***The MSI GS60 Ghost Pro 970M Owner's Lounge***

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Ok, i will ask tomorrow :')

 

If your HDD is the default 1TB 7200 RPM, you should be able to hear it spin a little because its a mechanical HDD. Some are noiseir than others, when you start to hear bad sounds it means it's going bad. You can probably YouTube and find someone doing a video to hear the difference.

Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

 

GS60 3K i7 4710HQ 16GB 1TB 256GB SSD 15.6in WQHD+ IPS GTX970M 3GB

Even if you have a HDD and not SSD, when your machines off the HDD will be parked, as in the head is parked. It shouldn't make any noise if you shake it either.

 

I will talk to MSI and my reseller later today to see what we will do.
Yesterday night i just saw that the notebook is too big to fit with the sleeve into the Everki Swift :'(
Gotta swap the Everki Swift with something else :/
Anyone know a good backpack for under 75€ with space for a 17" notebook and the sleeve?

 

Is there any way to get the fans to stop spinning? The darn things keep spinning even on battery in power saver mode and CPU < 40C. They are barely spinning, but they still are and in a somewhat quiet environment are still audible, would also help with battery life too I would think.

 

Try to plug it in, put it in Green Mode and unplug it.
@HTWingNut

 

Anyone tried running Windows 7 on this? If so, any steps one needs to do prior to installing it? Or just to format the system drive and install whatever I want?

 

For the CPU fan, I don't think so. According to Sen7inel, the newer EC profiles have a minimum that can't be changed. There are older EC fan profiles but they were for the 870M version so their results are unknown. I don't know all the risks of flashing a profile from a different model or I'd give it a go. The GPU fan might be a possibility to turn off though but I haven't tested it yet.

Yes, I did it for a short time until I saw how microscopic everything was on a 3k screen. Everything seemed to work fine though. You can format or dual boot - the recovery partition for Windows 8 is on the spinning hard drive. If you have a RAID machine, you might need RAID drivers for the Win 7 installer to recognize your drive.

EDIT: Now that I think about it more, I might have done it with the 870M version. It should be the same but you might have trouble finding drivers for the components that changed. Also, the fan profiles might be different.

 

Thanks for the quick reply. Picking up my GS60 FHD 970M after work today, and normally I'd prefer running Win7, but if it's too much hassle to get it working properly wrt drivers (bios?) I might just keep Win8.1 (which frightens me a bit, not tried Win8 yet as it seems just too "dumbed down", or what to call it).

 

Install Classic Shell if you are scared of having it without Start Button There's nothing else different then in Win 7 ... And of course it starts 4 seconds not 25+ like Win 7 -_-

 

It's not so bad. I just ignore anything and everything Win 8 "touch" related and it's fine. All the windows 7 settings are still there, you just have to type them into search once or twice so they pop up at the top of your results more often(you'll see what I mean when you try it). When you first boot the GS60, just tell the tutorial you want to boot straight to desktop. Use classic shell like charliex3 suggested, to get the start menu back. I use Stardock's Object Desktop personally and I love it. I was very resistant to Win 8 at first, but 8.1 fixed all my immediate gripes and the mods made it even better imho. My boot times and battery life are faster than on Win 7. With Windows 10 right around the corner, I think we'll be seeing even less Win7 support, so there's that too.

 

how is durability on this model?
how is dealing with warranty?

 

Hi there, after reading several posts and reviews I noticed the point of the maybe annoying fan noise several people mentioned. For me and I think for many others the ghost isn't only a gaming notebook, also a device for office environments and a lightweight desktop replacement too. I don't understand the problems many manufacturers have. With the Nvdia optimus I should do all my office work with intels graphic unit, so why we cannot turn off the gpu fan until the nvidia chip will take over in gaming scenarios. In a meeting room there is no place for gpu fans .

I was wondering if there is a difference between the ghost and the stealth in terms of fan noise, because of little more space in the stealth case? As I read in the stealth forum, some users wrote about idle times where the gpu fan is quite. Also I'm interessed if somebody who has tweaked the fan profiles could upload an sample of the reduced fan noise? Noticed that the fan profiles for the newer builds could not reduced sufficiently.

Maybe somebody has an alternative recommendation. Maybe the older gs60 2pc ghost with 860 - read there only that this build is getting really hot? Not knowing when the Asus ROG GX500 will be released, think this could be annother alternative because of an alternate cooling system?

