Official MSI GX640 Owner's Thread

Thanks for the reply, it is really simple actually. My i7-620M is rated at 3.33ghz in Turbo mode. When I run wPrime or SuperPi or anything intensive, my CPU is being throttled to a maximum of 3.059ghz. Any ideas on how to get 100% of rated speed?? I'm starting to think it is a BIOS issue. Regards

 

3.33GHz turbo mode is for 1 thread isn't it?

 

Yea it's 3.33Ghz for one thread and 3.06Ghz for 2. The numbers you are getting make sense

 

Thanks for the replies. I tried running wPrime at 1 thread and the CPU ran at 3.06ghz and very briefly "blinked" up to 3.192ghz and then right back down to 3.06 . Same thing running wPrime with 2,3, and 4 threads. My CPU temp under load is ~ 65C so I don't think the Temp is causing the CPU to throttle down.

 

its not throttling, theres probably some other condition, its running effectively at 100%

 

Turbo boost is one useless pos ! don't waste your time with it .. There's nothing wrong with you CPU , bios , temps or any other stuff you think is "defective".

It supposedly overclocks itself ONLY when needed .. which doesn't seems to work in most cases.

 

Agreed. Just another Intel marketing ploy.

 

OK, thanks for the info.

 

It'l just kick in from time to time kubiaks, dont worry about it .

 

It really is far from as simple as you think it is. If you gave me more detail I'd know better, but while Turbo Boost can, in principle, overclock your Core i7-620M to 3.33GHz, you may never see it happen.

Firstly, the 3.33GHz boost is only possible when the CPU is running on only one core. Secondly, there are a number of limitations related to temperature, current, and power consumption that can prevent the full Turbo Boost from kicking in. You might see this happen if you run Prime95 on four threads - your CPU probably won't run consistently at its maximum dual-core boost of 3.067GHz in this situation.

For single-core boost these limitations are less likely to be a problem, but the problem you're most likely to encounter is that you will find that even though only one core is doing intensive work, the other core will kick in some of the time to run a bunch of other background tasks. This stops you from getting the maximum boost as well.

The complicated nature of Turbo Boost, and, I admit, the fact that I have some interest in it, is why I asked you to do this:

For example, my CPU is an i5-430M, clocked at 2.26GHz by default but with Turbo Boost up to 2.53GHz (both dual-core and single-core). I find that if I'm running a single intensive thread I will get my full boost quite a lot of the time, but running three or four intensive threads it starts to drop a little - running Prime95 on four threads, which is about as intesive as it gets, the multiplier averages to 18.3, which is roughly 2.44GHz.

While the multiplier cannot actually be 18.3, what this means is that the CPU spends 30% of its time with a multiplier of 19 and 70% with a multiplier of 18.

 

Just something I realized, and I'm not sure if it has been mentioned before, but with the ECO settings on Gaming and Movie modes, the CPU stays at 2.53GHz. The other ECO settings downclock it and then make it use its Speedstep and Turbo features when needed.

 

Did anyone else notice amazon only has a 6cell now? I really wanted/liked the 9 cell and it was just up. Did this just change or is it an error?

 

amazon tends to have errors in their product descriptions. It's likely a 9-cell there too but they just copy and pasted a product description of an old GX/GT

 

I bought from Amazon and got a 9 cell.

 

Same here, also memory is 1333 MHz.

 

It runs at 1066MHz with an Arrandale CPU anyway, though.

 

Was lurking around the MSI forums and they say in their Notebook FAQ section there that removing the Warranty sticker wont effect your warranty.

Notebooks - FAQs - **Please read first!**

Which really begs to be said? Why even bother with it lol. Gotta love it.

 

Anyone know of a good place to pricematch this laptop (from NCIX)? The prices have gone up significantly since! The price at pccanada used to be around 1136 while at anitec it was 1130. Now they're at least $20, $30 more.

The cheapest I can find it for at the moment is still from antitec, at 1157.

Thanks in advance! I am thinking of cancelling my order for the elusive E7405 and getting the gx640 instead (my original choice over the ASUS n61jq). Just because it's still in backorder and there is no shipment in sight!! Even though I asked customer service.

Any suggestions? Thanks again!

 

Hey. Just got my gx640 yesterday. Gotta say its an awesome machine, 10*faster than my old netbook xD.
Im too lazy to read all 127 pages. So can somebody give me some tips about the notebook? Like what bloatware to uninstall and what to install (like drivers, updates, programmes to check temp, maybe oc or undervolt, etc.) and some general tips (screens-is-black-when-reopening-lid-problem).

*edit* Could you please insert links? thanks *edit*

Thanks!

 

If your to lazy to read the information that's already out there, your prob gonna be happy with the stock machine.

Its one thing for someone to go on their own time and create a "how to" but to expect us to do it for you is a bit absurd. The information's there. Just go find it.

