***The Official MSI GT80 Titan Owner's Lounge***

It makes the machine heat up more slowly, but cool more slowly. No max/min temp difference.

 

so maybe its not worth doing? it sounded pretty amazing in my head

 

If you modify the machine and allow for better airflow and use a cooling pad to remove the excess ambient heat somehow, then it may be worth it. But if you're not going to hardmod the machine it won't have much real difference.

 

yea i couldn't see myself hard modding it, i could see just using a cooler, but i doubt that'd have much impact?

 

Not if the only air intake vents lead to the fans, and are cut so that only the fan intake gets any air.

Granted, I haven't looked very closely at the GT80, but I don't believe it has a lot of vents near the center where the copper pins would be on the heatsinks.

 

looks as if there are vents basically allowing airflow to most the the heatpines.



http://www.technogog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/4830638-650px.jpg

http://cdn.lowyat.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/MSI-GT80-Titan-SLI-Gaming-Laptop-Hands-On-11.jpg

 

I've only seen a single screenshot of the underneath of that machine, and it's the same one you've shown, and it doesn't appear to give good airflow to the fans in that instance, so I'm taking that with a little bit of salt. But if you can find more shots or if an owner can take pics for us, that'd be fantastic.

 

Please take a look at the new thread for GT80 mods:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/msi/770137-msi-gt80-titan-mods.html

 

Looking at the design of the fans it seems they could be intended to intake from the rear and exhaust out the sides but it may be hard to verify until you open it up and see the blade design and research the part. If it's not you can see why the side vents get the majority of airflow looking at the housing aerodynamics and design. I do see a value in less restriction of airflow in those locations of its possible somehow.

 

Are there any filters on those vents?

 

I don't know, I won't remove the back cover until my 30 days are up so I don't ruin my newegg return policy. It saved me once already with the failed ssd.

 

It does exaust out of the back and side

 

Thanks for the confirm that's a very cool shot!

 

Thoughts on -001 versus -009? I'm inclined to get the -001 using logic - the add'l CPU really doesn't do much for gaming at all...but it also seems a bit strange to get a "budget" (for lack of a better term) version of an extreme laptop.

I've been dreaming about this laptop (I literally did - last night - almost fell asleep with my MacBook Pro on my chest watching GenTechPC's video review on YouTube - and then dreamt about it LOL). As much as I love my G751 with i7-4710HQ and GTX 980M...this GT80 Titan SLI keeps calling to me.

On the other hand, the -001 is readily available (I'd buy from NewEgg) and the -009 annoys me with the 24GB memory install (3 dimms when it can take 4).

EDIT: looks like -001 and -009 are both available from NewEgg now!

 

Kitguru's very positive review is up. They reviewed the 4980hq version. Would have liked to have seen a similar in depth review of the i7-4720 model

I would get the Titan 009 from newegg but two questions:

Is the generic ram going to suffice it should I upgrade to the Kingston cl9 ram (which means not buying from newegg)

2. Where to buy 512gb m.2 ssd drives. 128x2gb is not going to be enough and I can only seem to find transcend ssds in 512gb for sale and reaction seems to be mixed for those droves although they are relatively cheap

 

Unfortunately their testing didn't help the questions I have for the 4980HQ and most of their benches etc are already known from Clevo owners with 980M SLI. I may be a bit on the cynical side, but it's like... I already know what's gonna happen for most of that review XD.

Next, the 4-way raid in random 4K read/write is slower than both my single Plextor and single Samsung SSDs. So that's a thing. Sequential read/write is huge, but I dunno how well it stacks up overall.

 

I think that punctuates our discussion from earlier in the thread - more SSDs in RAID0 do not necessarily translate into a fantastic setup. I am not sure about you guys - but I care more about GPU and CPU than disk speed when it comes to my games. In fact, I recently upgraded from Samsung 830's to Samsung 850 Pro SSDs (in a new box) and I noticed ZERO difference in practical day to day use and gaming. I just don't understand the desire to RAID0 SSDs for gamers.

EDIT: can someone that owns a GT80 Titan SLI post up the SPD info (from CPU-Z) to show the memory type that is installed? I know it is Hynix but I am wondering if it is the same as what was included in my ASUS G751 (so I can use the extra stick that I bought).

 

All great points and based on your analysis on the Clevo machines, I would be very surprised if the 4980hq did not have the same issues here.

I really dislike the 4 m.2 slots but that is largely because if have 2 2.5 ssds and those m.2 slots take all the sata III slots. This probably would not be a huge issue for most people but I have about 1.5 TB to 2 TB of games generally installed on my PCs, so I was trying to aim for 1 TB of ssd in the SATA III slots and then put my 840 evo 500gb on the SATA II slot (which means the 1tb 7200 rpm drive goes to waste but it is so hard to go back to regular HD after using only SSDs)

 

I have seen the Crucial M500 480 m.2 ssd pretty reasonable like 230-250 usd or so, these have been pretty reliable for me in the past in msata form, I found these on Amazon and Ebay from solid sellers. As in the current ram installed see the pic below.

