Presenting the All-New Intel 10th Gen MSI "GS66"!

This is the PERFECT review. Thanks JRey!

 

So I've had my GS66 for the last few weeks, and everything has been great so far. I finally got around to making sure all the ports etc are functioning correctly, and everything is working, but I had a question about the USB-C ports. So I have a Thinkvision M14 portable display, and when I connect it to the USB-C port on the left side, everything works great, the display receives power and a display signal from the single cable. When I try and connect the display to the port on the right side, the display turns on for a few seconds and then enters power saving mode. I also get a popup on the main display about the display connection being limited. Does the second USB-C not support display output? I also tried connecting a USB-C power adapter to the portable display for power, but the display still didn't work. The port works fine otherwise, detects and charges my phone etc.

 

Thanks for your review! Very detailed and informative.

I'll probably skip out on the 10th gen on laptop side, may go 10th gen on the desktop side if I can find a buyer for my 9th gen

Nonetheless I enjoyed your thorough review.

 

Yup, unless you are upgrading from 7th gen or earlier then it makes no sense to upgrade with Ampere and Ryzen 4000 around the corner.

 

As long as you can wait, I think it's the right thing to do, just be prepared to wait for a while as I doubt 'around the corner' will be any faster than back-to-school in 2021.

 

I'm switching teams.
I have a Mackbook Pro 16 and all my problems with the GS66 just aren't there on the mac.

There is no blacklight bleed.
Speakers are best i've heard on a laptop.
Exactly the same length and width but thinner.
and the build quality is Apple.

Just less games.

 

You probably should've known this beforehand i have bot 16" i9 and i7 and im well aware that its not the same nor am i expecting it to be what i do know is that ill be able to game on the gs66 whereas the mac iw ont be able to......also the 16" is the best media/work laptop experience to me right now.........gamiing is another can of worms

 

Just received my GS66 today (i7/32GB/1TB/240Hz/2060).

I guess you have been unlucky as my unit has the best backlight uniformity of any laptop I ever had. You can tell that the lid is MUCH sturdier than of the GS65 of Triton 500 this greatly helps avoid lid warping that leads to BB. I had the GS65 and the Triton 500 and THAT was BB.

The attached picture is a black video playback from youtube at 100% brightness. Very pleased so far.

And in regards of the build quality, yes, it's not Apple-level but still very good, again better than GS65 2019 or Triton 500. I think I can trade that for a 240Hz panel and much better 3D performance.

The speakers are indeed not very good.

 

Hey!

Incase you have already applied mx-4, kindly share your experience.

I had mx-4 applied the last time. It did well for the first month or two. And post that, the temps went to the ****ter.

 

I'm finishing up my write-up of both the 2019 GS65 vs the 2020 GS66 and updating my original GS66 review to include 6-core performance via disabling 2 cores in the BIOS.

As a sneak peak,
I used Throttlestop to MATCH a 10750H boost clock levels.
6 core gaming performance is roughly the same as 8 core, but CPU temp peaked at 85c vs 95c+.

I should have both blogs up tomorrow. Of course, I'll post them here for everyone to check out.

 

Boom! Blogs completed!

Here's my updated 2020 GS66 Review with my "Simulated 6-core" profile - Click HERE.
Here's my 2019 GS65 vs 2020 GS66 - Click HERE.

 

Very good GS66/GS65 comparision. Thanks.

Screen size is the same, side bezels are about the same. The GS66 has a taller top bezel, probably to fit the Windows Hello camera and IR sensors. The only missing feature that is missing from the GS66 is the notch on the lid to aid in opening the laptop, something that the GS65 has. I don’t want to talk about screen brightness too much because it can vary with each laptop, but my GS66 review unit is slightly brighter overall than my GS65.

GS65's screen (Sharp SHP14C5) is still in the GS66 in the 240Hz variants. It seems the 300Hz AUO AUO328E is indeed a bit brighter. I have the 240Hz GS66 and it seems fine though (max brightness).

For screen speed, the GS66 is clearly superior as it feels much smoother and also makes me feel like my inputs are shown on the screen at a 1:1 ratio.

