MSI Aegis X System Review

Brand: MSI
Model: Aegis X
UK Price: £2174.37 @ Amazon UK (At time of review) – Click here to purchase
US Price: $2325.00 @ Amazon US (At time of review) – Click here to purchase

The MSI Aegis X is a new and unique custom gaming PC from MSI. It features an Intel Core i7 6700k processor and a beefy MSI GTX 1080 Armor OC 8GB graphics card. Complimenting these are 16GB of DDR4 2133MHz memory and 2 x 128GB M.2 SSDs in RAID0 for ultimate storage performance. For all your games and documents, MSI has included a 2TB drive.

So what’s good about it? Well for starters, it not only looks like a beast, but it performs like one thanks to the GTX 1080 and i7 6700k! Virtually every aspect has a high-performance element to it including the dual NMVe M.2 SSDs in RAID0 for the ultimate in read and write speed performance. The only letdown specification wise is the 16GB of DDR4 memory which runs at a meagre 2133MHz; this is of course is due to the fact that MSI has used SODIMM memory. It doesn’t make a great deal of difference when using real world applications and especially when gaming, so we haven’t really taken that into effect as MSI have focused on the key areas where performance will be won or lost. MSI obviously have won in this aspect…Even the 600w small form factor power supply has an 80PLUS Silver efficiency rating which is another badge of quality.

Focusing on the design, the Aegis X case is very unique and in my opinion, very aggressive and stylish. The LEDs on the front grill add an element of PWHOAR and the OC button (MSI Gaming Badge) towards the top is probably my favorite part of the chassis. What this allows you to do is overclock your CPU and graphics card with a simple press of a button; when enabled, it illuminates with a white LED which not only looks great but…did I mention I love it? The VR link is also a fantastic addition and for those with VR devices that use HDMI such as the HTC Vive, this allows you to plug it directly into the front of the chassis instead of the back; no more faffing around!

Although the MSI Aegis X is powerful, stylish and overall great, it can get a little hot inside and the graphics card/CPU can quite commonly hit 80c when under full load (if your room has a high ambient like mine). Although this isn’t really a problem as it won’t damage the components, this does cause the internal fan to spin quite fast and thus generates a little extra noise. It should be noted that the testing room is rather warm due to multiple systems being powered on and I would guesstimate the temps would be around the 75-78c mark in a regularly cooled room at around 20c.

If you have around £2000 and want a gaming system with a small form factor, oodles of performance, a great selection of well thought out components and great support from a company you can trust, then the MSI Aegis X is the system for you. Obviously, it would be cheaper to build your own with the same components, but you would be without the fantastic package MSI delivers with this system such as the MSI Gaming software, the VR link (HDMI port) built in and that awesome OC button on the front of the chassis. You know you want one…

Huge thanks to MSI for sending the Aegis X in for review