--->The Official MSI GT780/GT783 Owner's Lounge<---

That looks really nice at a modest price. is there any way to get it with a decent ssd our is it better to buy one on my own? Also I dont need a blu ray player, would I save money without it? I've never bought a barebone before and would be a little nervous.. Does gentech do a quality job?i have bad luck with computers and would like a decent warranty if possible.thanks a lot for that find I really appreciate it!

 

PIt'll most likeley (depending on the vendor you go with) better to buy your own SSD and then use the 500/750/whatever mechanical drive it comes with as media storage. That way you can choose which SSD better suits your needs (performance or voltage consumption).

As for blu-ray player, if you don't need it, it's cheaper to get a regular DVD drive.

 

Would it be pretty easy to install an ssd after buying a rig? And is there a particular ssd you recommend? it only needs to hold the OS and a couple games (maybe 60 gb worth). Nothing too fancy but something that is reliable and will last

 

I'd get a 128MB. I have OS and Warcraft loaded on my SSD and I think I am using little over 60GB. All other programs/games are on a secondary hard drive. I was using about 70GB but I disabled System restore and hibernation and recovered several gigs. Win 7 premium 64bit probably takes about 20-25G?? I know WOW is 25-30G, or my installation folder is that size but probably needs some cleaning. Once you install drivers, and apps which install to C drive automatically without an option to change, you'll push 30G on Windows OS alone.

I have the Samsung 830 series 128GB. Couldn't be happier. And it is easy to install an SSD. Samsung (and others) come with software to copy your old drive to the SSD. I chose to do a clean install though. If you copy over the old drive, make sure you defrag the old drive first, else the copy may fail.

 

The audio is good. not too loud but good. my concern is the static i get when using the mic. It makes it very inaudible.....I was wondering could it be the wifi? cause i have the router directly behind my laptop. but my previous laptop didnt have any issues with it before.

 

BTW if you want to hear an audio recording taken with the mic i can send one to you.

 

Would I be better off getting a standard branded model (and adding an ssd later), customizing a branded model, or customizing a bare bone? Considering the specs/features I'm after (listed on previous page). Do I have any reason to be uneasy of the quality of barebone models or would they be just as awesome as a branded one? Would be nice to save money but not at a higher cost of the rig not working as well

 

Absolutely easy, remove about 10 small screws to take the back cover off, put the bracket on the SSD, slide it in the other HDD slot and put the cover back on. Insert your OS disc to the drive, boot from that and install it on your new SSD and then you're good. Just remember to format your other mechanical drive and then use it as a media or misc storage and install all of your main games/applications to the SSD.

I'd suggest Crucial M4 for performance or Samsung 830 series for power saving. Just make sure to do the firmware update on the Crucial and you're set (it's currently somehow set to crash after a certain amount of hours of use but it is easily fixed).

 

Just as awesome quality! You're really just missing out on some LED lights, the warranty (which you'll typically void by putting a 2nd HDD in there anyway), and buttons for Turbo Boost and fan speed control (which neither matter much considering the new Intel CPU's will automatically boost themselves anyway and the fan speed control on the computer already will compensate for higher temps). So basically if you want some LEDs and a better warranty for the extra $100-200 then go for the MSI branded model, otherwise go for the barebones.

 

Thank you so much you were very helpful. Do I still get an msi warranty if I buy a branded model with changes to the stock model (like more ram or a glossy screen) through a site like gentech? After this all I have left to do is buy

 

Yes, you still get the MSI warranty. It is actually better to get it customized through a vendor like Gentech because they will go over the system with a fine toothed comb to make sure everything is in working order.

 

I'd contact the vendor about that, however the actual MSI-branded warranty covers accidental damage (which is what makes it better than the warranty that covers the bare bones models, and I believe it is a 3 year warranty over the bare bones 1 or 2 year base warranty - which you can purchase a longer one for). I'd imagine as long as they're authorized to resell and upgrade MSI-branded laptops, that MSI will still honor their warranty.

 

I would purchase the SSD after the fact and yes, Gentech did a great job on mine. The customer service is also some of the best I've ever experienced.

