I just tested the MSI Crosshair 16 HX E14W — and its effective cooling system and 240Hz refresh rate make it one of the finest gaming laptops today

To be considered one of the best gaming laptops, a PC must do a few things: pack a high refresh rate for smooth gameplay; make colors look vibrant; and it shouldn’t overheat. The MSI Crosshair 16 HX E14W does all that and more. Boasting excellent color coverage and accuracy, as well as a 240Hz refresh rate, the Crosshair 16 HX packs performance in spades.

The Crosshair 16 HX also features an effective, albeit extremely loud, cooling system that ensures the laptop doesn’t get too hot during intensive games. All of these goodies are packed into a lovely, premium and practical design — but it also houses the laptop’s mediocre battery life, which puts a damper on things.

For the complete breakdown, read my full MSI Crosshair 16 HX E14W review.

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MSI Crosshair 16 HX E14W review: Specs

MSI Crosshair 16 HX E14W review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? A 16-inch gaming laptop boasting excellent performance across the board
• Who is it for? Gamers looking for a high-performing Windows laptop
• How much does it cost? At the time of writing, pricing hasn’t been confirmed
• What do we like? The great design, outstanding performance, 240Hz refresh rate for gaming, effective cooling system, and great color coverage and accuracy
• What don’t we like? The loud fans and mediocre battery life

MSI Crosshair 16 HX E14W review: The ups

From its premium design and excellent color coverage to its superb gaming performance and effective cooling system, the MSI Crosshair 16 HX E14W is a formidable laptop.

Gorgeous design with plenty of ports

If you took one look at the MSI Crosshair 16 HX E14W, you’d instantly know it’s a gaming laptop, through and through. MSI’s dragon shield emblem in teal with a subtle reflective finish graces the laptop’s matte lid, adding a pop of color to the black notebook. I love the aluminum chassis too, which feels and looks premium.

The Crosshair 16 HX E14W is fitted with a 16-inch (2560 x 1600) non-touch screen and the laptop itself measures 14.29 x 10.62 x 1.01 inches — ever-so slightly bigger than the Dell Alienware 16X Aurora ($2,499) and the Dell XPS 16 ($1,749). It fits easily into most regular-sized laptop backpacks, and I’ve had no issues carrying it to and from work. It weighs 5.07 pounds, so while it isn’t as light as the MacBook Pro M5 (3.4 pounds, $1,599), it isn’t as bulky as the 5.66lbs Alienware 16X Aurora.

I’ve tested many MSI monitors and I’ve come to expect great build quality from the Taiwanese company — this applies to the Crosshair 16 HX too, from the overall construction to its keyboard and trackpad. The low-profile keyboard is a sheer delight to type on, with each key’s total travel distance of 1.7mm making typing fatigue-free. It also features four-zone RGB which can be customized via pre-installed software — and it further reaffirms that this is a Gaming laptop, with a capital G. I found the trackpad responsive and comfortable in my testing too.

The Crosshair 16 HX doesn’t give you much to complain about in the I/O and ports department, either. The laptop’s left edge sports the power and two USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (DisplayPort and 100W Power Delivery), while the right edge houses the 3.5mm audio jack as well as two USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports. The RJ45 Ethernet, HDMI 2.1 (8K at 60Hz or 4K at 120Hz) and another USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 port are located on the rear. That should be plenty for connecting keyboards, mice, monitors and headsets.

Stunning, bright display

The MSI Crosshair 16 HX E14W packs a beautiful QHD+ panel that’s truly a sight to behold. Having used the laptop for gaming, productivity, and even testing monitors, I can confidently say its screen won’t give you much to complain about. The 2.5K panel packs plenty of resolution to make games feel immersive, and it’s enough for enjoying movies and YouTube videos, too.

Speaking of gaming, the Crosshair 16 HX has a refresh rate of 240Hz — same as the Dell Alienware 16X Aurora — and this ensures silky smooth performance in a range of games, including but not limited to Forza Horizon 5 and Counter-Strike 2. I’ll discuss gaming performance in detail shortly, but let’s talk about colors and brightness first.

