~GX660(R) Owner's Lounge~

Man, you already have a very good performance! I'd keep my config, if I were you. Save the money to buy a new rig (adding more savings, of course)
To play online, just reduce your res to 1600x900 and you are good to go. Personally I'm playing at 1280X720 on Ultra and 4xAA. It's smooth as a silk, and it's been better to see things a little bigger, to tell you the truth, as I'm an old man with some vision loss

 

I overclocked my GPu to 800/1020 (I know it's not much but I want to play it safe) and it gave me 2-3 more fps in BF3 on high settings. Can't wait for new ATI drivers, hope it will run even better.
And for multiplayer I play on low setings in full hd. This gives me 40+ fps which is enough for me plus game still looks great.
I just can't stand lower resolution, looks too blurry to me.

 

Best settings for me (taking into account power/heat) are 805/1075MHz with stock VBIOS (= 1.05V). If you go beyond 805 you'll have to over-volt to 1.125 flashing with RBE to avoid random artifacts (tested with Oblivion. OCCT didn't report errors but Oblivion had sporadic artifacts!) but this will increase also heat....
So here are my recommended settings you can adjust from Catalyst "Overdrive" panel: 805/1075 @ 1.05V.



If you don't care about heavy fan noise you can theoretically push it at 910/1150 @1.15 with Turbo + max-fax ON, but I do care about noise!

P.S.
Don't worry for my CPU temps: switched from stock i5 460M to i7 840qm

 

Running at 850/1020 now. For some reason I cannot get my memory higher (tried 1030 and bf3 hanged up). Temp is ok and no artifacts noticed. What do you think about kombustor. Is it better to use 3dmark for testing?

 

Finished ordering everything for my 6990M upgrade, and I have to say the 180w PSU was a massive pain in the a$$ to find in the UK. Hopefully everything will start arriving this week and I just can't wait to upgrade and report back

On my 5870M I completed BF3 on 800/1100 perfectly fine on these near ultra settings - averaging about 40+/- FPS.

 

Not all cards are created equally but I'm running 1.15 (the bios are available on these forums somewhere) and i'm perfectly stable at 900/1035. Max temps with my 920xm @ 3.0ish are around 83-85c. I'm getting between 40-45 avg on BF3 @ 1080p, high texture, med all else, no AA, 16x AF, hbao vsync and blur off. Full 64 man conquest. If I drop the reso to a custom in 1000s I get avg of 50-55. The game feels so much smoother though.

Like geocake I have my 6990m coming in the mail now. Shipper said it should be here around Wednesday. Ive have had my 180w Targus since I got my 920xm about 6 months ago. It is great and I've had no problems with it. Make sure you get the right tip adapters with it though. Can't wait to see how the card handles BF3. We should have some powerful GX660s.

 

I think I will back down to 875/1175 for 24/7 since its happy at the stock voltage.

 

Couldn't find the 180w Targus anywhere at all, afaik it has been discontinued unfortuantely. Settled for a 180w Alienware Li Shin 0415B19180, which I was lucky to find it cheap 2nd hand.. it's like £50-90 new :S Someone confirmed that it works so I think I am cool. Ordered IC Diamond 7, some Akasa Thermal Pads - did research from every 6970/6990M related thread and these seemed to be the best + borrowed a Dremel tool from my friend

That's us maxing BF3, and in the very near future, Skyrim

 

Lower DisplayIO core to 800 and you should be able to increase VMEM clock without artifacts/hangs. The game will look smoother with higher VMEM than core clock...

Beyond 800 @ 1.05V (= stock voltage) is not stable, not with all games for sure at least...

Yes, when you increase the voltage you can go beyond 800, up to 9xx... but the fan noise will also increase as the heat grows...
I've seen there are some GX660(r) with 3 copper pipes on the GPU heat-sink:



Mine has just 2.

What temp? Consider that HWMonitor, Everest, MSI Afterburner, Catalyst Overdrive panel and many others will report just the DisplayIO. VMEM with this laptop is usually + ~10°C, so if Catalyst or HWMonitor say you're at 83 you're actually around 92°C for the VMEM (you can see this with HWiNFO or GPU-z Temp #2)....

