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

Hello Im just away to buy this laptop, I would just like to upgrade the ram to 16gb, does it come with 1*8gb stick? if so could you give me the model number, I dont want to have to buy 16gb if I can get away with just 1*8gb stick

Also Im going to get the transend 2280 256gb Sata 3 drives, I notice you raided them raid 0, is this done in the Bios or in windows.

is windows installed on the 128gb ssd?

does the laptop come with a recovery disks?

sorry for all the questions,

hope you read this as im ordering the laptop tomorrow

 

It feels pretty solid when compared to the earlier models. Nice size etc. Not had, yet, an issue with the wifi. It can be replaced if you're willing to open the machine

 

- The raid setup is, I believe, within the BIOS. You could create a raid 0 within Windows but I'd stick with the BIOS option. I did not raid 0 mine in the end.
-Windows is installed on the PCIe SSD drive NOT the HDD/SSD
-No discs. Nearly EVERY single Windows 8/8.1 machine ships without restore DVDs. You can do what I did and create a set of DVD restore discs which will put it back to factory if required. 5/6 DVDs!

 

thanks for your reply exaclibur, whats the deal with the ram? is it generic 1600mhz , 1 stick of 8gb

 

Wow so it looks like this line of laptops has been upgraded with Broadwell CPU's!? On xotic PC now at least for the pro version, a model with an i7 5700HQ is available for the same price as the 4720HQ. However the Broadwell models only come with the 960m or 970m. No 965m. Interesting...

 

i just watched a review of the msi gs60 ghost pro 4k GTX 970M 5700HQ nice machine horrible horrible upgrade, i dont think i would manage to be able to dissemble that laptop to that degree.

 

From what I recall it's generic run of the mill ram. nothing special!

 

I did consider a GS60 but, due to the pain involved upgrading, I decided to stick with a GE62 instead. I ALWAYS replace the HDD with an SSD but that wasn't going to happen with the GS60.

 

What CPU temperatures should I be expecting from this computer? I just received my computer a couple hours ago, the only thing is browsing reddit and my CPU temp is hovering between 50°C and 65°C. I'm even keeping my computer on a hard, flat surface.

 

For you GE62 owners.... is this computer better than the GS60 with the same specs?

 

does anybody know the cpu temperature difference running at max load between the haswell version and the broadwell version?

 

I'm wondering the same thing. I would imagine temps would be lower, but i mean it's not like it ran super hot with a haswell CPU anyways.

 

If anyone has any information about the 965m model being updated with a broadwell processor, please share. So far only versions of the GE62 and GE72 with the 960m and 970m have gotten broadwell updates as far as I know. It would be a shame for the 965m to be phased out already, as it nicely bridges the gap between the 960m and 970m.

 

I've had my GE62 Pro for close to 2 months now and I'm finding that there are two things that really irk me:

• There seems to be a loose screw bouncing around inside and I want to open it up to find out what the heck it is before it shorts something or gets caught in one of the fans
  
• The GPU struggles to get above 60C but the CPU can easily hit the 80-85C range even with both fans on max and the laptop elevated to allow for better intake during gaming

So here are my questions:

• Have you guys looked into replacing the stock TIM on the CPU and did it yield any meaningful differences in operating temps?
• Is RTFM sufficient in opening the laptop up to perform the above tasks?

Thanks!

 

If you look at my post, #95, you can see that it's not a nasty job at all. As it stands my machine can stay virtually silent until flash pops along so run a few tests to see if there's any point in replacing the TIM.

 

Hi guys I got the MSI GE72 2QF Apache Pro. I play competitive cs:go and msi sponsored us, so I'm actually using the laptop as my desktop now basically. I wanted to ask if there was a way to access nvidia digital vibrancy? Nvidia Control Panel is a bit bare boned, I've grown really fond of it and my game looks kind of dull now... I know the intel settings can do it but unfortunately my screen causes intel to give me a ycbr setting instead of contrast etc in the advanced options. Thanks in advance, the laptop is a beast. Boots instantaneously , runs the Witcher 3. Couldn't ask for more 10/10.

