The Official MSI GT70-2OD Owner's Lounge

***The MSI GT70 2OD..... the next great SUPER POWER!***

:hi2:Hi Folks, this will be a work in progress, and updated as more information becomes available.


Welcome to the MSI GT70 2OD Owner’s Lounge! Officially released 02 June 2013, resellers have them in stock, and ready to ship! Order Yours Today, and Prepare to Dominate!



MSI GT70 2OD Models:


$1,999.00


$2,199.00 ($100 Mail-in rebate)


$2,499.00 ($100 Mail-in rebate)




$2,699.00



MSI GT70 2OD Product Links:

MSI GT70 2OD: MSI Global | MSI Dragoon Army
MSI GT70 Dragon 2 Edition: MSI Global | MSI Dragoon Army

Specific models.....

MSI GT70 2OD-064US
MSI GT70 2OD-001US
MSI GT70 2OD-019US
MSI GT70 2OD-039US (Dragon 2 Edition)

Where To Your MSI GT70 2OD Notebook:

Friendly, reputable, and highly respected resellers, who freely volunteer their support to forum members:

1.) GenTech PC | Website | MSI 17" notebook site page | Tel#: 1-800-990-7945 | email: [email protected] | Contact: Ken Lee

2.) PowerNotebooks | Website | MSI notebook site page | Tel#: 1-877-711-1777 | email: [email protected] | Contact: Donald Stratton

3.) Xotic PC | Website | MSI notebook site page | Tel#: 1-877-289-9684 | email: [email protected] | Contact: Justin Nolte

4.) RK Computers | Website | MSI notebook site page | Tel#: 1-866-760-4998 | email: [email protected] | Contact: Rob M

Where To Buy MSI Notebooks (U.S. & Canada) | Global



MSI Helpful Links:

MSI Gaming

MSI G-Zone (wallpaper, screensaver, videos, and more)

MSI AfterBurner

MSI Notebook Forum

MSI Customer Service | Global

MSI Notebook Warranty Information

MSI Notebook Product Registration | Global

Don't overlook MSI's warranty requirements folks! Registering the notebook is simple enough, but requires an extra step beyond 'online' registration. After doing this online, you will receive an email that states:

I point this out because according to MSI's website, they must receive this within 30-days from the 'date of purchase'..... so don't delay! Also, after completing this process, I recommend later logging back onto the registration site, to follow-up on your warranty 'status'.



MSI GT70 2OD Related News:

Most Powerful Gaming Weapons - New GT70/GT60 Gaming laptops | MSI Dragoon Army, 01 June 2013



Official MSI GT70 2OD Downloads:

Bios

Drivers

Firmware

Utilities

Manual



Other Downloads:

Dave Pearson's GT70 2OD FAN CONTROL v1.6.3

NVIDIA GeForce Final Release Drivers

NVIDIA GeForce Beta Release Drivers

NVIDIA Control Panel User's Guide

NVIDIA Optimus Whitepaper: A technical description of Optimus Technology and how it works.

Latest NVFLASH for Windows & DOS

MEMTEST86 Free Download

MSI AfterBurner

CPU-Z

GPU-Z

NVidia Inspector

HWMonitor

3DMark Vantage & 3DMark11

AIDA64

HD Tune

Svet's Fermi / Kepler VBIOS/EC Tuner Version (2.71o) Now fully supports the GTX-780M!

Treexy Driver Fusion (NEW!..... and replaces the ever popular, Phyxion 'Driver Sweeper')

Piriform 'CCleaner' (Before cleaning with this tool, take note what you are specifically removing.)

Magical Jelly Bean (product key finder)

Throttle Stop 5.00



GT70 2OD Factory 'Stock' Hardware Info ***May vary and subject to change***

Processor: The 4th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-4700MQ

Chipset: Mobile Intel® HM87 Express Chipset

Wireless/Bluetooth card: Killer™ Wireless-N 1202

Ethernet: Killer™ E2200 Intelligent Networking Platform

Screen Panel: Chi Mei Optoelectronics (CMO) | ID: CMO1720 | Model: N173HGE-L11, Matte, Product Specifications

HDD: Western Digital Black | Western Digital Blue (for the 1 TB HHD's)

mSATA SSD: Sandisk X100 SD5SF2128G1014E | Firmware



Optical Drive: TSSTcorp (Toshiba Samsung Storage Technology Corporation) SN-506AB (BR-Reader), and SN-506BB (BR-Writer) | Firmware Download

Memory Modules (DDR3 1600MHz): ADATA 8GB MIF4D1D167HZ1J

Webcam: Acer Labs Incorporated (ALi), BisonCam NB Pro

Touchpad: Synaptics | MSI : Which touchpad is in my notebook & drivers?

