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

Not sure what could be the problem. I have used 4 monitors simultaneously (3 external plus laptop screen) and I have no problems with it. Why not use the two display ports instead of HDMI and displayport? Can you check directly in the nvidia control panel to see the connections? It usually shows what is connected, and you can enable/disable monitors there.

 

I could definitely buy another VGA to Mini-Display port adapter, but I still had my VGA to HDMI converter that I used to use with my old home computer, so I figured hey, use what ya got.

I'll check out the Nvidia control panel and see what I can set there, if it still doesn't register, think I should spend the extra 10-ish dollars and pick up another VGA to Mini-Display adapter?

(By the way, sorry about the mistype, so for correction, VGA to HDMI adapter, fairly new, bought about 2 months ago, VGA to Mini Display adapter, just bought like yesterday).

 

Write cache was enabled from the factory.

Yes I will, I only play with a little bit last night, I'll do other tests once the video review is done and if we still have any units left.

So I called MSI just 5 minutes ago they said they must have forgot to included, whoever received their GT80S with missing key caps can call MSI and they will mail it to you.

Backpack, palmrest, mouse pad, dragon keychain are still included just like our last unboxing video of GT80.

 

Hello,

I bought a gt80 2qe,
5700hq
980m sli
16gb ram,
256 ssd
Win 10 ( stable for now)
for 2200 $ ( its new not used)
13300 firestrike

I want to know what i have to do first? Updates and cie,

Thx

 

How did you pull that deal off !?

 

That was a luck , one of my friends got it from his brother and he needed some money, i took it from him
Never seen so beauty machine, its massive.

 

I have to admit.... I'm a little jealous.

 

What does write cache do?

 

Write caching buffers writes to ram to help speed up data transfer rates, if power is suddenly lost however those pending transactions are lost. Less likely in a notebook where the battery is like a UPS.

 

Uploaded by MSI a couple of days ago, showing GT72 OC CPU for the "first time"

It looks like MSI is using Intel XTU to set the OC, not the BIOS.

I thought it was funny that something we have been doing for years with Intel XTU and mobile CPU's is being touted by Intel / MSI as being done for "the first time".



Again with the 4.0ghz

Any recent Skylake/Broadwell/Haswell CPU should be able to be OC'd via XTU to 4.0ghz, the CPU doesn't need to be a "K" CPU.

Intel/MSI didn't mention the specific part in this clip, but it must be the 6820HK mobile "K" CPU.

How will the GT80S's get OC'd, still using XTU only, or available via BIOS too? I hope MSI eventually provides Windows tools for OC'ing, and not just BIOS / XTU interfaces.

The 6820HK will be a pain to manage if it only can be set via XTU, as any crash / power cycle will require going back in to Intel XTU and selecting the OC profile of choice, again, to get back "up to speed".

The default speed of the 6820HK is low - only 2.7ghz base with 3.6ghz turbo.

 

laptop has battery though so that almost never happens. that CDM benchmark doesnt look like write cache is enabled, if it is, shouldnt be that low of a performance. as two sata ssd in raid 0 say samsung 850 pro would do much better with write cache enabled, around 400-500 MB/s 4k QD1 write.

 

Maybe Gentech can let us know this... I can ask Pat as well...

 

how does this discrepancy affect real-life usage?

 

The stock model comes with 951 ssd's which are pretty much prototypes... Maybe that has something to do with the low CDM benchmark

 

The gt72 ships with the 6820hk in several SKUs. The SM951 is an OEM drive, while it does not ship as a retail unit that does not make it some sort of prototype.

 

Could only upload 5 pics, and needed moderator approval for a gallery, so here's the imgur link:

Gallery

On the pic where I show everything, the accessory bag on top of the GT80 comes with it, and on the back left of the table is the rain cover.

It could still fit a lot more.

 

Meaker, the 6700K was rumored to be in a GT72 barebones configuration, but I think it was also a 6820HK.

