MSI GS40 Phantom-001

Yup, that's correct.

 

Anyone know if the GS40 is compatible with regular M.2? I'm thinking about upgrading to 512GB ones, but NVMe ones like 950 Pro are around $300+, whereas regular M.2 are almost half the cost. And considering how I don't really move large files around too much, and mostly do gaming and maybe a bit of data/graph processing in software like Prism, do you think the downgrade in speed will be really noticeable?

 

Anyone tried using the GS40 to drive the new Oculus Rift CV1 or HTC Vive yet?

I know the specs are just a bit below the Oculus Rift recommended specs (GTX970 vs GTX970M) but maybe it is enough to drive less intensive games and VR movies?

Actually Gabe at Penny Arcade was able to drive the Vive with the 14 inch Razer Blade (not sure if it is the new one with GTX970M) so I guess the GS40 should be able to do so too?

Gabe's mini review of Vive/Gear VR here:
https://www.penny-arcade.com/news/post/2016/04/08/lawnmower-man​

 

I confirm. This is EXACTLY what happened to me.

 

The M.2 slot is compatible with both SATA & PCIe SSD.

 

Just replaced my primary drive to m.2 850 EVO, and it works like a charm. Also had to buy an enclosure to use. Windows didn't really recognize the drive as being in it as a USB drive being plugged in would be. However, when I used Samsung Migration Assistant, it found it and cloned beautifully. Then, I replaced the drive and everything is all nice and peachy.

Day to day and even gaming (LoL and Blade and Soul) work great, I am not noticing any different whatsoever, and I'm not really the one to constantly run benchmarks, as with a laptop I don't really have as much to mess around with. But for me 480GB is definitely enough, so I just took my 500GB SSD that was in 2.5 inch spot and now only have this one 850 EVO.

 

@chhappy7 - Right, USB mass storage device v.s non-hot swappable SATA storage. Different drivers, different bus. Awesome to hear that the drive is treating you well, though! They're great drives, both in performance and in value.

 

Have you benchmark the SSD using CrystalDiskMark? Try it and find out the speeds you are getting from it.

 

Anyone know if this charger http://www.amazon.com/Dell-150-Watt...80751&sr=8-1&keywords=150+watt+laptop+charger will fit?

 

From the look of it which seems possible.
It may or may not which depends on the actual connector itself.

 

Yea, it has the same specs as the original charger, but I know that the connector's size doesn't depend on its power output.

 

Yup, the reason I said that because I've seen DELL charger that is compatible with MSI but most of time they aren't.

 

I might just order it and see if it'll fit. Thanks for the quick reply!

 

Haha yeah. I'll run it sometime. It works fine and nothing feels slow compared to NVMe for my uses.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

Please do report back and how it works out!!!!

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

does anyone have issues with sleep mode?

it always seems to shutdown completely after like an hour in sleep mode, then i have to reopen all of the windows etc,
at the beginning i had no 'Hibernation' mode in the power menu, so i went on and enabled it in the control panel, thinking it will help to solve the issue to just put it in hibernation instead of sleep, but it's the same ****...

help, someone?

computer came from xotic-pc

 

Check under Advanced settings in the Power Options, verify if there's an option which is related to power off during sleep is ticked off.

 

i didn't really find anything that falls under that category, but there some something about hybrid sleep mode and enabled it. did not help.
any ideas what could be the problem?

 

Just got it a couple of days ago. Thankfully no tab key issues.

I really like the keyboard, it's maybe the best I've tried in a laptop, and the flex isn't as bad (my girlfriend has a MBP 13 and it also flexes - less though). The build quality is quite decent, I hope that I won't have to take that back in the future.

The sound is fine apparently, as long as you tune Nahimic a bit (when I first got it, bass boost was too high). It's also decently loud. It's "light" and very thin; I wanted portability when I bought it, along with performance, so it didn't disappoint at all. Battery life, can vary greatly, if you lower the brightness all the way (in a dark environment it's fine), it can get ~5hrs with wifi on (KB lights off). It can also kill the battery immediately, it depends greatly upon the usage, energy profile, etc.

This laptop does not appear to have nVIDIA's optimus (thank god), yet it does have the framerate capping feature to save energy. Is it true that most skylake systems, allow direct output of the GPU, thus no optimus, and G-Sync capability via DisplayPort?

I'm having 1 issue: when I plug in a mic jack, nahimic doesn't pop up with anything, and the sound from the mic is extremely low. I think that I have to update the drivers and bios, as instructed here. Is there something like a driver auto-update? Many desktop motherboards used to have such software (although I never used it, but now I'm feeling lazy).

By the way, wtf is up with the UEFI!? I had heard about the new Win10 UEFI lock, but this is too much! I hope that I can install Linux if I want, or else I'm gonna be so pissed at Microsoft.

Also, I didn't find any way to switch off the nVIDIA gpu in the BIOS. Most laptops with switchable graphics, used to allow you to completely disable the discrete one, to save power.

