Official MSI GS70 2013 Owners Lounge

you can get them on Amazon or Newegg for around 1300-1500 USD

 

Tons of pages and I haven't read through them all - I just picked up an 002 while it was on sale at NewEgg.com and it came with a Primo 81 tablet and backpack. I enjoy the laptop even though I have to get used to the touchpad, but I did have a couple questions.

1. Will it actually void the warranty to unscrew the back and look around?
2. I'm not getting super loud fans under normal conditions, but I am getting a rattle/wobble noise from the upper right side. It modulates slightly if I angle the laptop, but doesn't get louder under load. What do you think this is? I'm worried about opening it up and seeing if it's a loose screw IF it voids the warranty.

Other than that, excited to have a nice laptop. I purchased my first laptop for 2k from Gateway way back in '99 and it's been 450.00 laptops since then. Now I can actually sit with my wife and play games rather than go into the office to play.

Thanks for the help!

 

Don't believe it's out yet and didn't have a price... me thinks it's going to be in the 2500.00 range. Maybe 2300.00

 

It has an Asus ROG series laptop look where the monitor hinge is not at the edge of the laptop base. The GS70 definitely looks better but performance-wise the Aorus X7 has the 765M SLI going for it.

 

Quick update - MSI did tell me they thought it was a fan issue and said that I could open the case without fear of voiding the warranty. Since it's only a few days old, they did say to check with my retailer(NewEgg) prior to doing so. I'm waiting for them to answer. I'm hoping it's something that I can fix myself rather than sending in a RMA and waiting 2 weeks before getting the laptop back. =\ Sure sounds like a loose screw or fan.

 

Don't like the way the CPU sits in between the 2 GPU's. It seems the CPU's heat pipes cross the GPU's in which case there may be little temperature headroom for the CPU if GPUs are running hot.

 

Sometimes, it could be the housing of the fan unit being too tight thus causing it to grind against each other.
Please look into that as well when you can.

 

I did open up the case and the fan is spinning up nicely. It does sound like it's behind the fan and it may be the housing hitting the copper heat pipes. It appears to only be a couple more screws holding the fan housing down... does anyone have a good picture of the affected area and what I might do to take it apart? Figuring out a laptop is a slightly different animal than a desktop. "itty bitty living space" - Genie.

EDIT: The CPU fan assembly is slightly sprung compared to the GPU fan - which sits flush against the screw standoff. I'm thinking that the fan is just loose enough to tap against something even though I can't see. I'm going with an RMA to Newegg as long as they honor MSI's policy. If not, I'm going to be getting my laptop back and have to send off to MSI... at least I won't be out shipping unless I have to send to MSI. Thank NewEgg for that.

 

If you want, we can request MSI to ship a replacement cooling fan to you free of charge since it's not too hard to replace it.
But it's all up to you.

 

Excellent news, Kevin! I'd much rather have the laptop and do the work myself rather than lose it for a couple weeks to repair/replace. Very nice. I picked up on the top two screws holding down the fan, but didn't see the separation between the fan assembly and the heat pipes. Thank you for your insight on this matter!

 

Please check out the private message that I've sent you, thank you.

 

Do we have any ideas of when the new MSI GS70 Stealths (the ones they showed at CES) are coming out? I am wondering if they'll be out during 1st or 2nd quarter, or more like in 4th quarter?

Also, how hard would it be to upgrade the G70 2OD-001US with RAID0 two 256G SSD Drives, and a 512G SSD drive? In the US, MSI Warranty allows this right?

 

Looks pretty easy to upgrade the SSD's and HDD in the unit. When you unscrew the 812 screws in the back, you have easy access to the HDDs. They're one of the few components that are visible. 3/32" phillips.

 

Can we upgrade the SSD from G70 2OD-001US to RAID0, 2 SSDs?

 

You cant put 2 SSD's since there is only one hard drive bay but you can put 2 x mSATA drives and put them in RAID 0.

 

Hey everyone - I've gone through this entire thread over the past month and I finally ordered a GS70 20D-002 earlier this week!

It is going to arrive tomorrow and I was wondering if anyone can put together some kind of first things to-do list as far as updates like the fan driver? It would be great to have one to refer to, and I'm sure any new GS70 owner would benefit from it. Because I've read this whole thread I'm pretty sure I know what else should be updated when I first get it but it has been a LOT of pages and I don't want to get too excited and overlook anything important.

Also I am not interested in reverting to Windows 7. But I was wondering if there is a clear cut winner between Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 as far as compatibility goes for the GS70 ...opinions?

Thanks!

 

Has anyone had experience repasting the CPU and/or GPU? How hard is it?

And does anyone have benchmarks of temps? It's hard to know what's normal for such a compact laptop.

Trying to figure out whether it's worth the hassle repasting.

 

Hi, I've had this laptop since launch and have recently begun having problems when using 3D modelling software on it. I'll be working away when it randomly says the display driver has stopped working and recovered. I've tried using the program on the integrated and Nvidia graphics but the result is always the same with it crashing. The program I use is Rhino 64 Bit. Just wondering if anyone knows how I can solve this problem as every time I encounter the problem I loose all my work to the last save point.

