MSI GS60 Ghost/ Ghost Pro Thread

Well but you know that there's m.2msata in GS60 ... which is still not available in my country too ... so its not as easy as you are talking... and also msata is located under the keyboard and i dont want to open my laptop for the first 2-3months at least except if it will need repasting :/

 

He just replaced the Hard Drive with a 2.5" SSD, doesn't require accessing the M.2 slots. Not a bad solution at all, bet it makes for one snappy machine!

Plus, he still has the extra M.2 slot free for future upgrades if ever desired.

 

I wont use SSD for massive data and games till they fix writing cycles in it
I will rather stay only with HDD than replacing it for one big overpriced SSD

 

how is it easy to upgrade the m.2 SSDs

More like advanced , i personally own few gaming notebooks throughout the year and this GS60 is the most complicated since you need to carefully flip the otherside of the motherboard to upgrade it.

Plus you need to carefully place the motherboard on some anti=static mat otherwise the capacitors will shock and most likely overcharged after a few usages and you will actually boom your own notebook

 

Got our review edited and posted https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bVyNHxk9HE

 

Techreport SSD endurance test is nearing 1000 TB (!) writes and none of the drives has failed so far - some hiccups have shown up.
So no bigger need to avoid writes, a normal user needs tens of years to do 1000TB.

The SSD Endurance Experiment: Data retention after 600TB - The Tech Report - Page 1

 

This isn't a concern anymore. You need SSD for fast loading times.

 

I was really looking at getting a 14" machine as well (Razer 14, Gigabyte P34G V2). I am heading out for an extended period away from home and couldn't wait any longer though for stock or review. I am pretty happy with the machine over all. I would not feel bad about buying this machine, but if you have a little more time I would take a hard look at the competition just to be sure. I am sorry but I can't really speak to the color accuracy. Hopefully more reviews come along soon to fill in that info for you.

 

Had some time to play around with Bf4 a bit last night. Still impressed with the GS60's performance and temps. Even maxed out Ultra with 200% oversampling and 4x AA, GPU temps never passed 75C and CPU never passed 82C. The dual fans on this are quite impressive.

Framerate wise axel7, with 1080p, Ultra and 2x AA I did some monitoring in the test area. Seemed to average 45-55fps, occasional dips towards upper 30's when firing 14 Hydra rockets at one time into that two story building with smoke and debris everywhere as it crashes down and then well into 60+ when nothing happening. Definitely playable but I'd drop a few settings down and it will easily keep 60fps.

Online matches are similar but seem to vary more server to server so I use the Test Area as a baseline. Is there an actual BF4 benchmark to try?

Other notes, I received two from Newegg as a shipping error, so was comparing the two build quality wise before I send one back. Both units are very solid and I wouldn't hesitate to keep either, but the differences I can tell physically are:

GS60#1 has a minor gap on far right lower side of screen bezel on the side. If feels like one of the tiny clips inside isn't quite clicking in place. Not noticeable if not looking for it but the other device is tight all the way around.
GS60#2 has a very minor fan rattle when the GPU fan kicks in and is just noticeable at mid range fan speeds... I was curious if it would go away with a bit of use so left BF4 running for over an hour last night on Ultra/4xAA/200% scale torture test, and while temps stayed 75C or less, it did not change the rattle noise. Many probably wouldn't even notice but having two side by side machines for comparison tipped me off.

Temps, 3DMark scores and fan noise otherwise were essentially identical between both machines.

Also very happy with the smaller power brick these come with compared to 180w units I'm used to.... proving to be much more convenient for mobility.

 

Hey,
I'm in the market for a new laptop. I was looking at the lenovo y50 the gs60 with 870/3k screen the new razer blade and the p34g v2 i am concerned about thin/light. THe one reason I like the blade most is that it's touchscreen. Do you guys think a touchscreen will be helpful for win8? That's the only reason I would consider razer (its so expensive D: )

thanks

 

Well this is pretty subjective, but I don't want a touchscreen for my daily computer usage. I like the screen staying nice and clean, free of fingerprints and smudges. I could see the use-ability aspect since the screen is so close to the keyboard, its not a far reach. I went with a classic windows 7 style start menu and have set all the 8.1 update options to make the system behave nearly identically to a windows 7 machine.

 

Everyone's input has been really informative so hoping for some help in my decision.

