The NEW MSI GS75, 8th GEN Intel, NVIDIA RTX GPU with GDDR6!

Another review with no teardown... are you f.... kidding me?!

 

These are first impression reviews without MSI reps looking over their shoulders. The in-depth reviews always come in a little later. The flipped mobo on my GS65 has never bothered me as it doesn't take that long to remove it. Besides that, I've only had to open it once.

 

Hey Guys, for those interested, new MSI GT75 w/RTX 2080 unboxing video....benchmark reveal!

Enjoy!



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Ryzeki, this is for you.....Enjoy! (The more I look at this thing, the more I like it)

 

Yep, thanks for the headsup and you bet I have watched it a couple of times. I got a lot of good info from the video. On one hand I am glad to hear the build quality of the GS75 is inline with the improved version of the GS65, that is, thicker material I suppose.

And the performance seems in line with my expectations so I am a bit relieved that I won't be sacrificing too much performance at all if I do go with the GS75. Now I am wondering about the opening of the laptop... to check how annoying would be to repaste myself and/or add RAM/SSDs down the road.

 

The motherboard is not flipped, it's been said time and time again, an uber hardcore expert user like you should know this by now.

 

No, all what has been said "again and again" is, that the SSD is easier accessible now, and nothing else. And that the SSDs are more accessible was verified. But about the accessibility of fans, heatpipes, RAM we only got a vague statement. And as multiple "newswriters" just copied&pasted the texts from each other, now suddenly everyone thinks "but it was mentioned again and again, so it must be true" - uhm nope. Until someone actually opens the device and shows us, we can't know for sure.

 

Here, for consideration:

 

Point #3 better explained:

 

I am excited, leaning towards this one right now over the ge75 or alienware m17. My gs65 has been great and just happy changing the ssds will be easier on this one. I never repaste so not worried about that. Still waiting to see full reviews if the 2080 vs 2070maxq is worth the 400 premium. I already have a 2080 desktop so leaning towards the 2070 but want to see some more benchmarks. I have a couple months before my next work trip so can wait a bit more to see all the reviews but already have that new laptop excitement haha.

 

I'd say the 2080 vs 2070 max q there is going to be a sizable difference. There already is a big difference between 2080 max q and non max q (19k firestrike vs 26k) and the 2070 is going to score even lower, probably in the range of a GTX1070.

 

You make valid points and I do hope it is flipped. Hopefully we will have more information soon.

 

A new video has shown up, and while it doesn't show a disassembly, we can see through the bottom cover the squareshaped screw attachment frames for the CPU and GPU, which confirms, that the heatpipes are still on the other side... so the motherboard is still reversed.



Original video

 

Unfortunate. It's not a deal breaker for me but it does make it a bit more annoying to tear apart than it should. I am not very familiar with the GS series, but then this means there are air intakes on the top of the machine?

 

Lol didn’t they rant and rave that the GS75 wasn’t flipped? Rip

 

@ryzeki: Yeah, on the topside the whole area between the keyboard and display looks perforated (at minute 2:30 or so from the same video). So cooling seems to be okay, just the same bad accessibility as on the GS65. Seems to be a recent laptop illness, because the Triton 500 also has that upside down motherboard.


On a sidenote I noticed that the trackpad is not centered below the Space-key, but centered to the overall chassis. Because of that it is too much on the right and probably bad for typing. Therefore when you're typing your right hand most likely touches the trackpad.

I'm glad others have realized it too, e.g. https://www.pcworld.com/article/333...eview-with-nvidia-geforce-rtx-2080-max-q.html

How are you gonna type on this without touching the trackpad with your right palm? This is ridiculous. A laptop you can't even use for writing... (at least not without it being annoying)... They've been making laptops for 2 decades or more, and then do mistakes like this? Do MSI workers even use their own laptops?! Obviously not. Oh and btw. the same issue applies on the new MSI PS63...

 

I'll see when I get one, I am not worried about that, as I generally use a mouse with my laptop and can disable the touchpad if needed. Hell, typing while touching the, ahem, touchpad, has happened to me even with laptops that have diminute touchpads haha.

That is to say, that is not a concern of mine, but I can see why it can be a problem. The best idea would be to implement advanced palm rejection to ensure you are using a finger vs resting on the pad.

 

The black film is installed also on the new GS 65 on the BACK side of the motherboard. (on the 1st generation of GS 65, there wasn't any film). They simply realised that at least if they put M.2 slots on the neck of the motherboard, most of the average users will not disassemble and flip the motherboard only to add their 2nd SSD (like I did on my GS 65... 1 hr of work only to swap a SSD and put my disk in the SATA slot... no comment)... but as you can see also from the last photos, the motherboard is flipped towards the keyboard.

It's still better than on the new GS 65, where the disks are still on the keyboard side of the motherboard. At least here you haven't to open the whole pc LOL.

 

Take a look @ D2D GS75 video @ 4:38 and you can see the mobo isn't flipped or look at the file I've uploaded.

