GX640-260US Review (not another!) + References

GX640-260US Review + References
gx640 @ MSI

Here's a mini-review along with some handy references for those considering purchasing a GX640 (before they vanish from the market). I was going to just post this in the GX640 owner's thread, but it got a little long for that.

Reason's for Buying

I started hunting around for a new laptop in May ('10) to replace my 3.5 year old Asus A8Js (a 14.1" with a Nvidia 7700 go). I wanted something bigger as my portability requirements have lessened, but I didn't want a giant monster. I also considered the Sager 8690 (15.6" with ATI 5870), the MSI GX740, and the Asus G73J.

I really wanted to find a laptop with a 16:10 aspect ratio screen instead of the 16:9 ratio screens that are all the rage right now. For productivity, graphics work, CAD/3D modeling etc... that I do, having a taller screen is very helpful. I just don't understand the obsession with the 16:9. The fact that MSI still makes 16:10 aspect ratio laptops combined with some of the fastest 3D hardware available, really made them attractive to me.

Looking at the benchmarks in AnandTech's GX640 review convinced me that I didn't need a laptop with the ATI 5870. The Sager 8690 was going to be heavier, with terrible battery life, and cost hundreds more (although it does have better cooling). The MSI GX740 was going to be bigger/heavier, cost hundreds more, and looked uglier (in my opinion). The Asus G73J was gigantic, and I really couldn't see myself bringing it to work as I occasionally need to. Did I mention it's Giagantic?

Basically, I didn't think it was worth spending hundreds of dollars more for a different laptop that would require additional other compromises for 4-8 extra FPS. The other models I was looking at did have i7 processors, but that too seemed like an added expense that wasn't warranted right now.

I purchased the GX640 from BTOTech.com (always very helpful and responsive).

Reference Threads:
MSI GX640-098US Review
GX640 - Some Questions Concerning the i7
Dspr_02's MSI GX640-098US Review

Look + Feel

Overall, I think the laptop looks pretty nice. The brushed finishes are nice (although they DO attract fingerprints), and the red color does not bother me at all, despite my initial worries about it. The touch panel is really ugly though. I knew it was ugly going into buying it, but oh well. I much prefer a classy/simple look. Regardless, the thing looks nice. You can do better, but you can do a lot lot worse.

The touch panel lights are a little bright (blue color). The power light in particular is pretty glaring. Of course, some people like all kind of fancy flashing lights that flash in sync with music. Not me. It isn't a big turn off though.

In terms of build quality, I'd say it's average. The bottom panel is a little squishy/thin feeling, while most of the other surfaces feel pretty sturdy. The hinges appear quite solid and working well. It certainly doesn't have that "solid as a brick" feel like some of the sagers, or that compact toughness like a MacBook and other uni-bodies, but it is pretty tough feeling regardless. As always though, I'll want to be careful with it.

I am quite happy with the size + weight of the unit. I'm sure they could have made it strong and tougher, at the expense of more weight, like the new GX/GT 660's, which weight 7.5 lbs or so. I think they struck a good balance between toughness/weight without using expensive materials that would drive the cost up. In terms of size, it doesn't feel much bigger than my old Asus A8Js (14.1"), being half an inch deeper, and 3/4" wider or so. Overall, the GX640 is thin, light, and compact . . . not just in it's 15.4" class overall, but especially considering the hardware under the hood.

Heat + Noise / Graphic Card Drivers + VBIOS

Okay, this is what a lot of people are concerned / talking about. Here's my take on things.
The unit came with older MSI video drivers and the older vbios. As a consequence, I had the following issues (as documented elsewhere):

• The AGP interface was locked at 1x (when powerplay was on) issue
• Closing the lid + reopening did not turn the screen back on, needed to do a reset.
• GPU + Mem clocks were locked at 625/1000 on max performance mode when plugged in, so the video card would start heating up, and the fan would cycle from a quieter audible noise a slightly louder audible noise, and back and forth.
• My idle temps seemed high, around 62C, with the ambient temp about 25-25C (75-80F).

So what did I do? I flashed the VBIOS using this procedure documented by MSI. Worked without a hitch. Note that some of the BIOS menu options they describe are worded differently in the GX640 BIOS menu's. I then updated the drivers/ccc to the 10.6 Catalyst versions. The results?

• The AGP interface is now properly at 16x
• The screen turns back on after opening/closing the lid
• PowerPlay correctly downclocks the GPU when not under load.

I also played with the AMD Clock Tool and tried some manual downclocking with powerplay turned off. I could get the GPU/Memory down to 100/350 . . . any lower than 350 on the memory clock caused all sorts of crazy artifacts.