1. Is there a reason (assuming you get everything stock) you would order from Gentech over Newegg?

2. Really struggling with my decision for a laptop. I'm planning to use the laptop for: MS Office (heavy Excel modeling, heavy Powerpoint, little bit of word), Photo editing (amateur photographer mostly using Lightroom and Photoshop but screen is very important), Programming (Android SDK - Eclipse), Light gaming (e.g. Simcity, SC2). I really don't want an apple or a sager. I want to slim form factor (just because) and I plan to use it for the next 3-4 years. My other choices are DELL XPS 15 (3K), waiting for the GS60 w/ 3K, waiting for the Y50, or the P35Kv2. All the comments about Windows scaling also scares me a bit. I want to make sure it lasts, enough power, and great screen.

In any case, would greatly appreciate any feedback you might have!

Thanks in advance.

 

I have never ordered from Gentech,can only go by what I have read from others,over time.

Still I would order from them over NE.Why? I always try to support the little guy if you will,over larger companies.


But,thats me.JMHO.

 

And I say, thank you for that.

In addition, you will find you get better support from GenTech, PowerNotebooks.com and Xoticpc than you would from NE. For example, when have you seen NE take the time to help people on the Forum?

 

i think my next notebook will be from either You guys or GenTech since my last experience with XoticPC wasn't the best, and i'm still waiting for a reply from tanner :\

 

Thanks...we will be here to serve you whenever you are ready

 

Don't have G46VW to test but I did a noise test with GS60 here:

No issues with Windows 7 drivers, even the SteelSeries Engine works fine on Windows 7.

It's IPS equivalent made by Samsung, hardware ID is SDC324C. However, they can't call it IPS since IPS is a trademark of LG.

 

That's why there is mSata SSD for system things ...
SSD for data is still overpriced in comparsion with HDD...

 

is it possible to get it complitly silent on idle (or simple office task) by underclocking or undervolting it (maybe with intel xtu (cautions recomended))?

 

I'm due for a new work laptop and I've been checking around the last week to see what's out there. I'm coming from an Asus Lamborghini VX7, it's a great laptop but too hefty to carry around all the time. I wanted something smaller but something I could still game on (I like the 15.6" but would like it thin) and came across this laptop GS60. I'll mostly be using it for Remote Desktop / VMWare, Photoshop, Sony Vegas, and Final Fantasy XIV. I'm in the United States and was waiting on the 3k version until I read everyone's posts about it being bad for gaming, as much as I'll be using it for Final Fantasy I wouldn't want the 3k to provide a bad experience. I still like the idea of the 870M over the 860M though, does anyone know if they are coming out with a 870m version without the 3k screen in the United States?

Thanks!

 

The endless discussions here and in other forums about arrival time,
The ability to keep talking about every tiny detail about the GS60, the work done by reviewers (thank you !) and the shops that resell ... we're here doing great publicity for MSI and we pave their way to the next happy customer.
However I am not happy at all.

Lack of clarity on due dates for the GS60 pro version is not fair, not when it comes from the same marketing people who feed off from our forums. They get everything from us and it's time we demand from them something very simple - a little clarity. The 860 vs 870 Maxwell vs Kepler discussion ? they can just figure it out and respond here instead of confusing people who contact one of their branches directly. They can give us a clear date for the pro version because I guarantee you someone in MSI knows exactly when it will be available or at least that person knows "no later than" dates.
I heard April 18th. I heard May. wth is all this guessing game ?

3k questions: is it good for gaming or not ? I think we have a stronger graphics engine and I'm hoping Microsoft's screen downgrading is not so bad as some people say. My opinion however is just another guess in this forum. Why won't MSI just publish their internal benchmarks instead of making us wait ? the computer is assembled somewhere and tested somewhere ...

Again - we provide a huge service to MSI marketing wise. All I ask is for some clarity in return. It will be good for their sales and marketing efforts too and customers like me who found reasons to wait for GS60 will then wait a little longer instead of being angry at the needless abandonment of their "fans" in this and other forums.

So MSI - I'm angry. Get your sh*t togeter and start answering some of our questions. You don't know the answer because you're just marketing people ? FIND IT ! your company has the answers, start working for us as thanks for all the work we do for you.

JD

By the way - just posted this on MSI and US MSI facebook's pages

 

I brought this to the attention of Tanner to see what's going on. Can you PM me your order number or email used so he can pull up the right information please.

Edit: I talked to Tanner and he showed me the last email you sent. It basically said you'll just be watching the GS60 thread here on NBR. Didn't see a question or a reply needed. If there is anything I or Tanner can help with feel free to Email or PM either of us here.

