***The Official MSI GT72 Dominator Pro (GTX-980M) Owner?s Lounge***

You can try AIDA64 ( AIDA64 | The Ultimate System Information and Benchmark Tool).

 

Hi Tim, welcome back, and it is nice to see you. :hi2:

 

Thanks Kevin! Will be waiting the perfect machine from you guys! So, I'll be able to call myself official member of this community!

 

I am interested too

Thanks

 

Tranks for the tip,but i can't found a Option to Monitor the Clock Speed. I ffound a Tool named Core Temp, but the Tool Push the Cpu to his Max all the time.

 

Alright, I changed my multipliers to match yours, shows 3.7 ghz now. UPDATE : Mine actually go up to 3.8ghz, I've got the 4720 -- not sure why mine goes higher? However, my " reference clock " doesn't quite reach what yours does. Mine was crashing out at 100,7580. So for now I have it lowered to 100,3484. My games are lagging severely if I change my reference clock at all so I put it back to 100,000 -- Do I have to adjust my reference clock if I'm changing my multipliers?


As of right now during the stress test its maxing out at 3.59ghz with all 4 cores, not sure why its not reaching the listed turbo speed of 3.8ghz? also I noticed it was dropping to 3.2 -3.3mhz during the stress test.


Here is my current setup :




Couple questions :


1) I was able to maintain 3.59ghz in the stress test - however the frequency says 3.8 ghz in turbo mode. - not sure I understand why its running 200mhz under the maximum.

2) Do I have to adjust my reference clock if I'm changing my multipliers?

3) I noticed your " Turbo boost power time window " is maxed out to 128 seconds, may I ask what that means? mine is by default at 28 seconds.

 

The 4720hq operates 100MHz higher than the 4710. Increasing the reference clocks, from what I've read, overclocks everything on the motherboard, meaning that it's tricky to modify.

3,8 Ghz is the max frequency using only one core, with 4 cores you should maintain 3,6 GHz (36x multiplier), which seems to be the case .
What is strange is that mine goes up to 3,6GHz too with 4 cores, but with a 35x multiplier ! I don't get it.

The Turbo boost power time window is the period during which the turbo boost will be activated, I think. I increased it believing it would solve my problem but it didn't.

Seems it has a locked TDP
So I can only count on Turbo Boost. I increased the max tdp power to 200, and the duration to 128 seconds, but during the benchmarks, the frequency drops from the beginning ! I don't understand.

And why would my cpu need more power than others 4710HQ (like the Asus ones) ? This didn't happen with my G751 !

 

4720HQ's base is 2.6GHz, turbo boost is 3.6GHz. Which software did you use to see the ration? CPUZ?
ARK | Intel® Core™ i7-4720HQ Processor (6M Cache, up to 3.60 GHz)

Have you also checked the temperature of the processor? Heat will cause throttling, or EC is limiting how much the CPU can consume.

 

Quote Originally Posted by ocr123 View Post
Does anyone know where I can buy the riser card that comes with the models with super raid?

The "Risercard" is in the notebooks (also those which came without an SSD), so i bought the version with 1TB HDD only and it contains this card so i can put a m2 into (and 3 more but no need yet, ah i mean no cash ˆˆ ).

Else write a mail to MSI maybe they´re able to let you know a dealer (or sell it themself).

aVa

 

Try setting a more modest tdp increase say from 47/57 to 57/67.

 

I'm considering downgrading my ram in my Lenovo and Sager laptops (see sig) to 8GB and putting the 16GB total into my GT72 (see sig). I do a lot of multi-tasking and will be handling some CAD files and such soon. The GT72 is my primary computer right next to my desktop. Which I would upgrade then ram in that but I don't have eatras sitting around. But a big thing would be would the other laptops suffer/ suffer much from the downgrade? And how much benefit would my GT72 get? I mean it's 'free' ram and the other machines are gaming/ basic web-browsing movie watching machines. Where as I plan on running VM's to test out different things and just about everything under the sun on the GT72. Not EVERYTHING at the same time mind you but you get the picture I think. It was my understanding the GT72 of mine can be upgraded to 32GB of ram as well. Anyhow, thoughts?

Thanks.

 

The ratios are displayed in XTU, I'm not sure I understood your question ^^
Since I got my pc, CPU temp never exceeded 72°C !

I tried with different values, it's still unsuccessful :/
Undervolting seems to increase the period during which the CPU runs at full frequency, but I'm not even sure about it.

It seems some Asus have the same problem though : https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?55984-Overclocking-the-i7-4710HQ-on-a-G751JY-and-issues

 

You said it all. If two other machines are only for basic gaming, browsing and movies, then 8Gb will be more than enough for them.

