MSI Crosshair A17 HX – With the Ryzen 9 8940HX against the CPU limit

MSI’s Crosshair A17 HX is something of a technical defiance project. At a time when every second notebook has Intel logos on it and AMD is labeled as a power-saving solution for office workers in many devices, MSI is launching a 17-incher with the Ryzen 9 8940HX – a Zen 4 chip that is no longer completely fresh in the mobile segment, but is anything but outdated. Anyone who senses “outdated technology” here has probably only been staring at Intel diagrams for the last few years.

This 16-core with 32 threads impressively demonstrates in the benchmark course what Zen 4 can still achieve in 2025 – especially in the multi-core area. The Ryzen 9 8940HX comes dangerously close to the performance of a Core Ultra 9 275HX – without immediately slipping into the 150-watt category. Sure, we’re not talking about efficiency here. But who buys a notebook with this configuration to save power? The Crosshair A17 HX is based on a solid overall package that wants more than just gaming. A very fast SSD ensures quick loading times, plus a decent IPS panel – not an OLED show, but more than sufficient for everyday use. Two M.2 slots and two SO-DIMM banks show: MSI has thought ahead. The privacy shutter for the webcam is also not a marketing gimmick, but a welcome security function that is not a given in this price range.

Let’s move on to the other side of the coin – and this notebook has it, like any serious device. The speakers are an acoustic disaster – more tin can than bass foundation. The fan control seems to have been imported straight from 2018: either too quiet and hot or too loud and annoying. A usable intermediate stage? Not available. On top of that, the 90 Wh battery is power-hungry, sucking the last of the juice out of it faster than you can click “Energy-saving profile”. Mobile use? Rather symbolic. The connectivity is also mediocre at best. Although the Crosshair A17 HX offers USB 4 – commendable – it otherwise lacks modern extras such as an SD card reader, proper Thunderbolt connections or clever port distribution. More would have been possible for a device of this size.

The biggest elephant in the room, however, remains the price. Around 2,000 euros for a gaming notebook with 8 GB VRAM? In 2025, this is no longer a cleverly calculated compromise, but simply too little. Anyone who regularly plays the latest AAA titles in UHD or with ray tracing features will reach their limits with this configuration in the medium term. And not pleasant ones at that. Nevertheless, those who know exactly what they are getting into – a massive desktop replacement with real multi-core performance and an AMD heart – will find the MSI Crosshair A17 HX a potent piece of hardware with personality. Not a dazzler, not lifestyle junk – but a real bolide for people who measure performance in cores and can do without questionable RGB orgies.

Source: MSI