Edit 2: After talking to Oukami, looks like we got things figured out for now.

 

For the poster above the xoticPC guy:

3k gaming is only going to be possible on less demanding/older games (if they support that res) on lower settings.
If you want all the eye candy the 870M will have trouble with 3K, that's why some people wan't the 870M but only with a 1080p screen.The 870M will pretty much play every game with the highest settings at 1080P and still get good FPS (30 and above).

 

In europe or at least in the german speaking countries there will be a version with the 870M and FHD.

Here is a overview of the 4 versions which are coming to Austria/Germany

 

Look Ma, no motherboard! Posting these to show the connectors involved in removing the motherboard to access M.2 slots and heatsinks for repasting... only connector that wasn't readily available was the audio cable on the backside of motherboard shown near battery. Sorry for the poor lighting.


I've got a pic of the Motherboard showing SSD and GPU/CPU if anyone is interested, but I think similar pics have been posted.

Repasted with IC Diamond. Seemed to help CPU temps a good bit, it now idles at about 34C and runs in the 60C-low 70C range when gaming. GPU didn't change much from what I can tell but it was cool to begin with; has yet to pass 75C even after gaming on Crysis 3 at high settings.

It's definitely not a disassembly for those uncomfortable with a bunch of tiny connectors, but nothing complicated for those comfortable inside a notebook.

 

NICE! Thanks for taking the time to share. Another pic of the MB showing SSD, etc.? OF COURSE! GIVE!

 

Ha, since you asked so nicely :thumbsup:

This is the top of the motherboard normally not seen when just removing the bottom panel. This is where you access the M.2 Slots for SSD's, the two sticks of RAM, and the GPU/CPU (GPU is exposed in this shot, CPU has already been repasted. As you can see, there is room for additional VRAM for the 870m model, mine is the 860m with 2GB.

 

For those discussing gaming with a 3K screen, I would recommend using the "nVIDIA GeForce Experience" utility that is in your system tray, or on the desktop. It examines your specific game and recommends the proper resolution (and settings), almost always above 1920x1080 but lower than the full 3K. If you accept its recommendations our experience shows this usually results in a much better gaming experience than a 1920x1080 will provide.

The only other very slight disadvantage is the IPS screen which has a response time that is a mere 3 ms slower.

Try the nVIDIA GeForce Experience utility...you'll LIKE it!

 

Well, good news..... it looks like we in the U.S., will be getting the GS60 Ghost Pro (w/GTX-870M), after all. Pre-orders are now available:

GS60 GhostPro-052

GS60 GhostPro-3K

 

Woot!!! Finally. Placed a pre-order for a GhostPro-052. Now the wait begins......... hopefully not toooo long.

 

I have recently returned to Windows laptops after spending a year with a MacBook Pro 15" with Retina display so I have extensive experience using Windows 8.1 on a high DPI display similar to the 3K unit that MSI is or will be selling soon. Windows 8.1 supports High DPI pretty well. I wouldn't say it is perfect yet. The support for this in OS X was superior but Windows 8.1 is pretty darn good. For applications that are high DPI aware like Internet Explorer, the display looks phenomenal. Text is incredibly crisp and the whole rendered display just looks wonderful. Some applications support it but not exactly perfectly. Chrome browser renders the page beautifully but it's own toolbar and address bar don't render perfectly unless you tweak some settings. As more Windows laptops are sold with high DPI displays, the application support will only get better and better.

Gaming requires finding a nice resolution that is pleasing to look at but not such high pixel count that the GPU can't keep up. While the 870M is significantly more powerful than the crappy 650M I was gaming with, it's still not nearly powerful enough to drive a demanding game at 3K resolution. I always tried to find a nice resolution that was an even multiple of native that was low enough where I could still play on high settings with all the eye candy turned on. I certainly never noticed games looking "bad" just because they weren't running at native resolution. The higher the res, the better they look, but you hit the FPS wall at around 1080P and everything starts to chug with a mobile GPU above that. To be honest, with the 650M it was more like 720P but I'm sure you can do better than that with an 860M or 870M.

