Today, we received the new MSI Summit E14 Evo A12M, a high-end Alder Lake architecture ultra laptop. This is the first ultra laptop we’ve tested, but as it can’t compete in the same category as the previously tested Stealth 17M A12UE, we decided to update the test protocol.
The MSI Summit E14 Evo A12M in this version with the i7 1280p has the best low power CPU in the Intel range. It remains to be seen whether these high performances will not affect the autonomy or the heat.
[nextpage title=”Unpacking and accessories”] We start with the unpacking of the device, this laptop comes in a black box with the colors of the Summit range from MSI. This box contains only the laptop, a second cardboard box contains the charger.
The charger is a 65W USB-C type, we regret that the USB-C cord is not detachable. A smartphone or Macbook style charger would have been better.
[nextpage title=”Specification “]
Technical specifications
Now let’s go to the technical specifications, these are available on the Summit E14 Evo A12M page with the different versions on the market.
The Summit E14 Evo A12M is a 14 inch laptop with a 1920x1200p IPS panel with a refresh rate of 60 Hz. The processor is an Intel Alder Lake i7-1280P and an Intel Iris Xe 96sp IGP, accompanied by 16GB of LPDDR5-4800 RAM, a 1TB NVMe SSD and powered by a 72W battery.
Presentation
To begin with, the Summit E14 is made entirely of aluminium. This gives it a quality feel. It should be noted that it is very easy to get fingerprints on it and it is difficult to clean well.
We start the tour with the keyboard, which is rather pleasant to use. But, its ANSI format is very difficult to handle for someone used to ISO keyboards. It will be very easy to handle for those using small custom keyboards.
Now we move on to the trackpad, which is the nicest trackpad I’ve used since the one on my Macbook. To the right of the trackpad is the fingerprint sensor, which is quite responsive.
Let’s move on to the audio part. Here we have two speakers embedded in the chassis on the back of the device. They are therefore invisible. As for the audio rendering, the quality leaves much to be desired. The bass is non-existent and the sound is not very detailed and easily saturated.
Then we have the connections, which are present in great quantity, which is a plus. With two Thunderbolt 4 ports, an HDMI port, a micro SD drive and a USB type A port. This is a laptop that has everything you need for professional use.
[nextpage title=”Screen to probe measurement”]
Measurements before calibration
We now move on to the panel test and in order to know the colorimetric quality of this screen out of the box, we made some measurements of the screen. This was tested on DisplayCal following 51 colour patches. 
As you can see, the calibration is quite good, we have 7000K for 6500K expected, but it remains in the specs. The delta E is contained to less than 2%. As for the brightness, it can go up to 500cd/m² with a contrast ratio around 1626:1. The gamut is :
- 96.1% of sRGB
- 69.5% of Adobe RGB
- 73.3% of DCI P3
Measurements after calibration
The calibration of a display is important for content creation and comfort. For the calibration of my displays, I mostly use DisplayCal in 6500K, 150 cd/m2 and an extended test pattern. For the settings we have :
- Brightness: as is (approx. 200 cd/m²)
- Black level: as is (approx. 0.12 cd/m²)
- White: as is
- profile: sRGB
- Test pattern: Large test pattern – 778 patches
So here is what this screen looks like after calibration: 
Calibration via the DisplayCal software results in an extremely accurate profile with a deltaE of less than 1. With these settings, the screen becomes almost perfect. Ideal for photo editing. As far as the reflectance of the screen is concerned, we have a glossy panel, a good choice for photography, as the sharpness is better. But not recommended for outdoor use, fortunately the 500 cd/m² are there to counter the reflections. 
[nextpage title=”Protocol”]
All benchmarks will be done in the highest performance mode available (bios and Windows), to get an idea of what the machines are worth at their maximum. As for the drivers, we will mention and use the latest official versions available.
The base resolution will be 1920×1080, but other resolutions can be added depending on the laptop’s screen. We will put the highest graphics presets available on each game as well as the average presets.
In terms of synthetic tests:
- CPU
- Cinebench R23/R20, Geekbench 5, 3Dmark CPU Profile.
- GPU
- TimeSpy, TimeSpy Extreme, Fire Strike, Fire Strike Extreme.
- Memory
- AIDA64.
Video games: we choose popular licenses, but above all, they have ” in-game benchmarks ” to allow a better representation and reproducibility of performance. This also allows you to compare your results with ours without difficulty.
- Anno 1800 (DX12)
- Shadow Of The Tomb Raider (DX12)
The Intel Xe 96sp IGP driver is version 31.0.101.3729 [nextpage title=”Synthetic performance”]
Synthetic Performance
The MSI Summit E14 Evo A12M is equipped with an Intel Alder Lake processor, the i7-1280P which is a P version, aimed at almost all applications, compared to the low power U or high performance H/HK/HX.