 

Thanks GT. i will have to research if the CL9 vs CL 11 ram would have any noticeable gaming benefit.

 

Thanks! Can you show me the SPD tab so I can see the details RE: the stick?

I.E.:

(click to enlarge)

Just need to see one stick represented (assuming all are the same).

EDIT: and is the audio just Creative Sound Blaster on top of the Realtek motherboard audio or is it an actual Sound Blaster discrete chip?

 

Ok keep us informed on any benefits you might find.

Additional memory details below.

 

Indeed very good review[1]!!!
Did you notice CPU-Z validation[2] does not report the VRAM correctly? It figures only 4GB.

[1] MSI GT80 Titan Review (2x GTX980m) (023UK) | KitGuru
[2] CPU-Z Validator 4.0

 

It's 8GB 980Ms; theose cards do exist and can use all 8GB. CPU-Z is probably not updated enough yet.

 

Anyone else had problems with the palm rest getting permanently dented after even short usage of resting fingers/arms?

Another question I had was with RAM compatibility.
The Hynix DDR3L 1600, are they compatible with the 1600 DDR3 from the GT70? Not sure if the GT70 ones were DDR3L or not, but they definitely are DDR3. All 8GB.

If they are, how do I actually remove the top cover? Can't see any sliders/buttons/screws to undo it. Do I need to open the bottom to access the top?

 

That's for certain, I believe it's still true all MXM 980Ms are 8GB.

 

No, the MSI GT70 and GT60 come with 3GB and 6GB variants... unless the 3GB variants are soldered and they don't make this public?

 

You can run CPU-Z and look at the SPD tab to see specifics about the RAM in your GT70.

GTEVO ran it (above) on his GT80 Titan SLI (thank you, btw!) and his is stocked with Hynix (a.k.a. Hyundai) HMT41GS6BFR8A-PB. My ASUS G751 has nearly the same - HMT41GS6AFR8A-PB. The most important thing (outside of generic compatibility) is to make sure you get 1.35v memory; NOT 1.50v.

 

OK, so if the RAM in the GT70 is 1.35v, 1600 Mhz and DDR3 (no matter DDR3 or DDR3L), it should be compatible regardless of brand?

The other thing I just noticed is that my GT80 has Intel Graphics Driver installed. In Hardware manager, I don't see any Intel graphics card though unlike on the GT70. Safe to uninstall?

 

Not necessarily - just find out the info in the SPD tab and then Google the memory to make sure it is the same/similar as the GT80 memory. We can't know unless you provide the SPD info.

The Intel Graphics driver is for when your CPU's Intel graphics are running (versus the GTX 980M SLI) to save battery. So do not uninstall.

 

If you use the GPU button to switch GPU's, reboot, you will then see the Intel IGP listed in the Device Manager. So no, do not uninstall the Intel driver. Also, if you check Intel's website, there is probably a newer driver available to install.

 

Anyone used the Coolermaster SF-19 cooler? i think i might give it a shot, if anyone has another recommendation im listening!

 

Hello, I'm a newbie but I've been reading all of this topic aswell as the gt72 and asus g751 lounges.

I watched many video reviews of the Titan from Xotic, Gentech etc.

In the end, I never considered the Titan as a possible purchase because of the price til when, today, I saw a new model gt80 Titan-047 which seems to run one single 980m for about 2500-2600$ and it should be released in early/mid February.

I like to play games but I don't require the top spec laptop (I couldn't afford it anyway). So here I have some questions:

1) From what you've been hearing and testing on your Titans, would you recommend the gt80 with single 980m over the gt72 and the g751 (both with 980m of course)? I am not planning to move it from my desk, so the weight is not a problem.

2) I'm a newbie so this could be a wrong/stupid question... from the video reviews it seemed that the CPU heat is being shared between both the fans... how do you think the cooling will change with one single 980m? Will they re-design the motherboard or they will just remove one of the graphic cards? I've been thinking on this because if they just remove one 980m then one fan will have to handle only "half" of the CPU heat... while the other fan will have to handle the 980m and the other "half" of the CPU heat... what do you think?

Thanks for help
Rhona

 

Information on the wrong VBIOS sent to MSI. Today I received the answer that VBIOS replaced by N16E-GX_8GB_84.04.35.00.17 (GTX 980M 8GB)

http://www.msi.com/support/nb/GT80-2QE-Titan-SLI.html#down-firmware

 

I think it would be worth getting it still over a GT72. Since you do not plan on moving it around the larger screen will be nice and of course the keyboard can't be beat.