Keyboard: SteelSeries

Speakers: Dynaudio | Dynaudio and MSI

USB 3.0 Host Controller: Intel (HM87 Express Chipset) | USB 3.0 Specification

Thermal Paste: MX-2



Videos:





2013 MSI GT70 2OD Dragon Edition 2

MSI GT70 Dragon Edition 2 Review by NewEgg from USA



How To's:

Touchpad not working when gaming, and simultaneously using keyboard?

Are 'start-up' screens too fast to enter bios? This is how to enter the Legacy / UEFI BIOS.

Windows 8 Tutorials, Quick Reference Index

GT70 Disassembly Guide

The SSD Review - The SSD Optimization Guide Redesigned

SuperRAID Performance Fine Tuning

Guide on how to install the NVIDIA Display Driver under Windows 7/Windows Vista

NVIDIA Driver Rollback/Removal Instructions

Clean install of Nvidia drivers, NVIDIA Forums> Graphics Technology> GeForce GTX & ION Drivers



Benchmark Test Results:

Other GT70 Thoughts: (please PM if you have other suggestions.)

Suggested Backpacks or Cases:

1.) The Everki Beacon Backpack..... a perfect fit! | At NewEgg | NewEgg Product Tour | At Amazon |

2.) The Targus 17” XL Backpack | At NewEgg | At Amazon |

3.) The Everki Lunar Laptop Bag | Everki Lunar Video | At NewEgg | At Amazon |

4.) The Wenger 17" SwissGear Ibex Backpack | At NewEgg | At Amazon |

Cool Tools, Options, & Helpful Additions:

1.) The Patriot 128GB Supersonic Magnum USB 3.0 Flash Drive | At NewEgg | At Amazon | FOLKS! This thing is FAST!

2.) The Logitech Anywhere Mouse MX | At NewEgg | At Amazon | This wireless mouse is fast, full featured, and works great on ANY surface (even glass). Also, the micro USB receiver can remain plugged-in to the laptop, 24/7.



ENJOY!

-=$tr|k3r=-

 

It has arrived, in all its splendor & glory, the MSI GT70 2OD-039US, Dragon 2 Edition!

When taking these photos, try as I might, it was very difficult to capture the notebook’s stunning red-rouge color scheme, which is laden over the delicately brushed aluminum. The color and Dragon etchings seem to change with the angles or lighting. Trust me when I say, this model is a beauty to behold, and is sure to capture a surrounding audience.



Packaging is similar to previous models, though slimmer boxes, and the Dragon theme.



The notebook and accessories are also placed in MSI logo cloth bags, having a weave similar to the look of carbon fiber.



How it all unfolds….. a GT70 2OD Dragon 2 emerges, fully hatched!



The power brick, EXPOSED! 180-watt, as with previous models, but another very nice change that shows MSI has been listening….. a 90-degree angle plug!



The Dragon’s heart, EXPOSED! 11.1Vdc, 7800mAh, 87Wh.



Rear Ports (left to right): Kensington Lock, Power Connector, RJ-45 Connector, VGA, Mini-Display, and HDMI.



Right Side (left to right): 2x USB 2.0, BD Writer.



Left Side (left to right): 2x USB 3.0, Card Reader, USB 3.0 / eSATA Combo, and Audio Connectors.



Bottom View: Subwoofer, access panels, vents, and battery bay.



Front Status LED’s (left to right): Bluetooth, WLAN (WiFi), Battery, Sleep State, HDD or Optical activity.



The Dragon awakened….. stunningly GORGEOUS!



