Considering an MSI GT70, have some questions that beg for answers

Greetings! Never been in this sub-forum before, coming from the Clevo/Sager side of things I hope to find my answers here for anything MSI-related

Currently, I have a somewhat solid config (in my signature), but it seems my gtx660m is not enough in terms of power.
I am considering a GT70 with an i7 4800MQ with either a gtx870m or gtx880m.
Option A: </title> < http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <title>MSI GT70 2PD87FD by: MSI - ONE Computer Shop
Option B: </title> < http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <title>MSI GT70 2PE12H11 by: MSI - ONE Computer Shop

Lets start with the questions:
1.) What are the GPU core temperatures between the two variants gtx880m and gtx870m in this model?
2.) Checking about the PSU, everywhere it lists as being 180W for both models; but gtx880m pulls 122W whereas the 870m about 100W. Now, how can the two variants have the same power supply unit? Personally, I think the gtx880m SHOULD have a 220W PSU to power the system, as anything smaller would eventually fry itself. Whats the deal with that?
3.) If I went with a gtx880m, can I potentially undervolt it to perform like a gtx870m and save myself some temperature headroom for the hot summer days?
4.) How many SATA slots does the GT70 have? (not counting the mSATA slots, as I wont be using those)
5.) Some articles say that when the GPU is in use, the CPU will not use its turbo boost. Do we have a modified BIOS that enables turbo boost while the GPU is running games? In my Clevo, Im using Prema's BIOS mod and it enabled Turbo Boost for my i7 3740QM while the gtx660m is turboing itself (which helped out quite a bit in some RTS games).
6.) Last but not least - how do you guys feel about the chassis itself, is it above the average stability or does it click and crack a lot? I'd throw my money on something that feels solid rather than some wonky plastic that bends from the slightest.

My personal thoughts on this MSI (from reading reviews and looking at pictures): it looks solid, has all the features I need, sound is going to be superb and I love the single-fan design. This will be easy to clean and the fan itself is bigger than average (meaning less RPM when idle, more airflow and less noise).

Now, I'm anxious to hear your opinions about it and hopefully good constructive answers on the listed questions Bring it!

EDIT 29-05-14: I got myself one of these, so far its absolutely great! Definitely recommending it to new buyers!

 

I own a GT70 from last year (with 770) but since I doubt much has changed when it comes to the chassi I thought I would share my opinion with regard to question number six . Take note, these are MY views on the matter so opinions will most likely differ .

I have mostly used clevo barebones before (p15**m, p17**m, p37**m, w230st), assembled by different resellers, and the quality difference is clearly noticable when compared against this MSI GT70 unit. The chassi feels alot more sturdy and robust, which may be because the machine is a lot bigger and bulkier than many of the clevo ones, and even though it consists primarily of plastic the feel of it is quite good. There is none of the sticky rubber coating used on the clevos, of which I am very thankful. The screen has some flex but better than what I am used to but it is noticable that the back end of the machine is heavier, so it may be a good thing to rest your palms firmly on the on the palmrest .

I would also like to point out that the keyboard is a dream to use compared to the ones I have used(use) on other laptops (especially compared to the clevos since they changed to the backlit version which is now primarily used, that thing is not pleasant at all) and that the trackpad is a big improvement as well.

These are of course just my thoughts on the chassi quality, when it comes to the entire experience of the machine the outcome of clevo vs msi is not as one sided.

 

For GT70 880M with ICD re-paste of heatsinks:

1) Running Furmark and 8-thread Prime 95 with Turbo fan mode, GPU sits at 86 C and CPU cores 72-76 C. GPU ran at 860 MHz and CPU ran at 2.8 GHz. Auto fan is a little more quiet but adds 3-4 C temp. Case/keyboard temps are cool to the touch in all cases. Air exhaust is pretty hot but not in the way of anything unless you are a left handed mouse user.