 

You have the SSD situation backwards. The M4 uses less power and the Samsung 830 performs better.

 

My 1761 barebones model did come with a button for the fan speed control but doesn't have the turbo button.

 

If you buy the MSI branded GT780 or GT783 you would look to your vendor for the warranty on any upgrades they made for you, and MSI for the rest. However your vendor will still be there for you to back up MSI if necessary.

If you buy the barebones version that is branded by GenTech, PowerNotebooks.com or Xoticpc you would look exclusively to your vendor for the warranty, but your vendor will be backed up by MSI.

 

Barebones vs. MSI branded model? Ultimately you have to decide what is most important to you. If it's savings, then I'd suggest the barebones unit, but I do not necessarily find these the best value. For instance, the barebones units have a non-branded all plastic shell, no back-lit SteelSeries keyboard, lack proprietary MSI function (like TDE), and lack the full MSI warranty. To me, these small extras make the branded units the better buy.

Keep in mind, any optional extras or add-on's you consider, are covered by your reseller, not MSI. This is why it is important to choose a dependable and reputable reseller. These resellers also provide you a level of protection that extends above and beyond purchasing from a big-box retailer or e-tailer.

Also, if you consider a branded unit, you then have a rightful place to hang with us, Owner's of the REAL MSI GT780/783's..... after all, that IS the topic here, and we are AWESOME, LOL!

 

hi everyone, new here, i'm looking to make my dxr silent, its just idling there and the fan is really noisy.

its like the fan is going at twice its normal rpm rate, i'd love to make it silent especially when just idling, office work or watching a movie or youtube.

i've been looking for a replacement fan for my gt570m in my gt780dxr-279us with low noise fans on it, silent if possible.

but a new firmware for the vid card would be ok.

i'm comfortable with hardware mods (replace fan) and firmware upgrade (fan curve) to make it silent or near silent.

help plz ?

ps: i also have the bad mic problem, i heard there's a plastic tape over the mic and you have to open the bezel ?

 

What is TDE?

My barebones has a Backlit Steelseries keyboard but only because I chose to pay extra for it. If I didn't have a retailer (Gentech) willing to test every single key on the keyboard, I probably wouldn't have added the Steelseries being how they still seem hit or miss.

The MSI branded GT780 would have cost me $1852 with my add-ons and UPS 3 day shipping. I paid $1409 for the 1761. Deduct the $100 mail in rebate for the GT780 and I would have ended up paying about $350 more for a few small extras and no performance gain. If I was worried about my laptop looking good then by all means, I would have went with the branded 780 but I'm not about to sacrifice form for function. The all black barebones look is kind of growing on me as well. The Steelseries keyboard just gives it the added flair it needs.

 

Do you have your GPU setting on Max performance or Adaptive? Also, have you tried changing the power option to power saver when your just doing work? I don't have the 780 but I do have it's ugly step brother, the barebones 1761 and when I'm not gaming, I cannot hear the fans running while in "Balanced" mode.

 

Thank you. I love how dealers actually watch this forum and interact with everybody. This is probably the most helpful forum I've ever been on.

 

LOL! No need to take my post personally. I was simply presenting K2solbri some food for thought, and opinion.

To repeat, the barebones units have a non-branded all plastic shell, no back-lit SteelSeries keyboard, lack proprietary MSI function (like Turbo Drive Engine), and lack the full MSI warranty. To me, these small extras make the branded units the better buy.

As to the $100 rebate, these have been offered with branded units too. I got the same when I ordered my wife's GT780.

Yes, this is the --->The Official MSI GT780/GT783 Owner's Lounge<---, and that IS the topic at hand.

 

Nice post, and I am sure the resellers will appreciate reading this..... lord knows, they deserve the kudos. It is great, isn't it?

 

I agree. I am surprised with the responses that I got. Gentech made a customer with me

 

I know the branded 780 has a $100 rebate. I mentioned it. The barebones units do not have the $100 mail in rebate. I also mentioned that my barebones unit has the Steelseries keyboard. I'm not taking it personally. I'm rather just correcting some things you said.

Is the "Turbo Drive Engine" a button on the S-Bar for overclocking?

