MSI GX640-098US Review

Sell your i5-420 and buy a i7

 

That figures correct, i dont think i saw MSI advertise it as GX640+Battery, although i may be wrong.

 

I was really excited when I placed an order at xoiticpc.com on this laptop.
Now 36 days later I'm not that excited. About 2 weeks ago the laptop arrived with a broken graphics card or lcd. Then I tried to get a refund. But it didn't work out so I chose the warranty. They said that they send me a return label. Which was 5 days ago, still haven't heard anything from them. They aren't even trying. Any tips from you guys on how to speed things up?

 

I remember reading somewhere that the 5.9lbs figure is for the those that come with the 6-cell battery. The ones that come with the 9-cell weighs around 6.5lbs. Of course, I could be wrong, too.

 

If anyone's interested, still selling my GX640. Will negotiate perhaps for lower offers. Links in the sig.

 

Could the owners of GX640 weighs their laptop and give us some number please?
Total weight would be one of the consideration I'm buying laptop too.

 

5.9 lbs with the 9-cell battery. 10 seconds on Google.

 

It's 5.9 before the battery. A guy weighed it a while back with a postal scale

 

Err.. I already know it weighs that much before the battery. I'd like to know how heavy is it with the 9-cell battery.

 

Slightly heavier than 5.9 lbs with the battery. Seriously, what difference does it make?

 

I really wish someone could give us an accurate measurement of this thing and post it.

Also: I'm sitting in class right now, started up the machine, and a while later right now the power meter says:
3hrs 32 minutes, 88% battery remaining.

Underclocking works wonders I'm at 75/100 on the 5850 right now.

Has anyone figured out how to undervolt the CPU or GPU yet?

 

wow thats an insane amount of battery life left That makes me happier that underclocking does that much.

 

Damn! How'd you underclock it that much. I've been reading that about 300/450 is the lowest one can go with the gx640. Anything lower and people report problems.

 

Hmm... I know for sure 100/100 works for most people. Others have reported that also. I have been doing 75/100 also, it works fine, I even launched a game one time (F.E.A.R.) without switching it because I forgot, and it just.. well, lagged, but no artifacts.

 

100/150 is fine, in my experience; that's what I use most of the time. At 50/75 the driver crashed for me at one point.

 

I tried 100/150 once. It didn't work. Instant crash.

I guess not all cards are the same.

On a side note, there's a field to control the voltage in the ATI GPU tool, but it doesn't seem to work.. why?

 

You have to flash the GPU with an edited bios to undervolt. I used the RBE tool from techpowerup to edit the bios. I haven't touched the clock settings yet, but I'm running at 0.95v at stock clocks, and at 0.8v when using powerplay's maximized battery life setting (300/400 clocks).

Seeing as you can run stable at 75/100, I expect you can easily undervolt it to 0.75v, maybe even 0.7v.

 

Wait, do you have to flash the voltages directly or can you just enable the voltage field on the gpu tool? It seems pretty risky if you set too low of a voltage, and I rather not deal with multiple bios flashings.

 

Yup. Although, I'm not entirely sure, I believe you cannot undervolt below a certain limit. Besides, the worse that will happen is that you'll need to do a blind flash.

 

Do you guys know which of the i7 CPU's are compatible with the GX640?

Which one do you think is the best bang for the buck, for new games like ArmA 2: Operation Arrowhead, and the Crysis games?

I think the GPU is fine to max them out and its the CPU thats slowing it down.

I know some of you guys, know a lot more than me!

 

NEW VIDEOS ON THE GX640:

ArmA 2 Operation Arrowhead Defend mission for Takistan GX640
YouTube - ArmA 2 Operation Arrowhead Defend mission for Takistan GX640

ArmA 2 Operation Arrowhead parachute training GX640
YouTube - ArmA 2 Operation Arrowhead parachute training GX640

ArmA 2 Operation Arrowhead menu GX640
YouTube - ArmA 2 Operation Arrowhead menu GX640

Edit:
--------------------------------------------------------------
ArmA 2: Operation Arrowhead - Black Hawk Down GX640
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuHlN0ImYco

This is a good reason to upgrade the CPU to the i7! The hard part is knowing which one I'll get the best bang for the buck on, so I can add more AI guys with out the lag. I still think its the CPU and not the GPU in this video(Black Hawk Down).
I've never seen the difference between the i5 and i7, so could someone that has, please advise?

