Official MSI GX640 Owner's Thread

My bet is tests were run before they changed the paste to make sure it wasn't DOA. No testing afterward.

IF, they did tests after they changed the paste and before it shipped, then it sounds like somebody must have "punted" your shipping box in transit and dislodged the graphics chip (or broke it). I'd send it back to XOTIC. bummer that you got a DOA unit, the GX640 is actually pretty nice once you get a good one.

 

molius - thx for quick reply!

 

Yup. Probably. I was really excited. Guess I'll have to wait a couple weeks until I got a working one.

 

Have anyone tried to use msi burn recovery and if so did it work for you? I tried to make images to save on another hard drive but i get three images files and the first one is empty?? Have anyone else seen the same thing happening

 

T minus 3 hours.

 

Is the touchpad on this little beast sensitive to gestures (ie. zooming, etc)? As well, any indication as to whether the E7405 has this feature or not?

Thanks!

 

This system is a frikin powerhouse. I upgraded the vbios and CCC... No problems. I am having issues with GTA IV, though. Anyone else have what looks like a whole bunch of crosshatching in GTA? Its only in that game. Weird. I'm gonna try to redownload.

 

I am torn between this laptop and the gx740. I really don't want any thermal problems ever as my m1530 can't play games without throttling. I do plan on undervolting CPU and even GPU (kinda scared to flash bios though). I want the smaller gx640 but only if it won't go past 90 degrees. I know I ask this a lot, but with undervolted cpu and the base i5, will i get less than 90 on the gpu? For 2 years?

 

I think both systems with stock configurations will go past 90 for the GPU in some games. The ASUS G73 will do so as well.

Get over it, or get a Sager (and even some of those will still go over 90 with the 5870).

Despite temperatures in the high 90's for the GPU during the most demanding games I've played, and even 105 degrees in Furmark, I've never noticed throttling, and I haven't seen anyone else in this subforum with the GX640 report that they've experienced it either.

 

I max out at 93C when playing Crysis. No ideas about GTA, though?

 

Dawn of War II is where I've gotten my highest temperatures so far - 101C on MemIO was the absolute maximum, if I recall correctly. I guess that's because as an RTS it puts more load on the CPU as well. Additionally, the campaign management screen still uses a fair amount of GPU power and so the GPU doesn't get much rest in between campaign missions.

 

Not sure if I've requested this yet, but could someone with the i5-430m try and see if PCSX2 emulator will run well?

 

Lets not forget the damn thing has a 3 year warranty as well, So even if it does crap out on you 2 weeks later its fixed or new machine. Obviously they've got the confidence that it will last.

Stop being a "heat" nazi and learn to expect some higher temps in a super performing machine. And if it is a big deal there are plenty of mods that will get you down to where you wanna be. And still be much cheaper then anything out there.

 

I am sorry for being anal about heat. TBH, its not heat I'm worried about, its throttling and the ability to not be 20 degrees hotter 2 years later. My m1530 was very cool for the first year and a half. However recently, it's been going past 100 with no signs of stopping (108 is the highest before I exited out). With undervolting the proc and underclocking both, I have gotten it to max out around 96 with throttling. It seems the gx640 won't normally throttle, and with a little bit of cpu undervolting and maybe even gpu undervolting temps should be fine. What I don't want is 2 years from now I have open up the computer and reapply paste and all that stuff. I rather not have to do it. But in the end, I will probably get the new version with the i5 450m.

Thanks for all of your help. Btw, is it possible to undervolt the cpu or gpu?

 

reapplying paste is just something you'll probably need to do with all laptops. Over time the paste wears and loses effect, and dust builds up inside so you'll want to open it up and clean anyways.

A couple mods and a cooler should do the trick though

 

I want to sell my GX640 if anyone is interested... I'm thinking $950 + shipping. Everything works fine with it, but I think I want something more portable.

 

Csinth the site has a section for selling laptops. Check it out and post there.

 

I know this, however, it's relevant to post this on this forum because most people don't actually get to the marketplace.

 

Well there's a very strict format for selling stuff on this site to prevent people from getting scammed. You may in fact get in trouble for trying to sell in this section rather then the assigned one. And people do check the market place thats what its there for. Now posting a thread there with all the relevant info then linking to it from here would prob be okay.

Plus with such a demand for this rig you'd sell it quick. I check it daily and i have never seen a 640 on there yet.

 

I don't see anything wrong with posting here. After all it is the GX640 thread and he's selling a GX640. He's just giving people a heads up.

 

Not really a matter of wrong or right, frankly this type of sale really breeds chances for someone to get scammed. Whereas on the for sale section there is more of a public record of things being sold and who to. As well as pictures providing proof of the product and such.

Having been a member of pcper you used to see people getting scammed all the time. Like i said before do the post up nice and right then link to it is fine, but just soliciting you want to sell one on this site without doing as they ask is kinda against the rules.

 

Look, you can see how long I've been on this forum, longer, much longer than you have. I'm clearly not going to be scamming anyone. You can look at my posting record.. you can see how I've gone from the HEL80 4 years ago, to the Envy 15, to the GX640.

I'll post in the marketplace once I have seen a decent interest for it.. a lot of people who are interested in the GX640 will be looking here, NOT the market place. I've already had 2 people post wishing that I had told them 24 hours sooner of my selling of the GX640.

I'll provide everything as soon as I see people WANT my GX640. But I need to get that demonstrated interest first.

