MSI GS60 Ghost/ Ghost Pro Thread

The 1866Mhz RAM performs faster, however, like be77solo said it's virtually no different in real-world use except benchmarks.

Regardless the speed of the RAM it will always run at 1.35v and it's required by the new Haswell chips. It can run at 1866Mhz and you don't need to change any settings in the BIOS.

 

I don't wanna get too much off topic, but do you think that putting 2 SSDs in RAID-0 is worth it, considering that you increase the probability of loosing data if drive fails or is it kind of overkill?

 

Ken,

As you have both Asus and MSI, your pobably in the best position to answer this;

How does the MSI GS60 GTX860m and GTX870 versions against the Asus G75/G750 for noise at Idle, light gaming and heaving gaming?

The video you did with the GS60 Pro gtx870, those fans did sound noisy, or was the mic overly sensitive?

I'm currently lugging around an Asus G75 and I need to downsize to something a lot lighter, hence the interest in the GS60, however the minister for finance and homeland security will do her block if its too noisy (like the clevo 570mtu I had a few years ago).

I'm so confused as to which one to get!!!

Thanks

 

I don't think this question was answered yet, but how practical is the 870m in the GS60? Are those temperatures safe for prolonged use?

From what everyone is saying, the 860m is more than safe, while the 870m is a bit iffy. Is this correct?

 

Thanks so much to both of you. That's very informative and helpful. Very much appreciated.

 

I have a request for any of the resellers or if anyone has already seen this done, but is there any picture/video comparison of the GS60 and GS70 in terms of dimensions? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

I know i have been talking about an 'azerty'-version before but I still can't find one and I'm getting curious about this. I found the notebook at a belgian webshop but they only have a 'qwerty'-version. I contacted them to get some info about a possible future 'azerty'-version but the only thing they could tell me was that they will only be selling this version. It's a 16gb RAM version which i find pretty weird too.

I would still really like the layout i'm used to, but i'm having a hard time waiting. That's why i'm asking again if someone knows anything about this and about the availability of the notebook in Europe outside Germany. I still didn't find any reliable information about an 'azerty'-keyboard on this notebook.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Those waiting on the pro version (me), it looks like we'll have these in our hands sometime end of April or early May.

PAX East 2014: MSI Showcases GS60 Ghost Pro 3K Ultra-Thin Gaming Notebook [Video] | Maximum PC

 

Wow that fan is loud!

 

I just got my gs60 and I have the exact same problem. When the GPU fan starts working (for example when playing GW2) wifi shuts down and I get kicked out of the game and can't even browse internet until the GPU fan stops working. Does anyone know how to fix this? I have already tried unchecking Killer bandwidth manager and shutting down killer completely.

 

More things on the GS60 Pro 3K... they said it handles Metro pretty well at 3k resolution.. and they sound very positive

Hands on: MSI GS60 Ghost Pro review | Laptops and netbooks Reviews | TechRadar

Also those looking for the 870m version (minus the 3K)... looks like Newegg got first dibs on them again...

Newegg.com - MSI GS Series GS60 Ghost Pro-052 Notebook Intel Core i7 4700HQ (2.40GHz) 12GB Memory 1TB HDD 128GB SSD NVIDIA GeForce GTX 870M 3GB GDDR5 15.6" Windows 8.1 64-Bit

 

I don't think Killer is handling the WiFi is it? I don't have the Killer software running on mine. The LAN port is Killer, but the WiFi is Intel.

I have not had this problem, so not sure if it is software or hardware, but sounds like a hardware problem affecting some machines. I just finished an hour of multiplayer BF4 using the Wifi with the GPU running Ultra and didn't have any drops in Wifi performance, so can vouch that it isn't a systemwide issue.

 

will we have a gs60 with GTX 870m with 6gb ???

 

You are right, I also have Killer LAN and Intel wifi. I also noticed that wifi stops working when CPU is running hot and the laptop's underside gets warm, so it's not only a GPU thing. I think the wifi is somehow affected when the temperatures in laptop increase.

