***The Official MSI GT80 Titan Owner's Lounge***

Hi
I just bought msi gt80s 002 . I will hopefully receive it during this coming week.
I was wondering what should I do when I first get it ?
And what temperatures are okay when gaming for both cpu and gpu ?
Since it comes with windows 10 , am I going to have any problems with it ?

 

The Nvidia SLI driver improvements for new games go hand in hand with single GPU driver game performance improvements.

The single GPU improvements also come out over time, so you really aren't waiting any longer than anyone else for performance improvement after the game ships.

When you get single GPU improvement, and SLI improvement, that doubly helps. SLI has been enough of a benefit to always try for an SLI configuration using the highest performance single GPU card available.

It's rare to get SLI in a laptop; availability comes and goes over time, so it's good to stretch a bit for it when a good SLI laptop becomes available.

The GT80 has proven itself over the last year, through Haswell, Broadwell, and now Skylake in the GT80S. All the SLI 980m models perform excellently, with each CPU generation getting just that little bit faster. For gaming it's 99% all about the GPU.

It's too soon to tell about the GT80S SLI 980 desktop GPU version, but my guess is it's going to be the fastest SLI laptop ever.

Either the 980m SLI or the 980 SLI will take you down the road a long way, at least until MSI offers Pascal GPU upgrades

 

Given the sync rate of 24hz for movies, I use 4 x 24hz => 96hz.

100hz for games the GT80 runs away with (100's of fps), and select a refresh in 5hz increments for games under 100fps, like 80fps/80hz for Just Cause 3.

 

That was all Alienware, on the Asus G750/G751 laptops, they ran great. With enough cooling and sensible BIOS settings (set by Asus), Haswell was a good CPU.

The Haswell CPU's under the same cooling, might get a little hotter, so OC potential is limited, but even Broadwell and Skylake will reach their limits at some point around the same performance - the power / thermal limits of cooling are going to be about the same.

So performance improvements come down to EDRAM for the Broadwell, kicking performance up 10-15%, and Skylake's new architecture gives another 5% over that.

Those CPU performance improvements don't translate into much FPS gain on single GPU, and even less as a percentage on SLI.

This makes all the 980m SLI GT80(S) perform in games the same.

The SLI 980 Desktop will break the performance barrier and gain another 20-30% FPS in games, single or SLI.

If you have another $1200 laying about, go for a GT80S SLI 980 - and please come back and post your benchmark / performance tuning results

 

Both the 6820HK and 6920HQ are going to perform about the same in games. You aren't going to see the small % improvement of 1 over the other, except in synthetic benchmarks.

The 6920HK might perform a bit better stock, but we don't know if it is going to be locked down from OC like the 6700HQ is, and if recent events play out (BCLK OC'ing of desktop CPU's), we might even see OC for the "locked multiplier" Skylakes.

The 6820HK is "unlocked", but only OC's as far as 4.0ghz from all reports thus far. And, that is only 100mhz over the 6920HK's 3.9ghz Max Turbo Boost.

So stock or OC those 2 CPU's are within 100mhz either way.

IDK what else the 6920HQ brings to the table, performance improvement wise, but I am interested in seeing benchmarks.

If you don't like OC'ing, or are uncomfortable setting OC BIOS settings for the 6820HK, then the 6920HQ stock settings will be higher than the stock 6820HK.

 

As long as there is enough power and cooling, you can OC the GT80 SLI 980m just like a single GPU.

My GT80 SLI-263 stock Firestrike 1.1 benchmark nets 14,500, OC'ing the CPU / GPU's results in 15,900, and if you want maximum GPU performance get an unlocked vBIOS from svet or prema and you can get over 17,000.

That's a nice range of useful performance improvements that will show up in gaming, all from OC'ing

 

So the reason I ask about cpu is there are a few games I play that are cpu heavy (arma and dayz even though dayz isn't optimized)... And with those games I find even 100mhz to make a difference with fps. Obviously I can't order the 6920hq yet but I'd like to be at a solid 4ghz with no issues.

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The only issue is gaining the expertise for tuning the OC on the 6820HK in the BIOS or in the OS with Intel XTU.

If you don't tune it the 6920HK will be at a 200mhz disadvantage to the 6920HQ at Base clock and Max Turbo:

http://ark.intel.com/compare/88972,88969

 

That link broken? Wasn't working for me. If I did OC I would definitely be coming to you guys for advice. Gpu OC I have never had issues with but with xtu I never seemed to master a good OC.

