*** The Official MSI GS65 Stealth Owners and Discussions Lounge ***

MSI GS 65 8 RE / RF STEALTH THIN (Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q / 1070 Max-Q Design) 2018 / 1st generation

​

• Features:
  15.6-inch screen in a 14-inch chassis
  Ultra narrow 4.9mm display bezel
  144Hz IPS-level display with 7ms response
  17.7mm slim design
  8 hour battery life
  82Whr battery capacity
  Aluminium alloy with sandblasted finish
  
  Specification:
  CPU: Intel 8th Gen. Core i7-8750H, 6 cores with HT, 2.2GHz base clock, boost to 3.9GHz, 45W TDP
  Cooler: Cooler Boost Trinity 2x 47 blade fans, 1x 37 blade fan, 0.2mm fan blade thickness, 4 heat pipes
  Screen: 15.6-inch, 1,920×1,080 resolution, IPS level, 144Hz refresh, 7ms response (AUO manufacturer)
  Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q or GTX 1060
  Memory: up to 32GB of DDR4-2666MHz
  Storage: 2x PCIe Gen3 x4 M.2 slots
• Slot 1 = Combo NVME - Sata
• Slot 2 = NVME only
  
  (If you want to add a SATA SSD, you have to move the Nvme SSD from Slot 1 to Slot 2, and install your SATA SSD into Slot 1. Windows will boot correctly after changing SSD position).
  
  Audio: 2x 2W Dynaudio speakers
  Ethernet: Killer E2500
  Wi-Fi: Killer AC 1550i for GTX 1070 models or Intel AC 9560 Wireless for GTX 1060 models
  I/O ports:
  3x USB 3.1 Type-A
  1x Thunderbolt USB 3.1 Type-C
  1x HDMI 2.0
  1x Mini DisplayPort 1.2
  Headphone jack
  
  Battery: 82Wh, 180W adapter
  Dimensions: 358.5mm x 247.7mm x 17.7mm
  Weight: 1.8kg (total weight PC + PSU + cable = 2,49 kg)
  Software: Dragon Centre 2.0New Gaming Mode on enabled games such as PUBG and DOTA 2 will automatically enable 4 functions: make SSE3 with preset keyboard backlit to fit the type of the game, “Free up memory” to keep highest performance, turn “True Colour” to gaming mode, and turn Nahimic 3 to gaming mode. When you quit the game, these will return to previous settings.

REVIEWS
Notebookcheck | Notebookcheck Germany | Techspot

VIDEO REVIEWS

Spoiler: Video Reviews

TEARDOWN IMAGES (credits to @kkmah )
https://imgur.com/a/MbxWz3f

TEARDOWN VIDEO by @Donald@HIDevolution

Spoiler: TEARDOWN VIDEO

( updating in progress )

Stay tuned!


Notes about undervolting: http://forum.notebookreview.com/index.php?posts/10798173

 

BIOS AND OTHER STUFF​

Spoiler: BIOS RELEASE NOTES

BIOS RELEASE NOTES:
Model : MS-16Q2
MKT Name : GS65 Stealth Thin 8RE / GS65 Stealth Thin 8RF

;****************************************************************************;

New BIOS : E16Q2IMS.111
ROM CheckSum : 0x895B
Release Date : 2018/12/19

;--------------------------- Description ------------------------------------;

1.Improve system stability.

;****************************************************************************;

New BIOS : E16Q2IMS.110
ROM CheckSum : 0x3F41
Release Date : 2018/10/30

;--------------------------- Description ------------------------------------;

1.Update EC to 16Q2EMS1.106.

;****************************************************************************;

New BIOS : E16Q2IMS.10F
ROM CheckSum : 0xE831
Release Date : 2018/10/24

;--------------------------- Description ------------------------------------;

1.Support Win/FN key switch function control by DragonCenter.

;****************************************************************************;

New BIOS : E16Q2IMS.10E
ROM CheckSum : 0x6DF3
Release Date : 2018/09/12

;--------------------------- Description ------------------------------------;

1.Improve system stability.

