MSI GS30 Revealed

There is talk of other form factor systems to fit the dock and a new slimmer dock is being shown off at shows at the moment.

 

Meaker, do you happen to have a source for this? I would search but I wouldn't know what model number to look up for under MSI. Thanks!

Edit: Did more searching and found this: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/msi-external-gaming-dock-aio,29274.html
At $170, isn't that cheaper than buying one of the regular GamingDock's separately? Now that the GS30 is sold without the dock...

 

This is great.
It means that if I buy the GS30, I can later upgrade the dock to a smaller one and then even upgrade just the laptop to a newer one with future CPU, ram and storage technologies.
Another question.
Does a Sapphire 290x Tri-X 8gb fit in the gaming dock?

Cheers!


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Wow, I really like the design of the new dock... Would fit my desk setup much better. Will be keeping an eye on this.

 

I hope to get a good look at the new dock at some point, modding will be a lot more difficult without a standard desktop power supply though (the new dock uses a notebook power connector found on the GT80 and 330W power brick).

 

It holds a dual-slot graphics card so if it doesn't need a 3rd slot then it should be fine.

 

Does the trackpad and keyboard work while docked?


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No, they become disabled unless you undock the system again.

 

Found this:


On the video they refer to the machine as GS32...


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What's the fan on the dock? A 90mm fan? Can it be replaced?
Anyway to mod the dock to have a better hot air extraction if an open air cooler GPU is used?
Also, the psu is only 450w. Is it enough to power a full desktop 290X?

Cheers!


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Yes it should be enough, though probably on the limit if you overclock. I think it normally pushes up to 300 watts when pushed to the max.

 

Does it retain the 450w rating, or will it simply use the GT80's PSU?

Could it mean possibly a GT80 PSU with 450w?! That would be great But probably wishful thinking haha. It would certainly help with OCing

 

It's a 330W brick so 330W rated. If the GT80 is capable then the power splitter box would let you draw more than 330W.

As for the old dock my Titan-x ran fine on the old PSU, just when overclocked I plugged in the laptop PSU too, it reduces the load on the dock PSU and let everything perform fully.

It's a 92mm fan, you can replace it if you know how to take the dock apart. It's not intuitive so here's how:

1. Remove the front and support brace.

2. Remove the back two screws by the dock connector, disengage the sliding mechanism as much as possble.

3. Unclip the plastic top around the connector, this is tricky so take your time, it will pull towards the tray (which is why you moved it out), with the tray fully out it has just enough room to come away and up.

4. Use the slight flex in the side walls to unclip the top plate from the sides, make sure to disconnect the latching sense cable. The top should now slide foward (away from the connector) and up.

5. You can now get to the plastic clips on the inner side of the fan panel, use a screwdriver to disengage the inner clips, the longer ones you can leave, once these inner ones are done the plastic cover simply slides off.

6. You can now access the screws holding the 92mm fan in.

And yes I did figure this out for myself

 

Thanks.
Very informative!
Would replacing the fan be a good upgrade to cooling?
Or is it not worth it for the possible gains?

Cheers!


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It's worth it for getting a quieter fan IMO.

 

450W should be able to power up 290X because its max is nearly 300W, see below.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-r9-290x-hawaii-review,3650-29.html

 

Ive been looking into this and found this too:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/9402/computex-2015-the-msi-booth-tour/3

I wanted to ask, did MSI provide the update that allows the existing version of this laptop to have the display work while docked? If not, will the upcoming mini dock allow the display to work with the version being sold now?

 

The latest bios uses optimus perfectly yes.

 

Any info on release date for the dock mini?
Also 330w, that will limit GPUs in comparison to the standard dock that is 450w, right?
I'm guessing a 970 is ok, but something like a fury or 980 ti is not...


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I am assumming it is providing 330W exclusively for the GPU, so maybe non overclocked versions could work. Although I agree 450W would be much much better.

 

330W minues 65W for the notebook = 265W for the GPU in dock PSU only mode.

If you plug your notebook PSU in to all 330W will be used for the GPU.

 

Hi Meaker,

Any idea when I can purchase the GS30 2M Shadow Broadwell?

 

I've not had any official info but my guess at this point is they will hold back the release of that unit and go for a skylake machine.

 

Thanks, Meaker! Could the haswell version be undervolted and underclocked to cool off the GS30?

 

Yes, using intel XTU you can do both of those. If you are not interested in max performance, using clockspeed like a stock 4700 really reduce temps. Just set the multipliers to 34x, and undervolt up to -80mv, it should drop temps.