I am interested if they will change the cooling in anyway. If I had to guess I would say everything stays the same except for the second GPU being installed in there. I don't think this will effect the CPU temps much if any though as they are right around the temps we see on other models with the same CPU already.

 

If affordability is an issue - monitor NewEgg's open box deals. They regularly have open box GT72s and G751s with GTX 970M and GTX 980M GPUs. I was able to score my G751 with GTX 980M for around $1800. You can save around $300-$500 and enjoy a 30 day return policy - let the others buy new and be faced with a potential 15% restocking fee. Mine came looking brand new...and all of the initial quality horror reports that I heard were not present.

I went for the G751 over the GT72 due to the screen and reviews. I do not have a concern about GPU/CPU upgrade ability as I feel it is pointless (at ~$900 for a single MXM GTX 980M - better to sell laptop and buy a new one). I'm very happy with the G751.

Currently considering a GT80 Titan SLI simply because of the power. You can never have enough.

 

Ah cool thanks
Since the date stamp on the replaced file is January 2014 (not 2015), I presumably won't need it?

 

I just tried updating EC firmware to 1812EMS1.103 but neither the ecflash.bat nor the winflash.exe/winflash64.exe are working.

UAC/SmartScreen/AV are disabled. Executing the exe or bat files results in a command window opening for a split second and vanishing again.

Any ideas?

 

you should just execute the bat file from a dos window, it will do the EC Flash operation for you.

 

Probably mean January 2015

Sorry for my English. Google Translate translates

 

You may also consider the GT80 Titan SLI-071[1]. It has dual 970M with 6GB each and the price is about $100 more than the 047.

[1] http://us.msi.com/product/nb/GT80-Titan-SLI-GTX-970M-SLI.html#hero-specification

 

Does any reseller other than Newegg have the 009 model in stock? Prostar seems to have the best deal on the 001 (in terms of pricing of upgrades), but they are not offering the 009.

 

Unfortunately this update doesn't work for me.
Whenever I have the USB drive with unetbootin installation inserted during boot, the laptop becomes completely unresponsive and stuck.
The moment I pull it out, boot continues as normal. If I then stick it back in, everything stalls again

 

So my GT80 arrived yesterday. Unfortunatly my internet is down at the moment at home so I was unable to actually use it to to any extent.

So first thing, with the Australian edition, is that it doesn't come with a backpack at all. I was quite disapointed with the cost being $6299 AUD and that working out to $4,893.53 USD I was expecting to have it all packed in and then some.

The good news is that it is the 4980HQ cpu, with 32gb of ram and was pleasently surprises as I was told it would come with 2 x 128gb msata drives but it turns out to come with 4 x 256gb msata drives.

The only think I could really compare with my old 18" Toshiba laptop it that this thing sounds amazing. The speaker are awe inspiring for a laptop.

Hopefully my net comes back next week so I can actually get on steam and download some games.

 

Flashed 1812EMS1.103 just now (EC Update) by running winflash64.exe with the 1812EMS1.103 file in cmd window in Win8 and then shutting down.
On reboot (all unplugged), spamming DEL didn't bring up BIOS and booted to Win. Had to reboot and enter BIOS to then load optimized defaults and save+restart.
Noticed since this EC Update that my fans are sounding a bit different - right side always on, left side intermittent.
Also hear a little bit of a rattle on the right fan now and occassional clicks that sound like the secondary SATA HDD(?)

That normal after this EC update or did something mess up?

 

Woo-Hoo, my GT80 Titan SLI-009 will be here tomorrow!

 

Thank you for the answers...

I honestly would go for one single 980m not only for the price (I'm already on, if not above, my budget) and I read that some applications that don't support SLI would probably run even worse on a SLI... I mostly play Second Life and I've been reading of FPS issues on SLI configurations... what do you think? Of course the possibility of having 2x 970m is quite interesting...

That's what I thought... but wouldn't the cooling performances increase if they move the CPU on one side, dedicating one fan entirely to the CPU only and leaving the other cooling the GPU only? Of course we are talking about the single GPU model (Titan 047)

Rhona

 

Well that's quite the happy surprise on drives!! Definitely worth a lot more than a backpack ha! Let us know how you like the laptop.

 

That probably would help to dedicate a whole fan. But to move the CPU would require a new motherboard design and I dont see that happening as the temps are still really good as is.

 

I don't know. Indeed, it's possible to have conditions that will render the performance of an SLI worse than a single GPU but I can't tell why Second Life is having a negative impact.
According to Nvidia[1] Second Life does support SLI.
Are you sure the low performance is not caused by a third party viewer?
I can't help you further on that because I don't use Second Life.

[1] http://www.geforce.com/games-applications/pc-games/second-life