***The Official MSI GT72 Dominator Pro (GTX-980M) Owner?s Lounge***

Hi, yep it's stock OS (8.1). I'm going to test out the rest of the ports later, just seems a bit weird....

 

Hey guys. I just got my GT72 today (ordered from Amazon, sold by XoticPC). Everything seems to be fine, except for one issue - I can't tell if I'm freaking out over nothing, or if its worth the bother of returning it for a replacement (since it was fulfilled/shipped by amazon, I'm not sure if amazon handles the return, or XoticPC).

Anyways, when I opened a website with a black background, I noticed a "light" splotch on the left-ish side of the screen. I'm including a picture - it makes it look worse than it actually is, but it should make the problem clear. You don't notice it on any other mixed color screen, just dark/black. Here's the picture

What's strange is I took a microfiber and rubbed at the center of the screen to the left edge (over the splotch), and it vanished: Here's an after pic - the two brownish splotches are my reflection.

If I take the cloth and swipe from the left edge back to the center, the splotch comes back. I left it sitting for quite a while with the splotch gone and it never came back (even after closing the screen, pushing on the chassis, etc), unless I swiped it back.

So, do I return for replacement, or do I stop caring?

 

I'm definitely leaning towards not returning it. I attempted to on Amazon (just to see the process), and my only choice was to get a refund 3 days after they receive the laptop. That adds extra turn around time to finally get another laptop that may have a similar issue, or dead pixel(s), etc.

I suppose I could RMA it, but it sounds like that's an even worse turnaround with MSI, and I really need this thing in the next few weeks.

 

okay the m.2 to sata SSD port is here... SSD arriving today (sometime).......so i will be running 3x 128GB M.2 SSD + 1 1TB SSD in RAID 0

and will be supported with a RAID 1 - consisting of 1TB (from MSI) and a spare 1TB (from my dell inspiron which i swapped it out for a 500gb ssd).

will this caddy work in the msi? we have very limited choices in oz and i dont want to wait a month to get something from the US lol....

so effectively a RAID 0+1 array....

 

It will work, but capped at SATA II (3 Gbps).

 

the two drives (on raid 1) are backing up my raid 0 drive yes they will be capped at SATA II...

however the m2 (x3) and 1x ssd are all running off the sata 3 ports (Raid 0)

 

Yup, looks like you've gotten everything planned out.

 

That is odd how it comes and goes and stays away. Just a FYI if you do decide to return it you do it through Amazon since it was fulfilled by them. You would send it to them then we would get it back from them. If it gets worse we'll be happy to help you set up an RMA with MSI to get it checked out.

 

That looks like a defective screen, possibly a manufacturing defect by itself.

 

Out of curiosity, what is the typical RMA turnaround with MSI? I wish amazon would treat this like anything else you buy from them and give you the option of getting a replacement (it still shows 18 in stock). It's just a bad time for all of this because I'm traveling a lot over the next three weeks and really need a laptop. In the end, the problem is technically gone (in the sense that I'd have to wipe the screen left to right to make it come back, and it doesn't come back from normal wear and tear of opening, closing, carrying around, etc), but knowing there's technically a defect there might drive me a tad bit nuts

Ah well, just my luck

 

Just ordered my MSI GT Series GT72 Dominator Pro-211.

I intend to upgrade the M.2 Sata SSD. I read through this thread and saw people recommending the Crucial M550. I just did some browsing on Amazon and found these Kingston SSD's:
Kingston Digital 120GB SSDNow M.2 SATA (6Gbps) Compact Form Factor SSD (SM2280S3/120G)

Would they work, too? They have some better write speeds compared to the Cruical. But I wanted to make sure before I order them.

Thanks in advance!

 

My heart is with Crucial and Samsung for the most part, when dealing with SSDs, but nowadays, most companies offer amazing producs and Kingston is part of them.

Go with the one you feel more comfortable with I have used Intel, Samsung, Crucial, Kingston, Sandisk and several models inbetween and all have worked great

 

I read some reviews on both of them and even though the Kingston is faster on paper, real world tests show that the Crucial is ahead of the Kingston. So I guess I am going to go with the Crucial. It just sucks that the 128GB version only has a write speed of 350. I was trying to get a 256GB version, but it seems like they're not made anymore. Is there a specific reason?
The 512GB version is just overkill since I definitely want to go the Raid 0 road somewhere down the road and 2 TB as a system disk is way more than I will ever need and therefor doesn't justify the costs.

 

Huh, I remember seeing the 256GB variation not so long ago. Maybe they are out of supplies and/or about to introduce a new product line.

You can always get two 512GB SSDs and use that. They will perform almost as fast with other pros. And you would have 2 slots left for future upgrade.

