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    MSI GS60 Ghost/ Ghost Pro Thread

    Discussion in 'MSI' started by GreaseMonkey90, Jan 14, 2014.

  1. Derek712

    Derek712 Notebook Virtuoso

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    Engadget's review yesterday mentioned that the sound heavily relied on software. You will probably get better results after messing with the EQ settings. Last two Ultrabooks I've owned, I was severely disappointed with the sound until I discovered it was bundled with software that wasn't on by default. For both, it was a 300% improvement though YMMV. Please let us know if it gets any better.

    Side note: Engadget's review was riddled with oddities. They mentioned that the 3k version won't be out for "several months" according to MSI. I was under the impression it would be out within the month. Also, one of their cons was the trackpad wasn't suitable for gaming whatever that means lol.
     
  2. Svegetto

    Svegetto Notebook Evangelist

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    haha, ya, I'm fan of engadget normally, that review was odd to say the least. The trackpad comments were indeed pretty entertaining (though I suppose not incorrect), cause you know, if you're a hardcore bf4 player that plays via trackpad, this indeed is not the laptop for you lol. The comments regarding the keyboard font were weird as well. There was also nothing regarding m.2 nor upgradability.
    Then again, it would be difficult to find people more knowledge regarding this laptop (or laptops in general) than on this forum, so it's probably not very fair of us since engadget isn't really in the business of reviewing gaming laptops (I think they do a good enough job in most cases for the average user).
     
  3. Fleat

    Fleat Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thanks for the info. I didn't get a chance to read through Engadget's review yet. I will play around with the SoundBlaster settings and let you know if it makes a noticeable difference. I also wasn't shocked the hear that the display is actually a PLS panel, because it truly looks great.
     
  4. FuzzyTree

    FuzzyTree Newbie

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    Hi All,

    Just received and unboxed my new GS60, hooked it up to the power and switched it on. I kind-of expected it to boot through to Windows, but instead I'm presented with some Aptio Setup Utility screen. It's got all stuff for setting like system time and boot orders. I set the right time but didn't want to mess with things I don't understand. Thing is, when I try to save & exit (or discard changes & exit) the machine reboots straight to the same Aptio screen.

    If anyone can point out what I'm missing (a brain probably) I'd be most grateful.
     
  5. Oukami

    Oukami Notebook Geek

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    I'm no expert but it seems like you don't have an os installed... Where did you buy it from?

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk
     
  6. FuzzyTree

    FuzzyTree Newbie

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    I'm in the UK and got it from Scan.co.uk. The box was still in its cellophane so looks like I'm the first to see it since it left MSI. There is a disk that comes with the machine which has folders for Windows 8.1 on it. Not sure if I should be trying to boot through an external DVD first? The users manual seems to suggest all I should need is to switch on and I'm good to go.
     
  7. Support.3@XOTIC PC

    Support.3@XOTIC PC Company Representative

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    You should be good to go. The disc is just incase you reinstall Windows, you'll need to reinstall those drivers.
     
  8. FuzzyTree

    FuzzyTree Newbie

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    Thanks Hutsady. So is the situation retrievable or would you recommend that I send it back? I don't want to mess with things I don't understand.
     
  9. Support.3@XOTIC PC

    Support.3@XOTIC PC Company Representative

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    hfm likes this.
  10. Derek712

    Derek712 Notebook Virtuoso

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    Assuming the Aptio setup utility is your bios, can you see your hard disk listed? Make sure it's set up to boot it(although it should by default). There could also be a page where you can force it to boot. If nothing is listed, the drive might not be connected or might not be partitioned correctly. An alternate way to check is to use a gparted or ubuntu live usb and check what's on the drive(s) (if anything). If they're blank, you could try installing a fresh copy of Windows 8 and seeing if it picks up the key. Otherwise you'll probably have to send it back.

    EDIT: you can also try to restore from the recovery partition, if it even exists.
     
  11. FuzzyTree

    FuzzyTree Newbie

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    Yes that is the one. I'm not opening up another laptop - that's why I've had to buy this new one! Looking at the SATA Information it shows the first two Serial ATA as "Empty" and the third as "HGST HTS721010 (1000.2GB)". Can't seem to find the SSD anywhere.
     
  12. FuzzyTree

    FuzzyTree Newbie

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    I've got four different boot options: Hard Disk, USB Hard Disk, USB CD/DVD, and Network: UEFI. Reordering them seems to make no difference.
     
  13. Derek712

    Derek712 Notebook Virtuoso

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    Looks like it's seeing the spinning storage drive and not the M.2. It's either loose or non-existent. Sometimes removing and replacing it will do the trick.
     