This card gives a big boost (+50%) but leeches a lot of W, and gets very hot AFAIK (unsuitable for a 15,6" with a single fan?)...

 

With a 6970M and 2 hours of Crysis 2 cranked up with DX11 on, this guy (Thanatospy) managed to keep it cool at 60C MAX..

Thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/msi/568347-ati-6970m-gx660r-13.html

That's way better than a stock 5870M =|

Anyhow the 6990M looks almost identical, blah blah, blah, it all looks good in theory and fingers crossed it works.

 

Well every game I have tested so far is happy at 875 @ 1.05V, every chip is different.

 

Same, I was using 860/1025 before the voltage increase and was stable in the games I play. If I raised up the memory I would get crashes occasionally. I used CCC to OC before, now I'm using Trixx.

I doubt I'll be getting those results, but I'll have to check out the thread later to see how that was done.

The increased fan does increase as heat increases for sure, up to its max if needed, but since I use turbo fan when I game it is always 100%, and with headphones it doesn't bother me at all. My Non-R GX660 also has the 3rd pipe. Guess I'm lucky because that might help a bit with the temps. I am using GPU-Z and HWMonitor when I check my temps. My reported temps were from GPU-Z (highest value), and I haven't even repasted my card from stock. My ambient temp is low, and my laptop is sitting on a NC-2000 which helps a bit as well. I'm hoping that I'll be able to get temps in the mid 80s when I game. I don't plan to do any OC, and will most likely undervolt the card. I think they've been discussing that over in the alienware forums.

 

The only time I've ever kicked in turbo fan is when I'm doing some h264 encoding. My GPU stays cool even though it's overclocked. Granted, I'm modded and on top of a Zalman NC2000.

 

Games like Oblivion, Two Worlds 2 etc. will show sporadic flickering lines when playing with stock 1.05V over 800/805MHz. Other games run fine... and this means it's not "stable" to me (at least not with all games). Confirmed no crashes however.

...about 60°C with 6970M he said:

though...

Of course! If you're used to play with headphones you can even put a 60cm fan under the laptop!

Who's got only 2 pipes here?
I'd like my GX660 had 3 pipes with 100% copper heatsink, not just 2 pipes with mixed copper-aluminium in some parts...

I've learned the best cooling pad are those with a concave surface like the Belkin F5L055 and others:

also with a modest fan. MUCH better (something like -8/-9°C) compared to standard plain cooling pads with 3-5 fans (~ -4/-5°C when you're lucky).

 

Mmmmh... I've just found I had Catalyst A.I. = Advanced and some gamers say this may cause artifacts....
This could explain why some users here said 850+ is safe for them without issues or crashes and with stock voltage (1.05V). Do you have Cat AI disabled?

EDIT: just tested. No, also if I disable AI there are still sporadic artifacts....

 

Same, only got 2 pipes on my R model. Kinda annoying, but it's not the end of the world. If pras1011 was fine with it, pretty sure I will be too. I am adamant that the IC Diamond 7 compound and pads will make up for it tbh. If you have 3 pipes, then that's nothing to worry about at all

 

Mine is set on standard. Could you upload a screenshot showing your artifact problem. I will install oblivion and check if I got the same.

 

Here is the SaveGame and the screenshot of intermittent gfx glitch:



Oblivion (and its total lack of 3D engine optimization) seems too picky about overclocking: other games have no visible artifacts...
When you increase to >800MHz with stock voltage 1.05V it will display those issues.

Skyrim will save us all!

 

Fn+F2 shortcut stopped working for me. Anyone knows how to fix it?

 

I use the Cooler Master NotePal U3, with 3 fans ( http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003ZMF27G). It does its job very well. And since I decided to remove the laptop bottom a couple of weeks ago, temps have dropped dramatically, about -8ºC on CPU and almost -10 on GPU, which was cool before, anyway. That piece of plastic makes a lot of difference (for the worse, when it comes to temperature).
Of course this is only possible with a static lappy, a desktop replacement like mine. Anyway, when I get my new Sager (which is stuck somewhere and a lot late ), I'll have to close it again, as it will have a new owner.
Greetz.