 

Hello could you provide the model / sku # version that has all m.2 PCIe slots. That's the main model I'm after, having some hard time finding it so far. Thanks

 

Just a correction that the M.2 ports are SATA based, contact your resller to confirm all available options.

 

Glad to know that, seemly the specs are not clear based on post #93.

However I will say this model seems like a real bang for the buck. Whats the form factor compatibility for m.2 drives. I was looking at the 250GB and 500GB Samsung EVO's in a raid 0. I'm open to other brands that have great read write speeds and pricing / support.

Thanks again...

 

I use a pair of 500GB EVO drives in my own GS30 and they have been solid for me.

 

well took mine apart last night, all i can say is that is the worst case ive ever had to remove, i managed to do it using a spudger http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31nXH4m9IuL._SY300_.jpg

and some brute force, i managed to snap some tiny little red clip at the bottom near the fan, but it went back together again, i put in 2 Transend 256gb 2280 sata ssds

i raided them zero in windows 8.1, I also stuck a stick of Hynix ram in the exact same that the laptop came with.

anyway all went back together ok the 2 little clips that broke off didnt seem to make any difference.

I think if i would upgrade again , id problaly put a hard disk in the dvd drive bay....

 

I'm suprised you needed anything but a screwdriver but at least you got it done.

 

Hi, I would just like to ask one very important question. In the version with 970M or 980M, does the fans run 100% of the time? Or do they stop if the computer is idling on desktop?

 

Wow, people in this thread weren't kidding, that back cover really is a pain in the ass to open, even after removing the 15 (!) screws...

I don't think it has been mentioned explicitly yet in this thread, but just for anyone who might be interested, the Optical Disk Drive is an "ultra-slim" model, i.e. 9.5mm height. Also, if you are planning on reusing your old SSD, don't be a dummy like me and check for compatibility first. It didn't even cross my mind that my 4 year old OCZ Vertex 2 would already be completely obsolete, but apparently that is the case.

Really enjoying the laptop so far. The keyboard is a pleasure to type on, I was really surprised by that, and the screen is just awesome. One thing that concerns me is this thing of using the battery when you push the GPU and CPU even while plugged in. That's been happening to me when I play Rome II. Won't that wear out the battery very quickly?

It's silent when idle or with very light tasks, though they'll spin up a bit every now and then (though that might just be because we've been having some pretty warm almost-summer days though )

 

Just wondering, which model of the GE62 do you have? 965m or 970m and Broadwell or Haswell?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

The 970M one, with the Haswell i7-4720HQ.

 

Cool. I'm glad the Haswell doesn't run hot! I just got the 965m Haswell version as it was $999 on Newegg

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

As mentioned previously... The fan CAN stay off or nearly silent but quickly ramps up depending on what you're doing. You might not get the same thermal compound application that's on my machine so you never really know how your machine will act.

 

Just another correction: My model has 1x PCIe SSD and two sata based ports (Excluding the DVD drive).

 

I didn't need to use any brute force but, saying that, I did take my time just in case.

 

I took my time , Im guessing it might of been a mixture of nerves and just not really knowing where to start prying it, Any case I started around the dvd drive and pried it apart from there.

Oh and I owe you a thanks, I got the exact same SSD's as you put it, Very impressed with it.

 

Guys

I would like to know if i can remove the DVD drive and place another Hard disk I have(Seagate SSHD) in a caddy this one

Akasa AK-OA2SSA-BK - N.Stor Laptop optical to 2.5" HDD/SSD - (AK-OA2SSA-BK)

does the face plate come off the dvd drive ok? has anybody experience with this?

 

Yes, I swapped mine as well. The face plate takes a bit of effort to pry off but it's doable. It's pretty standard, you can find Youtube videos showing which part to push first etc. The DVD drive also uses only a tiny mount bracket to screw to the case, which is really easy to move to the HDD caddy.

Just make sure your caddy is 9.5mm high and not 12.7mm or it won't fit and the face plate won't connect.

