How is the FORCE 16F2?

Once the top strip where the power button is removed pull the keyboard dont worry there is no clips or anything, its like its got sticky stuff behind it and just needs a little force to remove.

I must say i recieved this 16F2 yesterday and was a bit worried about the cooling and turbo stuff.

But i installed my old dell m18x cpu 2720qm and have to admitt MSI have built a super cooler for the cpu the design is fantastic compared to Dell M18X at idle msi the cpu is sitting at 29c 30c load at 52/55c (the m18x idle was 45c load 70/75 with turbo boost as well) and yes i am seeing turbo boost happening stock going to 3.20ghz when needed on the barebone.

My m18x temps were using the stock dell cpu paste but the barebone was using the mx4 paste.

I feel the barebones cpu cooler sticks out slightly to give it that full contact where the dell m18x is flat as.

For the price, i cant be happier full credit to these barebones :0)


Ok the single 560m cant compete with the sli 580m but that's a totally different ball game.
In future i will be buying these barebones instead of branded laptops as upgrades are important

I might wack one of my sli 580m cards in this 16f2 just to see if it will work ok, but im a bit busy to tear apart the m18x at the moment. But if i do i'll post results, as im keen to see if throttling occurs and generally need to know if it will accept a 580m.

So far the 560m is showing no throttling issues even overclocked and runs perfect also i love the fact that it comes from factory overclocked already at over 800ghz.

thanks

 

If you want to put the 580M in the 16F2 you will need a heatsink from a GT683DXR or GT780DX.

 

Looking forward to your result with the GTX 580M

 

Thanks paladin44 and bar-code!!! Rocking all 16GB of RAM now!!

 

hmm why would the heat sink differ! I currently am seeing a 3 heat pipe sink running on the 560m 16f2. What else can they be running new design, can we confirm this. Personally i feel my current set up will support the 580 no problem, unless under the cooler they have a different undercut to support the 570/580 vrm's.

 

Well ofc they do, any heatsink that covers the VRMs is different!

The power circuitry is a completely different arrangement and it's probably a very good idea to try and keep it cool with a specially fitted design (570m and 580m share the same layout).

 

Thanks - is this a real keyboard, rather than a chiclet-style?!? Nice!

Would you have pix of the bottom of the unit? Is it flat/flush bottom, or wedged ... I use my laptop on my lap, and am looking for a notebook with a flat bottom, so to speak

EDIT: never mind, saw a few other pix and it looks like it IS a chiclet style keyboard, blast. Any feedback from 16F2 owners on the keyboard, how's the feel? I nearly got the GT683, but heard awful feedback re: the keyboard and trackpad, so x-d that off my short list.

Also, could I request a picture from someone of the _bottom_ of the laptop? Funny request, I know, but I use my laptop on my lap, and having used a laptop with a non-flat bottom for the past year+, I really want my next laptop to have a nice, smooth, flush bottom

 

The 16F2 has a chiclet style keyboard as do all the new MSI models.

The Notebook has a slight wedge as the front edge is thinner than the rear section.

There are some picture at the link below:

MS-16F2 (MS-16F2-ID1) With Nvidia GTX 460M Notebook Photo's

 

Thanks .... great pix, that clears up my concerns re: the bottom, not quite flat, but def seems doable from a lap/comfort perspective

How is feedback on the keyboard? I had read some terrible things about the GT683's keyboard and trackpad ... is the 16F2 more or less the same as the GT683, or is it a different type of build?

 

The MS-16F2 has the same keyboard and trackpad, we have had no problems with either. The keyboard is responsive and is held down in the center by two additional anchors reducing any flex.

 

I'm seeing an option for "95% NTSC Color Gamut Matte LCD" for the GT683 and 16F2 laptops - can someone advise under what circumstances one would want to use this? Is this strictly for graphic designers and the like, or would this be useful for personal photograph processing as well?

 

I found this thread doing some Google sleuthing on the msi/force/xotic stuff and after reading through some of the threads here and other forums, I pulled the trigger on a force 16F2-012.

I'm pretty stoked about finally getting a decent laptop. I'm rocking an ancient HP DV9000

I'm starting to need more and more mobile computing these days and though my home PC is my main beast (i7 920@4ghz, dual 470gtx, ssd, etc) having something similarly powerful for photo editing, audio recording/editing and video encoding/editing and of course gaming will be really nice. It'll be convenient to just hook it up to my home theater and game on my couch with something decent.

I often have down time at work so it will be nice to be able to bring my work from home to work and have something that's actually usable to get some work done.

I guess my main question about these is now that they've been out for a while, how are they holding up?

I've never dealt with xotic before though i've read great things about them. I'm a pc tech so I'm confident in my ability to replace common parts if needed (planning to upgrade the ram possibly to a faster speed such as the kingston hyper x ddr3 1866) from the stock generic ddr3 1333.

Also perhaps upgrading next year to a 2920xm cpu and I guess (if it's possible) whatever the new mobile kepler Nvidia GPU happens to be.

Anyways, sorry for all the questions. This is all just totally unknown territory for me. All I really know about laptops is how to work on the basic business class notebooks from dell, hp, etc replacing hdd's, ram, etc and beyond that, sending it back to the OEM for repairs.

It seems like these things we're talking about here have a bit more wiggle room in terms of swapping hardware and stuff but hopefully I won't have to be cracking into it unless it's on MY terms!

Can't wait for it to show up. Once I get the OS (W7 x64) installed and some games loaded, I'll post up some benchmark scores for you guys as it seems there aren't any benchmark scores (that I've been able to locate) for the 2670 cpu/570gtx. Really from a gaming perspective, all I care about is how well it can run skyrim

 

Not only graphical designers but general use. The 95% screen is bright and the color range is outstanding. Colors are vivid and bright. It is worth the upgrade.

 

do you know the manufacter part # of this screen ?

 

justin,
are there any pictures on the web that compare the matte stock vs matte upgrade ? $165 upgrade deserves better justification
one concern about this upgrade is from here >> http://forum.notebookreview.com/msi/625924-16f2-screen-options.html

is really worth the upgrade ?

 

It is the AUO B156HW01 V.4

I think there are some threads here on the forum showing a comparison. I am sorry I do not have any images on file of the comparison.

 

thx justin. since it's the AUO B156HW01 V.4, this thread (post #2) has pictures : http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...-between-different-screen-options-photos.html

 

interesting mine came back as the B156HW01 V5

Think I would prefer the matt display though.

 

The screen part number and actual screen you will receive with your MS-16F2 notebook is not set in stone. The screen manufacture and part number can be changed during and throughout the production process and usually is. When a customer asks for a replacement screen for their notebook there can be 2-5+ options available for that model that we have available from the manufactures parts list.

 

AFAIK there is only one matte and one glossy screen around atm with a 95% colour gamut however

 

The V.5 is the screen we have seen in all 16F2's stock.

Yes there is only one Matte 95% which is the V.4, the glossy 95% is the V.7.

 

My 16F2 came with an LG panel. I like it quite a lot.