Silentsea

 

I'm either not as sensitive to it or I'm more forgiving of ultrabooks, but I don't find the fan noise to be THAT loud. I would certainly use this in a meeting without any embarrassment. If anything, the glowing dragon is what they'll be laughing at, not your fan noise. I have yet to own an ultrabook that doesn't have an audible fan. Even the U-series CPUs get hot and their fan noise can be quite loud when under moderate load. The fact is, there is less space to have proper heat pipes and a larger fan, so the CPU will heat up faster and the fan will have to work that much harder. The only thing I don't like is the fact the fan doesn't ever turn off(more the GPU one than the CPU one). The CPU fan being on all the time is fine by me because it'll just be kicking on 95% of the time when you use anything that uses turboboost.

If you're sensitive to the noise, what you can do is a couple things. First, install the modified EC fan profile I posted a few pages back. This will lower the minimum CPU fan speed to 2750rpm. Second, disable turboboost in your power saver profile. You can do this by changing the maximum CPU processor speed(in advanced power options) to 99%. In my testing, in power saver mode, changing to 99% reduced fan speed by 250-400 rpm. For example, I'm running FTL and copying a 4GB file while on battery and in power saver mode. At 100% CPU, my fan caps out at 3300rpm. At 99% my fan caps out at 3000rpm. Also, while idle and doing light tasks at 99%, my fan speed is almost always 2750rpm(the minimum).

Mardon was able to do this with an older EC fan profile and have the CPU fan be off while idle. Unfortunately, that was an older version of the 870M profile and our version doesn't allow it. When I get time, I'll pop over to the MSI forums and pick their brains about bringing the no minimum cap back.

 

Anyone here experienced the coil whine?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJSAXws2KdE&list=UU-LjPSC4U5Jiucn9VqLd-zw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrhTEtDctbE&list=UU-LjPSC4U5Jiucn9VqLd-zw

 

Did that, thanks for the advice. Although it became much better (actually, it went from completely useless to something that I can use), I'm not sure if I'll be able to work just as efficient on Win8.1 as on Win7, which is a big concern as my main use is work-related, and not gaming.

Got a bit better after I installed the classic shell, but my main concern, as mentioned above, is that I won't be able to work efficiently when there's so many new changes. The boot time isn't a big issue for me; 5-15 seconds more doesn't matter. But of course, if there aren't drivers for everything for Window 7 then I'm kinda stuck.

This is what I've found so far. Driver version in bold is the version offered on MSI's webpage per today.

• Realtek High Definition Audio R2.75 (R2.75): Realtek *** Driver from MSI's webpage can be installed on Windows 7 as well ***
• Realtek Card Reader V6.3.273.37 (V6.3.9600.21249): Realtek *** Driver from MSI's webpage can be installed on Windows 7 as well ***
• Intel Management Engine V9.5.24.1790 (V9.5.24.1790): https://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?DwnldID=23091&lang=eng
• Intel Chipset V10.0.13 (V9.4.0.1023): https://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?DwnldID=20775
• Intel HD Graphics 4600 V15.36.7.64.3960 (V10.18.10.3496): https://downloadcenter.intel.com/SearchResult.aspx?lang=eng&FamilyId=39&ProductID=3720&ProdId=3720
• Qualcomm Killer 1525 V4.0.0.419: (WiFi: V11.0.0.357, LAN: V8.1.0.23): Driver Downloads | Qualcomm Atheros, Inc. *** Not sure how to determine difference in driver version here. Anyways, this part depends on whatever WiFi/ethernet/Bluetooth cards you have in your device ***
• Elantech Touchpad (V11.13.11.4): *** Driver from MSI's webpage can be installed on Windows 7 as well ***
• Nvidia: Choose whatever you like that supports the 970M from NVIDIA

As for the Intel Rapid Storage Technology and the Intel Management Engine drivers, I assume the newest ones can be found using the Intel Driver Update Utility at Intel Driver Update Utility. Also, most of utilities that MSI offers at their webpage works on Windows 7 as well.

*** Update ***

In case anyone else should want to know. I had to switch to the "legacy BIOS" setting in the BIOS, found in the boot options tab, in order to be able to boot from a USB stick with Windows 7 on it. After that I had to wipe the c:\ partition using diskpart before being able to install Windows 7 as it was a "GPT partition". Took some time to figure this out as I haven't dealt with any new hardware since forever (first new computer in six years), so for the purpose of learning; any way I could have managed to install Windows 7 on the old system partition by just formatting it, or is this procedure in diskpart a must? I have a feeling that I've done something wrong in this process, but I really can't tell as this isn't something I'm good at (tbh).