 

With one of those concave cooling pads I'm sure you'll gain -4/5°C more. Believe me (tested by 1st person) they are much more efficient than a 10x fans plane pad, and even much less noisy
Of course if they push fresh air directly on the heatsink (without the plastic case below) it's not a surprise you can gain -8/10°C...

 

The 8ºC degrees drop I said is compared to the previous temp with the bottom on and the Master Cooler, I mean, the cooler has always been there. When it comes to CPU, I have aprox -8ºC when removing the bottom, but on GPU, the temp drop is incredible, maybe because it has a huge heatsink,and the fan is exactly the same size, so it covers all the heatsink area (just a guess). The scheme for GPU, for instance, is: over a wooden table and bottom on: 70ºC max. Over the Cooler Pad, bottom on, with one of the fans directly on GPU heatsink: 64ºC max. Bottom removed, over the cooler pad, one fan directly on the heatsink: surprisingly 51ºC (swear to my son) max. I thought that playing BF3 would increase GPU temps, but I was wrong. I played the entire campaign yesterday, with just minor breaks, and the temp's never gone beyond these 51ºC.

 

Some questions:
1. The procedure to replace the display was something like this: http://www.lenovoarvutid.ee/lcd/instructions-replacing-lcd-display.pdf ?
2. There are no screws on the GX660... how did you remove the bezel around the display?
3. I've seen the model LP156WF1-TLC1 exists either matte or glossy... yours is matte?
4. Does it support also 1366x768?
5. The 40pin connector is at bottom left on the display?

@Velho
WOW! 20°C with direct fan on the aluminum/copper GPU heatsink!

 

thats madness!

 

Hmmmm yes and no. It is similar in the sense most laptop displays are like that but its way easier for the GX660. The plastic bezel does not have screws, so you simply pull it out. It's easy and you can do it with your fingers, try pulling it up from the inside portion (where the LCD is) lifting the plastic bezel and it should pop out.

Inside there will be 8 (each side is 1 top and 3 bottom) screws supporting the back plastic bezel, and I believe 6 (3 screws per side, on the sides of the LCD) screws holding the screen in the metal support and hinges.

The cable is in the bottom left (looking at the laptop from behind) and it is held by yellow tape.

The LVDS cable is held additionally by another tape, transparent. the key here is removing the yellow tape, and then slowly remove the transparent tape carefully until you are not touching the connector with the tape, and pull gently to remove it from its place.

see above

Mine is glossy, I didn't know there was a matter option. Doesn't matter, it love it as is haha.

Technically... yes. However that particular resolution is a travesty in its existance haha since it is not true 16:9 res for 1 pixel or so. I don't advise such res at any rate because if you are going to play at such low res, might as well choose the real 1280x720 res, or higher ones like 1600x900.

yep

 

This is yours?

 

Yeah, tho I dunno about PIEXLS!! haha. Yeah that seems to be the model with the connector on the bottom left side.

 

hey boys and girls, i have an question about a setting in bios, it regards the sata mode option; mine is set to raid(have an gx660 not the R version, shoul i set it to ide(its not a ssd) ? take care everbody

 

You should use either AHCI or RAID (AHCI for single, raid for if you are going to use 2 drives).

IDE should only be used a diagnostic setting or for flashing new SSD firmware which requires it to be set.

 

BTW I found what broke my fn+f2 shortcut. Stay away from 11.10 ATI drivers. Using 11.9 now and everything is fine.

 

Anyone know how to make the RAM work on 1333Mhz? I know my RAM is 1333 but runs at around 1033Mhz...

 

Depending on your CPU it may only support that.

 

All first gen i7s are limited to 1333? I have an OCed 920XM 3.0Ghz on all 4 cores. Maybe it's cause I have a 2GB and a 4GB and they need to be x2 matching 4GBs?

 

Hi there,

I bought a GX660 3 month ago. Last week, after automatic windows update, I turned off the laptop.
Now Each time I turn it on, the keyboard and the touchpad doesn't work when win7 is loaded.

The strange thing is that it works normally when I'm in the bios(!!)

I tried different ways to fix this issue but no one succeded :
- keyboard drivers removed from device manager in windows and reboot
- boot on windows setup cd : no KB
- boot on linux liveUSB : no KB
- Bios update and various driver update : nothing better
...