  14. Support.3@XOTIC PC

    Support.3@XOTIC PC Company Representative

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    Agreed about it not seeing the M.2 drive. This model is difficult to get to that drive too, its not on the bottom of the motherboard where you can access by removing the bottom panel. Its on the other side of that. I'd contact them about getting a replacement, they may have some trouble shooting advice for you as well.
     
  15. FuzzyTree

    FuzzyTree Newbie

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    OK thanks all for your help. Looks like I'm sending it back. I'm not having much luck with computers. I only bought the GS60 because the Dell XPS-13 I ordered last month came with a whole load of coil whine and got returned with a vow never to touch Dells again. Still, the GS60 does look like a much better machine... at least it will be when I get one that works.
     
  16. Oukami

    Oukami Notebook Geek

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    I'm sorry this happened to you, but it does happen there's a low chance but hey some one has to win the lotto :p it's just too bad that you got two bad laptops in a row.

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk
     
  17. FuzzyTree

    FuzzyTree Newbie

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    I'm a professional sports bettor by "trade" - hence why a need a laptop that can cope with heavy duty number crunching - so I know only too well about low probability events. It seems I'm always on the wrong side of them with my betting too. :confused:
     
  18. Benchmade 42

    Benchmade 42 Titanium

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    Going out of topic here for a sec, So you think Floyd Mayweather is fooling the public into thinking that Maidana has a chance to win this fight when Maidana was outbox easily by Devon Alexander who is not as slick and not as good a fighter Floyd is? Another cherry pick by Mayweather to convince the public to buy his PPV fight or you think it's a cherry pick gone wrong?
     
  19. FuzzyTree

    FuzzyTree Newbie

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    Can't help you there sorry. I realised very early on that if I was ever going to make a living from sports I should steer well clear of boxing and horse-racing.

    Back on topic, when buying the GS60 in the UK I could only find it with 8GB RAM. When I get my replacement sorted I'd like to double it up, but does anybody know how this impacts the warranty? There is a sticker over a screw on the base stating its removal invalidates the warranty, but presumably there is some way around this(?).
     
  20. Support.1@XOTIC PC

    Support.1@XOTIC PC Company Representative

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    Might be different with UK but in the US it doesn't void warranty to do so. Those are there to deter you if you don't know what you're doing, as long as you don't break anything in the process it doesn't get voided.
     
  21. FuzzyTree

    FuzzyTree Newbie

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    That's good to know. Thanks.
     
  22. dennis96411

    dennis96411 Notebook Consultant

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    Does anyone know the battery's actual capacity in Wh/mAh?

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989
     
  23. supaninjafighta

    supaninjafighta Newbie

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    Hello everyone!

    So my new GS60 GTX860M just came in the mail today and I absolutely love it. The performance is fantastic and the screen and keyboard are to die for (well the font on the keyboard is a little ridiculous but its far from a dealbreaker). The only problem is the fan - its not obnoxiously loud, but its just loud enough to be annoying. My 5 year old Sager NP8662 (RIP) ran quieter than this laptop thanks to its Silent Mode. Has anyone found a solution to the idle noise? The fan definitely does not have to be running at 2800 rpm when the CPU is running at a cool 37C. I really just want to be able to turn it down when the room is silent and I'm trying to use it to study - I'd rather not have to wear headphones all the time.
    Unfortunately the place I ordered from has a 300$ restocking policy so I don't really want to have to shell that out for something that would be fixed with a simple firmware update....Seems like someone found a solution to a similar problem on the GT60 but I have a feeling that that currently it won't port over. If anyone has any questions about the laptop itself I'd be glad to answer!

    Cheers
     
  24. Oukami

    Oukami Notebook Geek

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    But you should still definitely ask scan.co.uk before doing anything to the laptop. Especially since the ssd is on the other side of the board.


    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk
     
  25. dowd001

    dowd001 Notebook Enthusiast

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  26. giantzfan53

    giantzfan53 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Would adding a copper heatsink help dissipate heat from GPU and CPU by a few C? I just ordered the MSI gs60 w/ 870m and didn't buy this option from a retailer, but I was curious as to all your opinions so I may change my mind still :). It's $59 extra, though, which is a hefty price (though admittedly I don't know the average price for this type of upgrade).
    I'm mainly worried that messing with the already powerful cooling system might somehow make things worse.
     
  27. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    Think about the Physics. Add a ramsink and it stores heat but where does the heat go? There is no extra airflow.
     
  28. axel7

    axel7 Notebook Geek

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    I write this Before:

    I am currently testing the Asus n550jk and because I like the quiet fan on idle - office tasks, I use right now Notebook Fancontrol (asus n550jv config) and have the fan off. Temp on idle kept between 48-52 noiseless.
    Is it possible to do the same for MSI GS60 ghost as they have the same procesor (nvidias grafic card is allredy off on idle)? NOTE test it at your own risk
    Someone experienced can even try to undervol it with Intel xtu, so I Think some programer can fix it to comunity
     
  29. giggidy

    giggidy Notebook Geek

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    4-5 hours on power saving? how?
     