Otherwise I have to say it runs smooth on Windows 7 as well. Found all drivers, and so far I haven't encountered any problems at all. Of course the boot time is somewhat longer than on Windows 8.1 (from the moment the MSI logo appears on the screen until the login screen it takes ~14sec, vs. maybe 5sec on Windows 8.1 - I didn't time that before deleting it).

*** Update 2 ***

Seems like I've made a mistake when creating the bootable USB (probably used MBR instead of GPT, and thus UEFI wouldn't allow me to boot from the USB stick). If I've understood it correctly, had I chosen the correct setting in Rufus ( http://rufus.akeo.ie/) when creating the bootable USB it wouldn't have been any problem installing Windows 7 (64-bit only) on the system disk that had a GPT partition. Oh well, next time. Now I know the difference at least.

 

I've had my GS60 with the 970M for about 3 weeks now. I love this laptop; it's thin, lightweight and packs a serious punch in GPU and CPU. I wish they could've crammed another 2 memory slots for 32GB of RAM, but I'll make do with 16GB (I run Virtual Machines for work).

I bought two new hard drives, Amazon.com: Crucial M550 512GB SATA M.2 Type 2280 Internal Solid State Drive CT512M550SSD4: Computers & Accessories and http://www.amazon.com/OCZ-Solutions-2-5-Inch-Software--VTX460-25SAT3-480G/dp/B00HZR4FCA/ref=sr_1_6?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1416320875&sr=1-6&keywords=OCZ+Vertex+4
I RAID0 those drives and get over 1000MB/s on CrystalMark (verified TRIM does work in RAID0). Then I upgraded the RAM to 16GB of RAM, did a fresh install of Win 8.1 x64 Pro and applied the latest drivers from MSI's website.

I haven't had a single problem and not a single complaint (and I'm picky). No excessive fan noise, no coil whine. Titanfall and Crysis 3 look as amazing as you think they should.

If you're having problems and would like to compare against my config, let me know what you're running and what you'd like to see.

 

Anybody give Dragon Age Inquisition a go? I'm very close to pulling the trigger on it but would be curious to hear how it fares with the 970m

 

Hey folks,

I recently got my gs60 about a week ago and am loving it. My only issue of possible dissatisfaction is the touchpad. I specifically went with MSI because of the name brand touchpad, but so far I'm unimpressed by it. It's a little laggy / unresponsive. Not a lot, but I'm coming from a Dell XPS where it was top notch and very responsive / never missed a movement.

Are there any tips / tricks / tweaks to improve the touchpad? I've enabled two finger right clicking, and adjusted the speed to my liking. I guess I'm wondering if there are any new drivers for it, or something along those lines? And where exactly would I find driver updates if there were any? I've also heard of people disabling the (I forget the company's name, but insert it here) touchpad drivers and it becomes much more spot on, but without the gestures.

Thanks!

 

I personally use these drivers: http://goo.gl/Uwhgvj

It's an older driver from a Samsung laptop from a couple years ago. I went with it because I was able to increase the pointer speed and the scroll speed to make things a lot smoother. It made the trackpad a little more tolerable for me since I was used to better. It's still nothing to brag about, that's for sure.

What do you mean by name brand trackpad? If you meant because it's Elan, don't just go by that. Both Elantech and Synaptics make both great and terrible trackpads. It all depends on the drivers and how much the manufacturer wanted to spend on the trackpad.

 

Aha, I knew there were some secrets! Thanks so much, I'm giving that version of the drivers a whirl, we'll see

Thanks

 

awesome tip xentar712.
give us update nomnom_ when u can.

 

The fan profile post Xentar712 mentioned is in his post on this page: http://forum.notebookreview.com/msi...t-pro-970m-owner-s-lounge-44.html#post9817936

I agree with you, the fan speed seem unnecessarily high. 30 to 45 degrees 2981 RPM, 46 degrees 3333 RPM. Compare this to my old 2011 13" MacBook Pro, a similar machine metal wise and with a slightly smaller fan+heatsink is still at 2236 at 70 degrees. http://www.gmtdev.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/degrees-RPM-MBP2011-2.jpg

 

Hey everyone,

My GS60 Ghost Pro 3K-046 arrived and it's a beast! 970m ran many games beautifully and smooth in 1080p, some in 3k. The 3k display is beautiful to look at, the model is VVX16T029D00 so it appears to be made by Panasonic. Does anyone have .icc file for it? I want to calibrate the display but don't have tools to do so.