 

Did you plug the external Mic all the way in?
UEFI is like a Legacy BIOS replacement. But you can install Linux in both UEFI/Legacy mode by changing this option in the BIOS itself.

 

Thanks for the reply! Yes I did plug it completely, I'll try another mic, but I doubt it's problematic, it works in other computers. Maybe it's a faulty wire on the headset.

And thanks for the tip on the BIOS option!

edit:

I'm going to ask a really noobish question, but how do I update drivers? Do I just uninstall them from device manager, and then install them regularily after rebooting etc? Is there any better way?
I'm coming from either using a desktop for years, or laptops that autoupdate drivers(or rather, never update ).

 

You can just install on top of existing driver without removing them completely. Some driver installers may perform automatic removal prior to the actual installation such as Realtek HD Audio driver. So most of the time you don't have to worry about such issue.

 

Pretty much what Kevin said. It's not often you need to remove the existing drivers prior to installing new ones (or reinstalling the same version). Avoid third party driver update applications; some work okay, but they're hit or miss and not as reliable as getting the driver directly from the OEM or the vendor.

 

If I add 30db to the mic, it can be heard, but the noise gets amplified too. That's with Nahimic disabled on startup. Is there some way to open Realtek's control panel?

I did install Realtek's ver 6.0.1.7745 and Nahimic v. 1.2.13 (in that order of course). Both the integrated and the outside mics are extremely low, unless I stick my mouth to them (and I'm yelling all the time). It looks like a low pass amplitude filter is implemented through software. Actually nothing changed from before updating the drivers :|

No1 else has this problem? It's not a huge issue, I'll just live without Nahimic, I don't like stuff that messes with audio anyway.

Btw, I'm really liking this laptop. It's unblievable how light it is and how powerful. Even though it gets quite warm, it's neither throtling nor reaching very high temps. I can't say about the fan noise, I haven't done anything extremely intensive on it, and for work (only cpu usage), it's very discrete/silent. I would most certainly recommend it, if it's in someone's price range.

 

Hey guys first post here but I wanted to get your opinion on this.

I bought my GS40 about a week ago, and I just recently started noticing like a cracking noise on the backspace as if there is two pieces of plastic in the keys that keep on gliding into each other. The backspace tends to sound differently every time I push it(a higher pitched noise if that makes any sense), and it even wiggles around a lot more then the other keys. The cracking only happens when I push the key to the right but still It really bothers me. My question is, have any of you had this problem?, and if so, is there a fix?

I Just got most of my games installed so it would kinda suck to return the thing, but I really don't won't the laptop to be having problems for at least the first couple of months, can you guys give me any advice as to what to do?

Thanks

 

It's certainly not normal, I'd RMA it. If you have enough space you can back up your whole system and not have to install anything

 

hi, never owned an msi before. kinda intrigued to own this one. my main concern before pulling the trigger. theres a sticker that says "warranty void" if removed to access the back panel. Are they this strict really? so Id be stuck with 8gb and no chance of adding larger SSD unless I'm happy to void?

 

Hey thanks for the quick reply, since I bought it at my local electronics store, I'm gonna go ahead and just exchange it being that I still really like the laptop for what it is. I am backing up my files now, hopefully all goes well and I should have a new one before soon.

Thanks again

 

Y

The sticker does exist. According to MSI, in Europe at least, if you only change a hard drive, you're ok. In general, if you do not damage the laptop, you're ok. To be certain, it's best that you contact your local MSI representative/authorized service and ask them.

AFAIK the sticker means "if you remove it, and the hardware is damaged, we can tell you that you damaged it.", without this meaning that they will, they just have the right. It's a way to claim misuse from the consumer, and it is legal, I think.

 

This is the case in the US as well. it's in their FAQ on their website.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

ok thanks for this. they are waaay too strict but I get it. i think they should of just added tickers under the hood in certain places like other notebooks. because id probably need to exchange the ram, the pcie ssd and the wireless card. ive never broke nothing before but still the rules is extreme.

 

It helps to protect them. You might be competent at replacing components, but not everyone else is; an OEM shouldn't need to bite the bullet in those cases (unless they offer an accidental warranty ).

 

This is old news.
They don't enforce this sticker everywhere as long as the hardware isn't damaged.
MSI USA rep has also stated the same thing here.

 

Thanks for the news. If old news I'd of thought they would put sticker elsewhere under the panel.
Thanks for this info of assurance.

 

I guess it depends on how strict the service centres are. At the end of the day, it is about charging you more. But few companies go the extra miles as of Apple.

https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Retina+MacBook+2016+Teardown/62149

Apple go as far as placing special screws with sticky compounds on so that they know you have opened up 'YOUR OWN' property. But on the other hand, if you are with apple care, you probably get a brand new replacement without asking too many questions.

But to be on the safe side, I would wait till the warranty expires, it's only a year anyway.