The difference between the Samsung SM951 and Samsung 950 Pro is the "auto-throttling" firmware in the Pro 950, which keeps it from attaining full performance by throttling during extended use - to keep the temperature down.

Otherwise the performance seems the same, except the SM951 can go faster longer before shutting down - of course it will get extremely hot while doing it

 

Thanks A Ton! I really appreciate it... Now i am sure im going to get this case for it!

 

@Meaker / Mason, only a mains power loss won't affect a laptop like a non-battery backed up PC using RAID. You can still lose data integrity if you crash or are forced to power cycle a laptop using a RAID volume. The write cache can be lost if interrupted.

If your laptop OS "crashes", or you are forced to power cycle the laptop because the OS is "hung", you will lose in transit write cache data, and without a battery backed NVRAM backup of the data buffers - standard in "real" RAID controllers - and kernel code to manage it all - you will lose data integrity.

By data integrity loss, I mean there are transactions in transit through the write cache that are lost, even with a laptop battery.

That's why I always do a C drive chckdsk after rebooting from a crash/power cycle when using RAID0 in my laptop.

I haven't lost a RAID0 volume for many years, but if you don't check the disk and keep it healthy, you could lose the volume, or data on it if you don't check for a long time.

Such data corruption gets worse as you continue to write to the volume.

I have only had a couple of close calls, where Window chkdsk wouldn't / couldn't fix the problem during a boot check - what you usually end up needing to do if it finds issues to repair during the chkdsk run.

For those situations I use a Windows 8.1 install USB boot drive, boot from it, and run the Repair Computer option - then it was able to fix the C volume, and I could continue. It's a good idea to prepare one of these for use when a problem comes up.

And, as always, backup your C volume / system as a restoreable image file every so often so if anything does happen, you can recover quickly.

When I am benchmarking / tuning, and I know I am going to be crashing / rebooting a lot, I disable the "write cache" for the RAID0. I still do the chkdsk's after every crash, but at least I am reducing the likelihood of requiring a Repair my Computer session

 

so in other words its better to leave write cache off if stability is not good...

Also how do you back up an entire image of the c drive?? I was thinking of using the 1tb hdd for backing stuff up - is this reasonable? will it fit on it?

 

Right, keep the "write back cache" off until your system is stable.

It's been mentioned that the GT80s comes with the "write back cache" on for best performance; I would benchmark with "write back cache" enabled to get a good base reading for performance, and then when you start "tuning" - making it unstable - disable the "write back cache" to avoid corruption in the C volume.

Be sure to Enable "write cache buffer flushing" to Disable "write back cache"



The "write back cache" is only for RAID volumes, but there is an option for a "write buffer flush disable" for normal Windows volumes too. By default it is off / unchecked, but if you turn it on for performance improvements - it also needs to be disabled before CPU/GPU tuning that might make the system unstable and crash.



Macrium Reflect works well for me. Make sure you are running the latest version - we have new laptops that have new technology so it's possible any software may have problems with compatibility - especially if you are on Windows 10

Macrium Reflect Free Current Version: 6.1.909 (2 November 2015)
http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx

I make an image backup of the whole boot drive, all the partitions, to a compressed image file on an external USB 3.0 drive.

I image backups a few times initially, and frequently moving forward.

First image backup after completing install of Windows + Updates configured for the hardware as I like it, then again after installing all the apps and updates.

I keep the games install directories on another partition so I don't waste time backing them up as I can restore them as needed via internet. Some I do install on the C partition to keep them immediately available after a restore.

I refresh that "final image" occasionally as I install more stuff, and I am happy with the state of the boot drive - the most recent image is the one I pick for restores.

Then I create the PE bootable USB 3.0 flash drive, and that is what you use to do a restore.

Boot on the USB 3.0 flash drive, and attach the USB 3.0 backup drive, and select the image to restore and the destination - usually the RAID0 volume, and then go away for an hour for the restore to complete.

