MSI GS43VR Phantom Pro's Owner's Lounge

Hey guys, I'm doying a fresh install in here and I know it's highly recommended to avoid all MSI bloatware with the exeption of "Battery Callibration" and to install "Silent Option". But my question is:

Am I missing anything important or valuable by removing Dragon Center, SteelSeries Engine 3, True Color, Sizing Options and System Control Manager?

Once again, thanks for your time!

 

Yes, all the MSI stuff is useful at some point to someone

I'd restore the original out of the box recovery image and uninstall MSI apps you don't want.

I never used Battery Calibration to completion, but I keep it installed just in case I am ever able to run it to completion

I don't use Dragon Gaming Center so I uninstall that, because I use Intel XTU and MSI Afterburner with Windows power plans High Performance for benchmarking, and Balanced for everyday use. Some people like using DGC, so you might too.

If you have an understanding of how to use Windows, you don't need Sizing options, just go directly to the Windows settings for Display and set it as desired - I use 100% - no re-sizing.

If you want to use keyboard settings, lighting, etc then you'll want SteelSeries installed.

True Color messes things up for my eyes, but I do extract the ICC profile and load that by hand. Some complain that installing TC at all messes things up that an uninstall can't fix, so maybe don't install it.

SCM you need for function buttons like the GPU switch, or Display, and it doesn't cost much to leave it running, so I do.

It's a learning experience, try things out and see if they help you, if not then disable them from running, and if you don't miss them, uninstall them.

The only thing that's been a performance problem has been DGC X acceleration options, and those options are now disabled by default in new versions of DGC, so no need to uninstall DGC either, unless you want to use Intel XTU and MSI AB independently - don't have them all installed together at the same time.

Have fun

 

That's just what I needed to know!

You, sir, deserve a prize!

Thank you very much for your attention and fast answer (and sorry for my bad english)!

 

Greetings i was also having those stutering issues, games like League of Legends for instance would have a random FPS drops, which impacted my gameplay, lower than expected performance in everyday usage like opening folders and apps. i Have tried most of the solutions i could find online (even bought a intel card, which will be here in a couple weeks), disabled touchpad, tested lots of different drivers, messed with the registry, aniway; i was able to fix the issues so far by downgrading to windows 8.1, the system now is way more responsive, i still have access to windows updates for a few more years (hopefully they will fix windows 10 and most of their annoying features or i will just expect the next version in case it comes). For some of you it may be worth a try, its not the best solution, but at least for me it was enough; apparently for me , anniversary update changed lots of things in windows policy, and driver manufatures are having a hard time in repairing those issues.

Aniways, for testing purposes for those interested, make a 50gb partition in your drive and attempt a windows install and see if your problem gets fixed as it did for me

 

Hi, you should be able to do this with the steelseries software that comes pre-installed. It allows you to create all sorts of combinations. I use it to emulate multimedia keys for example.

 

Hey all! Did anyone figure out how to use MSI Afterburner to undervolt the GPU, or to set a lower thermal target?

Hoping to reduce the heat output to reduce fan speed

Thanks!

 

Hello, I write same question but for CPU couple of days ago, but none of forum/topic gurus did not shared tutorial!

Many thanks in advance if some can help us out with this questions!

 

I responded to your PM

 

Some guys have tried undervolting and it didn't do anything to reduce temps. CPU undervolting is where it's at.
Also, I would overclock the GPU to at LEAST +100, +300 core and mem. There is no real temp difference with that overclock. maybe 1c higher but thats it.

 

Hey guys, a little help here...
Is anybody having problems with the CAPS LOCK key LEDs?
I've been using this notebook for less than a week but I'm pretty sure that everythime the CAPS LOCK key is pressed, a little white LED was supposed to indicate that the function is on (at least it was what happened when I first tried earlier this week).
But now (meaning, today), the LED seems to be working in a very random fashion. Sometimes it turns on just by activating the CAPS LOCK function, but in other occasions it just don't work at all (or it starts working only after a while).
The only thing that changed since my first test was some Windows updates (including drivers), software installations (Office stuff), and gaming (I've also played a little bit with some energy related configurations - hibernation).
So, does anybody have any clue of what happened? Could it be some software/driver related or heat issue?