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At stock both will be pretty similar to be fair, load turbos will be very similar due to TDP restrictions.

 

It looks like the chassis of the 980 sli desktop gpu version is the same? How can the temps be managed with that kind of load? Part of me wants to take the leap and just buy that one.. but I dont know how I feel about a 1200 dollar test machine that I will use as my main laptop.

 

The very reason I am waiting until around February...If I have sufficient data earlier, I will purchase earlier. I might even purchase as late as March.

 

As it is i'm looking at over 4.5k for the 980m sli after I increase the SSD size to what I currently have and add the 3 year warranty gen tech offers. I would be looking at 6k for 980 sli. I don't think it's worth it... Especially because unless I wait a few months I will have no idea what to expect. While I could wait, I have been getting very anxious to sell my Alienware and move to something new. A big part of me is simply more excited to get a skylake cpu than anything else.

 

I share your enthusiasm, but I am hoping to make this laptop last for 5+ yrs....My current one is showing it's age and is barely keeping up. One piece of source code in particular takes about 15 minutes to compile...That is unacceptable.

 

Wow 5 years for a laptop? More power to you! I could never think of having one for more than 3. Especially after going through 3 in 3 years with Alienware.... I would be so happy to get 3 out of this! I love to have the latest and greatest so even if it's still working ok in 3 I will still probably upgrade, haha.

 

Not me, I am not willing to spend this amount that often on a laptop. Like I said previously, I still have and am using this one (5 yrs old)...my wife will get this one when I buy the MSI, and the previous one (10 yrs old)...my wife is using currently. If they are taken care of, high end laptops tend to last. I will also reacquire the 10 yr old Dell to potentially use for programs that will not run beyond Windows XP. I would not be surprised to see the old Dell make it to 20 yrs.

 

So something on the lighter note... I am skeptical about how much I will like the keyboard. Never used a mechanical one and always thought they sounded obnoxious. Are they really that awesome? I would hate to not like it but I don't want that to hold me back when everything else seems so solid. Thoughts?

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This definitely falls under the realm of personal preference. My understanding is that mechanical keyboards are slightly faster to get each signal to the O.S., but the difference may not be substantial. My suggestion would be to go somewhere and try a mechanical...Preferably on a GT80 (Maybe Fry's). If you have never used one, there is a chance that you may not like it. You may also have an issue with the keyboard location since it is unusual. Good luck!

 

Meaker was referring to the CPU's as being likely similar performance due to TDP.

The GT80S with 980 SLI will have beefed up cooling plates, heat pipes, and it might even get larger exhaust fans and heat exchangers.

With the 980m vs 980 at stock settings, it will be the 980 all the way

OC'ing the 980m's will bring it a long way toward the 980's, but OC'ing the 980's will be limited by power of the 330w power adapter, and 2 x 330w power adapters isn't "official", and untested.

Either way, both are easily worth the $

 

There may not be enough time for waiting... the 29th Anniversary edition is the only version of the 980 SLI, and it's a limited edition. Once sold out, there won't be any more made.

If you want one, I would pre-order...

 

Forget the SSD's, get the GPU's now, and wait for the SSD's to gel - right now NVME isn't performing well, and the 1TB models aren't even shipping yet.

Get minimum SSD's in SATA III, a nice 2TB 2.5" to hold you over till the new releases of NVME and 1TB M.2's ship.

You can always upgrade the memory and storage, but the 980 SLI is gonna be expensive as an upgrade - if they even sell it for an upgrade.

$4599 stock + a 2.5" 512GB-2TB SSD, and you are set

 

The mechanical keyboard is awesome, and even better in the solid base the GT80 laptop frame provides.

The Brown switches are easy to get used to, not too noisy, but you can detune them a bit more, to remove the bottoming out "twang", by using these rubber O-rings on the keys:

Cherry MX Rubber O-Ring Switch Dampeners (125pcs)
http://www.wasdkeyboards.com/index....mx-rubber-o-ring-switch-dampeners-125pcs.html

WASD Keyboards: Cherry MX Switch Sound Comparison

 

I am very tempted to do that but I just am unsure if going sli desktop in a laptop is the best choice. This is my only computer (once I sell my Alienware which I intend to do immediately after my new laptop arrives).

