Official MSI GX640 Owner's Thread

well, thing is, I wonder how will this "constant kinda-higher-than-normal" temperature affect the longevity of the lappy, since I really need it to last at least 3 yrs while I'm in University. And the guarantee in EU only lasts 2 yrs

 

fair enough, my toshiba satellite p100 gets to 90C doing light tasks like internet browsing and is somehow still alive... bought in summer 2007

 

well that puts my mind more at ease. Now i rly just can't wait to try out the lappy, since i kinda neglected my desktop and the current GPU on my desk is worse than the 5850M

 

I was wondering, does anyone know how I would go about reading my 3dmark vantage score? I ran it on my gx640 on the high setting. I just want to know where my machine scores compared to others

 

Going to be making a Gx640 purchase in the next day or so. Can't decide on if I should go with the stock i5 430m or upgrade to the i5 540m.

How much of an improvement would I see?

 

Click on view score after the run .. yours would be lower though as i'm pretty sure everybody else ran theirs on default.

Not worth it , don't waste your money as performance won't be noticeable ..

Why not go for quad ?

 

I've seen that the 540 has more features and the power consumption is better (1W in full). In bench he can be very close to the 430 but with some tests the 540 is much more powerfull (=> +30%). I think it's because of the processor's extras instructions sets.

 

Core i7-820 is to expensive and I dont really want to get the i7-720. lol

 

i5 540M vs i7 720QM

I only see 4 major differences. Memory bandwidth higher on the 720QM by a large margin. 4 cores with 8 threads vs 2 cores with 4 threads, big difference.

Bus/Core ratio is a significant big difference. It's your multiplier. The (front side) bus runs at a fixed speed. The processor also runs at a fixed speed. The closer they are to the same speed, the less cycles the core has to wait. In theory, the closer the bus speed is to the chip speed, the faster the system works. In practice, there is only so much bandwidth a chip needs. There can also be variences due to harmonics. (so 1/2 is better than 451/900)

I'm guessing you want the integrated graphics? If so you may want to confirm that MSI enabled that. I don't think just because hardware is there doesn't mean it's enabled. Hardware for the HD5870 on my machine is capable of EyeFinity, but it's not enabled. So call to confirm

 

I were to put money on it, I'd make a fortune in a double blind test that not a person here would notice the difference.

 

So is the i7-720 a better idea than the i5-540?

 

If it comes to a question of "future proofing" your laptop . . . I'd definetly take a quad core i7 over any of the i5's. People say that games don't utilize more than dual cores . . . maybe that's true, but consider this:

The xbox 360 has a three cores. The playstatio 3 has some funky risc setup for the processor that behaves like a multi-core processor. Games are increasingly being developed for console games and ported "back" to the PC (which sucks BTW). Given that console systems are driving game technology and are already utilizing 2+ cores, I think it's safe to assume that 2+ cores will start to be utilized more and more in PC games as well.

Anyway, that's my feeling on the matter.

 

I think it depends. If MSI enabled the integrated graphics for switchable graphics, then it's a great reason to choose the i5 540M. That may increase you battery life by 2X. But I highly doubt they did, so you have to call to absolutely confirm that it's true.

If not, then everything points to i7 720QM.

For games, dual core haven't been fully utilized yet. Even the Core 2 Duo for BC2 are perfectly fine, BC2 uses about 70% resources on them. But BC2 only uses 27-40% (on 920 only uses 30%) on the i7 Quads. So that tells you that the more threads you have, more efficiently BC2 runs. But it's not "necessary" and it won't increase your FPS. FPS increase on i7 Quad vs Dual Core from benches I've seen is about 2 FPS increase. But this is of course when using a the latest GPU like the desktop HD5770/HD5870 and the Quad being very fast.

 

I think it was answered before that MSI did not enable the integrated graphics.

Well, I think I am going to go with the i7-720 quad then as a little bit of future proofing. Thanks for the awesome responses.

 

Sure thing. I decided to go for a gx740 . . . but the gx640 was a runner up and I would've got it with an i7-720 as well. Enjoy!