;****************************************************************************;

New BIOS : E16Q2IMS.10D
ROM CheckSum : 0xC0CA
Release Date : 2018/07/16

;--------------------------- Description ------------------------------------;

1. Improve the panel display stability.

;****************************************************************************;

New BIOS : E16Q2IMS.10C
ROM CheckSum : 0x7B5D
Release Date : 2018/07/06

;--------------------------- Description ------------------------------------;

1. Improve the stability of the panel display.

;****************************************************************************;

New BIOS : E16Q2IMS.10B
ROM CheckSum : 0x54CA
Release Date : 2018/05/29

;--------------------------- Description ------------------------------------;

1. Improve system stability.

;****************************************************************************;

New BIOS : E16Q2IMS.10A
ROM CheckSum : 0xA363
Release Date : 2018/05/22

;--------------------------- Description ------------------------------------;

1. Update EC FW to 16Q2EMS1.105.

;****************************************************************************;

New BIOS : E16Q2IMS.107
ROM CheckSum : 0x529E
Release Date : 2018/04/13

;--------------------------- Description ------------------------------------;

1. Add Backslash / ALT (Right) Key Swap Function.

;****************************************************************************;

New BIOS : E16Q2IMS.105
ROM CheckSum : 0x8704
Release Date : 2018/04/11

;--------------------------- Description ------------------------------------;

First Release.

Guide by @Falkentyne to unlock your BIOS and get rid of limitations, etc... FOR VERYEXPERT USERS ONLY
(Please, read carefully warnings before eventually doing it!)

Spoiler: Falkentyne's BIOS UNLOCK GUIDE (WARNING!)

DO NOT BLAME ME IF YOU BRICK YOUR LAPTOP BY DOING THIS.
this is at your own risk!! EXPERIENCED USERS ONLY.

The purpose of this is to 1) bypass 45W TDP limit on your CPU permanently to avoid any power limit throttling, 2) disable MSI "overvolting" by setting core IA AC DC Loadline to "1".
THIS HAS BEEN TESTED BY SEVERAL PEOPLE SUCCESSFULLY ON GT75 TITAN. (same basic instructions work on the older "VR" series, but a different version of FPTW64 may be rquired). No one has tested this on GS65, but MSI uses the same bios structure in their laptops and same basic type of EC code so it should work.

Go ahead if you wish. Just keep in mind this unlock was only field tested with the GT75 Titan, so YMMV.

MSI "Dragon Center" installs HIDDEN CPU THROTTLING on the 6 core laptops (mainly, messing with the VR Current Limit and TDC limits, which normal users have no access to).
Even on the 4 core laptops, it still messes with the VR Current Limit setting (one user had to do a full CMOS clear before this option started even working even after removing Dragon Center).

MSI Silent Option just controls the fans. No bloatwares.

tl;dr: Dragon Center is garbage. Don't use it.
DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK.

==================

First, please uninstall Dragon Center.
Dragon Center adds hidden throttling options to your Bios that the normal end users has NO access to. if you want fan control, use "MSI Silent Option".
You can do EVERYTHING Dragon Center does, by using :

1) MSI Afterburner.
2) Throttlestop 8.60.
3) MSI Silent Option.
4) MSI SCM for hotkeys.

THERE IS ZERO REASON TO USE DRAGON CENTER. ZERO. ZERO. ZILCH. IT JUST THROTTLES YOUR LAPTOP.


Ok boys. at your own risk:

1) UNLOCK YOUR BIOS.
2) Set CPU power and performance->CPU VR Settings->Core I/A Domain ->IA AC / DC loadline, = 1
**THIS SETTING DISABLES MSI AUTOMATIC OVERVOLTING WHEN THE CPU IS AT HEAVY LOAD**. When setting this to "1", you must **NOT** undervolt your processor anymore!

3) Set VR Current Limit to 800 (this will prevent "EDP Other" or CPU Current throttling.
4) make sure TDC is DISABLED and value is set to 0. MSI Dragon center messes with this option behind your back.

5) brownie points: if you want to never, ever, ever, EVER EVER EVER reach "power Limit" throttling of 45W, set IMON SLOPE to 50, IMON OFFSET to 31999 and IMON OFFSET PREFIX TO NEGATIVE. Yes, negative. Then you can draw 100W of power and the CPU will only report about 35W. VERIFIED AND TESTED.

