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The MSI Pulse GL76 has generated a lot of buzz around the gaming community since its initial release in 2021. Featuring a powerful 12th gen Core i7 processor, NVIDIA GeForce RTX graphics, and a 1080p display with a high refresh rate, this laptop aims to deliver an exceptional gaming experience. If you’re shopping around for a new gaming laptop, you might wonder if this one is worth your time.
In today’s review, we will look closer at the MSI Pulse GL76 to evaluate its design, performance, and overall value as a gaming laptop. Whether you’re a hardcore gamer or just looking for a high-performance laptop for everyday use, read on to find out if the MSI Pulse GL76 is worth buying and how it stands up to the competition.
MSI Pulse GL76: Best Deal Today
- MSI Pulse GL76 (New Egg) – $1499.00
- MSI Pulse GL76 (Best Buy) – $1499.99
- MSI Pulse GL76 (Amazon) – $1499.00
- Intel's 12th generation i7 CPU inside
- Windows 11 Home pre-installed
- NVIDIA's RTX 3060 discrete graphics card inside
- The 144Hz Full HD display is great for all high refresh rate needs
MSI Pulse GL76: Overview
Release Date and Price
MSI released the original Pulse GL76 in 2021, with the base model costing around $1700. Since the initial release in 2021, MSI has gone back and made rolling updates to both the Pulse GL76’s hardware and software. There has been the free Windows 11 update, as well as updates to the graphics card offerings and display offerings.
Today, at the time of writing in 2023, the Pulse costs anywhere from around $1400 to $1800, depending on the specific model of the GL76.
Different Models
Speaking of different models, MSI produces three different versions for the Pulse GL76:
- Pulse GL76 11UEK
- Pulse GL76 11UDK
- Pulse GL76 11UCK
All three models can be configured differently, with multiple options available for display, graphics, and storage. This review looks at the Pulse GL76 12UEK model. It comes with a 1080p resolution at 144Hz Full HD display, an RTX 3060 graphics card, and a 512GB M.2 NVMe SSD.
Features
Let’s dig into the features that come with the Pulse GL76. First up, you get a customizable RGB keyboard. This is thanks to MSI’s inclusion of Mystic Light controls coming from the pre-installed MSI center. This allows you to create specific color zones on your keyboard or even create color-based macros. In addition, MSI utilizes its Cooler Boost 5 feature, which provides the laptop with dedicated thermal solutions for the CPU and GPU. However, as we note later on in the review, the GL76 is still prone to getting hot under heavy workloads.
MSI has included the latest Wi-Fi standard, Wi-Fi 6E, which provides us with a theoretical maximum limit of 1GB over a wireless connection. Of course, you will need to have a Gig+ connection from your internet service provider. Unfortunately, if you’re in the US, you are unlikely to have a true Gigabyte wireless plan available unless you live in specific areas.
MSI Pulse GL76: Specifications
| Screen size | 17.3-inch |
| Resolution | 1080p |
| Refresh rate | 144hz |
| Weight | 6.17 pounds |
| Ports | 1 x HDMI, 1 x USB Type-C (DisplayPort Compatible) |
| Audio | 3.5mm Headphone/Microphone Jack |
| Battery type | Internal battery type: 53Wh Lithium-Ion Polymer |
| Battery life | 4-5 Hours |
| Warranty | 1-Year MSI Warranty |
| Graphics card | Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 |
| Storage | 512GB M.2 SSD |
| RAM | 16GB 3200 MHz DDR4 (Max 64GB) |
| Operating System | Windows 11 |
MSI Pulse GL76: Full Review
MSI is known for producing some of the best high-performance gaming laptops with specialized features that cater to gamers. Their laptops bundle powerful graphics with the best gaming CPUs and fast memory and storage options. Certainly, the Pulse GL76 is no different.
Design
The Pulse GL76 features a sleek, modern design with a plastic base and aluminum lid. While closed, the laptop comes out to be about 24mm thick and weighs 5.8lb. All things considered, this is a respectable size and thinness for a 17-inch laptop. Further, opening the laptop, MSI paired a full-sized RGB keyboard with a large touchpad.
Overall, the Pulse GL76 looks great and isn’t too gaudy as some gaming laptops tend to be. There’s a black and silver color scheme, and while it packs the power and features of a gaming laptop, if you were to bring it to the office, it wouldn’t scream “gaming laptop” to your coworkers.
Inside and out, the MSI Pulse GL76 is a sleek and modern-looking machine. While it’s still a gaming laptop, and slightly heavier than the standard productivity laptop, it’s not so heavy that it’s difficult to bring around to the office. Of course, if you were to use this in an office environment, you would, unfortunately, need to lug the charger back and forth daily. Thus ensuring that you could make it through an entire day of work with the MSI Pulse GL76.
If you want an office laptop or something to beat up as your daily traveling system, a MacBook Air or a Lenovo ThinkPad might serve better. Still, the MSI Pulse is great at what it is: an unashamed and unassuming gaming laptop that puts performance above all else.
Display
MSI didn’t sacrifice the display when building the Pulse GL76. Featuring a 17.3-inch 1080p IPS display, the display offers excellent picture quality along with great color reproduction. This display also features a 144Hz refresh rate, helping minimize motion blur and providing a smooth gaming experience. In addition, they also equipped the display with thin bezels. Thus providing you with an immersive gaming experience even when on the go. The thin bezels allow for larger screen space in the compact form factor of a laptop. They also give the Pulse GL76 a modern and sleek look.