EDIT: Added the shortcut in to programs -> startup up run AMD GPU Clock Tool to set the clocks to 100/350 every time it loads, works well. Just remember to turn the clocks back up before gaming!

If possible, I may look into customizing and re-flashing my bios with some different settings. Even with powerplays downclock, when plugged in it's at 405/1000, which still causes the fan's to kick into a higher speed every few minutes, which is a little annoying.

I ran FurMark for about 5 min (not all that long), and the GPU temp was 87-88C . . . and probably still going up. I'm not too worried about overheating (don't plan on overclocking). I may open it up later and look at the heatsink, and see debate with myself about re-applying thermal paste/replacing pads, etc... If I could save a few degrees off, it would help keep the fans quieter when not under load.

Overall, I do find that the heat/noise issues to be manageable, but wishing it was a little better. If you are REALLY worried/sensitive about higher heat and noise, you might consider a different laptop. It is worth mentioning though that there is a powerful GPU in this unit, and it is in a small frame/package. To a certain degree this is to be expected.

One thing I swore I wouldn't repeat in my next laptop purchase was having a right side exhaust for the fan. It blows pretty warm air right onto my mouse hand. My last laptop was this way too, and I didn't like it then either. I am able to re-adjust my hand placement, and it doesn't bother me that much. But still . . . this is a basic design decision, why can't it go out to the left or the back?

Reference threads:
GX640 VBIOS:br35701.030
Summary of GX640 Video Card Related Issues/Fixes
GX640 PCI-E x16 @ x1 problem and other driver problems
GX640 VBIOS Beta
GX640 Owners - Post Your Temps!
Thermal Paste Upgrade ... Worth it?

Monitoring + Benchmarking Software

Screen

One of my biggest concerns for a new laptop was getting one with a decent screen, as I do a fair amount of graphic work. I think the 1650x1080 resolution is great for 15.4" . . . and I REALLY like the 16:10 aspect ratio compared to all the new 16:9 screens.

Thankfully, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the screen. I fully understood that it wouldn't be as bright as newer LED backlit screens, but the level of brightness appears better than my old A8Js, which was pretty good in it's day. The whites/blacks looks good. The color balance was a little off (too cool/blue), but some manual adjusting in the display settings got the color balance working well.

Overall, I'm happy with the screen. It could be brighter, but the contrast and sharpness are great, coupled with a good resolution and apsect ratio. Perfect for a 15.4".

Hard Drive

Hard Drive – the hard drive (500GB) was partitioned into a ~260gb C: drive, a ~180gb D: (data) drive, with the rest (~60gb) left over as two hidden recovery partitions. At some point, I'll reformat the whole thing, and repartition to eliminate the recovery partitions. I'll of course need to back things up and generate a new Win7 install disc.

There was not much bloatware installed. The obligatory Norton pre-install needed to be removed, Office 2007 was installed (trial version with no key), and some other weird media stuff that I removed. But overall, not too bad.

Reference Threads:
Experiences with a 'Clean' Win7 install in GX640

Keyboard

After typing on it for a while, I'm certainly getting used to it. There are some slightly odd sized keys and odd placements, but overall it doesn't bother me too much. Having a full number pad on a 15.4" laptop is bound to cause some issues, and in my mind, having a num pad makes up for the slightly odd key placement overall.

There is a little keyboard flex around the space bar and to the right of it, but I only notice it when actually trying to make it flex and starring at the keyboard. During normal typing and use I don't notice it at all.

Touchpad

The touchpad works. It didn't have the full synaptic driver installed from the factory ... you can download it from MSI's page or directly from synaptic. This let's you customize the touch zones, etc... However, what I really wanted it for was a setting my old laptop has, which automatically disables the touchpad if the computer detects another mouse/pointing device attached. The newer synaptic drivers don't have this option anymore (or maybe this touchpad doesn't support it?) Either way, installing the drivers does allow you to more easily toggle-off the touchpad when you have mouse plugged in.

Ports

I'm slightly irked by the limited number and poor placement of the USB ports. I'm coming from a laptop with 5 USB ports, spread all around the case. This laptop puts ONE on the right side where your mouse wants to be, none on the back, and ONE more on the left. Oh well, it isn't the end of the world. A small USB hub might be in my future.

It does however have a dedicated VGA, HDMI, and eSATA port, so I guess that's pretty nice. And, rare among new laptops, it still has an express card slot.

