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

So I'm in a very similar situation as SilverComet, looking at both the Razer and GS60. It's frustrating because they are in different directions in many ways. I know this is the GS60 thread but I was hoping to get an opinion on which of the following options would be the best bang of the buck considering I'd like a laptop to last around 4 years and do some heavy lifting though it's mainly a family machine. No games mainly a few adobe programs and some game development.

The Razor Blade 2014 512 GB for $2100
The Razor Blade 2015 128 GB for $2100
The MSI GS60 850 for $1100
The MSI GS60 870 3K for ????
The MSI GS60 970 for $1800
The Lenovo Y50 860 UHD 256 GB for $1100

My budget is around $2000 but I can't help but feel the older entry level MSI GS60 (even the gold) would be a good deal considering I don't need a ton of power. My main concern is the heat issues I've repeatedly heard about plus the general issue of buying a year old. Currently the Gold 860M is 1400 which seems like a good deal. While I would really love a touch screen, I hear the GS60 screen is generally great and I can't help but feel there are more upgrade options over time.

So do these 20% discounts reflect good deals on older machines or are the improvements worth sticking with the new stuff? Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

The 860m for a lower power option is fine. If you want a higher end system the 970m blows the 870m over the water in performance and efficiently.

 

Thanks for the suggestion! So is there a battery life comparison the 860 versus 970? Also are there any component adjustments I should worry about? I believe the GS60 screen is TN but a really good TN right? Were there any models that I needed to steer clear of like the Y50 entry models?

 

Yeah, you'd probably get more juice out of the FHD version. Keep in mind they limited that model to 8GB of ram for some weird reason.

As for other alternatives, I don't really think there is a better solution for you if you insist on having a productivity and gaming laptop in one. There's not much else in terms of options with that graphics card(I'm assuming you're sticking with the 970M since you play BF4). To be honest, I was in your shoes a few months ago but ultimately chose to go back to the GS60 and then keep a cheap Ultrabook for long trips. My main reason was 512GB of storage space was not enough for my main machine. The amount of money the 512GB Razer Blade costs is the amount I spend on the GS60 and my Ultrabook.

The only other alternative I can think of is to find a laptop with a U processor that has a decent video card. In that case though, you'll lose some gaming performance though. The new Acer V 15 Nitro has a Broadwell U CPU and carries an 850M

 

I think that solves it for too. Seriously, I could get a mid-tier GS60 AND a light ultrabook with touchscreen for high powered ipad consumption. My question to you would be what the best cost effective option for the GS60 and where are the best deals? I see NewEgg has a huge selection but I get turned around easily by the ridiculous number of configurations. Have there been any good deals lately and are the NewEgg discounts legit or are the common at this point?

 

Battery life will be similar due to optimus shutting down the gpu when it is not used.

 

To what are you referring?

 

I don't think newegg has any deals on the 970m currently. Deals come and go. Nice part about them is they have no sakes tax in most states.

The only config s they have are screen choices and ssd options really. All the other models are 870m and older

 

Thanks! At this point I'm pretty convinced between 2 models,
Gold with 16 gb, 4gb 860 and 4710 $1200
Black with 12 gb, 2gb 860 and 4700 $1300
My wife surprisingly doesn't care about the look (Gold vs. Black) but New Egg is claiming the gold is a better deal based on the discount and specs. Does the extra 2gb in the 860 really do anything? Is there any noticeable difference between the 4700 and 4710?
At this point I probably should take this to the 860 owners lounge but I figured I'd ask for one last bit of advice.

 

so. Im in a bit of a situation and would like some help. I had switched to windows 7 before the 970m drivers were compatible with windows 7. This made my GPU stay at the max clock speeds all the time even unplugged, which gave me about 1hr of battery life. in other words, the Blue power button would stay orange 24/7 but recently I had updated to a newer GPU driver and miss being able to play my games at max settings without the GPU down clocking. Im looking for the older drivers that the 970m Had before nvidia made it compatible with windows 7. Would any of you fine folk happen to have the older drivers? Please PM me if you do, ive looked high and low for them and had no luck...

Note: I cant remember which Driver it was but it was not compatible with windows 7.
Meaning it would only say win8 and win8.1.

Thank you!

Note: Im starting to think it was one of Nvidia's Beta Drivers. Not Seeing any Of the beta drivers. If anyone has any of the beta drivers. Please PM me. Also The drivers were from some time in november.

 

Hey guys,

I am able to purchase a GS60 2QE 4k 970m for $1844 through the microsoft store. I have read that the 4k screen is a samsung pls that is not very bright nor good (I have read color representation is poor and only max brightness 250nits). Is this a deal breaker? I wish the 4k screen was the same as the 3k igzo screen and I would purchase in a second. Should I get it or do think msi is close to doing a refresh?