 

Especially in those games its not the CPU that is limiting your performance. It is most defiantly the GPU. Crysis is really just a poorly optimised game and really needs a way to powerful rig to run and native res's.

 

D-E-F-I-N-I-T-E-L-Y

Also, quick update from my heatsink mod (2 copper shims on the GPU + OCZ Freeze). Temps have dropped about 10°C on the GPU and are mostly the same on the CPU. It seems that the factory-applied paste was good enough. The GPU, on the other hand, really benefits from making better contact with the heatsink.

 

720QM and 820QM, as well as the new 740QM and 840QM will work for sure.

920XM and 940XM should work also.

 

Hello all!

This is my first post here, and english is not my native language so please be gentle with me!

First of all, ive read all of the threads about the GX640 (ive got the ne verision, but that is the same as the us right?) Yet there´s some questions from my side.

The first week i experienced LOTS of crashes, some bsod;s and several frakked up startup repairs. After reading on this and other forums i turned of the powerplay thingy in catalyst, and all of my problems dissappeared!

Still i get very laggy results in GTA IV for example. Do i have the wrong drivers perhaps? I got the Catalyst 10.6! I am just happy gamer with not so heavy knowledge about how things work, i simply need some guidance! I tried 3d mark vantage and got a gpu score of 6800ish, is that good enough or can i improve it with other drivers etc?

yours sincerly

 

GTA IV is a poorly optimized game and will run horribly even on high-end configurations. My GTA IV settings are everything on high, water on very high, night shadows disabled, trilinear AF and vehicle density, viewing distance and viewing details all at 25. I still get lag spikes in the low 10s but the game mostly stays over 30fps. I'm playing at 1920x1080, but still, it's not a very good looking game for the performance I'm getting.

Just in comparison, Crysis with everything on high is steady at around 40 fps, never drops below 30 and it's a much better looking game.

 

Ah ok, thanks for the answer! Do you also have the Gx640?

What about the problems regarding the gx640 with powerplay mode in catalyst etc? Is there any fixs out for those problems? My problems seems to have totally dissappeard when i turn powerplay off! Isnt my gpu score in 3dmark a bit low?

Yours sincerly

 

I think we all have the GX640 being on this form.

Did you update your GPU with latest driver yet?
Here's where I get mine (Its the 3rd one down):
MSI Global ? Computer, Laptop, Notebook, Desktop, Mainboard, Graphics and more

Did you watch any of my videos on the GX640? If your GX640 dosen't work as well, then there's something wrong.
YouTube - g4m3rleet's Channel

I have my powerplay on and it's a good feature. You might need to talk to customer support for help there. I have no idea how turning that off could fix anything, unless the GPU is bad.

This is from the front page here:
"All benchmarks are ALWAYS at STOCK frequencies.
3DMark06:
At 1280x1024:
SM2.0: 4963
SM3.0: 5665
CPU: 2629
Total: 11520"
http://forum.notebookreview.com/msi/474857-msi-gx640-098us-review.html

 

hi
uhmm
i was jus wondering
if i have to take this laptop, which should i take,
i7 variant or i5?
and why?
and if i5, is it powerful enough or will it be a limiting factor *in terms of the speed of games* coz the vga is powerful..
i'm jus taking this for games..
no hd recording or any other purpose
and oh, is the powerplay bug fixed?
i heard it lead to crashes..
i've read the entire thread.. some said latest drivers and firmware fixes it but Vysotskij is having that issue again with latest driver :S

 

not to be a jerk but if youve truly read the thread you'd know the I5 is plenty enough for gaming. Much less the 10 other threads on the front page asking the same question. Also supposedly the Vbios solves the Powerplay thing.

 

this thread mentioned nothing about i7 and i5 differences
mostly about thermal problems/custom frames with holes/ vga issues/gaming performance and fps..

 

There are at least a dozen posts talking about the stock CPU and it being more then enough for gaming...

 

ok fine
i got my answer
thx anyways

 

Sorry mate wasnt intending to be rude or anything its just it is easily the most often asked question in every Gx640 thread. At least 2 times a day.

 

no prob

 

theres A LOT of info on these boards, just need to look for it

 

I think people should know by now that the GX is the best gaming notebook for its price, and only thing holding it back from stardom is market share.

