The Official 1722/GX720 Lounge

Please read this ENTIRE first post before being lazy and just posting a question at the end. Most times, the question has been answered/addressed in this initial post

If you're interested in the i7 version of the 1722 (AKA MSI-1727 / GT740), please go here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=435164

All things MSI 1722 / GX720

Last update: 02/01/2010


BIOS/Firmware updates (as of 02/01/2010)

Current versions are:

BIOS 1.10
EC Firmware 4.32

Direct downloads for BIOS/EC only files:

Only for the MSI GX720 (MS-1722 ID2): http://www.msi.com/index.php?func=do...7278&type=bios

RePaRaQu MS-1722 ID1 & ID2 (GX720) : http://cid-cfdb369e3fd129df.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/MS-1722 ID1 ^0 ID2 ^5GX720^6
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Official MSI GX720/1722 Drivers page: http://www.msi.com/index.php?func=proddesc&prod_no=1521&maincat_no=135&cat2_no=271&cat3_no=1521

MSI 1722 Model #'s




MS-1722 ID2 Barebones/BTW (Black Trimmed in Red)
Note: The panel above the keyboard for BTO

937-1772219-004 WSXGA+ non-glare (1680x1050)
937-172219-002 WUXGA non-glare (1920x1200)
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GX720-032US WSXGA+ Pre-configured (1680x1050)
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MS-1722 ID1 (Black with silver speaker bezel)

937-172226-010 WSXGA+ Glare (1680x1050) (Discontinued)
937-172226-003 WUXGA Non-Glare (1920x1200) (Discontinued)
937-172226-038 WSXGA+ Glare (1680x1050)
937-172226-039 WUXGA Non-Glare (1920x1200)
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The new GT725 is essentially a GX720/ID2 with an upgraded 4850 video card.

9S7-172234-074 / GT725-074US WSXGA+ Glare (1680 x 1050)
9S7-172234-212 / GT725-212US WUXGA+ Non-Glare (1920x1200)

The GT725 is not offered in a barebones chassis
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The GT729 is a GT725 refresh that uses DDR3 vs. DDR2
and has a completely new Motherboard refresh.
It comes equipped with a 4850 Mobile Card like the GT725.
It is also available in a barebones model.
The chassis is still the classic, lightweight 1722

GT729-248US - P8700/WSXGA+ 1680x1050 Retail Model
GT729BD - Q9000/WUXGA+ 1920x1200 Retail Model
937-172226-049 - GT729 (1722 - ID3) WSXGA+ Barebones
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System Tested (and current config):



MSI-1722 ID2 (WUXGA+)
Intel QX9300 Quad-Core OEM CPU (2.26ghz x 4, Penryn 1066mhz FSB, 12mb cache)
Intel 5350 full length mini-pci
4gb G.Skill DDR2-800 ram (2x2) low latency performance memory
Seagate Momentus 7200.4 Scorpio 500gb 7200rpm 16mb cache
XP Pro OEM license

All testing was performed with Vista Home Premium

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Answers to frequently asked questions
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The 1722/GX720 comes default with the memory timings set to 667 (versus 800 that most modern memory supports). It also comes default for the Turbo function set at 16%.

To access the extended advanced screen in BIOS: Alt+Insert

This will allow you to change your memory times and Overclock percentage

If you want to use other methods to overclock your CPU with more precision and especially overclock Quad Core CPUs, check out this thread here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=4996240&postcount=1

