The Official MSI GS73VR Owners' Lounge

They received the laptop on a Monday and I received it back next Monday. Exactly 1 week. They didn't even wipe my hard drive. The shipped it back in a brand new box so I have 2 sets of the black boxes now lol.

 

That's the fastest I have heard them getting one done, a week isn't too bad.

 

Yeah, I was impressed. 3 days of that was the shipping which they used UPS Ground. They left a Passmark reboot tool on my desktop. The tool rebooted my machine 276 times in 7 hours. I guess that was their "burn-in" test for the new LCD. Another thing to mention, it came back with a dent on the lid of the laptop like it was poked. Not too happy about that.

 

Years ago I had a Dell XPS that came with next day in home service, that was sweet. I would complain about the dent though, not sure if its worth fighting for but it should not comeback awith any sort of damage.

 

I really REALLY wanted to make this laptop work.

I got this on Monday with the 4k Screen. Its proper 4k screen not the fake kind thats been going around.

I changed the ssd and 2.5" hdd with a samsung 980 evo 1tb and a 860 samsung pro 1tb ssd.

Applied crystal thermal paste and upgraded the memory to a 32gb.

Fresh install of windows, only installed silent option for the fans, msi true color, steelseries key management and audio drivers through some googling. (the sound is ok at best now after messing with the equalizer a bit, before it was bad).

I undervolted my CPU to -180 and manged to get a max 57 degree celcius on stress tests.

Idle temp is close to 33-35 C while under load its around 50 at best on cpu.

I tried gaming a few times, heat on the gpu shot up to 70 c stayed stable around 70-75c.

BUT the base of the laptop just is too hot for me. I have a old ASUS N750JK and its pretty much cool to touch underneath even when the CPU is running at 70 C.
The GS73VR on the other hand feels toasty at idle even. I start to sweat after having it on my lap or stomach after a few mins when im lying down on the couch.

Its just a shame because other than the heat issue, and a little bit of the sound issue, this is a awesome laptop. Screen is amazing. The weight is amazing. Great for work and gaming.

Arrgh just wish they made it properly in regards to the heat.

I am considering returning it and going for a DELL XPS 15 9560 OR try to mitigate the heat by "super-gluing" some thermal pads or something on the bottom that can absorb the heat and not warm up my body like a personal heater even when just browsing websites.

Anyone got any ideas?

 

It looks like I'm having the same banding issue as you were having. Did the problem ever resurface? Were you able to fix the problem it again by yourself or does it strictly need to be fixed at a service center. Let me know if you have any more information. Pulling my hair out here.

 

Has anyone installed Linux on their GS73VR? Which distro and what challenges?

 

Any thoughts on using the GS73VR as a workstation, primarilly used for productivity work like software development? There aren't too many slim 17" laptops out there.

I build quality and the screen good enough for productivity use? Like a IPS panel with somewhat good colors, good viewing angles, not to grainy, good brightness etc?

Does the MSI special keyboard layout drive you mad when used for other things than gaming?

Does it work ok to use the iGPU Intel graphics?

Is it possible to connect an external 4K monitor att 60 hz without the dGPU kicking in?

Feel free to share any other comments that I should have asked about but didn't

 

That's why I'm looking at this one too. Web development mainly, so I don't need a lot of power - although I'm thinking the 1060 will make WebVR much easier to dive into.

My main concern is battery life. Everything I've heard is that this is a 3 hour notebook. That means plugging in most of the day. But the "only alternative", the Asus GL702VM, has about the same run time.

 

depends on what screen. I got the 120hz/5ms FHD screen and it's the best screen I ever owned. Period. beautiful vibrant colors, no horizontal screen banding, very smooth and fluid animations.

I love the build quality and especially that brushed aluminum finish.

the Integrated GPU works well and giver you 3 hours and 30 minutes battery life for when you're on the go on the balanced power plan

This MSI keyboard is the best keyboard I ever typed on a laptop. now I never make any mistakes thanks to the excellent travel distance between the keys. They are also chiclet keys so you never mistype a key since each key is on its own not squashed together like in some laptops. The layout doesn't drive me crazy, why would it? the only difference is the windows key on the right but you can switch that in the Dragon Center if you don't like MSI's layout. The only gripe I have with it is the home/end key on the num pad requires you to press the FN key to activate them each time you wanna press them

Can't comment on external monitor as I don't use one but in theory, it should work easily.

