Owners Lounge for the totally configurable MSI 1651 ID2

Exactly it. I think though, all it had was the Blu Ray going for it, at the same price. So it was about 150-200 price difference. The GT628 w/ the same spec + Blu Ray was a bit cheaper than a whitebox same spec w/ Blu Ray.

I am torn between the 1651 ID2 vs Sager NP8662 vs waiting for the GT640. There are many pro and cons, and it's just too hard to decide.

 

Nope. No advanced menu.

 

I'm in about the same position, except I'm not really thinking about the GT640 as it will be out of my price range if it does come out in the US.

Another thing you might want to think about is waiting for the 1656, which paladin said will be up for presale at the end of October and for sale by the end of November. They're going to have the new i7's in it, but I don't know about the price. Paladin said that the price is going to be good, but I hope it's no more than a similarly configured 1651 ID2 as that's already at the top of my price range.

 

The MS-1656 barebone chassis will be a few dollars less than the current MS-1651 barebone chassis for both WXGA and WSXGA+. The CPU's are what is going to increase the overall price.

 

Yeah that's the thing that's going to do it for me though. I'm going to have to get a processor, and I'd get a PXXX if it offered it, but it looks like that's not going to be the case unfortunately. And I don't know if I'd feel comfortable putting in a new processor myself.

 

It is very, very easy and the most cost effective.


Also, can anyone confirm this drive works in the gt628. i see no reason why not, but just want to make sure before spending 100 bucks.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Sony-Laptop-tra...C_Drives_Storage_Internal?hash=item1c0cf9edf1

 

Ok thanks I'll have to look into that then. Would you suggest doing the same with other components, or would I get the most out of my trouble for just buying the processor separately?

 

installing everything is easy. With a barebone, you will need to purchase the CPU, the RAM, the hard drive, the wi-fi card, and the OS (if you don't already own one). Installing everything is a piece of cake (the laptop comes with a nice instruction manual to help out). Buying these sepearte offers a lot of freedom and can save a lot of money, especially if you want to get a high-end cpu.

 

Awesome sounds like you get the best bang for your buck that way, and I'm all about that. I'm guessing Newegg is one of the better places to get the parts then? At least it's the place I'd go to first if I needed parts for my computer.

Also, I don't really know any place to get barebones laptops except the few they have over at XoticPC. Any suggestions there?

 

Wait, so if you ordered from a place like xoticpc or powernotebooks, and you order the parts like processor, ram, hard drive with them, do they put together your laptop or do they ship it separately and you put it together yourself?

 

You would have to put it together yourself, I do know that.

And you'd probably have to get the parts from a different place than the barebones laptop itself, as far as I know there aren't really any stores that sell a barebones laptop along with parts to it separately.

 

No they give you a fully assembled, normal laptop. Sites like PNB and Xotic purchase "barebone" laptops (in this case the MSI 1651-ID2) which are laptops without cpus, ram, HDs etc... but have the screen, mobo etc... and resell them under various brands (powerpro, force) and assemble it for you with the parts you request. Some others sites however, sell the barebones directly to consumers, which allows some to assemble the laptop themselves, which can sometimes be cheaper if you really know what you are doing, though its generally not recommended for non-advanced users.

 

By default laptops are fully assembled and ready to use right out of the box. But if you prefer the DIY barebones route it can be provided as parts only also.

 

I bought my ram from newegg and bought the cpu, hard drive, and wi-fi card from Ebay.

I bought mine from here:
http://www.frostycomputers.com/MSI_GT628_gaming_notebook_Nvidia_GTS160_M_Intel_P8_p/gt628-custom.htm

But you can also buy from here:
http://www.rkcomputer.net/rkcnotebooks/index.php?l=product_detail&p=153 <-cheap because it uses 1280 x 800 rez
http://www.rkcomputer.net/rkcnotebooks/index.php?l=product_detail&p=152
among other places...

 

OMG, i just made an awesome discovery. When using the turbo button on a qx9300 (ES for me), the 9.5 multiplier will jump to 10.5, making the cpu go to 2.9GHZ!