2) When needed, GT70 can run use both power adapter and battery to achieve >180W of power. Unless I am running artificial stress tests, I don't see this needed much and only lose a couple percent battery after 2 hours hours of gaming.

3) Theoretically yes, but not sure if Afterburner utility supports this yet and 880 will start underclocking anyway if temps exceed 90 C. Dont' think you need to manually tweak anything.

4) 2 SATA bays. However, only one bay supports a full size 2.5" drive. The other bay needs to be more slim. SSD shouldn't be a problem in either. You may want to go with the Super Raid adapter since that gives you 3 mSATA slots plus one full size SATA bay. You don't have to run mSATA in raid. They can each be separate drives in case you want a multi OS boot.

5) Not true. When I run a more "real life" benchmark like Unigen Valley, GPU goes to 993 MHz and CPU ranges from 3.3 to 3.6 GHz. It's only fully loaded CPU/GPU that you see non-turbo speeds.

6) Pretty solid IMHO. Keyboard doesn't flex too much and palm rests are solid and cool to the touch. Track pad sucks, but don't use it for gaming anyway.

 

repped both of you, I found both posts VERY helpful!!

 

Just to clear this up, at max the firmware limits the 880M to 110W for the whole card.

 

That clears it up, thanks Meaker!

Now only one question remains. You guessed it. What will broadwell + Maxwell bring next year and how would a current MSI GT70 stand against the new tech that's coming...
I still wonder if I will be able to wait that long with all the low FPS I get in big battles with my gtx660m....it's kind of frustrating.

 

See the jump from sandy plus 580m to ivy plus 680m.

 

I just got my GT70 2PC w/ GTX 870m yesterday and so far it's been pretty solid. Threw in my own drives (3xMsata + 7mm SSD), memory (4x8GB), clean install of Win8.1 x64, and off I went. The heat sinks were re-pasted by PowerNotebooks. I will say that this system does like to run hot if you leave the fans on auto.

I did a Prime95+Kombuster and it didn't take long to start pushing 90 for both. Then just doing some encoding with Handbrake, CPU alone hit 89 peak. Playing games like BF4 and SC2 also resulted in high 80's.

Of course when you kick on max fan (which is quite loud), the temps stayed close to the mid to high 70's with "normal" usage and high 80's with burn-in. As noted previously, in neither case does the keyboard or palmrest ever really feel hot. It's only when you put your hand next to the vent that you realize just how hot it's running.

Just idle, it's usually in the mid 40's. Although it doesn't take much for temps to get up there if you let the system decide how to manage thermals. I'm sure this was meant to keep noise in check, which is certainly does. Probably best to ignore temps unless you see throttling...

Otherwise the system has been running pretty good so far and don't have any significant complaints so far. Still getting everything setup and configured though. Notes so far?

* 3DMark FireStrike 1.1 scored 4366.
* LCD does have flex, which can cause visible LCD pressure points when opening/closing.
* System feels lighter than it looks (lots of plastic), yet chassis is still very solid
* Speakers are certainly above average.
* CPU/GPU heat pipe connection is poorly placed for memory install
* AG coating on LCD is a bit heavy, but still looks great. Good contrast, brightness, response, etc.
* Keyboard works great with my Sensei mouse (unified software)
* Dell 220W AC adapter works just fine with X75 adapter.

Haven't noted actual power draw yet, but as this is a stock BIOS/EC, don't expect anything beyond 180. I just like having multiple AC adapters, and these were already laying around.

EDIT: Confirmed, neither the Dell 220W or Stock 180 goes past 183W max on a stock config on GPU/CPU burn-in.

 

Those temps are a bit higher than what I experience on my GT70 from previous gen, for reference the idle temps on my machine register at about 30-33 degrees (both CPU and GPU) without cooling pad and peaks during gaming sessions are in the mid to high 70s. I guess the 870m runs hotter than the 770m but I would have thought the difference in temperature between the 4800MQ (which I guess is in your laptop) and the 4700MQ negligible. Or there might just be something wrong with the registered temperature on my unit .

