-->*OFFICIAL: MSI GT725 Owner's Lounge*<--

I had a bud who picked up a GT725 (WUXGA version), and while over gaming (We decided to try Arenas in WoW with both of us side by side), we decided to try an extra OEM QX9300 in it.

Good news: It works (no shock there)

Bad news, Under full load, mild Turbo engaged (~2.65ghz) CPU will downclock to Speedstep levels, GPU will downclock or both sometimes. This is with performance plan selected and I never knew the Fan could get that LOUD trying to cool everything down in a 1722 chassis. We took the bottom off and propped it up for maximum air intake and it still would bog down. Seems like it may be a power issue too with any overclocks the CPU would downclock with temps still low and Prime95 running on all 4 cores and shoot back up then back down regardless of fan activity.

The unit WILL run at stock across the board under load, but that fan revs up to a level I've never heard before trying to keep everything cool and it is blazing hot.

I tried to get him to let me pop the 4850 out to take a looksy, but he is very protective of his new baby, heh.

I'm glad it answered the question for me and lets me know for now at best, with stock settings across the board, it can use a QX9300 but the fan is on hovercraft mode.

To show him the difference, I popped the QX9300 in an 1722-ID2 I have now and under the same load the fan was half as loud and temps were ~10 cooler (Note: This is with everything enclosed. With both systems wide open, CPU temps were about the same).

It makes sense for MSI to sell these with the P series chips or the bare minimum Q9000. I'm not sure of the power draw or heat of the 4850's, but yowza.

If I could have, I would have borrowed his system over night and ran more extensive tests, but we had to get back to realizing Arenas are the suck in WoW.

 

then you missed a few pages, because there are gaming comparisons. or pages where people speak on how well it performs while gaming....

 

what program can i use to moniter the cpu clock speeds and the gpu clock speeds while gaming.

 

I normally use GPU-Z, CPU-Z along with HWMonitor for all my tracking when able when stress testing systems to see if anything downclocks along with watching temps.

 

See my sig.

 

Thanks for answering Its to bad this machine cant handle the Qx9300 overclocked, when the 5797 can . I guess the clevos thermals are just so much beefier then MSI's.

 

sounds like a bios correction could fix that....

 

well i think the psu is limiting it. with my t9400 is mine, the psu never even got hot. but since i put my qx9300, my psu is very very warm.

 

Yes most of these machines(17inch) come with 130w power supplys it seems, which is right on the brink of not enough juice . Your OCZ i think has a 180w PS if im not mistaken ? so that should be good enough though with 2x3870s and a Qx9300 thats probably really pushing it as well.

 

oh no. your wrong. i have a 300w psu. and 230w is used effectively.

 

Ahh i thought it was much lower . When i had a Alienware 9750 i thought that was a 180w but its been awhile since i had it and just assumed they used the same PS. Well if you have 300w PS you should be fine though im sure its going to get hot with all that stuff in there .

 

That was the other reason, outside of general curiosity, I wanted to try. I am looking at the 5797 with the GTX280M (Refresher: NP5797, M98, D900F and a far fourth now the W90Vp are on my "to do" list....but a 14k-15k 06 score would be nice), but the GT725 has its strong points...a lighter weight and a smidge thinner. I love the form factor of the 1722 chassis, but until getting a chance to try it out myself to see how any minor (if any) changes and the 4850 running with a Quad would work.

I know the QX9300 is a power monster and can throw off some heat, but the difference between it and the P series in regards to heat and power draw is definitely there in the GT725.

He picked the GT725 because of the form factor (he liked the ID2, but gaming wise it was a little under powered with the 9600M GT) but also for ~$1650 shipped it was in his budget, he needed something now and he loves it. His stock OC on the GPU had to go with the QX9300 followed with the turbo settings. Only thing different was the CPU swap and then everything went south under load.

If a system can handle full screen Real Time for GPU and Prime 95 all cores under load simultaneously for an hour+ rock solid, it can handle just about anything thrown at it, IMHO.