 

I'll post one later

 

Just got my MSI GS60-064 970m (6GB VRAM version) today! Very happy with it. Ran it through its paces in FireStrike (Demo):

Max Temp was 72°C with a 6500 score. No repaste, idle temp was approximately 45°C with the fans idling around 2900 RPM, got my notebook from XoticPC.
So no real increased temperature versus the 3GB version.

Here is what my backlight bleed looks like, although very exaggerated; picture taken with my Nexus 5 (HDR+ mode). I'm not sure if its just me but it really doesn't bother me.


I am not dissatisfied with the trackpad despite all the negative reviews I've been hearing. I found it to bee not sensitive enough (easily fixed by increasing its sensitivity) but it never misrecognizes my gestures or feels laggy. The only minor complain about it is that it would feel more natural to have the trackpad moved very slightly to the right since my palm sometimes touches it.

I would have also preferred a longer spacebar as opposed to the additional '| \' key.

The 'Pause Break' key also take the place of the 'Delete' key which is quite annoying.

The one feature that I dislike the most about the laptop is that the Ethernet port is located on the right side of the laptop meaning that the Ethernet cable is directly in the area of the mouse. This problem is alleviated slightly because the keyboard is located farther forward than most laptops so naturally I use the notebook farther away from me. The same issue also arises when using the HDMI port, mini display port, or USB port although the other port issues are not as bothersome. The layout would have worked much better if a left side USB port was swapped with the Ethernet port. Of course there are probably physical restrictions where these components can be placed because of the very thin and light form factor.

How do I access the Euro currency icon on the '5' key? Crtl + Alt + 5 and Alt Gr + 5 do not seem to work.

 

Set up a shift state. Assign the 0128 Unicode character to the 5 key with CTRL+ALT down. There is a guide here: Understand and Assign symbols (Custom keyboard layouts guide)

or do ALT+0128
Euro sign € (learn to make EU currency symbol on your keyboard)

Hope that works, I haven't tried it!

 

I decided to buy the 044 bcs i think that if 046 and 079 use 3gb vram only even it has higher resolution so 044 must be more than enough with 3gb vram. Is that right?

 

Awesome!

 

If it's FHD then surely it is

 

Some people will say yes 3gb is more than enough for FHD. While others will say it depends on the game, because there are some game(s) that are badly optimized, coded and eat up a lot of RAM.

Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

 

Well it's FHD but is it possible to show a 4k resolution on a 4k tv?

 

I'm about to bite on the GS60 with 6gb VRAM, 256 SSD and the 1080p screen (framerate is more important than minute pixels to me). My only remaining niggles preventing me from clicking are the battery life estimates I've seen on the old machine (2.5 hrs of non-gaming activities like web surfing, etc) and an inability to see the build quality in person as I've never had an MSI machine. Can anyone with one of the new 970s comment on battery life? Has anyone (older models included) had any significant issues with hinges, etc on the GS60? I've seen some questionable comments, but wasn't sure what consensus was.

Also, I was curious if anyone knew of a compatible dock kind of set-up. I plan on toting it to and from work and it would be nice not to have to plug in the monitor, etc every time.

Thanks.

 

I've heard DisplayLink is a pretty good solution for undockable laptops. Not sure how gaming is on it though.

 

yes it is ... but you wont be able to game on 4K at ultra nor high

 

Our studio just tried to order via agearnotebooks.com a MSI GS60 Ghost Pro 4K-079 with a 6 GB 970 GTX. We were told that MSI decided to not make that model, and we can only get it with 3 GB. They said 6 GB would cause overheating, plus there is no demand. To get 6GB, we have to choose a model that isn't 3K or 4K resolution.

Has anyone gotten a 4K model with 6 GB of ram? Can anyone confirm what agear told us? Does it make sense that 6 GB would make it hotter?

 

I think it was addressed earlier that it didn't have much of an effect. If it's important to you to have 3k or 4k, ask one of the custom shops if they'll replace the screen if you buy the FHD model. You can source both panels on eBay now but they might get a price break if they buy in bulk. Or you could do it yourself if you wanted.