Battery

I noticed that my 9-cell is a 7800mA variety . . . most of the listing said 7200mA. I haven't performed a true battery test yet, but unpluged, at 100% battery, with WiFi on GPU downclocked to 300/400 (via the fixed PowerPlay VBIOS) the windows timer reported 2hr 48min of battery life. Not bad.

Gaming Performance / Benchmarks

I haven't installed any games yet. For now, please refer to the AnandTech review of the GX640 (with the i5-430) for a comprehensive set of benchmark results.

UPDATE:
Finally reinstalled Fallout3 and tested things out. WOW. Coming from my old laptop, I'm now able to run this game at native res, with all features at high to very high, and it is VERY smooth. I haven't tried enabling AA/AAF yet, but I'm sure it won't impact things too much. I use a lot of mods as well, so Fallout can be pretty taxing on your system, but the GX640 seems to handle it all with ease. The LCD panel looks great. Very sharp, and the blacks are excellent.

Summary

In the end, the MSI GX640 sold me. Here's my pro's and con's

+ Affordable price ($1150) with a 3-year warranty
+ Great 3D performance, in the top-tier of laptop performance
+ A readily portable size/weight with decent-enough batter life (2.5+ hours)
+ A 1650x1080 screen (16:10), above average quality for a non-LED
+ Overall nice look

- Heat + noise could be better managed
- Heat vent exhausts to the right
- Not enough USB ports and poor placement
- Need to be willing to flash VBIOS and update drivers to fix glitches
- Touch panel is uggles

GX640-260US Specs

Processor: Intel® Core™ i5-450M (2.4Ghz-2.67, 3mb, 32nm, 35W)
Memory: 4gb ddr3 1333mhz (2x2gb)
Hard Drive: Seagate 500GB 7200RPM SATA 16mb cache
Video Graphics: ATi Mobility Radeon HD 5850 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express 16X DX 11
Display: 15.4" WSXGA+ Super Clear Glossy (1680x1050)
Optical Drive: DVD+RW Super Multi Combo Burner

Weight: ~5.9lbs with battery
Dimensions: 14.1" x 10.24 " x 1.06"~1.22"

Operating System Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
Manufacturer Warranty M.S.I. 3 Year Limited Global Warranty

Camera 2.0 Megapixel Digital Video Camera
Chipset Intel HM55 Express
Card Reader 4-in-1 Card Reader (SD/MMC/MS/MS Pro)
Fax/Modem/LAN/WLAN
Wireless: Intel 5100 802.11 a/g/n
LAN:10/100/1000 Gigabit Lan
Built-in Bluetooth™ V2.0+EDR
Interface 1 x Microphone
1 x Line-in
1 x Headphone jack
1x S/PDIF output
1 x VGA port/Mini D-sub 15-pin for external monitor
2x USB 2.0 ports
1 x IEEE 1394 port
1 x RJ45 LAN
1 x HDMI
1x E-SATA / USB 2.0 Combo Port
1x Express Card 34 / 54 Slot

Audio HD Audio by Realtek with x2 internal speakers.
Supports Dolby® Digital Live.
3D Stereo Enhanced Sound System
Sound Blaster compatible!

Battery Pack & Life 9 cell smart Lithium-Ion battery
AC Adapter Output: 19V DC, 120W
Input: 100~240V AC, 50/60Hz universal
In the box: Notebook, ac adapter, battery, drivers cd, manual

 

This is a great review, peekaboom! Mine is arriving next week, but based on all the reviews here an various forum posts, I'd say that everything you wrote is certainly in line with most people.

BTW, I ordered mine from RK Computers, and it's mostly a stock system with the following upgrades:

-7800mAh battery (same as yours - not sure how the 7200mAh battery would have fared but for +$25 more I figured what the hell)
-Mirror polish of the CPU and GPU with IC compound applied
-Chiclet-style keyboard (read that this my alleviate the keyboard flex issue, though I also read more recent GX640 systems don't exhibit this issue anymore)
-All drivers, BIOS, vBIOS, etc. updated to latest versions (I emailed RKC specifically about this when I placed my order)

I also ordered a couple of different cooling pads for general use, so hopefully the polish and IC compound, combined with updated drivers, etc., and a cooling pad will keep the temperatures down. Temps at load with stock systems seemed to be generally reasonable. I don't foresee pushing the system to its utmost max with games or overall useage anyway, but it's better to be safe than sorry I suppose

For what it's worth, my house gets HOT during the summer, especially since my master bedroom is upstairs and seems to absorb a lot of heat. I'd probably buy a cooling pad for any new laptop I would have purchased anyway.

Anyway, keep us up to date with any tweaks you do to the system.

 

I spent the better half of this week reading and studying laptop reviews, especially for the 640, which you reviewed.

