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

Hey bro,

Thanks for your quick response
Here are the results they claim on anandtech :

AnandTech | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M and GTX 970M: Mobile to the Maxwell

This is the second dashboard where we can see that they had 65 for Hitman Absolution.
For me, it also looks kinda wrong because the engine of the game is quite heavy and surely not optimized 100% but, just wanna be sure

Thx a lot.

EDIT : my bad, i've just read that you exactly posted the same link, explaining it was with AA off.
Ima try a new bench without AA.

Again, thanks for your response !

 

Got my laptop back after getting that annoying speaker issue. XoticPC did a great job on the RMA...tbh I was surprised lol. Usually when I RMA technology, I get it back with another issue. So far, its running like a dream.

Ok, now I have 2 questions on the software side. I was a mac user before, so Im not too familiar with windows 8.
1. My pc is set to run automatic maintenance at 2 AM or if that is not possible, it does it when it is idle. For some reason, these maintenance sessions take forever and it keeps doing the maintenance for hours. Is something wrong here?
2. I have the 1080p model and I notice that certain applications and notifications are blurry even with the font smoothing on and the cleartype. Like everything is clear except like the spotify app and the steam app, yet I can open up chrome at the same time and it is perfectly crisp. The oddest thing is that I can run a game at 1080p on steam and it is quite crisp (as it should be), but when I press "shift-tab" for the steam overlay, that overlay is blurry. Even though the game is fine. Its a really odd problem...

 

Do you have a reference for this; are you a MSI rep by any chance?

I ask because I'm halfway through pulling the trigger for the Gigabyte P35W v3 purely because it's the only 6GB vram 970m laptop I can buy here in the EU!!!!! MSI please don't underestimate the demand here -_-

 

My reference is that I called to MSI office for my region and I spoke with them when I was researching notebooks (it was already a while ago, so at that time they didn't have yet finalized new SKUs for 2015).

Important info that came from that call was also that they are not aware of what people say on 3rd party websites (e.g. like this forum). If you want some changes in MSI notebooks, you need to let know MSI directly. Find a phone number for your region here and call them:

MSI Global - Computer, Laptop, Notebook, Desktop, Motherboard, Graphics and more

They are perfectly willing to listen to people, but they need to keep getting the right signals. More people ask for something, higher chances for getting it. Complaining here will not achieve anything.

Apparently I was the first one asking them about 6 GB VRAM models. They didn't make 6 GB VRAM SKUs simply because they thought there wasn't much demand for it, that people wouldn't be willing to pay extra for that.

Also if you want to communicate ideas about future MSI notebooks with MSI headquarters, you should register at MSI site:

https://register.msi.com/

There is a questionnaire exactly about types of things people keep complaining about here.

Bonus point: if you have your notebook registered there and you fill out questionnaire, you will get added extra 3 months to your existing warranty.

 

See my reply above. The best is to call to your regional MSI office and ask them directly.

As far as I understood, at least in my region 3K models were supposed to be fully superseded by 4K models, which were supposed to be "better". So it was not a matter of running out of 3K screens stock, it was a conscious decision to start manufacturing new models with "bigger number", which they thought would sell better (probably as more and more other notebooks started to offer 4K screens).

But if people will keep asking for 3K screens or better 4K screens, MSI may change their mind. They are pretty fast in refreshing their SKUs. Seems like they can create new ones roughly every quarter (first batch of MSI GS60 SKUs came out in October 2014, new SKUs are coming in January 2015).

 

That's an understatement ha, I bought the first round of SKUs back in April 2014, and there have been countless ones added since. I just bought a replacement 2 weeks ago with the 970m and now I see there is already new ones for that lol.... go MSI

Gotta say, the GS60 is a fantastic notebook, great chassis and performance, regardless of SKU

 

I'll call them tomorrow and ask then. What region are you if you don't mind me asking

 

Hello,

Ok so so far; with :

1.a MX4 repaste
2. Notepal U3 cooling
3. Intel Extreme Tuning Utility (XTU) : -75mV on Dynamic CPU Voltage Offset

My temperatures are the following :
- idle : CPU : min 31, max 53°C (depending on how the CPU works) : I got steam constantly running.
- Stress tests (3d Marks) : CPU max : 78°C, GPU : 77°C.