BATTLE STATIONS! The Command & Control Center. Touch-Bar controls & LED’s (left to right): Media Player, Cooler Boost, Keyboard LED Backlight Switch, Power Button, Airplane Mode, Display Off, ‘G’ Panel Button, Caps Lock LED, and Num Lock LED.



The BD Writer, ‘Standard’ in this model.



A beautifully finished brushed aluminum top-lid, with backlit MSI logo. This is the view most folks will see from across the room. Eye-candy for sure!

Enjoy!

-=$tr|k3r=-

 

Very nice! I too will become a first owner of these new machines I can't wait!

I shall work on my review upon receiving my unit Those improvement sound amazing! AWESOME multi display support! I was just drooling over that, since GX owners had that! I am interested too in the new heatsink design...

 

Early adapters will get the C1 stepping of the HM87 chipset that has the USB bug.

The C2 stepping that corrects the bug is not expected until sometime in July.

EDIT:I was also expecting 802.11ac wireless card options with the Haswell platform but that looks like it's not to be the case.

Where's the big advantage over Ivy Bridge platform HM77?

Is it the 6 SATA III device support?

I don't know many folks that carry their 17.3" notebooks around so most are almost always on AC power and Optimus/Intel graphics is kind of moot.

 

Sata 6Gb/s, and new GPU haha. What's the USB bug?

 

Intel officially confirms USB 3.0 bug in Haswell [Updated with Intel statement] | Hardware.Info United States

Fixed Core-Logic Sets for Intel Core

 

I see, thank you for the info. Reading the article and Intel's declaration makes me feel at ease, it doesn't seem like something that will affect me.

 

Any ETA for these new models striker?
I'm courious about the GT60

 

Yeah I'm hoping for a GT60 model as well. Do you reckon it'll be similarly priced as the current GT60 403?

 

@WhatsThePoint,

The reported USB bug is of little consequence, and really amounts to little more than a nuisance, for those who allow their notebooks to 'stand-by' or 'sleep' with USB devices plugged-in. Besides, in spite of previous reporting, it is yet to be seen that the first-run GT70 2OD's are affected. Nonetheless, the little USB bug is not stopping me from gearing-up. Does anyone really need to explain the advantages of the GT70 2OD over previous GT70 models? You are a very smart guy, so I think not.... so just give-in..... YIELD..... spend the money..... submit to the hunger and go for it! You know you want to, and you'll have regrets if you don't, won't you? GEAR-UP SOLDIER! LOL!



@felix3650,

To my knowledge, no official release date yet, but the little fly on my wall says very soon..... hence, my mine is already paid for, per se'. It's gonna be GOOD! SOON!

 

Well the rumours say next month, and that's not so long away for! Or it could be it gets officially anounced next month haha at any rate, I share the sentiment... can't wait!

 

I'll share a guess and say, I'll have mine before month's end.

 

Thanks -=$tR|k3r=- for the thread.

The Super RAID 2 (3x mSATA SSDs RAID-0) and Matrix display allows 3 external monitors simultaneously are great new features. Not only gamers likes it but also people who work on their laptops that needs more external monitors.

I also heared there will be a hidden overclocking function built-in but not sure how exactly it works yet.

 

Ken please stop the teasing you're killing me!!

 

Hey, this is just speculation, but the current gen letter suffix maxes out at 0NE, where as this next gen is 2OD. Do you think MSi has something else left up their sleeves that could be even more powerful? o_o

 

The GT70 2OD will be MSI's next great SUPER POWER!

 

This is definitely a step up for the GT70 series, in every single way and capabilities, that it should be renamed to a new class of it's own. We get not only higher performance everywhere, but now even built in overclocking without messing with vbios? Awesome.

I am most excited about multimonitor support though. I doubt I can game many titles in multimonitor, but for productivity? awesome!

 

NotebookCheck has some preliminary stats on the 780M from a Chinese site (this may have already been discussed in another forum).
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M - NotebookCheck.net Tech

vroom-vroom

I'm looking forward to the GT60-2OD myself.