 

Thats a shame, though im not sure if you are up for it, not sure it will void the warranty neither. but... you could get some double sided cellphone tape and replace the double sided tape that the bezel comes with. I had done that with mine whenever I wrapped my laptops lid.

 

not sure. but I could see how that would kill me slowly.(small things bother me the most)

If you want. I could try to get a screen teardown video going. I have to replace the back wrap anyways.

 

Before I had updated my nvidia Drivers I only got about 50 mins on the batteries life, The blue light would always be orange, IMO I liked it alot more whenever it was orange all the time, gave me the freedom of being able to play games silky smooth without being plugged in(GPU didnt downclock on battery) Battery life is the last thing i would worry about with the GS60. My 1st concern is the touch pad. thats something i would be worried about...(grabs razer naga followed By FN F3). if you really love the laptop, you would keep it, though i wouldnt expect the same gaming performance from any other laptop with the form factor as the GS60, though i cannot speak for the Razer Blade...

 

I dont use one, the temps seem just fine to me, just watch out on those hot summerdays...

 

Would be a deal breaker for me. Imo, the 3k and FHD panels are the only ones worth buying. I had so many issues with that 4k panel(on another laptop) to the point where I'll never look back.

 

Exactly.

And if you want to get the 1080p non touch screen you can add probably another 30 minutes.

I am just torn between non touch or touch at this point.

 

Yes it's a tough place to be in for sure. I feel your pain.

The only reason I am not thinking about ultra book and laptop is because to me that defeats the purpose of having a laptop.

If i have to carry two things in my bag and increase weight I mine as well buy a bigger laptop.

My whole point is to have a laptop to have a laptop. Something portable. If i am going to have a semi portable laptop and a ultra portable. I mine as well buy the GT80 Titan and leave that at home and take my ultra portable to school.

I already have a Dell Latitude 10. Gets like a week of battery life taking notes.

I just do not want to take it to school with my laptop.

I want to have a very sleek machine in my bag that I barley notice is there. Take notes in class without dying on me. And then if I get a break. BAM I can play some BF4.

I think the technology is barely there with the razer.

When I bring my ultra book to class I mean it's literally a deadweight besides taking notes. It can literally do nothing else.

That is why I want the best of both worlds.

I have had the p34g V2 which was a 860M and had good battery life. The only problem was that I returned it because the the 900 s were coming out literally within my return window. I was not going to sink 1700 dollars in a laptop that now was going to be blown away.

I don't think there is a huge difference in the video card.

It's just that a lot of manufacturers have put 850M or 860M and huge batteries together. Or have linked them up with the U processor.

Like the Alienware 13. It has 12 hour battery life.

I just don't want BF4 to struggle on this because it did struggle on my 860M.

This is true but I never use 16GB anwways. They are probably doing it for battery life less components.

I just don't know what to now. Should I go for the touch screen or the FHD.

I do kind of like a really nice screen. And a touch screen. You can enjoy windows to the fullest and it's kind of nice making things bigger and smaller via touch.

But if I could get an extra hour of battery life. Hmmm..

I would seriously reconsider.

Just think how annoying it would be to have to devices. One usually ends up sitting. Trust me I have several.

Right now I'm trying to decide on getting another business line because I'm starting a business. But I have been talking to people and carrying two phones is just annoying and I'll probably not do it. Would be nice but annoying.

I could just get a Google voice number and have two if I want and carry the same phone.

I'm telling you its nice thought now but when u get busy and life happens

You will just want to throw in one device in your bag and press on.

 

Battery life will be the same between any of the GS models, as the Intel iGPU will be used for general usage due to Optimus.

If you go with a 860m or 970m version of the GS60 1080p, you'll get a great IPS screen (I've owned both, same screen). The 850m does come with a TN panel that's not as good.

No noticeable difference between the 4700, 4710, or 4720, so don't let that bother you... just minor Intel revisions.

I'm not sure exactly which models you are comparing in the example above, but I'd take the 16Gb/4GB 860m for $100 cheaper (the one I saw on Newegg on sale was $1400).

Newegg is a great place to buy, it's where I bought both of my GS60's.

 

Nothing annoying or wrong with two complimentary devices. I carry two cellphones (one personal, one business), a GS60, and a Microsoft Surface Pro 3 with me wherever I go during the day. All of them get used and have their own purposes. You've been through what, 6+ devices now and still can't decide? All about compromises and usage scenarios. Razer is way too limited in it's storage options (plus the 14" is just too small for me to enjoy games like BF4, 15" is barely big enough but good compromise on portability). I've got a 1TB SSD plus the original 128GB SSD, and plan to drop in an additional 512GB M.2 SSD into my GS60... can't come even close to that with the Razer. And even if they did offer such system, it'd be $4,000 ha

I'm long out of college though and own/run my own business daily, often from the road, so my needs are different than yours.