Buy it from here and don't forget to email [email protected] to get your small NBR Forum member discount: http://www.hidevolution.com/catalogsearch/result/?a=all&q=gs73vr

 

That's really annoying. When coding, I'm constantly using those keys. I could use Alt + Left/Right instead, but I'll really miss home

 

you'll get used to it. the positives outweigh this small nuisance

 

Forum problems...

 

What are the different screen options for the GS73 in terms of brightness, viewing angles, graininess etc? Usually go for 4K options but only because they tend to be the better screens. Windows scaling isn't all that great and there are many problems with Remote Desktop etc so I still feel a good FHD is better even for a 17". But many 120 hz panels tend to suck at much besides gaming, but not the case here?

 

I'm confused, does this keyboard lack actual keys for this even though it is a full size keyboard?

 

aas i said before, the 120hz /5 ms FHD screen is the best on the market now in terms of color accuracy for a non 4K screen but with awesome 120hz refresh rate, GSYNC, and very good color reproduction!

You need to watch the video in my review:

MSI GT73VR 7RF Titan Pro-425 Review By Phoenix

 

@Phoenix @SmileMore

Are the options for the GS73 the same as the GT73?

 

screens are the same, but the GS73 has only ` m.2 slot and lower GPU options

See:

https://www.hidevolution.com/catalogsearch/result/?a=all&q=gs73

 

Ahh yes, I had looked at this model when I was shopping, I wanted slim but for my purposes I though fan noise would be an issue, It's the same reason I didn't wait around for the EVGA laptop.

 

GSync means no Optimus, right? If so, it is out just by that unfortunately. Will check out the video, although I have GT73VR "in the mail" so might look at that first

 

Yes, fan noise has me worried as well, seem to be quite intruding even on very low power usage.

 

there is no optimus and there is GSYNC because the IGPU doesn't work together with the integrated GPU. There is a dedicated button to switch between the GPUs via a reboot so once GPU doesn't see the other. Thus, you have the luxury of having longer battery life when you're on the go while still having GSYNC when you're using the nVIDIA GPU

 

you would rarely hear the fans spinning on the MSI laptops

 

So the GS73 has a GPU switch just like the bigger brother GT73? Didn't know that. That should mean that it can also run an external monitor at 4K@60hz without activating the dGPU then, right? Even better if so.

 

Would it be any problems replacing the SSD in this one with something like a Samsung 960 Pro to get more and faster disc? I take it 32 GB RAM is max as it only have 2 RAM slots if I remember correctly?

 

Thats not really what reviews say, like this one http://www.notebookcheck.net/MSI-GS73VR-6RF-Notebook-Review.172138.0.html. Haven't heard the fans myself though so I don't have an opinion myself. But the GT73 is often mentioned as a really loud laptop.

 

I don't have a GS73VR. Ask in the respective forum to confirm

 

well on my MSI GT73VR Titan Pro with a 7820HK with all cores @ 4.2 GHz, I never hear the fans in my usage scenarios.

When ordering the laptop from HIDevolution, they will paste your CPU + GPU with IC diamond using the X Cross method......
The X Cross method is the best in my experience as once the heatsink is fitted, it provides the maximum coverage with the least air bubbles

 

This is the GS73 Owners thread

 

I made the same error back in September.

 

Actually, from what I have found out, the GS73 line doesn't have GSync at all...

 

I don't think it has a MUX switch either.

 

Is it true that you can connect an external GPU to the GS73VR? And by that I don't mean something that works sometimes after fiddling for hours with drivers and such but something that actually work stable. If so, having a GS73 + an
external GPU amplifier could actually be an interesting solution unless you really need severe GPU power on the go.

 

This is because the 225 is the "Microsoft Signature Edition" which essentially means it's a clean Win10 install. Talked to @Donald@HIDevolution today (a great experience, by the way, he's easy to get along with) and he confirmed this.

He also confirmed that there is no G-Sync on this GS line. I just ordered the same 225 model from them, with some modifications.

 

Phoenix thought this was the GT73VR thread.

 

Speaking of Microsoft, has anyone tried installing Linux?

