MSI Katana 17 B13VFK-1290FR, 17″ IPS 144Hz gaming laptop PC under Intel Core i7-H and GeForce RTX 4060 – LaptopSpirit

Our opinion on the MSI Katana 17 B13VFK-1290FR

Large, comfortable format for the creative gaming laptop MSI Katana 17 B13VFK-1290FR with a 17-inch IPS Full HD anti-glare screen with a frequency of 144Hz for improved fluidity in games, equipped with a high-end GeForce RTX 4060 ray tracing NVIDIA Ada Lovelace graphics card suitable for recent games. This GPU also accelerates multimedia processing, like the Intel Core i7-13620H Raptor Lake processor and the powerful 16 GB of RAM, as well as the fast 512 GB SSD storage, which improves responsiveness. This versatile black Windows 11 laptop designed for gaming also has a backlit keyboard and Wi-Fi 6E connectivity.

MSI Katana 17 B13VFK-1290FR Features

The MSI Katana 17 B13VFK-1290FR vs. the competition

The MSI Katana 17 B13VFK-1290FR is currently listed in promotion at Darty and Fnac. It is positioned as one of the least expensive in its category to offer such a powerful and recent processor in such a large format (17 inches).

If this MSI Katana 17 B13VFK-1290FR does not meet all your criteria, you will find on our PC gaming laptop guide other configurations to play with a similar budget. With the same budget, favor the model that has the most powerful graphics card, it is this which will have the most impact on performance.

Need a student laptop? Check out our guide.

Chassis, connectivity, screen of the MSI Katana 17 B13VFK-1290FR

Cooled by Cooler Boost 5 technology via 2 fans, 6 heat pipes and air grilles, this laptop with an angular black design adopts a gamer look.

The connectivity integrated into this creative gaming laptop is good, consisting of ports, Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi 6E ax wireless modules for communicating and connecting remotely, a practical HDMI video output for easily connecting it to a TV or monitor for example, Ethernet and audio ports, a USB-C but also 3 USBs including 2 USB 3.0 (compatible with USB 2.0) ensuring transfers up to 5 times faster than USB 2.0 if you connect USB 3.0 peripherals to it.

If you have difficulty distinguishing the keys, you can of course activate the backlighting of the chiclet keyboard.

The screen will delight gamers with its 144Hz frequency which clearly improves overall fluidity, including in games, compared to the 60Hz standard.
The Full HD screen, suitable for videos due to its 16:9 format, has wide viewing angles, both horizontally and vertically, thanks to its IPS technology.
As it is anti-reflective, the screen is more readable in bright environments (e.g. outdoors) than a glossy panel.

Performance, battery life of the MSI Katana 17 B13VFK-1290FR

The MSI Katana 17 B13VFK-1290FR is for those looking for a versatile, large-format laptop that performs well in gaming and creation.

Thanks to this gaming laptop you can play recent games.
Because it features the high-end dedicated graphics card GeForce RTX 4060 ray tracing NVIDIA Ada Lovelace.

Besides gamers, the GeForce RTX 4060 will also be of interest to creators.
Because under software exploiting GPU computing power, it accelerates multimedia processing. This is particularly the case under the Adobe suite, VSDC or Vegas.

NVIDIA Optimus technology actually automatically turns the GeForce RTX 4060 on/off in real time based on the tasks being performed.

It turns out that Optimus favors operation on the Intel Iris Xe graphics module inserted in the processor as much as possible. And this while its performance is much lower because it consumes little energy which favors autonomy.

The autonomy represents the weak point of this configuration since it is established at around 3 hours on battery in light use.
Those looking for a student laptop will therefore have to move on, unlike those who want to equip themselves with a very comfortable model for mainly sedentary use (e.g. at home), which is nevertheless more easily transportable than a desktop computer.

The fact remains that the GeForce RTX 4060 is used by Optimus to carry out graphics work deemed too heavy for the Iris Xe, typically for gaming.

The Iris Xe takes its place in the Core i7-13620H, an Intel Raptor Lake processor with 10 hybrid cores combined here with 16 GB of RAM to provide good overall power that will satisfy demanding users.

This core provides faster multimedia processing than a traditional Quad/Hexa Core. The difference is clearly felt in CPU and RAM intensive tasks that take advantage of multi-core, such as video editing, 3D rendering or photo editing.

On the storage side, MSI offers two M.2 SSD slots here, one of which is free to insert a second SSD.
A 512 GB SSD is integrated as standard, a capacity similar to that found in many commercial models.

In any case, an SSD provides great responsiveness and fluidity on a daily basis because it is fast. It is also energy-efficient, silent and shock-resistant.
Thanks to the SSD, it is quick to get to the online game cards, as well as launch games/software, start/stop or even perform processing.

Finally, in the event of heavy use (e.g. games, processing), this versatile multimedia-oriented gaming laptop is noisy and heats up a little.
If necessary, a ventilated support can be added to limit its temperatures (remember to check the dimensions carefully!).