 

Anyone know how many variants of the GT60/70 kepler refreshes will there be come June? I'm only looking to buy "lowest" model, similar to the base GT60 403, with just the harddrive (and maybe an SSD tacked on). I don't want them to come out with only the most powerful edition on launch and make my funds cry even more T_T

 

I think there will be 3 variants of the GT60. One is the top dog with the 780m and all. Next is a lower model with 770m and 128 GB SSD. Third and lowest model is with 770m and regular hdd. Just my guess
If only they kept the 1970$ price of the current GT60

 

Well Ken mentioned that it might only be 50-100$ more than the current model. Not a bad increase for such a massive improvement in performance :v

 

Indeed not bad at all. I have a 256GB 840 Pro and a 1TB Hitachi 7200rpm hdd spare to use on that thing (if I get one). Don't need the 128GB SSD or the 750GB hdd. Also I will replace the wifi card with a KillerN 1103. Maybe by selling the hdd, SSD and wifi that comes with the notebook, I can make for the price

 

Let me get this straight..... are you considering the GT70 2OD-039US? If so, you may want to re-think swapping the original SSD's, to the Samsung 840 Pro. That would be a downgrade of sorts, considering the speed of the original equipment (128GB x 3 mSATA SSD's in RAID0) will be Super RAID 2. Furthermore, in remains to be seen if you can remove the mSATA adapter from the primary slot, to plug-in a standard 2 1/2" SSD. It's a question of the interface, once the mSATA adapter is removed. Which GT70 2OD model are you referring to?

 

I'm refering to the GT60 model 2OD-026US the same as this one just with the smaller chasis. One reason I sold my GT780DX was it's dimensions and wheight. I need to travel a bit this coming months so something small (but no less powerful) fits me more

 

Well when I plan to fetch myself on of these, I intend on ordering the lowest possible model of the GT60 2OD with the 780m. That means only a HDD with no default SSD. I'll reconfig on gentechpc and tack on one 128 or 256gb SSD

 

Ah, now I understand. Looks like your chosen GT60 model will be most equivalent to the GT70 2OD-001US model...... so no Super RAID 2.

As far as US models, it looks like the GT60 2OD-026US (single 128GB mSATA SSD) will be the only GT60 equipped with the GTX-780M. The two other U.S. GT60 SKU's will be GT60 2OC models, equipped with the GTX-770M.



GT70 2OD spoken here!

 

Wait seriously? D: I better be allowed to make the 840 pro my primary and a 750 gb 7200RPM my secondary D<

 

I don't see why you shouldnt be able to!

 

Because say it was the same as the current super raid setup you would not have 2 2.5" bays unless you put one in your optical bay. You might also want to consider what barebone models may potentially allow.

 

Will be waiting for some reviews of this beast, waiting for the GT60 myself.
Out of curiosity why do you guys prefer MSI over let's say CLEVO equivalents ?
Is it the super raid or Turbo features, cooling? What exactly?
I like MSI laptops myself but just wondering why others do too. It's either MSI or CLEVO for me but leaning torwards MSI this time.

 

Hey,

Do you guy think it a bad time to get a MSI GT60 with a GTX 680m now. I configured one at GenTech PC for $1600. How much do you guy think the new Haswell and 780m would cost. Thank!

 

Between a Clevo P150EM/P170EM/P370EMand the MSI GT60/70, I would go for the MSI. Better sound, better keyboard, better battery life, SuperRaid, longer default warranty with accidental damage coverage, more tweaking options... If you can endure the chintzy chassis, the MSI is a better choice.

 

Has MSi ever have problems with releases? I'm currently stuck between wanting to buy on launch to avoid backordering or waiting to see how these perform but risk being backordered by quite a bit :\

 

Not that I know of, their product launch / release is pretty much dead accurate. Very rare to see delay or backordered on their new products, you should be able to order one from one of their resellers and ready to ship on the launch date.

 

I was actually referring to launch issues. Like a defective product or a glitch in the software/hardware in the launch models the gets ironed out later :v

 

Well there is supposedly a bug in Haswell for USB 3.0 devices connected, when the CPU enters sleep state. It's not really much of a problem for must users but it is acknowledged.

PErsonally that hardly affects me so I fully intend to get a launch model I haven't had issues with launch models in several years, including newer tech!