I’ve been extremely impressed with the Crosshair 16 HX’s bright and vivid display. The World Wildlife 4K YouTube video, which I always watch when testing laptops, looked nothing short of stunning. Vivid colors, rich blues and greens, inky blacks, and controlled highlights all contributed to a thoroughly enjoyable viewing experience.

I put the Crosshair 16 HX through its paces in my lab testing, and the results confirmed what I saw on screen. The laptop covers 157.5% of the sRGB color space and 111.6% of the wider DCI P3 gamut. 100% is the most accurate while anything above that has more saturation, and the Crosshair 16 HX goes above and beyond, delivering the entire color spectrum for your eyes to feast on. It blows its competitors out of the water, as you can see in the table above.

Alongside color coverage, the Crosshair 16 HX’s color accuracy is phenomenal, too. In my lab testing, it achieved a Delta-E score of 0.2, besting the Dell Alienware 16X Aurora and the Razer Blade 16 ($2,999), and being on level playing field with the MacBook Pro M5. The closer the Delta-E score to zero, the better, so 0.2 is great and what we usually see when testing the best laptops.

In terms of brightness, the Crosshair 16 HX achieved 447 nits in my testing, and it’s beaten by a hair's breadth only by the MacBook Pro M5. Other Windows laptops in the same price range or just over fail to upstage it, as you can see above. In real-world usage, I had no issues seeing the Crosshair 16 HX’s screen, regardless of the lighting conditions.

Great performance across the board

Regardless of the task I did, the MSI Crosshair 16 HX E14W performed formidably, and I was impressed with its performance across the board. You can get the laptop in a few configurations (full details here), and my review unit, also the top-line configuration, came fitted with the Intel Core i7 14650HX chip, 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 graphics card.

I conducted my benchmark tests, as I do with every other laptop I test, and I was satisfied with the results. On Geekbench 6, which tests and measures overall CPU performance, the 16X Aurora pulled in a solid multi-core score of 15,982, outclassing the Alienware x16 R2 ($2,099). The MacBook Pro M5, the Dell Alienware 16X Aurora and the Razer Blade 16 perform better than the Crosshair 16 HX E14W, but not by much.

What impressed me most, though, was how the Crosshair 16 HX outperformed the MacBook Pro M5 and nearly every other laptop in our HandBrake video editing test (transcoding a 4K video to 1080p). The Crosshair 16 HX is outdone by the Razer Blade 16 but only by a narrow margin.

Last but not least, I measured the Crosshair 16 HX’s read and write speeds using the BlackMagic Disk Speed test, and the laptop performed well. As you can see from the table above, the Crosshair 16 HX achieved 4,575 write and 5,055 read speeds, trumping the Dell Alienware 16X Aurora.

Having used both the Crosshair 16 HX and Alienware 16X Aurora extensively for productivity-oriented tasks, like working in Google Docs, browsing the web, and even editing photos, I can confirm that both laptops perform well. The MacBook Pro M5 does better, though, but for everyday use, the Crosshair 16 HX is more than enough.

Excellent gaming performance

As I’ve said a few times now, the MSI Crosshair 16 HX E14W is first and foremost a gaming laptop — and a great one at that. My review unit came packed with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 graphics card, and the entry-level configuration features a 5060 card. At its native resolution of 2560 x 1600 and refresh rate of 240Hz, the Crosshair 16 HX performs formidably, running even intensive Steam games without breaking a sweat.

I ran in-game benchmark tests, and you can see the results in the table above. With Extreme graphics enabled, Forza Horizon 5 achieved an average frame rate of 102fps, which is excellent for a system-hungry game. With features like Ray-Traced Lighting set to Ultra in Cyberpunk 2077, the laptop achieved an average FPS of 55fps — about 8fps less than the Dell Alienware 16X Aurora. F1 25 was the standout, as even with graphics set to Ultra High, the game ran at a silky smooth 143fps. In Counter-Strike 2, a game not as intensive as the others, the maximum FPS achieved was a whopping 228.