 

D2D claims that only the SSDs are available, and from the looks of it it seems its still flipped like GS65, just different port distribution perhaps due to size. But it seems RAM and heatsink are on the other side? Will know later

 

Some posts (probably even my own) are confusing in the way the word "flipped" is used:

- some call the motherboard from the MSI GS65 "flipped"
- some call the reversing of that motherboard "flipped"

So it's "flipped" in both cases...

 

Yeah I can see why there would be confusion. For me flipped meant the heatsink, RAM and repasting area was below the keyboard instead of facing bottom.

 

Should we call it flippedgate?

I think it is a good move to give access to the SSD's, but sucks that can't get to the memory. For me, not as issue, as 16gb will be plenty. I will just add a samsung 970 evo plus 1tb and BAMB, ready to go!

I think more importantly is how the thermals perform in this laptop. 3 fans is pretty cool, and maybe with the heatsink being above, it helps dissipate heat better. Heat rises after all right?

If thermals are good (which people seem to be saying in their very short reviews of the 2080 maxq) then maybe It won't matter that it is upwards facing rather than downwards facing.

 

The annoyance is mostly due to access. I will be repasting the machine after some testing and its just an extra hassle ;p

 

I look forward to seeing what you can squeeze out of it I am after the 2060 model, as I can't justify the extra cash. If the 2080 runs in it, I imagine the 2060 will run really cool with the same hardware. Hopefully I am right and no repasting or undervolting will be required

Still a couple of weeks away before stock arrives for the 2060 in AU.

 

The RTX2060 is still a fantastic option, and is not that far behind even vs the RTX2080 max q specially at 1080p. I am sure you will enjoy it and don't worry I will post my review

 

Hi MSI folks, I’m also waiting GS75 and this is my first post here

I have found not very popular video on YouTube with disassembled GS75: .

At 5:10 you can see bottom side with 3 ssds and top (flipped) side is on 6:20.

Maybe it’s not GS75 (GS73 for example?), let’s find out the truth )

 

I'm not sure what you mean. Of course it's the GS75 and not the GS73. Confirms the previous investigation... nothing changed except the SSDs now on the other side of the motherboard. Also final proof that all these raving statements about the motherboard flipped to the bottom panel side were wrong.

 

I mean that this video has 100 views, 9 likes, was posted by unknown channel having 65 subscribers (where did they get GS75?), when reputable reviewers didn’t show anything under black cover. Also full teardown process wasn’t shown.

So there are two ways: this video is some kind of scum and uses cuts from other notebooks reviews (e.g. GS73), or this brave guys did their job very well. 99% it’s second scenario (look at hinges), but warned you about the first.

 

Can the 2080 max-q in these be overclocked? Can they be pushed to match the non maxq 2080 version? According to the MSI shop the 2080 model has better cooling and more power than the other versions so wondering how much it can be pushed.

 

They are most likely a bit overclockable but probably wont match stock 2080 due to power limits. Maybe a vbios and EC mod would work but then again you would probably need a higher power supply and/or better cooling haha.

 

PC World youtube said something like 1-2% better?
Seeing that the adapter is 230W and that its cooling is quite good and better still on the 2080 model was hoping to see some OC and how close it can come to a stock 2080 non-maxq. For a little bit this was the laptop for me but maxq standard performance is meh.

 

Do we know if this is coming with a i9-8950hk too? It was/is listed some places with up to an i9 and they some said so in CES with the 2080 model that has the upgraded cooling. The Gigabyte aero apparently coming with the i9 too.

 

Does anyone know what specifically is “upgraded” in regards to the cooling of the 2080 MQ vs the 2070MQ/2060 models? An extra heat pipe? Different fans? More thermal pads?

 

It's a store from Barcelona. Aside from the fact that they are showcasing the notebook with they objective of selling, it seems legit. Hinges are gold as in the GS75

 

can somebody tell me where I can buy this laptop when Im from Poland, Europe? The shops in my country dont know availability of it and price is way higher than on amazon and everywhere else..

 

Same problem in Russia, even local official MSI office don’t know the start date.

Shops say “late February”, so I am waiting for March.

UPD: I have read GE75 reviews and it looks like thermals will be better even with no max-q version of 2070 card.

Do we now GS75 thermals from reviews published on previous pages?

 

EC mod?

 

Regarding the flipped mobo, does the laptop sucks air from the bottom or the top?

 

I think it sucks air in from both the top and bottom vent. The fans fit in the motherboard cutouts so there isn't any obstruction of airflow.

Looking at the orientation of the fans however, it looks like it will be mainly sucking in air from the top grilles.

 

I really wonder why they give us access to 3 SSD slots, and not a single RAM one.
We are still not 100% sure, I hope for the best, but I have a bad feeling!

 

Hey, 2080 Max Q is still like my GTX1080, that's nothing to be meh'd about and trust me, there will be ways to mod that 2080 MQ to near stock. Even if it means getting a more capable power supply. I will check that eventually, there is no shortage of tweakings we can do!

