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

Yes it's good to remember any benchmarks are likely from prototypes and that devices/specs can easily change.

 

LOL! I like the way you put that Geno..... but Sam Chem did say Extreme Core i7 CPU, HERE, and I think SLI is rather obvious. So let me see..... heheheheheh..... so what you are really saying is, nobody has said if the CPU is an Extreme Core i7 desktop or mobile CPU, right?

I know, I know...... you can't answer that question. Hmmmm, let me see if I can read between the lines....... and if I am reading correctly, I DEFINITELY WANT THE GT80!

You are such a tease, Geno.

 

I definitely want it too. the more i look at it, the more impatient i get.

 

Yep, I see you there, tapping your foot, and squirming in your chair, LOL! Me too!

 

Fancy a bench off Geno? It could be fun

 

Pretty certain it would be desktop Extreme. I hope it has huge radiator or shared (CoolerBoost (?) as per Public Relations department) heat-sink at the very least.

 

MSI really seems to be bringing home with the GT72 and now this GT80! I will be in line to get a hold of a GT80 and push the AW18 aside especially if there is no 900m support in the future with Alienware mobiles.

 

I still don't know if I should jump into SLI ;.; I have heard that some programs/games just reconize one GPU, so not sure if it's worth the risk.

 

Are you talking about the very old titles? Rarely an issue with modern titles but there are very few that can have such compatibility issue.

 

SLI still does not work all the time, however if you want to go beyond a single 980M performance wise you have very little choice.

This is why it's best to go for single cards up to top and 980M sli (and 970M if budget is limited) then makes sense.

 

Yeah, it gets expensive and the amount of heat are going to be created by SLI setup. Could go straight back to desktop system instead....

 

Well at the moment the gap is fairly slim, of course a titan class maxwell is not out yet. That would be the boring option however

 

Damn, I'm thinking of buying a MSI GT72 with a 980m card. I want a laptop which I can upgrade for the long run, at least to bump the performance a bit. And I for what I see, you can upgrade the CPU and GPU of the GT72. Reading about this possible SLI Laptop makes me think of waiting for this instead... but then again Black Friday is coming, there might be a possible offer for the GT72 that might make it more desirable.

But im curious, can someone tell me if a SLI will help me out with 3D modeling and Video Edition? I plan to use my laptop for that besides gaming. Or the GT72 with a single 980m is enough?

 

That keyboard looks good but not upperside.

 

You can't upgrade the GT72 CPU, it's a BGA.

 

Yes if you intend to keep the gt72 for some time then the 4980hq cpu in it may be a better bet to last over a long time with gpu upgrades.

 

So the CPU is not upgradable? Hmm... for some reason I thought it would be, at least to a higher end model of the same CPU. Like 4710 to 4980. I assume this new possible SLI notebook will be the same.

 

No, the CPU will not be the same for the GT80 Titan...... not if THIS VIDEO is correct. It will be an Extreme Core i7, which is not embedded.

 

Most software programs like 3D modeling and video editing do not take advantage of SLI, really just games do. You will want to check the website of the software programs you are planning on using to double check though.

 

Ok, well this changes things. Hopefully its true, but I wonder how expensive it will be in the end.

Well I do want to game on the laptop, but 3D modeling and Video Edition are for work/hobby. But I'm even thinking a single 980m is sufficient, I mean I been rocking a Gateway 7811-FX for almost 5 years, I think a single 980m will give me enough milage now that I think about it. Still the SLI is tempting.

 

really depends on your software, I do a lot of professional 3d modeling for animation, video editing and architecture models etc. and depending on your software a low end quadro can beat a 980m or outright run circles handicapped around the 780/880m. if any of your major software runs much FP64 or raytracing any of the 600-900 series Gforces can handicap you. in other applications the reverse can be true where a top end gforce can rival a top end FirePro or Quadro.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irE7VsLS0hE here is a link just to show basics on the smallest current Quadro vs the 850m Maxwell.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z51SddilqSw ( k3100m vs 780m on specview, this is similar performance difference on MAYA and 3DsMAX

as for the SLI, question. I would have to say no, I am currently unfamiliar with any prosumer or pro applications for video editing or 3D rendering that supports SLI or crossfire. some will actually just ignore your GPU's and dump everything on the CPU. and now with Adobe and others dumping CUDA support who even knows what we may need in a year or two.

