MSI GS40 Phantom-001

They should be getting the laptops today, or shipping info today from their distributor. I'm curious if they have any insight about a GPU dock, though.

 

If the dock works with Thunderbolt, it should be compatible with most high end MSI models then.

 

If this things stays cool, it'll be a huge success for MSI.

Not even Clevo has attempted such a high-end GPU in a small laptop.

 

Just shipping today, I believe. Laptops won't arrive until later this week or Monday.

 

Anyone get the 14" 4k screen? I don't need a strong gpu but 14" 4k resolution is impossible to find.

 

Have had my order in since a day or two after it showed up on xotic's website and decided to not mess with the hard drive configuration when I ordered it. However, I am now contemplating switching out the 1TB hdd for a 500GB ssd. Was looking at installing the 512GB Samsung 830 currently in my AW. Any thoughts on whether it will be worth the hassle to switch??

 

Maybe try it out. If you miss the speed of the SSD, then change it up. Might take a little while to set it up in the beginning, but would save you time in the long run.

 

What? The GS40 will have a 970M, just like the Razer Blade, the P34W, and the upcoming Clevo P640RE.

 

specwise they've nailed it. 6820HK, TB3, 14". I wish the design was little sober though.

 

It's a 6700HQ, not the 6820. Those went out in preview units.

 

overclockers.co.uk is showing an ETA of November 16th https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=LT-226-MS

 

GS 40 would perfect for me in term of spec but the laptop design is dealbreaker for me. No way to walk in a pro meeting room with this flashy logo on it. Gigabyte understand it, the P33w is way more sober. I am looking as well to the new DELL 15" XPS and waiting to see if it will be possible in near future to plug it to a dock station with GPU

 

You have options, but going with the P34W is going to result in a throttled machine. MSI has done pretty well on most of their laptops for cooling, and I doubt that will change much with the GS40.

 

Currently I do have the P34W v3. Never notice any throttle. Sure it is noisy when i game but otherwise good battery and silent when doing office work. Before I went for the P34, I did try the GS 60 for a couple of weeks. whatever the solution they opt for the cooling I did not notice any difference between the P line and the GS line in term of heating, build quality or noise.

 

I've seen quite a few reports of thermal issues with the gigabyte too, I'm glad you done have issues, maybe it's a large variance in heatsink fit/paste job they have.

 

They really fudged the paste on the gigabyte laptops, but once you fix that it's amazing.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

I was thinking of buying a 14" like the GS4. Xotic has it for $1500. I might wait for the Gigabyte P34 refresh w/ Skylake. Its coming out late Nov so quite soon. I can just use my Aspire 392 for now and wait for the GS40 reviews to roll in.

And holy moly. The GS40 has a GTX 970 and its only 3.75 lbs. Wondering if it throttles like an xbox 360.

FYI: The Xotic site is up again now actually.

 

But it throttles insanely. Are you sure the paste could change that much in temps?

 

Definitely. After I repasted I'm steady at 85 c with no undervolting. I don't understand, it's a $1800 laptop and they cheaped out on a 20 cent component.

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that's just nuts. how stupid do you have to be as a product manager for this.

 

That one has me somewhat baffled too. Evidentially "they" have decided that the added time/cost to properly apply a quality TIM paste at manufacture isn't offset by the problems the "mud" they use causes.

The good news is that most of the resellers offer properly applied quality paste, although it does cost a bit more than 20 cents.

 

Have placed a Pre-Order with overclockers for the £1400 version. Hoping it lives up to the promise presented in the Kitguru preview! Did I hear someone say that they would start being delivered in USA this week? If so - and someone has got their hands on one, can I request an unboxing please ?

 

It's because their current processes are a known quantity to them. Large scale manufacturing always tends to be very conservative with choices.

 

I too, am close to making a purchase on one of these. I love the idea of a small gaming power house. Will the GPU be upgradeable to next gen ? I've never bought into MSI before. With the rise of Thunderbolt 3 , what's the likelihood of an eGPU for this ?

 

Is there confirmation of the higher-capacity (relative to the GS60) battery?

 

The battery capacity should remain the same without changes.

 

What type of battery life could one expect from this laptop? The GS60 battery life was pretty horrendous. This does have a 1920x1080 display as well as a skylake processor. That should help quite a bit.

 

No, the GPU will not be able to be upgraded. Unless you're going for a thicker laptop, the only thing you'll ever be able to replace is RAM / HDD. Heck, even in some new ultrabooks, you can't replace RAM. The hope is, we've seen an eGPU solution with this exact model, so hopefully we get details from MSI soon.

He's asking because there was a preview of the GS40 that had a battery with almost double the capacity of the GS60. We're hoping it stays in as it had a pretty good battery life with it.

Depends on the battery we get.

 

Xotic is saying early next week for the units to reach them. Add another week for processing/building/shipping, even with rush orders.

 

Comes with a 8060mAh/61.25Wh battery.
what could we expect from that?