 

yet you still haven't purchased one dookie...

 

Yah, cuz grad schools aren't showing any love I'm still keeping an eye out though.

Also, quick question. How come I notice that the hardcore are posting in GX or 3820TG threads, while everyone else is in the E14 thread? Is this a case of fanboyism or are the GX/3820TG just machines for the hardcore?

 

I read about the i5 and i7, but now I think the i5 is where the moneys at right now. That's where I'll get "the best bang for the buck", for my games.

Anyone know which i5 CPUs are compatible with the GX640?

 

Get the stock one: 450M. It's def best bang for buck.

 

I won't be upgrading soon, but I just want to know which of the i5's are compatible with the GX640.
Thanks

 

Why would you upgrade from an i5 to another i5? You won't even see a difference.

 

Thanks for the great info and review, OP! It was well-written and filled with excellent details. Good job!

I was looking for a 15" laptop for both gaming and work that had decent battery life and reliability. I was glad to read of MSI's warranty and the overall performance. This pushed me over the edge, so I'm going to place an order tonight quite soon

 

the arrowhead vid is urs?
can u monitor the cpu activity?
see if thats the limiting factor for speed?

 

Sure! What software can do that?
I did update my GPU driver again and I runs even better. I'm really am happy with this laptop! I'll make another video when I get the chance.

Yes, all the videos I post are made by me.

That Black Hawk Down mission was more cpu demanding than what the normal SP needs, so it can handle the game fine. Just not all the misions that can be made with the editor. lol

Here's what I wrote on the my video's description:
"There's is almost no lag with all the settings, set to high("high" is the max on some of the settings), view distance 80%, and even with both resolutions(laptops max).
On all the SP campain, SP missions, and MP online."

 

"There's is almost no lag with all the settings, set to high("high" is the max on some of the settings), view distance about 80%, and even with both resolutions(laptops max).
On all the SP campain, SP missions, and MP online."

See for your self! At the end of the video, you can see that everything is on high graphics!

ArmA 2: Operation Arrowhead - Special Forces - GX640
YouTube - ArmA 2: Operation Arrowhead - Special Forces - GX640

 

Got a screen capture of it in 1680x1050 res and on youtube, it should be in HD 1080p!
Same mission, same settings, same MSI GX640!

ArmA 2: Operation Arrowhead - Special Forces HD 1080p - GX640
YouTube - ArmA 2: Operation Arrowhead - Special Forces HD 1080p - GX640

With the screen capture runing, this laptop did better than I thought it could do.(with this game)
The i5 CPU is quite amazing, really.
I dont think I'll be upgrading it at all now, or at least for a while!!!

It has a bit more lag, but considering a screen capture is runing. Its not bad at all, I think!
It was still playable lol!

 

(Y)
i'll probably be getting this next week
*over excited xD*

 

Got my new GX-640-260US from NCIX a few days ago. Flashed the vbios and bios with the most recent version from the MSI site, as well as updated to the 10.6 catalyst drivers. So far so good. Have been running it through Prime95, PCMark, And 3DMark to see about temps, and compare numbers to the Anandtech review to ensure everything is working fine and so far everything has matched their numbers. Temps have been fine; max temp on CPU 81C, GPU 79C.

Initial impressions are that this review is spot on except:
1) Keyboard to me is fine. Not the greatest, but certainly not as bad as some of the reviews out there have made it sound. I don't notice flex in normal use. Certainly one should not not buy this notebook based on the keyborad IMO.
2) I am not a fan of the touchpad -- I find that it takes a lot of finger strokes to move the cursor from one end of the screen to the other. Likely there is a way to adjust the touchpad sensitivity to remedy this, but I have not had time to go looking yet.
3) This laptop is NOT noisy. Even while playing games I don't hear the fan.
4) It does pump out the heat, but so what. It's supposed to dump out the heat -- thats the idea
5) the brushed aluminum finish is too dark for my taste -- I would have preferred, well , a more aluminum color. This is almost black.
6) Love the size -- large enough to actually work and game on; small enough to be considered reasonably portable. Looked at the ASUS G73H-A2 before ordering this -- very nice laptop but Holy %#$% is it a big heavy machine.
7) screen is also very nice -- to me brightness is very good; I certainly don't think it needs to be brighter, BUT I have not used it outdoors. Then again I'm not sure when or why I would use it outdoors.....