Cheers, Josh

 

Did you upgrade to Windows 8.1?
Did you update the BIOS and EC to the latest version?
How about Intel and Nvidia drivers?

 

Not hard taking it apart, but caution/carefulness are required otherwise you can damage some fragile ribbon wires.
The temperature is usually at between 50-60 Celsius during normal use and 60-70 during gameplay.
Use it first and determine if the heat level is acceptable or not, but if not then do the repasting to see if it works better.
Additionally, updating the BIOS and EC will help such as fan table and power regulation.

 

Hi Kevin,

I'm running windows 8, when i did the 8.1 upgrade i had a load of problems and rolled back to 8. And ive done no BIOS or EC updates but my intel and Nvidia drivers are all up to date.

 

Can you try the BIOS and EC updates?
GS70 downloads

Both updates are simple to use, unzip each package, and run FLASHWIN in the BIOS package, and Autoflash in the EC package.
For Intel and Nvidia drivers, make sure you are running at least Intel 3345 (last 4-digit) and Nvidia 332.21.

 

Quick Question,

Can you safely remove the keys from the keyboard and a few keys have a terrible sqeek behind them when pressed, and i do not wish to force the keys off, if they are not suppose too come off thanks.

 

The key clips are fragile, if you try to get a key off which may mean a damaged key with broken clip.

 

Thank for the prompt reply,

 

Just bought a GS70. Are there any ways to force it to use only the GTX 765M ?

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't all mSATA drives SSD? I haven't heard of a mechanical version.

 

Yes mSATA and SSD use the same technology but their connections where they fit in the motherboard are different so they are not interchangeable with each other.

 

I beleive you can set this via the bios... advance settings... not done it myself, however i used to do it with my Alienware systems

 

I really need your guys and girls assistance here...as we cna not take the keys off the keyboard due to fragile clips, whats the best way to fix this issue


MSI GS70 Gaming Notebook keyboard defect -- very unhappy Newegg customer - YouTube

 

Press the key(s) a bunch of times until you wear away the squeaky part? That's what I did with my space bar...

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

 

There's no such setting available in the BIOS.

Here's the procedures to do this.

Go to Nvidia Control Panel by right-clicking on the desktop background and select it.
Go to Manage 3D settings, then you can customize the whitelist by adding/selecting the application that you wish to run with Nvidia GPU at all times.

Please do observe the color of power LED as the light changes from White (Intel HD Graphics) to Orange (Nvidia) if the system detects a need to activate the discrete GPU.

 

That's a pretty bad key and MSI should replace it.
Have you called them again and ask them to replace it? If it's going to be your 2nd RMA then MSI will pay for the return shipping since they didn't fix it the first time.

 

Hello,

This is my first time posting in this forum, though I have read nearly every page of this thread. I have been shopping for a new laptop for over a year now and the time has come for me to get serious about a purchase. The GS70 is at the head of the line right now for multiple reasons. The size and performance make it perfect for transport to my two jobs, as well as school when I plan to re-enroll. And it seems to be capable of handling most games I'm interested in (Bf4?). What's holding me up now is the fact that (as I said, I have read nearly this entire thread, all of the reviews on Newegg, as well as some video reviews online) it seems that a high number of people are having issues with theirs from the factory, and that they are having troubles with getting service done.

This will be my third laptop, and I have experience re-installing drivers and hard drives, etc. from needing to service my other computers when they were out of warranty (as well as the whole Vista fiasco that was frying harddrives). I really haven't had a computer with this much technical prowess though, and with everything I am seeing about people needing to re-install drivers right away and mess with the BIOS (I have no experience with this), I am a bit weary about purchasing a nearly $2k computer that may not work in the coming weeks. I fully intend to get the longest warranty I can, and I am fairly tech savvy, but the last thing I want to do is send this computer in for service when It already costs so much to begin with.

My question then is, would all of you purchase this computer again (specifically I am looking at the 1TB hd with 2x 128 and Raid 0). I have seen many issues with fan noise, squeaky keys, problems with windows 8/8.1, and a few other things. I really don't want to wait for the 2014 model, since the release date is up in the air and my current setup is pretty outdated, but I am looking for some honest opinions from those who have owned the computer a while.

I really appreciate you taking the time to read this, as well as all the feedback I hope to receive. I'll +1 all that respond (or however that works on this site). Thank you so much for your honesty.

'boots

 

Hello all,

I was hoping that someone can point me the direction where to find the solution to fix the rubbish that I produced lately.

I sort of disabled RAID after I used CTRL-I and wanted to have 3 seperate partitions.
One for the OS one for the programms and one for the data.

I screwed the system totally.

I ordered a pack of recovery DVDs now and want to reset the system to the original state.
I am jsut afraid that I can not get the original partition and RAID environment as I guess the recovery DVD will not reset these things to delivery state, right?

What would I need to do get the RAIS 0 back again as it was?

Thanks for your help guys..