If for whatever reason there is heat issues or power issues due to those cards im going to kick myself for dropping the money on the first of its kind. I totally get your point about getting the absolute top of the line.. But I'm just not sure.

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Great suggestion I will definitely keep that in mind depending on how it sounds in person!

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It's unlikely MSI will mess up on their Flagship Laptop, they aren't Dell/Alienware

MSI came through with a great implementation of the 980m SLI in the GT80's, everyone's happy, few complaints other than the usual minimal manufacturing defects - the design is solid.

I would expect the same of the GT80S 980 SLI.

Make sure when you buy it you have a solid 15-30 day 100% return (no restocking fees), and you are covered.

 

You drive a good argument... But now I feel sold on the 6820hk over the 6920hq... Been doing some more reading outside this forum between post's. Seems the HK version is the most sought after one. Such decisions to make for such an expensive machine! It's going to take me another week or two to figure out which to order at this rate. You guys have all been very helpful and supportive... I can't thank you enough.

What to do what to do...

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OK guys need some feedback on something. The Clevo P870DM can rock the same 980m sli gpu's with a 6700k desktop cpu running 4ghz turbo 4.4. That's a beast of a cpu. Please correct me if I'm wrong but wouldn't that make the clevo the better buy and better performance obviously? Or am I missing something here...

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Currently the PM870 SLI 980m performance results are less than my GT80 SLI-263 in Firestrike 1.1... including the total score, CPU score, and GPU score. And, my GT80 scores aren't the best GT80 scores I have seen.

That is likely due to an EC/BIOS bug. And, when they fix it and roll out the change we can compare again. There may be continued tuning and bug fixing moving forward.

The Prema BIOS/vbios/EC is being tuned for performance improvements when the bug was found.

You need to be careful and get the PM870 from a dealer that is a Prema Partner, and also allows the full Prema BIOS "unlocked" version to ship with the laptop - including full warranty coverage - right now no one has confirmed they will do that.

If you just buy the PM870 without Prema BIOS, you won't get full OC performance.

Also, the PM870 isn't getting an SLI 980 version, it's stopping at SLI 980m.

 

Thanks for the suggestion, but I still plan to wait for true performance results and feedback from others even if I risk missing out. I also agree with your later statement that MSI is not likely to mess up a flagship model.

 

I do find the Clevo tempting, and it may eventually prove to be a better choice, but I wish to stick to an 18.4" screen if possible. I wish MSI would design in a desktop processor version of the GT80 along with the GTX 980s of course. I am not really concerned with battery life.

 

GT80, love it for what it is.

The 18.4" screen, dual 980's, adequate CPU to feed the GPU's, it's awesome enough for this generation.

Hopefully Clevo can keep up, and provide some competition

 

This might sound absolutely ridiculous to some of you... But Dayz is a game I have put 600 hours into. It's poorly optimized and only sees performance jumps based on cpu clock speed. I have a group of people I used to play with but due to my cpu throttle issue it never ran great.... And eventually I just had to stop playing. When I saw how it ran on a friends pc with a slightly weaker gpu but much stronger cpu I was shocked. Then I tried overclocking my current haswell to see how the game performs before throttling started. I was so impressed with how much fps gain 300mhz did, that when I saw what the 6700k offers it's mouth watering.

It sucks because I actually like the design and screen size of the MSI... but man that 4ghz base clock is amazing. I'm so torn :/

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It's a tough choice. Get 20% better performance in CPU games, or 35% better performance in GPU games.

What CPU are you moving from?

Maybe the 6820HK/6920HQ will be enough.

 

I am coming from the 4980hq. Why do you say 35% better for gpu? I don't think I'd sacrifice gpu performance with the 6700k as I would still go with 980m sli. Explain?

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The 35% GPU bump is going from 980m SLI to 980 SLI

 

I know this will get a negative response from most, but I like the form factor but will rarely use the battery, so they could get more room by removing the battery and any supportive charging circuitry, then design in the desktop processor and I would be very interested, as this way both CPU and GPUs can be upgraded.

 

It's a - 120 hz 4K 3D tv

 

I disagree u should have a ssd

 

You need to re-read, you missed the point

If you can only afford to spend a certain amount, make sure to get all the performance you can when you 1st purchase it.

Get the best CPU and GPU at first purchase because upgrading them later may not be possible, or 2x as expensive.

SSD's and Memory can be upgraded at any time. And, for DDR4 and NVME, delaying will get you better / faster / larger capacity components later.