 

Definitely are very useful tips coming from a professional. :thumbsup:

 

Certified driver support from the software company and nvidia mean often acceleration is not even an option unless you have a quadro and if it is then the work done on the quadro drivers is simply not there in the geforce.

FP64 speed is the same on mobile quadro cards (GK104) as GK104 geforce. Both are only 1/24th of FP32 as they removed the extra FP64 units to help efficiency, only GK110 has more and it's not available in a mobile card.

 

Look how far we have come, THIS is a desktop replacement:

Kaypro II computer,,

 

Ah yes the suitcase machines It's interesting to look into the engineering that went into those devices.

 

Any idea when this will actually be out? The suspense is killing me.

 

More information
Cheers

 

My pessimistic prediction happened - custom extreme HQ. I was hoping that my optimistic one, would be THE one... When you think about it, they change sockets each generation, so it really doesn't matter that much if it's soldered when you get the top-of-the line option, given it performs as the current top-of-the-lines (unlocked multis, overvoltage possibility and etc). I can agree with such chip and decision. Of course there's those that hand-pick their chips and this is making it "a bit" harder I'm still behind modular machines

 

Interesting to offer the intel HD option.

 

Man, the GT80 is shaping up quite good. Good find Cloud

 

5th Gen Intels...... BOO YAH!

 

What can we expect in term so performance gains and temperatures from the 5th gen? From what I've read not much difference until Skylake? It would be a great advantage if 5th gen ran significantly cooler than Haswell though. Especially if you have a XM CPU.

 

Been out of the gaming for 4 years now... sold my m17xR2 then. Now that I'm finishing medical school I'm considering getting back into the gaming world. Back then it was just alienware/dell and clevo now it seems like everyone is getting into the gaming laptop segment. My next laptop is going to have to be the GT80....

 

MSI have been really in the game since the gx660 / gt680 style chassis came in.

 

GT627/GX620/GT735/GX730 (MS-1651/1721 series) is where MSI started in gaming series, then they revved up the RPM after GT660/GT740 (MS-1656/1727 series).

 

I'm very happy about this laptop, and I hope it does well, not because I will be buying it, but because it bucks the trend of these ty chiclet keys. I used to have a behemoth Asus 17" then I got the Gigabyte p34g which was much more manageable for me. I like that they are playing with the keyboard position, in my perfect setup I would have a mechanical 10keyless (f1-f12 still fullsize and spaced) placed on the bottom with the top section being a wacom style drawing/track pad. (I always use a gaming mouse and only use the pad for that odd situation). The screen could be touch as well as long as it was matte. Also I don't see why it couldn't be a 4k screen with the phone DPI they have now, just run games at 1080, it fits perfectly.

 

What I'm really concerned about is the numpad/touchpad combo. I'm not sure I will enjoy typing on flat keys, and I use the numpad keys a lot.

Apart from that I just hope that the cooling system is great and that we will get some nice screen options.

 

Definitely. I don't use the numpad as much but I bet it will be weird having a full mechanical keyboard and then a flat touch/numpad. I will get used to it but I can see some people get a bit overwhelmed haha.

I am hopeful they will use a cooling solution similar to GT72. We will have to wait until next year for more news though. I don't see MSI saying much about the GT80 in december.

 

Only 6 grand

MSI GT80 2QE-XXXAU Titan Notebook | Techbuy Australia

 

That link is most likely a placeholder link so that you can preorder and then they will adjust the price.

I hope because 6 grand?!

 

Well 4980HQ, GTX 980M SLI, 4 x 256GB SSDs, 32GB RAM and expensive mechanical keyboard.

Probably not $6K but dont expect $3K either. This will be a beast and not a bargain notebook for sure

 

While it's nice to see a mechanical keyboard work its way into a notebook, this design wouldn't work for me. I love my built-in palmrest too much. Perhaps they could have recessed the keyboard back in the usual area if they used cherry ML switches instead. I always figured I'd see ML's in a notebook before MX's.