Since I'm in france and the european MSI service seems terrible, I would try everything before sending my laptop back to MSI.

Did you have any idea to solve my problem??

 

Try running one stick.

 

Just did and same thing. Timing is 7-7-7-20 But how do I get 9-9-9-24 which would equal 667mhz x2 = 1333

Can't change anything in the Bios cause it's all locked ._.

 

Same here Geo, I have 1333 Gskill and its also stuck at the same timings as yours.

 

I've done it!!





Upgraded to a wonderful AUO B156HW01 V.4 (matte!) with some of the best reviews ever made for a laptop display:
Advertising - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News

Some videos on YT too... honestly I was after V.1 but then I've read V.4 was even better with an extended Gamut (95% sRGB!!) and wider vertical angles!

V.1 reviews:
Review Schenker XMG P500 PRO Gaming Notebook - Notebookcheck.net Reviews
Review Eurocom Racer Gaming-Notebook (2720QM / HD 6970M) - Notebookcheck.net Reviews
Review Schenker XMG P501 Gaming-Notebook (Clevo P150HM) - Notebookcheck.net Reviews
... and V.4 is even better!

V.5 (original GX660 screen) was far inferior with horrible blacks, contrast, and vertical viewing angles:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-MSI-GT663R-Gaming-Notebook.44271.0.html

 

Nice! Thanks for the pictures. Wish I could get one of those LVDS cables to install my new screen. Guess I'll just have to keep looking.

 

Hope the pics can help others interested in changing the original mediocre display.
You don't need new special cables... You just need to find a good LED display with 40pin video-port in the bottom left (seen from behind).

 

Oh, he has the GX660 non R version, and those have another type of LVDS cable.

 

Ya anyone hating their FHD screen and want to swap LVDS cables?

Maybe I'll be able to get one from a spare parts dead GX660, but at that point I'll be selling this laptop anyways. I may be without my 23" monitor, not sure yet if I can bring it with me yet. I'm so used to this huge, great screen. Think it might be worth a shot to call MSI again and see if I get a different rep on the phone.

 

Maybe hexaae can provide you with serial number of his cable? So you can have more option when you call msi

 

I have GX660, non R version. Didn't have to change cables or whatsoever.... just connected the AUO V4 to the 40pins video-connector.
Can you provide a pic of what kind of cable is that?

 

any chance you bought it with fullhd screen installed? if you could provide us with the cable serial no, that will be very helpful, but if its too much hassle then dont sweat it

thanks

 

Oh! That's it! Yes, my Italian model -262it was FHD, horrible AUO V.5 (only good brightness and definition, the rest was very mediocre). I should have to re-desmount the whole display part... better don't mess around too much with that, sorry
Maybe Google search can help?

 

lucky you ^^ the fullhd lvds cable is even harder to find than any replacement screen, lotta people like me that bought the laptop without fullhd screen have a hard time upgrading our screen just because we couldnt find the cable.

if its not asking too much, next time you open the screen (if ever), please jot down the serial no and let us know here, just for future references, it will definitely help a lotta people ^^

cheers

 

I expressly opted for the FHD version (the price difference was minimal)...
Wasn't that hard http://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=151616.0
Asking directly to MSI? Maybe they can sell single parts...

 

My price differences was substantial at the time, so i picked the regular screen, if i had known how ugly the screen was or how difficult it is to find the lvds cable, id pick the fullhd screen, it seems the price is justified from my present point of view, lol.

The reason im asking is that im hoping your serial no. be different than what i already had, as you can see, im the starter of that thread as well as of now im just collecting the fullhd lvds serial no. since i found tons of the regular ones, but so far found only two that supports fullhd.

Not all msi (countrywise) sells parts, so if people actually found one msi, in the closest country, that sells parts, itd be better for them if they have several part no. as alternatives, coz sometimes they sold out, have different part no., or simply discontinued.

For full review please visit my other thread , lol
http://forum.notebookreview.com/msi...on-r-screen-upgrade-1080p-b156hw01-v-4-a.html

 

Ooops!

Didn't know this problematic aspects of our GX660(r)....