The GS75 thermals for the 2080 Max q were good, and the GS65, being the smaller brother, also has fantastic thermals, so I do think it should be fine. It's not as robust as GE or GT but definitely capable of keeping the included hardware cool enough.

I also asked Ken from GentechPC regarding the date for GS75 and it seems to be late February? there is still some time to go

The Embedded Controller handles fans, power readings and many other things. I have never used a Max Q laptop but I am sure there might be power limits in both the vbios and perhaps in the EC controller firmware. We will find out with time and through testing.

There are vents in both the bottom and top, but I do suspect that the cooling for the CPU/GPU gets its air a good deal from the top grill. We know the cooling works, not sure if it was necessary to keep the laptop as thin as it is.

I don't think RAM is accessible like the SSDs. Not sure if they gave us the SSDs, or perhaps it was easier to accommodate? MSI as all companies move forward with trends. Perhaps the first or more consistent upgrade done to current laptops is the SSD and they prioritized it.

 

The ram looked easy to access from the videos I’ve seen for the GS75. It’s a newer design over the GS65. No board flipping needed.

 

Oh man, The wait is going to be long hahaha, basically another month I guess?

 

Not saying its utter rubbish. But when paying this kind of money I would expect the performance to match and not be meh. At the moment most no reviewer is impressed with the 20 series maxq. And in firestrike seeing approx. 17000(OCed to 19000?) vs 24000 (OCed to 28000).

Now IF all this would need to get it to perform like a stock 2080 or higher is a more powerful power brick eg from the GE75 and some other mod to boost clocks in this chassis, whilst keeping it stable and thermally ok, I would buy for sure. That way I can have my 'max-q' when I want that and go full beast when I need/want full beast

 

It's been a while since you could buy a larger PSU to give the CPU / GPU more power in a laptop, beyond that of the designed power brick included - the stock firmware limits any further power draw so even if you plug in a higher power PSU your laptop won't draw more power through it.

There are exceptions, it's always worth trying if noone has, but don't be disappointed if no additional performance is found, at least the PSU will run cooler with a smaller percentage maximum load than it was designed to deliver.

You might need to mod the firmware or find someone that can, to get more power through a new PSU. Remember though that the rest of the laptop power delivery system wasn't necessarily designed to deliver more power from a larger PSU.

Getting a 2nd PSU is always a good idea; what will you do when the single PSU you have that fits your cool new gaming laptop dies? It usually takes a day or two to express ship a new PSU at best, so you are out of operation without a spare PSU sitting around.

I usually like to keep a PSU at home, one at work, and one in the bag, especially for a laptop I decide to keep for a few years.

You might as well get a higher wattage 2nd PSU to have a backup / spare and a shot at seeing if a higher wattage PSU will make a performance difference. Although they usually cost a bit more...

Please let us know how that works out.

 

You seem to then expect incorrectly out of these machines. Max Q has always been designed to be neutered versions of the full GPUs. Why would you expect anywhere near stock performance for a GPU made for very power limited, thermal limited devices? We knew the specs for a while now, and knew the power limits of 80 and 90W. For a desktop GPU that is in the 180-200W range.

So, with less than half of the power available, is it not impressive we don't loose that same amount of performance? The whole point of max q is efficiency. Just compare with the RTX2060. It has the same 80w reference, but the 2080max q is even stronger.

Now, keep in mind all this always comes at a cost. Every single thin and light machine costs more than a regular machine. Making things smaller, designing them on constrains always makes them more expensive. And just like how nvidia decided to charge a premium for both their desktop and laptop GPUs, dropping value down, the truth is, if you want GTX1080 level performance on a penny size thin laptop, there is no other way than the very expensive GPUs.

Now, users are never satisified, myself included, so I will eventually mod the machine out to use more and achieve more. But I just don't understand why such high expectations for a known, very power limited device.

We know the RTX series is terrible value because the price increase. The Pascal GPU gen was the first one that gave incredible performance per dollar, particularly on laptops, so its expected to be disappointed in value. But there is a performance increase. It's just that it costs waaaay more.

Also, your numbers, as with many reviewers, seem off for some reason. We will have more information in the coming months, but the 2080MQ already performs in the 19-20k firestrike GPU on stock, and the normal GPU around 25/6 and up to 28K OCd.

IF we somehow got the 2080 max q to perform like a normal 2080, on this chasis size, it would be freaking incredible and would question almost all other manufacturers on how a full 2080 works in here. But Max Q is not designed for that and you shouldn't go looking at these series for max performance. The GE series is also thin for a gaming laptop, and is up your alley if you want a full 2080. There is a product for everyone.

 

I just saw a thin and light 2060, 2070Max-q, 2080Max-q laptop all listed using the same 180w PSU! How bad will this bench? I can’t image a decent fire strike given its power limits. This is a clevo P96 or Origin 16-s.

Edit: fix typo of 2060 twice
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Hmmm, they might be power limited when the whole system is taxed, so it might "bench" normal but when a game pushes the CPU and GPU, it might score less as the machine limits the hardware.

 

Now that ryzeki mentioned that, you can think of MaxQ is just another name such as 980M (mobile).