I think those are pretty high since I have set -75mV on XTU.

Sorry, but I couldn't read the 100 pages to find the info
Thx guys for your responses.

 

Sorry if this has already been asked, tried to search the forum but didn't find anything (maybe I'm searching wrong?)... but is the included SSD upgradeable? I got the 128GB SSD one and I want to see if I can stick a 512GB in there myself. Are they the same SSDs we use on PCs? How easy/hard is it to get in there?
Also, will this laptop work if I decide to throw Windows 7 on it? Are there drivers available or will Windows 7 auto plug and play everything?

 

The laptop comes with two M.2 slots and one 2.5" bay. Your 128GB SSD occupies an M.2 slot and the TB HDD is in the 2.5" bay. You can add a second 80mm M.2 SATA drive or replace the existing one you have. Unfortunately the M.2 slots are pretty tough to get to. See this video for details on how: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsF0Bpuj8ss

The 870M GS60 had Windows 7 drivers but I don't think there is official support for the 970M version. I'm sure someone here has probably tried it.

 

Well about the SSD's, they are upgradeable but they are not as easy as the HDD.. just look around some videos and see for yourself if u think u can upgrade it.. and no they aren't the same we use on PC's, they need to be M.2 SSD if I'm not mistaken
About W7 its pretty much plug and play when u finish the updates.. some drivers for the wifi card and such might still be needed tho.

 

Is it just for me, or does Killer Network Manager not save its "network settings" (the tick mark for bandwidth control or killer double shot pro)
I have the latest version I believe.

 

Yes you can upgraded the SSD, it is a m.2 type. So its not the typical type you use in desktops, however newer desktop motherboards are coming with m.2 slots.
It is not easy to get to though and requires a complete tear down of the computer as the m.2 slot is on the opposite side of the motherboard when you have it opened from the bottom.
Windows 7 should be fine however MSI does not have these drivers available on their site. You will have to go to the different hardware manufacturers to get them, but many will auto install.

 

Does anyone know where we can buy palm rest protectors for the GS60?

The aluminum is a finger print/sweat magnet.

 

Hello All - I'm very tempted to get one of these laptops, but the battery life is close to a dealbreaker. I like the slim/light weight design, strong chassis and powerful GPU/overall specs, but I would ideally like something that could last longer without compromising the size tremendously (i.e. not one of of those fat laptops). Oh and a 6GB video card would be great.

The laptop news coming out of CES is very sketchy, anything announced that competes with this laptop?

 

Battery life averages about 2~3 hours, but if you turn off services, CPU frequency, turbo boost, and other environmental settings then you may fare better.

 

I guess this model has the killer wireless card instead of the Intel 7260 like the previous models, since I haven't seen people complaining about WiFi issues does it mean that the killer card is really better than the Intel one?

 

I have a killer card and have some issues once in a while. Not often anymore but restarting it helps if they show up.

 

I have the same experience occasionally. Far better experience than with the Intel card though

 

I had to RMA my 860m 3k with the intel card because the wifi issues remained even though i tried so many things, I wish they could replace it with that killer card

 

Is there anywhere we can get a higher-capacity battery for this beast?

 

Hello everyone,

I start being scared since, for an hour, my computer's screen juste switches off, I don't know why, it started all of a sudden when I was typing a word document. The computer stayed on, I could hear the ventilation, and the keyboard was still backlighted. This phenomenon appears randomly, I don't know what to do...

Has anybody experienced somethig similar in the past, or knows a way to fix it, or check it ? I ran windows maintenance program, it spotted nothing ...

Please, I am scaaared

 

NotebookCheck review of MSI GS60 with GTX 970M is finally up:

Test MSI GS60 2QE Ghost Pro 4K (2QEUi716SR51G) Notebook - Notebookcheck.com Tests

IMHO MSI did themselves a disservice of sending that gold chassis 4K model as review unit. Display was kinda the low point of the review (and they didn't even manage to catch that 4K Samsung display is just 48 Hz). Plus they complained about the price vs older model.

They would have gotten a noticeably better overall impression had MSI sent them some of their 1080p or 3K models. 1080p black model for 1,600 EUR is completely different value proposition than that flawed 4K screen gold one for 2,300 EUR.