 

That is a very good point.

With the two cell phones. How does that work? You just keep two in your pocket and talk on whichever one you need to at the time or you leave one in your bag or something?

 

Also. If I was driving around in a car and had some room I would just get a bigger bag and carry around the GT80 Titan. If I'm going to be tied down to a AC Adapter I mine as well do it right. The GT80 actually has a good form factor and is the best of the best as far as power.

 

So I just received my gs60 2qe with a 4k panel, I bought it hastily so I didn't do any research. How can I tell if the 970m is 3gb or 6gb? Also, is there some BIOS flash or something to lower the idle CPU fan speed? It's annoying as hell :/

 

Pretty much, yes. My typical usage is during business hours I keep both on me or close by, and then in the evenings and weekends, vacations etc I leave the work phone at home or tucked away in my bag. I tried the single phone/two line thing, but have just found it easier to have two separate devices. I know when one rings, it's personal, and with the other, it's pure business and keeps things more professional than answering and not quite knowing. I found myself sometimes caught off guard as I just answered without looking at the screen and then wasn't sure what type of call it was. It's nice at times to be able to simply leave the work phone at home and be off the grid Plus, this way, I've had the same personal number for 20 years and the same business number for 15.

Tons of options for sure. For me, the reason I stuck with a lighter/slimmer machine was I do travel for both work and play, and lugging a 10lbs 17"+ laptop through airports/taxis/buses and into overhead bins gets old in a hurry. It's not so much about battery life with my needs, as I'm always near an AC outlet of some sort, but simply transporting the machine place to place. This is where the Titan would be very tough to live with for me. But, if you are going to be local or just in the car, and mostly desk to desk type usage, absolutely worth considering, as it is the current beast to beat performance wise.

 

I played Grid Autosport in a windowed mode and didn't see any diagonal tearing .......

 

It depends on the game. I had no tearing in windowed Skyrim or Civilization V. I had tearing in windowed Stanley Parable and Talos Principle (but here just with DX9 renderer, DX11 and OpenGL were ok).

That's why I ask people to try Chrome on Nvidia GPU. This is the easiest way how to see tearing.

If it would come up easily in games, everybody would be up in arms. It can look really terrible.

At least we are somehow lucky that it doesn't show up easily. When digging around tearing issues on Nvidia GPUs, I found out there is some unsolved horizontal tearing issue that apparently comes from some fundamental flaw of Kepler and Maxwell GPUs (they apparently lack some HW synchronization features vs earlier architectures):

https://devtalk.nvidia.com/default/...in-almost-all-applications-including-desktop/
https://devtalk.nvidia.com/default/...roperty-quot-scaling-quot-/?offset=12#3941192

 

Got it, will try it again after work this evening

 

GS60 with 850M and lower uses a bad TN (Chi Mei I believe), those with 860M and higher use Samsung's PLS instead of TN, PLS is Samsung's own IPS equivalent technology.

 

It's most likely 3GB, just check the NVIDIA properties, you can right click on your desktop, click NVIDIA stuff and click on system info (if I remember correctly). I believe there have been quite a few fan speed table discussions available on the forum. You can just google 'fan speed table GS60' and Svet's tool? again if I remember correctly

 

Yeah I saw the discussions for the 870, I'll look into what you just posted, thanks. Yes, you're right, it is the 3GB version, I can't really imagine what 6GB would be needed for though . Again, thanks for you help!

 

Bragging and ego of course! HA Of course, having said that, I bought the 6GB For 1080p not much use currently, and probably won't ever matter, but the way console ports are so poorly optimized figured it wouldn't hurt.

As far as fan, it simply can't run below 2700-2800 rpm's (42-44%) for some reason.... for more info and how to set up custom fan profiles in the EC, see here:
https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=148273.1150

I've tweaked mine, but there's only so much you can do. You can set it to 0 and it's silent and raise the start temp, but I find a randomly starting fan more annoying than a steady fan that I ignore after a few minutes. This is my 2nd GS60 and honestly I don't even hear the fan anymore. Plus, while actually gaming, it's a lot quieter than my previous GT60, so overall very happy.

Good luck and enjoy your machine!

 

I see, thanks. The question is then, how long is the computer quiet if I set the temp to 55°C? It is after all voiding the warranty, right?
Ahhhh the GS70 is more quiet, isn't it?

 

so. Ive gotten the blue power button light to stay Orange, but not through the same way I did it last time(jumped through a billion hoops)...

Now. I need The GPU to run at Max all the time without using Afterburner or any other 3rd party software to enable it. Ive gotten it to stay at

540/1600 but I want the clock speeds to be the max at------ 540/2505

anyone have any ideas on how to get it to stay at these clocks? ^^^^

So close yet so far. http://postimg.org/image/dhl0b19fj/full/

 

Thanks! So can you or anyone comment on the 4gb vs. 2gb 860M? I honestly won't be gaming on it and if I was told the 2gb would give me better battery that would be a more important feature. Right now the 2gb black GS60 is 1300 and the 4gb GS60 gold is 1400. The 1400 model also has 16gb of ram versus and 12gb and is a hilarious gold color.