 

I'm not really happy with how the whole thing was handled right now. They've had my money since the beginning of October, and I was told the 20th was when they would be getting them. Then I was told that they might not ship to Xotic until the 20th. Then I was told today that they just shipped to Xotic. I don't blame Pat or the other sales reps, but communication seems to be a sore spot there with Xotic.

According to KitGuru, they are looking at about 4-5 hours. http://www.kitguru.net/laptops/leo-waldock/msi-gs40-6qe-phantom-exclusive-preview/ Assuming we actually get that - because the site simply says it's a 4-cell. We could end up with the GS60 battery, which would suck.

 

I canceled my order, I'll wait for reviews.


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Assuming they're not pulling numbers out a hat, they just go by what MSI or other sources tell them. If they kept expected/presumptive dates to themselves and didn't tell us, we'd be complaining just as much about "communication issues."

An ETA is just that. Not really sure there's anything to be unhappy about.

 

Yeah, I'm not happy about times when this happens. I want to see you get that computer in your hands too. We basically have to roll with the info distributors give us, I'm sure they have to do the same with info they get from manufacturers. We thought they were going to be in much earlier, but keep getting the delayed messages. But as always, if I can do anything to help, just let me know.

 

Hey thanks for chiming in. Let us know if you get any concrete update.

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It should be a 5600mAh/61Wh, since it has always been about 10.8V from the battery output.
Battery life would be about 3 hours in real-life scenario (no gaming on battery).

 

There is what seems like an actual review at:

http://www.hispazone.com/Review/1121/MSI-GS40-6QE-Phantom.html

You'll need to google translate the pages though unless you can speak funny language.

 

You're right, it's perfectly acceptable to take someone's money when you don't have a concrete date. Also, I had to seek out updates/communication from Pat - as a customer, I shouldn't have to do that. I should be receiving updates directly from Xotic about the status of the product.

Again, it's not you, because I'm grateful that I had someone who would communicate with me. I just don't feel like I should have had to reach out myself. I mean, what if someone wasn't active on NBR? They didn't know who to talk to, and they'd be sitting there wondering what's going on.

A bit disappointed by that, I was hoping to get at least 4 hours.

Not sure what to take away, other than the fact that MSI has gimped the USB-C port. Ugh, perhaps there goes thoughts of an eGPU.

 

Well that's a disappointment; no Thunderbolt 3. Was still considering this but not sure if I can justify the price being only a 970m difference whereas competitors seem to be pushing out 960m with tb3 and perhaps better designs.

 

there is 3.1 Type C and a "super port" = Thunderbolt

 

Except not the same bandwidth. This could be a hindrance for any TB3 product, let alone eGPU solutions.

 

Here's Google translated quote from that review link:

"Next to them a type C port that MSI has dubbed " Superport"and offered as a hybrid connector, but without the performance of a Thunderbolt 3. This connector can supply up to 3 amps at 5V, for fast charging of mobile devices, 10Gbps speed Internet access and video connectivity for up to two monitors chain. The "Super Port" MSI is not a Thunderbolt 3, we have that in mind since a Thunderbolt three offer up to four times faster on the same type of connector."

 

I wonder if they actually tested "SuperPort" in their GS40 review unit or if that sentence is just based on guessing from the name / marketing info / etc.

There are already people with Skylake versions of MSI GS60 and GT72 (also with "SuperPort") and it seems it is ThunderBolt 3, just without the label (these models even come pre-installed with Thunderbolt software).

It would be weird if MSI put different "SuperPort" in GS40.

https://www.reddit.com/r/MSILaptops/comments/3p7yfq/gt72_superport_is_it_thunderbolt_3/

 

Drivers are posted on MSI's website for the GS40: http://www.msi.com/product/notebook/support/GS40-6QE-Phantom.html#down-driver

EDIT: A Thunderbolt driver is posted.
EDIT2: The BIOS that MSI posted also has a setup menu for Thunderbolt.

On an off-topic note. I will be able to make a Prema-mod style BIOS and VBIOS for this. Anyone interested?

 

Thanks Ember for confirming TB! Pretty much sealed the deal for me. I was holding out for the Dell XPS 15 but the pushback in delivery times and actually wanting a 970M over 960M has swayed me. 16th November is the current date for UK pre orders and I've had it confirmed it's still on track for then by OCUK. Can't wait

 

That doesn't confirm it's thunderbolt 3. From what we know it's restricted to 10GBps vs TB3's 40GBps.

 

I had a suspicion it wasn't which was why I didn't say TB3 specifically. If it had a 960 and I'd been considering it for eGPU purposes then 10GBps would be unlikely to support it, but the 970 should suffice for a year or two at least gaming wise.

 

I've messaged MSI by every avenue I have available to see if I can get a reply, will post here if they answer.

 

I'd be VERY surprised if it wasn't Thunderbolt 3 considering this is their second dinky 14 Inch laptop and the first had a docking station. We also know that MSI are due to release their new docking station very soon- it would be so odd if it wasn't compatible with this device.