Screw you setfsb!

idle temps are kinda of high when using turbo, but im so flipping happy.



i am surprised that none of the retailers that benchmarked it mentioned this.

I am using the new 1.11 bios if that makes any difference.

 

There must be a change in the bios because I have never seen the turbo change the multiplier before. It would only change the bus speed.

 

The qx9300 (along with any other "extreme" branded intel cpu) does have an unlocked multiplier, but I was under the impression msi didn't allow us to change those. Happy surprise. I wish someone had a x9100 to try this out.

 

I'll give the X9100 a try tonight to see if the multiplier changes with the new bios and let you know.

 

Thats awesome Darth.. Thanks for sharing...

 

Okay, I just got back from work and after doing some testing, there's a slight problem. I can't seem to control when it jumps to 10.5

I ran some cpu benchmarks and it stays at 9.5, but soon after when doing nothing, it jumps back to 10.5 Very odd. I have no idea what triggers it.

This is windows 7 with high performance power setting.

 

You don't have to do this. I think my 10.5 multiplier is nothing more then a windows fluke brought on by the bios update, but it's interesting to know the bios did this cause this never happened on my gx720.



Edit: I would seriously buy a 280m if anyone can tell for sure that the notebook can power it (don't care about temps)...

 

so what do you think my msi 1651. The configration is good or bad. and also which company should i choose powerbook or avadirect ? please help


PowerPro P 15:2 Gaming Laptop
Display: 15.4" WXGA (1280 x 800) "Glossy" LCD w/nVIDIA GeForce GTS 160M w/1GB GDDR3
Processor: Intel® Core™2 Duo P8700 2.53GHz Processor w/3MB L2 Cache (25W) - 1066MHz FSB
Arctic Silver 5: Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
System Memory: 4GB (2 SODIMMs) Crucial, Corsair or Kingston DDR3/1066 Memory
Hard Drive: 320GB SATA II 3Gb/s WDigital Scorpio Black at 7,200 RPM w/Free Fall Sensor
CD/DVD Read/Writer: Combo Dual Layer SuperMulti DVDRW/CDRW Drive w/Softwares
Memory Card Reader: 4-in-1 Memory Card Reader ( xD, MemoryStick/MemoryStick Pro, and Secure Digital (SD/MMC)
Wireless Networking: Built-in Intel® PRO/Wireless 5100 802.11a/g/n
Bluetooth: Built-in Bluetooth Wireless 2.0+EDR
Battery: Smart Li-ion Battery (6-Cell)
AC Adapter: Full Range Auto Switching AC Adapter
PowerPro Extended Warranties: 1 Year Parts w/2nd Day Ship & 24/7 DOMESTIC Toll Free Support +Lifetime Labor

Regular price: $1,209.00
Cash discounted price: $1,172.73

 

I like verry nice!

 

That's exactly the same configuration I'm going for, except I'm still debating with going for the higher resolution screen. So looks good to me!

 

My recommendations would be, if you have the money, to get the higher res screen or a P9xxx or Q9000 processor, but if not you will still greatly enjoy it.

 

Does anyone know where to find a dissemble guide? I can't find one in msi's assembly guide notebook forum.

I think i am getting a higher rez notebook. I read in the gt627 thread, someone put one in theirs.

 

That was me I installed an after market LCD 15.4 1920x1200 screen.
pretty much all 14 up 17 inch have a 30 pin LVDS cable.

 

yea that was you. What guide did you look at when taken apart the monitor? I would like to see how much pain in the butt it will be before deciding to do it.

 

It's easy. It did not take more than 10 minutes to do for me. You just have to be careful with the magnets in the lid.

 

What did you look at (manual/guide) when doing it? I refuse to do it blindly because I have never done a lcd switch.

 

I've decided not to sell it. Btw, what made you stop from switching the backplates? I know for a fact that it can power up at least a 260m (same power requirement as the 9800m gt i used in the gx720). However, the question is if it powers it up to full clocks.