To unlock your bios follow the instructions here.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...-cmos-and-prevent-common-issues.812372/page-8

Get the INTEL CSME SYSTEM TOOLS V12.
https://www.win-raid.com/t596f39-Intel-Management-Engine-Drivers-Firmware-amp-System-Tools.html

For older GT73VR and GT75VR, v11 works, but if you get an ERROR on your GT75 Titan, that 'unsupported platform" with v11, use v12. IT WILL WORK.

Run FPTW64 as administrator: FPTW64.exe -d MSIcancerbiosbackup.com -bios
Download UEFITool and Universal IFR extractor from Paloesco's post I inked above.
Download RU from the website as the one paloesco had previously linked in his tools had BUGS which would cause your entire laptop to shut off on "UEFI Variables".

http://ruexe.blogspot.com/

Make a backup copy of your bios dump you made. Save it somewhere.

Download AMIBCP 5.0.2 from https://forums.tweaktown.com/gigaby...-info-benchmarking-stability-tools-print.html

somewhere over there. 5.0.2 works on the older VR series also so it is safe. Note: USING 5.0.1 will CORRUPT THE APTIO BIOS CAPSULE ON THE GT75 and GS65 series !!!

Now, first things first.
Run UEFITOOL on your bios backup that you made. Open image file click the backup you made.
Click FILE->SEARCH->Text Enter "Bios Lock" in the text search.

At the bottom you should see "bios lock found at pe32 something". double click that.
A menu tree will appear at the top with a PE32 field already highlighted. RIGHT CLICK THAT AND choose extract as is. Name it whatever, like "extractedfield.bin" or something.

Close UEFItool and open universal ifr extractor. open the file you just extracted. . the words UEFI should be in GREEN. If so, good. click extract. And save it as the suggested txt file name. Should be no errors.

Now open that new text file in windows notepad.
Edit->Find, search for BIOS LOCK
You should see it, then some HEXADECIMAL variable.
WRITE THIS VARIABLE DOWN ON PAPER. Example: 0x8AA. Ignore the part in brackets.

Now, follow paloesco's instructions on making a boot disk with RU
Once you make a flash drive boot disk with RU, you need to disable secure boot, boot to your disk and boot into RU.

In RU, you then need to follow the instructions shown by Paloesco and go to UEFI variables. And look for "setup."
there should be two. A small one and a large one. The small one is wrong. You want the large one.
Once you go to the large one you need to page down (i forgot if its control page down or not) through all the HEXADECIMAL OFFSETS on the left, until you get to the PROPER HEXADECIMAL OFFSET FOR BIOS LOCK.. Example: if yours was 0x8AA, then you would look for 08AA (leading zeros are basically placeholers.

Press enter on that hex offset and change the "01" there to a "00". Should be pictures and more info in paloesco's thread.
Click write value (forgot the key, might be control W). It will say its written successfully.

use the next menu to exit RU and restart your laptop.

Now:
Boot to windows, Open AMIBCP 5.0.2, open that bios backup you originally made with FPTW64. Click on Advanced and change everything that you want unhidden to "SUPERVISOR".
You also need to change each and every submenu and option that you want unhidden as well. Most boring thing you will ever do in your life.

DO NOT USE AMIBCP 5.0.1 on anything newer than the GT73VR (GT75VR "may" be safe for this also), YOU WILL CORRUPT THE BIOS CAPSULE !

Once that's done, save your settings, flash your bios capsule back with FPTW64.exe -f msicancerbiosbackup.bin -bios
Shut off the laptop, wait 10 seconds, power it on, go in your bios and have fun.

BETTER HAVE A SPI PROGRAMMER (SKYPRO RECOMMENDED) available to flash your bios chip if something goes wrong. The Bios chip is SPI Bus isolated, meaning it is SAFE to read and flash with a programmer, as long as AC power and battery connector are all DISCONNECTED.
Note that the thunderbolt 3 chip is NOT SPI ISOLATED. Doing a read on this without desoldering the chip can DAMAGE The chip.

