GE600 or GX640?... or GX740?

Well I've started doing research for a new laptop (going to buy one in May) and I've got to say MSI is really appealing to me right now.

I see a lot of people recommending taking a look at the GX640/GX740 and they look REALLY impressive. I also heard the GE600 has switchable graphics so besides a minor graphics card improvement what does the GX640 have to offer that the GE600 doesn't? I'm going to be using it for college and some gaming.

I know they're not out yet (or at least readily available) so can someone help a newbie like me figure out what might be subtle differences between the two? How much of a battery life increase will I get from switchable graphics? I'm also considering the GX740... depends on how much it outperforms the 15"ers in relation to battery life.

On a general note, for people who are familiar with MSIs, how is the build quality and battery life generally? I know it depends on tons of factors and it's impossible to gage but say, based on everything we know at this point in what order would you rank the battery compared to powerful sagers/asus/dell laptops?

Lot of questions there but as I said, I'm new to all this and still trying to wrap my head around what does what

 

A Mob. HD5850 w/GDDR5 is more than a minor improvement over the Mob. HD5730.

 

It's at least 50% faster.

 

Yep massive boost,

.

 

Wow just looked some of the benchmarks and I guess now I'm just between the GX640 and GX740

power consumption looks about the same when not gaming too so shouldn't be too bad when I'm not connected

How effective has the turbo battery feature been on previous models?

 

Some people say the GX640 comes with the GDDR5 but some say it doesn't.. we have yet to confirm
http://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=135844.0

I, myself is deciding between the GX640 and GE600 too =] just gotta wait

 

oops here:

The test unit he has is GDDR3 so.... it doesn't make it as godly as the GDDR5 one?

 

Well the GX640 being put out in the US id going to be GDDR3 too so the questions is how big of a difference is there between 5850 and 5730

 

You'll be able to notice the difference only at synthetic benchmarks like Vantage, because this models - GX640 and GX740 comes with WSXGA+ screen (1680x1050). You need faster memory for higher resolutions, so if you intend to upgrade the screen to WUXGA (1920x1200) then it will be good to have GDDR5, but otherwise with current resolution that it have I don't think that there will be any noticeable difference in gaming.
Also about the difference between HD 5730 and HD 5850. The first card is mid class card and the second - mid to high class. HD 5730 has half the size of pipelines than HD 5850 - 400 against 800. So if it was me - I wold never think of HD 5730, but this is only me
Hope this helps.

 

The 5850 is enthusiast level i believe, where the 5730 is mainstream, but i'd say low end of the 57** catagory, so basically there should be no comparison of the two cards.

 

Thanks that helps a lot actually. The only appeal of the GE600 for me was the switchable graphics but the upgrade in performance in the GX640 should be well worth the portability hit then.

 

Well, about switchable graphics ...
Considering that Intel's chipsets are with high power consumption, according to me is much higher that it should be - for example GS45 chipset uses 18W with integrated video. I don't think that HM55 is going to be a power consumption revolution to Intel, so it will use about same power, if not the same. Now my opinion is that is absolutely unnecessary to combine HD 5730 card, which uses 26 Watts with Intel's graphics - 18 Watts. You gain only 8 Watts, which is nothing. It will be much better to provide HD 5850 card and switchable graphics, then you'll have 39 Watts against 18 Watts, and you'll gain twice better power consumption, but ... we have not seen this yet.

 

@Genna... I agree with you that the Intel IGP should be paired with a Tier I (or High-Power) GPU, rather than a Tier II GPU. I constantly ask myself, why didn't MSI go for the gusto first (58xx) when implementing a switching graphics solution. I really don't think that the "Mainstream" crowd that the 57xx series is geared to will be thinking about switching GPU modes nearly as frequently as someone who purchases an enthusiast class machine. IMO, all that they have done is waste time, making a NVIDIA Optimus type solution more worth waiting for. I was all about buying the GX640 until i found out that it would not support switchable graphics. I am looking at the MSI GE600 and Lenovo Y560, but i doubt i will be satisfied with such a purchase.

Im looking for 5+ hrs of battery life on the IGP, and a Tier I discrete GPU. Depending on what i see in the next month or so, i may decide to wait for a NVIDIA Optimus + Fermi solution.

 

When considering GE600 vs. GX640 you should be aware that the GX640 heat vent is on the right side... If you use a mouse with your right hand it might be a problem =]

 

Does MSI offer an LCD part to swap in? If so this would be quite a sweet laptop. While 1680x1050 is nice 1920x1200 is alot better.

 

While it sucks, MSI DID NOT implement the IGP option on the HM55 chipset with the GX640. It is a feature of the chipset but they did not implement the functionality, god knows why. The GDDR3 on the US build hurts the performance some but it will still be very usable.

Since they didn't implement switchable graphics, I'm wondering what kind of battery life we can expect out of the GX640 with the standard 9-cell battery?

Also, if anyone has gotten their hands on the unit how's the build quality (flexing?).....I've heard horror stories about older MSI shells cracking and just flat out falling apart, with the aluminum chassis is this still a very valid concern?

 

After doing some more digging there is a lot of overlap between the GX640 and GT640. Battery life with the GT640 using a i7-720qm, nvidia GT250, and a 6-cell battery leave the run time in the 1 hour to 2 hour range.

Also the build quality on the GT640 doesn't seem to flex much: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-MSI-GT640-Gaming-Notebook.23063.0.html

 

well if we assume power consumption is about the same at the GT 640 then factor in a less power heavy processor (assuming you pick anything but the 720qm for it) and the 9-cell I'll guess 2 1/2-3 hours?

I've heard the chassis have gotten A LOT better than they used to be

 

The i7(45w) to i5(35w) saves 10 watts under peak but the GT250(28w) to 5850(39w) gains 11 watts....pretty much a wash +1w under peak load, gramted there is also an updated motherboard which may be more efficient . Xoticpc has the laptop rated at a 2+ hour battery life.

 

Hmmm, I read somewhere that the 5870/5850 are aroung 20-22w under idle to minimum load though. That might help if you're not gaming while unplugged.

I'm also thinking about the processor, if i have 2 scores of the 720qm shut down while not being used would that still consume more power than the 620m?

 

The wattage numbers were the max draw numbers. It really depends on the task being done, but those numbers we won't see until someone has the unit to be able to benchmark it.

 

MSI uses Samsung's LCDs. Some people here have upgraded their screens to WUXGA. It is possible to change it with other models of Samsung's LCDs and with minor changes to much better LG ones.

 

Theres a lovely, very bright pannel in the R700, has low res but the colours are just beaut, wonder if that would work nicely in the 1722's.

 

Wow. WUXGA would make the gx640 perfect! Quad core + ati 5870 + Numpad = awesomeness.