Only some people buy high-end gaming laptops. Most users buy affordable gaming laptops. This article will share how affordable gaming laptops have improved in the last two years. What’s better than MSI’s Katana? We will compare two models from the last two years with the latest one.
The MSI Katana has been on the market for a few years and is one of the best laptops with decent specs at a very reasonable price. Let’s check what has been improved regarding CPU performance, battery life, and other features. Most laptops are quite similar, with the same layout, keyboard, and tactical keyboard.
MSI Katana
Both laptops still carry a 1TB NVMe SSD and a 180p 144Hz display panel. However, the laptop is almost 10% pricier than the 2-year-old MSI Katana, but considering inflation, the price has mostly stayed the same.
- MSI Katana 2023 comes with an i7 13620H paired with an RTX 4060. It has 16GB of DDR5 RAM.
- MSI Katana 2021 comes with an i7 11800H paired with an RTX 3060. It uses 16GB of DDR4 RAM.
These laptops are two years old, and we see two generations of CPUs, memory, and GPUs. With these specifications, these laptops offer value for money. However, you can lower the price by going for less memory or a smaller SSD, which doesn’t make sense in the long term. Meanwhile, you can expect a price drop or get them on sale, so it’s a similar situation.
GPU Performance (i7 13620H vs. i7 11800H)
In Cinebench R23, it’s obvious to see performance improvements. The 2023 edition of MSI Katan 15 gets around 42.2% performance improvements for multi-threaded performance. As for single-threaded performance, the performance is around 13.9% improved. When it comes to Blender Render (BMW), it’s 28.6% faster for shorter renders, while the longer render is around 24.0% improved.
- Around 42.2% of multi-threaded performance improvement
- Around 13.9% single-threaded performance improvement
- 28.6% faster for shorter renders
- Around 24.0% improvement for longer renders
These are significant improvements. Considering that both have 16-thread CPUs, this is great.
GPU Performance (RTX 4060 vs. RTX 3060)
The 2023 model has an RTX 4060 with 105W, while the 2021 model has an 85W RTX 3060, which means ~23.5% more power consumption. However, the RTX 4060 didn’t get close to 105W in the real world. Here is a list of gaming performance improvements for some popular games. Both models come with the same 53.5 Wh battery, which is smaller than high-end laptops that often have 90 to 99 Wh batteries, so don’t expect an all-day-long battery.
| Game | Average Performances |
| CS: Go (high) | 25.5% |
| RB6 Siege (High) | 48.5% |
| Doom Eternal: Ultra Nightmare | 34.5% |
| Anno 1800 (High) | 75.4% |
| Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (High) | 26.1% |
| Spider-Man Remastered (High) | 35.4% |
| God of War (High) | 16.9% |
| Cyberpunk 2077 (High) | 18.8% |
| Dying Light 2 (High) | 54.7% |
| Microsoft Flight Simulator (Ultra) | 8.8% |
This suggests some significant performance improvements. The RTX 4060 has DLS3, whereas the RTX 3060 has DLS2 upscaling. However, the RTX 4060 does DLS3 frame generation, which helps smooth out the frames. There are multiple reasons behind the improvements, thanks to better components, but also contributed by the MSI MUX Switch, with the latest to help the GPU improve gaming performance, especially in high FPS titles.
Let’s talk about battery improvements. It has a 29.0% improvement on general tasks, but it doesn’t drain more battery from games. However, overall, it means great efficiency. If you play games, consider playing the game while plugged into your laptop’s power source.
Display (color, brightness, and contrast)
Both laptops have the same display. However, the new display can show 9.1% more color. However, color accuracy could be better, which means it could be better for creative works related to colors. Meanwhile, there is also a difference when it comes to display brightness, as the new model has been improved by 13.6%. MSI Katana 15 2023 has 292 nits of brightness, and MSI Katana 15 2021 has 257. Contrast has also been improved by 29.1%. In general, it’s good.
Time and latency are better on newer models overall. Higher-end laptops will perform better. End-to-end latency could be around 8.7% improved. These are most common in laptops using these displays, but we’d love to see full SRGV and sub-5ms panels. The new model is better. Considering everything, we have an average of 26.51% improvement from two years ago. It’s a great upgrade.