Get what you need to be functional first.

 

Ahh you are still working me down on the 980s. I work in sales and you aren't doing a bad job up selling the idea trust me! However I need to get all my hard drives in place from day one. Mostly because I have a certain way of installing my games and managing my data. If I had a second computer it might make a difference but in this case I'll need to set things up at the start.

It's not like its 1200 dollars worth of drives though. I'm just doing 2 256 ssd raid... A 512 ssd (where most my games get installed... And a 2tb data drive. I think it's about 600 or so in upgrades maybe less. I also want the warranty from gen tech which is 300.

Now I have to really decide which way I wanna go. I'm like 60/40 in favor of the MSI currently. That 6700k keeps calling my name though! Grrrr

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Any ideas?

 

It's like this.

If you want to Overclock you can do that. 6700K and a Single MXM 980.

Although we are talking laptops, you're limted NO MATTER WHAT MANUFACTURER YOU CHOOSE (Not yelling just highlighting my point)

Most laptops max out at 300+ Watts... That's it man.

It looks to me like you are letting a Single unoptimized "DayZ" determine your purchase ultimately .

Personally I went with the 072 (SLI 980s), but I play a lot of different games and I wish to play more games down the line with no issues.

The question is, if you are only gonna play DayZ, how long do you expect your Overclocking to last before the components Begin to degrade?

Will the hassle be worth it?

Or would you rather just go with the powerhouse and know you may not need/want to do anything to it at all?

 

It depends on your setup. I use a Denon AV receiver for HDMI switching, so I just connect an HDMI cable from my laptop to an open HDMI input. You may do the same if you have something similar. You could also do wired or wireless network streaming, or possibly a direct cable connection to your TV. Some modern TVs come with an interface box that you would connect to. There are many different streaming devices available that allow a wireless connection, although many devices may not be able to handle 4k bandwidth.

 

Can you list the TV model? I'm skeptical that it's a true 120hz display (as that requires the new displayport standard and HDMI 2.0 can't even cope with that) and I doubt the 3d is even at the 60hz.

 

I don't want it to sound like i'm basing it just on that game because that would be silly. I guess where i'm torn is that I don't feel going with 2 980s for 1200 is going to be worth the extra money vs 2 980m's. Especially since I can't even see them performing as good as an actual desktop version with what limitations laptops have. I feel like overclocking the 980m's would put me in a sweet spot and I would be happy GPU wise. However when I am looking at a base CPU clock of 2.7-2.9 vs a base clock of 4, that's a huge difference. I won't even mess with CPU clock with a base of 4.

The few games I do play that rely on CPU more would absolutely love that extra speed. Plus I am very bitter towards my 4980 that that never ran up to the clocks It was supposed to. This is not an easy decision for me as all your points make sense and are very convincing. Maybe you can understand where I am coming from, haha.

 

Meaker's right, majority of the TVs out there in the market don't have a true 120Hz displa because thier HDMI input still operate at 60Hz.

Here's what I found though.
http://www.blurbusters.com/overclock/120hz-pc-to-tv/

 

Here's the kicker.... The 072 is a completely different motherboard and it is looking like there WILL be a split between MXM and what ever those 980ms are on.

If it goes towards MXM you're screwed for future upgrades.

Yeah the laptop game sucks because we could have better desktops for the money lol.

I feel a bit more future proof going with the 980 even though it won't be up to par as far as its desktop brothers go.


To be honest I am wondering why no one is mentioning anything about the split from "M" GPUs to these new MXM GPUs. I wanna know what laptops will be stuck with, well the high end laptops.

 

The same can happen with the 980m's, it can even happen to just one of them - if it won't OC as high as the other both your 980m's will be held back from high OC. You can't count on OC'ing to get you the rest of the way to the 980 SLI stock speeds.

It's a tough choice, but if you want 980 SLI + 6700K, you chould wait a few months and hope MSI or Clevo come out with a new motherboard / chassis that does what you want.

Until then you could try out the MSI GT80S SLI 980 for 15-30 days and see if it is "good enough"

 

Ok so with that being said here's my next question.. when you talk about the split.. are you just saying the difference between being able to upgrade the laptop and not being able to? As in the MSI i can and with the Clevo I can't?

 

Not that I want to buy a laptop and return it.. but are you saying Gen Tech gives 30 days with no restock fee? I still don't think I'd want to go through that but curious!