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

I can't. If I ask them for the favour, they will NOT let me buy the laptop at all!

Regards

 

OK you got me there, but I was talking more general performance and cooling systems
These are desktop replacements for most people anyway and most of the time will be plugged in so for most users battery life is not a big priority, with the GPU switching battery life should still be pretty decent.

 

Does anyone know if the GT72 Dominator Pro (more specifically the 2QE-211) can output to a 120 Hz external screen?

 

Ordered my GT72 off newegg expected to get it Wednesday hopefully! :thumbsup:

 

Yes no problem at all from the display port outputs.

 

Thanks for the answer Meaker!

edit: and Talon! Cheers!

 

I ouput my GT60 to a 144hz Asus monitor via the mini display port to the display port on the screen. Just make sure you have a DP to mini DP cable. They are fairly cheap on Amazon.

 

You can also use custom refresh rates and resolutions from the Nvidia control panel since the output in dedicated mode comes straight from the dedicated card.

 

This ^.

Awesome benefit of using an external monitor. I was able to get 70hz stable out of my older 60hz monitor. 74hz worked fine in windows, but in games it sometimes gave weird wavy/warping graphics. Even the extra 10hz in games felt super smooth and nice. Now using a 1ms and 144hz screen games look ridiculously fluid and smooth.

 

In the GT72 in dedicated mode you can do it to the internal display too

 

Will someone with the 980m please post of youtube videos of games at max reso. I would really like to see some BF4 multiplayer at max settings.

 

That's NICE!

Regards.

 

That's one of the reasons this model is my next project. I'll double check the ips upgrade as well when I can get a panel since I am going with an 4710HQ version too. I'll also experiment with taking the 4710HQ beyond 3.5Ghz on all four cores but that's going to be more experimental.

 

Can I ask what screen you're using?

I apologize for my ignorance, but I didn't understand what you meant. What can you do to the internal display (I suppose you're talking about the GT72's own screen) with the GT72 in "dedicated mode" (I also don't exactly understand what "dedicated mode" is even after looking for it on google)? Thanks for the help

 

I think he/she meant you can overclock GT72's built-in screen (i.e. set it to 70hz), the "dedicated mode" would mean the laptop in dGPU mode.

Regards.

 

Exactly that, custom resolutions/refresh rates can be set through the Nvidia control panel since the Nvidia gpu is powering it directly.

 

Ok thanks! I might end up going with a GT72 and a 120/144 Hz external screen... Even though I'm still waiting for some news from Alienware & the 980M since their AW 17 can come with a 120 Hz screen.

 

Anyone knows about stores in new york that I can get 211 gt72?

 

Ok since there's an actual gt60 running with the new 970m , that opens the door to an important question
Will the current gt60/70 dominator owners with 870m/880m equipped in their laptops be able to upgrade too using the new shiny upgrade kit ?
1st thing I know is that the new heatsink coming with this kit won't probably work on the gt60/70 since it is designed to work with the new gt72 models only, , which has a very different cooling system.
So the old heatsink should do the job.
So what about the power/wat difference between ths two cards ? Ths 870 and ths 980 for example since that is the upgrade I want to make ? Would I need to upgrade my heatsink? And why should I do it when msi is shipping the old gt60 with 970m without any change in design ? And would I need to upgrade bios ?
Please help us - the owners of the gt70/60 dominator to figure it out. I am sure every owner of this laptop is asking the same questions

 

The 8xx series heatsink won't fit the 9xx series. A 970m heatsink would fit a 980m but you may need some extra pads. It will probably all work but there are no guarantees and remains untested.

 

someone have some information or predicts ?

 

FYI:

I've added more info to post #1, and my GT72 thoughts and more benchmarks to post #2..... HERE. I think about the only thing left to do, is a battery run time test. Also, for the couple individuals having wireless connectivity issues, I am wondering if it doesn't have something to do with your wireless networking. This is my second GT Dominator Pro, and both have worked flawlessly (both 2.4 & 5Ghz) on my wireless-AC network...... great connectivity, range, speed, and bandwidth. Also, I am still using the original driver, and no complaints whatsoever.