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The 1722 actually has 3 Mini-PCI slots. Check the thread here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=375141
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Convert your ID1 to ID2 Overclocking functionality here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=380505
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The 1722 100% supports XP and Vista. There is a complete suite of combo drivers on MSI's page. Most GX720 drivers work for the 1722.
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The 1722 is configured with three antenna wires for full N support.
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The GX720 BIOS/Firmware works with the 1722 (Thanks Rob from RK)
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The 1722 Supports 4gb DDR2 SODIMMS x 2, so the unit CAN support 8GB of memory. I just swapped in a pair I had. It fully registers the whole 8GB and it booted fine
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The 1722=ID1 shipped with the 1.0H BIOS. BEWARE: If you're trying to install a quad-core or newer Dual-Core CPU, you will need to update your BIOS or your system will either not register the CPU or freeze on the post screen. I swapped out the Q9100 and put in a T9400 and it booted fine. I tracked down the official 1722 1.0R (January 2009) BIOS and the Q9100 booted up fine after that. ID2's so far have shown up with newer BIOS (1.0S with the newest shipping ID2's).
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Contrary to popular belief, the 1722 supports full length and half length Wifi Mini-PCI cards and has three antennae leads for full support.
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Intel 5350 support has been verified. As reported, the 5350 is a combo WiFi/WiMax Mini-PCI card and it requires a compliant mini-pci slot that is properly wired for USB. Some notebooks do not support the current spec. Fortunately, the 1722 is 100% compliant (I tested it myself).
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There is a single HD bay that supports a standard 2.5" SATA/SATA-II HD.
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The MS-1722-ID2 usually ships with a DVDRW drive.
The MS-1722 ID1 usually ships with no DVDRW drive.

Official MSI Optical Drive part #'s:

DVD Super-Multi Drive Part#: 957-1722E-001 (~$48-85 online)
Blu-Ray Drive Part#: 957-1722E-002 (~$215-335 online)

Pics and specs of actual drive part: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=4470313#post4470313

If you aren't picky about the Drive bezel matching the unit exactly, the Sony/Optiarc AD-7590S-01 work 100% in the 1722 ID1's and ID2's:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118017
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These come with the GDDR3 version of the 9600M GT.
The 9600m gt is in a MXM-II card config, so it is upgradable.

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Hardware:



CPU-Z showing the QX9300 with a BIOS level induced OC



Memory settings using G.Skill DDR2 (my favorite) 5-5-5-15.
Just great, great stuff.



GPU-Z showing the 9600M GT. Note the GDDR3 being
used.

Benchmarks:


3DMark 2006 with 186.X Notebook drivers

~5700 is a respectable score for a 9600M GDDR3 based card. The score is pumped up a bit by the QX9300. Focus on the SM2.0 and SM3.0 scores.


Futuremark Vantage

Here we can see how the 9600M is definitely a last generation card when encountering newer GPU tests. The GPU score of 1602 makes the 9600M ~ 3.5x slower than the 280M (which scores around 5400).

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Temperatures:

The cooling system is separate for the GPU/CPU with a shared dual fan exhaust system. The heatsink/copper pipe for the GPU is pretty dense.
The overall cooling is exceptional for a notebook of this size and price.

All temperatures were recorded on a flat, level surface with no cooling pad/fans. All tests were run for a minimum of 15 minutes.


Here are CPU only temps with a 23 minute run of Prime 4-core max heat
which has been known to reveal any flaws in CPU heating or overclocking (both voltage and heat dissipation).


These temps are under a full screen GPU stress test with Real Time HDR IBR which really puts a pounding on GPUs.


And finally, the combined beatdown. With both Real time AND Prime95 4 core going, the system handled the load, no problem, with a mild system CPU induced OC no less (~2623).

This stress test situation is not typical everyday use (GPU/CPU pushed to the wall), but it gives you an idea of what the 1722 chassis can do using what is known as the hottest, hungriest mobile Core 2 Quad processor out there.

I can not stress how excellent the cooling system is on the 1722 ID1/ID2.

Under full load (both GPU/CPU), the AC adapter was warm but not uncomfortably hot.

The noise level under full load is very acceptable. It is half that (if not less) of the OCZ Whitebook under the same Prime95 stress test. I have assembled many of these systems, and you will occasionally encounter a fan that whines. I found a very small drop of oil/WD40 (Make sure to remove the assembly first) alleviates this noise.

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Weight and Build:

The 1722 chassis is lighter than expected. ~7.3lbs (weighed/verified), which is decent on a 17" Notebook with this expandability and power. To put this in perspective, the Macbook Pro 17" is 6.6lbs.

Keyboard is decent with minimal to no flex which is nice. There are complaints that some of the keys are truncated (note the enter key) to fit the keypad.