Another trick is to make a "small image file" that will fit on a smaller RAID0, like the 2 x 128GB's that came with the system, that way if you want to change the "big" RAID0 drives you can do it easily and quickly, living with the smaller RAID0 while transitioning from/to the new drives. I have a 67GB image, and many "TB" images. That way I can restore quickly to test new M.2 drives.

 

with write cache enabled, when installing software it feels much more snappy, make most of your software runs faster too that requires constantly writing lil bits of files everywhere.

also by looking at those CDM number, probably just default OS and nothing is optimized, one would turn on cache enabled, cstate off, high performance disk never turn off and few other registry related settings to do with power management to get best performance out of their machine and SSDs.

although cache enabled and disk never turn off makes the biggest difference.

also SM951 is the first sammy consumer pcie SSD, 950 pro is successor which turned out to be similar performance if not worse in some area.. it was a big let down.

with me on ram disk, fully prepared, bring it on!!!

 

unityole, actually, I think you will be "bringing it on yourself"

 

????????

What do you back your stuff up on? Do you use an external hdd? Do you think the stock mechanical hdd is enough?

Yes But I will probably have everything on one partition... I am only going to have the 1tb hdd and 2x 500gb nvme's...

 

It only makes sense to backup a "good" / complete image, not something that is unstable or unconfigured, unless you are making a snapshot to interrupt the process to replace the hardware/media.

I have several media types. For your initial set up, the 1TB drive will be ok - you can compress the mostly empty 1TB RAIDO image down enough, but you will quickly outgrow the 1TB drive.

You will want a 4TB or larger drive / array to backup to soon.

You don't want to run out of room, and put off a backup because of not enough storage, or be forced to delete an image you really want to keep.

HDD's are really slow, even in a RAID0, so backup's will take a long time, and restores will seem to take even longer. It limits options.

If you can afford it, get a 2TB-4TB+ SSD external single/RAID for backup's / restores, it really helps - you will think of things to do using it that can't enter your mind when it takes hours for a backup/restore cycle.

Remember, don't erase / format the 1TB HDD, your MSI BurnRecovery source partition is on that drive

 

With the NVME it does not make sense to put software on separate partition b/c it will be slower on other drives...?

 

My Razer Doesn't have the Flush option????

 

You could partition the 1TB RAID0 such that the OS C partition takes part of RAID0 and is quick to back up, and put all the applications on the D partition, which you could leave out of the restore of the C partition.

It's also a good idea to not put everything on the C partition anyway, in case that partition gets corrupted. You would only lose that partition if things go wrong, and after restoring the C partition, all of your apps would already be on the D partition.

The idea is to make a smaller critical boot drive backup that can be restored quickly.

You don't want to have to wait hours for a 1TB restore - read speed limited by HDD, instead restore the C partition quickly.

Doing backups well requires some thought as to what resources you have and how they work for both backup and restore. And, after doing it a few times, it will be clearer what takes a long time and what can be made faster by re-configuring the sources destinations.

 

so you can partition a raid?

 

Anybody to advice me please?
After trying to revert to Win 8.1 "Machine-check exception" error blocked the system or restarted with a permanent hanging... There is no enough time to install / repair again the Win8.1 because the system blocks during the process. In addition there are no more old Win8.1 available in the system since my son formatted the partition...
Please help.

 

Yes, once RAID array is created it works as a single drive and it's permanent unless the RAID array has been deleted.

I did both 3.8GHz and 4.0GHz:



Cinebench seem does pretty basic and simple quick rendering so not sure if it's really accurate compare to real-world rendering.

 

If HID Evolution's restore USB drive they sold you isn't working, then you need to work with them to get it fixed.

They should have sold you the USB 3.0 flash drive made from MSI's BurnRecovery restore partition, and should have preserved that partition on the 1TB drive for you. That restore would give you the MSI out of the box OS configuration that came with your GT80.

Why would HID Evolution go through the trouble of making a different restore boot flash drive?? That makes no sense

It's possible that it is actually the correct MSI BurnRecovery flash drive, and there is something wrong with your laptop.