 

Hi ryzeki,

Do you own a gs30?
Wow...I have zero objection to a loss of computing power as I run non taxing games. Would undervolting/underclocking make a difference so I could use the GS30 on my lap?
I wonder if they fixed the bug that you cannot use the display of the GS30 when docked?
Any idea if the 2nd generation docking station will be compatable with the haswell gs30?

Check out this thread:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/kudos-to-pat-and-megan-xoticpc.779125/

I have a choice to make between the AW15 and the MSI GS30...

Thanks for your time, ryzeki!

GB

 

It works just fine in optimus mode, the GPU even powers down properly with the Titan-x then spools back up for games.

I run my 4870HQ @ 3.7ghz 4 core turbo at -55mv.

 

It may make a little bit of difference but it may not be noticeable.
The limitation (or intended feature) is still there.

 

I'm not quite sure what you are trying to say. With the latest bios optimus works flawlessly and I have seen no drop in performance really when testing it.

When launched it could not do this, with the .105 it can without issue.

 

I'm confused too from both of you ha... can the built in screen now be used when docked or not? I seem to remember that originally it could not be used, only an external monitor when docked. Thanks for clarification

My desk layout currently uses my laptop screen as well as an external screen in extended mode, would love to keep this functionality.

 

It can run the internal and HDMI on the notebook along with all outputs on the video card.

 

Cool, one follow up question... does the external GPU in the dock only drive external monitors hooked to it directly, or can it now drive the internal screen? Or another way to ask, is the internal screen always using the Intel iGPU?

Sorry for the 20 questions

 

Like I said it uses optimus on the internal screen and notebook HDMI without issue, so you can choose either to use the IGP or the dedicated to drive those as you please. The GPU in the dock will enter an ultra low power state when in optimus and not being used too, even with the titan-x it was going to something 150/100.

Also just a note that 2133mhz memory works really well in this machine, you get about 10% extra IGP performance which helps a lot.

 

Just a note to say I did an upgrade to windows 10 pro (from 8.1 pro) and have had no issues so far, everything moved over including intel xtu.

 

Hey,
Any issues with putting a 980Ti in there without any modifications? And is it worth it to get this now, or wait for the Mini Dock?

Thanks for the input
-Diskz

 

No issues at all and for something like the ti the older dock may suit it better as the psu is able to supply more power.

Also a note that my machine will be showed off at insomnia in Coventry (uk) towards the end of the month so if you are around stop by the msi booth.

 

Awesome, thanks for the info. The new Gamingdock Mini will be sold by itself correct? So if I purchased the old one, I could eventually purchase the new dock as well?

Thanks!

 

I'm not totally sure to be honest since MSI have not officially released anything yet.

 

Anyone see anything about the GamingDock Mini still having the 3.5" HDD slot? I'm trying to decide between getting the GS30 with the dock bundle now, or just the laptop, and pickup the Mini dock later. Big factor would be the hard drive slot.

That link mentions "The new design, with a Broadwell-H based Iris Pro GS30, will also allow the display of the laptop to use the graphics power under the hood. This is done more through a video-out from the GPU to a video-in to the laptop rather than directly changing the GPU at the software level from integrated to discrete. Either way, there’s no need to also have an external monitor." I wonder when those new Broadwell GS30s will be available? But it seems like you guys say that optimus works with just a bios update, with dGPU driving laptop display.

It also says "Hot swapping should be as simple as disconnecting the video-in and changing the output monitor via hotkeys, allowing users to seamlessly switch between outputs." Is this possible with the current BIOS on the GS30? Or it could be writer speculation?

 

I'll see if they have one at the show. I'll also see exactly how everything is connected.

On the current one you must turn it off to remove/insert it.

 

Which show are you attending? Sorry for the consumer ignorance , I just don't know of many besides the big ones like CES and Computex.

 

Insomnia 55 where my gs30 is on show (in the uk)

 

Once everyone sees your GS30, no one will want the stock one. Convince them to produce it?!!

 

Just going with a 120mm fan location helps customization a lot.

 

Dragon edition Just needs a bit of clean up now

 

Does anyone know when the new dock and the GS30 2M (with the 5th Gen CPU) are going to be available?

 

The laptop is available at other region. No idea about the dock.

 

Oh, really? What regions?

 

Taiwan

 

I'm curious why skylake will bring myself.