MSI GS43VR Phantom Pro's Owner's Lounge

Yup. It was super easy.
Went with a 1TB 960 Evo.
I used clonezilla and a M.2 enclosure to move everything over.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Nice ok will give that a go... I love this laptop but after 2 years continually using disk clean up and moving everything to the HDD to save space I'vre realized i just gotta go bigger as it were..can you clarify the M.@ enclosure part i am assuming that was to clone the existing OS etc..as there is only the one slot in the laptop ? If that is not possible ill resort to a fresh OS install

 

This is similar to what I used. Just made sure you get one that supports NVME
https://www.amazon.com/Enclosure-US...-spons&keywords=m.2+pcie+nvme+enclosure&psc=1

 

Thank you for the link sir.. will have a bash at it and post the results Happy New Year

 

What is you ssd temp? I installed it few days ago and my avg temp is 55-60 degrees and i have problems with the system (I cloned win 10, system become hotter both gpu and cpu fans working all the time and discrete gpu always uses 100-300 mhz even when system uses intels graphic.

 

Update tried the cloning with the enclosure and Acronis software and a Samsung evo 500Gb all seemed to go well from a cloning point of view however the laptop wouldn't boot after the replacement swap.. (I may have messed up the cloning ) tried a few more times then just did a fresh install of windows and now all is working with the extra space a real boon not to mention faster boot times with less clutter

by the way No issues with temperature everything seems normal

regards
John

 

were drive temps an issue on this model?

i never noticed anything out of the ordinary outside of CPU temps getting toasty before doing some changes after the initial month of ownership...

speaking of ownership... 100 posts to use the marketplace? I'd rather my gs43vr go to someone I know will use it correctly on these forums, but at this rate I should have 100 posts by 2034 lol

 

It's been a while, but I thought I'd drop a note to say that I'm still pleased with the performance of my GS43VR nearly 3 years later. It can still handle most new games admirably, especially at 1080p. On some new games, it's no longer possible to max out all/most graphics settings (minus ray-tracing and RTSS) on 1080p and consistently achieve 60fps - Metro Exodus comes to mind as a (rather extreme) example - but it's still more than enough for practically all games. (I've played Metro Exodus on High settings on 1080p, and although I didn't get 60fps consistently, it was thoroughly playable and enjoyable.)

Temps are still good. I repasted a while back, replacing the IC Diamond Thermal Compound on the GPU and CPU with Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut. I haven't really noticed much difference between the pastes.

Despite my earlier hopes, I never did mess around with an eGPU. The latency that comes with Thunderbolt 3 eGPU setups, combined with the lack of commercial eGPUs available and the high cost of the Razer Core, has dissuaded me from going down that path.

And despite the name of the laptop, I've never actually used it with a VR setup. I suspect that I'll jump on that eventually, but only after VR prices come down and the hardware and software options mature more. Whether that happens during the lifespan of my GS43VR remains an open question, but if I do end up getting a VR setup at some point and use it with my GS43VR, I'll try to post some impressions here.

Speaking of the GS43VR's likespan - MSI hasn't released a Turing-equipped successor to the GS43VR yet, despite having released Turing-equipped successors to other GS-series laptops. If MSI ever does release a successor, it'll likely be called the GS45, which follows the nomenclature of its bigger siblings (GS63 > GS65, etc.). For now, the GS43VR remains MSI's king of 14" gaming laptops.

I plan to skip the Turing generation of GPUs and stick with my GS43VR until the next generation. That was always my plan because having bleeding-edge gaming hardware isn't a necessity for me, and because the next GPU generation will likely coincide with the next new "true" console generation (making the leap more worth it). And seeing the poor performance gains of Turing over Pascal, the high cost of Turing-equipped computers, and the utter lack of 14" notebooks with Turing GPUs, I now have even further confidence in my decision.

I also see little reason to upgrade the components of the GS43VR. My plan is to simply increase the storage space; a 1TB SSD is probably a near-future purchase. Another repaste will probably happen eventually too. But 16GB RAM is still plenty, and there's little need to upgrade the wifi card. (Despite the early fears that the heat pipes are too close to the wifi card--fears that are quite reasonable--I haven't had any problems with the card.) My plan is to only replace something if it fails. Fingers crossed that won't happen anytime soon!

If anything big happens with my laptop, I'll be sure to post any future impressions or thoughts here. Otherwise, I'm hoping for another few good years with my GS43VR.

