OMG: MSI is coming with a GTX 980M SLI notebook!!!

Awesome so you have some instock? If so which ones?

 

End of this week

CEG Team your Upgrade Base for Clevo & Alienware

 

None in stock but got one specially sent to us to do a video review on.
It was the 001, which has the i7-4720HQ.

But regular stock is on the way.

 

Do you think the the 4980 would be worth for the extra money? What kind of performance increase can I see using the 4980 and in what kind of games? I am also wondering how the cooling is going to hold with the 4980 and two 980m GPUs; I believe the 4980 could get quite a bit hotter than the 4720.

 

It depends what you are going for, if you intend to hook it up to a high refresh rate monitor like the swift then it will certainly help keep the minimum frame rate up.

 

Thanks. At the moment, my focus is not really on the ability to utilize a high refresh rate screen. I'm trying to future proof performance of the laptop I end up getting - assuming I use a 60Hz screen at 1080p. I'm currently contemplating if I should get a laptop with a single 980m or get one with two.

 

Another thing to consider is they are guaranteeing the machine to be upgradable for at least another two releases, are you the sort of person who would upgrade it?

 

I would consider upgrading the GPUs later - if I see a good return for my investment. However, I do feel that the two 980m s should allow me to play almost all the games for at least another two GPU generations - especially on a 60Hz screen at 1080p. Don't you think so?

I have a question though. Let's say I get the 4720 version. If I decide to upgrade the GPUs sometime during the fall of 2016, I am wondering to what extent the 4720 would bottleneck the GPUs - more than the 4980?

 

Hard to exactly say without knowing what GPUs/games will be out in 2 years. Overclocked to 3.6ghz on all 4 cores you would likely still be pretty set.

 

True. At that point, I am not sure what the difference between the 4720 and the 4980 would be - could be marginal. Hence I am thinking that by having a 4720 I could have a cooler chassis and have more room for overclocking the GPUs.

 

Both cpus are rated at the same power I believe fyi.

 

I dont think the difference between cpu options is that great. While 4980 will most likely perform better, the gaming difference should not be that great. Any is fine

 

I assume that like the g72 series, the "second hard drive" interface is Sata II correct? For gaming applications only, how much of a performance hit would I see running an 840 Evo with the SATA II interface? Would it be noticeably slower?

My one concern about this laptop is relative lack of SSD storage space. I have been spoiled with going all mSATA SSD on my existing laptop.

How are the ADATA SSD's that xotic is offering as an m.2ssd upgrade? Going to two 256 gb of those plus my existing 500gb 840 evo would give me sufficient space so long as the performance hit on the 840 evo was not too bad.

As to the 4980 vs 4720 discussion, would the games that feel the cpu difference the most be rts and strategy games? I tend to play a lot of those.

Also, any gaming/oc stability benefit to going to 1866hz RAM or should the stock RAM suffice? My understanding is that for mobile cpu's RAM generally doesn't have too much of a real world gaming impact, but I figure once you are in this price range you might as well ask

 

4720 may be more ideal because it is a better value for the price.
Also, like what you said, it has some headroom for overclocking, unlike 4980 which is already somewhat maxed out, and runs hotter.
All in all, even thou CPU is important, but GPU is more important.

 

When people get the machine, I would also like to see what people thing of the panel. Sounds like they used a Samsung PLS panel so even though it's only a 1080p screen, it sounds like it is a high quality one (I own two Samsung PLS Monitors that I love). Anyone know the refresh rate of this particular panel?

 

There are four slots for M2.sata drives. I was thinking if you wanted to go nuts, put 4 x 500GB's in there for 2TB SSD space. Couple that with an onboard HDD of at least 2TB and you can have a live backup in the machine!

Homer

 

HA! And I was called a fool here when I said MSI should make literally this exact laptop two years ago: http://forum.notebookreview.com/msi/693082-dual-video-card-msi-laptop.html

One thing of course we could not foresee back then was Alienware dropping out of the dual GPU laptop game, leaving a big hole int he market.

 

Seems Meaker agreed with you, "I think so long as they took care of their core branding, extending it is not a bad thing. We have seen that they have extended themselves down with the GE and GX series while maintaining the GT series."

They have definitely extended their line since then (I LOVE the GS series), glad they continue to grow over the years!

 

Of course the entire thread wasn't hostile/dismissive towards the idea, but a lot of it was.

 

Agreed, you had a great idea! Glad to see MSI has developed over the years to the point they have produced such a machine. Curious, you going to get one? It's quite a bit bigger than I need so I'm unfortunately out.

 

Yeah. You are not the only one that mentioned a SLI notebook at some point hahaha, but in general people seemed against the idea because, well, it is expensive, there might be issues etc etc.

All in all, I think this new line is a great addition to the portfolio of MSI, and personally I was waiting for such a notebook to happen

 

I would if I could lol, but I am not in a financial situation to get such a beast. Also since 2012 I have come to a position where I don't really need my beast to be mobile. I will probably be moving on to desktops when I get my next rig (right now I am using an Asus G75vx).