 

If you have Crucial SSDs in your notebook there's a new(finally) tool from Crucial that works on the M500,M550,MX100,MX200,and BX100

The tool yields detailed info about supported Crucial SSDs and firmware updating plus basic info about other drives installed.

Crucial.com - Crucial Storage Executive tool download

 

Finally! This would have been really useful 4 years ago!

Crucial is my current favourite all around SSD brand, so I am glad they finally upped their software game.

 

as far as RAM there is a significant difference between 8 and 16- with 16 in your rig you can safely turn off the swap file (set it to none for all the drives) and get an os speed improvement, without any errors from OS or programs. with only 8 GB if you turn off the swap file you will have issues after you open too many windows. there is also an effect on gaming-- ram caches grow as you play the game so if you have 4-8 hour marathon sessions of bf4 or other demanding game, the machine with 16gb will load levels faster and will have less fps drop in the latter hours of your session. if you use multiple monitors , like lotsa chrome tabs and movie player, then i think 16gb is minimum. i am at 32, but not sure 32 is really worth the $ unless you run VM. 16 is worth it tho.

the crucial toolbox is of mediocre value, and can muck your stuff up- i experienced it. it failed outright to upgrade the Firmware in my 2 m550's , but it did muck up the boot drive menu in the Laptop bios/uefi and i i still have 2 entries for "crucial firmware" available as boot devices in my bios, and those boot options dont work except to get back in the bios..what BS. i ended up making bootable usb key and flashed the drive firmware that way. i even flashed a new Laptop bios since the incident, but the crucial entries are still stuck in bios/uefi. they also dont provide a Trim tool in the toolbox. so i still have to run good old defrag ui in windows 8.1. so what value is this toolbox? seeing SMART attributes can be done with a gazzilion other apps. the backbreaker is the thing runs as a service with a webpage front end so the service uses resources when you are not using the front end. also BS.

for those that care, neither the crucial m550 firmware nor the new laptop bios/ec increase performance, so if you don't have an issue , stick with your existing firmware/bios/ec imho.

to the dude trying to overclock--- use XTU to Set the ratios/cache on cpu etc. but do NOT use XTU to either measure performance increase, or to verify cpu core speed. Use other tools, to verify whats going on. The problem maybe wrong info displayed in XTU because your chip is so new, and not with the settings xtu is making. the setting maybe being saved right, but shown wrong in the UI. new intel and nvidia behave in a similar way-- under light load they pop to full turbo, but under full load, they stick to stock clocks and do not turbo allot, so the test you use is very important in determining whats going on. give 3dmark a whirl and see how your score compares to others here.

 

I agree with what you said. I turned off swap file with 8gb and it force close programs or games. Pretty annoying and it was also a fresh install of windows too.With it on it would lag like crazy on bf4, dayz.
Exchanged my unit for 16GB + SSD and i'm happier then ever . Does a +135 stable OC on the gpu now. Stays on 67C with oc 100% usage.

For additional info the NL version has Kingston now ssd. speccy shows its a 2.5 form factor, probably its a mistake as i haven't opened my laptop yet, or they use an adapter to connect it through pci or additioanl sata slot?. Memory is from A-Data and has 17" ips screen from lg with 25ms. Ghosting not noticeable but abit laggy so 60fps doesn't feel smooth but i compensated it to oc refresh to 90hz. I wonder what kind of IPS screen the US version and what others have.

 

Does anyone know how to change the GPU used by the notebook? I installed Windows 7 x64 and the buttons to the left of the keyboard were working for this - but as of today (for no reason I can as yet discern), the custom gaming button and the GPU mode switching button are not working. The keyboard color changing button and the turbo-fan button are still working, fortunately. Any thoughts on what might have gone wrong and how to compensate?

 

AFAIk there are not alot of 17" IPS options that are being manufactured today anywhere by anyone. as a result most 17" ips laptops by most manufacturers today use that same LG Display. there is just not alot of modern choices for 17" ips.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/msi...o-gtx-980m-owner-s-lounge-45.html#post9813593

i am surprised noone has thought about g-sync or freesync in this or another laptop. that would be a great way to extend the gaming-capable life of a laptop if you ask me, and it would only add to the laptop maker's profit margin.

that a-data ram should be legit, and of high quality- i have 4*4gb of adata ddr3L1600 in my older msi 16f3, and that ram has a ton of profiles on it which you can see in HWinfo64 or similar app. you can under/overclock it etc and it runs like a champ

if your gpu switching button does not work make sure SCM for your os (win7 x64 ) is installed :
MSI Global - Computer, Laptop, Notebook, Desktop, Motherboard, Graphics and more 64

 

Runs fine, even updated my Crucial M550 m2 SSD firmware with a one click solution (awesome ) ... but seems the much older Crucial M4 2.5 " is not supported. Funfact: runs in browser

Edit: to my BSOD problem, i deactivated WLAN and was thinking this is the solution but it seems up on any energy save mode, cause this just happens if im not sitting in front of the machine. I fixed my energy saving options now (from 20mins to much more) and will see if thats the reason.

