-->*OFFICIAL: MSI GT725 Owner's Lounge*<--

Replacing the cpu is as easy as it can be: swap the cpu, apply new thermal paste, and ready to go.

Yes I have an ES version, which is overclockable to 3.2GHz (3.7GHz for short benchmarks) Working Temp. sensor as well. Try to find a QAVR version.

I played it on 1280x800 and high setting. Getting decent framerates with the newest nvidia driver. It's playable at my native resolution around on medium settings. (same resolution as yours)

 

That gives me hope then! I found a QAVR Q9200 ES on ebay, snag some arctic silver 5 and move on from there. I'm running basically low settings on 1280x720 on my Envy so this will hopefully be a welcome improvement. What kind of framerates you get at native res with medium settings? Should the 4850m be similar to the gtx260m?

 

Just an added tidbit: ran console command render.perfoverlayvisible and it's clear: when the framerate plummets, there's an enormous spike in CPU utilization. How tough is it to get the q9200 to overclock?

 

Really easy with throttlestop.

 

I don't remember the actual fps, but it runs great. No choppy gameplay, but not fix 60fps.
The 4850 and the gtx260m were direct competitors as I remember, so they are nearly equal in performance. (correct me, if I'm stupid)

 

how about BIOS updating? The latest BIOS from MSI website won't update, but i've seen a few comments around here saying there's a barebones gt720 BIOS that you should use? Is this correct?

 

Does anyone know how to replace the sound card or headphone jacks? My headphone jacks only produce sound out of one earphone in my headphones because on both of them ive had headphones plugged in and accidently pulled away and the headphone piece in the jack messed it up. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated, i opened the bottom up but i didnt want to start taking things apart as it looked like a pretty daunting task.

 

Smash, depending in how far you want to go up the upgrading tree, I have a q9000 if you are interested, Its an actual production model, not qs/es.

If I remember correctly there is a problem with them not being recognized properly initially due to the change in cores. i.e. a lot of people would need a surrogate quad core to get the other one to show up.

Just a fyi this conversation is not really allowed since NBR has been told to change its policies regarding discussion and operation of QS/ES processors. Don't be surprised if the mods get angry.

 

Could have sworn i saw a whole thread on this topic earlier...

 

Need some help, how on earth to I update to the 1.0S BIOS that's in the MSI overclocking thread? Every file I download gives me some 16-bit application incompatibility error and won't update. Even the BIOS direct from MSI do this. running in any compatibility mode still fails. Will I need the barebones BIOS to OC?

 

You cannot update the BIOS from Windows level. You need to make a bootable USB flash drive (with DOS on it), put the BIOS update files on it, reboot into DOS mode and then You can update the BIOS.

 

Are the GT 720 1.0S BIOS needed for the processor upgrade and overclock?

 

No bios upgrade needed. The system is Quad ready out of the box.

For overclocking, you can use Throttlestop in windows.

 

That's what made me wonder if I need the other BIOS update. Throttlestop won't let me OC the GT725 at all, though that may be out of software ignorance admittedly. I was going to try the 9.5 multiplier lock trick on the P8600 that's already in there but it won't let me unlock the EIST settings, even if I disable SpeedStep in BIOS. On a better note, I found in the BIOS that you can up the MSI turbo mode OC to essentially 3.0ghz and while it didn't stop the FPS drops in BF3, it did make it only drop to about 18-20 fps instead of 3-5, so hopefully more cores, more cache, and more GHZ will sort it out.

Also, if the BIOS haven't changed, then the turbo button should still cause the system to turn up the FSB by 16-24% even with the new processor?

 

Turbo doesn't work with the quads, as I know. (for example in my case) In Throttlestop, you should click on the "lock" button, to unlock the multiplier and then you can adjust it.

 

QX9200 + Arctic Silver 5 coming in today!

 

Success! New Core 2 Quad is in and functioning! Interestingly it reads as a Core 2 Quad SP9400, but Intel lists the SP9400 as a dual core. However, being the overeager idiot i can be sometimes, i wiped the thermal pad off the northbridge... is it ok that i just put a thick blob of AS-5 on it to get contact with the heatpipe? I also replaced the thermal grease on the ATI card too.

Just finished a round of BF3, no more stuttering @ stock speed of 2.4 ghz. Clearly there's a cache/core boost here. Just to check, throttlestop shows core temps maxing at 84/87/87/83*C and GPU max 81. Are these temps ok? Currently with no load they're sitting at 63/64/64/63*C. With power save mode on 55/56/54/55*C and fans seem to be running rather low speed too...

