Official MSI GX640 Owner's Thread

I say go for it:

Worst Case Scenario:

Lemon Laptop

Solution:
RMA.


Best Case Scenario

Incredibly sweet Laptop

Solution:

Post benchies, fps, temps, etc.. in this thread

 

Haha true. I just got off the phone with FrostyComputers, and they sell tons of GX640 parts, so in the second-to-worst-case scenario, I'll order a part from them. I should be ordering later this week or early next week. I'll put up some benches and videos soon.

 

Just ordered mine from NCIX. Price match of 1,136.95$ at Grey Tech.
Hope I'll get it tomorrow...

 

The stock config is 1099.99 on Amazon.

 

Indeed, but that's in the U.S. and not Canada.

 

i've heard treacherous things from the amazon gx640...
go with xotic or gentech... might be better in the long run, buddy :\ its only like $50 more...

 

I got the GX640 from Amazon and it's fine. One guy had some bad luck with two GX640s from Amazon, but there's a chance of a bad laptop from any reseller unless they test it for you.

 

I need Xotic because I want Bluray

 

It would probably be cheaper to buy your own Blu-Ray drive, though.

 

I agree, but if you upgrade to bluray, you can ask for your PC to be tested @ xotic, gentech...

@ lackofcheese; I'm glad your amazon GX wasnt bad

 

So am I

 

It's definitely cheaper through Xotic.

 

What is, exactly?

 

The Bluray upgrade.

 

I'm guessing the LG CT21N is what Xotic would be using, or equivalent; it's essentially the same $139 online as the Xotic upgrade.

I guess that's reasonable; although Xotic's price is already higher than others, and you'd get the laptop faster from a wholesaler than from Xotic, Xotic's service is much better.

 

Update on my Gx640.

Been playing TF2 today on it maxed out.

CPU temps: highest has been is 65c for both cores under heavy TF2 gaming.

GPU temps: highest has been 75c at stock GPU settings under heavy TF2 gaming.

There has been no stuttering or lag etc... during the game. It has all been extremely smooth.

 

saw this on MSI support forums. sounds like fun


GX640 (1656) & GX740 (1727) New VBIOS Pending Release
« on: 24 April 10, 09:43:48 »

Dear MSI loyal customers,

We will be releasing VBIOS for GX640 & GX740 owners soon.
There will be bug fixes and adjustments.

Please stay tuned to this thread.

Thank you.

PS: This thread is locked for informative purposes.
« Last Edit: 24 April 10, 10:01:37 by Warner » Logged
FAE, MSI USA

MSI Tech Support - Phone (USA):
+1.626.913.0828 Option 1
MSI Tech Support - Online (USA):
MSI TS Service Request
901 Canada Court, City of Industry, CA 91748

 

Wow!

Can this VBIOS be flashed to a barebones model as well?

Cuz from what I know, the MSI version of the barebones and the barebones differ in terms of bios and firmware..

Can any of the retailers confirm this?

 

Yes you can.

 

So after 3 years my Hp dv6875se's video card has gone bad on me. And after doing an extensive search Ive decided once my refund gets here i will be purchasing myself a 640. Ive been a fan of MSI ever since i built my first desktop in high school based on an MSI mobo. So easy decision. Also that video of a guy playing bad company 2 at full settings sold me quite well lol.

So from what i gather is Xotic the best place to buy from? I'd rather purchase from someone who can offer the personal service then newegg who's return policy is less then stellar.

Also i know its not the place but anyone know of a resource for repairing an HP dv68xx series laptop?

 

Let the HP go... It's been 3 years. It'd be more expensive to repair than to just buy your mum a netbook. Cuz you prolly wouldnt be using it if you're already using the GX.

 

I wouldn't say that. Old laptops are an opportunity for fun. My Toshiba Satellite P100 which is 3 years old is still chugging along. If you've got a busted old laptop there's no harm in cracking it open and playing around to see if you can fix it. Obviously it'll never perform like the newest laptops but the more experience you can get playing around with internal parts without having to worry too much about breaking your shiny new parts the better.

 

Ahh, good point. My cousin and I did that with his old Emachines notebook.

Anyhoo, any updates on your GX, NotEnoughMin?

 

It's doing pretty well, in for RMA with that speaker issue that only a couple of us had. My temps are 5-7 hotter than the norm on the CPU which is just due to the extra wattage the quad core is eating. I'm working on buying an extra bottom panel and mod it out for airflow.

 

Cool. So how would you compare its build quality (plastic's durability/flexibility) with a Lenovo ThinkPad or even a Dell Inspiron 15, or the m11x, or an EEEPC -- any of these is fine, cuz I've touched/handled/used/tested each of them in person. A classmate of mine had the MSI Wind netbook, and its quality wasnt that bad, but the Acer aspire netbook was a bit more durable feeling (harder plastic used?).

Thanks

 

I also RMA'd the laptop because of the speaker issue. Not sure if I'll buy it again, but I'm tempted to since the price point is so sweet. I would say the build quality is probably around the inspiron. No where near the ThinkPad quality. However, aside from the keyboard, and slightly cheap bottom panel, the build quality is average, it doesn't feel the laptop will break in your hands, which is good enough for me.

