The Official MSI GT70-2OD Owner's Lounge

Shamefully I did not. I understand the folly of my lack on insight. Hopefully these will get me back up and running. I appreciate your help.

 

Your GT70 should have come with instructions for restoring the factory setup via the installed stock HDD.
So long as you still have the stock drive - you should be able to do a full restore from the hidden partition.

Check inside your box for the directions to do this.

 

Unfortunately hitting F3 wasn't doing anything. I might have cleared the hard drive completely.

 

jamiee is suggesting you try the 'Hot-Key F-3 System Recovery'. If you have not corrupted the hidden recovery partition, this may work.



Good luck!

 

Im running windows 7 and my usb 3 work perfectly fine...

 

Thanks! I am the one that wrote the review. I usually field review questions on the Tom's site, but NBR seems to be the epicenter of MSI talk.

I wanted to fill in a few details on the GT70-2OD that we had. We received the unit from XOTIC in early June. My guess is that it was from the first batch of machines made. XOTIC swapped out the 4700MQ for a 4930MX. Since the CPU and GPU heatsinks are linked, I am sure XOTIC re-pasted both of them during the swap.

The XOTIC factory overclock for the GTX 780M was +75 on the gpu and +500 on the memory. The +75 was on top of the factory boost. These overclocked settings were used for all of the FPS measurements since they came from the "factory" and were covered by their warranty. Halfway through testing, Nvidia released the 320.21 drivers, so I started over and tested everything with those.

The 4930MX was not overclocked with an unlocked BIOS. It was a turbo boost bump to allow for 4.1Ghz. This means that it was still limited by the PL1 and PL2 turbo modes. An unlocked BIOS might allow for better overclocking options. The machine I had for review was a very early sample and I am not sure that an unlocked BIOS was available.

The cooling system in the GT70-2OD should have no problem with cooling any overclocked parts. As I stated in the article, the single fan can move just under 25 CFM of air which is more CFM than the combined multiple fans in other systems. If you engage the max fan setting, the fan produces 58db of noise. I used the normal fan setting for all benchmarking. I compared the two fan modes and there was not much of a difference in max temps, but there was a slower climb in temps when the fan was maxed. I don't expect anyone to use the max fan setting when they game, so I didn't.

While it was not published in the review, I did some testing on the new configuration that has the single heat pipe connecting both heatsinks. With a fully loaded CPU or GPU with the other at idle, it does transfer heat to the other's cooling fins. My guess is 25% of the heat can be transferred in between them.

I still think the system needs a more powerful AC adapter if you use it with the 4930MX. I have seen how responsive MSI can be. They listened to the issues we had with NOS performance and they were able to improve their BIOS and EC settings. I am fairly sure they will get everything optimized for stock 4700MQ/780M systems. Overclockers will need a few more watts from the wall to avoid wear on their batteries.

If you have any other questions about the review, feel free to ask.

 

Very nice of you to join us Bokeh...... Welcome to the GT70 2OD thread. I greatly enjoyed the Tom's Hardware Dragon 2 review, and MSI is very aware of your testing and observations...... a service to us all!

 

I`m shocked about how thoroughly the review at Tomshardware was. They even posted information about how much air the fan can move vs dual fan. There goes the argument that 1 fan = doom. Clearly its more than capable of cooling the most high end hardware out there, even a 100W GPU and 55W CPU.

I will turn to Tomshardware next time to hopefully find more mobile reviews. Anandtech dropped the ball this time, and made a complete fool out of themselves. You hear that Bokeh, keep up the good work

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I have also compared the fan on the newest GT70 with the early GT70 model with 680M. MSI now use NS Tech fan, and to my amaze, it looks like the new model draw more power. I wonder if that means it is better in terms of cooling?

Old GT70: 0.36W, 12V. Meaning 4.32W power.


New GT70: 0.65A, 12V. Meaning 7.8W power.

 

Great review. Thank you. I've enjoyed reading it a lot. I've had the same questions regarding the viability of the borrowing the power from the battery from beginning.

I do have a quick question regarding the NOS and the AC adapter. Has MSI spoke to you regarding the functional implementation of the NOS system? I am about to explore the 240W power adapter option for MSI (dell model + adapter plug). My only concern is that perhaps the power draw target from the AC and the trigger to pull the power from the battery is perhaps coded within the bios?

Meaning what if NOS doesn't recognize, nor care how big the power brick is, and draw from the battery once 180W or= 200W intake threshold has been reached? If that is the case, then regardless how big the AC is, it will still go directly to battery without realizing it doesn't need to, and just pull what it needs from the AC.

I hope this isn't the case, and there is an additional checking routine (if it's even possible) to see the AC PSU capacity prior to activating the NOS. I want more power, therefore, I really hope this isn't the case, but if I was MSI, I would probably implement it that way, just to make sure that AC PSU isn't strained based on the CPU / GPU power pull.

If you can shed some light on this subject, I'd appreciate it. And again, thank you for the great, thorough review!