 

So this didn't take long. I'm going to have to make an addendum to my cheery post from last month. Over the past week or two, I noticed that the bottom cover wouldn't quite snap into place beneath the mouse pad. At first, I chalked this up to a missing screw, thinking that maybe the cover's clips were broken too. But then today, after a long gaming session, the rest of the bottom cover started coming apart all around the screws. I unscrewed and took the bottom cover off. Lo and behold, the battery is badly swollen.

I managed to delicately unscrew and remove the battery pack without puncturing it, and I put it in a shoe box. I'll be taking it down to a hazardous waste center for proper disposal. I'm using the laptop right now without the battery.

I'll be calling MSI soon, and maybe my reseller Prostar, to see what can be done. The laptop warranty ended last November, of course. I really hope MSI won't insist that I mail the laptop to them to be serviced, and I really hope they won't want to charge me an arm and a leg for a new battery.

 

When did you purchase the unit? Because MSI's battery warranty is 1-year so it may be possible if it's close to the expiration date or if it's still within 1-year of your purchase date.

 

Thanks for this info! Unfortunately I bought the unit back in August 2016, so it's been a while.

 

I see, so it's best to check with MSI directly to see if you can purchase a replacement battery, and if yes then buy it from MSI so you can replace it yourself. Or you can look for it on eBay.

 

To update, I called MSI and they unsurprisingly wouldn't sell me a battery; they said I would need to ship them the laptop and pay for shipping both ways, the battery, and labor (all of that would presumably be covered if the laptop were in warranty). I instead poked around the internet for a battery, and found a listing on Amazon with reviews indicating that it was legit: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075ZQFVB9/

I ordered it from here for $66 US, and I can confirm that it's legit. Installing it was easy and it works great. I obviously would have preferred that the original battery stayed in working order, but the price wasn't too bad and now I have the advantages of a new battery, so I can't complain too much. Hopefully this will hold me over a few more years!

 

Well done. At least you've checked and then was able to find it.

 

My (almost exactly) 3-year-old MSI GS43VR with a GTX 1060 6GB GPU and a i7-6700HQ CPU with optimus is... I hope not done for? I haven't used it in a few days because I've been giving my new daily driver, the Samsung Notebook 9 Pro 15", a spin. My plan has been to keep the GS43VR for gaming. But then this happens.

Last night, I turned my GS43VR on and everything seemed to work fine at first--but I don't think it made it past the MSI logo before the screen went totally dark, and it's stayed that way ever since. I tried plugging it into my external display, and I do hear the usual brief "ding" from the display that recognizes that something has just been plugged into it, but nothing shows up on it. I've restarted my notebook multiple times by holding down the power button to shut down. But every time it starts, I get no image at all, whether on the internal screen or an external display.

To be clear, the laptop itself still turns on--the backlit keyboard comes on, and the MSI power button with its indicator light turns on (the indicator changes color depending on whether the iGPU or dGPU is working). I know from the indicator light that for the first split 0.1 seconds after turning it on, the laptop's iGPU is running, but then it immediately switches over to the dGPU. If I leave the laptop on long enough, the dGPU fans will eventually kick on too (the CPU fans stay off).

So what's the diagnosis? Is my dGPU fried ? If so, is there a way I can brute force the iGPU to keep working throughout the boot process so I can at least still get some use out of this laptop? Is there anything else that might be wrong and that could be solved?

 

I don't know, but the first thing I thought of I wonder if the display cable has become disconnected or not making good contact.

 

Thanks. I took everything apart, and the eDP cable is tightly attached on both ends. Still no luck.

 

Well guys... after searching all around the web for advice and tinkering as much as I can with the laptop, I think I can safely conclude that my GS43VR is dead. The culprit appears to be a broken nvidia graphics card. And because it's sautered to the motherboard, there's no way to fix it. I may continue to see if there's a way I can get the laptop to boot using the iGPU only so that I can at least get some use out of the computer. But that's not guaranteed to work out, and either way, its days as a gaming laptop are over.

I really enjoyed my (almost exactly) three years of gaming on my GS43VR. Sure, it may have been a 14" "light" notebook with a "mere" 1060 6GB GPU, but it was my first gaming computer and I got so much enjoyment out of it. And I liked using it for productivity too; it was my daily driver up until, coincidentally, just a few days ago (even though it was more than I ever needed, and it definitely spoiled me). I'm glad it held out for me just long enough for me receive my Samsung Notebook 9 Pro 15" last week on August 22. Though I wish I hadn't also just bought a new battery for my GS43VR a few weeks ago... ah well.