 

How do I get my computer to stop sleeping/hibernating? I'v changed the 'Power and Sleep Settings' to never sleep or turn off the screen regardless if the laptop is charging yet it still turns off. The reason why I'm asking is I have about 100GB of files that I need to download but the laptop keeps going to sleep (even if I leave the lid open; I changed the option to 'Do Nothing" if I close the lid as well).

Edit: Nevermind, went into advanced options and found that my computer was set to hibernate after 15 minutes even though I thought I told the system never to hibernate.

 

Any particular white point you want?

 

So far sounds more like excuses. Just check this very thread. There is definitely a demand, there are quite a few of us wanting 6 GB VRAM versions (I personally would like 3K screen and 6 GB VRAM, non-existence of which is mainly what keeps me from pulling the trigger on MSI GS60).

Many of us also kept asking MSI about 6 GB VRAM models using various channels and we didn't get any proper answers, they basically just stonewall anything beyond info on publicly known models (they don't like to confirm even such trivial info as availability of models already existing in one region for other regions).

About temperatures - so far we have also no indication extra VRAM would cause anything of concern. We've got two data points for 6 GB VRAM models, from GenTech and andrew.gk, both getting temperatures pretty much in the same ranges as 3 GB VRAM models (in low-to-mid 70s of C).

So far I collected these temps for 1080p screen models:

3 GB VRAM
------------------
Crysis 3: max CPU 76 C, max GPU 84 C (Got Heem)
Bioshock Infinite: max CPU 55 C, max GPU 54 C (Got Heem)
Borderlands Pre-Sequel: max CPU 70 C, max GPU 74 C (Got Heem)
Call of Duty Advanced Warfare: max CPU 68 C, max GPU 76 C (Got Heem)

6 GB VRAM
------------------
3dmark: max CPU 72 C, max GPU ?? (andrew.gk) (7,441 points graphics)
3dmark 11: max CPU 76 C, max GPU 72 C (GenTech) (9,883 points graphics)

BTW andrew.gk, if you could give us more CPU and GPU temps in various scenarios, that would be great (games, benchmarks). Also folks with 1080p screens and 3 GB VRAM versions, it would be great if you could post your temperatures data. I already have plenty of data for 3K screen versions but that's not apples-to-apples comparison.

 

I have been thinking about buying the GS60 for a while, and Im in the UK. Ive now noticed that it comes in either the 870M or 970M. The price difference between the 2 is quite large....the 870M I can get for £1,250 where the 970M is at least £1,400.

Is the 970M worth the extra money?

 

MSI GS Series GS60 Ghost Pro 4K-078 has 4K and 6GB. Currently in gold only.

MSI GS Series GS60 Ghost Pro 4K-078 Gaming Laptop Intel Core i7 4710HQ (2.50GHz) 16GB Memory 1TB HDD 256GB SSD NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M 6 GB GDDR5 15.6" 4K Windows 8.1 64-Bit - Newegg.com

 

Here are some calibration profiles for the 3k screen at two different white points. Please keep in mind, these are for photography purposes and may not be what you expect. I calibrated for 90 nits which is roughly 40% brightness.

View attachment 6500K GS60 3k.zip
View attachment 5000K GS60 3k.zip

 

I was gonna ask for 6500K. I appreciate this, thanks!

 

How can i load the Fan Profile?
I mean my CPU is running at 53° and the Fans ramp up to 4000RPM.
And i am doing nothing more than email checking, youtube and excel.
Does the Fan Profile affect the guaranty and how can i uninstall the fan profile again if i dont like it?

 

It definitely is ...

970M runs way cooler than 870M and is also about 40% more powerful than 870M
870M has a overheating/throtling problems so I wouldnt take it... 970M is a huge way better choice

 

I second the above advice. Definitely do not get an 870m laptop when the 970m is out and far superior

 

My -066 variant is on it's way from Newegg with a free monitor included (that I will probably try to sell and further offset some costs). 970m with 6gb, 1080p screen (my preference), 16gb RAM, the 1TB drive and 256gb of SSD in a Raid-0. Weird to think a <5lb laptop has just as much power as my 2 year old desktop.......

It's actually a pretty good deal for that system + a "free" 24" monitor for $1899. Speccing out an almost identical machine at some of the resellers was putting me just over $2000.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152685

 

Curious how this works...their website says it can drive three external displays, alas I only see hdmi and a single mini displayport. How does this work?

http://us.msi.com/product/nb/GS60-Ghost-Pro-GTX-970M.html#hero-overview