 

I have read AT for many years. They have been a great source for info. I have also relied on Tom's reviews and articles for over a decade. Having several reviews and opinions on a machine is a good thing. It helps the people that spend their money on the hardware make good decisions.

I don't write reviews for a living. I write them in my spare time because I enjoy writing them.

My goal with every machine is the evaluate it, test it, try to break it, and try to find a fatal flaw. There is no outside influence, there is no pressure. Just the machine and testing without any agenda or previous assumptions brought in. There is no reward for a good review or bad review. I try to keep personal preferences out of the process, and I make sure that all major conclusions have a measurements to back them up. If I mess something up, people will point it out. If I get it right, people have all the info they need to make a purchase decision on a system. The review will be able to stand on its own as a complete and unbiased opinion on a system.

I have only ever written for Tom's, so I am not sure of the pressures reviewers for other sites have to deal with. I respect the craft that goes into all good reviews regardless of the site they write for. You would not believe how many hours go into them.

 

Nice to hear that Bokeh. Very good work!

I have an ExoticPC 4930MX version just like the one they sent you. You said MSI "listened to the issues we had with NOS performance and they were able to improve their BIOS and EC settings." Are you referring here to the BIOS version ExoticPC gave you later on before you publish the review? What is this "improved" BIOS that was able to extract more power from the PSU, you were talking about? Is it a new version higher than BIOS v707?

 

So fellas, what would you say the 780m is in a desktop card? I know its the same amount of cores as a 680 desktop but not clocked as high. Educated guess. What does the 780m compare to on the desktop side of things?

**also I know this was mentioned before, but would someone be so kind as to refesh the link or model number of the better 240W Ac adapter for this thing?

Thanks!

 

Well, on stock it seems to be around the ballpark of a 660Ti, more or less. OCd currently is around a stock GTX670.

 

All BIOS and EC straight from MSI.

 

Thanks for the included Picture.

I went to Staples today before seeing this on my way to class and took in my laptop to try out in various bags and loved how it fit in there. Bonus, was listed at 79.99.. on sale for 59.99.

If you have this laptop and want a backpack to carry this puppy around, I'd suggest this bag. It's VERY roomy.

 

Wow, that is more impressive than I expected. That's what my desktop has now.. (GTX 670).

 

So long as you didn't completely wipe the HDD (NOTE: not the SSD's - the restore files are actually on the HDD in a hidden partition),
you should be able to use the F3 restore method.

The trick to it is pressing F3 at the right time...
I say this because the GT70 boots so fast that you need to start pressing F3 as soon as you power on the laptop, other wise you'll quickly miss the window to do so and it won't work.

 

It CAN reach even 680 stock speeds but with current machine's limitations on the PSU front we're not going that far. The motherboard is capable...just not the BIOS right now. Also haswell was supposed to generate less heat and that factors in too.. I just hope future CPUs are socket compatible

 

Yes, 'F3' will need to be pressed on the post screen, but if this is too fast, another trick is to temporarily change the boot in bios, from 'UEFI' to 'LEGACY'. This will allow the delayed post screens that folks are more accustomed to.

 

NVIDIA DRIVERS 326.19BETA

780m support

Have not tried them yet but will in a bit.

 

The new NVidia beta installs fine now...... looks like the 780M HW ID is finally in the package.

Thanks Quad!

 

Yep I also installed them! Did your PhysX and GeForce Experience install correctly? Mine failed..

 

Around AMD 7950 I think. Its a beast

 

On my first attempt, GFE interrupted the install, so on my second attempt, I unchecked GFE and everything went smoothly. Seems fine, but I haven't begun to test anything yet. Also, GFE has an update too, so if you find it helpful, just re-download and install it from the NVidia website.

 

Anyone having heat issues? My dragon edition ended up with major heat issues and sent it back for a refund.

 

Hmmmmm, someone has not been reading...... and I'm certainly in no mood to repeat myself for the bizzion'th time. My time is better spent benchmarking the new NV beta drivers. GEEZ!

 

My laptop has arrived!!! Just popped in my 256 840 pro, wiped the old drive (except for bios recovery.. i kept that since I haven't seen that on a machine before). Popped windows 7 pro on and going through the fun of installing everything, but nearly done with all drivers, etc. Thing is beautiful... and at least non-gaming, it's quieter than my old Sager

 

Can you define what you mean by major heat issues? Was it overheating in games even with turbofan on?

 

OK..... Here are Vantage and 3DMark11 scores with the new NVidia 326.19 beta drivers. Only a mild improvement is seen over the production drivers, scores are very similar, but I expect we will see much better when the WHQL is released. There are game optimizations in the beta however, but temps are elevated a few degrees over previous production drivers.

These benchmarks are done basically stock, no Turbo Fan, no OC......





Enjoy!

 

Did a search and didn't see it mentioned - anyone have the webcam drivers for Windows 7 x64 for this thing? It says on the website it's a built-in standard driver, but my laptop doesn't see the device. When I check through the drivers, it doesn't have Acer or Bison drivers

 

I believe the webcam is 'Off', by default. Have you turned it On? Turn it 'On', then check your Device Manager. The webcam uses native Windows drivers.

