Let’s take a closer look at Intel’s new Tiger Lake 11th processor with XE graphics

Last week, we shared with you our usual daily experience with the new MSI Modern 14 powered by the Intel 11th-gen Core i7-1165G7 processor with Iris Xe Graphics. While we know that it’s a great laptop for work, we’re going to take a closer look at its performance by running benchmark software. Let’s see how it fares.

Before we ran the benchmark tools, we opened the MSI Center software and selected the High-Performance mode to make sure there’s nothing from the software-side that’s holding back the MSI Modern 14. We also adjusted the fan speed and chose the maximum setting which is Cooler Boost. At this point, you’ll be able to hear the fan spinning at its maximum RPM.

First, we have PCMark 10 Extended, which measures the overall system performance for modern office work with extra graphics and physics tests. For typical office work and light media content, a PCMark 10 essentials score of 4100 or higher is recommended. We can see that it got a score of 5,854, which is good. For editing photos, video, or other digital content, a PCMark 10 Digital Content Creation score of 3,450 or higher is recommended. In this case, we got 4,874, which is also good.

Considering the other scores, the MSI Modern 14 got an overall score of 3,726, which puts its performance in the same league of office laptops for 2020.

Next, we have 3DMark to gauge the MSI Modern 14’s gaming capabilities. Although not a gaming laptop, the Intel Iris Xe graphics allows for some light gaming, like Genshin Impact in low and mid settings. It also helps the laptop run software that requires some push in the graphics department. The higher the score, the better.

For Time Spy, which is a DirectX 12 benchmark test for Windows 10 gaming PCs, rendering at 2560 × 1440 resolution. It got an overall score of 1,091, which is good, according to 3DMark. It also scored slightly higher than most typical office laptops.

For 3DMark Fire Strike, which is a DirectX 11 benchmark that renders in Full HD (1920 x 1080) resolution, the MSI Modern 14 got a score of 2,648. It’s “good” in 3DMark’s books, and while it’s far from a decent gaming laptop’s performance, it’s in the same league as most office laptops for 2020.

Next, we have Geekbench 5 that measures the processor’s single-core and multi-core power as well as its potential for gaming. The higher the score, the better. In this case, the MSI Modern 14 got scores that you would mostly find in newer and expensive ultrabooks.

Lastly, we have Cinebench R20, which a test to measure how a system renders 3D using CPU instruction sets. Or, in other words, it gauges the computer’s raw CPU horsepower. An image is rendered using Cinema 4D’s 3D engine, and then an arbitrary score is shown to show how well the CPU handled the task. It’s also a great tool to test whether or not the CPU can sustain its clock speeds, temperature, and real-life 3D tasks.

Given the benchmark scores above, we now have the figures as a measure of the MSI Modern 14’s CPU and GPU performance. This should also help us compare its performance to other laptops in the future.