GX640 Review at Anandtech

Here it is: MSI GX640: $1100 for a Speedy DX11 Laptop - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News

 

Nice, seems like a fair review.

 

Yeah, AnandTech is quite reliable, for the most part.

They haven't really thoroughly tested temperatures, but they said that "Heat and noise levels fall into the "average" category", which is surprising. In any case, it's true that you won't actually notice a "heat problem" with the GX640 unless you go looking for one.

 

They've nailed it bang on, really good review.

And thats very true lack of cheese, its only when you start looking that'l youl find (Or attempt to at that).

 

Uhm, this caught my attention:

 

Yeah, I'm guessing that the battery life would've improved because the new vBIOS downclocks properly when the laptop is idle.

One other thing I'd like to note is the rather favourable judgement of the screen. Despite Notebookcheck's claims that the LCD was poor, AnandTech seems to place this LCD above average.

 

Good find. Many here will be happy to see it as it suggests MSI does have a fix for this problem.

 

Now the question is, when do the rest of us get an official updated BIOS/vBIOS?

 

Maybe its already up on MSI forum?

 

Pretty good review. I'm more than happy with mine except for my GTA IV and HDMI audio issues, but they're ATI problems, not GX640 problems. I would note that personally the keyboard flex is basically a non issue because I never notice it unless I'm looking for it. Also, I maxed out my CPU encoding a Bluray and played MW2 with very few hiccups and a maximum temp of 93C. Good stuff.

 

What's the issue with GTA IV, if I may ask?

 

I think it lags for some reason even though I've seen a T9600 + 9800m GTS pull off smooth gameplay. The whole GTA IV version difference is a mess. ATI also sucks with GTA IV.

 

I'll post a screenshot when I get home. I get a whole bunch of what looks like little boxes of crosshatching all over the screen. The title screen and loading screen work fine, as do all other games. I emailed Rockstar, but I didn't get a response yet. Also, I get a very similar effect when I use my Hauppauge TV tuner through Media Center. That, however, goes away when I change the Basic Quality interlacing settings under the Video tab in CCC to lower positions. If anyone has either one of these issues please let me know. Othrer than that, this laptop runs everything I've thrown at it like a hot knife through that spreadable butter stuff. It really doesn't get hot either, just pretty warm on the right palmrest.

UPDATE: Here's the link to the screenshot. The image doesn't look like it wants to show up.

GTAIV 2010-06-14 17-29-25-21 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

Hm. Also eagerly looking forward to having a new vBIOS and things. Also, the GTA4 problem, I have something different: it stutters, even on lowest settings. Don't know why.

 

That game is so buggy. I get 30+ FPS almost maxed out, but that crosshatching/artifacting is killing me. That's the only game that does weird stuff.

 

Good fair review, it's what I expected.
Most importantly the 5850 shines in this laptop.

 

can't wait for a GX740, just for something to read too compare with my opinions

 

The dedicated GDDR5 memory is what makes it really special.

Wow, I've seen those artifacts before. However, I can't tell you whether they are caused by a defective GPU or drivers, or just plain dumb programming by R*. My money's on the latter.

 

Apparently it doesn't happen to all GX640 owners. If all my other games work, it cant be my computer, though.

 

I actually get the artifacts on my xbox 360, but its definately not a problem with it, but something else i think.

 

I have a support ticket open with ATI. I'll post the solution if I get one.