MSI Crosshair 15 Performance Review: Performance Extraction

If “gamer aesthetics” ever materialised into a laptop the MSI Crosshair 15 will probably be it. The specific laptop I am talking about today is the MSI Crosshair 15 Rainbow Six Siege Extraction Edition. In hindsight, it seems like a really bad idea to put out a special edition laptop of a Ubisoft game but life is known to take unexpected turns. The entire gaming laptop has the aura of someone who got a neck tattoo right after the first date. It’s just disappointing. Mainly because underneath the cringe Yellow paint scheme, the MSI Crosshair 15 is an amazing gaming laptop with powerful specs. It is powered by an Intel 12th Gen Core i7 processor and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060, which is a powerful CPU and GPU combination, to say the least. So without further ado, here’s what you can expect. 

MSI Crosshair 15 Specifications

Processor: Intel 12th Gen Core i7-12700H  14-Core, 20-Thread processor with 4.70GHz boost clock
Graphics Card: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 With 6GB GDDR6 VRAM with 140W TGP
Memory: 16GB DDR4 Memory running in Dual-Channel mode
Display: 15.6-inch QHD screen with 100% DCI P3 coverage
Storage: 1TB SSD
Battery: 52Wh
Weight: 2.3kg

MSI Crosshair 15 Benchmark Performance

As mentioned above, the MSI Crosshair 15 is powered by an Intel 12th Gen Core i7-12700H processor. It is a 14-core, 20-thread unit featuring a hybrid architecture comprised of 6-performance cores and 8-efficiency cores. The architecture allows the processor to reduce the power consumption to way under 10W when idle and push it way beyond the default TDP if needed. With that said, here’s how the MSI Crosshair 15 performed in our suite of benchmarks. 

In PC Mark 10 Extended, which tests a laptop’s overall performance in areas like digital content creation, gaming, and productivity. The MSI Crosshair 15 scored around 6907, which is a pretty high score usually reserved for premium gaming laptops. Additionally, the CPU performance of the MSI Crosshair 15 is also pretty good thanks to a high Cinebench R23 Single and Multicore score. Intel’s 12th Gen chip really shines in the multicore score thanks to a hybrid architecture that enabled the high multicore score. 

The processor repeats the same performance in the Cinebench R20 Score as well scoring around 5318, putting it faster than the previous gen chip. Moreover, the graphics card paired with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 GPU matches the performance with the performance thanks to a high benchmark score. In 3D Mark’s TimeSpy and FireStrike, the laptop scored around 8322 and 19399 respectively. The GPU in use is in the overclocked state with a 140W TGP, which is at the high end of the GA106M die used for the RTX 3060 GPU. Additionally, the laptop is running with around 16GB DDR4 memory running in Dual-Channel mode. The laptop misses out on the DDR5 memory which has enabled the RAM to run in quad-channel mode with just two sticks. Since DDR5 requires a different memory slot compared to the DDR4, users won’t have the option of an upgrade.

MSI Crosshair 15 Display Test Benchmarks

The MSI Crosshair 15 sports a 15.6-inch display with maximum resolution support of 2560 X 1440P resolution support. The panel is in a 16:9 aspect ratio format which is common for most monitors. Although a 16:10 aspect ratio would be much appreciated in this price range, however, the bright QHD panel makes up for it. 

In terms of other important specifications, the laptop has 324 nits of maximum brightness along with 100% sRGB coverage as well. The Crosshair 15 screen also has 100% DCI-P3 coverage as well, meaning watching HDR content on it is pretty good. Overall, the colours on the display are very punchy, they offer good contrast and despite the panel being an LCD the blacks that you see on the screen look pretty dark. 

MSI Crosshair 15 Gaming Benchmarks

In terms of gaming, the MSI Crosshair 15 is capable of delivering ultra-high performance in most AAA titles. The suite of gaming tests I tested includes demanding titles like AC: Valhalla, Metro Exodus, and Civilization VI. Additionally, it also includes less demanding games like GTA V, Valorant, Dirt 5, and Gears 5 as well. I tested all these games at 1080p resolution at high and medium settings. However, the laptop can easily run these games at the 1440p Ultra setting as well. 

The laptop scored a high FPS in Civilization VI, which is a CPU-intensive title. The Intel 12th Gen Core i7 definitely shines here thanks to the Overclocked RTX 3060 the game can be easily played in high and ultra graphics at a smooth frame rate. The laptop easily delivers over 100FPS in games like Metro Exodus, AC Valhalla, Gears 5, and Dirt 5 a medium graphical setting. 

MSI Crosshair 15 Performance Review Conclusion

The MSI Crosshair 15 Rainbow Six Siege Extraction Edition is capable of serious performance in most modern games and with its powerful CPU handling productivity tasks is also a big task for this machine. However, it misses out on the latest DDR5 RAM despite having a processor capable of handling it. A version of the laptop with a 1080p display and DDR5 RAM would prove to be an even better use of this CPU and GPU combination. As it stands now, users won’t feel any lack of power with the MSI Crosshair 15 and they should definitely go for it provided they like its colour scheme.   

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Yetnesh Dubey

Yetnesh works as a reviewer with Digit and likes to write about stuff related to hardware. He is also an auto nut and in an alternate reality works as a trucker delivering large boiling equipment across Europe. View Full Profile