GS65 Stealth Thin 8RF - upgrade RAM and SSD

Hello people, how easy is to replace the RAM and SSD on the newer MSI GS65?

https://www.msi.com/Laptop/GS65-Stealth-Thin-8RF

 

Also for whoever cracks open the first one,

• can you confirm that there are 2 x M.2 slots so we can have a 2nd SSD and their position?
• early reports on the pre-production versions had the rear cover as very difficult to remove.

If its anything like my GS60, the RAM and SSD's are on the front of the MB so impossible to get at. I'm hoping for a minor miracle and have MSI park them on the backside so we can get at them without too much drama.

And news on the GS75 (??) would be nice as well. My old eyes are starting to think maybe a bigger screen would be better. And the keyboard, what are peoples thoughts on the new layout? I've always had a number pad, I use it for navigation. Not sure about the new layout.

 

Keen to know the m.2 situation as well... the 2x slots on the Aero 15x is one of the primary draws for me.

 

The thin form factor is always a bit challenging to work on, therefore exercise extreme caution.

 

There's only one combo M.2 slot on this unit.
There isn't enough space for a second.
You need a higher up unit like a Raider or Titan to get the second M.2 slot.

 

https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/m...re-laptop-2018-engineering-sample-first-look/

Says there's 2x m.2 slots there?!

 

Yes it does say so, in the description. I'm not surprised since M.2 drives are quite slim and small. A different matter would be 2 slots for 2.5" drives. For the RAM the description doesn't say if there are 2 or 4 slots.

 

I thought so too, until I saw the most expensive configuration (068) has RAID for 1TB combined capacity (2 x 512GB). This leads me to believe there are actually 2 slots. But whether the entry level configuration (054) and the single drive and 32GB RAM version (053) have the open slot with proper sockets may be the question.

 

Yes, confirmed to have 2x PCIe NVMe M.2 slots.

 

Now we need them to be in a sane spot for upgrading. And a 2tb M.2 SSD that I don't have to sell a body part to afford would be nice.

 

M.2 are still a little bit expensive, while 2.5" sata ssds you can buy 2TB for 400~500 €/$. That's the advantage of having a bigger notebook like the GT73.

 

SATA SSD = cheap but saturated in throughput (up to 600MB/s), no further improvement available.
PCIe NVMe SSD = expensive but comes with much higher throughput (up to 15.76 GB/s), further improvement available.

 

Yes very good speeds for the pcie. For most people sata 3 speeds are enough even nowadays, and allows you for much cheaper storage. Just buy a macbook Pro with 2TB ssd and them by the same storage in ssd 2.5" Crucial Samsung, etc. You step down in price from €2500 to 450~550 maybe.

 

On the GS63 you need to fully take out the mb from chassis to access RAM and m.2 ssd.

Probably will be even harder with this one.

 

I'm still trying to be optimistic that the 2nd m.2 port is easy to get at.

So is the glass half full, half empty or twice as big as it needs to be?

 

Congrats! Check out the owners club - http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...stealth-owners-and-discussions-lounge.815216/ - they will definitely have questions for you. I am waiting for mine - jealous!

 

@Donald@HIDevolution posted a teardown vid of the GS65 here - http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...scussions-lounge.815216/page-26#post-10722143

 

Make a backup of the whole system with Macrium Reflect and fresh install Windows.

 

If you do a clean install yes.

I dont really SEE the need for a backup, all drivers are available for download, and the stock images usually have some crapware..

Just make a usb install pen with Media Creation Tool, and when it asks where you want to install, delete all partitions until all you have is unallocated space, then click next.

 

The teardown video covers it, but it is tough to get at the M.2 slots or the RAM or really anything other than the wireless card. Probably a plus for the custom builder shops around here since us mere mortals aren't crazy about disconnecting 8 tiny ribbons every time we have to get in there!

 

This is the way both MSI and ASUS set up the drive...and, why we offer a Clean Install for $15.

 

Clean-install is pretty awesome, fresh, clean, and adware-free.

 

Spot on. I would always recommend the PCIe, granted there are no budget limitations. For something that will impact your experience with the machine daily, always would recommend the better performing components.

 

See also http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/nvme-vs-sata-ssds-for-gamers.802045/

 

The hard drive speed is more or less important depending on how the games caches data from it. If every move requires to load assets of course you will want the fastest, however if the game is loaded to the RAM in big chunks or even the entire map with the characters and objects at once, you will not notice any difference.

As an example, I've tried running Overwatch from a USB 3.0 external thoshiba spinning drive, and those are the results: starting the game takes a lot more time, however, once the battle is started you don't notice any difference, you get smoothly the 120 FPS or whatever. On character selection it loads the assets in the background, so I personally notice the gameplay smooth as running it from the SATA SSD.

 

Confirmed, gameplay itself is unaffected, and unless you're trying to lock a particular hero before anyone else the difference in drives is almost moot.