 

Reapplied the arctic silver. On boot at normal clock, let it sit for a few mins surfing the web 50/51/51/49*C. In game max is still high at 88/90/88/85*C. The 4850m is hitting 84*C. Kirr and Automatik, what kind of temps are you guys seeing with your q9200?

 

with stock cooling over 90*C, with cooler mid 80's, without bottom panel and cooler 60-76*C

Lover the voltage in Throttlestop as much as possible. You can go around 1.1V or under at 2.4GHz (if you can do 2.4GHz@~1.05V you have a really good quad). On the default 1.3V I run it at 3.2GHz with no problems.

 

Yeah I cut it down to 1.1125v and have it running at 10.5 multiplier so 2.8ghz with no crashing in games. The lower voltage seems to keep temps in the high 80s now.

 

What a typo. I'm laughing at myself now.

 

It's OK, I started loving my voltage after that post. Now it feels wanted.

 

Wow, actually hit 100*C+ playing Sharqi Peninsula tonight and got a BSOD...

 

Man, even just playing Alan Wake today I hit 96/101/99/94*C with the GPU maxing at 93*C... Any thoughts? It seems to cool very quickly back down into the low 60s once I exit out of a game.

 

Try to reapply the thermal paste on the cpu and adjust the voltage.

 

That's just it, I did redo the paste. Put it on as thin as I could and used a credit card to smooth it down nicely. It seems weird the fan basically goes to low speed at around 60*C. Is there anyway to force it to 100% all the time?

 

bump. any thoughts? i can't keep this thing overheating...

 

Use a notebook cooler or play without the bottom panel.

 

Can someone upload available video bioses for hd4850 card?

 

techPowerUp! :: Video Bios Collection

Here's my current vid bios View attachment M98.zip

 

Thanks for your help. The problem is RBE 1.28 can not open your bios. The link you gave me is also for desktop bioses.

 

Hey guys so I've been doing a little fishing around about upgrading my laptop. I have the gt725 and wanted to know what all I can upgrade, and if it's worth the cost?

A few pages back people were talking about upgrading the processor to a q9200. Is this the best processor upgrade you can get? How significant is it from the stock processor? Will run into huge heat problems?

I've heard that the 4850 is as good as I can get for graphics, although you can purchase the 1g alienware 4850 for this model. Is that worth the cost-to-performance ratio?

Lastly, I've read that the gt725 maxes out at 4g RAM I was hoping to make the jump to 6-8 gigs...but I guess that will have to be with my next purchase.

Anyway, any advice is appreciated!

 

8Gb ram will be fine. The best cpu you can get is the QX9300 or for half the price the Q9200.

 

hi
i am currently looking for Hinges for my gt725 but i am unable to find these...
i recall that the model design was also used by other manufacturers

can anyone help finding the body number or simply the original hinges for the gt725?


thanks
jimmy

 

Smash, sorry for the long reply, I'll have to check my temps but they'll be skewed since my laptop as an alienware 4850 in there (She likes to keep things extra crispy) but I'll check my temp readout and let you know.

If you are interested and have a dremel handy, I have a fantastic mod for your GT725 that will let more than enough airflow in to get you the best cooling possible! All that's needed is a small tube of superglue, a dremel and a pencil. The end product is pretty sweet.

@sj -- The 1gb 4850 does give a large boost over the 512mb model, especially if you have one of the laptops with the higher resolution displays. However at this point it's going to be rough justifying too many upgrades to your laptop. Especially when there are more powerful alternatives lurking around. I would suggest saving up and looking for someone dropping a system with a 6870 or similar as many people are ditching their laptops for the new 7970m series and the like.

@jimmy -- What's wrong with your laptop hinges bro? Did you drop your laptop? The best thing that I can offer is that this laptop is the same model as the GX720, MSI 1722, GT729, and GT735. There are multiple models out there for the picking if you are willing to look for hinges from them. You may also have luck with the GT740/GX740, however I cannot confirm that they use the same hinges even though they are the same or similar chassis design.

 

I'm interested in the mod

 

Gotta head to the store real quick and pick up some new door locks but I'll throw the images up in another thread here in an hour or two. *EDIT* Here is the linkage. Hope you like massive airflow.

As for the Q9200 they are fantastic processors with a MASSIVE 12MB L3. Performance backs them up pretty well also.

 

Penryn CPUs don't have L3 cache. I used a Q9200 before and my current 2670qm destroys it in benchmarks and games as well.

