** MSI GE62 Apache (and Pro) Owner's Lounge**

The GPU cooling and storage options are better on the GE62 while the GS60 is lighter and I prefer the build quality on it.

 

Hi everyone! i have the GE62 Apache Pro-055 for 2 weeks now.. and im wonder:
1) it's normal 50°C cpu temp at iddle? Gaming: 70-75°C cpu, GPU60-65°C.
2) why CPUID HWMonitor show a 10% battery wear level? i have only used the notebook on AC
3) this models comes with a SDD? because i have 2 hard drives: TOSHIBA THNSNJ128G8NU 118gb and a HTS721010A9E6309 915gb, but the specifications says 1TB HDD (7200RPM) HDD SATA.
4) how can i disable hybrid power?, i always use green mode (msi dragongaming center) but i have notice that when im playing Shadow of mordor the battery start to slowly drain.

 

1) Normal, i have the same. It goes from 40 to 60C, when reaching 60 left fan turns on, cools the CPU to 40C and stops. This process repeats its BIOS behavior. (my max in gaming is 89C CPU and 82C GPU)
2) I have 4% of wear level right from the box. 10% is also normal (maybe was stored in cold place before you get it). Try to discharge the battery to 20% and then turn laptop off, plug the adapter and load it to full, then boot and maybe wearlevel will drop a bit.
3) Yes some version comes, you got thoshiba 128GB SSD. 1TB is 915gb in windows minus page file, system etc.
4) You cannot, search this in google if you want. Its permanent feature. In my case in performance and comfort modes it drains 20% of battery per hour and approx 6% per h in green mode, so thats unfortunately normal. The 970M is too powerful for 150W PSU.

Please answer for my questions posted above (especially 2 and 3, because that you can easily check)

 

oh! thanks! i did what you say in 2) and indeed, now is 4% wear level.
and about your questions
1) i always play in green mode and the battery drain is like 4-6% per hour, but i will check for sport mode too.
2) no, total black screen for me.
3)46°C for the Toshiba,and 41°C for HGST while playing, and 31 -33°C desktop
thanks again.

 

I'm very glad, that this trick helped you.
But this temps in your case seems to be ok, don't know why i have such big 42C on HDD in desktop and 46C in games (only 4C difference).

 

So turns out I wasn't too happy with my GE62 for a number of reasons. 1) It seemed to be rather unstable playing intensive games like BF4 where the system would hang up and be completely non-responsive requiring hard shutdowns. 2) The hard drive was making an audible and troubling whining/buzzing noise that I've never heard before from a notebook HDD. 3) The Windows key was in a quite annoying location as I would find out over the course of using it for a bit.

Maybe I got a fluke, it's definitely not a bad laptop and is quite nice for the money although after handling it I felt like it could be a couple hundred less considering the build quality and heavy weight (or at least throw in an SSD and 16Gb RAM). I'd venture to say the Clevo P650SE is a much better deal (same bang for less buck).

 

Yeah I've launched Star Citizen which is VERY taxing on the GPU right now, and no issues yet.

One thing: In the BIOS there is an option to swap the windows key with Fn key, but it doesn't seem to work...any ideas there?

 

I am a potential buyer of either the 2qe or 2qf version of this laptop and I just have 3 questions that some owners hopefully will be able to clarify:
1. How do the temps for the 970m version (2qf) compare to the 965m (2qe)? Are the cooling components the same on both, and will that cause the 970m to run noticeably hotter?
2. I read earlier in this thread that the 150W power adapter is not enough to support the 970m. Have any of you find this to be an issue?
3. What are boot times like for owners of the 2qe with the 965m and 1TB drive (no ssd)? Is it worth adding an ssd later?

Thank you to anyone who can help!

 

Basically in some demanding games, the battery still seems to drop a couple percent per hour thanks to "Hybrid Graphics". Basically they allow the battery to help power the GPU to keep it running at max speed.

Once you hit 30% battery they shut that off and throttle the GPU a little bit. I'm not actually sure the extent of the throttling, or if a bigger PSU would stop it from happening or it is something innate to the laptop's design.

Sorry can't help on 2QE vs 2QF as I've never seen the 965M version. Unless there is a very large price diff though I personally wouldn't bother with the 965M. Maxwell is very power efficient and almost no 970M laptop has had temp issues at this point.