It has 6 performance cores boosting to 4.8 GHz and 8 efficiency cores at 3.6 GHz. The PL1 of the processor is 28W with a PL2 at 64W.
Cinebench R20 and R23
On cinebench R20, the 1280P scores 3944 points in multi-core and 658 points in single-core.
With the R23 version, we are on 11301 points in multi-core and 1797 points in single-core.
On both benchmarks, we are far from the performance obtained on the MSI Stealth 17M. This is certainly due to the throttle cpu which lowers the frequency to less than 3Ghz on the Pcore and 2Ghz on the Ecore.
Geekbench 5
In geekbench 5, the processor climbs to 1689 points in single-core and 9598 points in multi-core. Here too, we note a gap, especially in multi-core performance.
3DMark CPU
In 3Dmark CPU, we are looking at 907 points in single-core and 6276 in multi-core.
AIDA64
In terms of RAM and latency, the LPDDR5-4800 in gear 2 is over 109 ns. The proposed data rates are around 67 GB/s for writing, reading and copying. This is better than the Stealth 17M which had 115.6 ns and 38 GB/s. Apart from the very high latency, the processor performs very well despite the inadequate thermal solution. The CPU will not have any trouble performing all the tasks it is asked to do.
3DMark Fire Strike
On Fire Strike and Fire Strike Extreme, the IGP performs more than three times worse than the RTX3060. We’re clearly not on a machine made for heavy 3D tasks.
3DMark Time Spy
Then, Time Spy and Time Spy Extreme the gap widens even more compared to Nvidia RTX or AMD Radeon solutions. In contrast to the very good CPU performance, the graphics part does not keep up with the heavy 3D tasks. It remains to be seen whether the trend is reversed in games. [nextpage title=”Performance Gaming”]
Performance gaming
Now let’s talk about gaming performance with this Intel Xe 96sp IGP.
Shadow of the tomb raider
Shadow of the tomb raider integrated benchmark results. In medium and ultra quality, in 1080p and DX12.
As you can see it will be almost impossible to play a demanding game like Shadow of the tomb raider on this PC. The Intel IGP is not powerful enough.
Anno 1800
Results of the Anno1800 integrated benchmark. In medium and ultra quality, in 1080p and DX12.
For a game like Anno 1800, by lowering the graphics quality, it is possible to play in acceptable conditions. The i7-1280p helps a lot with this type of game. The MSI Summit E14 should not be relied upon to play the latest AAA games. But for gaming on LoL, Minecraft or other games that are not very demanding, it can be used. [nextpage title=”Temperature and Power Consumption”]
Temperature and consumption
The temperatures measured during the tests were very high. On benchmarks like Cinebench R20 and R23 we reach 93 °C to 97 °C. However, the PC remains quite cool in the chassis. Both in idle and under load.
To cool the configuration, we have two fans on the back that suck in cool air and expel it in front of the screen.
Surface temperature in idle
The surface of the keyboard and trackpad stays below 30°C in idle, which is a good temperature.
Surface temperature under load
Under load this time, the keyboard and trackpad surface rises to almost 45°C in front of the screen and at the top right of the keyboard. These are quite high temperatures, but the areas most in contact with the user remain around 30°C. To limit the heat, the Summit E14 has a swivel screen to raise the device. There are skids to keep it stable and not to scratch it. 
Consumption
As for the battery, we have a PC with a 72Wh battery. Concerning the consumption, we oscillate between 7W and 20W with an average of 12W. The battery lasts about 6 to 8 hours with mixed use of Photoshop, Internet and Office. And recharges in a little over an hour. [nextpage title=”Conclusion “]
Conclusion
The MSI Summit E14 Evo A12M is the ideal ally for creators of mobile graphic content. On paper, it may be an excellent choice, but in reality, it is too powerful for the on-board cooling and its autonomy objectives. You should therefore not opt for the i7-1280p version, but rather the i5-1240p version. With its two Pcore less, therefore less energy consuming.
The second thing that hurts is the price, with $1’149 for the 512gb and i5-1240p version or $1,349 for the i7-1280p. We were expecting at least 10 hours of autonomy, good sound quality and a Macbook-type charger.
We liked :
- CPU performance
- The weight and thinness of the chassis
- The high quality glossy panel for photo use
- The ANSI keyboard for regulars
We would have liked :
- Better cooling
- A slightly lower price
- A matte panel for versatility
- An ISO keyboard
- Better battery life
- Better speakers
With this Summit E14 Evo with 12th generation Intel processor, MSI could have stepped on the toes of Apple, LG, Dell and Asus. But this is not the case. The battery life, keyboard and audio system are important points on a laptop. And this MSI Summit is clearly not up to the standard of the Apple brand. This is a sad truth, but it doesn’t detract from the strengths of this machine, namely its performance, its screen and its connectivity.