Did you check the Device Manager for Yellow Triangles/Question Marks, those would be missing device drivers - orphaned devices.

If you do have those, then you can get the drivers for your model from MSI's support site.

Here is the Global support site for my GT80 SLI-263 - you didn't mention what model GT80 you have...

Support For GT80 2QE Titan SLI
http://www.msi.com/product/notebook/support/GT80-2QE-Titan-SLI-5.html#down-bios

Drivers and Utilities are there for Win8.1 and Win10 - most of the Win10 downloads also install on Windows 7/8/10, so I would start there for the newest versions.

Again, contact HID Evolution for support too, if they sold you the laptop, it's their responsibility to help you fix laptop problems

 

Im planning to get the gt80 with an i7 5700HQ 980m sli and 16 gb of ram. I was wondering since it was 128gb ssd x2 if i could simply buy 2 other different sized ssd m.2s

Let me explain: right now the system has 128gb x2 i was planning on getting a 256 gb x2 m.2 ssd, in total 768 gb, i was wondering with the stock preconfiguration if that would work, or would it mess any settings, i also plan to throw out the stock 1 tb harddrive in favour of a samsung ssd, and change the 16 gb of ram in favour of 8gbx4 = 32 gb of ram.

Thanks

 

milkydude12, that all should work fine

You will need to create a new RAID0 volume in the BIOS and add the two 256GB drives, so you will have 2 RAID0 showing in Windows - you will need to create a volume(s) on that 2nd RAID0 as it will come up as a bare "drive".

The 4x8GB, all new, is workable, but make sure the memory is native 1.35v, and not "tested at 1.35v", as there are no memory settings available in the BIOS, so if the RAM settings are burned in as 1.5v it will run at 1.5v.

G.SKILL Ripjaws 32GB (4 x 8G) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3L 2133
Laptop Memory Model F3-2133C11Q-32GRSL
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231776

Please come back and let us know how it works out

 

It's a single disk, not a RAID0.

 

Many thanks for your input!
Unfortunately the system partition was formatted, thus no more Win on the lappy to check the drivers. My son remembers that there were lots drivers missing including the videos and LAN.
On the flash drive there is Win 8.1 installation that starts alright but unfortunately the system blocks and I have to forcibly shut it down to eventually get the Machine-check exception error.
There is no overheating and so, thus must be a driver problem for too many components. It just gets blocked while trying to install the Win.
And no answer yet from HIDevolution...
Thank you for your kind understanding and waiting for further cooperation please.
Alex

 

Probably a bios issue...

 

teoabroad, using another USB 3.0 flash drive - don't erase the one from HID Evolution until they have a chance to look at it to find the problem - build a Windows 8.1 installation flash drive.

Microsoft has a tool to download and load the USB 3.0 drive. Then you can boot on it and run Repair Computer to see if that can fix the problem(s).

If Repair Computer doesn't work, you can use the same flash drive to load generic Windows 8.1, and run Windows Update to get patches and new drivers. After that you can download the drivers from MSI for the GT80.

If you run into a similar problem with boot, try going into the BIOS and use Set Defaults to reset BIOS settings, and try to boot again from defaults.

It may be a hardware problem after all, so don't beat yourself up over trying to make the Microsoft boot / install / repair drive work - it should just work the first time and boot up cleanly.

Create installation media for Windows 8.1
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/create-reset-refresh-media

Even though you purchased through HID Evolution, your warranty is through MSI, I would register your laptop here, with proof of purchase scanned/attached to the registration, and ask MSI for help.

Welcome to MSI Member Center
Register your MSI product now to enjoy a host of benefits !
https://register.msi.com/home/login

 

Just want to make sure there are no issues with the GT80 like those I have experienced on the Blade Pro... These issues with the blade pro are part of the reason for why i am switching...

http://1drv.ms/1PeV2uQ

(often causes me to reboot - sometimes pressing another key gets it to stop but makes it so that when i type "keyboard" it is "keeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeyboard") I have even had it occur on the delete button which deletes everything.... It really sucks... especially when it happens at school.