 

Unless there is a killer deal it's best practise to wait until you can reasonably to order. As for deals any pricing information would be under NDA but remember the supply of GPU cards is still going to be tight.

 

Striker, did you try overclocking already ? Event without bios flash, you can go for the usual +135mhz ?

 

Aww crap! I hope I didn't void the warranty! I Just got my GT72 and was so excited to get it and see exactly what size m.2 ssd it took. (longer ones) so I could upgrade to a 500+GB one (going 512GB), that I didn't realize until too late that I punctured the "Warranty Void if removed" sticker. I know what I'm doing, upgraded many laptops ram and hdd's, but this was the first ever of something like that sticker in my way. Now I'm crapping my pants in fear that I just screwed up. Please tell me it's just to scare the people who don't know what they are doing from trying themselves and that I am still covered. (I do keep all original parts/ boxes and such for warranty purposes as well.)

 

You are covered so long as there is no physical damage under the cover.

 

Ok good! No damage to internal components at all just that sticker.

 

Thank you for the reply and information..I'd love the 980 model but its £600 more than the basic 970 model...even if i fit my own BD and SSD the 980m model is £300 more.... I dont know much about these cards... is there a real world difference to justify the extra cost of the 980m over the 970m...any advice would be most welcome

 

Yes there is quite a difference, around 30%.

 

Can someone show pics of the gt72 fitting in a book ah or case...? I need to get one for mine

 

16.85"x11.57"x1.88" (W x D x H)

These are the dimensions, check them with the bag you want to use It should fit most 17.3" bags though since it's not especially thick for the size of the machine.

 

PawGan- imho if you are gona buy this size notebook (thick 17") you might as well get the 980m. if you want the 970m and don't game much the msi gs70 series maybe a more attractive option (its thinner and easier to carry around, much smaller and lighter power brick, etc). If you game allot then the 980m is the only way to fly- you will enjoy your games alot more due to smoother frame rate and higher visual settings. with the 970m you cant turn all your games to max settings even today, in a year you will have to run medium or low visual game settings on the 970m or pay to upgrade it via the mxm upgrade program. also -- hate to say it, but consider a cheaper non-gaming laptop and building a gaming desktop: this is the more affordable option which will give you an even better gaming experience at home at the expense of traveling with your game rig.


i just put in that crucial m550 m.2 and it works just fine. i installed win 8.1 fresh on it. works fine as expected at sata6 speed

the 2tb 2.5" spinpoint m9t is running at sata3 speed tho
and the 1tb hitachi 2.5" (which came with the machine) i moved to the dvd-caddy is also running sata3.

this is still making me a bit snarly to be honest...its just annoying imho since all the drives are being seen as sata6......the controller itself is being seen as sata6. 4 controller ports for the m.2 are being seen as sata6, but those 2 controller-ports for 2.5" are seen as sata3.

if a reseller can chime in on this issue of sata3/sata6 for the 2.5" slots, i would be very appreciative ( you guys have alot more different hardware than i do since you have stores- maybe you can try a few different ssd's or hdd's to make sure i am not hitting a compatibility issue or some stupid config limiting my 2.5" drive speeds to sata2 3gb speed).

i see alot of your stores offering SSD's in place of dvd drive or the 1tb 2.5" drive, so i would think you guys are being up front with your customers about the performance they can expect from these configs.

i understand that this limitation is not really limiting to HDD, but i also have a 500gb samsung ssd i would like to use..which would be perofrmance limited on that port.




onto coffee and a benchmark run..lets see how much performance i gained by not re installing most of the bloatware..

 

Intel Chipset Software Installed?

What does CrystalDiskInfo show the drive as?
Download Center - Crystal Dew World

Is the Intel RST installed?
http://www.station-drivers.com/index.php/downloads/Drivers/Intel/Rapid-Storage-Technology-(RST)/

Was the Samsung Magician software used to set up the SSD?
http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/minisite/SSD/us/html/support/downloads.html

Does the drive have the newest firmware?

 

WhatsThePoint - i appreciate you trying to help but its kinda not what i am looking for. i sorta wittled it down to either compatibility with my drives (highly unlikely, but possible) or mobo/bios/how msi built the thing (likely since this is how older msi machines were built also).