This can be attributed to the difference of Optimus vs dGPU. Using Optimus as each frame is rendered in the dGPU and then sent via PCI Express to the iGPU and then sent to display, this induces about a frame of delay, at 100fps this would be 10ms (at 60fps this would be about 16ms).

So when I had the GS65 9SD that can only be used with Optimus I noticed this added input lag. Using Displayport in the GS65 eliminates it as this interface is connected directly to the dGPU. and when using the GS65 paired to my 27" Asus PG279Q I noticed a difference, with less input lag.

With the GS66 with Sharp SHP14C5 240Hz in dGPU mode I find the input lag similar to the Triton 500 (with AUO82ED panel) in dGPU mode, both close, but not equal, to the PG279Q (which has very low input lag and fast response time).

Conclusion
MSI's 2020 GS66 is clearly superior in basically every way when compared to the 2019 GS65. It has a superior screen, heatsink, and chassis design among the other components that make it blazing fast. There are some things I don't like about it though like the new fan curve and that the fans sound higher pitched while the GS65 sounds more like it's blowing.

Agreed the new fans sound more at the same RPM levels when compared to GS65 or Triton 500. At base speeds (2100 rpm) they are quite silent though. And Cooler Boster mode is hideous, the noise is unbearable.

 

I tried installing the GS66 fan blades into a GS65, RPM went to 9056 also sounds loud but very weak air flow, and turns out it's spinning backwards so I guess it's a no go, GS65 fan blades back to the machine.

 

LOL, good work.
Sounds like the wires need to be swapped, are you interested in splicing some wires to change the rotation of the fans?

 

invert the polarity.....easy to do if u cans older and are careful enough itll be one signal which is usually middle other 2 u invert, the fact that it fits is a win all on its own.

 

I've another set of the heat module I'll try on that set first.

Yep, I wasn't sure which wires are to be swapped so I swapped back to GS65 for now.

 

Did the new heatsink fit in the GS65 chassis?


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So got the i7 2070 super version.

Keyboard feels lil better than 2018 gs65. Out of the box, the gs66, even with the i7, runs hot as all hell. like 97, 98 on some cores. Coming from a gs65, I'm used to tweaking thermals- used Jrey's throttlestop settings as a start.... But my man you roll deeper than I'm willing with all the bios settings. I also skipped re-paste at first.....

with these settings below I never even hit 90 in an hour plus of game play (highest core hit 87.) and only used a modified advanced fan curve not cool boost. Also, on the GS65, I didn't have to drop out of performance mode for general tasks because the fans will run constantly. Here they do out of the box- tweaks calmed that also..... also dragon center does work for normal stuff (OC is buggy) so i just pause tstop and slip into silent mode.

With the below settings at -49.8 under-volt - I can get around 110-125 fps uncapped in COD as an example.... but I'd rather it be rock solid than slight fluctuations so I cap at 90 and see very very little fluctuation. (2018 1070 gs65 could manage 70-90 at best fluctuating on lower settings)

Unless a smarter guy here corrects me (please do) - > I will most likely end up on 50,49,44,44,40,40 - if i take the middle cores to 46 that seems to be the point where we go up over 90. But I also wasn't at -49.8 on those tests I was at -15.9..... I also wonder if i can push that much harder as well.

I don't think I'd ever recommend an msi to a non enthusiast- you have to rangle the heat actively

 

Looks like there are more SKUs coming out for the GS66, specifically, 10850H models.
Based off what I’ve been reading, MSI upped PL1 and PL2 for ALL GS66 models so the 10850H will probably have the same thermal limitations as the 10980HK. Now, if they allow you to disable cores in the BIOS, that may be a good option to get over the 10750H. It’s only $100 more, and you can enable all 8 cores for future use if needed. That’s a much better deal than spending $300 for the 10980HK IMO.


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Yes, the GS66 gets crazy hot out of the box because at stock settings PL1 is 65W even for the 10750. The GS65 was configured with PL1 at 45W. The 65W PL1 allows the 6 core to all boost to 4.5+ GHz something that the GS65 never achieved out of the box.