 

I am really torn over g-sync.
I have been away from gaming for about 10 years, and a $2000+ investment is a lot of money, and most importantly, I tried this gs73vr keyboard at Frys and for me, it is best laptop keyboard I ever try. Maybe nividia marketing got to me, but I feel like I really need g-sync, but I never tried it.
I also read some threads from 2015 about triple buffer, seems like with triple buffer do not need g-sync, but then only works for opengl games ....
So, sorry, dumb questoin for gs73vr owners who do gaming: do you miss g-sync? do you have bad tearing? can you even notice bad tearing at 120hz?
Thanks in advance for any and all replies.
-Brett

 

Without going into technical details, G-Sync is nice, but 120Hz will allow 60Hz gaming to miss the mark and dip below in the 40-50s without noticeable tearing. 120Hz means twice the buffer sample-rate over 60Hz, which in the average frame's case means that you won't really ever see a screen-static tear line. The tradeoff for having G-Sync is that the display inside the laptop is wired directly to the GPU, and thus cannot support Optimus. This means that you'll be running every application on the GPU and essentially decimating what little battery life you'll have on this laptop. However, this laptop supports G-Sync through an external monitor. The ports on the side are wired directly to the GPU (for VR purposes) and thus will support NVIDIA's protocol for negotiating G-Sync with G-Sync-capable hardware. It's not a big jump to purchase a G-Sync monitor in addition to this particular laptop.

Since you are thinking about the GS line of notebooks, I assumed you intend to take it with you often, and that mobility is a priority for you. If that is not the case, then I would recommend you look at the GT line of notebooks that have the SteelSeries keyboards in them and are confirmed to be G-Sync capable after the fact (excellent laptops, they're just quite heavy). Alternatively, you should build a desktop (Mini-ITX is a very viable thing these days for box-tops) since you mentioned that this investment is a lot of money for you and it appears you do not own a desktop. Either way, I wish you luck in your search.

 

I would question if you even need a 1060 card. If the past is any indication of the future, your graphics needs will be sitting idle most of the time which is the perfect use case for optimus.

Let's not kid ourselves about this computer. It's an ultraportable gaming rig. If you can settle for a mostly portable rig, the Asus GL702VM has the same specs plus gsync. It's slightly bigger but runs cooler.

 

The GS73 also has the Steelseries keyboard.

 

Yes it is true, I use it with the Akitio Node and a GTX 1080 and it works great with basically no fiddling.

https://www.akitio.com/expansion/node

You can just hot plug it and the GTX 1080 is instantly detected by Windows 10 as another graphic device. Works great for the Oculus Rift for example.

Some games do get confused about which graphic device to use, but you can solve it by disabling the GTX 1060 in the device manager, and sometimes disabling and re-enabling the external gpu right after that (not unplugging and replugging the cable, just disabling and enabling in device manager).

But it's not every game that I need to do that, and it's only when using the internal monitor, if you use an external monitor everything should work pretty much out of the box.

Keep in mind that you do lose 5 - 10% performance over using the graphic card in a desktop due to the PCIe x4 bandwith of the Thunderbolt port if using an external monitor, and 20 - 30% if using the internal monitor because of the increased bandwith needs of sending the image back from the graphico card to the laptop.

 

Hi, I installed Gentoo Linux on it with fun, from ubuntu efi boot cd emulation. Sleep/Fn keys are running well and it is easy to power off the discrete gpu with acpi_call. I don't know how to undervolt the cpu.

 

Are you unable to do it in BIOS? I've read you can undervolt using XTU in Windows, and it sticks regardless of OS.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/sager-np7330-linux-guide-review.726682/page-2#post-9311713

 

KEYBOARD BECOMING UNRESPONSIVE

Alright guys, starting to happen as Season 4 of Overwatch has begun and I'm playing more often.

I always use LCtrl as my push to talk, and lately, sometimes after I release it, a LeftClick message is also sent, causing wasted ammo and unwanted left clicks.

My ESC key has also started requiring double-taps to bring up in-game menus or exit windows.

I haven't changed anything with my system at all this past week and it's starting to scare me because in 11 days I leave home for 6 months and I knkw I can't get a replacement in that time.

 

I partially lied to you guys, I'm sorry.
Turns out it was my thumb/palm rubbing and setting off my trackpad during those MLG clutch situations.

If I was holding left click and I touched the touchpad, it would lock up my left click.

Just sharing in case anyone else has this problem as well.


However my ESC key still has some weird interactions from time to time but I believe that might be Overwatch's fault and not the keyboards.

 

I m sure It doesn't stick on linux, maybe with 'quick reboot' setting on but this bios option prevents me from booting sierra. I will try XTU instead of throttlestop It could be nice if undervolting sticks on others os with no tool.

