MSI Titan GT80, nVIDIA 980M SLi etc w/ mechanical keyboard incorporated

So... as the title goes

This machine is a beast.

I'll link you to the source... and lets discuss this

MSI's GT80 Titan is an Nvidia 980M SLI monster with a mechanical keyboard - PC Gamer

 

Coolexpecting US pricing

 

Feel free to get updated on the discussion that has been going on for a while

http://forum.notebookreview.com/msi/763082-omg-msi-coming-gtx-980m-sli-notebook.html

 

I'm not sure if I'd ever buy this.. sure mechanical keyboard is good, but the whole laptop looks hideous... I would buy an AW18 over this anyday..

 

MSI said they can get 980M SLI to kind of beat a single GTX 980. I think that machine has throttling issues throughout the wazoo.

 

Probably some combination of CPU bottleneck ("low TDP BGA feces" -Mr. Fox), immature drivers, and games with poor/no SLI support (nearly every AAA released in 2014). The cooling inside this behemoth better be good.

 

Well considering the GPUs in comparable Clevo systems turn single 980s into swiss cheese (and considering I can under the right circumstances make my 780Ms compete with it; the right circumstances being that the cards don't inexplicably crash when I OC them high enough) they have some SERIOUS throttling issues going on somewhere in that thing.

 

2 fans for 3 components...
Although probably sufficient I would prefer 3 fans

 

It's only two fans? I haven't seen the internals yet... but that sounds inefficient. I know 900M series are cool, but if they're selling with a 4980HQ and two 980Ms... they're probably gonna want some excess cooling. Especially on that CPU. *goes and hunts for pictures*

 

My oh my, that numeric pad...

 

Yeah MSI totally ripped off Razer Blade.

 

The 4980HQ is anything but extreme, completely out of place on a $3700 laptop, and basically makes the laptop an instant fail.

Yeah I'm biased sue me.

 

I can't find a picture of the MSI internals. Oh well.

And yes, the machine be overpriced. I checked with the GT72 as well. The minute you try to use a branded SSD in their m.2 slots that isn't their unnamed stock SSDs, it's like the stock SSDs were considered "cost 0". I managed to make equivalent machines (SLI for clevo though) in the P377SM-A versus the GT72 by using named SSDs, and I managed to make the GT72 COST $500 USD MORE. Please note, this is still 1 GPU versus 2.

 

$3700...wait what? My oh my, can you imagine what kind of PC that sum can buy, including Corsair K70, ASUS Swift, and GTX 980 SLI...

 

Umgh 2 small fans and all those heatpipes.. I don't like this cooling system... P370SM-A's cooling is much better IMO..

 

I guarantee you that the cooling for the GPUs are better on this GT80 than P370SM-A. The fans MSI use move A LOT of air.
My concern was that CPU thats just connected to GPU fans with 2 heatpipes. It have no dedicated CPU fan.

 

Uhmmm, there's the battery?

 

Is it just me, or do those heat pipes look like they take an unnecessarily long journey?

 

Come on, it's a giant typewriter, therefore cool... uh, or should I say hot... a-priori.

 

I give a nod to MSI for their willingess to produce a [very] niche product like this.

Why the soldered CPU is a mystery, though - realistically I'd expect an i7-4910MQ or better.

The shape/form factor is quite reminiscent of the luggables circa 1980's - especially the Macintosh Portable: Macintosh Portable 5120/5126 computer

 

That bears no relevance, on the contrary less copper = easier overheating because the heat dispersion out of the copper is more uneven, so more copper is better (plus copper is a great heat conductor).

MSI's laptops equipped with copper and fans like the GT80 can push A LOT of air out, now in all honesty I don't have a way to compare between Clevos or Alienwares, but MSI can keep up with cooling the best now, considering Alienware 18's got canned.


I for one am excited for the laptop, and I'm also waiting for Xotic PC to start customising it so I can buy it through them, since my biggest worry is storage and graphics.

 

Cooling design is pretty similar to Aorus X7 btw (seems like it will have trouble cooling CPU because of similar reasons). Though I like their 2 year upgrade plan that is included with the laptop, wish they also included an MQ chip in the plan as well..

 

Wait a second, this thing has swappable graphics card but a soldered CPU??

 

It has MXM GPUs.

 

Yep, welcome to the future of craptops.

 

Charles on your 3 points:

1. I agree with you on this point. It is good that someone is continuing on the 18" market...

2. Soldered CPU has been nothing new since the GT72... The so called extreme 4980HQ is hardly extreme due to the power limit which is a joke IMO.. Thank god Clevo is at least using desktop CPU's in their P770ZM and hopefully they do it in their SLI laptop

3. I'm sorry but this design is should be squarely left in the 1980s.. It looks horrible and I'm sorry whoever designed this really needs retiring... I've never looked at something this horrible in laptops ever...

I agree MSI are being great making 18" laptops with the options of having the GPU upgraded in the future etc officially but soldered CPU and this design kill it for me...