 

Hi guys, I want to RAID two 1TB NVMe SSDs for my GS65 (not 068). The BIOS does not have RAID option under Advanced -> SATA selection. Only AHCI and the Optane.

Intel Rapid Storage Technology requires enabling in BIOS first.

Anyone knows how to enable it? Need a different version of the BIOS?

 

I just replied in the other thread. Perhaps it won't allow you to make the bios the selection without a second SSD available?

 

Thanks for the thinking options for me! I gave that a thought when I looked at the BIOS' SATA options but didn't really take that seriously. But it might.

Before I break the factory seal, perhaps I can get one of the MSI resellers who customize RAID to comment?

Anyone from XoticPC, HIDevolution, or GentechPC can comment on RAID option showing with added second disk for none-RAID (068) models?

 

Only PCIe RAID is supported.

BIOS> Advanced > SATA Mode: Change AHCI to Intel Rapid Storage
Please note that the secondary slot is only for NVMe PCIe, but no SATA support.

 

Thanks! So I was confused at the second SATA mode option being for Optane, but it did say RST Premium. After choosing that and reboot back into BIOS, I now see The IRST menu option!

 

I want to add another m.2 drive but not sure which to buy. I know they come in different physical sizes. any help on this?

 

I bought the newly released Samsung EVO 970 and installed it in my GS65 perfectly. It's 80mm in length, which I think it's pretty standard now in desktops and notebooks.

You can go into one of the SSD products in this link and expand the spec section of the product page to see their dimensions (~80mm): https://www.samsung.com/us/computing/memory-storage/solid-state-drives

 

How's the performance on the SSD? Have you benchmarked it using CrystalDiskMark?

 

Here's the benchmark for Samsung EVO 970 1TB NVMe PCIe SSD for boot drive (cloned using Samsung Magician) and loaded with some apps and 200GB worth of games to arrive at approx 40% full.



I noticed some performance gain from the stock non-NVMe 512GB SSD (Best Buy 037 model), but not really that much for game loading.

 

That's pretty awesome.... love it.

 

I just got my GS65-Stealth 053 with 512gb NVMe today. I took the laptop apart. There's about a dozen screws on the buttom, then you get motherboard access. The Memory and M2 slots are on the front side. Two screws, and releasing a few ribbons gets it loose and you can flip the board. The 2nd M2 slot is there. I added a 2TB WD Blue SATA M2 SSD. It would not recolonize it in slot 2. As others said, Slot 2 is for NVMe drives only. I move the stock NVMe drive and its heatsink gel to Slot #2 and put my SATA M2 SSD in Slot 1, and everything worked just fine. Dissaembley and Assembly takes about 10 minutes.

 

Does anyone know where to purchase a spare AC Power Adapter for the US? I usually leave one where I dock my laptop on my desk, and carry one in a backpack for travel.

 

Doesn't the vendor from which you bought your MSI GS65 8RF Stealth THIN-053 have spare AC Adapters?

 

Yup, you can get it directly from either of your point of purchase, or MSI.

 

Buy one with bigger power to use at home and take the lighter one that came with the GS65 with you on travel. The reason is the 180W is not enough to charge your laptop's battery AND be gaming at full load at the same time if your battery is less than 70-80% full. Also, it runs super hot, sometime hotter than feeling bottom of GS65 at full load!

So the common scenario is you used your laptop at a cafe and battery is down to 20%. You now returning home and want to play some games on an external monitor. So you plugged in GS65 to the wall and monitor and ready to play. Guess what? Frame rate is not up to where it suppose to be! It's not as low as on battery but no where close to it's capability. Until the battery gets above 70-80% (I think more like 80% from memory) will the frame rate restored to full power. This is not just GS65, I heard Aero 15x and other gaming laptops come with AC adapter that's is a compromise to size.

So I just got a 230W AC Adapter and will test that scenario. At the very least it has ran slightly cooler than 180W so far. Because MSI uses a pretty standard 5.5/2.5 mm barrel adapter, it shares with Asus, Lenovo, and other manufacturers. I bought a third party one from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07B4YV655

 

quick question, what memory would you recommend for this. Getting the bestbuy version and want to swap memory. Also might do the liquid metal to the GPU and CPU. Thanks!

 

If you're going to do this, you might instead deal with one of the specialty vendors online who will do the mods on your order and test it before shipping. It is not the easiest laptop to work on, as access to ram and thermal paste requires a full removal of the motherboard. Just order it the way you want it.

In my testing, the GPU power limits before it reaches thermal throttling. The CPU thermal throttles before it power limits. The easiest performance improvement is to lift the GS65 off the desktop and position the power cable so the fans can circulate a lot more air.

 

I couldn’t agree more with Larry. I was going to Best Buy route and planned to upgrade on my own. After looking at some other vendors it was worth the money to just buy from them and get the warranty.

 

Would a laptop cooler help with the GS65 CPU throttling? Undervolting?

 

Laptop cooler helps a bit, but undervolt helps more.