 

I'm in complete agreement with mr himura;
price point + performance doesnt get any better than this...
for those with a tight budget $1100 for a gaming laptop isnt bad... AT ALL.
(except for the bb g73)

 

Just a small update:

I figured I would take off the big panel on the bottom and put it on a Thermaltake Massive 23ST cooler. Now the CPU idles at 40, GPU idles at 49, and running Furmark xtreme burning mode got the GPU temp to 80C (according to AMD GPU Clock Tool). I think that's pretty cool, but I'd still like to see if I could grab a second panel and do some modding myself.

 

You can get one from any barebone seller.

 

So you like that cooler? I havent had much faith in the one's ive been able to see locally.

 

Looking at the MSI chassis, the NZXT Cryo seems to work better.

 

Still waiting for the zalman 3*** ?

It IS the best regardless of chassis.

 

When is the Zalman 3*** coming out anyways? and question is, will I be reckless with my money at the time

 

Yea, waiting for the ZM-NC3000u.

The abundance of USBs is a plus lol.

But i'm probably going for smaller, weaker models...

Don't need the full horsepower of this laptop..

 

I have ordered a GX640 with the following specs:
- i7 720 QM
- 8gb 1333Mhz RAM
- 500 gb HDD + 1 tb HDD(replace optical drive)

I am looking for answers to a couple of questions.
Question 1: Does the 720QM reduce the effectiveness of Turbo and Eco modes? I am wondering this because of the i7's ability to dynamically adjust its clock.
Question 2: Does having 2 HDDs in the laptop consume more power than the standard 1HDD plus optical?
Question 3: Can someone post instructions to this double sided tape method I have been reading about in these forums. I am not sure if I will find the keyboard flex acceptable and I want to be ready to fix this if necessary.

Thanks in advance for any answer you post.

Really can't wait until I get my GX640

 

Answer 1: Yes
Answer 2: Yes
Answer 3: Look at my signature for a link to my review of this notebook, which also contains a link for the double sided tape fix guide.

 

Can the GX640 use 1333 RAM? Will the motherboard support this speed or is is it a 1066 motherboard??

btw, I replaced the hard drive with a Crucial 256GB SSD and it is phenomenal...highly recommended.

 

Yes you can , but no point in doing so if you have an i5

and a waste of money as performance won't be noticeable.

 

Hey guys need some help here,
I was fiddling aroung with GPU-Z and saw that in the sensors tab
the gpu fan rpm showed 0 RPM... is this normal ??
and the duty cycle is at 30%. PLZ HELP and check this out for me
THNX.

 

GPU-Z isnt perfect, it doesn't always read things correctly. It likes to give EITHER an RPM or a fan speed in %

 

ok... but my gpu is now idling at 69c rather than yesterday's 63c...
ambient temp:26c... BTW i can change the duty cycle of the fan thru overdrive... can i manually open the back and look at the fan?? thn for the reply

 

If theirs no seal on the bottom of the case, you should be fine to open it, just dont mess up the screw heads etc,

How do you plan on overdriving it?

 

Thanks for your help, guess i'm going to have to post a power consumption review specific to this setup in case anyone else has similar questions.

As an additional question, does anyone know if the turbo and eco modes will have any effect whatsoever on a 720QM? I am wondering if they become disabled or simply less effective.

I really hope I manage to squeeze minimum 2 and a half hours of internet browsing/schoolwork out of a 9 cell battery. Can anyone confirm if this is a reasonable expectation?

 

By downclocking/undervolting this might be possible.
Has anyone undervolted yet?
Well, I know 2 Hours are possible with lower clocks? (please, anyone correct me with this)

 

You should be able to get 2.5 hours with downclocking, yes. Some people have reported as much as 3 hours I believe.

I've found a use for the "Cinema Pro" button; I've been doing it for a while but I thought I'd tell you guys. I find it's handy for when I switch between headphones to speakers, because the volume needs to be set significantly higher for the speakers and Cinema Pro is a nice way to bump the volume up and down in this way. I guess that that's basically what it's for in the first place, though the name is somewhat misleading.

At some point down the line I might try to hack the whole "Eco" system as well, because I don't like the default settings and it isn't configurable, but that's a lot of effort.

 

Guys, the VBIOS is in beta testing at the moment and will address the infamous Power Play issue. I spoke to Warner himself and he informed me of this.

 

sounds promising, if it fixes the powerplay stuff and sleep issues then this laptop is a step closer to perfect.

checklist for me once i get it back from RMA:
-double side tape the keyboard
-get an extra bottom and mod
-touchpad protector
-pray for quick vbios update

 

I was supposed to get the VBIOS by e-mail but I haven't received it yet. I will let you know once I do.

 

Wow!

Keep me updated, as well!

Very interested..........

 

Interested in this post.

Also, question to GX owners:

I saw in the video of the GX made by gentech/1toppc, that the plastic around the lcd screen ?bezel? , and the keys and any other black surface that isnt aluminum, is glittery... is it really like that? If so, then COOL!