  30. supaninjafighta

    supaninjafighta Newbie

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    Hi,

    Sorry, I must have missed your last post! I downloaded and ran Fancontrol on the Asus n550jk configuration, but unfortunately it does not provide for control of the fan. Though if it did, that program would be perfect and exactly what I would be looking for.
    I don't have any experience with Intel xtu so I don't feel comfortable going that far without proper guidance.
    Hopefully that helps and thank you for the suggestion!
     
  31. dorj1234

    dorj1234 Notebook Geek

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    Which vendor/reseller offers the additional heat sink ?
     
  32. Oukami

    Oukami Notebook Geek

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    Would the heatsink even fit in such a thin chassis?

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk
     
  33. hfm

    hfm Notebook Prophet

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    SuperHeatsink.exe
     
  34. Fleat

    Fleat Notebook Enthusiast

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    The Sound Blaster Cinema control panel helps with the sound quite a bit. Music mode with the bass enhancement off, crystalizer on, and a custom EQ seems to make a large improvement in total speaker output and quality.
     
  35. Solandri

    Solandri Notebook Consultant

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    You can't make it worse by adding a heatsink. Heat flow works just like electrical flow. The thermal conductivity of a heat sink is like 1/resistance. The existing cooling system acts like resistors in series (resistance of heat flow from CPU to heat pipe, resistance of length of heat pipe, resistance of heat pipe to air). If you modified or inserted another component to this existing heat pathway, then you could increase the overall resistance and make it worse. e.g. If you did a poor job repasting (increasing resistance of CPU to heat pipe instead of decreasing it), you could increase the overall resistance.

    But if you're leaving the existing cooling system intact and just adding another heat sink, it's like adding another resistor in parallel. It can't increase the overall resistance of the circuit, it can only decrease it.

    1/R = 1/R1 + 1/R2 for resistors R1 and R2 in parallel
    R1 = resistance of existing cooling system
    R2 = resistance of new heatsink
    R = resistance of two combined

    1/R = (R1+R2) / (R1*R2)
    R = R1 * R2 / (R1+R2)

    R2 / (R1 + R2) is always less than 1 since you can't have negative resistance, so

    R = R1 * (something less than 1)

    so R is always less than R1.

    Whether it'll improve things enough to justify $59 is another question. As someone already pointed out, without airflow over the heatsink, the heat flow through it to the air will be very low (its resistance will be very high), and it won't lower overall resistance nor temperatures by much.
     
  36. giggidy

    giggidy Notebook Geek

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    What he said O_O

    Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
     
  37. giantzfan53

    giantzfan53 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thanks for the info. For those wondering, I ordered from pro-star. I got an extremely good deal which I don't want to mention until after my unit ships, but let's just say they made a couple mistakes early on that gave me two free upgrades worth roughly $100, plus a $30 student discount and a $50 upgrade discount.
     
  38. Fleat

    Fleat Notebook Enthusiast

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    I got in on that same mistake where you ended up with a free bump to 16GB of memory and the IC Diamond thermal paste along with the other things you mentioned. I ended up cancelling my order anyways to go with Newegg since I needed it quicker, but it was quite a good deal. In the end though, I prefer a company I have dealt with hundred's of times in the past over someone I have never used when I am spending close to $2,000. And for some reason, Newegg overnighted it to me for free. CA -> WI in one day was pretty spectacular.
     
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  39. axel7

    axel7 Notebook Geek

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    I use Asus config on my Asus laptop but both have same procesor so I Think that it should work the same if someone (some programer here) manage to write config for MSI.
    I Think man can find somehow how to stop the fan on MSI becouse Intel I7 4700HQ can idle on 48-55 without the fan (On my Asus N550jk). (I'm not so experienced and I own not one just now, should order it next week).
     
  40. bkoon1218

    bkoon1218 Notebook Guru

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    MSI had a firmware update for the GS70 2013, so they'll likely release one for the 60 if the idle fan noise is too much.
     
  41. charger71

    charger71 Notebook Consultant

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    I tested more temps with Metro 2033 today. Settings all turned up, I know this one works the GPU.

    FRAPS showed 78-82 FPS when I started playing, played for 30-40 minutes, checked the GPU temp. It was high at 94 degrees, went back to the game to see if there was any evidence of throttling, and even at 94 degrees, the game ran at the same 78-82 FPS. The GPU fan turns off within seconds of exiting the game. Seems maybe they designed it to run at these temps? Either way, it isn't throttling or slowing down in any way when its taxed and hot.
     