On the MSI GT73VR, the bios chip is under MXM video card (crappy area, but at least there's no confusion.
On the GT75VR and GT75 Titan, the bios chip has been moved by the fan location for the GPU. There is ANOTHER CHIP next to the bios chip. And I do NOT know which chip is which! if someone here knows, please post--it will be helpful to some people.

This unlock method HAS BEEN ALREADY TESTED as working by another user here on his GT75 Titan.

Doing this on the GS65 stealth is UNTESTED. It SHOULD work, but it has only been confirmed on the Titan. Finding the actual correct bios chip will be harder than following instructions to unlock your bios menus.

@hackness guide: GET FULL CONTROL OF INTEL i7 8750H on MSI GS 65

@hackness repository: full official MSI BIOS list whit download links.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/index.php?posts/10877604

GS65 8RF BIOS

E16Q2IMS.10A
E16Q2IMS.10B
E16Q2IMS.10C
E16Q2IMS.10D
E16Q2IMS.10E
E16Q2IMS.10F
E16Q2IMS.105
E16Q2IMS.107
E16Q2IMS.110
E16Q2IMS.111

GS65 8RF EC

16Q2EMS1.103
16Q2EMS1.104
16Q2EMS1.105
16Q2EMS1.106
16Q2EMS1.107

EXAMPLE OF THERMAD PADS INSTALLATION

 

Just saw this review - https://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/msi-gs65-stealth-thin

 

PC World Magazine's preview

 

Where to buy:

HIDevolution


Specifications:

Display
15.6" FHD (1920*1080), 144Hz 7ms Wideview 72%NTSC Color Anti-Glare

MSI True Color Technology

Video Graphics & Memory

NVIDIA GeForce® GTX1060 w/ 6.0GB GDDR5
Processor Support and

Heat Management

Intel® 8th Generation Coffee Lake Core™ i7-8750H 6 Core - 12 Thread Processor, 2.6 GHz (Max Turbo Frequency 4.1 GHz), 9MB Smart Cache

Operating System Genuine Windows 10 Pro 64 bit
Chipset Mobile Intel® HM370
System Memory (RAM)
16GB DDR4/2400MHz System Memory (2 x 8GB) - 2 Memory Slots

Expandable to 32GB DDR4/2666MHz

Hard Drive
512GB M.2 PCIe SSD

Optional:

2x M.2 PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe SSDs, M.2 SATA III SSD

Optical Drive
None

Card Reader N/A
Video Camera Built-in 720p HD Webcam Web Camera
LAN/WLAN
Killer DoubleShot Pro - Killer Gaming Network E2500 + Intel 9560 Jefferson Peak (2*2 ac) w/ Bluetooth 5.0

Input/Output 1 x Thunderbolt 3
3 x USB 3.1 Gen2
1 x SPDIF (ESS Sabre HiFi)
1 x Microphone-in jack
1 x Microphone-out jack
1 x mini display port v 1.2
1 x RJ45 LAN - Killer E2500 Gigabit LAN
1 x HDMI v2.0
Audio
Nahimic 2
Dynaudio Speakers 2W*2
Audio Boost Amplifier 2.0

Keyboard and Touchpad Steel Series per-Key RGB with Anti-Ghost key (84 Key)
Click Pad
Battery 4 cells - 82Wh (Internal)
AC Adapter Output: 19.5 V 16.9 A DC, 180W Slim
Input:100~240 V AC, 50/60 Hz universal
Dimension & Weight
14.08"x 9.75"x 0.69" (W x D x H), 358 x 248 x 17.5 mm (W x D x H)
4.14lbs (1.88 Kg)

Security
Trusted Platform Module (TPM) - Intel ® PTT
Cable lock port

 

Looks like a great machine. No G-sync for now though. I wonder if the panel will get certified.

 

It's possible to enable g-sync even if at the beginning it's not available on the same machine?
In Italy, at the moment, there's only the 6RF version with 1070 max-Q available for pre-order (2399-2499€ depending by the shop; 3 years warranty limited offer)

 

No, there is no way to have G-Sync enabled on this model.