 

Found the issue, I guess I had to use the physical button to enable the webcam first. FN + F6. All good now

 

LOL! Read my post above!

 

lol! Whoo yes you are right lol beat me to it even lol. I posted before refreshing, whoops

 

sorry guys im not the smartest when it comes to laptops but how would I overclock mine it doesent run darkfall too good just at 35 fps looking for a little more thanks in advance

 

Are you sure its using the Nvidia GPU when playing Darkfall ?. 35 seems awfully low for an MMO . When you are playing the game is the light on the powerbutton orange or white ?. If the light is white while playing its not using the Nvidia card so that would explain the bad performance.


Also when you have a moment try installing the latest drivers http://www.nvidia.com/object/notebook-win8-win7-64bit-326.19-beta-driver.html

Make sure your computer is set to high performance in the right hand corner in the power options menu. Its the little battery icon in the right hand corner of your taskbar. Open that menu and click on the high performance option.

 

its on orange I don't know anything about computers sorry but I think that means its overclocking right???

 

manually set the nvidia program profile to the high performance gpu. Sometimes the program won't automatically switch. It happens with source engine games, and when i first initally tried the ff14 beta, my pc decided to use the intel HD 4600 for ff14, and needless to say the fps was around 3-5 until i manually switched it over.

 

is there a program to make it go faster???

 

okay im stupid how do I do that lol

 

If you dont know anything about computers then i suggest you dont try overclocking as you can mess up your computer if you do it wrong.

Your laptop needs to be plugged in and set to high performance or gaming mode overwise your gpu will run slower. Also it may be worthwhile having a read of your laptop manual.







Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

 

well now I don't know what the hell I did wrong I downloaded latest drivers and that's fine but I downloaded the msi after burner and now its like my graphics card aint working or like when I have my computer unplugged seems like I messed up somethign

 

Has anyone tried the new nvidia drivers? can anyone confirm they work without a modded inf file? im uisng modded 320.49s right now, they work great, but it would be nice to have an official driver.

 

Do a system restore.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

 

See post 1071, 1074.

note: it will only install on stock vbios. modded vbios says "no compatible adaptor found". also you need to do clean install using custom tab.

NVidia inspector overclocking doesn't work with the 326.19 drivers. afterburner works ok.

the new drivers don't seem to improve anything for me. my 3dmark scores are lower.

 

Well guys, my beast turned up today. I was like a little kid at Christmas. 2x 128GB SSDs (Stock) RAIDed. GTX 780M and 16 GB RAM. I have some questions before I start benchmarking:

1. What should I do to optimise my SSDs? Do I need to download anything or do I just adjust settings somewhere?

2. What is the latest final release 780M driver that doesn't require modding the inf file?

3. What is MSI Afterburner? Do I need it?

4. Should I be benchmarking with turbofan on and all power-boosting stuff turned on?

5. How do you guys overclock your GPU? Is it by holding G button while powering on, or is that for overclocking CPU?

6. What apps do you use to monitor FPS and temps while in-game?

Sorry for all these questions, but I've been trawling every page of this thread and some questions either haven't been answered or I don't understand the answers. I'd greatly appreciate any help in getting my rig up to maximum performance. Thanks guys.

 

1. if you have windows 8 run windows experience index, disable windows search in services.
2. 326.19 beta
3. gpu overclocking tool (+135 max core)
4. yes, turbo on, hybrid power on (at least 30% battery needed), power profile in scm set to gaming.
5. msi afterburner, NVidia inspector or evga precision x. G button is only used to access the SCM. cpu overclocking can be done with intel XTU.
6. msi afterburner. also fraps (fps only)

 

Thanks Dave. A few more questions:

1. I've run WEI. Does this actually do anything? I always thought it just rated the system, not tuned it. Also, what will disabling Windows Search in services do? My question was more directed toward TRIM and other features like that. Do I need to enable TRIM? Should I? Is this done automatically? I remember a couple of the guys were talking about "optimizing drives" in disk management a few pages back. Any thoughts?

2. What GPU overclocking tool is it? Does it have a name? How is it done? Would you suggest overclocking CPU. I have a 4700MQ.

3. My buttons above the keyboard (turbo fan, SCM etc) are not illuminated. Any idea how to do this?

 

1. it is recommended that you run wei once to ensure the os enables trim support and sets up your ssd drive. trim should get enabled automatically and windows 8 should periodically run the trim command and optimise it.
2. msi afterburner is the gpu overclocking tool. not worth overclocking your cpu.
3. the buttons are touch sensitive. turbo fan should light up when you press it. some wont light up but should launch applications when pressed. they should work straight away if you have the factory windows 8 install. if not download and install all the drivers from the msi website.

 

Has anyone updated their main bios to latest version 707 thats on the msi website. There's no description of what's the bios update does.

Thanks.