MSI’s recent addition to its repertoire of laptops includes the WS66 mobile workstation, “made for professionals,” that retails for about $2,600 in the U.S., ($3,500 in Canada). The company with devices historically “made for gamers and creators” has made at least a partial pivot to the business world, offering a line of workstations designed for active professionals such as engineers and those in technical roles. The WS66 Workstation is built on the framework of several key features that MSI has wagered are needed in today’s work environment, with many people continuing to work remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The evolution of MSI’s workstations have taken them from mainstream dimensions to that of ultra-portability, but with great power and capabilities. MSI claims its latest WS66 can tackle large and complex modeling and visual projects with ease and speed. Building up credit over many years of cooperation with technical industries, MSI’s workstation is certified by leading independent software vendors such as Autodesk, PTC, Siemens, Vectorworks and more.

“MSI’s mobile workstation offers you a reliable and versatile solution for boosting your workflow from concept to final production. With the latest Intel processor and powerful NVIDIA Quadro Series graphics, you can seamlessly work on large-scale computations and graphics-intensive applications. MSI mobile workstations are ISV certified systems, which ensures that both hardware and software are fully stable and compatible for a professional experience. Whether it’s 3D rendering or AI-augmented, MSI’s mobile workstation assists you to maximize the productivity of content creation,” states company literature.

Key Specs

The WS66 Workstation has a 15.6’’ touchscreen with an 84 percent screen-to-body ratio, enabling a high level of portability. The WS66 is 19.8 mm thick and weighs in at 2.1 kg (4.6 lbs). Vivid coloration achieved by the True Pixel touchscreen-enabled display supports eight color modes in 4K Ultra HD. This is important in design fields where accuracy in color is paramount, and MSI took the extra step to ensure user confidence by getting the display CalMAN Verified.

The high performance of the workstation is crucial for WS66 being up to a multitude of demanding tasks in fields ranging from engineering, manufacturing and architecture to media, entertainment and simulation. Users of the WS66 machines won’t just be playing games—they will be the ones making them, and so will need the computing power generated by the latest Intel processor chipsets with their enhanced performance.

The NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000 graphics card benefits from the new RT Core and Tensor Core resulting in a workflow 25 percent faster for demanding tasks such as large, complex CAD modeling, photo-realistic renderings and sophisticated DC effects. With 64 GB of RAM, there’s no question that the WS66 is built for serious work and DDR4 memory enables large files to be read faster.

MSI has demonstrated cognizance of the high risk for cybersecurity breaches in today’s world, exacerbated by professionals working outside of the security infrastructure provided by physical office spaces. Because of this, the security detail in the WS66 includes Discrete TPM 2.0, an encryption algorithm that provides a secure TCG 2.0 Certificated working experience. MSI combined security with ease of use by adding a FIDO 2 Password-less Authentication featuring a built-in touchpad lock utilizing a fingerprint as the entry mode. Additionally, an infrared HD camera supports Windows Hello for easy and secure login.

Professionals who are dedicated to their projects need computers that can work overtime. With the WS66 Workstation, MSI claims “the world’s highest battery capacity” with a 99.9 Wh “super battery” that maxes out the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s lithium-ion battery size regulations. The battery life is an estimated nine hours, enough for a long flight or an extended workday.

Design Details

All the performance in the world won’t matter if the hardware breaks. For this reason, MSI put the WS66 through multiple tests for military grade operation, meaning that even in the wake of an accident, work can still get done. MSI claims that the device can withstand 500 Hz of vibration, 20G of shock, temperatures between -25 degrees Celsius and up to 71 degrees Celsius for 168 hours, and both high and low altitudes and humid, salty and dusty conditions.

A full, white-lit keyboard adjacent to a “silky-smooth” touchpad boasts an intuitive functionality that includes allowing users to access function keys with just one right-position key press. There are also designated microphone and webcam keys for online meeting use. Transfer of photos and videos through an SD card reader equipped with UHS-III configuration permits speeds 4.7 times than that of UHS-I, taking only a reported 28 seconds to transfer 500 photos. The WS66 possesses a hi-res audio certification due to an MSI-designed duo wave speaker that involves a two-sided passive radiator design.

MSI’s WS66 workstation is equipped with a Thunderbolt 3 charging port for smartphone charging which is three times faster than Type A with a data transfer speed of 40 Gbps. Also, in the speed capability category, the device supports the latest Wi-Fi 6 for Internet connection speeds three times faster than Wi-Fi 5. Wi-Fi 6 is also more suitable for crowded networks because it reduces congestion in heavy bandwidth usage situations.

Computers that work hard have a lot of heat to expel. To help keep the WS66 running smoothly, MSI added 67 CoolerBoostTrinity+ fan blades, dubbed “the world’s thinnest fan blade design” at 0.1 mm.

Creator Center

MSI’s WS66 contains an app-based interface intended to optimize the workflow for creators. It’s a customizable system with different user modes, settings and resources for a wide range of scenarios and work conditions.

For example, it has specialized settings for scenarios in which users are multi-tasking, meeting with clients, traveling or in environmental conditions such as meetings where quiet options are needed. It also allows users to prioritize apps through a drag and drop system and is set-up in a more intuitive fashion than previous creator centers. The center is available by download from the Microsoft store and supports ISV applications including SOLIDWORKS, CATIA, AutoCAD, ANSYS and Adobe, among others.

To learn more about the MSI WS66 mobile workstation, visit MSI.