*Update
The problem goes away when I get really close to my router so that the wifi singal is very strong. I guess the new intel wireless card must be weak to pick up the signal from long distance when under heat.

 

Yah I've been getting poor reception from my gs60 also (2 rooms and 1 floor upstairs away from the router).

Anything to help? Or is this Intel ac chip that poor of a performer from distance?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

@Ken

Any idea when gentech will have the 870m version now that it's available via newegg?

 

I was wondering if the pro version was delayed so that they could put in the new haswell refresh chips in them (out in May), but it doesn't seem that way. Not a big issue since there isn't much to the refresh, just slightly higher clock rates (I think 100MHz, but same TDP). Too bad no broadwell.... nor any real info on broadwell...which makes me think it won't be coming for a while, so no point in waiting (should only be like 10% cpu increase, and I don't really care much about to 50% integrated gpu boost.......but lower TDP is always nice).

 

yes this is how i solved it, i placed a netgear wireless extender in my house. my router is only 2.4ghz and N band, but the wireless card in the laptop seems to like a/b/g bands and 5ghz

 

What gets better throughput and distance? Wireless G or N? My setting right now is at N and the reception is horrible 2 doors down.

 

I think you are dead on with that heat affecting wifi comment and I fear this could be design flaw.

If you check some disassembly video (for example this one from GenTechPC), you'll notice that wifi card is located right under one of the cooling fans (I think it's the one attached to CPU, but I'm not 100% sure so feel free to correct me) and since it has operating temperature range 0°C - 80°C this could be a problem. You can see that maximum CPU temperatures under load in this video are ranging from 75°C - 82°C for individual cores, 81°C for the CPU as a whole and 75°C for GPU. If you factor in possible variance in temperature it can jump to let's say 85°C and 80°C maximum for CPU and GPU respectively. Now I don't know how good are these cooling fans thermally insulated and how much heat is radiating around them when they are under maximum load, but if it's not so good, then it could really affect that wifi card, at least in a way that it's operating very close to its maximum operating temperature.

I think this is a fairly reasonable assumption. In the case that you think that I'm too far off base, please let me know why. However if you agree, do you perhaps know a way, how to thermally insulate that cooling fan, so the radiating heat from it doesn't affect that wifi card so much?

 

Your reports that the wifi card is disconnecting with GS60 heat is a severe problem

Based on these repeating posts the following will help us get MSI's attention to resolve this (not sure how):
1. If you own a GS60 - use MSI's customer support even if you don't experience the problem. You may start experiencing it when your fans get a bit dirty with time
2. If you pre-ordered (like me) consider reaching out and canceling the order or demanding an inquiry by the reseller to MSI
3. MSI on facebook will hear about it from me, any social media where MSI can be receiving feedback on
4. Those who can reach out to MSI HQ should do it

Such design flaw is a deal breaker for many of us. No intense work or gaming on Wifi ? I'm not sure a firmware is enough to fix this.
Dor

 

you are reading too much into that

the problem occurs BEFORE the CPU and GPU heat up to 70+ C, it happens early on just as the GPU is activated for a game and even before the GPU fans start to spin up. so the problem isn't after gaming for a few minutes when everything heats up, it's when everything is STARTING for gaming that the WIFI signal drops out

that's why i thought it might be a power consumption issue, like the GPU + fans were taking power away from the WIFI card thus losing signal strength, or possibly the GPU frequency is causing some kind of WIFI signal interference as it spins up, but it isn't the heat that is the issue.

with the wifi extender i have had no problems, so maybe it really is an issue with the 7260 AC card since googling it brings up all kinds of problems with it

 

Well, to be honest, I don't remember anyone posting when exactly the wifi starts to have troubles with signal strength, but it could be just poor memory on my side I remember someone posting a comment that when he started gaming, wifi signal dropped quite rapidly and this is what came to me as a possible reason, but you certainly could be right that I'm reading too much into it. Your power consumption and signal interference ideas aren't that bad. I quite like them, as a possibilities, but can't really express an opinion on them, since I lack the knowledge regarding those issues.