 

Welcome to the forums! If you keep MSI Dragon Center installed, I recommend disabling its "Xboost" features ("USB Boost" and "Storage Boost"), which are located in the MSI Dragon Center under the "System Tuner" tab. They unnecessarily keep the CPU usage high, as explained in this video (starting at 3:50).



If you plan to manually overclock your GPU using MSI Afterburner or another tool, you should uninstall the Dragon Center entirely, as it will conflict with your overclocking software. If you do this, you can still control your computer's fans without the Dragon Center if you download SilentOption: https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=255972.0 (and according to forum users, SilentOption works both with Skylake and Kaby Lake versions of the GS43VR).

Otherwise, just uninstall bloatware--especially Norton.

I haven't undervolted the GPU, but I've undervolted the CPU using Throttlestop. You can read more about Throttlestop and download it in this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/the-throttlestop-guide.531329/

I used this guide to undervolting: http://www.ultrabookreview.com/10167-laptop-undervolting-overcloking/

My stable undervolt is as follows:

CPU Core: -170.9 mv
CPU Cache: -170.9 mv
Intel GPU: -125.0 mv
System Agent: -125.0 mv

I hope this helps!

 

Thank you!!!

 

Hi!

I was planning to buy this laptop on monday but I'm not 100% convinced that it's worth the price. I'm currently using a Macbook Pro 2012 for the last 3.5 years. I'm looking for a portable quality laptop with gaming capabilities and found the MSI Phantom Pro. Aside from the heat and bloatware I'm concerned about following issues:
* The Nvidia Optimus issue. The stuttering seems really annoying.
* It also has a problematic wlan card or just the drivers? Latest Killer drivers seem to be from 21st of Feb. Maybe the issues with the wlan card/drivers are fixed by now?
* Problematic touchpad/drivers causing microstuttering. Or this is fixed aswell?

Or should I downgrade to Windows 7 right after buying the laptop (if that's possible)?

Thanks!

 

Check page 99

 

Thanks.
What about my other questions, concerns?

 

Does anyone know whether the Thunderbolt 3 port on here is fed by PCI-E x4? Or x2? I know their website says x4, but a number of manufacturers have been lying about their setups...

 

Also if I download the Windows 10 image from Microsoft and perform a clean install would I have any problems activating it?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Hello, yes you can perform normal activation! I did same thing, no problems at all.

@Prototime & @JayR481 - huge thanks one more time! I followed your links and now laptop is working really great, battery life about 5.5h of light surfing and some mp3 playing... and when you need blazing fast setup/profile, it is just few clicks away

 

Hi Aerozolic, the micro-stuttering issue is most likely caused by high DPC latency, which in turn can be caused by a variety of different devices/drivers that may vary between GS43VR owners (the wireless card, touchpad drivers, etc.) Killer Wireless is often, but not always, the culprit. If you buy a GS43VR, I suggest you go through a boutique reseller like Prostar or XoticPC and have them swap out the Killer Wireless Card for an Intel Wireless Card, like the AC 8260--or you swap out the card yourself, if you're having problems. The touchpad drivers are another common culprit of micro-stuttering, but several users have had success getting rid of the stutter by either disabling the touchpad drivers or updating them. Finally, you could roll back to Windows 7--some owners, but not all, have reported success in getting rid of the micro-stutter by doing so. Personally, I have an Intel Wireless AC 8260, and rarely have stutter. For more details, check out this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...ers-or-mouse-pointer-freezes-try-this.798873/

 

Hi.

Wow this stuttering problem is really annoying me and it is unbelievable that something like this happens on 2k laptop.

it is present all around, not only when watching youtube videos, but even now while I am typing there's the occasional (not even that much occasional actually) input lag.

I am going to try and change the wireless card with an intel. What kind of card should I buy for the gs43vr?

In the meantime I checked that all the drivers are up to date. I have a clean win10 installation, but I have no intention of downgrading to win7.

Is there any other thing I can try to improve the situation?

Thanks.

 

The primary cause of the stuttering has finally been fixed by Microsoft. Check my thread here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...-microstuttering-should-be-fixed-soon.802004/

In short, the fix is coming in the Creators update, or you can go to an insider build to get it now (though it's got bugs).