Thank you, good information

 

So for the interested:

I've just received my GS73VR 7RF-225US. I have installed a 1TB Samsung 960 EVO NVMe M.2 drive and removed the 2TB HDD. There was some confusion about MSi including only a SATA 3 M.2 drive, and whether the M.2 slot was limited to SATA 3. So I thought you might be interested to know that is indeed running at PCI-e x4 speeds:



Good overall. I would highly recommend purchasing an NVMe drive instead of the SATA duds MSi puts in most configurations. My boot times are somewhere around 6-8 seconds from restart. I can time this if the demand is there. If anyone is looking for anything specific, let me know and I can help. Otherwise some general impressions:

• Build quality:
  • Excellent.
  • Very sturdy aluminum chassis, and with extremely minimal flex for how thin the laptop is. I'm honestly surprised.
  • Screen also does not flex very much. You'll actually have to bend it hard to get it to deform. This is the number 1 thing I was worried about with this laptop. I'm pleasantly satisfied.
  • Only complaint is the tolerance of the chassis pieces around the seam. It's noticeable but not something that will interfere with day-to-day use.
• Keyboard
  • Superb.
  • Best keyboard on any laptop I've ever tried. Better than my M17x V4's low-profile mechanical keys (although I may be biased because they kept popping off..)
  • Good customizable options for those who want that sort of thing. Good macro support in the steelseries engine software.
  • Layout feels natural and the keypress is satisfying. Included keypad is a super bonus, especially considering that a good number of 17 inch laptops don't have one.
• Battery Life
  • Good. (2.5-4.5 hours w/ varying use)
  • For what it is, the battery life was surprising. Without a SATA device in my model anymore, I expect that this has improved over stock.
  • CRITICAL: before uninstalling MSi Dragon Center, go to System Tuner, X Boost, and turn off "USB Boost" and "Storage Boost." These trick the CPU into running all the time, reducing battery life and performance dramatically!
• Display
  • Excellent.
  • Best TN display I've ever seen. Color representation is on-point, although viewing angles aren't IPS-level.
  • 120Hz is a game changer for every single interaction you will do within your OS. Not to mention gaming.
• Touchpad
  • Good.
  • It's certainly a step in the right direction. No lines on it whatsoever, the majority of the surface is clickable for a left click.
  • ELAN software is relatively customizable if you are comfortable editing your Windows registry.
• Other features
  • Very light. Lightest 17-inch gaming laptop out there I believe, especially if you remove the HDD. Removing the HDD does not noticeably unbalance the weight distribution. Mine is now sitting at 5.1 lbs.
  • The webcam is actually not horrid. The picture is a bit grainy, but it responds quickly to changes in lighting, providing relatively quick exposure adjustments on-the fly. I measured around 1200ms adjustment period. The latency is also very good, there seems to be no appreciable lag between input and output.
  • The microphone is also not horrid. People might be having issues with getting it to pick up their voices, but this is extremely easily fixed by going to recording devices->Microphone->Levels->and improving the gain and volume. Here's an example with the high gain and volume: https://www.dropbox.com/s/9yxw0t3e3wooq05/gain-test.m4a?dl=0
  • Here is an example of a microphone recording with the highest gain, normal typing, and windows noises: https://www.dropbox.com/s/0vabc2x47b0pn2j/self-noise-test.m4a?dl=0
  • I do NOT have Nahimic 2 installed, rather I'm using the latest Realtek drivers, so Nahimic users might have some type of internal acoustic echo dampening/stereo filtering.

Again, let me know if there's any specific questions about this particular model. I would highly recommend this specific build as configured. Working with HIDevolution was absolutely painless, a great experience; they can customize it as you like under MSi's and their own warranties.

edit 1:
UPDATE 1: Later that evening...

So I've initially run into heat issues even with a liquid metal repaste at stock settings. It seems that the connected heatpipes between CPU and GPU cause a good bit of heat sharing. No throttling occurs during CPU-only stress tests with the standard auto-fan control scheme, as the cooling system is quite sufficient. However when playing some CS:GO for a little while, I ran into some thermal throttling as both heated up significantly. This was almost entirely fixed by a -105mV undervolting. I am pretty sure it's stable, but I'll do a proper burn-in when I have some non-work time to confirm.

A nice added benefit of the aggressive undervolting was that my battery life seems to have majorly improved. I currently have a 4 hr 21 min projected time to empty at 79% battery left, and that is predicted after an hour and a half of constant web browsing/downloading drivers/writing this and other things from 100%, so I'd believe that. My CPU now idles at around 40C, and reaches a max 75C after 5 min of AIDA64. Overall, much success.

