MSI GX740 with 5870 1gb ddr5

OMG...

I've been looking so long for a decent and affordable gaming laptop and always got dissapointed with prices.

The Asus g73jh costs 1900 euros in Belgium, the AW m15x recently got a 200 euro price raise for the same specs (making a decent model with 2 years warranty cost 1850 instead of 1650) and importing a decent 17 inch Sager from Kobalt UK to Belgium would also cost me 1900 euros in total.

And just now I found this MSI for 1290 euros which is insanely low for a laptop in Belgium with an ati hd 5870 (my acer costed 1299€ in 2007 with a 8600m gt).

The only downside I can find is that the Belgium model comes with the core i5 450m, I fear that this cpu will not be enough for cpu intensive games like metroid and gta4 (yes I know the latter is a very bad port but I saw on youtube that it runs smooth on core i7 cpu's).
Has anyone tried to play those 2 or other cpu intensive games with this laptop? I'd sure like to find out how it runs.

 

Actually a i5-450M wont be bad, yes maybe not giving you the edge but still packs enough punch for Games.
If you feel it will get outdated in a year or so, then maybe yes it will be weak for upcoming games, but then you have the freedom to upgrade(eBAY ofcourse).

P.S: Belgium is like the Capital of EU, I didnt imagine its so difficult to get laptops there
Looks like "third-world countries" like mine have better access

 

I got the early GX740 EU-version with the i5-430 and I run GTA4-Episodes from Liberty City nearly maxed.

 

Yea we might be in the heart Western Europe, we still get less laptops, and the ones we do get, are more expensive and lesser speced than the ones in the surrounding countries (though I must admit this has improved significantly over the last year).

I think its because we are only with 10.5 million people and regarding laptop requirements are divided in 2 languages(or even 3 if you count the german minorities in the eastern part of the country which we got after WOI and WOII), so we need french, dutch, english (for international companies) and german operating systems.
And on top of that we use Azerty keyboards (a nice heritage from the intelectual,economical, and nobel born elite in Belgium which all spoke french during most of the 20th century [dates back with Napoleon who created modern insitutions which were all governed in french ofcourse]), while most other countries use Qwerty (Even the people in the Netherlands use qwerty while they speak the same language).
Basicly we are a divided market with region bound specific needs.

Oh and on a side note we have the capital of Europe (Brussels) because none of the dominating countries like England, France or Germany would allow each other this honour so they gave it to Belgium (a country bound to be neutral since its birth in 1830).

Oh thanks, I really thought I would need a quad core to run gta4, guess you just proved me wrong
Guess there are no other downsides in this laptop then, eventhough I don't really like the red kiddy stripes, i'm glad to ignore those since this machine costs an average 500€ less than all its competitors.

 

It got hyperthreading so it got 2 physical and 2 logical cores, so in a sense its a quadcore. Being able to run GTA4 at second highest settings is more than enough on a laptop atleast. I agree about the red stripe, looks kind of silly, would prefer an all black.

 

Hey guys, new to the forum. I want to thanks you guys because reading this thread help me come to the conclusion to buy this laptop. I have the US version stock. I'm still debating whether to flash the vbios or not.

And if anyone needs to know, this laptop can run starcraft 2 on ultra. (The main reason I needed a new laptop)

 

Do flash it.

 

I did, it was way easier than I expected. I was scared I might screw up my new laptop. It went from 65 to 50. But I guess that pretty good all things considered. I order a cooler and should get here around Friday or Saturday.

 

Which cooler did you get? would Cryo LX be a suitable to cool this laptop down noticeably? My laptop's under repair but I am planning to buy a new cooler just for this, but I can't remember where the exhaust 'holes' were for the gpu. Are they near the back of the laptop or in the front of the laptop?

I guess the main reason of why I am asking this is, cryo LX's fans are located near the back of the item, and if the gpu is located in the front of the laptop, then the cooler won't do any good to the laptop.

 

lol...didnt know you frequented these dark places

 

Just finished updating my E7405 with all the latest GX740 updates from the website and I am very happy with the results. My GPU temps at idle went from 62-65 to 50-53. At full load the GPU was seeing 95-100 but reached a max of 87 after the VBIOS was updated. The GPU also down-clocks automatically when you are not gaming which keeps temps down and increases battery life.

I should also add I am using the catalyst 10.7 beta driver for starcraft. Everything seems to work just fine and I am very satisfied with the results. Definitely worth updating.

 

That sounds great! Specifically, where did you get all the updates? Any specific links? Or can it all be easily found on the MSI HQ?

 

You can get the updates directly off the MSI website under the GX740.

 

could you please do a step by step on how you updated your gx740? i have the exact same temps (65 idle) and am not tech savvy at all. and don't have a clue how to 'update the bios' a step by step for idiots would be greatly appreciated

 

I can write a step by step when I get home. In the meantime I just followed these instructions and it worked perfectly. MSI Global ? Computer, Laptop, Notebook, Desktop, Mainboard, Graphics and more

 

I was searching for the Cryo LX too, but I wasn't able to find some one to ship it at a reasonable cost. So I went with the ZALMAN ZM-NC3000U, which was my second choice.

From the attach image I got off the web you can see the cooling system of this laptop. The processor located were the lower cooper pipe ends and the video card is where the upper cooper pipe ends. I guess a cooler which covers mid to top of the laptop (top being where the screen hinges are located) should work just fine.

 

It still seems really scary to me even reading that, I really am an ultra n00b, I'm great with design software, when it comes to actual computer stuff, I'm awful.

If you could do a step by step as if it was explaining to a child with special needs, I would love you forever

 

Just tested the laptop under load with the ZALMAN ZM-NC3000U, even though it feels like its barely moving any air the temperature under load did drop from peaks at 105-78. The average load temp seems to be around 74.

