard, since its Trinity + version offers a total of 7 heatpipes instead of 5.

Autonomy and food

The MSI P75 Creator has a 4-cell Lithium-Polymer battery with a total of 5280 mAh and that give a power of 80.25 Wh, which is not bad. And for charging available from an external 180W source with proprietary Jack connector. The capacity that Thunderbolt 3 connectivity gives us could also be used to charge the equipment, although at a maximum power of 100W.

With this battery and this piece of screen we have obtained an average autonomy of approximately 4 hours in normal use. During these measurements we have been using the Wi-Fi connection to watch videos on the Internet, browse, perform the occasional test and carry out this review article. We have kept the screen brightness constant at 50% with a balanced power saving profile.

What does this mean? Well, in no case are we going to get to 8 or 7 hours on average. Perhaps if we leave everything to a minimum we can arrive at 5 hours or so, but more than that we doubt it. This is the price to pay for having such a large screen and also IPS, not to mention its powerful hardware.

Performance tests and games

We go to see the results that MSI P75 Creator 8SE has given us in the different performance tests that we have subjected it to. Of course, all of them have been done with the high performance power profile and the connected external power supply.

And so it is, with quite good records in sequential reading and 4KB blocks, although the writing is quite discreet for what we currently have on the market. We have already commented that spending the two PCIe x4 slots for these two SSDs does not seem like a smart thing to us.

CPU and GPU benchmarks

We can say that the results are lower than we expected, and this may be due in large part to the high temperatures obtained in the CPU, which causes Thermal Throtting. For example, in Cinebench R15 we should barely exceed 1000 points, while in Time Spy we should comfortably enter 5400 points. In any case, it is difficult to evaluate and compare in detail, since each team has its own hardware configuration and these results are variants. In fact, we have repeated the tests twice to contrast information, obtaining identical results.

Gaming performance

To establish a real performance of this equipment, we have tested a total of 6 titles with fairly existing graphics, which are the following, and with the following configuration:

• Final Fantasy XV, standard, TAA, DirectX 12 DOOM, Ultra, TAA, Open GL Deus EX Mankind Divided, Alto, Anisotropico x4, DirectX 12 Far Cry 5, Alto, TAA, DirectX 12 Metro Exodus, Alto, Anisotropico x16, DirectX 12 (without RT) Shadow of the Tomb Rider, High, TAA + Anisotropic x4, DirectX 12

If in the synthetic tests we saw a somewhat lower performance than expected, in this case we do get exactly what we were looking for. We have a GPU capable of moving high-consumption, high- quality games at over 60 FPS in almost all cases. It is not worth saying that it is not a gaming laptop, since its hardware is.

Temperatures

MSI P75 Creator 8SE	Repose	Maximum performance
CPU	50 ºC	95 ºC
GPU	47 ºC	66 ºC

We see those 95 ° C that are a little scary, since it is the maximum TjMax available for this CPU, although in any case it will always be protected by the famous Thermal Throttling. In fact, this temperature has been maintained at those magnitudes almost all the time during the stress process with Prime95 and Furmark for the MSI P75 Creator. We already warned you that choosing to place the heatsink on the top side was not a good idea.

Final words and conclusion about MSI P75 Creator

Without a doubt, perhaps the strongest and most differential point of this MSI P75 Creator is the exquisite exterior design it has. It is a large laptop, obviously due to its screen, but completely made of aluminum, in an elegant yet delicate silver color. Quite an experience for the eyes in my opinion.

Its hardware is really powerful, with the inclusion of Nvidia RTX graphics cards in its 8th and 9th generation Intel Core models and processors, MSI has practically created a gaming laptop with lambskin. This Prestige range offers phenomenal gaming performance, although in this model the choice of a dual 256 GB SSD is not fully understood.

We also lack a little autonomy, although we understand that a 17.3-inch screen consumes a lot. And finally we must give a negative point to the cooling, since this triple fan configuration is quite wasted as it is placed. We know from other analyzed models that it can offer us much more.

We recommend that you take a look at our guide to the best laptops on the market

As for its screen, it offers us great benefits as expected by its IPS panel. And we can also improve these thanks to the MSI True Color program with which we can modify its image parameters and even calibrate with a compatible colorimeter. If it seems large, we can choose the 15.6-inch version, and if we still want more, we will go to the 4K variants of the Creator 9S range. We only consider that its calibration can be improved, especially in the case of design-oriented models.

The touchpad and keyboard are also noteworthy, with great design quality and at the same level as the brand's range stops. Especially the touchpad will be ideal for design with that great amplitude that improves precision. In addition, we have Thunderbolt 3 integrated, although not Wi-Fi 6 in any of the models.

Undoubtedly a recommended model for professionals who need a powerful equipment, since we find them for a fairly wide price range, from 2, 000 euros on 15-inch models to 3, 000 of the most powerful. This specific model in 9th generation, will be available for a price of about 2300 euros. Although it is true that there are numerous details that for this price must be polished

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ DESIGN	- SMALL SSD AND DOES NOT SUPPORT 2.5 "HDD
+ LARGE TOUCHPAD AND EXCELLENT KEYBOARD	- SLOWLY EFFECTIVE HEATSINK
+ PERFORMANCE AND POWERFUL HARDWARE	- SCREEN CALIBRATION IS NOT OPTIMAL
+ DISPLAY WITH GREAT POSSIBILITIES
+ FOOTPRINT SENSOR AND THUNDERBOLT 3

The professional review team awards him the gold medal:

MSI P75 Creator

DESIGN - 98%

CONSTRUCTION - 92%

REFRIGERATION - 75%

PERFORMANCE - 86%

DISPLAY - 88%

88%