 

So, no possibility that they will certify for G-Sync this panel in a second time, allowing the MSI GS65 owners to use it?
I know that some Clevo machines were not "G-Sync" sponsored but they were G-Sync capable.
I don't know if G-Sync would be really a game changer on a 144 Hz 15" monitor, though.

Probably, Gigabyte position (about the new Aero 15 notebook that features a 144 Hz display as the GS65 - probably the same panel?) gives us the answer to this lack:
Source

• High-refresh, no G-sync panel: One decision that’s sure to elicit response is Gigabyte’s decision to jettison a 1080p, 60Hz MVA screen for a 1080p, 144Hz IPS display. The new screen isn’t based on Nvidia’s G-sync tech, which ties refresh to the GPU’s frame rate. Gigabyte’s rationale was to save battery life. While variable refresh rate technology delivers beautiful gameplay, it requires the GPU to be active at all times. Gigabyte instead uses Nvidia’s Optimus tech, which switches over to Intel’s low-power integrated graphics when you’re not gaming.

Again PC World says the same about GS65, but...

• While the GS63 came with a 1080p 60Hz screen and an option for a 4K panel, the GS65 features a 1080p 144Hz panel. The panel isn’t quite approved for G-sync, but MSI tells us it can support Nvidia’s variable refresh-rate technology. The screen on the GS65 also folds to 180 degrees and features a truly miniature webcam on the top bezel, an improvement over being located beneath the display.

 

@Skylake_ Gsync is one of the long standing sore points on this forum. Past MSI laptops were never advertised as supporting Gsync, and Gsync was not even mentioned on the MSI official website, yet was mentioned on SOME OEM's sales pages, and users found out that the laptops they received DID support Gsync, even when some companies claimed they did NOT support Gsync. That's completely MSI's fault for not being up front with the OEM. But the fault also rests with NGreedia as well: If MSI does not tell an OEM that their model supports Gsync, the OEM's hands are tied, because if they make MSI upset, MSI can cut the leash....you know exactly what I mean...

1) Some panels are released before they are certified for Gsync.
2) Ngreedia will not allow a panel to be Gsync certified unless their license fees are paid to them for whitelisting the panel first. Gotta keep them shareholders happy and well fed !
3) Panel certification requires the panel itself being whitelisted in the system Bios for Gsync, and a Gsync enabled video card (via PCI ID) and video bios.
4) Gsync cannot work on systems using Optimus techology, without a way to physically disable the intel iGPU from being active.(e.g. a hardware Mux switch or Bios muxless GPU switch option).

MSI has released Bioses for systems which only use the dGPU (or which allow the iGPU to be completely disabled) to enable Gsync when it was disabled at initial release of the laptop.

That's pretty much the history.
So if your laptop does NOT have hybrid graphics/optimus technology (where the iGPU and dGPU are used at the same time together), then there is a chance that Gsync may become available later. And take that with a huge grain of salt.

 

Ok, so no license = no G Sync and Optimus = No G Sync. Very exhaustive explanation, thank you!
Dave Lee just posted his video review.



According to other first reviews, it seems to be true that the chassis is a bit too much flexible. Dave Lee tells us that manteinance and upgrade is very difficult, but he doesn't show us the interior design.

 

The only MSI models that will support G-Sync are the GT Series.

Any other model that does not ship with G-Sync, will ever be able to have it.

 

I dug a little deeper with MSI on this. To correct my post above, (and give reference to the comment " MSI tells us it can support Nvidia’s variable refresh-rate technology"), I am told that this panel is too new to be certified by NVIDIA (they take a long time), although it might be in the future. However, even when NVIDIA finishes their certification procedure, you still won't see G-Sync, as such, on the GS65, or the Gigabyte model that uses the same screen, but you may see it as a "G-Sync Ready" panel at some time in the future.

Now, can you read between the lines?

 

Well, @Donald@HIDevolution what I can read is "Ngreedia being Ngreedia" and MSI having their hands tied behind their back
And more happy shareholders....

 

No...MSI has it figured out. We just have to wait to see when NVIDIA certifies that panel.