 

Awesome, thank you. I guess the jump from the 965m to 970m is worth it.

 

So I just ordered the GE62 2QE 4K with GTX 965M with SSD + HDD

Anything I should know? Any problems or tweaks or things I should do when i get it?

 

definitely one thing you should do is to enjoy it! i know everyone gets antsy when first setting up their new laptops and worried if there is some issue here or there (and rightfully so after dropping some serious dough). Sit back, relax, and game on

 

A little later then originally expected but we put our video review up which you can see here

 

Realllllly tempted to get one of these. I'm deciding between the GE62 Apache Pro, or the Sager NP8651.
Just recently, however, Staples stocked in the GE62 Apache Pro, so i'm leaning towards the MSI for this reason. I've had very bad past experience with making purchases online, and if I get the Sager I would have to order online with Reflex Notebooks or something. With Staples, I know I have somewhere to take the laptop if something goes wrong + my brother works there. Good and bad, I really liked the Sager..

Anyways, i've been reading through lots of this thread just seeing some of the issues people have and how to solve them, glad we have a place like this to discuss. I have a general concern of my own though. Just wondering about the GE62 Apache PRO model, and it having 12GB of ram. How/why does it have 12GB or ram? Funny number to me. Is it 1x8 + 1x4? Or 2x6? Just curious because i've been advised to only ever get matching ram, or it can cause problems with dual channel performance and such.

Thanks!

 

I'm also tempted to buy this but I want more depth reviews. Pretty desperate for a new laptop though. anyone off XoticPC.com I see their config with the 12gb ram is 1x4gb and 1x8gb. The systems can handle 16GB max. I'm stuck between this laptop and the GS60.

 

Well the GS is really portable so if you are carrying it around everywhere it is worth the investment. Otherwise the GE62 will offer stronger cooling.

 

I don't like MSI's GS series for that reason - cooling. I feel like the GE62 is a good balance between cooling performance and thickness. The GT series is much to thick for my needs, and the GS series doesn't have the best cooling.
Can anyone tell me if having 1x8 + 1x4 gb ram will cause problems? If so, I can just take the 4 gig stick out, but still generally curious. I've always heard bad things about having 2 different ram sticks (different sizes). Please excuse my ignorance.

 

DP: Just watched XoticPC's video reviews of both the GE62 Apache Pro and the GS60 Ghost 4k model with the GTX970m. Now, for reasons I cannot understand, the GS60 had lower temperatures than the much thicker GE62....
This now gives me zero reason to buy a GE62, wtf MSI. Sure I'll take a thinner laptop with better cooling. Pfft.
Anyone care to explain this?

 

GS = $$$
GE = $$

 

Oh man this MSI GE62 Apache Pro-055 seems bit better than my recent NP8651. Not quite everything though... What I like this about MSI GE62 Apache Pro-055 are the following..

Pros:

• I love the premium design, a winning point. Way better than how the my NP8651 look personally :/.
• The full colored backlight keyboard by Stealseries. NP8651 is just plain white backlight keyboard.
• 3 m.2 slot w/ PCIe 2.0 x4 and a combo , NP8651 only have 2 slots (a combo sata/pciegen2 x4 and sata)
• 2.1 speaker with sub-woofer. NP8651 only have stereo speaker but it's honestly sound very good than a average laptop speaker
• LAN Killer E2200, NP8651 is just standard Realtek LAN
  
• PLS Samsung Screen, NP8651 is standard TN panel but you can upgrade to a better screen for LG IPS or Sharp 4K IGZO screen so it's even
• DVDRW bay which can be swap with a hdd caddy, NP8651 have none of that option

Cons:

• Fixed PLS screen, NP8651 can be changed to IPS or even better 4k IGZO screen but PLS is actually as good as IPS or slightly better.
• Dual fan cooling. NP8651 have 3 cooling fans 2 for the gpu and 1 for the cpu. Temp difference? No quite sure to be honestly but I bet better cooling on NP8651.
• Only 2 memory slot max 16gb. NP8651 can do up to 32gb of ram due to 4 slots but 16gb is way more than enough if just about gaming but for other reason you need more ram like multi-tasking and video editing it can matter that you can upgrade higher later.
• Thicker by few mm about 2-3mm if not mistaken. Not really a problem as it just as thick as NP8652(980m)
• Intel Wifi card, NP8651 can be upgraded to Killer Wifi card so it shine where it misses the Killer LAN
• Slightly expensive and less upgrade options, NP8651 is cheaper on base configuration but sucks if you don't upgrade at all like the screen and wifi card.
• No Fingerprint Reader, NP8651 have one but honestly no so critical/important but just a good option to have.