 

Yes that's true with Apple. Unfortunately these laptops don't come with protection warranty. Maybe if you go through them. I don't know. But resellers don't.
As for waiting a year. That's way to long. I'm prob already thinking about the next laptop to replace it with lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Hey guys! I'm a brand new owner of a GS40.
So far I'm liking it a lot. I haven't had much time to play and test it's full power but I'm loving the form factor, the screen, keyboard and even the build quality. Maybe my expectations weren't so high after reading a few reviews but the computer feels plenty solid and I don't get huge amounts of flex on the keyboard.

I have two quick questions:
-When updating to the latest BIOS, the MSI support site says something along the lines of "To complete the Processor Microcode update, please follow the SOP below to perform BIOS update twice with UEFI BIOS Utility"
Does this mean I have to manually update the BIOS twice?

-When updating EC Firmware, because the GS40 has a non-removable battery, do I have to press in the battery reset switch for a couple of seconds? The tutorial says it's not necessary but I remember it being necessary in my old GS70.

Thanks!

P.S - Also, my battery won't charge past 95%, I've read a couple people in this thread with the same issue. Is it something to worry about?

 

The 95% charge cap is a feature to prevent damage to the battery.

Sent from my DROID Turbo using Tapatalk

 

Just BIOS & EC. Not twice on BIOS alone.
95%, that's battery protection, you will have to drain the battery life below 95% before you can charge it fully to 100% which can shorten battery life because it's like a completed cycle.

 

Thanks guys. Makes sense.

So that's a no on resetting the battery after EC flash?

Also, how do I deactivate the annoying window resize popup? Every time I move an open window in my desktop I get this translucent pop up, is it something to do with MSI's "Sizing Options"?

 

Also, I'm getting some weird FPS fluctuations while playing. I've seen it happen with Rust and Battlefield 4. Sometimes it dips into the 10 FPS range, others it's only a 30 or 40FPS drop but you can sure feel it.
I have to do some more testing, mainly temperatures, clock speeds and such.
I'm using nvidia 362 drivers and intel's vga beta drivers available from MSI.

 

Try lowering down the quality settings and see if this helps with fps throttling issue.

 

I'm not pushing the quality too much. BF4 runs well into the 100 fps range but the slowdowns are noticeable.
I uninstalled the Intel graphics driver and nvidia driver, did a DDU sweep and reinstalled them. The issue persists.

Im doing the same procedure but this time with all the Intel drivers and not installing Geforce Experience. I'll also monitor temps and clock speeds and report back ASAP.

I have the latest BIOS and EC, Windows is updated and the power options are set to High Performance with no HDD shutdown

 

GeForce Experience should not cause the issue, but at least you had confirmed that it isn't the root cause.
I am concerned if fps slows down at certain intensive scene that's why I was asking if lower quality setting can provide a smoother gameplay.

 

Hi, I also experienced this. The latest Need for Speed had the FPS drop. Even Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 (which should have been very light for GTX 970M) had that FPS drop.

Then I turned off BatteryBoost (NVIDIA Geforce Experience - Preferences - BatteryBoost) and I think the FPS fluctuations are gone for most games (except for Mad Max maybe). Maybe you can try that too.

 

Interesting. Was your system connected to AC? Because BatteryBoost only kicks in when the system is on battery mode. I guess it's worth a try.

 

Yes, I always connects my system to AC when I game. I know it sounds weird, but I think this BatteryBoost feature somehow affects the system even on AC mode (at least for my GS-40).

 

hi found new softwares. Better control over fans to more efficiently control heat and fans.

It is DRAGON CENTER, not DRAGON GAMING CENTER. It is a upgraded version in some ways.
http://download.msi.com/uti_exe/nb/DragonCenterv1.0.1603.0201_1.0.1603.0201_0x4dd98b4a.zip







GPU Fan Max : 6000 RPM
CPU Fan Max : 6666 RPM



Nahimic 2

downloaded it and running it at the moment, https://www.facebook.com/nahimic/
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/wdd9362jujzdwfo/AACt5Yj1Aj-bEGORAUaoGqXGa?dl=0

 

To deactivate the window resize popup, open MSI True Color - Tools - Desktop Partition, uncheck "Desktop Partition on".

 

I don't have Geforce Experience installed anymore. I'll do some more testing and if it persists I'll install it again and do that. Thanks!

I played some CS GO for about 40/50mins without any major hickups. I had the FPS capped to 100 and the game ran smoothly.
Upon inspection of the HW Monitor and Afterburner logs I see the GPU had a pretty consistent temperature of 68ºC. The GPU's core clock was stable at 540Mhz with only a few dips to 405Mhz, these were accompanied by the memory clock also falling quite a lot. From 2505 to 324Mhz.
CPU's temperature was also at a pretty stable 77ºC.
For BF4 it's another story. I only played shortly so I can't see any patterns in the data yet, but the GPU reached 84ºC while the CPU was at 88ºC and the core and memory clock drops on the GPU were more agressive.

Should I try a repaste or can this be a software issue? How is repasting on these things, is it easy or do I have a ton of stickers and such?

Cheers! I was having trouble finding that