 

i upgraded my internal adapter setup with the new power splitter dark wolf found:


http://forum.notebookreview.com/msi...o-gtx-980m-owner-s-lounge-75.html#post9846771



the new part works as expected functionally-- sata speed and power is split as expected

the wires are about half as long as my previous combination. while this is largely positive, it was harder to work with this smaller adapter because its smaller and i ended up pulling the hard drive ribbon cable out of the receptacle by accident. its was an easy fix- to put the ribbon cable back in and shut the latch on it, so no big deal.



in the end this is an improvement over the original adapters i picked out, since there is no need to physically modify any plugs with this adapter and it costs less than the 2 adapters i used. Good find Dark Wolf.

the new recommended part list for getting a sata3 600 2.5 drive is:

m.2 to sata 7 pin adapter: SATA HDD to M.2 NGFF Socket adapter converter card [ST5111] - $16.99 : sintech adapter shop they also have an ebay store
short sata cable: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006K2617I/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
2.5" drive power splitter: SATA 22 Pin Male to SATA 7 Pin & 2X15 Pin SATA Fem Connectors

microsata cables sells the same exact 2.5" power adapter thru amazon: Amazon.com: SATA 22 Pin Male to SATA 7 Pin and 2 X 15 Pin SATA Female Connectors - 2": Computers & Accessories

 

Kingston is the only brand I had an SSD fail for me and had to RMA. I've also used ADATA, Samsung, and Intel none of which has failed. The replacement Kingston sent over has worked perfectly fine.

 

Could you tell me if the following drive is compatible?

Amazon.com: Intel 180GB 530 Series M.2 Form Factor SATA 6.0 gbs Solid State Drive SSDSCKGW180A401: Computers & Accessories

 

that intel 530 drive looks like it would work in the gt72

there is also
Amazon.com: Transcend 512 GB SATA III 6Gb/s MTS800 80 mm M.2 SSD Solid State Drive TS512GMTS800: Computers & Accessories

or

Amazon.com: MyDigitalSSD 256GB Super Boot Drive 80mm SATA III (6G) M.2 2280 NGFF SSD - MDM280-SB-256: Computers & Accessories

i have not used any of the above

on an old topic i figured out how to get the display calibration to stick in windows and all windowed/borderless games without any 3rd party software. even some full screen games take advantage of the profile when its setup like this.

TN Gt72 ONLY:
set display to max brightness in power options or press keyboard FN+Up Arrow a few times
in windows control panel, go to colour management.
load attached display profile - this specific file is the gt72 built in TN screen at max brightness. do NOT use this file with IPS. Megashares - Drag. Drop. Yup. The first site to provide FREE file hosting with drag n drop support.
load the attached file in color management for the correct display! if you have external display connected and you are using the built-in at the same time, make sure to select the built-in display for this profile. do not use this for your external display. see pic attachaed
set it as default. see pic attached

now go to "advanced" tab, make sure "use windows display calibration" is checked and click on "change system defaults". see pic attached

within "change system defaults" load the attached calibration (same file as above) make it default. this window looks like step 1 but the window header is different. see pic


go to "advanced" tab and check "use windows display calibration". see pic



close this window using the "close" button.
close the next window using the "close" button.
close colour managament.
reboot.

 

Guys i have bought a GT72 216 in US. It comes with 8+4 ram and i was curious about changing the 4 gb ram with an 8 gig one... Is it possible or the Ram is soldered to the pc? And is the screen that bad? I will have the pc in my hands in a couple of days. But i feel like i made a wrong choice because everybody say that the screen is bad. I have used TN Glossy Glare type before so i am not used to matte. What are the differences mainly? Thanks in advance

 

All RAM modules are independent modules but not soldered, so it is fine if you wish to upgrade them.
Screen is fine, you can look at reviews on Youtube as well as reviewer websites.

 

thanks dilligaf... turned out i ordered a male to female sata cable so going ot have to wait for that to come from the US lol.... plus ordered that new adapter (Y) cheers!! 1-2 week wait to get to me... hopefully before i leave on the 28th...

 

As for the matte screen it's a coating on the display to help reduce reflections, it's another layer so it does impact image quality slightly. However it's much less than reflections would normally get in the way.

Exactly how much it impacts image quality depends on the grain and I think the panels MSI chooses are a good balance.

 

You were lightning quick man. Ty i appriciate the help

 

You are welcome, feel free to ask us any questions if you still have any "uncleared" doubts.

 

In few weeks i'm planning to buy this laptop without SSD, and i'm abit worried that i won't come with a daughterboard/accessory to connect my own m2 ssd.
I contacted my local shop about it and they're not allowed to open it to look. I saw a post of some one here that has the 970m version and it didn't came with it included.
It's the 476NL model from the netherlands. If anyone could help me out here it would be really great .