 

This test is weird, the temp of mine never has gone to high 80 not even 80 when it was one hour the crew played

 

I have had the 1080p msi gs60 with 3gb nvidia 970m for a month and a half. There is noise even when silent and it gets pretty hot while gaming ( which is expected).

I wanted to know if anyone could compare the new alienware 15 with this beast. Which of the two can be said of better overall quality ???

 

hmm.... i wonder if there is a way to make to control the fan, would have it near max whenever it went past 75c

 

Yes, using Svet's tool you can adjust the fan tables for both CPU and GPU.

I'm still impressed with temps with the 970m... Mine too runs cooler than the one in that review.

 

Hi guys I was thinking about a Cyberpower Fangbook Edge 15.6 laptop, 4 K version, I understand this is similar to the MSI GS60.
But it appears to have a better processor 4870 and has a 4K screen. Does anyone here have any comments/experience with Cyberpower, dont want to buy it if they are not reliable. Any replies appreciated.

 

I'm currently typing on their Raven X6, I had great service during the purchase, I received the laptop a week before expected delivery and was packaged very well. After the purchase I sent an email about an expired game code well a couple emails and they never replied but I said screw it. They seem to only care during the purchase at least that was my experience overall I would say it was positive.

 

Hello guys,

I've recently purchased GS60 Ghost Pro with GTX970m, and when I set all the keyboard lights as white, I can see that the lights under certain keys (CTRL, Fn, ALT, Space) are not white as intended to be. Could someone tell me whether they are defective or just designed like this?

(BTW, I have the latest SSE and EC firmware got from MSI's website.)

Thanks in advance.

 

Thanks Cavell219, the only reason I thought it looked good was they are offering a lot for the price with an update CPU, 4k, 6GB 970M, etc. I have never heard of them before. Also the other issue is I hear the 4K is 48Hz, can you change the refresh rate to 60Hz when gaming at 1080p?

 

As far as I know, nope, the 4K panel is limited to 48hz.

 

Mine are the same. I remember also others complaining about this. I assumed it's just badly designed keyboard lighting system.

It doesn't bother me much though I would be curious if there is anybody who can get pure white on all keys (in fact, I think only red is pure, uniformly the same everywhere, other colors get tainted too).

 

The white light is produced from several colours of LEDs being combined so there may be some light spill but it makes it brighter.

 

Hey guys, as far as heat goes. Im thinking of ordering this laptop from a reseller with IC diamond paste. Will it be okay to play on my lap without getting too hot?

 

I think it should be fine, 970m is quite a good GPU and not as hot as previous versions with Kepler GPUs. IC diamond should help, and in the end temps should be fine.

 

Hello,
I finally bought the 3k model. I am really excited but I have to wait until February 15 to get it in my hands since I had a friend purchase it from New York and he will be coming to Greece where I live on February. Until then, I am thinking about a cooler base. I think the cooling fans on the laptop are on the upper left and right edges . So do you have any suggestions for a tested and good option for a cooling base, especially for the Msi gs60 3k?

 

Cooler bases do almost nothing since the vents aren't on the bottom. My experience is it improves a degree or two. I use one mainly to keep my lap from sweating but I don't even bother plugging it in anymore when I use it. Actually, I barely use it period since I usually tolerate it on my lap.

 

Hey guys,
I own the Pro with the 1080p screen and I´ve just recently started to notice really bad screen tearing, even when browsing the web. An example is when watching this screen tearing test ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceX18O9pvLs) the screen tears, the "pillar" splits into two and the tear travels downwards (if that makes any sense). Would anyone else bother doing the test and see if they get the same result. Kind of worried that my screen is broken.

Thanks in advance!

 

Are you using aero? Also, did you try forcing with the gpu to rule out the display?

 

I just tried it using the internal screen and an external monitor attached through HDMI and didn't notice the bar tearing. Not sure exactly what it's suppose to look like though, does flash a good bit as it is moving.

Like mentioned above, have you tried the test by forcing the Nvidia GPU to be active for the browser? This would help determine driver or hardware.

 

Any news from a new custom ventilating firmware, adapted for this laptop model? The noise seems definitely excessive!..

