The Official MSI GT73VR Owners and Discussions Lounge

I would love a 1440p with a 1080 but the fact remains I'm crushing BF1 and TW3.

 

If you plan to have a GT73VR for a few years, for Gaming - Then you want 1080p 120Hz G-Sync TN (IPS Level) 100% sRGB & 75% aRGB screen. Don't be fooled by the QHD/3K BS that people are talking about. QHD on a laptop is not yet as optimised as 1080p is. Simple.
Also, at the moment, even the GTX 1080 can not run certain games at 120 FPS in 1080p, so keep in mind, for the next few years, you want to at least be able to play any game at 60 FPS in 1080p. The GTX 1080 is 60FPS Minimum guarantee for the next 3 years.
Just because GTX 1080 can run 4K, doesn't mean it should. And you don't want to game on 4K on a laptop, you'll be disappointed. But you're always going to get the average fool who will justify their 4K laptop for gaming to make themselves feel better about it.

And for the "Water cooled" or "1080Ti" or "Volta" or "Multiple Monitor". Those will not make it into notebooks for a long time. At least 3 years. Don't let people put you off with their future talk BS. Buy what you can afford and enjoy it until the next time you need to upgrade. Don't look back and don't wait because you'll be waiting forever.

 

The TN display's aren't "IPS Level", they are TN, simply TN - wide view TN, but still just TN.

The IPS and IPS Level displays are better displays, better color and better viewing angles, but they don't have the response time in laptop displays to support 120hz.

The 17.3"/18.4" displays can often OC refresh from 60/75hz to 100hz, with quick enough response to be useful at that speed, so you can game at 100hz on some IPS / IPS Level displays.

A display is a very personal choice, one that you need to make visually - see it and use it for yourself - it's not something that can be described adequately verbally.

Go into a local Brick and Mortar shop and see for yourself. Or, make sure who you buy it from has a no questions asked return policy with 0% restocking fee, in case you can't live with the display.

If you want the best viewing get the IPS/IPS Level displays, if you want the fastest refresh for gaming get the TN display, if you need large image and desktop space get the 4k - knowing it's gonna have scaling issues (tiny fonts) with some software in Windows - MS and app makers are still working it out.

Once you start using a laptop at 120 FPS in games, and the fans are at 100% for hours at a time, you may find you'd prefer to play at 100 FPS or even 60 FPS just to get the darned fans to quiet down, so you may end up running your 120hz TN display @ 60/100hz just for some peace and quiet.

Please come back and let us know what you got, and how you like it

 

I own a GT73VR 7RF btw.

My brother also works at MSI Malaysia. IPS Level does not mean it is "IPS" - It means there is minimal difference when it comes to gaming, also the TN panel MSI use on the GT73VR latest gen have excellent viewing angles. Again, if you're gaming, that is irrelevant since you're sitting in front of the screen. IPS is relevant if you're talking 100% aRGB and/or photo/video editing which is again irrelevant in gaming due to 100% sRGB.
And please do not recommend OC'ing screens on laptops. Firs of all, OC'ing a screen is not as simple as OC'ing a cpu/gpu. Also, it voids your warranty, and if something goes wrong, you'll be left with a dead screen on a laptop that you have no warranty on. Just don't do it. Trust me.

Don't forget, it's a gaming laptop. Not a Media editing business machine. If you want perfect viewing angles with 100% aRGB then don't get a gaming laptop. Get a laptop with the required screen quality.
You have to ask yourself. Is gaming your priority? Or is Editing your priority?
Then you can easily make a decision.

 

OCing the refresh rate doesn't void the warranty, please don't use FUD to prove a point, I've verified it's ok to set the refresh higher than stock with the vendors, you can do the same if you like:

Spoiler

"Dear XXXX,

Thank you for contacting ASUS Customer Service.
My name is Ellie and it is my pleasure to help you with your problem.

For the first question, it is OK to set the rate at 60-100hz.But you may feel the screen is flashing.

For the second one, it won't be negative for your laptop.Acturally, you can choose any rate among 60-100hz.

For the third one, the refresh rate of 85 means the image is refreshed 85 times in a second.

Welcome to refer Troubleshooting & FAQ for ASUS products in ASUS website:
http://support.asus.com/servicehome.aspx?SLanguage=en

If you continue to experience issues in the future, please do not hesitate to contact us.

An email survey will be sent to you within the next 5 days. Please be sure to rate the service I provided to you today.

