MSI goes big at CES 2025 with its lineup of new 18-inch gaming laptops

Ahead of CES, gaming laptop company MSI announced its 2025 lineup, which includes over 10 18-inch laptops to round out its catalog of heavy-hitting, high-performance devices. While other manufacturers are focusing on thin and light ultraportables, MSI showed off an arsenal of imposing devices, including the Titan 18 HX AI Dragon Edition, an aptly-named 18-inch gaming rig inscribed with Norse runes and a dragon’s eye. 

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What’s noteworthy are all the new AMD processors on board MSI’s gaming lineup, with most laptops featuring both an Intel and AMD configuration. The Intel laptops sport a refresh of Intel’s “Raptor Lake” H and Intel “Arrow Lake” HX/H series processors with the previously-mentioned Titan 18 HX AI, Raider 18 HX AI, Stealth 18 HX AI, and Vector 18 HX AI models. On the AMD side, the Raider comes with the AMD Ryzen 9, and the Stealth with the AMD Ryzen AI 300 series. 

Besides the laptop lineup, MSI showed off its spicy gaming handheld, the Claw 8 AI+, and a handful of non-gaming devices aimed at enterprise and productivity consumers. Here’s a closer look at the king-sized laptops MSI just announced. 

Titan 18 HX AI (Dragon Edition)

The statement-making 18-inch Titan HX AI is armed with an Intel Core Ultra 9 processor 275HX, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 GPU, and up to 96GB of memory to demolish whatever game you want to throw at it. MSI took the concept of Norse mythology and ran with it for the design of this laptop: The chassis is inscribed with shimmering old Norse runes, while the back of the display features an imposing dragon’s eye illustration. Next to the trackpad, there’s also a 3D dragon sigil that affords the device a “special edition” quality.

It’s not just all about looks, though. The machine features two Thunderbolt 5 (DisplayPort/Power Delivery 3.1) ports for dual 8K monitor support, an HDMI port, three USB-As, and an SD express card reader. For connectivity, it’s got Intel’s Killer Wi-Fi 7 BE1750 and support for Bluetooth v5.4 for minimum latency while gaming. 

The hardware onboard is supported by a 99Wh battery, a full Cherry MX mechanical keyboard, and a haptic trackpad. The display features an 18-inch, 4K, 120Hz MiniLED screen at 16:10 resolution, getting all the way up to 1,000 nits of brightness. If that wasn’t bright enough, the trackpad itself illuminates — a feature exclusive to this device that MSI is calling “Mystic Light.”

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MSI’s SSD cooling technology also comes in clutch here, providing a stable baseline temperature for PCIe Gen 5 SSDs on the Titan, Raider, and Vector via a built-in heatsink pipe to keep read and write speeds at their highest without getting throttled. Note that the Titan also comes in its “regular” form, without all the dragon stylizing, and is otherwise identical. 

Basically, this is a desktop-level laptop packed into a laptop’s form factor — although at 7.9 pounds, it’s certainly not something you’d want to tote around all day. This is a machine for e-sports, a laptop that demands to be noticed. Not something to moonlight as a work laptop in the office, lest you send your coworkers fleeing from the dragon’s gaze. 

Raider 18 HX AI/A18 HX

MSI’s Raider series features an Intel and AMD version, with an 18-inch display formatted to a 17-inch chassis. This aims to optimize cooling and maintain a relatively portable form factor. Like the Titan, the Raider also features a 120Hz Mini LED display at 4K and a 16:10 aspect ratio, supported by an Nvidia Geforce RTX 5090 GPU.

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The Raider also comes with similar I/O offerings to the Titan, with dual Thunderbolt 5 ports, HDMI, three USB-A, and an SD express card slot, all while supporting Intel Killer Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4. The outward design is sleek and understated, featuring the signature RGB light strip along the front of the device and red-slotted accents along the vents on the side and back. 

It also supports MSI’s OverBoost technology, which is designed to deliver peak combined CPU and GPU performance with a total power output of 200W. It also allows the CPU to safely exceed its standard TDP limit, pushing performance boundaries that much further.

Stealth 18 HX AI/A18 AI

The lightest 18-inch laptop in MSI’s cohort is the Stealth 18 HX AI (Intel) and A18 AI (AMD) at just 6.3 pounds. I’ve tested some consumer devices that aren’t too far off from this number, so the fact that this hardware was packed into an 18-inch machine is impressive, to say the least. The Stealth 18 HX AI features the same 16:10 Mini LED display at 120Hz or 240Hz and is powered by up to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 GPU with 24GB GDDR7. 

The processor goes up to the Intel Core Ultra 9 processor 275HX and features a unique dual-fan vapor chamber cooling system with four exhausts, including the large outputs on the back of the chassis. Also, like the other 18-inch devices, it features a 99Wh battery, but MSI says the Stealth will charge up to 50% in 30 minutes or 80% in 50 minutes. 

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The other thing that sets the Stealth 18 HX AI apart is its sound system, which features six Dynaudio surround sound speakers paired with two force-cancelling woofers. The up-facing speakers are right below the keyboard, putting the sound front and center. 

Vector 18 HX AI/A18 HX 

The Vector 18 HX AI with the Intel Core Ultra 9 processor and up to the AMD Ryzen 9000 series. Paired with a blazing-fast 240Hz QHD display at 16:10 aspect ratio and powered by the Nvidia RTX 50 series GPU, it provides lightning-fast visuals with no visual tearing. Like the other 18-inch laptops announced today, the 18-inch display is fit onto a 17-inch chassis for slightly better portability and cooling capabilities. 

Speaking of cooling, the Vector 18 HX AI comes with a dual fan setup. Seven copper heat transfer pipes are elevated within the chassis to provide a “3D” layering to maximize airflow. The Vector also features the same SSD cooling fins as the Titan and the Raider to keep those read and write speeds high during extreme load.

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Lastly, to double down on features that gamers actually care about, the Intel Killer Wi-Fi 7 on board is designed to minimize latency during gaming, resulting in less than 2ms lag time and peak speeds of up to 5.8 Gbps with 5 and 6GHz connections. This is largely thanks to the 320MHz channel bandwidth of Wi-Fi 7, which can chew through a 15GB-sized file in around 25 seconds.