All-in-all, the display is one of the standout features of the Pulse GL76 and offers a great visual experience for gaming and multimedia work. It features MSI True Color support, which offers a wide range of color profiles that you can adjust for particular workflow needs. This is an ideal feature if you are a graphic designer who’s looking for accurate color representation. However, it also helps gamers to have a more vivid visual experience.
Performance
The model (12UEK) of the Pulse GL76 that we’ve looked at for this article ships with the 12th Gen Intel Core i7-12700H processor paired with 16GB of DDR4 RAM for quick and efficient multitasking. Graphics-wise, it comes with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 with 6GB of DDR6 VRAM.
This laptop can handle nearly any game you throw it with max settings in 1080p resolution. The 144Hz display makes games look smooth even during fast-paced gaming sessions. Therefore, this is particularly a good gaming laptop for those gamers who play competitive shooters like Valorant or CS:GO. Overall, gaming on the Pulse GL76 is fast and responsive, and it features one of the better laptop gaming experiences we’ve seen, especially at this price point.
On average, the Pulse GL76 will be able to get you anywhere from 60 to 144 fps with settings maxed in most triple-A games available today. The Pulse GL76 makes quick work of older games, providing a smooth 100+ fps experience. However, maximum settings, especially in newer triple-A titles, will push the components of this laptop, so expect to hear some pretty loud fan noise and feel the heat coming from underneath the keyboard.
Additionally, if you want to enjoy your games at 4k, this laptop might struggle to perform. While its hardware is great for standard resolution, pumping up the settings will render most games almost unplayable at 4k, so keep that in mind. If you want a laptop that can deliver perfect performance with 4k games, you might want to look into a higher-performance system. Regardless, the Pulse GL76 is more than enough when you consider the lower price point.
Operating System and Included Software
MSI preloads this laptop with Windows 11, so you’ll have everything you need to get on the internet, download your favorite games, and set up the computer how you want. If you prefer the unconventional route, you can also download Linux or Ubuntu, as the Pulse GL76 comes with full support.
The Pulse GL76 ships with a suite of pre-installed software from both MSI and NVIDIA. First up is the MSI App Player, an android emulator that allows you to run apps from the Google Play Store through your MSI laptop, allowing you to play your favorite mobile games on your laptop with wireless controller support or with the mouse and keyboard of the laptop.
In addition to the MSI App player, the Pulse GL76 comes pre-installed with the NVIDIA GeForce Experience app. The GeForce Experience is a companion app to the RTX 3060 the Pulse GL76 comes with. It keeps your graphics card drivers up to date, and gives you real-time information regarding FPS and temperatures. Further, it can even help optimize your game’s settings in order to achieve the smoothest possible performance.
Battery Performance
The Pulse GL76 has a 53.5Wh battery. We noted in several reviews and testing environments that Pulse’s battery only lasted around 4 hours and 30 minutes when used for web browsing. Unfortunately, when gaming, the battery life is even worse, with most users only being able to squeeze out anywhere from 45 minutes to 1 hour of gaming. Therefore, you will definitely need to have the charger with you at all times if you plan on buying the Pulse GL76. This may be the biggest drawback of this otherwise powerful gaming laptop.
This tends to be a trend within the world of gaming laptops: top-notch performance with poor battery life, and it is strange, all things considered. These are laptops, devices that you would normally take on the go with you. However, as with the MSI Pulse GL76, anywhere you go, you will need to be plugged into an outlet to use the laptop for any proper amount of time.
MSI Pulse GL76: Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Affordable
- Fast and Responsive Full HD Display
- Replaceable M.2 and SO-DIMM Slots
Cons:
- It can run loud and hot at times
- Subpar battery life
- Battery life drops below subpar gaming, netting only 45 minutes to one hour of gameplay.
MSI Pulse GL76: Is It a Buy?
Buy it if…
You’ve been looking for an affordable way to get an RTX 3060 and a 12th Gen Intel processor. As these can still be difficult to find at their MSRP, gaming laptops can be a great way to get these specs at their appropriate pricing, and the MSI Pulse GL76 is one of those laptops that offers great tech at a great price point.
The Pulse GL76 is capable of handling heavy workloads and triple-A gaming performance. If you’re a student working in engineering, graphics, or any other computer-intensive field, this is a great option that won’t take up too much space in the classroom or at home.
With a 1080p resolution at 144Hz display, the MSI Pulse GL76 provides gamers with one of the best displays for a gaming laptop at a reasonable price. If you play competitive shooters where a fast refresh rate display is necessary and have been searching for a gaming laptop, the Pulse GL76 may be your best bet in the below $2000 range.
Don’t buy it if…
You need a gaming laptop with a battery that will get you through a long gaming session.
While the Pulse GL76 is a powerful gaming laptop that is capable of running games at high frame rates in 1080p resolution, this results in the fans being very nosy while under heavy loads. In addition, the battery is prone to overheating. For example, many users have pointed out that even the area beneath the keyboard can get extremely hot during long periods of use, making for an uncomfortable typing experience.
Additionally, if you’re looking for a laptop that delivers better 4k gaming performance, you will have better luck if you go with a Core i9 gaming laptop. But keep in mind that you’ll be paying more for the privilege.
All things considered, the MSI Pulse GL76 still offers great bang for your buck as a middle-of-the-road gaming laptop.
- Intel's 12th generation i7 CPU inside
- Windows 11 Home pre-installed
- NVIDIA's RTX 3060 discrete graphics card inside
- The 144Hz Full HD display is great for all high refresh rate needs