Best Regards,
XXXX
ASUS Product Support Team
812-282-2787"

The IPS "name" is trademarked by LG. PLS is Samsung's version. AHVA is AUO's version. They are all "IPS-like" displays, and they are not TN or Wide-View TN displays.

TN is TN, you can have good TN, and you can have bad TN - one you don't like to look at, but it's a personal choice, I can live with TN because I am used to it on work monitors, but I prefer looking at IPS.

Even if I am only gaming, movie watching, or even browsing the internet with images to view - to me IPS has a richer image, but again it's personal preference. If you need color corrected viewing, you will want an IPS-like display.

Getting a "gaming" laptop means a high performance GPU + CPU laptop, and you don't need to game to benefit from them. They are really the only choice if you want a high performance laptop, the "workstation" laptops aren't going to be better these days, the Pascal GPU's + high end laptop CPU's do a great job for less $ if you shop wisely.

 

Yes. Although Irrelevant.

FUD? lol. You out of all people should know that OC'ing in many cases voids warranty. And that ASUS email, clearly it says "Choose" which means you have the options there, and I don't think they understood your question. Why don't you ask if you can "overclock" the screen and see what they say. Also, I'd like to see you remain under warranty if you overclock your screen and it pops. and goodluck with Asus.

 

You have a nice day

 

Like wise

 

Hey everyone what are your average USB transfer speeds? Mine don't seem right. On my Alienware R4 with a 1070 and an intel 6700, i was getting around 130 MB/s when transferring files with my external USB 3.0 hard drive. On my MSI GT73VR that i returned the Alienware for, I get MAX about 100 MB/s and average anywhere from 80-100 MB/s....why would the speed on the Alienware be so much quicker? Like right this minute, am am transferring over a large file from my external drive and the speeds are fluctuating between 75-81 MB/s and no faster...

 

On your MSI, when you plug in your external HDD, go to device manager, find your HDD and view it's properties. Go to the Policies Tab, and look at what options are checked in the top and the bottom.
??

 

It says in the top window under Removal Policy: Quick

The bottom window is greyed out

 

Ok, Check "Better Performance" and Also Check below it the "Enable write caching on the Device" and apply, then recheck the file transfer speed. It worked for me before.
If you get an error when you try to Enable write caching then it's either the format of your external HDD (FAT32 or NTFS) or something software related.
Try that and see if it works.

 

I did all that on 2 external 3.0 drives i have and the most i got was around 100 MB/s...the funny thing is that i used these same drives on the Alienware and was getting 130+ MB/s without touching a thing? All my drivers and BIOS are update to date from MSI's web page so I am at a loss.....

 

I don't think it has something to do with dragon center but with the EC firmware. what firmware are you on? @DukeCLR @Maineiac12 @SoldierRBT

i am on .107 EC and .10A bios - since these fan profiles are stored in the EC...

new gt73vr 7rf stuff is online, my itching hands are telling me to upgrade to them new bios .308 and ec .108....

https://www.msi.com/Laptop/support/GT73VR-7RF-Titan-Pro.html#down-firmware

who's got the balls to update their bios and ec from 6 series to 7 series? should work right? same model only different cpu...why do it becos i want better cpu fan profiles....plus it has 6 points instead of 5 i have now...

i know if my itchy hands do it...it will kill my raid volume....and i don't want to clean install for the 10th time! lol

 

it may also brick the laptop, keep in mind, 7RF not just only have different gen of CPU but also different chipset....updating bios may brick the laptop (high chances) but updating only EC firmware is another story....

If I hate you, I will say go go do the Bios update but it's the otherway around so better wait, patience is a virtue...

 

Someone here get IPS display ? what is the refesh rate? 60,75 or 100Hz?

 

There is no IPS display, only TN panel and it's only 120Hz but you can customize it lower (personally tested 60Hz)

 

install latest chipset drivers and IME drivers. not the ones posted on 6 series (they are old). goto the msi 7 (7re/7rf) series and update from there, they have some of the latest software. Intel CM236 Chipset v10.1.1.38 and for mei Intel Management Engine v11.6.0.1039

or i use win-raid.com or www. station- drivers.com to get slightly newer drivers for certain device drivers ofcos.

for your method i would leave it to quick removal. it doesn't seem to matter much for me. still fast/same speeds. i prefer to pull out my ext drives fast. its a trouble to have to press a button to release the ext drives, esp when i don't see any performance gains.

and if you have dragon center, try unchecking xboost usb / storage. they seem to make drives run slower...if anybody has proof they work please share...

also with win10 u can just goto device manager and update from thier using internet method. works for some drivers. pretty easy.