 

Could try putting a small heat sink on it with conductive adhesive and see if that fixes it. Obviously some risk but that might rule it out.

I suppose also pointing a hair drier or heat gun at it while the laptop is idle might rule out power issues.

 

I've pushed the CPU/GPU hard for hours while playing and benchmarking and don't have any WiFi issues. I'm guessing those that do are related to the WiFi card itself either driver or hardware, maybe a loose antenna, or even router/access point related.

If this was a design flaw due to heat we all would have the problem. I use the WiFi exclusively for network connection and haven't run into this in a week and a half of constant work and play with the notebook.

I think its a bit premature to start blasting MSI publicly over this

 

Here's a link documenting Intel 7260 card problems
http://forum.notebookreview.com/networking-wireless/741371-wireless-slowdowns.html

I believe my problem is that I have the 7260 AC card and my router is a 2.4ghz N band router lol. My solution was to use a netgear wireless extender that took the 2.4ghz signal and rebroadcast it as a 5ghz signal. My gs60 connects and stays good 95% of the time.

I suppose I could've just changed my router to an AC dual band but then I'd have to configure all my printers and home video ip cameras too so the extender was a simpler option.

 

That link makes perfect sense, and indicates this is inherent to this line of Intel WiFi cards... You'd think WiFi cards would be reliable by now ha. I've got a Marvel card in my Surface Pro 2 that is terrible on 2.4ghz bands, the Killer cards are buggy, and apparently so are the Intel cards!

For what it's worth, I connect to 5.0ghz and haven't noticed any issues.

 

I see that MSI has shrunk numpad

Can someone measured the width of the numpad, how many millimeters is it from the edge of the No. 1 (left) key to the edge of the No. 3 key (right - just numbers, no enter and +)?

thanks

 

Well, I think that kind of settles it then. It's the wifi module itself that is most likely somehow iffy Thanks for that.

On the other note, would one of you guys that already has his GS60 be willing to measure the palm rest? I would like to know, how much smaller it is compared to my notebook and I couldn't really find it's proportions.

Thanks!

 

NUMPAD works great, just spent the entire afternoon wrapping up my corporate taxes (FUN FUN ), would have been a nightmare without it! That's a big reason why I didn't go with the 14" Razer.

From the far left of the 1 key to the far right of the 3 key mine measures 45mm, total NUMPAD width being 64mm.

Glad you guys asked measuring questions at the same time haha, had tape measure out to measure NUMPAD for axel...

From the edge of notebook to the bottom row of keys, it is 83mm deep. Width is 388mm, with the track pad measuring 105mm x 70mm located 95mm from the left hand side.

Did want to add another thought on the screen quality. After using the notebook for a week and a half now, I have really grown to appreciate the screen. It is crisp and bright, with very good viewing angles... after spending all afternoon in Excel and Word, very satisfied from a productivity stand point with the screen and keyboard.

 

So the wifi card can not be replaced? I have horrible experiences with the AC7260 on my previous laptop (constant disconnects) and I would never buy a laptop with it again.

 

Easy to disconnect and add another module

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

Xoticpc show a number of WiFi options to choose from. However it's a pre-order I don't know which of them is going to be relevant.
Maybe someone from Xoticpc want to reply too ?

 

Looking at the non pro version they only have the ac7260 card available, so since they are the same case and mobo chances are the wifi cards available for the gs60pro will be the same.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk

 

Is the GTX 860M the Maxwell variant or the Kepler variant? If it's Maxwell then I would take it over the Kepler 870M. Similar performance at half the power consumption? Heck yeah.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989

 

It's Kepler.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raFVNWVkDbE

11:37 into this video they say otherwise. But it also looks like a standard wifi module, so I'm not sure.

 

Then I might as well go for the 870M.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989

 

The antenna clips are smaller then your standard size so they cant be connect to other cards. Maybe it was just a bad wifi card you had before. The AC7260 is becoming standard on many models and we've upgraded a bunch of others to them as well with really good results.