 

trying now. (well in 5min) i want to test it out on my system for to hard and see what temps and stuff i get. i am at 3.2ghz now should i down it to 3.07 or test it stock?

 

Im in the same boat as you atm with what machines i am eyeballing but recently its mainly been the W90 .I like the 5797 alot, but im not sure i want a single card solution anymore in a notebook as i want the speed if im going to spend . The m98 looks pretty nice except for all the shiny plastic Ugg not my style as i hated on other notebooks i had and if stays that way i might pass+no real date on when . The m6400 has me very intrigued though and its only a single card machine but LED screens and backlit keyboards make me look at this machine more and more but sadly 0 overclocking on the CPU front from what i have read (you had one why did you sell it ?). Lastly the MSI i like the style and performance and the pricing is very nice especially for the cheaper model which is what i have been eyeballing for abit , but alas if it can not hold a Qx9300 OCed then im not interested .

 

Something else odd I discovered while going back over my post. I realized the GT725 wouldn't push up to a baseline (16%) 2.93 OC on the QX9300. So I wanted to test that on my ID2 (I've mainly dealt with ID1s). The turbo function on this new ID2, no matter the BIOS setting, will never go over ~4-5% on the Quad Core same as on the GT725 (which is an ID2 chassis). No matter what I do, it will peak at 2628mhz while in downclock-a-palooza meets Fanwars 2009. In addition, with turbo setting, it downclocks to speed step settings, but at stock it will stay at 2.53 (~2528). But with the power/heating issues, I can see why. I just "borrowed" my daughter's T9400 out of her new, shiny ID1 and it hit 2.93ghz (16%) no problem and ran fine.

In summary (again), the QX9300 runs fine at stock on the GT725 and 1722-ID2, but Turbo on both stops at 4-5% and is unstable while the stock P9500 (Gt725) and the T9400 (Tested in the ID2) run fine and OC as expected.

Update: If the unit is under NO load....it will *occassionally* bounce up to 2.93ghz with the Quad then back down then back down to 2628. Under ANY meaningful load, it will choke and step down to ~1650mhz. Once the load is lifted, it jumps back up to 2628 and if left idle for a few minutes, it will then sometimes flirt with 2.93 but mainly stays at 2628.


Hmmmm......

This *really* makes the Whitebook/M17 that much more appealing atm.

I owned two M6400's with QX9300's and the 3700. The 3700 is very fast (basically a larger, hotter, slower GTX280M). But the form factor did me in. those Corners of death just were brutal on my forearms as I tend to let my arms rest on the outer corners of the palm rest. Battery life was pretty dismal, but the WUXGA+ RGB LED screen was beyond gorgeous. That is its main selling point. The colors were sick on that thing.

 

If the M17s had 4870s be it DDR3 or DDR5 i might consider it again, but since OCZ dropped the ball and they were the enthusiast end of that machine ie new bios new cards etc, i have 0 faith alienware will ever do anything more with it and from the looks of it thats where any new updates will be coming from and they dont even allow OCing the CPUs . The Qx9300 in that machine as well has had some issues from what i have read when OCed also which spooked me abit and lastly i dont want 3870s period and its not that there bad but i want some newer tech then those. I really like the MSI so it really is a bummer about the Quad acting flaky but maybe a bios release could fix it im not sure , i also think its going to need a hefty PS then the stock one that it ships with and maybe thats why you cant get full power out of the CPU or its acting nuts(throttling) because of the lack of power its needing.

 

quad dont count it out yet. trust me i cant post info but the 4870's have not been counted out by flex...

 

Yeah, even at stock, with a Prime95 4 core burn in, the PSU, in my cool workshop basement, was running rather toasty. This is on an ID2 w/ the 9600M GT at stock no less. WUXGA screen is pretty I must say, but 1440x900 / 1680x1050 is where my heart belongs methinks.