The warranty is a good thing. I could have paid an extra $120 to get the full warranty and if I were planning on keeping it for more than 2 years, I probably would have.

I'm not knocking anyone for liking their laptop to look good but I wasn't about to shell out a couple hundred dollars more for looks.

In the end, besides the LED lights, a fool proof overclocking feature and the frame, there is really nothing you can't get on the barbones units for less. It's just how the manufactures designed things. If they weren't cheaper, there would be no point in buying them.

 

Ok, my bad on the rebate..... misread your post.

TDE is activated with the one-touch (P1) button on the touch-bar, and gives a mild OC boost. This uses the proprietary MSI NV OC tool, which will not function on barebones units.

There is something to be said for, "You get what you pay for", and I believe I accurately distinguished the differences between the two. You obviously made a choice that was the best fit for you, but not all will see this as the best value. You aren't really correcting anything I've said, with exception to my 'rebate' misread. Again, "the barebones units have a non-branded all plastic shell (no brushed aluminum), no back-lit SteelSeries keyboard, lack proprietary MSI function (like Turbo Drive Engine), and lack the full MSI warranty. To me, these small extras make the branded units the better buy", and well worth the little added cost.

Anyhow, enjoy that barebones unit!

 

hi jrwingate6,

where is that?

i set the "eco engine" on the s-bar option to office mode or movie mode, same noisy fan. The high fan speed is off on the quick launch sensors. trust me when that thing is on it blows hard.

i even used msi afterburner to underclock the core speeds from :

stock: 575/1150/1500
lower clocks at: 525/1050/750

it does absolutely nothing for fan speed and noise. it stays the same and my temps are 36c gpu and 41c cpu

the fan just doesn't want to go half speed on the rpm, still too prime and ramps up the fan speed too quickly.

speedfan shows no fan controlers, no program shows me fan speeds either (o rpm) but i saw 3 wires coming from the fan itself, so it can be controled, just not with stock firmware.

i'm thinking at this point i need a firmware hack for this, or a new silent design fan.

so any suggestions?

 

Yea, I would have liked the brushed aluminum. My barebones does have the same Steelseries Keyboard though and it is nice. I love all of the color options and I think it types very nice.

 

Click on the battery icon in the systray and select the power options. Then customize the power saver option. Go into advanced customization and then go to the CPU performance and set the max setting to 50%. The i7 at 50% is more than enough to adequately run office/web applications.

Then go into your Nvidia Control Panel and go to 3D settings. Scroll down to Power Management Mode and make sure it is set to "Adaptive".

 

Yes, I understand your unit has a SteelSeries keyboard, but this is not typical of barebones unit, is it...... and was this keyboard given to you for free?

 

@jrwingate: thank you for the reminder its a new laptop i just got, i set these options like you said, the cpu speed is at 30% on max (800mhz), that helps but still noisy and very prime to ramp up. just double clicking the steam icon makes the fan ramp up even for 5 or 10seconds and its only showing the store page.

the gpu is set to adaptive in the nvidia control panel.

The fan noise is the real issue not heat (36c gpu, 41c cpu) or power usage, it still ramps up with minimal cpu activity on idle, windows is always doing something, no antivirus loaded, just sitting idle at desktop. i've got 0% activity on all cores except once in a while there's one or 2 that go up to 10-15% no big.

have you heard of those kinds of temps for this laptop or even this vid card? i know the nvidia cards have a rep for running in the 70-75c range usually in desktops but this is my 1st nvidia in a laptop, not sure what kinds of temps i should be getting, but if it's very low then i'd be very ok with slowing down the gpu fan by half.

i'm still looking for a silent solution guy's? give me all your ideas, hardware, firmware, i'm desp.

 

I can't think of anything else but what is weird is that when my power option is set to "Balanced", my fan speeds never kick in loud enough to hear. My barebones unit has the same fans, motherboard and heatsink as your GT780. The only thing that differs is the BIOS. I wonder if the BIOS version has anything to do with it. That might be a question for someone else because I'm not to sure.