 

*hands Defengar a cookie*

 

Pretty sweet timing for MSI it has to be said.

 

Here it is! comes with every GT80 Titan!

 

MSI Geno also posted some big 'ol pics in the CES thread.

 

From the benchmarks that are being shown on video reviews like this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdchI4r6afc

What are you guys thoughts on this beast?

Especially on heat and performance.

 

It's hard to beat for those who need a desk to desk beast with minimal extras. No need to get a separate keyboard or speakers. All you need is to take a mouse with you and maybe headphones.

 

It's done. After much umming and arring I've ordered the Titan from HIDevolution. They've promised me it will be here (UK) by Friday. I've paid $3,440.04 including shipping, it works out at around £2500. This is inclusive of VAT and all other costs, I've been assured after talking to Angel, then Ted, that this is the final price inclusive of VAT and any customs dues. I spent most of the afternoon phoning around various MSI retailers in the UK, none of which could give me a date of release in the UK or a price. I then phoned MSI UK and spoke to a very helpful chap in the marketing and sales division who informed me it would be released over here in very limited quantites in the first week of Febuary for £3500, or $5290.43 at todays exchange rate! Needless to say until I saw the HIDevolution offer on amazon I wasn't purchasing.

I've read mixed reviews about HID on here so I'll post and let you know how the process goes, should be here by Thursday or Friday at the latest, fingers crossed!

 

Congrats !

 

damn after watching that youtube video as expected shared CPU/GPU heatsink on both fan no wonder GPU so cool and cpu goes all the way to 85C on such a crappy ghz CPU.. bga too :'(

 

btw how many mini pcie slots are in this machine?

 

What? All three heatsinks are independent. They share the exhaust.... obviously, but the pipes are independent. Check GentechPC's video at minute 17

Also, Haswell's CPUs run infamously hot compared to previous gens, but 80's temps are quite normal for these CPUs.

 

Well it is shared in the fact the air blows across the GPU heatsink part and then the CPU part. Keeping the GPUs cool is more important though for overall gaming performance.

 

Anyone do a component pricing on this beast to see where MSI is making their money?

Homer

 

exactly that, too bad we dont get to see how cool the memory/shader is but from the looks of giant heatsink its prob real cool. too bad im more of a CPU guy so this is lose - lose for me

so 4980hq really capable of 4.4 on all cores? if so its not so bad replace regular tim with liquid ultra this cpu should run decent temp. and since its MSI, fan should be 12volts.. fan at 12volts x 2 fans hopefully.

 

GT80 arrived today. Wow.

I'll post a more in depth reply tomorrow as I've installed Dragon Age Inquisition and maxed out all the settings and it looks phenomenal. Cut scenes look like the frame rate is dropping below 30 however the game play itself is smooth as silk. The fans are incredibly noisy at full speed however the temperature of the air coming out of the fans dropped considerably once I put them on full pelt (not scientific I know, apologies). Played ride of the Valkyries (lots of bass) compared it to my Samsung Gamer 7, louder but no real difference in audio quality, a little tinny at times. Touchpad combined with Windows 8 is a pain in the . HIDevolution had had the laptop from California to my house in just over 48 hours, so far everything looking good, very impressed. In daylight screen seems to fade at the edges. Blue-ray player is very loud and makes the whole laptop vibrate when writing, not sure if that's a problem or not anyone in the know let me know. I know more than Joe Public about computers though a hell of a lot less than many on these forums, I'll give a full review to the best of my ability tomorrow now back to Dragon Age with headphones I think...

 

Oh it's the same monster fan as from the GT60 yes.

 

Congrats on your purchase.

The turbo fan is intended to lower the temp to the lowest but it's not normally used at all due to noise. So in general use, you won't need that feature.
DVD drive usually vibrates due to having a small motor in the drive that spins, which is normal.
Here's an example from Apple under [Noisy or vibrating drive] which describes it.
Get help with the slot-loading SuperDrive on your Mac computer - Apple Support

If you have any questions, feel free to let us know.

 

Well I think ive come to the conclusion that im going to sell my 2 alienware lappys and get one of these. Haven't seen any real bad points but still hesitant moving to a different brand of laptop but being its msi they normally make really good quality stuff.. still cant believe alienware hasn't got the 980m's in there machine yet and they're only kind of compatible in some with alot of work

 

I felt the same way and I have no regrets.

 

Awesome mate really good to know.. sigh now I just got to sell my lappys and not get a million phone calls from tire kickers and people trying to low ball me

 

thats good to know man Meaker thanks for confirming some of the info. besides the crappy BGA if we just get the base mobo sku that comes with 4980HQ then it should be acceptable imho. if one just leave stock clock for GPU then CPU can be OC and cooled so thats good to know two 12v fans cooling it, alienware shoulda went that route but didn't.

 

Hope this isnt a repost.. but did anyone get the upgraded copper heat sinks when they ordered from hidevolution. . Also how do you get a discount code.. im fine with the price but wouldn't mind free postage especially when your spending that much

 

Sold my other 2 gaming laptops only got the m18x left and that'll sell pretty quickly.. so not long now cant wait..