 

Can you link the Caddy you used might be easyer cause the one im looking at is confusing me, it says compatible with 9.5 and 12.5 but its dimensions are : 130 x 129 x 13 mm Im guessing thats no good?

 

found this one on Amazon

EiioX SATA 2nd HDD Drive Caddy for 2.5''/9.5mm Universal CD/DVD-ROM ACER BENQ HP DELL ASUS SATA TO SATA HDD Caddy Tray

Product Description

NEW SATA 2nd HDD caddy for 9.5mm universal SATA CDROM Model:9.5mm SATA-SATA
Description:
Add this caddy to your laptop to give you another hard drive. Simply remove your CD/DVD-ROM drive and put the Caddy (with the added hard drive) in it's place...
This is a good working adapter and is Guaranteed.

Compatible: This is compatible with laptop that has a 9.5mm Universal SATA thick/high DVD drive with IDE interface Uses 2.5" SATA hard drives
Also compatible with 2.5" SSD

 

That one seems good. The one I got was this one http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B00C94G7Q6

 

They are pretty much the same thing, cheapest on eBay is $5.25 USD.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/SATA-2nd-HD...537?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3ced28eed9

 

They are not all the same, I tested my old 12.7mm universal caddy from my former laptop and it didn't fit. I'm pretty sure that one wouldn't fit either. It has to be compatible with 9.5mm slots.

 

The GE62 series do need slim type so the 9.5mm size.

 

Just recieved my GE62 yesterday (965m Haswell) and I have 2 questions:
1. What does it mean when the power button light switches between blue and red? Is this an indication of using dedicated vs. integrated graphics like the GS series?
2. What is the steelseries button supposed to do? When I first got the laptop it switched between the light configurations; however I had a problem with the steelseries engine and had to uninstall and reinstall it... Now it does nothing? Is this a setting in the steelseries engine I can fix?

Thank you all for your help!

 

1. Power button LED light
Blue = Intel HD Graphics (primary, power saving)
Red = Nvidia Graphics (secondary, high performance).
This process is performed automatically when required, and is called "Optimus".

2. SteelSeries button
This notebook may be pre-installed a unique keyboard manager application, SSE (SteelSeries Engine). With this application, users will be able to own several combinations of keyboard hot keys defined separately for specific occasions.
- Use this button to bring up the SSE user interface.
- If the notebook doesn't have the SSE application pre-installed, this button will be used to change the keyboard brightness status.

 

That button is not assigned to anything by default. When you reinstall the SteelSeries Engine it should recognise your laptop automatically and load up some default profiles. Did this not happen? What do you see when you launch SSE3?

Those default profiles (there are 4 of them) assign the SteelSeries button to switch between them (profile 1 has the key set to activate profile 2, profile 2 has it set to activate profile 3, etc.). However you can create a new profile and set the button to do something else entirely.

 

Oh okay I get it now, I didn't know you had to program the button with each profile. At first it didn't recognize the laptop but after another reboot it was recognized, and the default profiles were back. The button still did nothing though with the default profile. I don't think the button it set to do anything right now with any profile. Do I have to set it to "launch configuration"? I didn't see an option to select which configuration to launch. Maybe this happened because I installed the latest version from steelseries.com and not from MSI?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

This is what it looks like in one of my default profiles, maybe you can just replicate it:

 

Thanks. When I click launch configuration it just shows a blank box (no MSI ge62 or profiles appear). I'm sure there's just something I'm missing.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

That is strange. It seems like it isn't properly recognising your laptop or something? I think the simplest thing to do, to be honest, is simply reinstall the SSE again. Maybe this time install the MSI one first from the driver/utility CD, and only then update to the latest version from the SteelSeries website. I'm pretty sure I didn't use the one in the CD, but just to be safe.

 

I think all I needed was a reboot. It shows up now and everything's working. Thanks for your help!

 

That was odd, but glad that you were able to resolve it.

 

The GE62 Broadwell review is up

 

Thanks for the review guys. Worrisome that the CPU temps seem worse on this iteration...