To be clear- in the previous MSI laptops such as 16F3 or 16F2, they also have 2 2.5" ports, but only 1 is sata6, the other is sata3. i know this for a fact because i own them, and my samsung toolbox complains if the os drive (i used samsung840 drives for both builds) is running slower than it can, when u put the drive into the sata2 port under the mousepad instead of adjacent to dvd drive which is sata6

Intel rst -yes its installed by default when you get the laptop so i have it installed in my other/older os. i hope you understand the intel RST package is not a SATA driver, its just raid tools, and for non-raid sku it's value is only in showing the interface and drive info and ability to turn on led on the drives. In English: this is bloatware for non raid sku. not trying to pick a fight with you, just want you to understand what the software does for different configs so you and other folks dont ask people to install this unnecessarily. this app has value for various raids (not just stripe configs, but also mirror raids). for this reason i did not reinstall the rst app on my new os install - i am not running any raid, its technically JBOD ( i can boot to original 128gb ssd, or my new 512ssd independently. old ssd has all the software as i got the machine out of the box and that older os also sees my 2.5" drives as sata2 3gb)

samsung ssd-- yes samsung magician was used to setup drive with latest firmware (its not the evo, its slightly slower "samsung 840 ssd" it has a full windows 8.1 os on it and is bootable. i put the drive back into my 16-f3 where it came from and it boots as sata6. in the 16f3 if i move the drive to the other port, underneath the mousepad, it also works in sata2 mode only. the issue is not exclusive to samsung so this is irrelevant anyway imho.

crystal---- shows either 2.5" drive capable of sata6 but running sata3 see pic


more importantly....if this is indeed a build/hardware limit....

i guess now that got some coffee and smoked some good hash and have had time to reflect... i am staring to wonder about the other angle...most resellers offer fast/big/expensive ssd options for those ports but noone mentions the (potentially?) reduced performance. matter of fact some tell you how fast the drive is gona be when you put it in, even tho the port cant physically hit that speed in sata 2 mode... i am looking at you xotic claiming over 500+ MB/s out of a drive in the caddy, on a port which maxes at 300!

Serial ATA - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

XOTIC PC | MSI GT72 Dominator Pro-211 - 17.3" Gaming Laptop - NVIDIA (Maxwell) 9
GenTech PC - Customize System
https://www.powernotebooks.com/configure.php?special=1803

so this is kinda misleading, wonky if you ask me. not trying to be an a**hole , just want to know what the true situation is with performance

thoughts?

 

The m.2 ports use all available SATA iii channels. The 2.5" bay and optical bay are gen ii.

 

@DILLIGAFF,

Please read my notes HERE.

 

Thank you Meaker!


Thanks Striker i saw that, but port 2 is sata 2 3gb/s tho not 1.5. its the stock be/dvd drive which is 1.5 tho..anyway.... i wanted another confirm and Meaker hooked us up

now i am kind interested in the details (port split/port multiplier used? Chipset limit? cheaped out on BOM? ), but not enough to investigate myself... and in the end -- whoever gives MSI feedback, they should make all these sata plugs sata 6. i am not gona split details, but i bet i am not the only person who would want this.

on a lighter note....

my new os install without the "bloatware" isnt much faster than stock:


Factory installed OS with all the bloatware:
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-4710HQ,Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. MS-1781

Clean install os from scratch, no bloatware ( i do have MS office installed, and couple small apz like 7zip and vlc.):
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-4710HQ,Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. MS-1781

i have looped each for a while to warm up a bit but those are about average of each. there is a consistent improvement of [EDIT: the correct number is .7% overalls core gain - i fudged the math originallywhen i made the post. 1.2% is not correct for overall score. regardless- the difference is irrelevant to the original conclusion and does not change the outcome of the rest of the post]~1.2% by doing a clean install it seems. so far evidence points to basically the bloatware really doesnt impact performance, its just annoying stuff in the trey/backround, which you have to deal with.also means you should be able to just uninstall it through control panel and not do an entire os reinstall and still get same top performance as clean install. no need to panic, msi did well in this area it appears.