 

Typically if it has a m.2 pre-installed then it will have the board, if it does not then it will have 2 SATA ports. I typically as I can not say for sure for the 476NL version since we dont carrry it. That is how it works for the US versions anyway.

 

Hi there I had hoped to recieve an anser or idea about the question I recently asked (be so kind to take a look).

Best regards

phila

 

GT72 2QE(Dominator Pro)-476NL-BB74718G1T0S81M Spec:
1TB HDD, since it doesn't come with M.2 SSD therefore it is not equipped with the M.2 daughterboard.

 

Hi Guys,

Please help me to get a nice ultra-sharp monitor to deal with my GT72 Dominator Pro-445.

I am pretty much confused about Full HD 144hz / 4k 60hz. Will the single GTX980M 8GB be able to produce great display with fast gaming speed @4k 60hz??

I short listed couple of them -

Amazon.com: ASUS VG278HE 27-Inch Screen LED-lit Monitor 144hz 2ms: Computers & Accessories
http://www.amazon.com/PB287Q-28-Inch-Screen-LED-Lit-Monitor/dp/B00KJGY3TO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417843673&sr=8-1&keywords=asus+4k+monitor+28+inch
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-28-Inch-Definition-Monitor-U28D590D/dp/B00IEZGWI2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417843819&sr=8-1&keywords=samsung+4k+monitor+28+inch
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009C3M7H0/ref=psdc_1292115011_t3_B00KJGY3TO


Please let me know the review if anyone already bought any of these or if any other choice I can go with.

 

Configuration:
MSI GT72 Dominator Pro-445 Intel Haswell Quad Core i7-4980HQ (2.8GHz - 4.0GHz) Processor, 17.3" Full HD (1920 x 1080) IPS Matte Display, 32GB DDR3 1600MHz Memory, Super RAID 3 512GB (128GB M.2SATA SSD x 4 RAID 0) + 1TB 7200RPM Hard Drive, Blu-Ray Burner, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M 8GB GDDR5 Graphics Card

 

I have the 24" version of that Asus 144hz monitor. I can tell you that the picture/contrat out of the box isn't the best I have seen. My eyes have adjusted, I used a good color profile, and tweaked it to my liking. But still not the best colors and contrasts. Having said that, I knew this prior to purchase (read the reviews) and it was purchased for gaming. It excels at that very well, and until you see 144hz, or feel it in game you don't understand the difference it makes. It felt like I had gotten a GPU upgrade. If you play a lot of twitch or fps type games, like CS GO, then 144hz is a great advantage IMO. The screen with draw so much faster and you will be able to see whats going on around you much easier.

If you don't play a lot of those types of games, I would consider going for something higher resolution since your system should be able to drive the pixels.

 

Thanks a lot Talon for the review. I am currently playing all the high end games (Farcry4,CODAW,Shadow of Mordot,AC4) with ultra settings in mt GT72 with GTX980M. I want to buy the 4k, but if it will lag due to 4k resolution@60hz,then I will be screwed and will regret not go to 1440p,120hz/1080p 144hz. So its coming out more and more tough to chose.

---

MSI GT72 Dominator Pro-445: Intel Haswell Quad Core i7-4980HQ (2.8GHz - 4.0GHz) Processor, 17.3" Full HD (1920 x 1080) IPS Matte Display, 32GB DDR3 1600MHz Memory, Super RAID 3 512GB (128GB M.2SATA SSD x 4 RAID 0) + 1TB 7200RPM Hard Drive, Blu-Ray Burner, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M 8GB GDDR5 Graphics Card

 

Hey everyone,

I'm planning on buying a GT72 2QE 236BE, which is the Belgian version of the GT72 2QE with 8GB of RAM & no SSD installed. (this is because MSI gives a superpack with this version and they do not with the 16GB RAM + 128GB SSD)

Now I want to add 128GB SSD and 8GB RAM.
I'm quite sure what SSD to buy: Crucial M550.
When I decide that 128GB isn't enough anymore and I want to add another 128GB to set up a RAID 0, does it have to be the exact same card? Or does it work with different brands aswell?

The RAM is more difficult. I know the laptop has 4 slots, 2 under the keyboard and 2 on the bottom.
Does anyone know which slots form channel 1 & which slots form channel 2?
Also, I'd like to know if the laptop comes with 2x4 GB (and thus 2 open slots) or 4x2GB, leaving all slots occupied.
And as an extra, but this isn't super important, what RAM cards does MSI use? If it's the 2x4GB layout, I'll probably buy the exact same.