 

just flashed the 5870 bios, hm55 bios and the EC firmware. the temps on the 5870 went from 62-66 idle to 47c-50c idle!!!! no more annoying fan noise .

 

Exact same results I got

 

I don't trust myself to do that :[

 

How come flashing the bios and vbios had any impact on your idling temps?

 

I think it's 'cause it changed its idle clocks.

 

Do you guys know if the Force 1727 can be flashed with the GX740 bios?

 

i believe you can, you'll prob want to look up meraki1990 and ask him to verify, I think he tried it

 

Great to see my nick coming up still in the MSI forums..

Do not flash the GX740 BIOS on the FORCE models,

just the vBIOS. You will have a MSI logo showing up on the boot screen

and it did not look at all sleek

Just go forward with the vBIOS, it will lower your temps fine, the BIOS doesn't actually do anything in terms of temps.

 

battery life is now from 1:50+ to 2:40+, loving this laptop now.

 

Haha, even if you and kosti both went to the dark side, at one point you were still one of us

 

I have another question, should I get the 1727 with the I5 540m or the 720qm? I have been really concerned about overall heat in the system and the power supply maxing out. Also how much battery life would I gain overall?

Could you direct me on how to attempt this? Does the flash decrease performance in games?

 

There's a few ways to flash the vbios, different people on this thread have done it through different sources. I decided to use a flash usb since it appeared to be the most common. I downloaded the new vbios from here

IMPORTANT: New GX740 VBIOS (7/2/2010) fixes overheating issues

And followed the instructions from these website which were originally posted by moudixtc

BIOS Update per bootable USB-Stick

BIOS Update Howto

You don't have to adjust the boot order since (at least my gx740) msi boot menu allows you to choose where to boot from. It took me a little while to make sure I knew what was going on, but its easier than it looks and the temperature drops are worth it.

 

Thanks for the reply. I just bought the computer yesterday, how can I find out if the vbios is already updated to the latest version? I would rather not have to take a chance at bricking my new laptop.

I'm also not sure which file I have to launch in dos, is it vflash.bat?
atiflash.chg
atiflash.exe
br35757.023
vflash.bat

 

it's "vflash.bat" or "atiflash -f 0 -p br35757.023"

 

Just want to make sure that this isn't a typo or something. I just got my E7405 delivered yesterday, is it ok to update the E7405 with the GX740 VBIOS update? I don't want Starcraft 2 to fry my GPU so the reduction in temps would be nice.

I'm pretty confident that I can follow the steps in this thread to flash my VBIOS, I just want to be 100% sure that using the GX740 update won't wreck my new laptop.

 

I think I ran the .bat file.

I got my GX740 last week and I still had to do vbios flash. I'm not quite sure on how to check your current version, but if your idle temperatures are around 65 you don't have it. Mine drop to around 55, and then to 48 with the cooler.

 

To check your bios version:


Right click desktop > screen resolution > advanced settings, and check for "Bios information: Version Xxx.x.xx.xx.x"

 

That's better than the method I used. When I was searching for the bios version I checked that page 10 times and still didn't catch it.

 

I just got my replacement - is this the latest Bios update or am I still going to need to update? - Thanks.

 

you have the latest

 

thanks alot am very happy I don't have to risk flashing now - idle temps are now at 45-50!! (they were 65+before)

Very pleased

 

Same question as his, except i'm not confident

 

What type of notebook cooler are you using?

 

ok..i asked this in another thread, but im going to ask here as well.

anyone able to over clock the cpu?
this user who has a Russian model can over clock his.
CPU-Z Validator 3.1
im pretty sure these are the same boards...was wondering what the hold up was on finding out...thanks.

 

He done it with pinmod!
Look here

Further you can try SetFSB with the PLL ICS9LPRS113AKLF.

Good luck

 

damn your good!
+1

 

omg im so gonna try this

edit:

here's 3ghz on one of the cores

http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=1343327

this ends up being 1.87ghz on all four cores

 

I really want to flash my vbios but i'm not sure how to make a bootable USB, or what guide to follow to flash. Can someone provide me with nub steps on how to do it? Or link me to a good guide?

 

This link was provided by 10secdream.

MSI Global ? Computer, Laptop, Notebook, Desktop, Mainboard, Graphics and more

just follow this; I just updated my vbios today and this worked perfectly.

Also from my own experience, do not ever try to update vbios under windows. If it fails, your bios will be ruined and you won't be able to turn on the laptop (I was foolish enough to try this before and it bricked my laptop; I got my new one from Newegg via RMA).

 

So the only thing flashing the bios does is reduce GPU temps on idle mode?

 

DOWNLOAD: GX740 - vBios files with USB bootable files

It has the vBios for the GX740 and the bootable usb files.

1. install the SP27213 executable.

2. Make sure your USB stick is plugged in

3. Run the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool, 2.0.6

4. Select the DOS system files where it asks for "using DOS system files located at..." after unzipping them to a location of your choice, and also make sure the "File system:" is FAT or FAT32

e.g.




5. After creating the bootable usb, your memory card should be completely blank of "visible" files (the dos files are invisible, however their visibility can be enabled)



6. Move all 4 vBios flashing files to your USB key.

It should now only show these 4 files.



Congrats, you are now ready to flash your vBios!

Reboot your computer and it should automatically boot from the USB key.

After it boots into the key type "vfalsh.bat" or "ati flash -f 0 -p br35757.023", it should only take around 8 seconds or so. Turn your machine off when it finishes and take out the USB key.

That's it .

 

It sets the idle clocks on the 5870 to 100/150 and reduces the voltage for 3D cocks to 1.05