 

The Skylake models also came with 60hz 1080p and 4k IPS-Level displays:
https://www.msi.com/Laptop/GT73VR-6RF-Titan-Pro.html#hero-specification

• Display
  17.3" FHD (1920x1080), IPS-Level
  17.3" UHD (3840x2160), IPS-Level
  17.3" FHD (1920x1080), 120Hz, 5ms, Wide-View (TN)

As does the new Kabylake model:
https://www.msi.com/Laptop/GT73VR-7RF-Titan-Pro.html#hero-specification

• Display
  17.3" FHD (1920x1080), IPS-Level
  17.3" UHD (3840x2160), IPS-Level
  17.3" FHD (1920x1080), 120Hz, 5ms, Wide-View (TN)

Hopefully someone with the 1080p display can let us know how well their display tunes - probably 90hz-110hz, but usually the 4k can barely do more than 63hz.

 

i have no problems with gta v ....runs perfectly 8-10-12 hours straight sessions with lots of background stuff on no worries. i have 32gb ram OC to 15/15 timings....on turbo 4.1ghz with a gtx 1080 +155c/+280m (if i go 162c/305c - i get once a blue moon green artifacts). don't run at 4.2ghz. use 4.0 or 4.1 with throttlestop. no need to add any extra voltages or minus any.

in the NVCP i let the application control the settings. in game i have everything maxed out. g-sync on. in game v sync on. (can be off or half, u want). i run on dx11. use about 4100++ vram. i have pagefile off and battery mode always on high performance. hibernation off. sleep off. latest bios and ec firmware. 10A and .107 respectively...in gta 5 or nvidia dont use DSR or higher resolutions sampling feature. 1080p is fine and perfect. just have fxaa off and msaa to X8 and max everything else.

i use dragon center turbo mode always with every game. your error seems like software issues with dx11/ or game version/ install issues??
Check you have latest patches up to date with everything. install everything up to date, try install dx again. install nvdia 376.33 drivers. chipset,mei, scm...everything install properly and lastest Dragon Center v1.2.1611.0901 . goto intel website and install the lastest XTU Intel Extreme Tuning Utility v6.2.0.19.

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/24075/Intel-Extreme-Tuning-Utility-Intel-XTU-

if all that can't solve....its hard to help you. very sorry....u might try to read this

http://steamcommunity.com/app/271590/discussions/0/611703709830303956/

best of luck. if you are desperate. clean win10 install etc...

oh ps. try run in admin mode when u launch it...

 

It's packed away at the moment but It's the version that it shipped with, I haven't had the need to change it yet.

 

Ooo nice! Did you change any settings or tweaks? When I monitor the clocks GPU boost seems to keep it around the 1600-1700 range.. wish we hard power limit and voltage control.

 

leave it, its normal. i have suspicion that the msi uses some of the battery with the ac adaptor for extra watts when needed...

cos with my alienware never ever u need to do this with batteries.....very weird. my alienware battery was never used and its at full perfect ratings. so i don't know why msi sometimes sucks battery for AC plugged in....i don't know if they use ****ty style batteries....its only my suspicions. why need extra bricks when u can use the battery to boost your OCs.....hehe

still don't understand calibrate battery. saving it thats bs...could have set it up like alienware leave it alone don't overcharge...so simple.

 

GT73VR 7RF-425 mini review (Kaby Lake)

Since I was within the return window on my Skylake version of this laptop when the new Kaby Lake version was released I decided to exchange for the new model. 10% better performance and a bigger SSD for a $100 premium over the Skylake? Why not! I received it Saturday afternoon but really didn't get a chance to start playing with it until today.

Here's the specs:
Core i7-7820HK
GTX 1080
16 GB RAM
256 GB NVME SSD
1 TB 7200 RPM HDD
120hz 1080p screen, with G-SYNC

First impressions: The laptop itself looks exactly the same as the previous version. The only change that I can see is the packaging that the laptop ships in. MSI changed the box layout so the overall package is much smaller than before. The whole box flips open and all the parts are inside in a single layer (still using the protective foam like before) but the accessories aren't stacked on top in a separate box like before.