In any case, I commend MSI for the attempt. But their GT70 will suit me just fine

 

You all with the palm rest issue are way over emphasizing!

Think about it, desktop keyboards are becoming more and more minimal everyday. Some, like the Apple keyboards are practically keys and only keys with hardly anything else to them, certainly no "palm rest".

Do you recall the giant old Microsoft keyboards, especially the "ergonomic" types? Huge!

Nobody uses those anymore, cause they are not needed in the real world.

Hmmm… or is this wonderfully innovative keyboard inspiring an epidemic of "Limp Wrist" syndrome?

Come on guys, we be men!

 

I suppose if you were always going to use it on a desk, it wouldn't matter. When on my desktop machines, my palms rest on my desk. But I usually have a laptop on my lap or on a small lapdesk, so I like to have a palmrest then. An 18" machine is large enough that perhaps people will only use it on their desk, so maybe it won't matter to the majority of people buying a laptop of that size.

 

No mate you're approaching this subject totally the wrong way.

Why are you emphasizing the fact that there are worse keyboards out there? You're forgetting that this is a high end gaming laptop we're talking about here, not your 13" Macbook Air and other small notebooks. Many of us are coming from machines with great keyboard. I myself having been treated for so long with, in my opinion, the best keyboard I've ever seen on a laptop in the form of the Alienware you can see in my SIG. It's going to be incredibly hard downgrading to a lesser good keyboard, and why should we? We live in a world driven by tech innovation. Just like you expect your new smartphone to be better all round than you previous one it's exactly the same situation here, we expect our new laptop to be better all round.

Granted a mechanical keyboard is a great new addition, but why go and ruin it by this horrible numpad/touchpad combo with so much space in the back and none what so ever at the front?. I think that this situation could've been easily avoidable, strange choice by MSI.

 

The layout will be to do with the internals. Mechanical keyboards are very deep so will take most of the depth as well as the area where they are. Partly moving it to the front allows desk use more easily and partly it allows the depth not to disrupt the other internals. The option then is no touchpad or no numpad or a hyrbid to incorperate both.

 

Or suuuper thick notebook I think it's fair compromise. One thing doesn't leave my thoughts though - 47W. I hope I would be proven wrong, but i don't think that it would be an Extreme CPU. I've seen other occasions of misinformation - on the nVIDIA high end 7 series introduction the rep guy clearly said something that couldn't be found in the released product. I think Meaker remembers that one.

 

I wonder if they'll just put this in a plastic housing and call it an ac adapter.

 

Dual 240W would do the trick still, a 4980hq is fine if all the bios controls are there.

 

I see your point, and truly did not consider such. It is not my perspective.

Though, at this level, if this is not in the distinct category of "desktop replacement" then what is??

So, from the that perspective, a "built-in" palm rest isn't necessary, nor necessarily desired.

If the purpose is to have a Full-Size/mechanical keyboard, then naturally the emphasis is on PROPER use, which means "proper" DESKTOP positioning.

I am not in the minds of the designers, but it appears rather obvious the intent is to bring full size DESKTOP experience to a desktop replacement laptop.

I for one, as I believe all chiclet keyboard haters, will purchase the GT80 primarily in this regard.

This will be my first out-of-pocket laptop purchase. In the past, the lousy keyboards have been a preventative issue for myself and others I know of.

For me, replacing my desktop is my primary intent; second, is portability rather than mobility.

Others have made comment, that they connect full size mechanical keyboards to their laptops as a matter of course. So, again, for these users palm rests aren't an issue.

Given all the above, MSI has made the correct decision in disregarding the so-thought "palm rest". Just a note, in my recollection and opinion of original laptop design evolution, the so-called palm rest area was not designed as such.

Users simply took that area as a palm rest, though the layout was for more practical purposes.

Lastly, imuho, the keyboard naysayers are most likely not buyers, mechanical/full size keyboard or not.

How many naysayers truly intend to drop the US$3500 to US$5000 this desktop replacement will likely cost?