i still prefer the clean of course. less software to deal with. but i am a minimalist- a tweaker will say the opposite and would prefer stock install.


as far as clean os install details, i got the Drivers from MSI Global - Computer, Laptop, Notebook, Desktop, Motherboard, Graphics and more 64 as said on page 1 of this thread, and skipped the chicony, intel rst and the synaptics drivers since they are not needed for the 211. NOTE: the intel Management Engine IS needed or you will have a missing device driver in Device Manager.

since msi has not updated their utility page for the 2QE , i had to get the needed utilities at the 2PE page
MSI Global - Computer, Laptop, Notebook, Desktop, Motherboard, Graphics and more 64

all these utils work fine for me with no crashes/conflicts or warnings.

for the 211:
SCM- software switch on/off for for camera, wifi, bluetooth. there is FN+F10 for airplane mode, but i prefer to have option to turn either on off independently.
SSE (steel series engine)- keyboard lights and their profiles. keyboard lighting can be son off via FN+Numpade Plus or Minus, but the software is needed for custom lighting and the effects.
Battery Calibration- Since battery is now L-ion (16-f3/gt60 did not have L-ion batteries afaik) this is pretty much necessary.
if you have apple device u need the SuperCharger as well to provid ehigher amp throught usb ports. i do not have apple device so i skipped this package.

the other packages are not required and one of them also affect behavior of other devices- my stock os has "sound blaster cinema 2" which then for some reason hides several effects in the playback devices tabs for the realtek card leaving only the loudness equalisation. i dont use the effects most of the time so i dont care (normalization effect does do wonders for all laptops if you are using laptop speakers you gota at least try it! if i ever had to demo laptop speakers you should probably enable this feature) . the sb cinema 2 tho... its like it takes over the eq at the driver level of another driver device being realtek. trippy! has anyone tried with/without sb cinema app? any noticeble difference in your setup? i installed basic realtek drivers but not the sb cinema. i set default output to 24/192 via sound properties (can also be done in relatek driver, they control same setting). sounds great to me, but i am interested in feedback of who uses/not-uses this.

 

Well, the everki beacon is recommended as a perfect fit at the beginning of the thread, but the site lists the laptop pocket dimensions as a little smaller in H than needed to accommodate the gt72 height you listed. I was hoping if someone could verify how well it fits with a photo....

 

The HM87 only supports up to 4 SATA III ports so you can't have more than that, muxing them would take quite a bit of extra circuitry and could add latency to the drives.

 

meaker u are f'in goldmine dude!

cant rep more or i wuld

 

The Everki Beacon has a padded felt-lined notebook compartment, and the GT72 fits nicely. My GT72 is sitting in this backpack right now. I would have sent you a photo already, but I've had other priorities. WHA.... you don't believe me? A photo is really required? LOL!

 

Thank you so much for the great feedback....given me a lot to think about...

 

Hmmmmm...... Interesting, because I audited the ODD SATA port, not the device, and even the IRST indicates the port #2 is SATA I. Guess I'll have to look again.....

 

Could anyone answer this for me? Is the gt72's housing, surrounding Usb ports, headphone, fan-exhaust - plastic, or magnesium/alloy ?

 

All of the input ports are directly mounted to the MB, and to me, it looks like plastic with aluminum sub-framing. See HERE.

 

Do all MSI GT72 2QE(Dominator Pro)-207UK come with the super pack?I want to make sure because some resellers don't state this on their product page, but the price is the same as resellers that state them(ocuk, scan - but it has delivery costs).

 

How does the OCing on this display go? 80-90fps atleast?

 

Lol I't's not that i don't believe you but it is nice to have visual confirmation before I drop a hundred bucks

 

There is also the titan backpack from Evereki, it can even fit the P570WM/NP9570 (I own both so can confirm ) which is the largest notebook in the world (I think the beacon can fit that one too anyway).

The GT72 is not that big for a 17 inch beast.

 

Ah, I see...... you are one of those who has to see it, to believe it. Well, like I say, it fits nicely, and zips-up nicely. I also use this backpack for the thicker GT70, which is also a good fit.