This is by far THE BEST review I've read and I've read them ALL LOL!

A+++, man. Should get stickied IMO

Edit: reported for sticky

 

Thanks for the kind replies.

I was wondering the cooling issues (namely the poor contact between the heatsink and GPU core). Do any of the resellers know about this? I wonder, for example, since you had RK do the mirror polish if they fixed the spacing problems too?

It would be worth knowing that.

Anyway, I'll post some more information about the system and update the OP as I figure things out. Time to update my sig too!

Cheers!

 

The bios, ec firmware, and vbios will all be updated.

There are two different types of compound on the heatsinks. The thicker “pads” that cool the memory, and other components are not removed. The wet thermal compound cannot fill the air gap between the component and the heatsink. The IC diamond is used only where the CPU and GPU contact the heatsinks.​

Above are cut-and-pastes of a couple of individual question responses I had for RKC when I first ordered. The first was regarding whether or not the system itself would have the latest BIOS, firmware, etc. updated (which was of course yes - woohoo!) and the second regarding what they actually did regarding the mirror finish and IC compound for the GPU and CPU I requested.

So, it seems that they're aware of the gap issue, but they don't actively fix the actual gap itself. My personal guess is that while those copper shims others have used do work, RKC and other resellers probably don't want to risk going that far on systems they sell. To put it another way, I think they're making a pragmatic choice overall: stable system and decent cooling improvement vs. possible instability later and slightly superior cooling. In my opinion, the former seems like a much better choice from a business standpoint, so I can't blame them for keeping the original pads in.

Oh well I'm not personally worried since I have no plans on overclocking the system or pushing crazy loads on it. I mean, I'll play games with high details and smooth framerates as far as they'll go, but this system is something I plan on using as my overall home PC and will have its fair share of just web surfing, playing media, media work and general tomfoolery

Hope that helps!

 

Just checked things out in Hardware Monitor . . . looks like my system did some with 1333mhz ram as reported by others. Also, the harddrive is a seagate model with a 16mb cache

 

Lol wut. Adding copper shims won't make the system unstable, what are you smoking?

 

I was referring to the cooling itself based upon some issues I saw in threads here regarding the swap out of the pads, but I don't rule out that I wrote that erroneously (or worded it poorly - or both ;D). To be fair, it's been a while since I've purchased a new system (the GX640 arriving next week, woo!), so forgive me for any errors I may post.

Anyway, everyone here at NBR is much more knowledgeable than I am, so I default to everyone else's wisdom

 

On a different note, I've been using AMD GPU Clock Tool to downclock my video card to 150/400 when doing anything other than gaming. It's worked quite well in keeping the GPU temps down and the fan more quiet. Yeah!

 

PowerPlay already does that. 100/150 idle

 

That's only when it is unplugged though correct? Plugged in at idle is 405/1000

 

That's because you overclocked the card using Overdrive. Disable Overdrive and PowerPlay will clock the card at 100/150. It's a little inconvenient, but it works. I turn on overdrive (745/1000) before I start gaming and turn it off when I'm done.

 

(1) Which ajustements did you make?

(2) Also: how can I know if my BIOS is already upgraded? For ATI drivers, should I dl last catalyst?

(3a) Oh, and finally, will reformating the whole system to remove bloatware, etc. will make me lose powerplay? (I didn't receive the laptop yet... is powerplay an already installed program or a freeware?)
(3b) Is there any reason why I shouldn't reformat?

 

CPU-Z

Yes. The latest version is 1.6, 1.7 drivers are due in a few days.

PowerPlay is a feature of ATI's Catalyst software.

You don't have to. It's entirely up to you. Reformatting means an hour of reinstalling Windows, followed by several of downloading and installing drivers and software. I did it to eliminate MSI's retarded partitions.

 

Is it safe to delete the 12gb Recovery Partition? If ever we need to send the laptop back for warranty purposes do we need to put the laptop back in its original state?

 

It's gonna take much more than that for MSI to consider your warranty void! I know manufacturers like HP and Dell are finding new ways not to honor their warranties, but MSI is not like that.

The recovery partition is nothing more than the image of the main partition. You can back it up on an external hard drive if you want. You could also reinstall Windows with the latest drivers and basic software, and then create the image yourself using Acronis/your preferred backup software.

Deleting the entire partition is up to you. I personally don't need it, but let's say you decide to replace the optical drive with a second hard drive. In that case, it would be useful to have the Windows image on a separate partition. If you need to reinstall your OS, you can be up and running in less than 10 minutes. No need to fumble around with an external DVD drive or use another computer to copy a Windows DVD to a hard drive, etc. It's right there in your computer.