Hint...what is the difference between G-Sync and Nvidia’s variable refresh-rate technology?

 

@Donald@HIDevolution

DRM. That's what

NGREEDIA!

 

Mobile G-Sync is just....Freesync hahahaha anyways! I hate david lee videos everything is "great!" LinusTechTips has GS65 video coming soon which is way more insightful~

 

Yep, impossible to use because of the reason discussed yesterday, unless they include a way from BIOS to disable Intel iGPU and drive directly the panel with Nvidia (but it won't happen), because the panel is driven by Intel GPU even if data are calculated by the Nvidia one, and because G-Sync requires direct connection between Nvidia card and the display..........

"Nvidia variabile f-r technology" is a nice way to say "G-Sync" without saying "G-Sync", I suppose.

So the panel, once certified, will eventually cost more because of the "G-Sync" mention...

 

Dave said at least 1 bad thing (about manteinance once opening the bottom panel) but he didn't show us what is the situation really.

Fan noise dB seem to be moreless the same of GS63 VR , but I'd like to hear HOW do they sound, apart from watching a display varying from 42 to 50 dB, lol

Edit: ta-daa, Linus posted video review:



The display seems to be pretty good, with a bit too much Delta about blue color:



First CPU benchmark comparison:
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel...A-worthy-upgrade-from-Kaby-Lake.293900.0.html

The GS 65 presample seems to be 17% slower than Gigabyte Aero 15X and Asus Zephyrus M in Cinebench multicore test, due to Turbo Boost issues (falls to 2,9 GHz).

 

I am interested in this laptop.
I am using laptop for work and free time but i am also a casual gamer that could require some decent horsepower to run some 3d games like Arma. Also, I am not the one who changes laptop each 3 years. Usually I try to keep a laptop for 5-7 years.

Because of I am not looking for ultra 3d power (if I play at 30 or 40 fps it is still good for me) I was thinking to take the GS65 version with the Nvidia 1060 in order to save some money and to reduce heat emission. About this last point do you think it will be worth ? Taking 1060 insteaf of 1070 Max-q will reduce the heat emission (and maybe will it lower the temperatures on the base of the laptop ?) ?

 

Torn between this laptop and the Asus Zephyrus which allows you to enable and disable Gsync. Trouble is the battery on the Zephyrus is so small and those bezels.

Anyone notice the Best buy price is cheaper? I'm wondering if they omitted the 144hz screen.

 

In Europe at the moment we can buy only the 8RF version with 144 Hz panel and GTX 1070 Max-Q, the price varies between 2400 and 2500€.
A German shop has the 8RE (GTX 1060) available for preorder at 2000€, too.

 

Is the 1070 version max-q? I was under the impression it was a full 1070.

 

The best buy page says this laptop has G-Sync, sure it could be a typo, but more likely it could be that G-Sync is coming and MSI had it in the initial product specs but still have not gotten approval from Nvidia for certification yet. LTT video said G-Sync may be coming in the future on this laptop. All signs point towards this laptop having a MUX and it may be as simple as MSI turning that on via a BIOS update.

If this laptop had G-Sync it would certainly be an interesting BGA book.

 

No, it's not a standard GTX 1070, but definitely a GTX 1070 Max-Q

 

Best buy frequently has typos though. And they just removed their listing if that says anything.

 

Looked at some reviews and it seems like you might be right. It'll probably be like with the Zephyrus and you can control it via a software switch+reboot.

 

Really like the new direction the GS65 has gone the styling and overall look is very nice, I just hope they reworked the internals for a more quieter laptop. Any word of a bigger 17” model?

 

No ATM, but I think it will be possible if they are planning a "frameless" 17" display. If not, it would be a GS73 scanned by a photocopier and restyled...
I don't care very much about G-Sync question, but if available it would be tasty.
My prior concerns are about:
-throttling and cooling performance, that on the pre-series models seemed to be quite poor if compared to Aero 15X and Zephyrus;
-it seems to be that the GS65 uses the same top-down design of GS63 (according to video renderings, pipelines are on the keyboard side of the motherboard so it's top down), so you might have to didassemble the entire motherboard even to clean fans and exchange hard drives (2xM.2 slots), Perhaps the M.2 slots will be located in a comfortable position on the side of the battery, who knows?