 

Should I get the 3K version or wait for a 4K version at 60Hz ???

 

You might be waiting a long time. Afaik, there's no word of a 60 Hz 4k model coming

 

I tried Chrome on NVIDIA GPU last night, couldn't see any tearing, I played youtube and twitch on windowed and full screen modes, no tearing (I played the same videos that show diagonal tearing on my Dell laptop) but it might be because I have the 4K screen which only has 48Hz refresh rate ..........

 

Hmmm, interesting. Yes, 4K at 48 Hz may behave differently from 1080p at 60 Hz. These tearings are very sensitive to small timing differences.

From what I observed so far, it seems the application need to be running above 60 fps (I had briefly 3K screen model, and there I didn't see tearing, but framerates were much lower at 3K than FHD).

You could also try setting Windows to 1080p (right-click on desktop => screen resolution), though as far as I'm aware, that 4K monitor would still be running just 48 Hz even at FHD resolution.

Just to confirm - you did see those diagonal tearings on your Dell notebook? Which OS and GPU does it have?

 

Yes, 4K screen is locked at 48 Hz regardless of screen resolution, on my Dell, it's just Intel graphics and Ubuntu, but the diagonal tearing is very obvious when playing youtube, so I thought those videos would be a good test bed for a comparison

 

Thank you, I decided to order the 3K version. Can't wait!

 

Yup, Ubuntu is apparently much more prone to tearing issues. Interesting that you got there diagonal tearings, not horizontal ones like those folks at GeForce forums.

Maybe even diagonal tearings on my MSI GS60 come from Intel GPU, not Nvidia one. With Optimus, it's always Intel GPU that's responsible for putting images out to screen (both for internal and external displays), even when it's Nvidia GPU that creates images.

One theory which could explain various tearings across different OSes and GPUs:

1) Nvidia GPU refreshes screen in horizontal strips pattern, so when synchronization breaks, you get horizontal tears.
2) Intel GPU refreshes screen in triangles (+ small rectangles) pattern, so when synchronization breaks you get diagonal tears.
3) Breaking of synchronization can happen different places, either when the application generates images, or when OS compositor outputs images to physical screen.

Thus:

- OS compositor sync issues on Linux give horizontal tearings on Nvidia GPUs, diagonal tearings on Intel GPUs.
- OS compositor sync issues on Windows 8 with Optimus give diagonal tearings.
- application sync issues on Windows 7 and Windows 8 give horizontal tearings (v-sync off, or buggy).

 

That is a very interesting observation and very informative too but it kinda sucks that there's still screen tearing with these advances in technology .......

 

It just occurred to me that laptops with SLI don't have optimus and always use the NVIDIA GPU, it might be a good idea to post this tearing question on those threads, like the Aorus X7/GT80 Titan lounge?

 

Good point, the more eyes see this the better. I posted a new thread here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/strange-diagonal-screen-tearings.771358/

Let's hope some more people would try (so far only very few checked, even on Nvidia GeForce forums).

 

Now you have me thinking if 8 should have kept the ghost.

I never really though about the hard drive space. I mean even there best one is 512GB.

I mean I have steam and origin. By the time I install wow, bf4 and steam I will have no room left.

I guess I could only have the games I really need.

Dang now I do not know what to do.

I wonder if I should just buy the ghost again and carry two laptops. My dell latitude 10 and the ghost.

 

i only got like 8800 3dmark11 score for my gs60, can anybody tell me how to get better score? thanks

 

I've got even a bit less than 8,800 points. I tracked it down to having just a single channel RAM (I've got 8 GB RAM model).

So those numbers you've got are expected if you have 8 GB RAM (1x 8GB stick) or 12 GB RAM (1x 8GB + 1x 4GB sticks).

With dual channel RAM (2x 8GB sticks) you should be getting over 9,000 points, or even more if you've got newer i7-4720HQ CPU.

If you have just one RAM stick, you can get better score by adding another one (must be the same type).

But bear in mind adding RAM to MSI GS60 is not easy. If you don't need more RAM (e.g. for running virtual machines), doing messy disassembly just for few extra points in benchmarks is IMHO not worth it. The performance difference in real world applications is not noticeable.

 

Just curious, have you tried Firestrike?

 

I had the exact same problem. If you're going to have multiple portable machines, the Ghost is amazing. The only problem for me comes in since I only have the 1 laptop and 1 desktop.

 

I am curious when we will see some Gsync panels on the laptops. It's bound to happen. Kind of surprised MSI didn't do that on their Titan monster.