Going to borrow the thread a bit and ask if you have attempted any overclocking on the GPU? I am very curious if there is room for any such activities on the 870m.

 

After things have settled down a bit, CPU idle temps are closer to 38 degrees now. Same for GPU, if enabled, and idle. Although the system is never 100% idle. There's always something putting a slight load on the CPU, even if it is less than 5%. But when pushed, it still has no problem hitting 80 on the CPU or GPU after some extended gaming sessions or encoding.

Also once again, this is with fan on Auto. Set it to boost it'll easily stay in the 70's no matter what I'm doing.

And I haven't overclocked, nor do I have any plans to do so. I kind of gave up on that years ago. It was fun for awhile though.

I suspect there could be some differences in how thermal management (i.e. fan curves) is handled between the refresh cycles as well as the thermals for the GPU/CPU itself. Plus my ambient temps are usually 75 degrees F in the summer, and as high at 80 when I did my initial stress testing.

 

Yes they are tweaked between refreshes, of course with svet's tool you can customise it to how you like.

 

Well, I am still minding it over (to buy or not to buy it). I really dislike the low fps I'm getting at times on my current machine, so buying it now would be a good improvement. But the next gen is maybe 6-7 months away....still not sure if I can wait till then.

Furthermore, I am also not sure whether to go for gtx870m or gtx880m...
The configs I am after will be in stock after 07.05.2014 so I still have some weeks to think about it.

 

I also thought about waiting, but my "mobile workstation" was a 2+ year old 15" Latitude that was nowhere near fast enough to play current games or handle the encoding/VM tasks I want to do on the go. I sold my last powerfull 17" Precision as it was getting old and slow to the point where I wasn't really using it anymore. Basically needed something in the next couple weeks, so I got the GT70, and haven't been disappointed.

As they say, you'll end up waiting forever if you keep waiting for the "next best thing." If you need it now and can find a good price, I'd grab one. Otherwise, no harm in waiting it out.

As for the graphic cards, the GTX870m was an easy choice for me. I still have a fairly powerful desktop workstation for really demanding stuff. The GT70 was meant to be a portable/alternate version of that, not a desktop replacement. Not to mention the 880 was going to be out of my budget and didn't really seem to be "worth it" from a price to performance perspective.

Either way, good luck!

 

I have decided to get a GT70 with a gtx880m inside

</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <title>by: MSI - ONE Computer Shop

I plan to swap the 12GB ram on it for my 16gb corsair dominator kit that's currently in my Clevo and sell the Clevo for around 600-700 EUR (the config is in my signature).
Currently waiting for the MSI configs to be in-stock soon, as I've already mailed the reseller and they told me they've been waiting for the delivery as well.
I want to thank everyone here for their input and reviews! I really think this machine will do the job perfectly (and then some). Can't wait to hear the sound that's coming out of the speakers

 

I forgot to bring the news: got my GT70 yesterday! Updating sig right now...

Again, thanks to the guys here who wrote their reviews and gave me their 2 cents about the machine! I really enjoy it, so if anyone is still on the fence whether or not to buy it, this is a big thumbs up for buying one!

 

Is it actually even possible to install more ram in the bottom slots without removing the heat pipes/sink and having to repaste the GPU & CPU?

If it is, I am thinking this is a *major mistake* by MSI!

 

No clue, haven't opened the backside yet (warranty sticker, gulp!) and not planning to open it for at least a few months, until Im sure everything works and I don't have to send it in for some reason.
Then, when the time comes, I will open it for cleaning and see if the sticks are accessible.

 

It is a bit of an over sight. You can squeeze one dimm in there, but must at least loosen the heat sink screws to get more clearance for both. So doesn't technical have to be fully removed or re pasted. At least if it's still new and fresh.

If it's old, a re paste is probably a good idea anyways. Minor stuff really, IMHO.

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