A couple issues I noticed with the laptop:

• I had a loose speaker that was rattling around in the frame. It looked like a lot of work to get at it so I cut a couple of small foam strips and put them under the speaker to hold it firmly in place and stop the noise.
• CPU fan makes the same grinding noise at low RPM in sport and turbo modes that my 6RE did.
• Dragon Center default Turbo settings for 7820HK is 4.0ghz and the GPU has no default OC in turbo mode. I guess I assumed the Kaby Lake would have a higher factory OC on the CPU and at least some turbo mode oc out of the box. I bumped the GPU OC to 100/200 for my testing.
• Temps were higher than I was expecting and there was some variations in the core temps. More on that below.

TEMPS AND BENCHMARKS

* for my testing I set the turbo mode to 4.0 CPU and 100/200 on the GPU. Sport mode is the out of the box settings (normal Intel and nvidia turbo boosts). Fan profile = Auto for all tests.

Firestrike: 16217 Sport Mode / 17719 Turbo Mode

Idle Temps: 45c CPU / 40c GPU (sport mode)

For the gaming temps I played 30 minutes of Overwatch on ultra with HwInfo running.

Sport Mode CPU max per core: 77 / 72 / 80 / 77
Sport Mode CPU avg per core: 68 / 65 / 68 / 66

Sport Mode GPU max: 81
Sport Mode GPU avg: 77

Turbo CPU max per core: 83 / 76 / 85 / 80
Turbo CPU avg per core: 73 / 68 / 73 / 71

Turbo GPU max: 80
Turbo GPU avg: 77

I've attached pictures of my testing but I have a couple questions:

• Are these temps normal?
• Are these core differentials an issue?
• Should I exchange the laptop or try a repaste myself?

The performance is great. I'm getting great FPS and I'm not getting any thermal throttling but I am getting spikes close to that 90c mark and the uneven core temps make me wonder if there is a bad factory paste job on this machine?

Could the temps be caused by dragon center applying too much voltage? Or the fan curves aren't good enough? I tested everything on auto.

I'm not a very good writer and I've been working on this in between dealing with a crying baby so I apologize if this seems rushed or doesn't make sense. Any comments or suggestions would be great. Thanks!

 

Here's some more pics since I'm limited to 5 per post.

 

i think they fixed the xboost issue with the latest versions. i had it on, nothing noticable, had it off...just left it off....there must be some reason for it...like the VR settings. i have it on...msi must know something to optimize the vive vr.

need more pple to post some results or experiment more xboost...i also have asus ai charger and msi super charger installed does double super charge my ios devices....nice and fast.

the reason i have dragon center is for the simple OCs and the very excellent monitor app...its a fantastic feature. i got a spare iphone and use it exclusively for always on monitor temps date etc mounted next to my laptop screen always know my rpms temps while in game. easy to adjust on the fly. know what games doing what with gpu/cpu.....mafia 3 the ****ty free game that kills cpu usage and push temps into 80s jesus!



using this cheap item to mount it

http://www.ebay.com/itm/28218609342...49&var=581187975794&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

works like a dream!

 

yeah i will always be going to the 7RF from now on....6RF is history lol

 

MSI didn't change the Xboost feature, the difference is MSI is shipping the app with those options disabled by default.

Turning them on may not instantly cause problems, but many reported back ground processes running taking lots of CPU and IO while "idle" - which turned out to be while playing back video and audio too

I'd leave them off while getting to know the laptop, then when you can focus on watching out for them running in the background play with turning them on.

Otherwise those Xboost options may start running win the background hen you really don't want them to be taking system resources "to optimize" throughput when used later.

 

congrats on new laptop...seems to run slightly hotter but not much, auto fan profile usually makes laptop run slightly hot, since the fans profile is not very aggressive for OCs.....

the heatsinks and cooling system looks all the same...have you updated the latest ec firmware and bios? .308 and .108?

7820hk is newer and faster, expected higher temps....since msi have no change to the cooling system. but i did notice the gpu has a slighty higher default core clock. u also will have new vbios. use gpuz to grab it and share it?

your cpu fan noise seems to follow you even with the new refresh...i still don't understand what is this noise...upload a youtube clip maybe?

which is easier for you? exchange (free) or repaste (cost you time and money)....since got bad fan and flaky speakers?

do u want to go LM repaste with better thermal pads?

...only you have the latest cpu...but temps etc seem normal...its good. u can only make it better with a repaste.

u don't really need to...my idle sport temps 45/52....so your new gpu is very good idle temps....

what matters is when everything is on LOAD...77 avg is good...use a advance fan curve and it should not goto 80/81...

up to you my friend...play more games...test more for a few days....see how u go and feel....when the 'return' time limit is nearing make your decision...

i am over with my testing....now enjoying whats its meant for....playing games....

