MSI’s AMD Ryzen X3D-based, top-of-the-line Raider A18 HX delivers breathtaking speed, an eye-popping screen, and not much battery life. It’s a killer-fast machine, but the 4K display’s refresh rate and the frame-rate power of Nvidia’s RTX 5090 might not be a happy pairing for some shoppers.
Eighteen-inchers are the Liam Neesons of laptops: They have a very particular set of skills, running today’s fastest games at high resolutions on huge (and decidedly bulky) displays. Broadly speaking, that’s what the MSI Raider A18 HX promises. Does it deliver? It’s incredibly fast and churned through our benchmarks—what you’d expect from its gaming-focused Ryzen AMD 9 9955HX3D (« Fire Range ») processor and top-of-the-line Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 GPU. That power comes in the usual gamer-aesthetic package, with highly customizable RGB effects and per-key lighting. But the Raider’s not perfect, in particular its curiously low refresh rate in a machine that topped $5,000 in our test model. We are bigger fans of MSI’s own Intel version of this machine, the Raider 18 HX AI, which we tested at $3,999 and graced with an Editors’ Choice award a few months back.Configurations: From ‘Expensive’ to ‘Very Expensive’
In the US, the Raider A18 HX comes in two flavors. The entry-level model costs $3,799 and features an AMD Ryzen 9 9955HX3D CPU, 64GB of speedy DDR5-5600MHz RAM, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 GPU, a 2TB SSD, and an 18-inch UHD+ (3,840-by-2,400-pixel) mini LED display. The high-end configuration, which I reviewed, has identical specs except for an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 GPU, which raises the price to $5,099.
That’s a hefty premium, even with the faster GPU. And our benchmark tests show that you’ll only get a slight increase in frame rates for the extra $1,300.
Furthermore, the Fire Range X3D CPU is layered with AMD’s much-lauded 3D V-Cache memory. 3D V-Cache is well known for being a frame-rate amplifier for high-end GPUs, particularly at 1080p and 1440p, removing potential CPU bottlenecks to gaming performance. It’s a CPU architected for pairing with fast graphics and is ruthlessly effective on desktop PCs against all comers.
That all sounds great on paper, but on this laptop, the 120Hz display could be cause for concern; it could be a « bottleneck », of sorts, for high frame rates in its own way: It’s only useful up to 120fps at a given resolution. Higher peak refresh rates are available in other lower-resolution (1600p and 1200p) display configurations, but they’re not in US models.Design: Very Large, and Very Much in Charge
Hauling this laptop is a chore. The Raider A18 HX is massive in every dimension, hitting a 1.26-inch maximum thickness and straining the scales at 7.94 pounds. Oh, and it’s wide and deep besides, to fit the 18-inch display.
Still, MSI makes great use of all that space inside the chassis. The laptop’s thermal design has large fans and heat pipes to keep things cool over extended gaming sessions, so the system can run at up to 260 watts of total power.
Aesthetically, the Raider is unmistakably a gaming rig from any angle (and, for that matter, from across the room). With the power off and the lid closed, your eyes are drawn to the aggressive, red-accented venting along the sides, and from the rear, you’ll see the kind of jet-engine exhausts—also red-emphasized—that adorn so many gaming machines. It’s a very functional design, but MSI gives it some visual appeal.
Power up the Raider A18 HX, and you’ll notice the RGB lighting along the front and the per-key RGB lighting on the keyboard, with additional accents for the WASD and arrow keys. The setup looks more subtle than some other gaming laptops, but no fear: The lights still stand out and synchronize well with gaming sessions. You can control the illumination with MSI’s Mystic Light utility, which gives you a fair amount of customization. (Incidentally, that utility is just one of the many you can install via the MSI Center app, which also gives you control over system performance.)Keyboard, Touch, and Webcam: A Great Keyboard, an Only Okay Touchpad
The SteelSeries board provides plenty of spacing and large keycaps, and it includes a numeric keyboard (something gamers will appreciate). The switches are deep and tactile, great for gaming and comfortable for standard productivity work.
I wasn’t nearly as impressed with the touchpad. It’s too small, to begin with, given the amount of space available. At first, I kept pressing on the palm rest when I was trying to click a button.