To be honest, It's a hard choice... But I own NP8651 for a while but upon seeing the MSI GE62 Apache Pro-055 I felt envious as it look way better than the physical look of NP8651. I wish I can change my keyboard to a steelsereries and change the physical design to like the MSI.

My only tip for you guys if you're having a hard choice choosing between NP8651/2 and MSI GE62 Apache Pro-055 is that try to ask yourself what is your primary reason buying this gaming notebook when choosing between both.
MSI GE62 Apache Pro-055
If you want a premium design look and feel that you wanna show off and brag to your fellow friends/facebook/twitter then goo straight with MSI GE62 Apache Pro-055. You can never go wrong with that as it is the same performance as NP8651. It's a win win for sure.
Sager NP8651
If you want to keep things slimmer, more ram, upgrade options and want to ensure that you have the most better cooling system performance when playing high intensive games. Also still the same performance as MSI GE62 Apache Pro-55 so it's not that you're missing a performance from GE62. NP8651 is actually great but it really falls very short on physical design and look against the premium design of MSI like the colored steelseries keyboard that I love about it.
ps: You can also actually custom paint/design NP8651 upon order on XOTICPC but you will be paying more for it...

PS: If I missed something or made a mistake let me know... I'll edit it

 

I think they do have one M.2 pcie2 x4 slot and two sata3 slots. At least that's what it says in the user manual in the MSI website.

 

updated it. But I think the 4th pcie slot refers the wifi card slot just like on 3rd slot on np8651.

 

Can any owner of the apache PRO give me some info?
1. gpu temps while idle and gaming
2. noise level during idle and load

I really want the GS60 but its too expensive and the GE62 is perfect but I want to see more reviews.

 

Hi guys, which cooling pad is the best choice for our GE62 Apache Pro?Thx for answer

 

I think those question were answered on the video
1 and 2 @ here by XoticPC
But honestly you're right, we need more indepth reviews ... I might dump my Sager for this.... lol

 

I bought 3 weeks ago a Gigabyte P35W that died (GTX 970M issue) and is going through RMA.

Last Monday I received a MSI GE62 Apache Pro (4720H, 8GB, 1080p, HDD 1TB, GTX 970M 3GB, no OS). I've been playing all week with the GE62 and I'm not 100% convinced so I have ordered also a MSI GS60 Ghost (4720H, 8GB, 1080p, SSD 128GB+HDD 1TB, GTX 965M 2GB, WIN 8.1). Price for both is the same in Spain.

I'll do a P35W vs GE62 vs GS60 comparision when I have the time, but basically, answering your GE62 questions :

1. gpu temps while idle and gaming

The standard FAN curve is not good. This can be fixed with the SVET EC tool.

Even with light loads (just Google Chrome with a few tabs) CPU will stay in the 50Cs and will reach after a time 55C in which the FAN will kick in at 3000rpm. It will remain ON until the CPU reaches 45 again. This can take 5 minutes even with light loads. If you are in a quiet room the noise is disturbing. Normally you have it like 5min ON 5 min OFF with light loads.

With just a YouTube video it will remain ON all the time.

Gaming on Far Cry 4 about 75C for the CPU and 75C for the GPU. High noise but in this case I don't mind.

An important downside that didn't affect the P35W and seems doesn't affect the GS60 either is that the top part where the keyboard is gets hotter than the bottom part.

Playing Far Cry 4 it gets too hot to my liking, but even on light loads it's always significantly warmer than the P35W for instance.

This is well documented in these two GE62 reviews
http://www.notebookcheck.net/MSI-GE62-Notebook-Review.137007.0.html
http://www.notebookcheck.net/iBuyPower-MSI-GE62-Notebook-Review.137721.0.html

Given the obvious difference in thickness of the GE62 to the P35W or GS60 I was expecting better thermals.