 

Yes. See the thread here: https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/860554/geforce-mobile-gpus/windows-10-and-optimus/17/. A formal solution from Microsoft will be coming hopefully in the near future. In the meantime you can download and run dGPUidle.exe from here: https://github.com/jobeid/dGPUidle. This app will run in the background, keeping the dGPU idle and awake but using minimal resources. It has to be run manually and NOT as part of windows startup.

 

Thank you very much for the answers I will check it out!

Another question, probably silly but I am curious... Is there some alternative power supply to purchase that is smaller? I know the laptop is quite power hungry due to its specs, but still when I look at the power supply of a mac 15 with discrete video card the difference is size is huge! Is a pity to have such a small laptop and a power supply that in the end occupy more or less the same volume of space

 

The discrete GPU in the MBP is by no means comparable to a high end GTX 1060. It also power throttles due to the TDP limitations of the small power brick. You bought the GS43VR for full portable performance, not for browsing the internet while writing documents with a throttling discrete GPU.

Sent from my SM-N900 using Tapatalk

 

of course as I immediately stated, I know that the msi is a different story because of the hardware it mounts. Still, the power brick is quite huge! I was just wondering if there is something smaller around. I don't think there is (had a quick look on the net but I couldn't find anything) but I thought I'd ask

 

The laptop is small but requires a huge amount of power to work on full load. If Small power bricks could do the job, MSI would have used them as it also would cost them less.

Sent from my SM-N900 using Tapatalk

 

yeah... I guess you are right

For the stuttutering problem if I understand correctly microsoft will hopefully fix it with the next win 10 update? Correct?

 

I heard that the Razer Blade 2016 165W power adapter is compatible and is like half the size and less than half the weight.

 

right... I just saw the adapter of the razer and it is smaller indeed. If I am not mistaken the razer has got the same hardware of the MSI, so smaller power supply is possible!

min, where did you read that such power supply is compatible with the MSI? The razer uses a 165w power adapter, while the MSI a 180w... I am not expert but I am not sure they are compatible...

 

http://www.notebookcheck.net/MSI-GS43VR-6RE-Phantom-Pro-Notebook-Review.172721.0.html says that maximum load with Furmark and wPrime is under 159W. You'll probably never see this.

Also the power adapters are usually designed with some margin beyond rated. A premium adapter like Razer's won't fry itself if you try to draw more power than it can handle, it'll just offload the requirements to the battery. So your battery may not charge at full low, or may even slightly discharge. But again, I doubt that in regular use you will actually hit this "full load" figure.

https://www.reddit.com/r/razer/comments/5elhwd/razer_blade_14_power_adapter_works_with_gs63vr/ <-- where they used the Razer adapter with the GS63VR (which IIRC uses basically the same adapter as the GS43VR)

 

Hey!
Has anyone had problems with the sound of the fan kind of hitting the chassis? When it slows down and goes into 0 RPM？Started hearing it kind of recently, kind of sounds like it's being obstructed.　

EDIT: I have located that its the GPU-fan that kind of sounds like it's vibrating from 0-2500RPM, over that it doesn't make any weird noise.
Also I noticed when flipping it over it makes small "beeping" noises, same for you guys?

 

Yeah it does look smaller and more portable (nice) but price tag of 99.99 is to much...

 

Hello all, I'm hoping to join the ranks of GS43vr owners and in the middle of customizing but being that I am a new and all I have more than a few questions.

For me it was between this and the Aero 14 but one thing I kind of liked about it was its simplified storage. So my first upgrade I was thinking of just abandoning the secondary storage slot and just getting a 500gb or 1tb M.2 SSD.

1a. I was looking at the Samsung 850 Evo but they offer a 512GB M.2 PCIe SSD for around the same price. So is it worth getting a small upgrade for just about the same price or sticking with a known brand the better choice here?

1b. Also is leaving the other storage bay empty a good idea? I'm a very simple guy so I figure less stuff occupying space = more room for air to move around and less moving parts to generate heat = slightly cooler performance.

1c. Also the question between 500gb vs 1tb. I know on my current gaming laptop I'm sitting at about 450gb...but that is with very lazy data management and with some spring cleaning could probably cut out 100-200gb. But I remember reading some where that M.2 storage gets less efficient the closer to being full it becomes. I don't mind some initial pruning but I don't want to keep having to manage my data on a regular basis if I plan to keep around 400gb of data on my unit.