So, the benchmark results are great, and the laptop sounds fantastic on paper, and the best part is, it’s even better in real-world use. The visuals are nothing short of sublime. The screen delivers rich, punchy colors without looking overly saturated, which I especially enjoyed when roaming the neon-laden streets of Cyberpunk 2077. For an IPS panel, the contrast is good too, though naturally, blacks don’t appear as deep as on an OLED display.

In Forza Horizon 5 and F1 25, I appreciated the smooth motion and how well the games ran, as I didn’t experience any ghosting or lag. The 240Hz panel shone in Counter-Strike 2. Tracking targets felt effortless as they remained clear throughout, and rapidly flicking between enemies felt controlled rather than blurry. Overall, the Crosshair 16 HX delivers a thoroughly enjoyable and immersive gaming experience. You shouldn’t have any qualms with its performance.

Powerful cooling system

Unlike the Dell Alienware 16X Aurora, which can get very hot, the MSI Crosshair 16 HX E14W remained cool throughout my testing. Whether I was playing games or had 40 tabs open at once, the laptop didn’t get too hot, and that’s thanks to its excellent cooling system. It utilizes MSI’s Cooler Boost technology, which optimizes airflow and heat transfer, and packs large cooling fans as well as four exhaust vents to quickly push heat out of the chassis.

MSI says that this generation features 51.1% more airflow compared to the previous, and its cooling system enables up to 17.6% higher performance “while maintaining the same noise level.” I’ll talk more about the noise in the following section, but for the time being, I can confirm that the Crosshair 16 HX stays as cool as a cucumber.

MSI Crosshair 16 HX E14W review: The downs

There isn’t much wrong with the MSI Crosshair 16 HX E14W, but its fans get really loud, and battery life is nothing to write home about.

Fans get very loud

One of the first things I noticed after powering on the MSI Crosshair 16 HX was just how ridiculously loud its fans were. As soon as I booted up Steam, it sounded like the laptop was about to take off. As I mentioned earlier, the Crosshair 16 HX’s cooling fans and system are extremely effective, but it’s still jarring just how loud the fans are. My colleague had a very concerned look on his face when he heard jet engine noises coming from my desk.

This isn’t a dealbreaker but just something to keep in mind. I’d recommend using one of the best gaming headsets — preferably one with active noise cancelation — to ensure the fans’ loudness doesn’t break your immersion.

Poor battery life

Unfortunately, the MSI Crosshair 16 HX E14W’s battery life seriously lets it down, and I wouldn’t recommend using the laptop for intensive gaming if you aren’t close to a plug socket.

I used UL Procyon’s battery benchmark test and calibrated the Crosshair 16 HX’s brightness to 150 nits, then turned off the keyboard’s RGB lighting. I then let it play videos on loop until it ran out of charge. It took two hours and 44 minutes for the Crosshair 16 HX to shut down… and that’s terrible.

When I benchmarked the Dell Alienware 16X Aurora, I thought three hours and one minute was awful, but this is even worse. And while the Razer Blade 16 and the Alienware x16 R2 also have poor battery lives, they aren’t this bad. The MacBook Pro M5, on the other hand, is a titan when it comes to battery life, and the others simply don’t compare. That comparison, however, is a little unfair as MacBooks are built for efficiency, whereas gaming laptops generally don’t prioritize battery life.

MSI Crosshair 16 HX E14W review: Verdict

If you want a gaming laptop that doesn’t skimp on performance, the MSI Crosshair 16 HX E14W is one of the best you can buy today. Covering more than 100% of both the sRGB and DCI P3 gamuts and boasting incredible color accuracy, it’s a fantastic choice for both gaming and work. Its 240Hz refresh rate and vivid display don’t give you much to complain about, and its cooling system is highly effective.

But the Crosshair 16 HX isn’t perfect. I love that, in my testing, I didn’t experience any overheating, but I hate how loud and jarring its fans are. They’re immersion-breaking, really. The laptop’s battery life of just under three hours isn’t great either, so it isn’t the best choice for gaming or working on the go.

As long as you don’t mind those compromises, I can’t think of any other reasons to not recommend the Crosshair 16 HX. It’s premium-looking. It’s powerful. Its screen is a joy to look at. While the fan noise may turn heads, everything else deserves your attention.