Of course, my new Notebook 9 Pro isn't nearly as powerful of a gaming laptop with its Radeon 540, and I didn't buy it for gaming. It's certainly capable of some gaming and it's better than an iGPU-only device, but it's not anywhere near the performance of the GS43VR. For gaming purposes, I was really hoping my GS43VR would last me until nvidia's Ampere GPUs came out. And I don't think I can settle for a Radeon 540 until that happens.

So screw it, I think I'm going to build a gaming desktop. Cheaper, better performance, and if a GPU dies I can just replace it. I barely gamed "on the go" with my GS43VR anyway. I'll salvage what few parts I can from it for the new rig.

As one of (the only?) member of this owners' lounge that's been here since it began, I have to say I really enjoyed the little community we've had here, even if it mostly fizzled out long ago. To those of you who still have your GS43VR, I hope you continue to enjoy your little juggernaut for years to come. And I'm happy for the time I had with mine.

RIP GS43VR | September 1, 2016 - August 30, 2019

 

Yep, I went from gaming laptop to gaming desktop - a good decision! Only downside at the moment is that we're currently on the back end of life of the current RTX 2xxx GPUs from NVidia - ie 7nm RTX 3xxx GPUs are likely to be released next year, which will be a lot more capable in both ray tracing and general render performance. The upside of building now (in comparison to a year or two ago) is that RAM price and SSD price has fallen. I'd be a little bit unwilling to spend a lot of money on a GPU given that NVidia should release a new generation within a year, maybe a year and a bit. It might be worth it to buy a great value cheap (maybe 2nd hand) GPU to tide you over until the next generations of GPUs are released. But, by all means buy a fantastic CPU for your needs, because I would imagine you would want that to last for years & years through a couple of GPU upgrades. If you don't do high refresh rate gaming (120Hz/144Hz), then I recommend buying one of the new AMD CPUs that have come out - more cores for the money, less security vulnerabilities, and probably better future proofing due to the extra cores, although I hear the latest motherboards for the new generation of AMD CPUs are expensive (PCIe 4.0) so you might want to weigh that in. If you've not done high refresh rate gaming before, and you like to play online multiplayer first person shooters, then I recommend you choose 144Hz+ and buy an Intel CPU (minimum 9700K, but probably 9900K). 144Hz is just sooo much better than 60fps, it's the main draw for me when it comes to PC gaming. Oh, and on the subject of monitors, invest in a good monitor, it should last you a long time, and you look at it everyday, so don't scrimp on that! (Read around VA/IPS/TN and their positives and negatives before you make a decision!) (Oh, and read/look at videos from Gamers Nexus on different cases - they do great case reviews, and these have MAJOR impact on thermals of CPUs and GPUs).

 

Thanks for the advice! Building a desktop is a completely new venture for me, so I'll be looking for lots of it. I'm sure I'll start frequenting the NBR Desktop Hardware forum quite a bit. I'm already eyeing a Ryzen 5 3600X with a new gen board, and maybe a GTX 1660TI or something similar to tide me over until Ampere GPUs come out next year-ish. I'm bummed about losing my GS43VR, but also excited about what comes next.

 

Yeah, no problem, it's fun to provide advice for new builds and things like that. Start a new thread maybe in the desktop forum to get advice on your build, and drop a quick post in the desktop overclocker thread that you're after some advice too and provide a link there to your new thread - there's some real hardware enthusiasts that look at that thread, so they'd probably provide a reply or two to your new thread. Here's the link to the overclockers thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...ers-welcome-too.810490/page-643#post-10946519.

 

For anyone here who would like to offer feedback on my post-GS43VR rig, I've started a thread here http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/thoughts-on-this-potential-pc-build.830261/

 

MSI GS43VR reseller nightmare:
Hey everyone, been a fan of customized high-end tiny laptops for awhile now. have built my own desktops for a few years now (big MSI fanboy) and I ordered this little monster with some key upgrades from a well-known reseller / customizing service. Long story short, day one problems with the laptop have been

• A 'glitchy' screen which I figured could be software/ driver issues, turns out the cable connecting to the screen either has no clips to secure it, or are broken (reseller logo was applied to bezel directly above connection)
• Battery would not charge past 70%, has 'puffed'
• Numerous light bleeds from screen surrounds
• Too-tall heatsinks intalled on cpu and gpu heat pipes, causing bottom cover flex/ warping
• MSI dragon logo fell off the lid (light modification behind logo performed without asking)

I recently received a bill after a RMA (to MSI, despite website claims of covering parts and labor) for $500 in addition to the $1700 paid for the initial order. During this process I have collected statements from PC repair and customization shops across the country, outlining that many of these issues were caused by poor installation of upgrades, and poor quality control. I have carefully documented every issue, sent pictures and video to the reseller of the malfunctions and defects, as the issue has matured they have been harder and harder to reach (I am on hold with their 'tech support' line while I type this, and have been for over 20 minutes now, in addition to being placed on hold with their customer service line for 12 minutes prior).