2. noise level during idle and load

It's noiser than the P35W, because the FAN is ON almost all the time. In the P35W it kicks in at 55 and as soon as it reaches 50 turns off, so basically with light loads is 5mins silent 1 min with FAN noise.

I disabled Turbo boost, undervolted the CPU with the Intel XTU tool to no avail.

This can be fixed with the tool I mentioned before.

During load is very noise but this can be hardly a complain, the complain is how hot your left palm rest and keyboard gets during such tasks.

 

Thanks for that answering my questions but after more reading, I think I will go with the Sager NP8651, best bang for the buck and excellent cooling. I wanted something thin and light, the NP8561 is thin but light its about 1.2lbs heavier than the GS60 Ghost, I think i'll manage.

 

So I know the keyboard layout is a little different, like the windows key on the right and the second back slash next to the spacebar. My question is: how does this actually affect usability? Is it really much of an issue for you owners out there?

 

If you came from another brand then yes it can have impact on usability, but this is because of habitual use of a particular layout of keyboard.
Of course, one can always adapt to another but it's just too much hassle.

 

Hi all,

Wanted to chime in on this post as I do not believe people are giving the laptop the recognition it deserves.

This is my first post, so forgive me if I am missing any Notebook Review etiquette.

Background - I work in Information Technology (but who cares right). I game pretty hard in my eyes, maybe on average 5hrs a night when I am at work (oilsands 7days on 7days off) and 0hrs when I am home with the wife and kiddo. So I game quite a fair bit when I am on shift. Games ranging from Counter Strike, World of Warcraft, Elder Scrolls Online, Tera Online, Minecraft and Aftermath (the new WarZ) to name a few.

Previously I owned the Alienware 14 GTX765 version, then I moved to the MSI GE40 850M Dragon Eyes edition, and most recently I traded in the GE40 for the new GE62 2QF with the 128SSd/1TB config with the GTX 970M, I have the Canadian version.

So, review...

I run all games on high/ultra settings, I get around 50-90FPS depending on the game I am playing. I always have my laptop on my cooling fan (brought for the AW14 as that thing got hot) so temps do not get to high. I was playing Tera last night with 90FPS for 6 hrs straight. While fans are noticeable they are not as loud as people are saying. This is a gaming laptop - hello! My CPU never went above 75 degrees, the GPU never about 76 degrees and the MOBO never above 78 degrees. Without the cooling fan, they raise by around 5-6 degrees, I have not seen the temps hit 90 degrees yet.

When gaming I use an external keyboard and mouse. While gaming the laptop does get warm, not uncomfortable by any means, but very noticeable if you have a can of Dr Pepper then touch the top of the keyboard. The palm rests stay super cool, as does the keyboard, so anyone thinking of gaming on the go should have no problems.

I am very very happy with the build quality, yes its not an Alienware, but I am happy its not a Lenovo. Does not feel like it will break in a week, it travels with me everywhere and has held up fine. The keyboard has zero flex when typing. Granted if i was to push down on the keyboard fairly firmly, it would flex - like most. That windows key that everyone moans about - 1) this is an MSI with Steel series keyboard, get used to it, stop complaining about it and move on. 2) You can change the FN key (currently where the windows key usually is) to the windows key, giving you back office functionality. I do this every time I am not gaming. But when gaming, damn that is a smart idea. If you say you have NEVER hit the windows key by mistake while gaming, then GTFO, you are a liar. Moving this was genius. If you do not game (you should not be buying this laptop) then I can totally see the predicament you will have here.

Screen - BEST EVER - enough said... ZERO GLARE, ZERO REFLECTION. Colors are good, I am in no way a color expert or photographer, so my version of perfection will vastly differ.

Laptop is light, waaaaaaay lighter than my old Alienware 14 but only slightly heavier than my Dell e7440 office lappy.

Battery life is ok, not its biggest selling point, but I do get around 3-5 hours doing office work. This depends on OneNote and Outlook syncs and uploads. I got 5hrs last night while using Office docs and skype with the kid back home. Gaming <2 hours. However, do not try this, GPU does not work as good without the power.

Bloatware - its MSI - just remove it. Some of it is handy - MSI Dragon Center for one. MSI Bootup for two, the rest - delete.

Windows 8.1 - all games run fine, not had a single game turn around and say ERROR. Looking forward to windows 10, came close to putting it on, but I am afraid of the GPU issues.