 

Good catch, yes you are right on both accounts. It is actually 12MB L2 cache and as for performance, that's to be expected from a processor two generations behind.

 

got a problem with my GT725 (got the C2D and not the C2Q version). when playing games, the multiplyer sometimes drops to x3 and then I get huge lags while playing. that state usually lasts 10-15 seconds before it gets back to normal. I havent overclocked my laptop or anyting, nor does overclocking help here.

I already disabled speedstep and C-states in bios, but it doenst help. after starting windows (7), multiplyer has already been dropped to x6.

I dont want to overclock my laptop, I just want to be ablo to have to run with x9,5 multiplyer all the time if desired. I dont want my laptop to automatically downclock itself for whatever reason.

what can I do here?

edit: well, disabling c-states as well in bios does indeed somewhat help, but now I seem to be stuck at x6 multiplyer all the time. it doesnt seem to drop from that which is nice, but it also doesnt up the multiplyer to x9,5 which Id need, because x6 is a bit too slow -.-

 

Hey guys

I need a help / advice / anything !

I got a problem similar to "Thunderbolt8" when i play for example BF3 i have a huge fps drops (Turbo mode off / speedstep on / everything in bios set to default)
When i turn ON turbo, there is even worse, fps drops are longer than before and theres no way to play a games.
When i turn off speedstep and use throttlestop to set multiplier to 9,5. After few mins of playing game just turn off maybe cause is overheating but when i surfing with Opera after few mins i have a crash. And processor is really cold (50-55 degrees)

That FPS drops are really annoying and i even update my bios, but it give nothing.
My specification:

Core 2 duo P8700 (fresh cooling paste)
Radeon 4850 (not OC)
4GB Ram

Guys please give me any help what is cause of my problem.

 

same here, the turbo button makes it actually worse.

the frame drops should result from the multiplicator being set to x3 for whatever reason I dont know. and strangely enough this only happens during gaming.

when keepin c-states in bios enabled, but disabling speedstep, the multiplicator stays indeed at x9,5 all the time, no matter what I do... EXCEPT when gaming of course. then it gets set to x3 in between for short whiles for whatever reason and I get those lags.

this is really annoying. why does this setting to x3 only happen during gaming? and why cant this not be prevented somehow??

 

In the past few months my graphics card (msi gt725-ati hd4840)would fail temporarily and fix itself. This was due to a heat issue on my GPU. I contacted support, cleaned out and elevated the laptop. This fixed the temporary crashing error by reducing the temperatures significantly. However, just today my computer crashed while playing Hitman: Absolution. There were artifacts over the Microsoft Windows 7 logo while booting and immediately went into BSOD afterwards.

I booted the computer into safe mode and uninstalled the drivers /w driver sweeper. The artifacts remained while logged in, but this allowed me to log in my account after rebooting without safe mode. I then tried to go to a previous set of stable drivers, which immediately brought me back into the BSOD cycle. Then, I ran a memtest with no errors. A peculiar thing about it were green horizontal bars running down the screen, about an inch away from the corner during the test.

I repeated one more time with a different set of drivers. Same problem.

Is this a hardware issue? if yes, what to do?

 

It's sounds like a GPU failure.

 

Yep. Your lappy is past it's prime. Time to shop for a new one!

 

so what you suggest? looking for spare gpu? or maybe looking for other ?(better one?)
can you proposed or suggest me solution/ gpu's to looking for? is it worth it?
please help! i really like my 5years-old gt725!!

 

The ati 4850 you have can not be replaced for cheap. You're looking at about $150 to $200 used. Nothing better available.

Why not get a new notebook during boxing day sales?

 

Seriously?

MSI released the GT725 in 2009 so it's not "5years-old", however it really is past it's prime. Honestly, I'm surprised the thread for this model hasn't been closed, given it's age.

If you HAVE to keep your old laptop, there is a company on eBay you can ship it to that claims that for $150 they can fix it. Repairing it yourself is not an option.

Fix it or pitch it? Only you can make this decision. Have you even priced out a new laptop?

 

professional reballing of ati...new cooling paste...general cleaning and it works like a charm.....cost 30$....few months ago I change a hd for ssd. laptop works perfectly....don't need to change things coz thay are just old....you know....
but anyway thanks...
but if toppic is so old you could tell me what other video cards wit mxm works with gt725....
where to look for tweaked bios'es for this model?

 

link pls? $200 is a bargain considering what that would buy me.