Regards,
aVa

 

Same here!

One click and updated my firmware on a 256GB M.2 M550

 

at least it works for you guys, so the tool is not totally bunk

not sure why it failed on my rig but most likely its due to one of the m550 being bit locker encrypted, so either TPM needs to be present or a password has to be typed at boot to allow any software to access anything on that drive. so most likely the auto-flasher could not access the drive and the flashing executable and firmware files, and subsequently failed to update either of the two drives.

i stand behind what i said 100%. since the tool obviously does not support all of Crucial's own advertised features of the drive like "hardware encryption support", it's obvious the tool has not been thoroughly tested, and lacks compatibility as a result. Because of this lack of compatibility, and lack of value-add, it is of mediocre value imho. They could have at least put up a warning that said " your drive is encrypted please dont use this tool, because we did not test it" . Anything that you can do in that tool you can do using other means, with less performance overhead, and without risk of changing something which cannot be changed back (bios/uefi entries).




in case you are curious as to what the crazy new boot menu looks like:



if anyone has a clue to how to remove these i would appreciate it.

EDIT: some of the confusion maybe coming from the fact that it seems like the only way to update crucial firmware is to get the toolbox. This is not True- they provide firmware separately for all drives afaik, as a ISO, which you use with RUFUS or similar to put the image on a usb stick, so you can boot off the usb stick and it will flash all crucial drives of that model in your system, automatically without having to type any commands. The confusion comes from the fact that the toolbox AND m550 firmware update were released within one week of each other, at the beginning of Jan 2015, and most people only saw the Toolbox Announcement, since thats what was revealed at CES.
http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/support-ssd-firmware

 

Hi! The GPU switch is connected to the "Dragon Gamong Center" I guess. You should check if you have Dragon Gaming Center running correctly.

The Custom Gaming Key is connectet to the "System Control Manager" you should check this one as well.

In case of doubt. Download the latest versions of this programs from the MSI support site.

Best regards

phila

 

Hi there

I´ve got 2 questions:

1) MSI Kombustor shows a blinking message " GPU Power Limit reached" what does that mean (i guess it´s up on the VBIOS which allows voltage max which is under that what the chip can handle?)

2) how to overclock the 970/980M so MSI Afterburner did not take affect (or I´m too dumb for that)

Thx, aVa

* *yes I´m aware of that overclocking a mobile device is not so good and yes it´s not yet required but the question is in general ... i want to try and find out max. with stock BIOS, also I think there´s space for some Mhz in focus of cooling solution

 

Hello everyone!

I just got my GT72 210 this morning and I was pleasantly surprised to find that instead of the 4710HQ, it came with a 4720HQ. I'll consider that a moral victory and a great start! :hi2:

 

Nice & Gratz, seems you also got an WideScreenView display too (means: like IPS) ?

 

1) I assume it's related to the vcore, yes. You'll need a unlocked vbios to increase it.

2) 347.09 driver doesn't allow overclocking, try the previous versions, like 344.75.

I'll end up believing that I'm the only one with a 4710HQ here !

 

Naw, I have a 4710HQ also.

 

The power limit is to do with the tdp of the card being reached in furmark which is normal. This won't happen in games unless you push it up to +135mhz and it won't happen often. An unlocked vbios is required to go further.

 

Thanks! I'm not sure about the monitor, I checked the hardware ID in the device manager and it indicates that its an LGD0469, but nothing comes up for it in the Hardware ID database. Anyone know what type of monitor it is?

 

You can have a look into the MSI data sheets when they claim WideViewScreenDisplay (or something like that) it should be an IPS (but not 100% waterproofed regarding different discussions about changes in production where they build in which is available....)