The M17/AW seem to be stable with the QX's at 3ghz and that's a good, stable OC (~20-24%), to be able to work rock solid with 3870 Xfire.

I'll be interested to see how the W90Vp does with a QX9300 in there or to see how far a Q9000 can be poked/prodded.

I am sitting back and wondering if AW is going to actually bring 4870's to market for their M17's.

Hopefully this is all made clear by late May when I have to pull the trigger on something to be assured it is here and set up before vacationfest 2009 starts this summer and fall.

 

with the ocz bios the m17 can do 3.2 stable if the cpu can. 3.3 possible but ive only seen it once and be stable

 

sorry i ran prime fine with my whitebook. for about 57mins. i couldnt wait the extra 3.Lol. but it was at 3.07ghz. I would try higher. but i couldnt bear to wait any longer. Lol. i think that zfactor can raise it up alot more.

 

Thanks for the info Z and hopefully something comes to light sooner or later on the elusive 4870 DDR5 that everyone keeps speaking of .

Ill be making my decision in the next few weeks, i had my heart set on the W90 and upgrading to a Qx9300 in a few months after that, but theres problems with the X38 chipset and crossfire and no one can seem to figure it out YET so ill be holding off for now, as i dont want a machine i cant install new video drivers on and while i like being a guinea pig of sorts, not to that degree anymore .

 

so now the the m17/ocz is back in the picture for you?

 

So far, the chassis MADE to really let the QX9300 be what it was meant to be seems to be the Whitebook/M17.

I've just got to switch over my thought process to Vantage, as it is more accurate in regards to GPU performance isolated.

 

each chip is weaker or stronger in overclocking. its all in luck of the draw. sounds like your chip is unable to overclock. you could try hacking it to increase the voltage slightly so you can over clock but the cooling system is not designed for that and you would really risk smoking your chip. I would just use the autotune feature if you are going to overclock. eventually it degrade ,since overclocking 'ages' a chip must faster, you will see auto tune using lower and lower clocks later in its life.

 

turbo relies on a 32 bit program. so it doesn't work in 64 bit os's this in my opinion is a bad oversight on MSI (besides shipping a laptop with 4gigs and only 32 bit OS)

 

http://forums.guru3d.com/showpost.php?p=3030980&postcount=536

It can monitor FPS/GPU/CLOCKS/CPU while in a game at full screen. real handy its for vista 32 bit only though

 

Yep Vantage is telling you more of the real story, as where 3dmark06 is more like the cliff notes version .

 

Could someone help me.

I've bought a GT725 from the UK but live in the Czech Republic and will obviously be getting a uk style plug.

Would this be okay?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&item=250388436240 be okay?

The only reason i asked is i saw frostycomputers sell the leads but they want $20 and then.. and this is the funny part EU lead is $20,

Shipping to czech republic via
USPS.com priority international is $24.50
USPS.com express mail is $32.50
UPS.com is $60

So in total $44.50 for a lead that i can get for $4 on ebay.

Cheers

 

thank redlance u been very helpful XD

 

im in a never ending cycle of reinstalling the display drivers and such. not really sure whats going on but i followed your steps to the bone. Maybe its my 64 os or something.

i didn't know that turbo mode requires a 32 os. my turbo button is useless now.

 

Finally got my GT725-210UK today. Ran some 3dMark 06
Result is good. Used the stock driver came with the comp (v8.56)
Haven't got time to upgrade it to 9.3

1280x1024
Default: 10224
Turbo: 10226

1920x1200
Default: 8760
Turbo: 8814

Will try the vantage when I have time

 

Hi all. I have updated my driver to 9.3 But dunno if that's right

My old vantage mark with 8.56 driver during turbo mode was 5546 and 5657 with 9.3 driver (so improved by around 100pts)

But 3dmark 06 result was 10158 with 9.3, dropped from 10226 with 8.56

Is this normal?

 

@ faisalhero

Hi!

I get probably in the next few days changelogs for the BIOS update(s).
I will also ask, what the "EC firmware" is meant. I think that it is a part of the BIOS (*.rom)!?!