 

is it possible to change the 4k screen screen into a 3k? I already accepted the 48 refresh rate of the screen, but the yellow problem with my 4k is kinda weird for me as it gets dimmer the more white there is on the screen, and it doesn't get as yellow as my other laptops can... What color does the image appear to your screen? it looks yellow on my other laptops and phones, but on my 4k it looks greenish,.. idk I'm not really good at judging colors XD

 

Interesting color. It looks different on every screen I tried: neon green, dirty greenish yellow, light yellow with slight green tint, yellow.

The only screen where it was unquestionably just yellow was iPhone. Everywhere else there were varying degrees of greenness (including 1080p MSI GS60 screen).

On TN screens this color is very sensitive to slight variations of angle of view. It's yellow from the top, green from the bottom.

The worst one was Galaxy Nexus with eye piercing ugly neon green. This phone I believe uses PenTile screen, the same tech that makes troubles on 4K MSI models.

 

Hey guys, just got my Ghost 064 and I honestly didn't realize the battery life would be sooo bad lol. I need to snag another power brick and I cannot seem to find anyone who mentions buying one specifically for this notebook or one that others can confirm working well?

 

You're going to have yellow problems no matter what you do. I started a thread for the Y50 which tried to tackle the screen issues, but it was only a small band-aid. Changing the brightness would totally mess everything up, so you pretty much had to optimize it at your preferable brightness and then just deal with it at other brightness. I ultimately returned that laptop and got the 3k GS60. You can try some of the things I did on this thread here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ideapad-essential/758153-y50-uhd-screen-calibration-thread.html. Check the responses too because others had different approaches that might work better for you. The problem isn't calibration, it's the pentile RGBW display they used, so there's likely not ever going to be a fix to make it look like a normal IPS display.

If you can get your hands on a 3k panel(Alibaba sells them in bulk), then it's possible to swap them out. You might find singles on ebay. Just make sure the connector is the same - either the one on the panel or make sure you have a ribbon cable that goes to the motherboard with he new panel. The bezel removal is essentially the same is the GS70, as seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnobCJi1wLs#t=24. The only exception is the GS60 bezel uses an excessive amount of double sided tape, so you need to be slower than that guy was. If you do it, please let everyone know because you might be the first.

 

I know for certain the Razer Blade 2014 power brick works for the GS60, so it's pretty safe to assume this one will as well: Amazon.com: Pwr+® 14 Ft 150W AC Adapter Charger for Razer Blade RZ09; RZ09-0102, RZ09-01020101-R3U1 Gaming Laptop 19V 7.9A 150 Watt Power Supply Cord Adapter: Computers & Accessories

I haven't tested this one though - only the original RB 2014 adapter. Any other one I search for the GS60 is either <150W or has little to no user reviews.

 

Thanks! Maybe I will wait for the second round of 50% off Razer stuff and buy that one. I did not care for the other one when I had it with my Blade before I sold it.

 

Yep, as Xentar712 posted, the Razer Blade brick works just fine.... I picked one up a few weeks ago as my second adapter. It's a bit slimmer than the factory MSI unit as well.

Chuck.Hopefinder, that color is a bit interesting, and does look yellow on my 1080p internal GS60 panel as well as my el cheapo LG external monitor, but it does have a very slight hint of green. If you do change to a 3K panel, keep us posted how it goes!

 

This is the firmware I'm currently using personally with the modified fan table shown below:

Temp 0 65 70 75 80 90 95
Fan Speed 44 51 56 63 70 84 91

So during normal operations apart from heavy duties, the fan constantly spins at 44% (2774 RPM), which is the lowest spinning speed determined by either MSI or the fan manufacturer (who knows...). When gaming, the temperature rarely goes above 80°C.

I've also tried setting the fan speed for low temp to 0%, but whenever I'm doing something "slightly heavy", e.g. watching YouTube, the temperature keeps going up without fan spinning and going down quickly as soon as the fan starts spinning. So the fan will be like this: spin-stop-spin-stop... and I don't think it's good for its life-span.

So if someone figures out a method to make the fan spinning at around 1500 RPM, it would be a good balance btw noise level and temperature during normal operations. You may try my version of firmware, but use at your own risk.