In early 2023, MSI Indonesia has introduced their newest line of gaming laptops in Indonesia. Among the range of gaming laptops that they have launched, there is a series of gaming laptops that catches the eye, namely the MSI Katana B13V series. MSI's latest laptop is equipped with the 13th generation Intel processor and the latest NVIDIA RTX 40 Series graphics card, which will provide optimal performance for gaming use. MSI Katana B13V is also the first gaming laptop to feature an NVIDIA RTX 4060 graphics card in Indonesia today.

As the name implies, the MSI Katana B13V is likened to a katana weapon commonly used by samurai. Katana is also referred to as a weapon that is very sharp and strong so that it can be relied upon in various combat situations. So the MSI Katana B13V gaming laptop can be interpreted as a powerful weapon that you can rely on in various usage schemes.

Of course, the MSI Katana B13V can answer the needs of gamers, designers, programmers, or content creators who want a high-spec and newest gaming laptop but at a more affordable price than its sibling, the MSI Raider series. So it just so happens that the author has the opportunity from MSI Indonesia to be able to review the MSI Katana B13V series, for the SKU Katana 15 B13VFK-282ID which is the highest SKU from the Katana line.

If you are currently looking for the most worthy gaming laptop, maybe the MSI Katana 15 B13VFK-282ID can be a laptop that you can rely on for the next few years. Before buying, let's look at the following reviews from DuniaGames, guys!

Latest Design, Fresher and Modern

Unlike the MSI Katana GF66 series that was present last year, the MSI Katana 15 B13VFK-282ID comes with a fresher and more modern design. Overall, this gaming laptop is black with a glossy finish which makes it not seem tacky. As for the dimensions, this laptop has dimensions 359 x 259 x 24.9 mm and weighs 2.25 Kg.

Interestingly, the design of this gaming laptop has several additional details, starting from the two vertical lines on the rear body that accompany the "MSI" logo. At each corner, it also has small depression detailing on the monitor and detailed ornaments such as bolts near the keyboard. Apart from that, there are also detailed dotted abstract motifs around the frame and near the exhaust area at the bottom of the monitor.

Towards the keyboard section, MSI Katana 15 B13V has 4-Zone RGB illumination which makes this gaming laptop have RGB light elements ready to accompany playing games. The keyboard also has a full-size layout, where there are function (fn) keys, number keys, and arrow keys which have several other functions.

Uniquely, MSI also made the WASD keys and arrow keys on the MSI Katana 15 B13V made with a transparent finish which makes this keyboard layout look really gaming. The distance between the keyboard keys (travel distance) on this gaming laptop is also short so it is very comfortable to use when typing. The characteristics of the MSI Katana 15 B13V keyboard also feel clicky and responsive so it's cool to use when typing work or playing games.

Under the keyboard section, the MSI Katana 15 B13V also has a full touchpad which is quite large and there is no longer a dedicated left or right click, so the touchpad on this gaming laptop also feels clean and cool with several embedded gesture functions.

At the bottom, you will see several large circulation or airflow holes, you can even see the heat pipe section which functions to dissipate heat on this gaming laptop. The abundant airflow holes, of course, make the air circulation in the MSI Katana 15 B13V very well maintained.

You can also find two speakers to produce stereo audio with 2 x 2-watt power that has been tuned by Nahimic 3 by SteelSeries on the right and left sides. The sound produced is also very good and the Nahimic feature allows you to adjust the sound output from the stereo speakers.

Connectivity

For connectivity, the MSI Katana 15 B13V is quite complete. On the right side, there is a LAN port, an HDMI port (support 8K 60 Hz), a USB 3.2 Gen 1 port, a USB Type C, and a 1x Mic-in/Headphone-out Combo Jack port.

Meanwhile, on the left side, there is a power adapter port, a USB 3.2 Gen 1 port, and a USB 2 port. Unfortunately, the USB Type C port on the MSI Katana 15 B13V does not yet support Thunderbolt. Even so, the functionality of the MSI Katana 15 B13V laptop is quite complete and reliable.