 

Me too. Never had a problem with the GT7780DX bought on the first batch
I have my cousin coming in Italy this Summer. I hope he doesn't come earlier than the GT60's availability
Else I'll have to wait November/December. Too long for me

EDIT: found some Plextor 128GB M5M mSATA SSDs for 114$ shipped on Amazon.
Now if the GT60 model comes with a SuperRAID 2 adapter, I can keep the adapter and sell the 256GB 840 Pro plus the mSATA SSDs inside the notebook.
Put those Plextor drives and be happy
Here's a nice review of them:

http://thessdreview.com/our-reviews/plextor-m5m-msata-ssd-review-256gb/

 

Just be aware your small file speed may suffer with 2 smaller drives over 1 large one.

Why not just put it in the other bay?

 

You mean put the 840 Pro on the lower bay, and use the 2 mSATA SSDs at the higher bay? I could do that. I'll then place the 1TB hdd in an USB 3.0 external case.
Will think about it

 

Just a thought here......

I do not believe we will see a US GT60 SKU with a Super RAID 2 configuration, so probably no mSATA Super RAID 2 adapter..... and these will most likely be proprietary to specific branded models only. I think if you want Super RAID 2, you'll need to go with the GT70 2OD-039US. We'll see soon enough!

 

The problem with all the GT60 and GT70 Super Raid models sold in my region of residence is that they all have the lowly SanDisk U100 64GB mSATA SSDs with no option for any customization to different mSATA SSDS.

MSI needs to sell the adapter separately or optionally installed in compatible notebooks without mSATA SSDs in it.

The only reason I see them not offering the adapter is greed.

Performance is all about which SSD is installed.

The Crucial 480GB M500 SATA III mSATA SSD is now available for $399.99 for anyone looking for large capacity mSATA.I found it in stock at TigerDirect but already sold out on crucial.com

 

In fact after reading a bit, there's no use for a RAID 0 SSD array for normal pc use (gaming/web surfing etc.)
After reading this article, I think I'll stick to my 256GB 840 Pro and put the 1TB (80% filled) hdd in the secondary bay:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-raid-benchmark,3485.html

Only in heavy I/O workloads a RAID array would make sense. Not counting double the probability of failure.

 

Raid 0 is mostly for bragging rights, for the average user it still makes you feel better when you can show off such speed, and knowing you are capable of it

I got my pair of 512GB Crucial M4 SSDs last year for 330dlrs each, so I bit the bullet for 1TB of SSD goodness. I didn't particularly exploit it's massive performance, but it sure felt nice to have absolutely everything snappy haha.

 

Me thinks someone doesn't understand Super RAID 2, or the speeds it's capable of. For those of us who enjoyed the first round of SuperRAID, Super RAID 2 is going to put that to shame.



Snappy? SNAPPY IS GOOD!

 

Wow those speeds are amazing! It should be standard option on all MSI gaming laptops.

 

Those speeds are great for high quality video editing and some other professional uses, but gamers will want high small file performance which is set at the level of ONE of the drives in the array. So it is important which one you choose so it is not slower in real world than someone witg a single ssd of higher quality.

 

True but it still should be optional on all MSI gaming series laptops for those that might need it

 

video editing are more CPU / GPU (CUDA enable) dependable, more like compile codes for each frame of the video, not transfer video files from one hard drive to another. hard drives and SSDs data transfer rate does not involve much on video editing.

capacity of map files on PC games are getting larger and larger, gamers will benefit with faster transfer rate to load the games.

 

Most notable increase in speed one notices when going from an HDD to a SSD is from 4K que depth 1 read/writes.

On HDDs those speeds hover around 400KB/s read and 1-1.5MB/s write at best.

On SSDs we get to 24MB/s reads and almost 90MB/s writes for the upper grade drives.

Sequential speeds are achieved only during single large file read/write where data is mostly linear.

You could have 2000MB/s read/write sequential performance, but when it comes to drive's "snappiness" it's determined by small files lower than 4kb.

4kb is the sector size on SSDs and most modern HDDs. Remember that a chain is as strong as it's weakest point

Meaker is right.

This is a must read:

Understanding SSD Advertised Performance and Its Purchase Implications - An SSD Primer | The SSD Review

 

Hey Ken,

You are shipping my GT70 2OD the evening of 5/31, right?