My common sense side of my thought process says to get the 500gb and since I have an open slot, should I need more I can install an SSD later down the line. My "I want it" side of my mind (which I admit is the larger part) is saying why wait to fix a problem I know I might have in the future when I can avoid it all together.
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My second upgrade potentially is the wireless card.

2.After reading all the info about Killer vs Intel, my common sense says just to pay a little more to have the swap to the Intel 8260 from the get go. My "I want it" says why settle for the 8260 when there is the 8265, so I'm tempted just to keep the Killer card and if it works, I keep it and save some money and if it doesn't upgrade to the superior 8265. But I'm not the most mechanically inclined guy so I'm not sure how much trouble it would be to do it myself or if it would be worth just paying something to install it for me. To which, is the performance gap between the two big enough to make it worth the trouble?

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Lastly my third questionable upgrade is the OS.
3. Is it really worth having them do a clean install from the get go and paying the extra for a backup installation usb stick if I have no experience doing so myself? Or is it something that is like infant level easy? And is that a good idea for someone of my level of technical inadequacy? Is there any reason to keep the stock set up over a clean install at all? I don't want to do a clean install and then not install the right secondary stuff or not update some thing I need to and fubar my stuff up.

4ish. And for now those are the main three areas I have questions about. Any help or advice would be appreciated. If you had the chance to buy it again what customizations would some of you make differently and what has worked out best?

 

I haven't noticed either of these problems on mine, not sure what the issue is have you taken a look inside to see if there's anything rubbing against the fan blades?

PCIe SSDs have faster transfer speeds, but compared to higher-end SATA SSDs like the 850 Evo, they hardly make a difference in most real world applications, such as gaming. They do get hotter than SATA SSDs. That said, if they're about the same price, it might be worth it depending on your use. I personally went with a 500GB Samsung 850 Evo and am very pleased with its performance. Here's a pretty good guide comparing the two types of SSDs: http://techreport.com/review/28032/a-fresh-look-at-storage-performance-with-pcie-ssds

It certainly can't hurt. I currently have my 2.5" bay empty (I bought an external drive cover for the 2.5" HDD that came with the machine). More air flow and makes the laptop slightly lighter.

This really comes down to personal preference. I have a 500GB SSD and that works fine for me; I won't be filling it up for a long time, plus I still have the two drives that came with the computer that I'm using externally now, so I'm not concerned about running out of space anytime soon (and I don't feel compelled to put everything on an SSD - I'm content with the OS and games being on it, and putting other files on the 1TB HDD if I ever run out of space on the SSD). But if you know you're going to surpass 500GB quickly, and you want all of your files on one drive, it couldn't hurt to get a larger drive now.

I agree with getting an Intel card for the system; I have one, and rarely experience micro-stuttering. But I'd suggest having your reseller swap the cards out for you; the wireless card is hidden behind the heat pipes and is a pain to access (and risks breaking something). I had my reseller swap out the Killer Wireless card for an Intel 8260 when I bought the machine, and it was really cheap--$15 USD if memory serves. I don't have any experience on 8260 vs. 8265, though.

It's up to you, but uninstalling bloatware yourself isn't that hard or time consuming, and you'll save money by doing it yourself while also deciding you might want to keep some of the pre-installed software (for me, I kept a few things like the Steelseries Keyboard software and Nahimic sound). Be sure to at least get rid of Norton, as it's a huge resource hog. MSI computers also come with their own backup software that makes it easy to backup your system onto a USB drive, which you'll lose if you get a clean installation (and last I checked, MSI doesn't allow you to just download this particular piece of software from their website for some reason--I uninstalled the program when I first got the computer, realized I wanted it back, and then couldn't find it anywhere on the MSI website. I think this is an exception though, as other MSI software, like the Dragon Center, Steelseries Keyboard software, Nahimic, etc. are available on their website).

Other than everything above, I'd suggest investing in a metal mesh laptop stand or cooler to help with airflow (I've seen about a 5C reduction in temps when I have my laptop elevated).

I also recommend undervolting the CPU, disabling XBoost features if you use the MSI Dragon Center software, and uninstalling the Dragon Center entirely if you plan to overclock your GPU and replacing it with SilentOption for fan control. I recently posted more details about these suggestions in this post, which may interest you: http://forum.notebookreview.com/posts/10468928/

Hope this helps!