There is only one thing I do not like about this laptop - FINGER PRINTS - holy moly, this thing is a finger print whore. Seriously, I do not even want to touch it after I have cleaned it. The whole of the laptop is aluminum - so everything, EVERYTHING you touch leaves a finger print mark, and if you are like me and live in Canada (which is ridiculously dry now) and moisturize your hands regularly, then god help you. If you have OCD - DO NOT GET THIS LAPTOP.

Summarize -

1) Laptop kicks butt for gaming - 970m version - cannot speak for the 965m
2) CPU is hella fast
3) 3x m.2 ssd ports - cannot wait to get me some more data.
4) Finger Print whore !
5) battery life is ok - will not win any comps.
6) temps do not get as high as my Alienware 14 did or the MSI GE40, this is due to the two fans (GJ MSI)

any questions please ask - I will do my best to monitor this thread.

I do not usually recommend tech to people as everyone has a diff opinion to mine - but if you game, and you actually like to game - give this baby a whirl.

 

Thanks for the review Honkii! It's great to hear that the laptop doesn't get too hot, that's easily my biggest concern. On the screen, and since you say you game with an external keyboard, how are the viewing angles? And can you confirm that one of the M.2 slots is PCIe?

 

The viewing angles are impressive. I totally forgot to mention that I connect my laptop via HDMI to the 60inch monitor I have in my office here. However, the viewing angles are really generous. The wife and I went on a trip a few days ago and we took the laptop for Netflix and to complete a little bit of work. We had no problem viewing the screen with the laptop in the middle of us. There are quite a few reviews online (youtube) stating how good the angles actually are. Take my work for it, they are not lying.

3x PCIe m.2 slots to be precise. I have the Canadian version that has a 128GB m.2 SSD as standard, leaving me two m.2 PCIe slots.

 

Hi,

I'm about to buy MSI GE62 Apache Pro and I wonder which preinstalled sw is usefull and what is garbage - can someone please elaborate a little bit more? Many thanks!

 

Anything that you use is useful Things like the SCM which controls the function keys.

 

Ugh, wish that was true for the US version. The Apache Pro-055 comes with only one PCIe slot, the other two are SATA III.

 

I'd be shocked if there were differences in the motherboard layout between regions.

 

Possibly first & second revisions.

 

how do i force both fan to spin at low rpm?

 

After doing a lot of research, I think I am set on a GE62 PRO-055 with the 970m and 128gb sdd+1TB hdd combo. I honestly am surprised by the size and weight of this laptop coupled with the specifications. Granted a few others have better specs as far as the processor and display but the 970m is so much better than the 860m/870m/880m that I can't justify them.

I have seen people tweaking the fans with Svet's profiles and planning on that, is it worth bumping from 12gb to 16gb for the ram? I am not a massive high-end gamer graphics-wise and mostly play strategy and RPG games. Looking at this model for long term sustainability and the ease of upgrades compared to the GS60 Pro models.

 

Hi. Noob here, Im from Indonesia I wanna share my setup.
It's my first gaming laptop and I never build any gaming desktop PC, the reason: Portability.
Thats why I buy this laptop .








Setup Transportable:
MSI GE62 2QF Apache Pro + SSD128 + 16 GB RAM
SENNHEISER IE800 In Ear Monitor Original
Leopold FC750R White Ninja Style Mechanical Keyboard
Razer Transformer Laptop Hard Case Soundwave Version
Mousepad Goliathus Speed Small
Mouse MSI Interceptor
Interceptor (gift from MSI)
Cooler Master C2 Modif with Lepa Fan 12V 1600RPM.

 

Just grabbed myself an MSI GE62 2QF-021UK and was wondering, as is usually the case, what actual hard drive connectors are available inside? 1x 2.5" is obvious, 1x M.2. also, but what's the actual spec if there's three of them? M.2. PCIe or M.2 sata? I REALLY wish MSI would clearly state the available options for each model.

Thanks all!

 

IIRC according to the manual there are 3 M.2 slots, the middle one is PCIe, the other two sata 3. But according to Honkii there is also a model (in Canada anyway) with all 3 of the slots PCIe, so you might want to double check.

Be sure to let us know what your impressions of the laptop are! Every little bit of info help us prospective buyers.

 

So...

This M.2 standard is a bit messy really.