Stunning Screen

MSI Katana 15 B13V has a 15.6-inch screen size that uses the best IPS Level panel in its class so it has sharp accuracy. The screen also has a Full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels with a wide viewing angle, so it pleases the user's eyes in various uses. The MSI Katana 15 B13V screen also has an average color accuracy of 1.4 Delta-E with a Color Gamut reaching 65% SRGB. Apart from that, the screen also has a refresh rate of up to 144 Hz which makes the MSI Katana 15 B13V reliable when playing FPS games.

On the screen, you can also find a webcam that has HD 720p 30 FPS resolution which is very sufficient for the needs of Google Meet or Zoom Meetings. The screen part of this gaming laptop can also be opened up to 180 degrees, so it is very helpful for presentations or other needs.

The Best Specifications Available

If you are looking for a powerful gaming laptop, the MSI Katana 15 B13V can be the answer. This is because the MSI Katana 15 B13V uses a processor that is still fresh on the market, namely the Intel Core i7-13620H with the code name Raptor Lake with a 10 nm fabrication. This processor also has 10 cores which are divided into 6 P-Cores and 4 E-Cores with a total of 16 Threads, making this processor the most powerful currently that Intel has for mobile processor platforms.

Intel Core i7-13620H even has a max boost of up to 5.0 GHz with a power level value of 2 (PL2) up to 115 W. Interestingly, this mobile platform processor also has an integrated GPU, namely Intel UHD 770. Where this iGPU already has sufficient capabilities both in processing graphics and economical power.

The Intel Core i7-13620H processor on the MSI Katana 15 B13V is also paired with a discrete NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 mobile GPU with 8 GB of GDDR6 VRAM. This is the current high-end laptop GPU that uses the Ada Lovelace architecture with 4 nm fabrication, whereas NVIDIA's newest mobile GPU has a shader of 3072 with a clock speed of up to 16 Gbps and a 128 Bit memory bus. This mobile GPU also has total graphic power (TGP) that can be configured between 35 and 115 Watts.

In addition to the latest Ray-Tracing features, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 mobile also features DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) 3 which features the latest AI technology that can predict entire frames, not just pixels. In fact, this technology can increase the framerate several times while maintaining graphic quality.

MSI has also embedded DDR5 SODIMM RAM with a capacity of 16 GB dual channel which has a frequency of 5200 Mhz to accompany the processor and GPU in the MSI Katana 15 B13V. The fun thing is, you can also upgrade the RAM capacity up to 64 GB if it still feels lacking.

The MSI Katana 15 B13VFK-282ID SKU that the author reviewed, this gaming laptop has 1 TB of M.2 NVME SSD PCIE Gen 4 storage memory. Even if it's still lacking, there are still additional M.2 slots that you can take advantage of.

Wide Array of Features

As a gaming laptop, the MSI Katana 15 B13V has a number of features that spoil its users. Such as the cooling system feature with MSI's latest technology, namely Cooling Boost 5, which has a total of 6 heat pipes with a shared pipe design and is combined with two fans to dissipate heat. The ventilation holes for heat dissipation on this gaming laptop are also on the left and back sides, so there is no longer the uncomfortable feeling of being exposed to heat when using a mouse.

MSI Katana 15 B13V also has Wi-Fi 6 connectivity with a speed of 2.4 Gbps which guarantees a better connection, but of course with the use of a router that also supports Wi-Fi 6. Apart from that, there is also Bluetooth 5.2 which will also have minimal latency.

The most interesting feature of the MSI Katana 15 B13V is the MSI Center feature, which is a complete feature that really spoils the user. Through the MSI Center, there are many things that users can enjoy, from monitoring usage to exclusive functions that only exist in that application.

Through the MSI Center, you can maximize usage based on the usage scenario you want. Starting from gaming, streaming, video editing, and others. With this smart feature, you can also adjust the laptop's performance according to usage. If you need maximum performance, then MSI Center will intelligently switch to a performance mode that maximizes the use of MUX Switch technology on this gaming laptop.

Well, MUX Switch itself is a special microchip technology developed for laptops, where its function is similar to a switch that can switch easily and instantly between Microsoft Hybrid Graphics mode or discrete graphics mode.

There is also a Nahimic 3 by SteelSeries feature that allows users to adjust their audio needs according to usage. Through this application, users can adjust the parameters of the equalizer, presets, and others. This feature, allows users to get a smart and easy-to-use audio experience.