Is there any chance I can convince you to try again ? All you would need to do is just boot into windows and do anything that would make the gpu go to full power; you don't need to play any 3d-games. Even if you can't screw the heatsink down, can't you just put it on without screwing it in (maybe use extra thermal paste)? If you can find out if it powers it fully, i would definitely buy one (or maybe even a 280m) and a 1920 x1200 rez lcd. Then i could sell my 160m to a gx720 or 1651 id1 person.

 

so which company should i choose RK computer/ avadirect or powernotebooks
for the my beloved 1651 msi ? plaase help.

 

easy, whichever one's cheaper.

 

I've had great great experiences with PNB so if they are close in price go with them. Their Tech support is incredible so I would recommend getting some warranty if its in your budget. Keep in mind there is going to be an update with the i7 and 250m (which is just a more power efficient 160) soon if you can hold a couple of months. But if you don't need the uber processor power and are fine with the battery life, go ahead and order right now .

 

Has anyone had any issues installing Windows XP on the MSI 1651 ID2 (PowerPro 15:2)? It loads to the point of "Setup is starting Windows" and then gives me a BSOD. I have tried putting the IMSM drivers on an external floppy and loading them via F6, but it still crashes. My Windows 7 RC disc appears to work just fine, as do the Linux discs I've tried, but Windows XP just doesn't want to load for some reason.

 

Did you disable AHCI in the BIOS before attempting to install XP?

AHCI should be enabled for Vista and W7, but disabled for XP.

 

That appears to have been the issue, thank you. It didn't even occur to me to open the BIOS and check it out.

In other news, Windows 7 RC seems to be chugging right along on this laptop. Haven't gotten so far as to get Linux installed yet (going with Fedora 11), but the Live CD works well, heh. Can't wait to really test this thing out in some games.

 

Destruction of both GPU's!
I was really thinking about taking the backplate off but was worried about bricking both systems.
When i installed the 260 GTX I did lay it flat and secured it with duct tape just to hold it down somewhat and did try to power it but no luck after 7-8 tries and gave up.
Put everything back in original spots and slapped myself in the head.
Sorry but this experiment is over
I gave it my best shot

 

The ccfl of my wuxga panel decided to quit on me. Back to the glossy WXGA... What's Tom Ho's email address? I need to get a new bezel as I split mine in half while swapping the panels....

 

lads how do you find the wireless reception ? i have a intel 5300 in mine and i find the singal quite week at times and it drops out .

 

My connection is very good everywhere in my house.
My router is on the first floor and I get a very good signal up on the second floor at the furthest point away.
Turn off the router to reset itself you might get a better signal.

 

darth,

it seems can help : http://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=123461.0

 

thanks.



Can anyone point me where to find a regular EC firmware file? (one without the turbo button).

 

There are none readily available. Why do you need one? If you don't want turbo mode just uninstall the system control manager. Every other function works without it save for the quick launch button I think.

 

Nevermind, i already got them. The mods at the official forums are very, very helpful.

 

btw, i am planning on getting this screen, does anyone know if this screen is compatible? It should be.

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-SAGER-NP532...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item2a005aa243

 

I would recommend that you get the eBay seller to verify that it will work.

 

It should work thats how I got mine I tested several other screens and found out that that 14.1 15.4 17. inch lcds use the same LVDS cable.

And by the way I found out by replacing a cracked screen on clients laptop that he dropped. He had 17inch Sony Vaio and I only had 14.1 inch I need to know if it had bad inverter so I noticed that the cable leading to the LCD where the same. So I hooked them up and bam I got a display on the 14.1 inch meaning the they use the same cable.
check out if you guys want.

 

I am looking at the 1651 dissemble guide and they show you taking the lcd completely off the laptop to change the screen, but can't you just do it while it's attached?

 

You don't need to take the whole laptop apart.
once you take off the sensor plate on the top there will be to plastic tabs held by one screw that hide the lcd cable and wireless cable.
then take of the LCD bezel of held by six rubber pads and six screws.,
then carefully take of the bezel use a plastic tool.
near the top of the screen there be two screws take those off.
the hing rails on both sides of the screen have four screws on each side
take does off and then on the back of the screen carefully take off the cables off the inverter and data cable screen.
Then do everything backwards again ounce you you connect the new lcd.

Damn I think I should have taken pictures when I did the swap.