I have capped my PL1 at 45W and now it runs substantially cooler than the GS65 at similar CPU frequencies. With -0.1v UV in BF V MP64 map it will stay all cores at sustained 3.7GHz not exceeding 80C (Auto Fan, Balanced profile). This returns about 100 fps in Very High quality and dGPU mode. Seems good to me.

 

I've been thinking about it too... Cay You check it?

 

Can anyone tell me if the non Thunderbolt USB C supports DP over type C? I want to connect 2 external monitors to the laptop and prefer to use USB C cables

 

I don't believe it does. I tried it with my portable monitor and it doesn't work. I also posted the same question a couple posts back, but never got an answer. However, Jarrod Tech's review video does mention it supports display port. So might need to try a usb-c to displayport cable/adapter. Unfortunately my portable monitor only has usb-c connections so can't try it.

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Saw your post, you said that it turns on for a few seconds, do you have display for those few seconds?

Also, if possible, can you try a different and better quality USB C cable?

 

Nope, the GS66's GPU lower heatpipes are blocking the fan connector socket, also the fans' screw holes are different because the GS66 has a thicker side heat fins.

 

The display powers on for a few seconds, meaning the power light turns on (I have the thinkvision 14 portable battery monitor), but no actual display signal shows up on the screen. And after a few seconds the display just says going to power saving mode. I also get a message on windows 10 saying display signal not displaying correctly (or something to that effect, I'll recheck the message to make sure exactly what it says). I don't have many other usb-c cables other than what came with the monitor, but I'll try using my phone's usb-c cable and see what happens. Will report back

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Also try connecting one USB C to the laptop and another to an external USB Power Supply

 

Already tried this. Plugged a usb-c power adapter to one port on the monitor and let it turn on, then plugged a USB-c cable from the laptop port to the second port on the monitor, still didn't work.

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Just checking in.
There's a BIOS and Firmware update for May that improves speaker quality.

I should make a video comparing gs66, mbp 16 and gs75.

 

Probably an EQ improvement.

 

I bumped cache and core undervolts to about -100 and looking at temps from 75-85 game dependent (mostly around 80). clocks settle in at 3.9-4.2. This actually is better (more easy to achieve large changes in temps) than my gs65 results with tweaking. To my ear the fans are not louder at this point.... which is a boon.

I was considering your way of lowering TDP but I'm getting some pretty good results with just scaling up my under-volt to its limit.....

I suppose im not done pushing it either...

I do have light bleed in one corner, but its not visible in game and lowering the brightess a bit removes it....

 

Turns out MSI is replacing the i7 SKUs on the GE and GS series to the Intel Core i7-10875H ...even better.

I agree that it is a better value than the Intel Core i9-10980HK

 

What pastes have people been putting on their GS66? I plan on getting one from HIDevolution here soon.

 

Liquid metal. You’ll need all the help you can get to transfer heat away from the components.


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JRey, that is what I thought. I read your review by the way. Really in-depth and just what I needed. I have had a MacBook Pro 2011 for 9 years now and it just doesn't do it for me anymore. I am tired of spending so much and receiving so little. Yeah the OS is enjoyable but I don't think I will be missing much one I have my hands on the GS66. Also, is the 2070 super max q worth the extra couple hundred dollars? I know you get the 300hz screen which really doesn't matter since I play on a monitor, 32 gb RAM, and I think that is it. My plan is to get the new 10850h with either the 2060 or 2070 super max q. It is just hard to justify that extra 600-700$ almost. All I play currently is Warcraft 3 which is like 18 years old lol.

Braden

 

From what I’ve been reading, the 2070 Super Max-Q is actually really good and fairly comparable to the 2080 Super Max-Q.
The 2060 is much cheaper but may struggle with future games (Like Cyberpunk 2077) with Ray Tracing on (NVidia didn’t say anything about DLSS 2.0 though, so maybe it’ll be available). If you’re just playing WoW and don’t mind less frames for other games, the 2060 will be good for you.


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Good video, but he’s inquiring about the Max-Q versions.


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The video posted should give a reasonable idea of what to expect performance wise. Personally speaking I have not had much luck with max-q GPU's. I know people like them because you can run them at a lower decibel but If given the choice I would take the full spec cards. I did recently purchase the Area51m with 2080 and it is night and day comparing it to my Y740 with 2070 Max-Q.