Performance Test

After knowing the specifications and all the features available, surely you are curious about the performance of the MSI Katana 15 B13VFK-282ID, right? Now the author has also conducted performance testing using several applications with several existing modes.

Here is the MSI Katana 15 B13VFK-282ID test results that you can see:

In testing using 3DMark - Fire Strike Ultra, the MSI Katana 15 B13VFK-282ID got a score of 5872. Where this score is good enough to be obtained by a gaming laptop. As for testing the NVIDIA DLSS feature test, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 8 GB GDDR6 on a gaming laptop the results were also very good, getting 11.68 FPS for DLSS Off and 57.91 FPS for DLSS On.

For the Cinebench R23 test with 12 loops for almost 10 minutes in all three modes in the MSI Center, it appears that the Intel Core i7-13620H in the MSI Katana 15 B13V gets a Multi-Core score of around 15358 points. These results also show that in Balance Mode on this gaming laptop it still provides good performance with a fan noise that is not too noisy. Even the score in Balance Mode is only 4% adrift from Performance Mode.

In the 3D rendering test using Blender for BMW car models, the MSI Katana 15 B13VFK-282ID can complete in just 3 minutes. Even testing using the D5 Benchmark for architectural visual design needs, this gaming laptop also gets a rendering time of up to 5 minutes 35 seconds with 33.40 FPS.

For testing the FurMark application for almost 30 minutes with a resolution of 1024x576 at Balanced Mode settings, the MSI Katana 15 B13VFK-282ID got an average FPS of 337 FPS with a maximum CPU temperature of 88 Celsius and a maximum GPU temperature of 80 Celsius.

Next is the V-Ray Benchmark test, this gaming laptop also gets a vsamples score of 8518, while the V-Ray GPU RTX gets a V-Ray score of 1724.

Furthermore, the M.2 NVME SSD PCIE Gen 4 on a gaming laptop also has quite good performance, through the CrystalDiskMark 8 test, the storage memory of this gaming laptop gets Read Speeds above 3600 MB/s, while the Write Speed ​​gets 3000 MB. /s.

The author also tested Silent Mode, Balanced Mode, and Performance Mode on 3DMark - Time Spy using a cooling pad and without using a cooling pad. Here's the result table:

From the chart above, it appears that there is a difference between not using a cooling pad and using a cooling pad on this gaming laptop. This is an interesting option for those of you who want to maximize the potential of the MSI Katana 15 B13V which already has powerful performance.

Here are also some of the MSI Katana 15 B13VFK-282ID test results in playing games which are presented in the video below:

Power At Idle

Power At Full Load

Conclusion

Looking at the specifications and performance offered, the MSI Katana 15 B13V has become a powerful gaming laptop in the current IDR 20 million price segment. Powered by an Intel Core i7-13620H processor and a mobile NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 GPU, this gaming laptop is capable of running all kinds of games, even rendering applications. Moreover, MSI has also equipped it with the Cooling Boost 5 cooling system feature, so that the temperature of the processor and GPU can be maintained properly.

The MSI Center feature makes it easy to change modes or usage scenarios with just one click, making this gaming laptop superior. It's just that, when switching to Performance Mode, you have to accept the consequences of loud fan noise. However, this can provide maximum performance in use, both when playing games, rendering videos, or visuals.

MSI Katana 15 B13V also has a solid build material, giving you the confidence to carry it everywhere. With a plain black design and not many flashy gaming accents, this gaming laptop is of course very suitable for you mainstream gamers who are minimalist but still pay attention to powerful performance!

Overall, the MSI Katana 15 B13V does have some drawbacks, such as the absence of Thunderbolt. However, because of the performance and price offered, this gaming laptop can be reckoned with in the IDR 20 million price segment. Moreover, there are some interesting things that might be your consideration before buying.

The fun thing is, every purchase of this gaming laptop also includes a bonus, an exclusive bag that has a cool design! For the price of the MSI Katana 15 B13VFK-282ID gaming laptop, which the author reviewed, costs IDR 24,499,000. For more information about this gaming laptop, you can visit the following MSI official page:

• Complete information on Katana 15 B13V: https://msi.gm/katana15duniagames
• MSI Official Online Store: https://msi.gm/katanaduniagamesonline
• MSI Offline Authorized Store: https://msi.gm/katanaduniagamesoffline

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