 

you should compare to the 720 to 620 since they are about the same price. and i would much rather have a 620 for gaming and everyday use.

because its just plain faster in everything but synthetic multicore benches.

 

oh god... not the 720 vs 620 argument again........*blows up*

 

yeah, other threads all over the place... this thread would hit 100000000000000 pages in... 5 minutes.

and just to poll other owners: anyone find the touchpad buttons hard to press? compared to the keyboard flex, I find it odd that I have to kinda mash my finger to get a click.

 

Just got the laptop. Burning recovery disks before I do anything. First impressions:

LCD - good but not the greatest. Not too bright from what I'm noticing. My current toshiba has a much brighter display. Though I am loving the high resolution!
Keyboard - the flex is there, and the cramped keys will take a while to get used to
CD Drive - LOUD! I'm burning the disks, and boy is it loud. But not really a problem since this is probably the only time i'll actually use it.
Touchpad - buttons are hard to press, but again nothing major.

Everything else seems good. Just a bit of a disappointment on the LCD quality, but oh well. I need advice on what bloatware to remove and what drivers to install. Anyone?

 

A fan of Rurouni Kenshin I take it? The first 2 OVAs of the 4 part OVA series are the pinnacle of Anime to me, meaning the best there is, combination of story, art style, sword fighting and exploration of morality.

What I do regardless of laptop, Uninstall EVERYTHING I don't use, any game, programs, utilities, everything. And then I go to Device Manager, write down the model for every device. And then search for the drivers, either at manufacturer like Intel, ATi. For devices like Atheros which is hard to find, I go to stationdrivers.com. I don't care about devices I don't use like Bluetooth...

Devices I update, since notebook manufacturer drivers are always outdated, even on day of purchase.
Chipset - Intel.comGraphics - AMD Underground, for for latest 8.74 go to Guru3D forums, you'll find them there in ATi Drivers forum
Sound - Realtek.com
Wireless - Depends on what you have. Intel go to intel.com. Atheros go to Stationdrivers.com
Touchpad - Synaptic.com
Gaming mouse - Whoever made yours, mine is logitech.com

And that's about it. Those are the important drivers for me that I keep track of monthly.

 

Lemme just say that the partitions on this laptop are retarded. That is all

 

What happened to the Envy 15?

 

The i7-920, however, runs at ~2/3 higher clock speed as a quad-core than the i7-720QM does, so it's not exactly a fair comparison. The thing you have to note when comparing quad vs dual is that the gap in clock speeds between laptop quad- and dual-cores is much larger than the gap in clock speeds in the desktops, which eats away quite a lot of the advantage you get from having 4 cores.

 

My 40% is based on a user who measured the CPU useage while playing BC2. Any good CPU should be fine as long as you have a good GPU, as the GPU will be the bottleneck. It's already the bottleneck

 

Hence I don't think ~$360 for upgrading to an i7-720QM in the GX640 is worth it. Even the cheapest upgrade, from i5-430M to i5-520M, is $259.

 

Does anyone know where the touchpad settings are? I haven't been able to find anything.

 

Just an FYI, I think we have a somewhat permanent solution to the PowerPlay/PCIe @ x1/Suspend/Hibernate/Install 10.3 problem. Just disable PowerPlay. Here's the workaround to use similar features (cooler/quieter) of PowerPlay:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/msi...lem-other-driver-problems-12.html#post6194261

 

What is your take on the contrast, viewing angles (mainly verticale) and the black levels?

Are blacks BLACK or are they kind of gray-ish? I have a Sony CW and it's Grey-ish.

 

they are indeed black. very similar in color to the black aluminum.

 

To me, the black levels look good. Viewing angles seem average, not overly impressive but not bad either. Take a look at min's review, he has viewing angles with pics in his review.

Overall, for the pricepoint of this laptop, you can't beat the specs.

I'm still wondering if there's a way to change touchpad settings, anyone know how?