Im not knocking you or anything your just like the nth person to request everything handed to them on a silver platter recently.

Enjoy your rig.

 

Yep, just start reading, some of us have put the time in to read and reply to thousands of posts... put the time into reading it

 

You should read the posts, cuz you'll gain alot from it. I know I have. Though I still havent bought my lappy yet, the GX still remains at the top of my list.

 

Hi guys, im a new member and a new gx640 owner Well, actually its still on its way to me! Happy to have found this forum which help me made my decision.

 

Hehe welcome aboard bimmerboii and congrats on the purchase, the 640 should be an awesome addition to your armada .

 

Yea the MSI forum here may not be as big as the others, but man what we lack in quantity we sure make up in quality.

 

So i contacted Newegg about their pulling of the 640 on their site, and a rep confirmed they are no longer selling it or planning to. Not sure why they'd decide to do that. But meh.

 

huh? since when did they have the 640 on their site?! I swear I checked as soon as I found out about the laptop... and I also read on here that someone pricematched it on ncix with Canada Computer's price...impossible since it's not even available on their site and my dad's friend who works at the store, doesn't/hasn't heard of any MSI laptops coming in

Anyone know of any other Canadian online stores that don't require you to pay both taxes? like NCIX? haha

 

newegg has had it unavailable for a week or so now, it doesnt show up in searches but you can find it under its original link. Newegg.com - MSI GX640-098US NoteBook Intel Core i5 430M(2.26GHz) 15.4" Wide SXGA+ 4GB Memory 500GB HDD 7200rpm DVD Super Multi ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5850.

 

It shows as currently unavailable

 

yes i know, which is why i contacted them, It had gone out of stock to unavailable over the last week(had it bookmarked as im purchasing soon) and i contacted them to see if they had an ETA on when it would be back and that was what i was told regarding it.

 

how much was it going for you know? And I think NCIX would've been cheaper since you dont got to pay 2 taxes.

 

What do you mean? I have always paid taxes with NCIX online.

it's pretty hard to find the gx640 on online stores here in Canada. Im lucky i was able to grab the last stock from PC Canada. computer components | computer parts | Online Computer Store have them in stock, but they bumped up the price.

 

was going for 1099.99 or 1100 even if i recall.

 

bimmer, NCIX only requires you to pay for 1 tax...well I guess it depends where you live. Where I live, from NCIX I only have to pay 5% tax

 

I see.. I pay 7%pst bc residents tax

 

lol it's okay...after July 1st I'll have to pay 13% >< cause of stupid HST

 

I bought from a distributor and paid 1100 + tax.

 

but where do you live? I'm in Canada.

 

Yesterday ATI released new drivers

ATI Catalyst 10.5
Release Notes

 

If I undervolt my GPU/CPU, will that reduce performance in any way?

 

Edit: woops

 

I just checked the gx640 on RK computers, and the mirror finish upgrade and chiclet keyboard upgrades are intriguing me. The first would seem to help fix the heat problem, and the second would seem to fix or at least alleviate the keyboard flex problem. Anyone buy from them and get these options?

What are people's opinions on these options?

 

Seeing as they are the only website that offers this I'd like to see it before i purchased one. On both really. I'd message them and ask if they have any pictures on the new heatsink and keyboard. Cause its way to vauge on the product page.

 

There is a picture of the keyboard on the website (the chiclet has its own product page if you search). I imagine its just a lapped heatsink so there wouldn't be much to show.

The gx640 is perfect for me but I don't want to return and with the heat problems it seems like there is a chance for a really hot one. The Amazon one(1100) is by far the cheapest and quickest but the question is, will it stay cool enough? I kinda want to oc as well (more the cpu but is that even possible?).

Any opinions on what I should do?

 

I don't think there's a way to overclock anything but the i7-920XM unless you can access the clock generator, and no-one has done that on the GX640 yet.

It's unlikely that the heat would give you real trouble - I haven't heard of anyone with the GX640 experiencing thermal shutdown or throttling during games. It's possible that it could hurt its lifespan, but in the event that this happens you're still covered by the warranty.

 

I figured as much. Just the notebookcheck review made me a lil iffy. So no way to oc cpu? Not a big deal.

 

If your looking for cheapest of the cheap provantage has it for 1085. At least for me it is. As Amazon charges me sales tax.

 

The whole notebook check site is dodgy at best, one review same score is praised as being the best of the best. The next is said to be shotty and overheats. No real level of professionalism between different reviewers. Some are on one level some are on another.

 

Notebookcheck even puts 3D Mark Vantage GPU score for "Mobility Radeon HD 5850" of 5607 although with stock clocks people are getting at least 7000-7100. That's a shame that they evaluate one of the strongest mobile card somewhere between GTS 360M and GTX 260M...

I kinda lost my faith in notebookcheck after GX640 review and that mobile card benchmark list.

 

notebookcheck is renown for being massively inaccurate