If anyone has some extra tips or tricks on SSD and RAM, please feel free to add them. I'm quite new in the "open your laptop and modify/add stuff" thing, and I started looking up alot of info in the last 2 weeks, but of course there's still lots of things I don't know.

Thank you all in advance!
Ice

 

A single 980M will struggle with 4k, even when overclocked it will be a challenge. It does depend on the frame rate you personally find acceptable though.


As for the above questions, the vram slots are paried to give dual channel, 2 filled slots under main cover = dual channel, 2 filled slots under keyboard = dual channel.

Match ram speeds and timings where possible and use 1.35V modules only.

 

Different SSD will work as long as capacity size matches, but the RAID will perform at SSD with lower performance if either first or second SSD is a slower version.
For RAM, you will need to purchase DDR3L which operates at 1.35V, and it's better to match what you currently have unless you want to replace them all with faster modules.
As Meaker said, two slots under keyboard, and two on the bottom side (requires removal of heatsink, don't risk bending the heatpipe).

 

I just got my laptop after 2 months of work to get it from USA. I normally live in Turkey and laptop prices are two times more expensive here because of ridiculous taxes. This machine is a beast and the screen is also quite good enough for me despite it is known as one of the cons. As nobody can buy this machine in our country( the GT72 model is not sold in Turkey) it feels so special to have one

 

Thank you both for the very clear answer! I read in the first post that MSI uses Kingston cards, so I'm guessing it's the Kingston HyperX? Anyways I'll have to wait until I get the laptop to see if it's 2x4 (+ 2 vacant slots) or 4x2GB (or does anyone know?).

For the slots under the keyboard, I think I found some good videos explaining how to disassemble and assemble my laptop.

So let's make a summary.
SSD Crucial M550 128GB for my games.
The already installed 1TB HDD for windows and regular stuff
1,35V DDR3L Kingston HyperX 4GB (2x) and then add them whereever the vacant slots are.
So unless anyone knows where they are, I think I know everything.

On the other hand, I see regular popups of the words "Bios", "EC", ... I haven't really searched for it on google because I was more focused on SSD, RAM, RAID, Dual Channel (2 weeks ago I just knew what SSD & RAM did, but not the differences or ports or whatever)
I think I know what Bios is, something about the screen that you can enter when you start up (and press F*Number*).
Do I have to do things with that? Or can I just add the SSD & RAM and just start up? I also know that from the MSI website I can download stuff with "bios" and other drivers. Do I have to check that website regularly? And do I have to download that stuff right from the start or how do I check that?

Thank you both again and everyone else that is willing to help, it's greatly appreciated! Wouldn't know what I'd do without you guys
I know it's alot of questions, sorry.

 

I think you are getting confused with the GT70 when it comes to removing the heatsink, the GT72 memory slots are away from the heatsinks.

 

Thanks for help! The two sata ports are occupied by the 1TB HDD and dvd drive right? I was thinking to add a regular 2"5 inch ssd but i guess its not possible without replacing the two of them.

 

Yup, thank you.
GT72 is open slots.

 

Word of advice: if you don't know much of the Bios, drivers and whatnot, it's best to follow the philosophy of "don't fix it if it ain't broken". Only try to download the newer driver from the MSI website if you have problems with that particular component.

Regards

 

guys how much can i overclock a gt72 with 970m? can you give me memory and core clocks?

 

Hello everyone.

I´m thinking to buy a MSI GT72 Notebook after my Medion Erazer Laptop died.
I have a few questions and I hope I get some answers. I´m asking in this Lounge, because most of the users there already have this laptop and should have the most experience to answer this.

1. On some sites, there exists a MSI GT72-2QD81FD (1781-SKU14) and a (1781-SKU24). The first has an Intel Core i7-4710HQ CPU and the other a i7-4720HQ. Whats the difference of the CPU´s? I´m asking because the models have the same price.

2. If I really buy the GT72, this models of question 1 does not include a SSD and OS. I´ve already own a 2.5" Samsung EVO 840 SSD with OS on it. Is there a free port for my SSD in the Laptop?

3. What can you guys say about the "TN" Display? I´m asking, because the cheaper models have just a "TN" instead of a "IPS" panel.

 

Not sure about the other questions but the i7-4720HQ is slightly faster with 2.6Ghz, not much of a difference but if they cost the same why not

 

I'm looking to set up Super Raid 2 with this model, and am wondering if Crucial M500 240GB M.2 is better than Transcend 256GB M.2?

 

Neither is ideal IMO, stick with the kingston drives if you can.

 

Crucial is better and more widely used than Transcend.

 

Can I do Super Raid 2 or 3 with 512 GB M.2's?

 

Yes you can, you can do it with any size drives.

 

If you are rich