 

yeah thats true. what i meant also was initially when i had the first dragon center in November, you could instantly see the CPU usage ran high if you enable those xboosts.....now with newer version of dragon center when u click on them, u don't see the instant over cpu usage....happily leave them off for now

all in time...see anybody has anything good about xboosts....so far zero....

 

yeah need to know your ec firmware...everyone is on the lastest dc version...

i suspect you are on .106 ec, becos .107 ec changelog is about "update new CPU fan control table"

i didnt checked last time when i had .106 ec....so if we could know what ec you are on, we can rule that ec stuff out....and maybe someone will try the 7rf .108 ec will get those 6 points aggressive cpu fan profiles for our 6rf...

 

Possible...even with the gtx 1080 it sucks battery aswell hybrid mode....gtx is 180w when OCed will pull 200w....again battery drain...

 

whats the amps on the 240w?

the 330W is rated 16.9A

would that cause problems? since u have both laptops, u can experiment

 

yay for true color...its only useful at gamer settings though lol

 

1.0mm all the way..

for the nvme heatsink i went 1.5mm it was a tight fit...but the screws and how the whole setup is flexible...is about right....if i would do it again, probably go 1.0mm for everything.

and as @Mobius 1 pointed out a neat trick to do with the old green pads was i cut them in half and stuck it under the 2 ssds....so both sides are padded....double power

 

yeah we been like waiting forever lol

 

Wow your pch temps are really good. mines always high like 71C....dunno if it is gpu card 1070 vs 1080 power differentials...

as 6RE owners having a cooler system overall....lower power draw and smaller psu...

 

cannot wait! which manufacture can do it first!...? msi likes to be first....will they?

 

what country is that?

in my country it costs $4999! thats called ripped off!

 

Holy doublepost batman!

 

thats a good FS score....what OC GPU are you running?

Temps not super great....but its giving you very good benchmarks. means you have more OC headroom...

Did you change better pads? like grizzly minus 8w or fujipoly 11/14/17w thermal pads? pads matter as much as the gpu/cpu die too....after all those vrms/vrams need the cooling. as a whole system...if not...its still better than stock...

plus on auto fans settings they are very low/basic (good enough for stock)....if you go advanced fan (for turbo users) profile...you will even get better cooling as more airflow and earlier rpm fan spins

 

Its a NVIDIA driver install issue...don't worry...
i have broken this machine many times over....about 10 win clean installs....its very hard to break it from a force shutdown...

u will testing OC, testing any cpu AND GPU hardware issues...plenty time for u to force shutdown again

not to mention all those ec bios updates win updates, driver updates, apps updates...games crashing, freezing....its all part of the package!

 

CPU is at 4.1 and GPU at 250/600. i use Intel XTU and MSI afterburner and have uninstalled Dragon center.

 

That profile doesn't work for my display. It's much too dark, so dark grey and blue look black. I use True Color with the sRGB profile, which looks good for me.

I own my GT73VR (6820HK, 1070, 120Hz) since two month now. I really love to play on it, although I have some issues, too. I think, the first two are well known here:
1.) Chirping CPU Fan
2.) Loose display bezel
3.) A high frequency noise, that comes from beneath the keyboard. I can locate it somewhere, where the "T" is. It's there since about 4 weeks and only at mid FPS (e.g. when watching movies, on websites with animations or in game menues like in Hots with 39FPS). I cannot here it on the desktop or when playing.
I made a small video with fans at 0%, so I hope you can hear it:

Another interesting thing: It's complete quiet in ECO mode and it only appears every few seconds in Comfort Mode. But in Sport and Turbo, it's like in the video.
I never had something before with a computer. What is it? Coil whine?

So I think I have to wait until I can go without the NB for a few weeks and send it to MSI :-(

Greetings from Germany

Fabian

 

LOL so I spend a bunch of time working on a post about the new 7RF that I bought only to have it buried under 3 pages of kenny's posts.

 

I read your post about the 7RF, and thanks for all the info. Could you give me temperatures after 1 hour of TW3? Thanks.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

 

I'm thinking about to replace the 1TB HDD with a bigger one. There are 5TB Barracudas, with a 15 mm z-height. Is it possible to use them in the GT73VR? I'm afraid not, but I'm sure someone of you knows it...

 

Sorry to say, but nope.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

 

Sadly I do not own that game. I could do BF1 or Overwatch which both stress things pretty hard.

 

Nope, the hard drive cage will only fit a standard size 2.5" drive. I think the biggest you could get would be 2 TB.