One last thing you can try doing. Go into the advanced options under the "Balanced or Power Saver Setting". Then go to advanced setting and click on Processor Power Management. Under System cooling, make sure both options are set to Passive and not Active.

 

On Gentech and XoticPC, it is a upgrade option rather than the standard none backlit keyboard. The upgrade cost $90. I think the option is there for all MSI barebone models.

 

What software does everyone use on MSI GT780 laptops for temp monitoring?

 

On Gentech and XoticPC, it is a upgrade option rather than the standard none backlit keyboard. The upgrade cost $90. I think the option is there for all MSI barebone models.

 

CPUID

10 Char!

 

Open Hardware Monitor

 

HWMonitor from cpuid of course

but it shows zip for fan speeds.

just tried Open Hardware Monitor .4 beta, same thing, no fans.

That's a problem right there. the bios or firmware must be doing something.

 

Don't you have to pay for the Pro version in order to get fan speed control?

Also, has anyone tried Speed Fan?

 

Yep, my point was is the SteelSeries keyboard is not 'standard' on barebones units, and it's not free either. Wouldn't want folks being misled or getting the wrong idea.

 

@jrwingate6 i just installed the pro 64bit trial version and still no fan speeds. just temps and wattage.

btw the 1st line on the display says micro-star international co. ltd. MS-1761, looks like its the same as yours.

 

No doubt. I don't like misleading people either. That's exactly why I told K2solbri, that I upgraded to the Steelseries keyboard when outlining what I got from Gentech for $1400. You know, just like I upgraded the CPU to the 2670. At least I think "Upgrade" means it doesn't come stock.

 

Did you pay for the Pro Version or is it just the Trial? I know that you don't get all of the features with the trial version but looking at the webpage for the Pro version, it does say it includes Fan Speed Control.

http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor-pro.html

 

With HWMonitor try clicking Reset in Tools.

I see you have a GT70DXR Raid version.

Is it a raid0 setup?

Is your bios E1761IMS.30E (newest)

EC ver 1761EMS1 v4.18

Did you do a clean Windows 7 x64 installation yourself after receiving your unit?

Rare issues like yours is best dealt with by contacting the dealer where you got your unit for advice.

If it was my unit I would reseat the CPU and GPU and make sure the heatsinks and fans are installed correctly.

 

@jrwingate6 : trial, bro

@WhatsThePoint : the reset did nothing
yes raid 0 - 2x500 scorpio drives (will switch to ssd soon)
bios is E1761IMS.30B (08/15/2011 10:10:10)
EC ver 1761EMS1 v4.18 (08/16/2011)

nvidia inspector reports bios : 70.24.2c.00.08
drivers: 268.90

 

i did a clean windows reinstall from the hidden partition and windows updates.

1st time i did it i updated the chipset & vid and a few other drivers, all straight from the msi website and boy that was a bad idea, lol it introduced so much lag in games, so i did it again and i'm running on the drivers that came with the laptop.

So i'm using the Nvidia drivers v268, original chipset drivers v9.2.0.1016, intel rst v10.1.2.1004

i downloaded the Verde 290s earlier tonite, i hate to mess with drivers when things are working fine, and this fan speed problem i think is more a firmware problem.

Do you guys think the v290s could help ?

 

PHP:

[QUOTE][/QUOTE]

The newest WHQL drivers or offical betas are almost always better than what's on MSI's site and the driver disk the supplied with the notebook.

The 1761_30E Raid bios may help with issues.
MSI Global ? Notebook - GT780DX(GT780DXR)

Also posts #3534 and #4973 in this forum may help if you wish to start from scratch with a clean Windows 7 x64 installation.

 

thanks for the link, i was just looking at it when i saw your post.

For bios flashing to E1761IMS.30E

Do i only run flash.bat or do i have to do flashme.bat too? the pdf only mentions the flash.bat but what is the /me the other batch file has in it?

i'll take a chance with the v290 betas, i tried the v285 a few days ago and them or another driver maybe chipset from the same page that you found, introduced too much lag in games, so i reformated last nite, restarting clean.

it had nothing on it anyway, i'm still in the 2 week trial period.

 

that looks to be very handy, thanks man.

 

Just run flash.bat.