 

Got my GX640 today and am overly happy about this buy. It looks stunning, runs quick (have to test some games on it yet though). And I guess i got a lucky buy! No keyboard flex noticed yet (hopefully won't appear later on) AND i got the nice looking msi backpack and the 9 cell battery ( even though the retailer only promised a 6cell one lol) Screen could be brighter but it's totally sufficient @ full brightness. The keyboard didn't even give me trouble since I was already using a "compact" keyboard on my PC. Also, running @ 58 degrees idle so not as hot as i expected even! So far so good i guess!

 

Congratulations!!
Install some bad games, and start benching!
we need FPS and Temperatures
woohoo!

 

Which retailer threw in the MSI backpack please?

 

Probably a European retailer.

 

Yes, they're called "Flex24" (and i guess the 24 is correct since they delivered it overnight with no extra charge) Installing Battlefield: Bad Company 2 ATM, see some temps, later i'm thinking of Metro 2033

 

*grabs popcorn*

 

same hahaha

 

All righty then! Time for popcorn
First of all, Battlefield: Bad Company 2.
Here are my settings.

And here are my temps after running it for 40 minutes.

I am really happy with those. Room temperature is 20 degrees.
Of course ran on DX11, Went really smooth even in big firefights. Played Valparaiso map and managed to get the Ace pin

OK, that was quite easy and expected, but now, the piece d'resistance!
*drumroll*
*trumpets*
Metro 2033 !
First of all i must say: "Forgive me Father, for I have specced down to DX10 to be able to play on high settings"

Well, after having finally figured out what graphics options to choose (took me about 15 mins lol) i loaded it up. I was expecting quite a choppy experience but was really plelasantly surprised! 25-30 FPS constantly! (gameplay seemed smooth, also, fraps ate up some fps )
Here's a shot from gameplay, looks really nice and detailed.


and after running it for some 30 mins the temperatures were WOAH! sweet!



@88 degrees that's just 1 more than the BFBC2! So all in all I can quite easily state that the GX640 is a quite SERIOUS gaming rig

ON TOP OF THAT, i made a gameplay video of metro 2033 like many have requested here. While it's already rendered I'm only going to upload it tomorrow, it's like half past 12 at night in Lithuania lol.

Stay tuned

 

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Leave it uploading!
So we can see it! !

Excellent temperatures, and smooth gameplay
I'm liking this... not bad for a single fan cooling solution!!

 

do you have like an average fps for BFBC2?

 

anyone try the 10.4 drivers yet? Are they any different from teh 10.3 drivers?

 

Anyone know where I can find the serial number? I looked at the bottom and none of those numbers are the serial. I'm just wondering if I would need it to register the laptop with MSI. Thanks.

 

Its on the MSI G-Series box, on the side. I dont have a serial number on my laptop, but did have it on the box, which is kinda stupid, since I'm likely going to throw the box away...

 

It is on your laptop lol. If you remove your battery you'll see it

 

just got my laptop, and i am very impressed.

gpu temps are awesome
was playing HON, and the temps were around 79-80.
on my old laptop, the temps would be at 93ish.

and it just seems a lot faster in general, alt tabing, loading up programs, etc.

ill get u guys some screenshots, maybe a full review if you want it

 

Does anyone have any experience with the Thermaltake laptop coolers, specifically the Thermaltake Massive23 ST 23cm fan Notebook Cooler Model CLN0009? I found it on Newegg as the cheapest cooler there, at $30, although it had a 5 star rating. I would like to get a quality cooler since I plan on gaming on this computer, but I'm also getting tired of spending loads of money on it. Opinions?

 

I've seen the more expensive thermaltake cooler and it works pretty well with my old 15.4 laptop. They both have the same fan size so I'd assume it'd be decent too.

BTW is it possible to apply thermal compound on your own without voiding the warranty on these?

 

Bump for hope?

 

my sound sounds like it's pulsing. like it fades and comes back every second or so... really really annoying. any idea how to fix?

 

Someone mentioned it to be a feature; it auto mutes every __ seconds? dont know exactly in which thread i read it...