I would love for this to turn into a 'feel good' story for the company, but it seems it simply wont happen that way.
Has anyone here sued a reseller? Did you utilize consumer law, or small claims?
Thank you in advance!

 

Reports of my GS43VR's death have been greatly exaggerated... my GS43VR is alive! After hunting around for information to prepare for building a gaming desktop, I came across an article on why computers don't POST - one reason of which could be defective RAM. Well, wouldn't you know it - if I leave out just one of my two 8GB sticks of RAM, the GS43VR is suddenly back to normal. Both sticks out, the notebook display never powers on; both sticks in, same issue. And if I put one of the two sticks in and leave the other out... it works. One of the sticks is clearly defective, as the computer is working fine now that it's out and the other stick is in. Fortunately, that other stick is working fine - and now, so in my laptop

I got so excited to build a desktop, I might still just do it. But regardless, I am so glad to have my little juggernaught back in action. Just need to order another 8GB RAM stick, and I plan to be back to gaming on it.

 

Congrats! I still high recommend building a desktop for fun LoL, so many color and light options!

 

Me too, since desktop has lesser limitation compared to notebook.

 

I adore little power houses like the GS43VR (granted, mine has been an absolute nightmare, but I don't fault MSI for that) but the ease of desktops is the bees knees! I've got a MSI themed build, all red fans (air cooled) paired with a MSI 1070ti, and MSI CPU cooler looks like optimus prime's face LoL
MSI Z370M Pro Gaming AC
Intel i7 8700k
MSI Core Frozr L CPU cooler
MSI GTX 1070ti Titanium Edition
XPG by ADATA 32GB DDR RAM (16GBx2)
SanDisk 256GB SSD (OS)
SanDisk 1TB SSD (Data)

 

I'd be interested to know if it's possible to upgrade the display in the GS43VR, like can it be upgraded to a 120Hz panel?

 

i would like to know that too...is there anyway to upgrade these screens to not only higher refresh rate but also possible Gsync?

 

I don't know what technical limitations there might be on a screen upgrade. I do know that it's relatively easy to physically remove the screen from the GS43VR to try, though. You'll have to pry up the plastic bezel and sever the glue that sticks the screen to the bezel (it will restick when reassembling, at least when putting back in the same screen--not sure about putting in a new screen, but I'd imagine there's enough glue on the bezel itself to stick it to the new screen). There are a couple of screws on the bottom you'll have to take out too (and good luck getting them back in, but they don't really need to be there). Once that's done, it's just a matter of unhooking the eDP cable, and the screen comes free.

 

Thanks for the replay @Prototime! Yeah I have switched out screens before but I think the main question is has someone done this already and if so, where to find a screen? Does anyone know of a good web site that would sell a 120mhz/144mhz 14' equivalent for this? I tried to look (albeit quick look) with no success so far

 

First question is how many pins the GS43 uses for the display connector, is it a 30-pin or 40-pin eDP cable..? I may be wrong, but on my 7RE it's a 30-pin connector.

So I did a little digging around and I'm from Europe, though I did find these results: https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?N=100251031&srchInDesc=120Hz&ActiveSearchResult=True&hisInDesc=14"
Specifically the HP EliteBook 840 uses a 14" 120Hz panel with a 40-pin eDP connector. I wonder if something like this could be retro-fitted..?

Here is an eBay ad for the panel as well: https://www.ebay.com/itm/120HZ-IPS-...246175&hash=item4b4d66fdf4:g:SB4AAOSwxKNbh8PZ
It's important to have the Sure View models as they have a privacy feature which when disabled, uses the full 120Hz of the display.

It seems like there's a plethora of > 15,6" 120Hz/144Hz panels but none for 14" laptops, I guess the demand just isn't there to manufacture them...
Final option is to find a Chinesium display that overclocks well, it's possible 100Hz or so could be relatively easily achieved.