We now have a German forum for the GT725 and I need the info for the user there.

If I know more, I write to you.

Greetingz

Chris

 

I was excited about getting this laptop until I found out it doesn't come with the software that plays newer Blu Ray movies. Called MSI and they don't seem to care about it.

 

What do you mean, newer blueray movies? have they changed?

 

I'm guessing so. I can't play Quantum of Solace(own), but I can play Walk Hard(rented today). When I put in Quantum, it tells me I have to update my player. My player is updated with the latest firmware version for it and MSI informed me it was the software. I don't know a whole lot about bluray discs or players, so If anyone knows otherwise, please let me know.

 

I think there are a few players out there, will do some scouting and report back my findings (Y).

Cata.

 

yeah. I have WInDVD 8 right now and it plays the older ones.

 

the 64bit os has the drivers arranged just a tad different. best bet is to examine the inf in http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=364393
and see how he did it. or wait till www.donotargue.com post the 9.3 dna drivers they have all the info and already the dna_vista is ready for the msi laptop. i told you it was only for 32bit vista :/

 

this is the old blue ray copy protection thing. this blue ray will only play when the drivers and such for the player get updated (windvd). Also MPAA hates computer blueray players. so let WinDvd update/or connect to the net and update the lovely drm.

 

Just tried to update it. Cannot install the WINDVD latest upgrade patch because the version MSI gave me is not valid. Or at least that is the error I get. I checked all over the information of WINDVD and because I cannot find a serial number, I cannot even email Corel tech regarding the issue. -_-

 

hey pls help i have bought the gt725 but it comes with the 32 bit wondows vista ... i bought it from amazon ... its the dvd model ... the tech specs till now at amazon say taht they give a 64 bit vista ... i claimed and theyve arranged a replacement ... but i came to know that in the 64 bit turbo mode doent work ... what should be done .... i need some refund on this pls help

 

Stick with 32bit, I recon that the other 1GB of ram is routed to the GPU for extra memory (Im sat at 1700mb on my ATI card now) But i may be wrong.

 

I'm using a 32bit vista, so only 3GB of memory can be addressed by the OS
I have used the other 1GB of memory as ramdisk for IE/firefox temporary file/downloading and also for windows temp folder as well.

You can also use it for windows page file if you want. So you dun really waste it.

 

Ok, so I got mine 070PL version which comes with fullHD screen, 500 Gb Hdd and p9500 processor. I just have V 32 bit on it and have some trouble finding the modded 9.3 cat inf file - any help there? Or will the 64bit work with 32bit installer?

Anyway the added Vegas 2 and Fallout 3 work perfect in high nominal, though Clear Sky has to have 1600 or 1400 resolution to work smoothly. Looking at my old 8600Gt it's still one hell of a kick with awesomenes, and I still haven't changed the drivers and turbo/oc'ing proc and gr.card

If mr. "Tester..." will read this - my screen is the same version as yours... it tottaly sucks :/ It's much darker than my previous 15'4. The maximum brightness is, let's say "normal" and any lower level is dark to the point that it makes everything unreadable in semi-bright room :/ There are 8 lvls of brightnes, and 7 of them are unacceptable for work/play in light daylight. The screen is bleeding at the bottom - which seems to be absolutely acceptable in the shadow of total darkness of the screen :/ If I had any other possibility to order the smaller version of gt725 I would... but the ones that had the same spec as mine are out of stock, and the ones that can be ordered in 1-2 months have smaller hdd and max p8600 :/

Guess I will just have to get by with makeing brightness in games just a level or two higher than I'm used to. Still the laptop is very nice, well made and comparing to 30% more expensive ones with 9800gt and such, great deal!

 

How to use RAM for paging or as temporary disk??

 

Crap! sounds like they are pulling an Asus number here and using a cracked version <sigh>

 

how did ya set it up to use it as swap space? This sounds spiffy