I'm going 'safe' with 3x 2280 drives and NOT PCIe. I recently fitted a Plextor M6e to the latest i5 NUC and the performance was terrible compared to the Samsung 850 evo sitting alongside.

 

Yeah, that's the picture from the manual I remembered. Another advantage of going 3x sata drives is that you can put all three of them in RAID (or Super RAID in MSI PR speak) and get some pretty crazy speeds according to MSI. If you put in a PCIe M.2 2280 it wouldn't be possible to put it in the array with the others (even though individually it is faster than the sata3 ones).

 

I'm back...

It arrived yesterday and, after carefully removing the rear cover (Lots of screws and gently start from the DVD drive moving around... take your time otherwise you will break a few red connectors), it's been upgraded like so:




1x Hitachi drive (original)
2x Transcend 2280 256GB sata (Raid 0)
1x Samsung 850 EVO
2x Kingston HyperX Impact 16 GB (2x 8 GB) 2133 MHz DDR3L CL11 ram

Drive performance: (Obviously Windows is currently indexing & downloading updates so performance might not be accurate for the Toshiba).




Thoughts? This is replacing a GE60 with the 870m, 32GB ram, 2x 850 EVos and, so far, I DO prefer the GE62. It looks better, the fan will and can stay off (after tweaking), plus it's lighter.

The general design of the GE62 is really nice.

 

This morning, while using the machine, the fan was basically silent, ish, expecially when compared to the GT60

 

Well I finally pulled the trigger and ordered an Apache Pro

Between it shipping and me travelling, it will be a couple of weeks before I get my hands on it, but I just couldn't contain myself. The version I bought is very barebones, only 8 GB RAM (but I also ordered an extra 8GB), just the 1TB HDD (but I also ordered an extra 128GB M.2 drive), and no Windows (perfect, since I want to use my Win7 anyway). All together it will be a little over €1600. Laptops have gotten pretty expensive in Euro countries because of the drop in the currency, and especially so in Portugal (lots of tax hikes recently) where I'm buying, but I still think I got an okay-ish deal.

Has anyone tried replacing the ODD with an HDD yet? I am planning on putting my current ageing SATA2 SSD in there, does anyone have some advice, or is aware potential problems with that? I assume I can pop out the ODD faceplate, place it in a standard slim HDD caddy and just plug it into the laptop, right?

Thanks for the pics excalibur, they will be pretty helpful when I try to open it up! How are you tweaking the fans? Were they very noisy beforehand?

 

It's pretty dead in here... Shame as it's a fantastic machine.

 

Totally agree, I feel like it is a model that doesn't receive much in sales either. For the size and price, descent amount of compatibility and upgrade potential.
I am looking to add another 128gb m.2 for a larger boot drive and eventually a 1TB ssd for the larger 2.5 inch slot

 

Well, after so many years I finally made an account to use the forums so hello to everyone.

I'm looking for a new laptop to change my 4 years HP dinosaur, it just struggles to run the games I'm playing right now: GTA V,City Skylines and Witcher 3 at low settings and low resolution is just crappy, so I was doing my research and saw the Asus G751 with the 970m and thought it was the one. It seems to be almost perfect, but it is harder to access some components, its bulky and heavy. it doesn't support Optimus. On the plus size, the cooling is amazing for what Ive heard, it comes with an IPS panel, and I can get it for less.

But then I started looking at some other laptops and stumble across the GE62, the aesthethics and the size of the laptop, also the option of having the 970m made me take it into account. So, I have some questions to see if anyone can help me to make this diffcult decision:

1. Cooling: Noticing that the size of the GE62 is smaller, making the airflow to be less, is it any good for gaming and heavy loads? What can you tell me about the temps of the CPU and GPU? Please answer with the ambient temp in the room

2. Build quality: does it feels durable, cheap, too sturdy?

3. Power: the Asus g751 comes with a 230W ac adapter, and thats enough for the 970m to work the way it was intended to. I´ve read in other replies that the GE62 comes with a 150W adapter and it draws power from the battery when gaming, the "hybrid power" thing, that doesn´t sound good to me, so, has anyone tried to use a bigger ac adapter to see if it solves the "problem"? How many hours do you get with the hybrid stuff?

4. How good is the WiFi reception? I´ve read that the g751 has some problems with that, and that can be an issue for me.