 

The 2070S MaxQ will give you about 10-15% extra performance over the 2060. Like 60fps vs 66-69fps. If that is worth the price difference is up to you.

The 2070S MaxQ is comparable with the 2080 MaxQ and that is similar to a desktop 2060 ($300). They will all struggle with RTX ON, even the desktop RTX 2080 does. I own a desktop RTX 2080 and also had the RTX 2080 MaxQ and the difference is very big 30-40%, as expected, towards the desktop card.

Another thing to consider is that the 2070S comes with the AUO 300Hz panel which is better than the Sharp 240Hz that comes with the 2060.

 

More specifically,

2060(80w) < 2060(90w) < 2070(80w) < 2070 (90w) <= 2070S Max-q (80w) < 2080 Max-q (80) = 2070 (115w) < 2080S Max-q (80w) 2070S Max-q (90w) < 2080 Max-q (90w) <= 2080 Max-q (90w) = 2070S (115w) < 2080 (150w) < 2080S (150w) < 2080 (200w) <= 2080S (200w)

What a fine mess nvidia has made eh? And this is not counting Eluktroboosted 1660tis, 2060s, 2070s and 2080s and razer/Asus's 100w Max-qs

Edit: regarding desktop equivalents. My 2080 Max-q (90w) performed on par with a desktop 2070. And after my shunt modding it's on par with a desktop 2070 super.

 

Yes thanks, and regarding the below 12 GPU variants which are the most common in GS66 class laptops, from the lowest performer to the highest performer there is about 20% of a difference. Just too many models.

2060(80w) < 2060(90w) < 2070(80w) < 2070 (90w) <= 2070S Max-q (80w) < 2080 Max-q (80) = 2070 (115w) < 2080S Max-q (80w) 2070S Max-q (90w) < 2080 Max-q (90w) <= 2080 Max-q (90w) = 2070S (115w)

And, this doesn't even include the refreshed 2020 models. Because now you have 2019 RTX 2060 80W (GS65) and 2020 RTX 2060 80W (GS66). The 2020 RTX models use low voltage GDDR6 memory allowing more power to the GPU resulting in higher clocks. It's been quoted as 7% faster than with 2019 memory. So to complicate things more a 2020 2060 can outperform a 2019 2070 MaxQ in some circumstances.

"The refreshed RTX 2060 / 2070 laptop GPUs have slightly higher clocks compared to the original Max-P versions and they feature similar hardware optimizations from the Super SKUs, including lower-voltage GDDR6 VRAM and improved current regulators. On average, these GPUs should provide at least 7% higher performance compared to the original Max-P models."

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Nvidi...along-with-the-new-Super-lineup.460740.0.html

"Exclusive first benchmarks of NVIDIA RTX 2070 Super Mobile show appreciable gains over the RTX 2070 Mobile, new RTX 2060 Mobile leads the RTX 2070 Max-Q"

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Exclu...Mobile-leads-the-RTX-2070-Max-Q.459731.0.html

 

From what I've seen on reddit the results are just 5% faster comparing stock to stock. When overclocked they will perform the same so I neglected mentioning them.

 

Everything within 10% should be bundled together and we should just call it Nvidia laptop GPU. This should encompass probably everything from base 2060 to 2080MQ 80w. laptop GPU2 would be up everything that is not a 150w 2080. laptop GPU3 would be 150w 2080/s up to 200w variants.

 

anyone knows if the bios tweaks we used on our 9750h apply to these 10th gen chips? on the gs66 AC loadline is real high number, anyone have any ideaS?

 

Keep AC DC loadline the same. You can do the other IMON slope stuff.
Changing AC DC will cause instability in my testing.


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Any idea how to disable dynamic boost,when stress testing my gpu lowers its wattage when cpu is stressed simultaneously i think its the dynamic boost thing

 

As far as I can see, there isn’t dynamic boost in the GS66.
What’re your temps? You may be throttling.


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The gpu???dont think so its like 60 some degrees

 

Also i believe i read somewhere they did have it...not sure...but its weird as hell