Build quality is solid. Screen opens via counterweight versus latch (like the HDX18t and some newer models). Due to its lighter weight, you can easily pick up the closed unit with one hand.

THE ID1 models (WSXGA+ 1680x1050) use SEC4447

The ID2 models (WUXGA+) use SEC3448

Both panels are Single lap CCFL Samsung makes. The SEC3448 has also shown up in the MSI GT725 (Basically an ID2 with an ATI 4850 card).

Having had over 10 of these units pass my way, the degree of bleed varies and is hit or miss. Some have had major bleed, while others are minimal. With the lighting (single lamp) used, this is par for the course for CCFL panels. I have yet to encounter a 1722 chassis with a bad pixel yet.

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Conclusion:

The beauty in the 1722 chassis (ID1, ID2, GX720, GT725) is you can design a system anyway you want or purchase a pre-configured model (sometimes you do not have the choice as in the GT725). If you are uncomfortable with system building (read through this thread, and you can and will see the issues and problems encountered), you can always purchase a pre-configured unit from a reseller configured via MSI or BTO reseller themselves.

The cooling system is top notch as is the overall build quality. The relatively light weight (7.3lbs) on a 17" notebook is an added plus.

Outside a middle level GPU, the 1722 is state of the art in regards to everything about it and what it supports internally. It uses the newest, latest Intel Core 2 Montevina (PM45) chipset. It can support every single Penryn CPU out there all the way up to the X9100 and QX9300 Extreme chips and more importantly, it supports Quad Core CPUs and cools them rather well.

It also supports all the newest WiFi cards and standards (5350), the latest and greatest hard drives and fully supports DDR2-800 memory and is expandable to 8GB. If you need a stronger, more modern GPU, you can always opt for the GT725 model which is a GX720 with a better GPU. But even the 9600M GT still handles most games admirably with the proper settings.

 

Nice write up. +rep. This is the one you got from the classifieds?

Couple of question, does the barebones have the "Turbo" button? How many hard drive slots does it have. Thanks.

 

Yep, from OC. Nice guy, very personable.

One HD slot. I'll post up some pics of it broken down later in detail.

If you mean the turbo button on the front, then no.

 

Congrats you got quite a little set of monster i see

+rep for having too many notebooks and a quick decent overview.

 

Nice review :O) just some pics would have been killer!
+1 rep here

whoops see the pics now my bad!
awesome review!

 

Added some pics of the insides setup and additional XP and BIOS info.

 

Awesome install man. You didn't waste any time! I know it got there last night and you already whooped that sucker up!

Congratulations and thanks for the purchase. Look forward to doing more business with you! I got some msi ms-1651 15.4" available now that come with the dvd +/- rw multi drive.

 

Nice write up electrosoft. Good job indeed and def worth my time to look over. Nice looking lappy too. It's interesting to note that the 9600GT is still not as powerful as the 7900GTX in my 2-1/2 year old Dell tho. That's actually quite puzzling to me.

 

Does this have the MSI Turbo button like the Pre-built units or is there any overclocking options in bios?

Thanks for the pics!

 

hmm.. 3DMark shows they are fairly close, which is quite impressive if you ask me.. The 9600M GT has way lower specs than those of the 7900GTX, yet they have pretty close benchmarks. Just goes to show how far we've come in the mobile GPU arena...

With a fast T9500 or T9600 series processor you could easily push 3DMark06 over the 6k mark.

 

Well, the cooling of this unit and the good temps gives it some decent room for overclocking me thinks.

No turbo button and I see no options in the BIOS for overclocking.

And yeah, I remember the cooling on my 7950gtx SLI in my M-ALX. Pretty monstrous.

 

Yeah but the 7900 series GPU used a ton of power

it was actually a portable heater mwahaha

Anyway, there is no turbo button? That's odd i thought these notebooks had one.

 

If you don't mind my asking, how much did this baby cost you in the end?

 

The turbo button, on the GX720, is on a slightly different chassis with the same core build I think:

http://www.insidehw.com/Reviews/Notebooks/MSI-GX720-and-MSI-GT735.html

When everything was said and done, it was about ~$1400. It may end up on eBay if I don't keep it. I'm liking it so far, though. Using it till I sort out my M6400 situation. Temps are good. Screen perfect. Nice performance.

