MSI’s new Titan 18 HX laptop loves dragons, dragons, dragons

Over the past few years, it seems like gaming laptops have grown up quite a bit. They’ve become a little broader in their appeal, a little less “futuristic jukebox” and a little more “boardroom chic.” But MSI just responded with bullshit and decorated its newest gaming laptop with dragons, apparently while listening to a Def Leppard album. Somewhere out there, Seto Kaiba is nodding with stoic approval.

The MSI Titan 18 HX Dragon Edition Norse Myth is a gaming laptop with a hand-drawn dragon motif on the lid, as well as “3D Dragon and Dragon Ring” inlay on the palm rest. MSI says these artistic touches have a “metallic sheen, exquisite texture and a flawless vintage finish.”

Okay, of course, this is all a little funny and exaggerated. But if you’re interested in a gaming laptop that really performs at its best, the Dragon Edition may please you. Skyrim– obsessive fantasy. The design on the lid isn’t just printed on the plastic – it’s actually individual pieces of material that create a three-color design. I can’t tell what type of material is used for this effect, but it looks a little more durable than the regular special edition.

The actual hardware appears to be no different from the standard Titan 18 HX laptop, although calling this top-of-the-line machine “standard” would be unfair. You get the latest and greatest gaming-grade components, including an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor, just announced RTX 5090 graphics cardfour (count ’em, FOUR!) M.2 SSD slots (only one of which is PCIe 5) and up to 96GB of DDR5 RAM.

All this is displayed on an 18-inch MiniLED IPS screen with 4K resolution and up to 120 Hz, four standard speakers and a pair of subwoofers. But the premium quality extends even to the keyboard, which features Cherry Mechanical design and per-key RGB lighting from SteelSeries. (Boy, there’s a lot of co-branding on this thing.) You get a wide variety of ports, including dual USB-C/Thunderbolt 5, dual USB-A 3.2 Gen 2, HDMI 2.1 with up to 8K60 output, and a full-size SD card reader.

This behemoth is powered by a 99.9Wh battery—the largest you can legally take on a commercial plane—with a power adapter capable of delivering 400W. (At this heat and weight, it can also be used as a panini press, but I don’t see that on the features list.) Just make sure you don’t skip leg day if you want to travel with the Titan 18 HX. , because it is 32 mm thick (about 1.25 inches) and weighs 3.6 kg (or just under 8 pounds).

How big of a hit can this dragon cause to your wallet? As expected, MSI did not disclose this in its press materials. But the latest version of Titan 18 HX with previous generation hardware went for $5000 top notch. Let this influence your financial planning if you’re hoping to use a dragon theme for your 2025 gaming system.

If your budget isn’t too big, MSI has also announced updates for its Raider, Vector and Stealth gaming laptops, as well as the Venture and Venture Pro models if you prefer. AMD Ryzen’s Universal Approach.