Can't wait for the mechanical keyboard.... Been trying my friend's mechanical keyboard out at school to try to get used to it...

Still waiting on Xotic PC's price-matching...I'm not a very patient person though...

 

Could it have something to do with the product key being stored in the Bios being corrupted... That might be a reason why it could reject the windows restore?

Was the USB drive they provided an offbrand? Its possible the files were corrupted if it was yanked out of a computer without ejecting it...

 

Are the Cinebench Scores any good compared to the Broadwell CPU?

http://www.tomsguide.com/answers/id-2316302/whats-good-benchmark-photoshop.html

Do you think it can handle 6000x8000 pixel photos on it in real-time?

 

That's what people thought, and I can see why, but it does not pan out in the benchmarks:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/9702/samsung-950-pro-ssd-review-256gb-512gb/8

As for people thinking a desktop socket would fit properly into the GT72, that was just spread by people who don't quite think enough about the system.

 

Pat confirmed it is bios unlocked :

 

Cinebench scores definitely show no throttling due to TDP. Otheriwse it would not achieve scores similar to 4Ghz+ equipped machines that do not throttle. Very nice

 

Machine exception I think usually means a hardware issue. I had not problems upgrading to Win10, reverting, then upgrading to 10 again, then reverting AGAIN to 8.1 and now I am back to win10 fully stable (MSI finally released the drivers for win10).

Try doing your reinstall of windows with as few things connected to the computer. Honestly I haven't even installed windows 8 or 10 from scratch on an UEFI machine. Maybe try first installing you OS on non RAID, break your RAID partition and install on a single hard drive to see if that works.

 

To day i did my first travel of the month with the gt80, it s perfect in his bag , comfortable, some times you forgot its in your back , its very big, took another laptop in the same bag. Gg msi
Just in case someone need this info

 

Ofcourse it does! Good to know.
I want mine so bad already :/

 

The test in the video below shows the 950 Pro reaching 98.7c then throttling performance, peak transfer speed drops from 700+MB/sec to 400+MB/sec (33%), while the SM951 keeps going at full speed and reaches 110c while continuing to transfer at 700+MB/sec.

The SM951 finishes the 205+GB copy in much less time,
4:35 vs 6:08 = 1 minute 33 seconds (33%) faster.

The 950 Pro throttles itself at 98c and it does this by throttling from full speed to 66% of full speed.

Samsung 950 Pro vs Samsung SM951 Thermal Comparison


That was an open frame test on a motherboard in a large computer case. In the more confined space of a laptop, the throttling upon reaching 98c could be much sooner, and those confined spaces hold heat - there is no airflow - so a constant state of hitting that 98c throttle could keep happening - throttling even shorter transfers.

Here is the article the video came from:

Product Review: Samsung 950 Pro 512GB M.2 Drive
Written on October 27, 2015 by Matt Bach
https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/a...-2-Drive-725/#FileCopyTemperature&Performance

And, apparently Samsung has publicly stated they throttle the 950 Pro:

"On the other hand, Samsung publicly advertises the throttling capability of this drive so if you are willing to see some performance throttling it should be completely safe to use it without a heatsink if you wish."

I also found a great graph that shows the performance drop/rise in a sawtooth pattern once the 950 Pro reaches 98c, I will add it here if I can find it later.

Update, here it is. This test shows thermal throttling started at 110GB - better cooling or less intensive copy:


The graph came from this review:
http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Storag...-PCIe-SSD-Review/Thermal-Throttling-Conclusio

Doesn't 98c seem like a *really high* temperature to throttle? I would think more like 68c would be safer for long term use.

 

The highest I tested on the 5950HQ was 813cb @ 4.0ghz; the Skylake 6820HK 868cb @4.0ghz is 6% faster in this test

813cb
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/i7-4980hq-vs-i7-5950hq.779654/page-6#post-10064707

803cb
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/i7-4980hq-vs-i7-5950hq.779654/page-7#post-10064728