All I have so far

Edit 1: So it seems it's possible to buy converter / adapter cables for 40-pin -> 30-pin LCD connections, though I don't know if this is a viable option.

Edit 2: So did some more digging around and I came across this image: https://picclick.com/GENUINE-MSI-GS43VR-7RE-Phantom-Pro-14-LCD-183856224894.html
Do you notice anything strange here..? Well, the two ends have different amounts of pins. The 40-pin eDP is a 4-lane connection, and the FHD 30-pin eDP is only 2-lanes. So I could be wrong, but it seems they could be using a type of adapter cable that only uses the 2-lanes required for a FHD display.

What does that mean? Well, it may be possible to buy a 40-pin to 40-pin eDP cable and then upgrade to either QHD display or 120Hz one... See where this is going?

I also found this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/aw15r1-upgrading-fhd-to-uhd-edp-30-pin-vs-40-pin.784791/
Here the Alienware laptop uses a 40-pin eDP on the motherboard and a 30-pin cable to the display... Could this laptop support higher res displays..?

Can someone verify the pin count on the display and motherboard connection..?

 

I must advise caution on messing with that screen connector! Ours was slightly loose on arrival and it took nearly a dang year to figure out what was wrong with the screen!
Related: Anyone know where I might find advanced repair document for this machine? Is the battery easily replaced?

 

Battery is easily replaced, just remove the bottom cover, unplug it from the main board and then gently, but firmly, pry the battery up (it's stuck to the tray).

I just checked today and my battery is puffy on one side, seems to be a common issue...

Sent from my CLT-L09 using Tapatalk

 

The battery is very easy to replace. I just bought a new battery about two months ago to replace my bloated battery. I bought it from this seller and got a legit battery for US $66: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075ZQFVB9/

 

Hi all, I've had this laptop for a bit more tan two years and lately I've been having issues (rattling and so on) with the GPU fan until a blade finally broke down when I was trying to check it out. I ordered a replacement from eBay (quite expensive for a fan and in principle original) and what arrived seems to be original, but I'm afraid is not. I remember the original one spinning at max rpm close to 7000, as the CPU, is that right or I am inventing it? The "new" one tops up at 6000rpm.

Besides, It's been two years since I repasted both CPU and GPU with Gelic GC Extreme. I'm thinking about repasting again and I'm wondering if someone has used Grizzly Kryonaut, or if you would recommend something different.

Thanks for reading!

 

Dear owners, I've had a very happy life with my little beast, the gs43vr 6re, until a moth ago when I had a BSOD after a clean reinstall of windows. I tried everything to identify the source and it seems that as long as I have the gpu disabled from the windows hardware section, the laptop runs fine. When I enable it, 99% of the time I get a BSOD. From my local service they gave me an uninterested diagnosis "exchange of motherboard" :|.

To make matters worse I downloaded a bad vBIOS from techpowerup and now windows cant identify my GPU anymore. Can someone please give me a vBios from you gs43vr 6re model because it is not available anywhere and msi is not providing me with it.

Thank all

 

I could try and send you vBIOS for GS43VR 7RE. Don't know if that will work for you though.

 

Thanks Sainho. I would try, it cant do more damage . Please send if you can.

 

Here it is, hope it helps: [Link no longer working]

 

Many thanks Sainho. Unfortunately it seems that it is a mismatch.

Can someone with a 6re version help a brother out?

 

Hey all,

Been battling with a few issues with my machine lately. Nothing to do with performance, UBM seems to think it's running fantastically on all cylinders. Latest updates, drivers, etc. all installed.

The first issue is that the Steelseries keyboard has stopped lighting up with the red glow. I've recently opened the machine to replace the thermal paste on the CPU and GPU (after this problem started, for what it's worth), and thus went through all of the power connections, and everything seems to be fastened properly. Additionally, instead of the red light that the power button usually emits, it now emits an orange light, i.e. the one that is on during Power-Saving/Sleeping mode. I've heard rumblings that this is a SteelSeries Engine compatibility issue with the newest Windows update, but I'm asking here if anyone's seen a similar issue with theirs.

My second issue is that I was using a third-party power block as a secondary that always went in my backpack before it recently gave out. At first, I was worried it was the board or the battery, but upon inspection the battery shows little to no bulge at all and an identical power block that I borrowed works perfectly. Could anyone recommend me a solid backup third (or first) party power block?

Thanks again.