MSI Creator Z16P review – Rock solid performance

The MSI Creator Z16P is equipped with the very best hardware. The laptop provides creatives with rock-solid performance.

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The MSI Creator Z16P is a high-end laptop that targets the most demanding content creators, from filmmakers to engineers and gamers. The modern design and 16:10 display with lifelike color reproduction will undoubtedly convince them.

Over the past few weeks we have been working with the MSI Creator Z16P, the more powerful variant of the MSI Creator Z16 that we already reviewed last year in in 2022 has also received an update† The Z16P outperforms its predecessor in all areas and will therefore convince the most professional users.

Finished design

There is a lot to say about the design of the MSI Creator Z16P. Just like the Z16, it reminds us of a MacBook with its rounded corners, but it is indeed a Windows laptop. Since many creatives still swear by Apple, this isn’t a bad choice from MSI – it’s something different and we got used to it during our review period.

The aluminum housing looks good and feels sturdy, which is of course very important for a 16-inch laptop. Despite its screen size, the Creator Z16P with a thickness of only 19 millimeters and weight of 2.39 kilograms is extremely portable and easy to carry in a backpack or laptop bag. Since you have a dedicated graphics card and therefore need more power (240W to be exact), the charger is larger than the USB-C variants that many business laptops use. The weight is not that bad in a backpack, although we did notice the difference with the MSI Summit E15 that we normally use.

In terms of connectivity, we see some differences with the Z16. For example, you have one Thunderbolt 4 USB-C port, a USB-C 3.2 gen 2 port and only one USB-A connection. We’d hate that if it weren’t for the SD card slot that’s here, because it’s so much more convenient than microSD for creators (there’s a reason Apple added this port again to the Macbook Pro.)

Lifelike display

What it largely revolves around is the extremely bright (400 nits) QHD display of the MSI Creator Z16P. The screen has a unique aspect ratio of 16:10 (2560 x 1600 resolution), which translates into more vertical screen space. You can use it while editing videos or just during everyday multitasking. We have already been able to test a few ‘gold ratio’ laptops from MSI and you quickly get used to the extra space, especially if you often work with online content like us. The bezels around the screen aren’t overly large, with just some extra space below the screen and a webcam at the top.

The refresh rate in this Pro model has been increased from 120 Hz to 165 Hz, which ensures that gamers can get that little bit more out of the screen. That is also allowed, because with an NVIDIA RTX 3080 TI on board, you naturally get a significantly higher frame rate. The laptop comes standard with NVIDIA’s Studio drivers to provide as much stability as possible, but if you like to play the latest titles, we recommend switching to the Game Ready drivers.

Work or play, in the end it makes no difference, because in both cases you can get the most out of this display. The 100 percent DCI-P3 color gamut ensures that you see lifelike colors at all times. In addition, MSI True Color gives you the option to switch to sRGB or AdobeRGB. This is indispensable when editing photos or videos.

We also mention that the screen can be used at an angle of 180 degrees and you can invert the image via a hotkey to quickly show something to a colleague who is sitting on the other side of the table. Niche, but it comes in handy.

Benchmarks MSI Creator Z16P

With the specifications such as those of the Z16P, you naturally expect a lot in terms of performance. The Creator Z16P absolutely does not disappoint. We decided to edit a video in Adobe Premiere Pro and the combination of the new 12th generation Intel i9-12900H and the RTX 3080 TI graphics card made it possible to scroll through 4K content during editing and the export was lightning fast. If anything less, we played demanding games like Cyberpunk 2077 without any problems. Ray tracing on ultra at more than 30 fps may not be possible, but the game ran great.

If we look at the benchmarks, we see that the results of the Creator Z16P with its 12th generation Intel i9-12900H completely blow those of the Creator Z16 with an i9-11900H. Single core performance is about 10 percent higher in Geekbench 5 and multi-core is an impressive 57 percent more, with similar results in Cinebench r23. We also saw a strong increase in 3D Mark Time Spy due to the better CPU, but also due to the upgrade from an RTX 3060 to 3080 TI, with a score of 9760, which is 48 percent higher than the 6587 of the Z16. It makes clear how much impact a one-generation difference can have.

What else?

We also used Cyberpunk as a stress test and found that the laptop got quite warm (say hot) while playing. The warmest spot is by far the grille above the keyboard and the heat also flows to the back of the screen. The keyboard itself also got warm, but not as uncomfortably as the sides. The touchpad remained surprisingly cool.

MSI uses Cooler Boost Technology with vapor chamber cooling for this model and the cooling surface has been increased compared to the previous generation. As a result, the surface temperature is two degrees lower, but in our opinion this can be even better so that you don’t have to play with sweaty hands. The temperature is fine during day-to-day tasks, but the laptop can’t be called cold either.

You don’t have to count on a long battery life with this MSI Creator Z16P. The laptop has been developed to handle heavy graphical tasks and that requires a lot of power. Count on two to three hours depending on the work you do and less than two hours if you decide to game too. That’s not much, but enough to have some freedom of location throughout the day.

MSI Creator Z16P: To Buy Or Not?

The MSI Creator Z16P is an impressive piece of technology for sure. Content creators who like to play a bit of gaming will therefore make an excellent purchase. In addition, the laptop also looks nice with its aluminum design and rounded corners. In this way it fits into any professional environment.