 

Actually yes that helped immensely. Though I do have one more question. In the process of finalizing my build but still stuck between SSD choice. The issue now is I am leaning towards having the 1TB option but the only option in that size offered by the place I am ordering it from (HIDevolution) is the "HIDevolution Approved" one which means I don't know what brand of SSD I'll end up getting.
Since this is going to be my primary and pretty much only onboard storage I'd much prefer to go with a brand I know and trust.Is branding not such a big deal when it comes to SSD's or am I better off just going with the 500GB. I don't really NEED 500GB but I'm getting such a good deal that 1TB is in my budget, should I just go with the tried and true Samsung 850 EVO and my make the 500GB work, or chance it with what ever HIDevolution chooses to put in and get the 1TB I want....(but don't really need)?

 

That's a tougher call. If they put in a SATA drive, it probably won't be as good as the 850 Evo. And the 850 Evo comes with a 5-year warranty, while an HID Driver is limited to HID's warranty term (which I assume is 2 years if you're in the US, which matches MSI's warranty term for its own components). But it'll be cheaper for sure, and you'll get more space. So it comes down to whether you want a top-end SATA drive with a longer warranty, or a lesser SATA drive that is bigger and cheaper but comes with a shorter warranty. In other words, you'll have to decide what you value more: higher quality and longer warranty vs. cheaper price and larger size.

 

Hey guys how are you? I got one big problem with my GS43VR and I'd like to know if I'm the only one with that problem or not.

On a freshly Windows install, no bloatware and all the updates done, when I play some games (see here specially World of Warcraft) the computer suddenly stop responding, the fan speed slow down and I have no choice but to hard reboot.

If it's not that, I got a bsod saying access violation blablabla..

Anyone of you have/had these problems and found a solution?

Thanks

 

I haven't had this problem and don't recall anyone else in this thread reporting anything similar. Have you OCed or undervolted at all?

 

Nop no overclock/undervolt at all! But I think it may be related to Windows and not the device, maybe.

 

I asked what drives were used and I was told it was either the Sansdisk X400 or the Crucial MX300. Did a bit of soul searching and while the 850 Evo is ideal. The price difference once you get past 500GB into the 1TB+ territory just doesn't seem worth it. Between the two above though I'm kind of leaning towards the Crucial MX300. Warranty is not a big issue in my case and honestly seems I can't go too wrong with either one. the X400 seems to have slightly better everyday performance closer to the 850 Evo but the MX300 while lacking in speed makes up for it in low power consumption and slightly better capacity. 1050GB vs 1000GB.

 

Cool, let us know what you decide!

I'd suggest getting in touch with MSI Support. It's definitely weird for a new computer to be misbehaving this badly while gaming, especially without OC/undervolt/bloatware.

 

I've got BSOD earlier using virtualization like hyper-v and virtualbox.. in the BSOD I have read Nwifi.sys in the error description. I think maybe my freaking Killer wireless is messing up with my system. Even with installing the lastest one from march 3rd.

I think I'll try the intel 8260 to see if there's a difference. Is that one http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Intel-Dual-B...929864?hash=item2ef7cd6988:g:nQkAAOSw2gxYrlJc the good one?

 

Have you tried just driver only without the software suite itself?

 

I have downloaded and installed the package here http://www.killernetworking.com/driver-downloads/item/e2200-e2400-wireless . I installed it through the software provided by Killer.

 

Use driver only package here.
http://www.killernetworking.com/driver-downloads/category/other-downloads

 

Had the same issue, and after searching for a while I came to the conclusion that there is no other option but to remove Virtualbox, which solved it. Other threads I found arrived to the same conclusions.

 

I'm late but you can try the on-screen keyboard if it's desktop work. Open the keyboard up by searching and push options in the bottom right. Turn on numeric keypad in the options box.

 

Yeah no it wasn't a standard issue. The GPU-fan kinda fell down in its holder and wasn't able to spin and therefore created noise instead. Had to send it to MSI for fixing, got it back recently though and works fine now.

 

Is it possible to game on just battery power?

 

Is it possible to game on battery power? i was tryng gr wildlands and running afterburner with riva stats and seem to be getting the high clock 1700/1900mhz on the gpu, but fps drops to from 60 to 20 on battery, what exactly is is happening when unplugging the ac? i had eco mode off and power settings set with custom high performance profile on battery power.