The worst laptop I ever tried about manteinance is the Dell L502X, where you have to unscrew several components and plastic sheets before you can (only) SEE the motherboard (LOL). If this baby has the same design of GS63, is already a step ahead.

I'm not sure about the interest that this laptop can get; is not like a Dell L502X that you can order directly from Dell website; you have to find it in marketplaces.
The situation in Italy, for example, is that you can find it at Mediaworld shopping centers, that are not exatcly a dedicated computer market, or in dedicated computer stores - services, that usually are known only by nerds, geeks and enthusiast and not "average" people.
So, will the average gamer prefer this stylish notebook, or the "cousin" GS63 with bigger chassis and the same components (apart from the monitor)?
Probably, the monitor will be a game changer (according to me, another game changer should be the keyboard without keypad, so the keyboard is centered in the middle of the footprint and you are not forced to play with hands on the left side of the chassis).

 

I signed up just so I can ask this question:
Is there anywhere in Trieste I could buy this laptop, preferably somewhere i can also ask for tax free. I will be visiting Slovenia next month and Trieste is very close. Thanks in advance.

 

Screw the weight. If they only wouldve built this one in steel

 

I have several questions

• can you confirm that there are 2 x M.2 slots so we can have a 2nd SSD and their position?
• and/or if there is a 2.5" bay, Xoticpc has a 2.5" bay option for an upgrade.
• early reports on the pre-production versions had the rear cover as very difficult to remove.
• Keyboard, what the new layout like for people that really like their keypad for navigating around text
• battery life: 8 hours (from their website), really????
• any pics of the insides yet?

If its anything like my GS60, the RAM and SSD's are on the front of the MB so impossible to get at. I'm hoping for a minor miracle and have MSI park them on the backside so we can get at them without too much drama.

And news on the GS75 (??) would be nice as well. My old eyes are starting to think maybe a bigger screen would be better. And the keyboard, what are peoples thoughts on the new layout? I've always had a number pad, I use it for navigation. Not sure about the new layout.

 

They can't begin shipping until April 16th, so we will have to wait a while for users to begin giving feedback.

There are 2x M.2 slots. 1x Combo PCIe NVMe / SATA and 1x PCIe NVMe only.

There is no 2.5" Bay.

Tearing it down just requires knowing how to do it, and the patience to do it with care. There are certain 'techniques' that are required, but the are easily learnable. Here is a video for the GS63 teardown that our Production Manager @thattechgirl_viv and one of our technicians did.



No news on a new MSI GS75...it is not on their roadmap at this time.

 

Notebookcheck has just posted the full review of the Aero 15X, that will be available from April 16th like the GS65, so I'd expect to read the GS65 full review in a few days.

 

Did the release date get pushed back to May 10th?

 

This sounds new to me, who is the source of this news?
I was (and still I am) concerned about the poor number of reviews coming about this laptop, in comparison with Aero 15 and Zephyrus.

Watching this video, you can see (through bottom grids) that MSI GS65, as expected, has the same top down design of GS63, so you probably will have to disassemble motherboard even to change SSDs or to clean fans properly.



EDIT: this guy seems to have just received his baby (video posted a few hours ago):

 

All the dates in every store had been postponed. Newegg had it slated on the 16th up until a couple days ago.

What poor reviews have you seen? Most of the ones I've read have been fairly positive.

 

Black is original, red is updated ETA.

GS65 Stealth THIN-068 $2,999 - 4/30/2018 - 4/17/2018

GS65 Stealth THIN-053 $2,499 - 4/13/2018 - 5/2/2018

GS65 Stealth THIN-050 $2,099 - 4/13/2018 - 5/2/2018

We already have a bunch of pre-orders, so to get yours from the first shipment...order soon.

 

I was talking about the number of full reviews available at the moment, which is lower than Aero's reviews. For instance, Notebookcheck has already posted Aero 15X review, but the GS65 full review isn't even planned...