With all that being said, I prefer 1080P on a 15" screen personally. I find that has more pixels than my forty plus year old eyes can see and I personally don't see any benefit from having a crazy resolution that I can't see anyway. I'm just saying don't shy away from the 3K screen just because you think Windows 8.1 can't properly handle the display. Everything looks nice on the screen. If it's anything like Apple's Retina screens, they are just lovely when you are working in Microsoft Office or surfing the web with a high DPI aware browser. You most definitely will have to choke down the resolution a little when you game or your FPS will be chugging along in the teens. There will even be some games that are either highly optimized or much less demanding that you actually can play at native resolution and those are just beautiful to behold on screen. On the MacBook, you could play Civilization V at native resolution and it was breathtaking on that display.

 

does gentechpc ships gs60 worldwide?

 

Yes we do.

 

interested in buying gs60 from you. have you ever delivered to Russia?
if Yes, then i will contact customer service, to ask more questions

 

Can you also put in other keyboard layouts? I live in Denmark and we have strange letters that you don't have

 

Yes we ship to Russia very often. you can send me PM or email.

Keyboard are sealed with C panel. if you look at our video the C panel has keyboard layout matching the keys.

 

So you wont be able to ship it with another layout like "QWERTZ"? Just "QWERTY"?

 

Don't take my word for it, but i'd bet that you won't have that option. I've been in contact with asus and msi before, and both say that the notebooks ships as one unit, and i meant to be sold as the same identical unit. Also in the small formfactor that the gs60 has you can's just oull out the keyboard only. I know the asus g750 models has switchable keyboards, but that's most likely due to the larger size.

Why not use danish, swedish or norwegian websites? They all have skandinavian keyboard layout, german layout is close to it as well.

Regards

 

There are some stores in Austria/Germany which will have the GS60 but only with 8GB+860M or 16GB+870M.
I would like one with 16GB (because of Dual Channel) +860M (don't need the gaming power of the 870M and am afraid that it will run to hot with the 870M) but i dont know any shop in the german speaking area will will upgrade the RAM and repaste it...
Most shops dont have the knowledge for that or just dont care...

Edit:
Just talked to Schenker/XMG and they told me that they wont have a notebook based on the gs60 barebone or atleast its not planned...
They say that MSI want to be exclusive with it, so no barebone will be available in quite some time...

 

Damn - I was hoping for a XMG version of the GS60 also. There is already a Scan version of the new GS70 - Thin and light 17in gaming laptop with Intel Core i7 and - 3XS . So I was hoping that the delay wouldn't be too long - it's possible XMG may also be doing a version of the GS70 if you don't mind the 17".

 

Hey XOTIC PC i have ordered two GS60's for my bro and i. Any word if you will be getting the 870m version on preorder soon? Im considering whether to change the order or not.

 

@GenTechPC - now that the pre-orders are up for the pro versions... did you receive from MSI an estimate on when you'll have them in? I am hoping in 2 weeks or less ... but im happy at least we got an SKU for the US

 

For those that received their GS60, how forceful does the air evacuate out of the side exhaust vents? Wondering if I was gaming on a lap desk next to my wife the couch if she would feel hot air blowing out?

 

Didnt notice any heat from the side vents, just the rear. Here's a thermal pic we snapped during benchmark you see no heat there compared to a rear vent shot

 

The reason why I would ather buy in the US, is first the price... it's 2.500 dollars in Denmark where I live. Second I think it's great service to have your labtop configured from a supplier including repasting. You can't buy htat in Denmark at all.

So yes I would rather buy here and either ship it home or have a friend pick it up and carry it home.

 

Nope, she will not feel anything. The good thing with the dual fans and 4 exit ports is the air is dispersed all over. I barely feel airflow more than a few inches away from sides, and just a bit further away on the back.

 

Gentechpc are offering the pro with the following 2 options:

Crucial M500 M.2 (120/24/480 GB)
Intel 530 series (120/180)

I don't see any article comparing them yet. Any idea on pros and cons? for example the Crucials have power capacitors to prevent data loss which is a nice feature regardless of performance.
I wish there were Samsung M.2 offered - I love their software-level cache - like in the 840 EVO series

What do you think ? should I wait for another reseller to offer other M.2s ? waited long enough so why not wait a little more to get the perfect M.2 boot drive ..

Update:
Found some benchmarks on the Intel ones - very unimpressive. So for me Gentech offer just one single option for M.2 ssd's - the crucial. Wish we had more choice here ..

 

I am really curious about the weight of the adapter

Is there any info on that?

 

Dear GS60 owners, how much space available in the 128gb ssd which is included in the laptop? After windows and bloatware can we get around 60 to 80gb available?

 

I think I was in the mid 70 GB available before I started installing stuff. I removed a bit of the bloat, installed quite a few apps and have 70 available now.