 

Based on other threads stating how they had problems it seems they were all solved simply by adding an extender with a 5ghz frequency of channels a and c

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk

 

Noise is my biggest concern. How noisy are both the 860 and 870 versions at light and mid loads? I've heard a GS70 / 870 and it seemed fine but I need to know before I order as I have to use this machine in a quiet zone.

 

I see 5106rpm while running 3DMark 11 and that's the unit with IC Diamond repaste.

Most likely some times in first week of May. By the way, the GS60 GhostPro with GTX870M I was testing is not a sample unit, it was a production unit.

Well it's not a fair comparison since G750 are much much bulkier . Yes the G750 runs much quieter and cooler however, MSI GT70 does exactly the same just like G750.

The camera I was using is the Canon 70D and it always record much louder audio than the actual noise level.

The fan on GS60 with GTX860M and GTX870M are the same, so the noise level for both GS60 Ghost and GhostPro are the same. The fan will run at max around 5100~5200 rpm.

I've uploaded a noise level test video, you can even buy a sound level meter to test with your current laptop and compare with GS60 see if it's acceptable for you:

 

Thank you, GenTechPC, for your videos. Quite helpful and always interesting

What is your opinion regarding the very high gpu temps regarding the GS60 Pro? I think low 90s on the gpu during 3DMark is very high and in the end inacceptable, isn't it?
Don't want to think of running a stresstest with furmark + prime95 on it...
Even the repasting did'nt affect the gpu temps... I really like the 870m in such a slim chassis, but if it can't be cooled properly, it doesn't make sense at all...

 

Would it be possible for GentechPC/Xotic to run a stress test with furmark and prime95? I know i will never get this temps with nirmal gaming but the heat results of 3Dmark are often to low for extensive gaming.

 

yah i would like to hear some more feed back on this issue, Anyone seen any reviews for the gs60 870m version around the web? would love to see a hands on review.

All these heat issues is really putting me off the 870m version

 

yeah. basically this

 

other laptops would throttle CPU / GPU speeds to prevent much higher temps, i believe the throttling should start around 90c

100c was forced shutdown i think, i hit that a few times on my Envy 15 with MSI Afterburner overclocking GPU

 

Except the 870m will be running at 92C and likely having to drop boost clocks/throttle when actually gaming. On my 860m, I get 70-75C when running 3DMark11 or general gaming, with some games (looking at you Blood Dragon) reaching 81C. Add ~6C to the 92C the 870m already gets in 3DMark11 and you are well past throttling temps.

I'm always the first in line for the fastest version of anything ha, but for my money and actual experience/usage with the device, I didn't want a machine that could barely keep temps under check internally and is too hot to touch externally, so I went with the 860m. As -=$tR|k3r=- has said, which I agree with and have seen in other laptops, temps are only going to get warmer with use... thermal paste will degrade a bit and dust will inevitably build up on fans/heatsinks causing temps to creep up over time. Being these new sleek designs aren't meant to be easily serviceable but instead super slim, it's not one I want to completely disassemble/remove motherboard/clean/reassemble on a regular basis. The 860m made the most sense to me. (See my previous post showing internals when I repasted for an idea what's inside)

The 870m is faster, and a great gpu for the money, but too hot for this size chassis. I think the Razer Blade is going to run into similar issues with high temps unless they've done some serious magic.

This of course is only my opinion, and I fully see the appeal of the 870m. I've gone down that road before with previous laptops. Regardless of the GPU choice, I am loving the design and weight of this device; it's amazing the performance packed inside.

 

Hey be77solo, great to see your really loving your laptop but I have a sort is stupid question :
Do temps improve if you raise the back of the laptop a bit to get more airflow?
Not sure if it would help with this sort of thermal setup but was wondering if this drops temps a bit since its easily done and has helped in some other laptops I've had.
Not expecting a huge difference but lowering temps even a couple of degrees will be a bonus.

 

Has anyone had issues with the keyboard? The lights under some of the buttons went out after 2 days of use. Completely out from Left side Tab, CapsLock, Shift, Alt and Ctrl. Partly out from numpad numbers 1-9.