Cheers
Alex

 

The way I understand it, the BIOS has settings for RAID. And the 1TB mechanical drive has an OS recovery partition (unless you blew that away when you redid the partitions)

Have you poked around the BIOS for any RAID setup and recovery info?


Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

 

You deleted the RAID0, right?

If that is the case and you haven't written anything to the disks then recreate the RAID0 with the same disks, stripe and volume size. All your data should still be intact and recoverable providing you haven't written to the disks when split.

If you want to mess with partitions then do it in the OS.

 

Be interesting to see what happens with my RMA - the retailer is not showing the laptop on their website any more. That means they'd give me a comparable model OR refund my money. They had a killer sale on the 002 when I purchased so I wouldn't be able to purchase from another vendor without spending another 150.00. *sigh*

 

Thanks for the replies,

To be honest, I can not rememner what I did in total.
What I still know is that I deleted the RAID0 as far as I could see.
It asked me to select some otions, which one and I choose one that was most logical for me.

The thing is,when You delete the RAID, why should you sill have RAID as a boot mode in the BIOS?
This is still the case and I can not select Lagacy or any other mode as it will not boot in this case.

If I download a new BIOS, wil it automatically revert to the RAID0 again?
Does the RAID make any sense for the SSDs at all? I was told this is only marketing as the buss can not work all this fast data anyhow.
In this case I would try to get it running without any RAID.

Cheers
Alex

 

Hi Dufus,

Could you give me a step by step guide?
This is a loooot of new terrain for me and I dont wanna mess it up further ;-)
Thanks
Cheers
Alex

 

Because RAID is a function of the Sata controller. You had 2 disks joined together as RAID0 in what is called an array. The data is split between the 2 drives in steps of the stripe size. What you did in effect was delete the array so the 2 drives do not work together anymore, they are seen as individual drives. The data on each drive is no longer contiguous as half of it exists on the other drive so it's no longer usable.

If you have written nothing to the drives since then recreate the RAID0 to the same stripe and size as before. Use crtl-i as before and do it from there. You may need to rebuild the first sector too.

 

Hello,

What would you advise while we are gaming ? Playing with or without the charger ?
And while web surfing ?

Thank you a lot

 

Pulling a trigger on GS70 from xoticpc.
Any recommendations on configuration, so far went for 7260 AC Wi-Fi and 7200 1TB SATA III HDD on the top of 128x2 SSD. Should I upgrade screen, they have two options Matte and Glossy, both with wider gamut.
Any NBR specials I should be aware of and try to haggle?

And general question, has anyone regretted not going Alienware 17 route instead? I like its performance, but the brick of that size is just an insult in modern computing, same as pricing, but I think I can swallow that.

Thanks in advance.

 

I'd say that the thermal compound would be a worthy upgrade - 15.00 right now.

I found the screen it's spec'd at was pretty nice, but I haven't seen the others to compare/contrast.

 

The configuration is great.
IC diamond is a must, and be sure to update BIOS and EC to allow "quieter" operation when the laptop isn't doing anything intensive.
There's also a touchpad driver update that will make the laptop more enjoyable.
GS70 Touchpad FAQ

 

My GS70 2OD-001US should be arriving next week.
I would like some tips on upgrading the harddrive. Can I put this drive in the place of the current msata drive?
Amazon.com: Crucial M500 480GB mSATA Internal Solid State Drive CT480M500SSD3: Computers & Accessories

Also, if I get 2 of these drives, would it be possible to set it up to run in RAID0?

 

Yes, it will be fine.

 

Ended up with MSI GS70 2OD-002US (128GBx2 RAID) with the following upgrades:
- 15th ANNIVERSARY SALE $15 IC Diamond Thermal Compound (Was: $35.00)
- Display 17.3" FHD 16:9 "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright LED Glossy Screen w/ 90% NTSC Color Gamut (1920x1080)-
- Dead Pixel Warranty 30 Day "No Dead Pixel" Guarantee (XPC Service)
- Second Hard Drive 1TB 7200RPM (SATA III - 6GB/s) (SKU - HDD005)
- Wireless Network Intel® Dual Band AC 7260 802.11 A/AC/B/G/N 2.4/5.0GHz + Bluetooth 4.0 / WiDi | Up to 300/867Mbps (2x2) (SKU - WIFI04)
- System Recovery Manufacturer Backup Disks Yes, please create a Windows 8 DVD manufacturer factory backup recovery

Is there anything else I can benefit from or change?
Technically I've already paid for it but think it's possible to work out small changes with xoticpc tech.

In this configuration it's a bit pricey though ($2,177), wondering if Razer Blade Pro (256Gb) would be a better proposition.

 

Double check and compare the spec versus the Razer Blade Pro so you won't regret later.

 

Thanks for advise, Kevin. Spec wise GS70 definitely rules, same goes for price, esp. considering hefty taxes I'd have to pay for Razer. BUT . . . Razer is known for better build quality, but is it really that much better to warrant the difference?
I know, wrong thread to ask that question.
Other than that, how does the configuration look, anything I missed?