  42. hooman_n

    hooman_n Newbie

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    hi
    First of all i am not good in english so , sry for my mistakes :D
    i searched all of the net for a laptop with these details :
    15-16 inch display
    thin & light
    more than 5 hour battery
    full hd
    run dota2 in high detail
    msi gs60 is the only models i could find but 860m is too high for dota 2 and it look likes gs60 has a very bad battry
    i know you guys searched things like me (but with better graphic cards) so did you find anything like gs60 but with 860m,850m or 840m and better battry ?
    or can i change the battery with an 8-cell?
     
  43. giantzfan53

    giantzfan53 Notebook Enthusiast

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    I'm just hoping Pro-star is adequate and that I won't have to contact them. I really wonder if they'll eventually make me pay for the features you listed ( 16GB and IC Diamond paste). If they do, though, I could always claim fraud I suppose for false advertising. I'm half expecting to be shipped the laptop with 12GB without them telling me and having issues later down the road. Wish me luck! I hope you enjoy your GS60 Pro 052. I'm hoping I will too.
     
  44. mr satan

    mr satan Notebook Enthusiast

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    I don't think that exist models with that specific battery life (> 5 hours)... in case i'm wrong, please guys tell me! :)

    Inviato dal mio SM-N9005
     
  45. giantzfan53

    giantzfan53 Notebook Enthusiast

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    94 sounds bad. Do you think the laptop's components will still handle this? I'm interested in seeing the max fps set to 50 fps through the Nvidia GeForce Experience battery boost and observing whether or not the GPU will drop temperature significantly.
     
  46. be77solo

    be77solo pc's and planes

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    Thanks for the follow up Charger71 (BTW, you don't have a '71 by chance do ya?)... I was intrigued by your last post with temps that were significantly cooler than what Gentech and XoticPC were reporting... your 94C is more in line with what they are seeing and we were expecting for the 870m. I was stumped as to the discrepancy and wasn't sure how it was even possible ha. Glad it's running fast for you, it's a beast of a GPU for sure they shoehorned in that chassis.

    You won't be able to change the battery to a bigger capacity, it's internal and designed to fit around the motherboard (for a better idea, I posted pics of the battery during my teardown for repasting if you'd like to see it, check my previous posts). It is however user replaceable in the future at least unlike a lot of sealed devices these days if you manage to wear it out.

    Battery size was definitely a compromise that MSI had to make to keep things this thin and as lightweight as they did. I'm seeing 3-4 hours with regular use depending on what I'm doing on average, but more than 5 isn't happening without an additional external battery pack. Always give and take in thin and light.

    I guarantee it will run significantly cooler if you artificially limit the framerate; I do this all time on my machines, as I prefer it over using V-Sync. I've done this on my 780m from the start and it keeps temps quite a bit cooler.

    Having said that, I personally do not want to run temps that hot period, so chose the 860m this go around. The only GPU I've ever had fail was the 260m in my old Asus G51, where they were regularly 92C+. Granted, different designs and architectures, but hot is hot. I totally understand the appeal and why the 870m is desirable, I just don't need the little extra power. Heck, I'm dropping down from a 780m to the 860m and haven't had to make any compromises to my play style or noticeable settings. But, I've never been a big user of 4xAA and maxing everything out either.

    Truly each his own, and as mentioned above, always give and take :D
     
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  47. R3d

    R3d Notebook Virtuoso

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    I think I'll eventually get the 870m, put a on framerate cap and undervolt it. I just wish they used a Maxwell 860m for this notebook. Would have been perfect.
     
  48. yenal

    yenal Notebook Geek

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    I have just bought a GS60 Pro from Newegg. I have to disagree with charger71 about the temperatures. This thing is unusable on the lap especially if you're wearing shorts. I really would not recommend skin contact with this laptop. I think I will return it.

    In terms of noise, it's pretty quite when doing web browsing and such. It gets pretty loud when doing either CPU or GPU extensive tasks such as compiling code or playing games.

    Do you guys think the temperatures with the 860M is noticably better? It's hard to tell the effects of 84 degrees vs 94 degrees on my legs :)

    If GS60 with the 860M would not work I will wait for the Y50. I really would like a thin profile laptop but it just might not happen this generation.

    Thanks.
     
  49. yenal

    yenal Notebook Geek

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    My scores are close to what he got. P23585, GPU 23958, CPU 22533. I am not sure how they got 60000 in the CPU score.
     
  50. yenal

    yenal Notebook Geek

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    Just out of curiosity I ran 3DMark 11 and some games while Afterburner was running in the background. Afterburner reported a max GPU temperature of 84 degrees. However I am sure the number would climb in an extended gaming session. This tells me that I won't be happy with 860m either. I think the main problem is the chassis. It's a good heat conductor unlike plastic. By the way my 3DMark 11 score was P6965.
     
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