The links down below are from a thread in a german forum where i´m trolling arround - provided by a member there (many thanks for that): DE MSI Forum i hope it´s ok when i post those here:

Produkt SKU DataSheet
GT72-2QE32SR311BW 001781-SKU18 http://bit.ly/1okbRIq
GT72-2QE32SR311BW 001781-SKU8 http://bit.ly/1rdFkOU
GT72-2QE32SR351BW 001781-SKU19 http://bit.ly/1zw2BoD
GT72-2QE32SR351BW 001781-SKU9 http://bit.ly/1BJhgK1
GT72-2QE32SR21BW 001781-SKU20 http://bit.ly/1qpkSvA
GT72-2QE32SR21BW 001781-SKU10 http://bit.ly/1vIoHiy
GT72-2QE16SR21BW 001781-SKU21 http://bit.ly/1tzNfKX
GT72-2QE16SR21BW 001781-SKU11 http://bit.ly/1CPtbZ0

GT72-2QD16SR21BW 001781-SKU22 http://bit.ly/1plhHu3
GT72-2QD16SR21BW 001781-SKU12 http://bit.ly/1s45EBw
GT72-2QD8H11B 001781-SKU23 http://bit.ly/13HPpzW
GT72-2QD8H11B 001781-SKU13 http://bit.ly/1xX1T38
GT72-2QD81FD 001781-SKU24 http://bit.ly/1y3tU5v
GT72-2QD81FD 001781-SKU14 http://bit.ly/1pHZUHC

GT72-2PE16SR231BW 001781-SKU7 http://bit.ly/UfW7Iv
GT72-2PE16SR21B 001781-SKU6 http://bit.ly/1p2ErLq
GT72-2PE16H11BW 001781-SKU5 http://bit.ly/1o4bQWB

otherwise anyone can lookup or interpret the information from system information about the display (if IPS or TN) (for example: me, i´m sure about to own TN and got different type than you)

By the way, this standard "TN" screen is a really good one, i´ve got not a lot complaints about it (maybe the horizontal view is little tricky but normally i use it without flipping my head arround the display). In the intel GPU mode for me it seems it produces a more clear black "black" and a warmer non blueish white (so i use intel GPU for movies and surfing a lot, this will be fixed with future drivers from MSI or nVidia).

aVa

 

I just received my new GT72 Pro QE2 yesterday and have a couple questions about the makeup of the motherboard...

I noticed on the board, there is an empty 2.5" bay but apparently no SATA connector for it. What is the purpose of this?

Also, I have an extra 8 GB RAM stick I would like to add to the board (I only ordered it with 2 sticks), but from everything I have read I apparently have to disassemble the whole laptop to add extra RAM? Can anyone provide decent instructions on how to go about this? This is a pricy toy and I am somewhat intimidated by the prospect of taking everything apart. I saw a pictorial "guide" on taking it apart but it didn't provide a clear idea of what to do. Thanks

 

Have you reviewed post #1 & #2 of this thread? Post #1 has a disassembly video, and post #2 shows the SATA port distribution.

 

I just watched the video, I do literally have to remove the whole motherboard to add RAM. Gonna wait til I can buy another stick before I go through that trouble, so I only have to do it once.

Also, the SATA port description is a little confusing for me. I have a 2.5 Crucial 512GB SSD I want to use with this laptop. Currently, I have it attached in place of the 1 TB HDD that came with the laptop. Am I getting reduced speed on that HD because the port is only SATA II? And it mentions that ports 1, 2 and 5, 6 are SATA III as well, so would it be possible to attach my SSD in the empty bay and connect it to one of those ports? So then I would have the HDD, SSD, and my two 128GB M.2 SSDs.

Thank you for all the help.

EDIT: After reading through this thread it seems the answer is that it is theoretically possible but requires a special adapter and is difficult to configure. So I will just keep the SSD in, even though it gets a reduced speed, it is still significantly faster than a HDD. And I will just put the 1 TB HDD in an external caddy and use it for extra storage for downloads and large programs. Does that sound like a good idea?

What do you recommend?

 

The topic of SATA port distribution is discussed throughout this thread, as well as mod's to overcome the limitations. Take a look at THIS post (#514), and the link referenced therein.

 

Yeah, use the 1TB as external storage. Preferably for things like photos and videos that just use a lot of space. The SATA II interface limits the max speed of the SSD but it is still tremendously fast compared to any mechanical drive. Besides, most of the uses people have for SSD rarely need the top speed that the actual ssd can achieve.

 

Assuming I want to go the route of having the HDD, 2.5 SSD, and my two M.2 drives, I read through everything and I saw it mentioned that as soon as I disconnect the M.2 drives, the RAID config is blown. Is that true, and how do I fix it if so? I know the SSD I came with included a stripped version of Acronis backup so I am thinking I should clone my Windows 8 install first to my Crucial 2.5 SSD before tinkering with the drives? Also, if I want to add another M.2 drive to the array instead will it also bust the RAID?

Sorry for all the questions, I am new at this...