Added some pics of 30 min GPU and CPU (Quad) stress tests.

CPU Stress test with Prime95 Quad Core version
GPU Stress test with DX9 Real-Time High-Dynamic Range Image-Based Lighting Version 1.2 (which is just brutal, brutal stuff)

 

i guess with the quads working well in this system , it bodes well for the GT725s being quad capable as well . I have been keeping my eye on the MSI and the build quality looks pretty good.

 

Yeah, these things are really solid which threw me off a bit, but considering they OEM a lot of systems along with offering their own, they had to be somewhat decent, but so far, I have no complaints.

Quad support, XP/Vista support, solid build, no flex keyboard w/ pad, dual Mini-PCI slots that both support half/full size cards, three antenna, Blu-ray support, decent audio (with a little baby sub woofer), fairly light-weight compared to other big boy units, good temps.

Only knock I can point out is no dual HD support so far.

 

Ya no dual hard drives is a bummer for sure . Even 500gigs nowadays can go pretty fast.

 

Nice little review. I'm picking up one of the 15.4 models tomorrow from oconbudget. To my surprise, the 15.4 models also support quadcore cpu's. something I will definitely look into.

 

Dude, you did happen to notice that his QUAD CORE CPU score is TWICE what mine is. Right? It would be kewl to see what the old Dell would have done with a quad core.

I want a QUAD now. *sniffle*

 

The 1651's don't support Quad Cores from what Ive read and what MSI says (along with what xoticpc and rkcomputers offer as options on the 1651 model).

Where did you read/hear they support Quad Cores?

Edit:

I saw your link in the 1651 thread.

Q9000 is a different beast than the Q9100 and QX9300 from what I've read.

While many Dual Core systems may support Q9000, those same systems won't support the beefier Q9100 or QX9300 with the different but equally crippling pin out requirements.

Q9000 is decent, though, just stuck at 2ghz and half the cache of the Q9100 and QX9300. Tt is a budget Quad Core.

 

If these are like the 1651 (barebones of the GX620) according the lengthyish 1651/620 thread the Turbo button IS there, just not marked on the top row of hw keys. It'd be located right next to the Eco button and is non-functional w/o a BIOS flash (see next pp).

Also, the barebones OS does NOT have the OC setup, but according the same thread it would appear that it can be enabled by flashing the retail firmware.

I'd guess that MSI did this because they have no control over what components are used in assembling the barebones v. their retail products which they presumably test. I've never really been a big fan of OC myself as without going to better cooling solutions the OC that you can usually achieve with stock cooling really isn't worth the potential decrease in component lifespan unless you're replacing components fairly frequently (I don't).

 

Good point, also just about all games still only support dual cores so I probably wouldn't notice much of a difference. A dual core will work just fine for now I'm sure. =/ to bad my cpu won't be here till later this week, but the 15.4 has a cd drive already and I have a laptop hdd already and just put in a order for some ram a few hours ago.

 

http://www.fujitsu.com/downloads/COMP/fcpa/hdd/mhy2xxxbh_datasheet.pdf

 

any sata 2.5" laptop hdd should work.

 

"Interface SATA rev 2.5"

 

I have no idea what a sata rev 2.5" is. Laptop sata hdd come in two flavors, 1.5gb and 3.0 gb the msi laptop supports both.

 

Much appreciated.

 

The unit shipped with the 1.0H BIOS. BEWARE: If you're trying to install a quad-core or newer CPU, you will need to update your BIOS or your system will
either not register the CPU or freeze on the post screen. I swapped out the Q9100 and put in a T9400 and it booted fine. I tracked down the official 1722 1.0R (January
2009) BIOS and the Q9100 booted up fine after that.

Where have you located the BIOS file, and which version for the EC Firmware are you using.
The BIOS and the EC firmware file are not located on the MSI website, but are only on FAE website.
You might need to check the EC firmware, we are using version 4.29 and also BIOS 10R sepcial for BTO.