If I am posting any forum rules, then I'm sorry. But you've been here a month, I've been here for 4 years. I'm not trying to start conflict here, so simply leave it be.

 

Yeah, he has a point. Once interest is shown it should be no problem to put up a post in the marketplace, but in the meantime everything is fine as long no money changes hands.

 

At least he didn't post a thread asking someone with a paypal account to make a deposit to him lol

 

$15 deposit

 

Anybody know why the GPU decides to go from 16x to 1x? Just noticed it today however I'm not sure if it always did it from day 1, but whenever I did look at it, it said 16x.

 

Mine did that with the stock drivers, but it went away when I updated to 10.3, and I haven't seen it with 10.5 either.

 

Unbelievable, some people are.

 

Sorry for this again, but I am stuck between the gx740 and 640. The performance difference isn't whats the problem, its size and cooling. I know the 640 will probably destroy my m1530 in that aspect, but I rather get something that won't break. Is it worth the price difference, or is the 740 not that much better.

EDIT: I read the reviews again, and the 640 is for me. Anyone know of a place like amazon selling it for 1100? Thanks in advance.

PS. When is the version with the i5 450m coming out? I see it listed on one or two sites already, but isn't released yet.

 

Go for the gx640, I was in the same boat too. There is no reason to spend 300 bux more except maybe for the i7. The 5850 can OC to 700mhz with barely any temp increase which then makes it a 5870 pretty much.

 

Quick question: has anybody around here bought the MSI GX640 machine in Europe? On American sites it's priced for around $1,000 whilst on European ones it's almost $1,500. That's .. a bit.. weird?

 

As we know already, the GX640-098US is a discontinued product. It's being replaced by the GX640-260US, which is identical except for the 450M CPU. According to an NCIX rep, it should be in stock this week.

Other resellers should have it shortly as well, but for once, we canucks are getting something before the rest of the world.

Come on. everyone knows that $1000 = €1000. Europeans, always complaining!

 

So whats the diff between i5-430m and 450m? Anything noticeable for the average user?

 

Not noticeable, no. It's only 133MHz, which is only a ~5% difference.

For example, if PCSX2 were 100% CPU limited, it would be the difference between 40 FPS and 42 FPS or so.

 

Im guessing the new model will also fix the sleep issue. Anyone else planning to upgrade their keyboard to a chiclet style one?

 

Improvements will only show up in benchmarks, you won't be able to tell the difference otherwise.

MSI changed the CPU for monetary reasons, since both the 430M and the 450M cost pretty much the same when ordered in bulk. Perhaps they have made other improvements to the laptop, but we'll only know for sure when it becomes available.

Now here's a question for you: are you ever going to buy it?

 

LOL, it seems not in this lifetime of his

 

Maybe the best idea would be to send a post card?

 

Anyone having intermittent lockups of the keyboard and touchpad? It's driving me nuts. I already reinstalled the OS and it still does this. It happens randomly whether I'm browsing the web or working on a document. Funny thing is it's never happened during gaming so I don't think it's a heat issue. The system still runs and my BT mouse works but not the keyboard and touchpad. Nothing in my event viewer points to any issues. Anyone?

 

Hmmmm, haven't encountered anything similar yet.

 

Is that possible to do? Is the newer GX640 version getting a different keyboard?

 

OK final question. I really want the gx640 but I want it asap. The gx740 is available however, and I was wondering how much bigger it is than the gx640. The specs say only an inch on width and length, and my concern is for college. Will it be portable enough for note taking? Thanks in advance. BTW, if anyone knows when the 260us model comes out, that would be greatly appreciated.

 

There is no way in hell you're bringing a 17" to a classroom. I know, because I'm also a university student. Even my GX640 is too unwieldy and I only rarely, rarely bring it.

 

I used to use a 17" Toshiba Satellite P100 for college and now use a GX640. You'll notice the difference if you look for it but a 17" for college isn't the hardest to carry around assuming you're a fairly fit person.

 

Honestly carrying a 17" over a 15" or other is purely subjective. Some people are okay with it some loath it. If you spend every morning with a ruler and a scale and measure every item entering your backpack and spend the rest of the day cursing that heavy burden on your back sure go with something smaller. If you just pack up your crap and goto school and dont really care you'll be fine. Questions like this just dont really work as everyone feels different about what they are carrying.

 

I carried my 1520 to all of my classes. The GX640 is smaller and the same weight woth an extended battery, so I'll carry that around next semester. Typing notes is so much better.

 

I was also wondering when the upgraded GX640 will be released. I looked through MSI's site, but no news. Has anyone else stumbled across anything?

 

A P100 was only 7.0 lb, though. That, and the fact that the guy wants to use it for notes, well, see the thing is, it's not just weight. The size is also too big, depending on the lecture hall. Often times the table space you get isn't even the size of a 17" notebook.

The other thing is that, the GX640 underclocked actually lasts 3 hours on battery. The GX740 most likely won't. Also, if you have to bring a power adapter, I think the GX740's power adapter's bigger than the GX640's adapter. And the GX640's adapter's huge.

 

I bring my GX640 power adapter yesterday because odds are you're going to go somewhere after class, not just there and back. The only case in which I'd never carry the power adapter is if i can get 6hrs+.

Well yea it really depends on the lecture hall. But for the old ones with really small desk things on the arm of the chair you can't fit anything bigger than a netbook on those things and just end up using ur lap.

 

I'm sometimes in this really awkward classroom where the area over my lap is partially covered by the little table that's too small for the notebook. Literally nowhere to put it