 

TomJGX, 80ies design is actually great, and we should be conquering distant alien worlds with super-mega-ultra-laser-phasers or whatever... instead of discussing puny gaming laptops. (>_<)

 

For ~1 month prior to the 900M series' release, ALL new notebooks not using ULV chips have been using H or HQ chips, and thus soldered. Intel itself appears to have axed the MQ line for haswell, and shows no sign of introducing a M/MQ line for Broadwell, instead relying on H/HQ for those chips. We will not know until broadwell releases, of course, but... there's a high chance that high end laptops have entirely, and irrevocably, jumped 14+ years into the past as far as modularity goes.

 

OMG, finally, a gaming laptop for hipsters!

 

Those fans seem to be the same as the GT72 uses, which is one of the coolest high end laptops right now. I doubt the GT80 will have cooling issues whatsoever.

The only "bad" thing on this monster laptop is the soldered CPU, but that is more due to intel rather than MSI. It sucks but at least current intel CPUs should last a long while for gaming.

I love the look and design so far, looking forward to release date!

 

Honestly I would use this, but I would never drop that kinda money on it. It looks different, but it has purpose.

 

If the MSI fans are small then all other notebook fans are tiny lol.

The cooling power is basically double that of the GT60 while only adding one GPU.

 

I recall I created couple of funny pics about this laptop in the past. It is not so funny now for those who saw but for those who didn't... This is one of them

Spoiler

 

I actually smirked a bit

 

Yeah and remember how the cooling on the GT60 was? I hope it works out because for 18" lovers, this is the only laptop left on the market now...

 

well alienware sell 18 still,but with 880m or amd m290.i dont know which one is worse but hey at least they put MQ CPUs in,but ofc the best one throttle due to PSU DD omg this laptops cost so much and so far away from working right

 

so wait, it's confirmed that this beast uses a SOLDERED cpu? Seriously? For Real? Super Cereal?

 

Intel stopped making socketed mobile CPUs.

You're not funny.

 

Someone had a bad day . I wasn't aware Intel completely stopped making socketed CPUs and I figured seeing how every piece of promotion for the GT80 is about how upgradeable and beastly it is that MSI would have found some sort of solution. Since the GT80 was the last notebook on my list for upgrades, I'm out. Back to desktop land.

 

Well they are referring to GPU upgrading. I honestly don't see why everyone is pointing to its HQ soldered POS CPU. Its being forced pretty much by Intel, and were only going to see more and more of it. If you think you're safe in desktop land then you'll probably be sad to find out in a few years it will most likely be the norm.

At least MSI is pretty much promising to hold on to MXM for the near future, and is saying 2 generations of GPU upgrades for this very pricey investment. I don't see anything like that coming out of the Alienware camp. They went full reeetarrrdd.. Also I really doubt that 4980HQ will be holding back performance anytime soon. Even a first gen overclock i7 extreme can still perform nicely.

Edit: Also 900 posts, Sep (9), 200 9 sign up date. 999! Flipped upside down is 666!!

I'm done...

 

Soldered CPU in laptops make people less prone to CPU upgrades.

Also thousands of other issues, good to see Intel stepped up their gam3.

 

It's really not so much the upgrade path I am after. Upgrading your laptop, whether CPU or GPU, is pretty expensive. If I am looking to upgrade (like I am now), I'm pretty much looking at a new machine. The fact that it pretty much prevents Repairs, on the other hand, is what really grinds my gears. I've seen it in the new AWs and many of the new Clevos. Processor goes belly up? Buy a new motherboard or computer. It just truly doesn't make sense to me. And seeing how my old Gateway got stripped of it's gaming duties due to the video card being soldered on, i just simply refuse to purchase something that i can't fix easily with a simple replacement part.


As for desktops going down the same path, the new 6 and 8 core intel X99 chips should last me through the rest of my gaming career.

 

GPUs failing yes I can see this. CPUs failing, I've literally never seen a failed CPU in my life. Unless soldered CPU are somehow more prone to failure, I don't see this as a valid concern. I am also annoyed by the fact that you have to accept soldered CPUs though. I'm one to actually upgrade the CPU of my laptop/desktop over its lifetime before switching platforms.

 

I feel this way, although upgrading took a turn for me with the 3rd gen cpus. I feel previous gens made more sense because you could push even more the CPUs. Nowadays even the "low" end core i7s yield so much performance, you hardly need more.

Back with the first gen, the performance difference between a core i7 720qm and a 920xm was massive. Mainly due to the overclockheadroom.

So now I am no longer concerned for CPU. If an again 920xm can hold its own with current gen GPUs, I don't think even a 4720hq will have problems in years to come.

 

Agreed 100%. The upgrade from a 4700mq to my 4900mq wasn't really worth it IMO. Current Haswell i7 CPUs are beastly and even have a couple free extra turbo bins of you need a little more juice.

 

CPU strategy designed by ManBearPig.

 

For most people a 4700MQ is more than enough. For me, I want a 4900MQ or 4930MX to overclock the life out of it.. but I know for a fact I WILL use that power multiple times a week.

 

You probably want to get a second 330W power adapter and converter box D2 before you do any more Ocing

 

I know I need one XD. BUT for now.... My 330W brick is a champion