 

The only time I've seen scores that high on a 9600M GT for SM2.0 and SM3.0 is with higher clocks than default. That is across multiple systems. What are your GPU clocks set to? I'll check the firmware.

Edit: NVM, 3Dmark06 I ran at default 1280x1024. You did 1024x768?

 

I wasn't gonna say anything, because its a clearly a attempt at deception for the laptops performance. He's just trying to advertise for his website ignore him.

 

Hey electrosoft, how is the fan noise on this thing? Just normal surfing and say 3DMK06 run?

 

It's not a attempt, no deception and no free advertise, we received this score back from the End User which we found higher then the default build.
So yes this could be overclock.

And again if i attempt to advertise i would place the link, so point the finger the correct direction. (removed the details because of false accusation)
Keep in mind if I would place the inccorect information I will bring the company on to the wrong path.

 

Correct we tested the model with 1024X768 and the clock settings are:
600/800/1250 NVIDIA VGA VERSION 176.92
Bios 1.0R
EC 4.29

And again no OC, we don't support this in any way.

 

Try it @ default 1280x1024 and let me know what you get.

 

Noise level is not that bad at all for basic surfing and usage. Fan only really picked up when I played WoW on it for some hours, and even then it wasn't bad at all.

 

hey, thanks for those pictures and review electrosoft. This seems like a solid chassis and a very flexible notebook. The GPU seems like an MXM-II card, and I think there is even enough space to fit an MXM-III card (i.e. ATi 3870, 48xx series). Would be interesting if someone starts a project with this chassis and a more powerful MXM-III card to see if it's a possibility

I wonder how the inside of the 1651 looks like...

 

RK Computers have some good pictures of the internals.

http://www.rkcomputer.net/downloads/photos/ms-1651-wsxga/index.html

Now if I can find a picture of the GT735/MS-1721 internals. I'm curious to see how the HD 3850 is situated in these systems.

Working on it.

 

Yeah, outside of screw alignment issues potentially, there is more than enough space to house a bigger card inside the 1722. Very spacious.

 

Isn't there a difference in slot power requirements between MXM II and MXM III?

 

Yes. MXM II = 25 watts, MXM III = 35 watts.

Due to the different video configuration of MSI's 17" models, there is a good possibility that it actually has a MXM III slot, which can also be occupied by MXM II cards like the 9600M GT.

 

yeah, especially the thermal screw alingment for the GPU core. The ATi MXM-III cards have a 46mmx46mm screw spacing, while MXM-II has 41x41, thus a MXM-III heatsink would be smaller.

But a solution to that would be a heatsink mod, if things aren't too complex.

 

so can a ATI card fit in the 1651? or its theres not enough room like the 1722? if i could i'd like to put in a ATI card into my 1651 instead of keeping the 9600m-gt

 

The 1722 is basically a super sized 1651 with Quad Support, better thermals, 17" screen yet surprisingly light which took me by surprise.

 

yeah i know, i just don't want to be carrying a 17" around thats alll.

 

Oh, there's definitely enough room for any MXM card. The only obstacle is the heatsink mounting points, which lines up perfectly for MXM II cards but you will have to most likely modify for III. Well we'll hopefully find out next week if the 1651 can run MXM III cards.

 

nicee thanks keep this thread alive for that or make a new one! im looking forward to it thankss :]

 

I just swapped in a pair of 4gb DDR2 SO-DIMMS (8gb total) to test if the 1722 supports 8GB of memory, and it does just fine (contrary to what Crucial says, which says a limit of 4GB).

Also, included is a pic of the MXM-II up close for those who want to compare with MXM-III. Like I said, plenty of room in the chassis.

 

So your 1722 is running 8GB of memory at the moment, or you just did it for fun but not running it anymore?

 

For fun

Installed it, ran memtest, booted a Vista x64 partition to check it out, pulled it back out.

I just happen to see Crucial say the GX720 supported a max of 4gb, so I wanted to see for myself in case someone wanted 8gb in their 1722.

 

Did the MSI 1722 come pre-wired with 2 or 3 antenna's for the wlan? If it comes with 2, did your buy the 3rd or replaced all 3?