Speaking of success, I plugged in an HTC Vive to this thing. Firstly it was set up on battery, and... surprisingly it worked well for mucking around in the SteamVR lounge and menus. Then I plugged in, and fired up BigScreen Beta. I got a huge error saying that my hardware doesn't support it, and it opened a link on my browser stating some hogwash about how Optimus is hard to get around for the devs. Fired up Virtual Desktop, and that worked perfectly, despite Optimus. I was using my desktop from the integrated display just perfectly. While in VD, I sat at around 30% CPU utilization, and the computer didn't have any issues pumping frames and staying moderately clear of the throttling threshold. Haven't tried anything else with it yet. Maybe I'll do another update tomorrow.

 

so I have had this laptop a little over a week now and generally love everything about it but I have few issues.

1) The laptop came with a 256 toshiba NVME SSD, the speeds are amazing but ive noticed that it gets hot. right now its sitting at 145 degress which im sure isnt right for just browsing and after some gaming its usually over 160 degrees. the mechanical HDD has never been over 40 degrees....can someone confirm that this is or isnt something to be worried about?

2) im getting weird electrical squealing sounds, like a grinding and fizzing, from the the bottom right of the laptop (under the stickers) where im sure the ssd is(?) the noises are intermittent but frequent, it tends to happen when downloading streaming, opeining new browseer tabs and generally when writing information to the ssd. my old ssd was dead silent at all times. anyone else have similar issues with there ssd's?

2) i have a logitech g700s mouse, over the past few days ive begun to hear it, as i move the mouse around there is an electrical noise (seperate to the SSD noise) I know this can happen on any computer but it sounds like an old dot-matrix printer and its driving me insane. only happens when i have a program loaded and on screen.

these issues are particularly annoying and embarrassing when i have a $1700 laptop, especially when people are at my desk going over work and they can hear the noises too.

does this sound like an issue? should I RMA? anyone else have these issues?

EDIT: changed temps from centigrade to fahrenheit...im british

 

Hi Tr1pp,

Even we neanderthals use Celsius to describe temps with regards to PC hardware so no worries there. Actually Fahrenheit is generally deemed worthless because it's difficult to compare across others' numbers on places like online forums. If you want to include it, include C as well.

1) NVME things get pretty hot, there's a lot of NAND crammed and stacked onto each physical chip. This isn't too worrisome.

2) If I'm not mistaken, under the huge sticker on the hand rest is where the SATA port resides, which would be where the HDD is. Those sounds are characteristic of a hard disk drive.

other 2) Try plugging in headphones, the power difference to wake the CPU to drive the mouse might be adding signals with the power electronics which would cause things like amps, PWM fans, hard disk drive motors, etc. to sometimes output an audible waveform. If plugging in headphones works, try uninstalling the Nahimic software and installing the Realtek driver, as its firmware is overall better engineered and probably utilizes some waveform monitoring that is common on DAC systems for audio output these days. If the problem persists with headphones in, try changing your power mode (windows) to "High Performance." This will stop the CPU from aggressively downclocking in minimal use scenarios. If that doesn't stop it, try revving up your fans using the Dragon Center software, and see if the noise's pitch or intensity corresponds roughly to the RPM of the fans. If so, then it's something you'll have to live with or call MSi support to chat about, as it could be the dreaded "coil whine" that happens on some of the earlier specced Skylake models. What's your full model number?

edit: phrasing

 

Thanks for responding.

I have the gs73vr 7rf (kabylake). I actually just read about the NAND and how its sandwiched together. I've only had experience with my old sata3 ssd's which have all been cooler, so i guess i can accept that, just never a good sign when crystal diskinfo shows the ssd temps with a red background....

when I first heard the sounds I assumed it was the HDD but when checked in task manager the drive is at 0% usage at all times, I have nothing installed on the HDD and haven't even put any files on it. as an example, if i open chrome and and go into the images tab the noise I hear fires up as the images load on screen. When I do a speed test the noise starts again.
I will say that I can hear the HDD spin up when i load up witcher 3 so maybe there is a process happening that im not aware of that sets off the HDD even though nothing is being read or written to the HDD?

I didn't install the nahemic software, opting for the realtek drivers only. after some testing I don't actually get the mouse noise in games (never noticed as I wear headphones) the more I think about it the more I realize that my noise issues both from the mouse and HDD/SSD seem to be most prominent when I have chrome open...maybe an issue with the wifi card (killer 1535, no killer software installed)? maybe with chrome itself somehow?