About the laptop itself, at the moment they are talking in a positive way, except for the chassis bending and throttling (in comparison with Aero 15X), but I'm waiting to see how the "final" edition is working (that reviews were done with Engineering Samples) and discover "how much" it's bending; XPS 15 bends a little, too, but along the whole chassis, not in specific zones.

The display seems pretty good, too.

@Donald@HIDevolution what is the difference between the three models?

Ciao @Khorgal , scusa ma, sebbene avessi la risposta sulla punta della lingua, poi devo essermi distratto con qualche benchmark e non mi sono reso conto di non aver risposto...

Per il momento, da noi è disponibile "solo" il GS65 Stealth Thin 8RF-026IT con GTX 1070, schermo 144 Hz, 16 GB di RAM, 512 GB di SSD e Windows 10 Home Ultra a 2499€ da listino; i rivenditori ufficiali più vicini a Trieste, secondo il sito MSI https://it.msi.com/service/wheretobuy/#8,3, sono i seguenti:

Digitalia Computers
Via Verdi 3, 33052 Cervignano del Friuli, Udine, Italy | Website
New File Computer
Via Roma 1, 34072 Gradisca d'Isonzo, Gorizia, Italy | Website

Ho letto sul sito di uno dei fornitori più vicini alla mia zona che la data di disponibilità è passata dal 16 aprile al 23 aprile.

Hello, I'm sorry for the delay of this answer, I forgot to post it and I discovered it just now; I apologize
Anyway, in Italy MSI at the moments sells only the 8RF 026 IT with 16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD, W10 Home Ultra and 144 Hz display. According to the "reseller page" these are the official vendors near you.

They moved the release date from April 16th to April 23th .

 

They are all the same laptop, but with different components. You can either visit our website, or MSI's, to see the differences.

 

I was actually surprised at the number of reviews there are. As far as I know, MSI hasn't sent preproduction samples to reviewers before. Usually they just send press images.

 

I preordered the 32Gb/1TB version from Amazon. It's fulfilled by Amazon but appears to come from Excaliber PC. When I checked out, it showed to arrive by the 17th-19th. Now today, the order is showing up as pending ETA due to out of stock, preorder, or back order. What is going on with that? I guess this is easy more popular than I thought.

 

The release date was the 16th when you ordered it. But now it got pushed back. Afaik, nobody has gotten one shipped yet.

 

Are you still planning on getting the 68s in today? Why was the release date on that one moved closer?

 

According to ExcaliberPC, they get a shipment today and the 23rd. So much different info on the internet.

 

Very interested in this device. As far as I know offers best bang-for-buck when shopping for a 14 inch size gaming unit with 'business-capable' design and premium build quality. However, would be nice to get it a tad cheaper when competitors arive to market. If the cheapest 1070 model comes for sale for around 1900 EUR it's insta-buy for me. Not going to bother with more expensive high-RAM, high-storage models, I can always do that myself later and find parts I actually want.

 

I got my pre-order for the -053 model in a couple weeks ago with HIDEvolution (thanks, Donald!).
Thankfully I won't really need this thing until late May/June and figured something like this might happen.

I'll probably be waiting a bit.

 

I do not know the reasons why...I can only report what MSI provides.

 

Greetings from Korea!

In korea, about 60~ GS65s(GTX1070 MAX-Q version) have just delivered last friday/saturday. But still no review lol.

BTW, I want to ask you guys several things.
1. About the engineering samples of GS65, their thermal throttling was so horrible. Has MSI fixed this problem in the retail version?
2. I have read 1-3 pages in this thread, so... is there no way to get G-SYNC from this laptop even in the undetermined future?
3. Is there Optimus in this laptop? If so, can Optimus be turned off/on like Zephyrus?
4. How do you guys think of Aero 15x v8 compared to GS65? It's hard to say to me because there's no complex review from Notebookcheck for GS65.
5. Is the rigidity of chassis same with the engineering sample which was too flexible?
6. Can the clock/voltage/TDP limit of CPU be manipulated through XTU? Some laptops don't support it(blocked in BIOS level). If the clock can't be manipulated, what is the each clock stage depending on # of active cores?

 

Interesting...David Lee's complete review of the GS65.