 

Hi KnightofDight,

i have nearly similar setup. I replaced the 1TB drive with a 2,5" Crucial M4 512GB, and put a 8GB DDR3 in one of the 2 empty slots (it does not take any affect so i have dualchannel memory). After going up to 24GB memory you just has to remove motherboard to add the last 8GB modul but.. its still possible.

Ok the SSD runs only with SATA II but you will not copy a bunch of large files (??), so in other words i think in daily use you will not recognize this so hard (SATA II vs SATA III SSD) cause the access time is still there (and for loading games and stuff thats the point).

aVa

Edit: BTW a member in a DE Forum claims he uses 2x128GB m2 SSD in RAID0 and 2 x 512GB m2 SSD in RAID0 in the GT72 , can anyone prove this? Nice that this works

 

Good to know, thanks

My biggest concern and the reason I even considered modifying my rig for more drives was space. I have a LOT of games, roughly 480 GB worth... so it would use up the entirety of my SSD if I wanted to install them all. I suppose I could put some on my M.2s as well, have two directories or something. Instead what I planned was just back them all up (from my old laptop) and then install what I need when I want to play it and then delete it when I finish. Seems like the easiest, cheapest solution.

Also, you mention only needing to remove the motherboard for the last RAM slot? Where is the empty slot you added it to? I looked at my board and I did not see any empty slots anywhere... In the middle of the board I saw my two ram sticks with the flashy stickers on them...

 

Game are using lot of space yes ... but you have the option to add 4 x 512GB m2 SSDs like Crucial M550 .... so at the end if they´re cheaper in some months this can make sense.

There are 2 slots under the keyboard, normally 1 should be pre-filled with a 8GB Module and one is empty (at the 8GB versions) but you can just get access to them by removing the mainboard from the other side which is a little tricky but not impossible.You say after removing the backside of the GT72 the 2 slot´s are still filled? Weird, how much you´ve got installed? 8 oder 16 ?

 

I have 16 GB total, two 8GB sticks.

If I add more m2 SSDs does it mess up the RAID and require a reinstall?

 

I´m not 100% sure but for me it sounds that he used 2 (similar sized) SSD´s build in, build RAID0 out of them (OS installed) and then he put in 2 other (similar sized SSD´s) and build a 2nd RAID and now runs 2 RAID´s. He uses for first 2 similar raids the 2 "lower" m2 SSD Slots, i have no idea if that runs for sure but seems that runs, may anyone else can reply here.

aVa

 

My m.2 question was only referening adding additional sticks. Currently I have 2x 128GB m2 sticks. If I wanted to add, say, 2 more 128 GB sticks, would I have to reinstall?

 

No, unless you wanted to add them as a single RAID setup, in that case you should clone your current volume to the new RAID setup of 4 drives.

 

Yes, that is what I wanted to do. Add the two additional drives to my raid array, so I would have 4x 128GB drives as my main partition. I assume I can't use 2x 256 and 2x 128, right?

My last question for now is, how would I go about accomplishing this task? Would I use Accronis backup? Then how do I configure it as RAID?

 

Technically you can but you would be left with 128GB off of each 256GB disk and performance would depend on the use of the primary array of those partitions.

Take an image of your disks (save it to somewhere else like an external HDD or a different internal one), format the disks, create your array and restore the image.

 

If you want to add it as a single RAID, I would first advice you to do the following:

1)Clone/backup your current installation and ensure it is a working backup so that you won't be afraid to destroy the current RAID.
2) install the additional SSDs (yes, you can have a single raid and extra ssds individually) but for now just install.
3) Access RAID menu (usually crtl+i when booting or check in BIOS) and you will have a menu detailing the installed harddisks and which ones are a raid volumen. Delete current RAID volume and create a new volume using all 128GB disks. (leave strip size recommended)
4) After setting up RAID, boot up again with acronis and restore backup/clone to your new RAID volume.

The instructions above may vary because I don't have a GT72, but a GT60 and on my previous machines it was indeed CTRL+i

 

Anyone have issues with installing and running Windows 7 64-bit on their laptop? I am really getting pissed off at how Windows 8 seems to be making ALL my freaking files READ ONLY! Not to mention the issues of running certain games and such on Win 8. If you've installed 7 to you machine was there anything special you did? (I already have a recovery usb drive for the laptop made).

 

You can load Win7 on it without any issues as it is compatible, see below for Win7 driver page.
[ Win7 driver for GT72]

 

Sweet thanks! I'm gonna try that sometime today. One last question how do we access the BIOS on the GT72's or maybe a Boot menu? I know Windows 8 has a built-in way, but what about if we don't have it?

Thanks.