Then again, how often do you really need to format and reinstall your OS?

 

Can you explain what you mean by disabling Overdrive? 'Cause on my computer the "Enable Ati overdrive" is not checked (but I did unlocked it) and my idle clock are 405/1000 with the new vbios and ati 1.6!

Anyway when using AMD GPU clock tool anything below 105/360 doesn't seem to work... Isn't it that in PowerPlay you asked to maximize battery life when plugged that you get so low clock speed?

 

Maybe these clocks are not supported by the card, try to set 100/100. I have these clocks in idle and i have no problem

 

I get all kinda of crazy screen artifacts when I try stepping the memory down to less than 350. Odd?

 

This is exactly what I have... If I go too low I get an issue with my drivers and get a blue screen before my laptop restarts... And if I go under 105 with the other clock speed I get big artefacts when trying to watch any youtube video... so that I put 110/370 as idle temps in order to be able to do any surfing/office work...

 

Left: Powerplay ON + Overdrive ON
Right: Powerplay ON + Overdrive OFF

Latest vBIOS, drivers, etc. with the notebook plugged in and the active power plan on Power Saver, although the clocks are the same no matter which power plan is selected.

 

That's interesting thanks for posting... Mine remains at 405/1000 whatever I do for the overdrive... Could it be something in the vbios? But I guess you also flashed the vbios using the one provided by MSI :-/

Doesn't really matter anyway since like peekaboom, any downclock under 350 for the memory clock leads to crazy artifacts and the crash of my GPU's driver... but thanks anyway ;-)

 

I'd suggest not messing with the BIOS of the video card at all. Restore the original settings, don't mess with the clocks or the voltage using a third party tool, just use ATI's control panel. I don't see the interest of flashing the card anyway, it only seems to cause issues that weren't there to begin with.

 

Well, flashing the VBIOS fixed the problem with the screen not turning back on after closing the lid or entering sleep/hibernate mode. Those are important for me, so updtaing the VBIOS was pretty important. I'll try messing the overrdive stuff as you've indicated.

 

I didn't do anything with my vbios... Just had to flash with the new MSI vbios (the one posted on the website) in order to clear the hibernation/sleep problem

 

It seems like the HD5850 downclocks to 100/150 when an external monitor is connected through HDMI. Is there a way to get it to downclock it in the laptop's monitor?

 

You're right. As soon as I unplug the monitor, the clocks go back to 500/1000. I'll send a ticket to ATI about it.

 

Hmm, the option to disable/enable overdrive is turned off for me. So it appears stuck on. Any idea why that would be the case?

EDIT: Nevermind, i figured it out. Have to hit the unlock icon. :facepalm

Doesn't make a difference being on or off though.

 

Overdrive is disabled when the laptop is not plugged in. Otherwise, click the lock icon.

 

I have version 1.656ims.10c


It is updated, right?

 

I have the exact same problem, with the dated VBIOS and drivers.
I see you had no problem flashing your BIOS with that guide, and I see why, it's very straightforward and helpful.
But I was wondering, could you please point me to the exact VBIOS version you flashed?
Because I've been meaning to flash my VBIOS, but I'm not completely sure I got the right VBIOS and to be frank, drivers.
Could you confirm (or deny ) that these are the right (or atleast the ones you used) ones, please?

VBIOS:
MSI Global ? Computer, Laptop, Notebook, Desktop, Mainboard, Graphics and more
The one furthest down, named NB VGA Firmware.

Drivers:
MSI Global ? Computer, Laptop, Notebook, Desktop, Mainboard, Graphics and more
The one named VGA, with title ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5850.

Also, is ATI Catalyst 10.6 noticably better than 10.7?
Because even though it is the latest release, I see some of you guys using 10.6

With regards, Mikkelmayn.

 

Yes, the VBIOS on that page, is version 1656.VBIOS.BR35701.030, which is the newer VBIOS, so use that.

I just haven't updated my drivers 10.7 yet from 10.6! Haven't heard one way or another whether it's better or not.

 

Alright, thank a bunch mate!
Now onto to try not to brick my new laptop
It's really a bother that they didn't include the newest VBIOS from the shop, it's a potential bricker so they really should!

 

musta bricked it

 

I installed catalyst 1.7... but then I couldn't open my computer and I had to restore my system. Maybe it doesn't have anything to do with catalyst but... hell, it's annoying, after one day to have problems

 

I could only hope that the video card underclock to 100/150. However I found something everyone should try. Turn off ati overdrive and turn on power play. Set power play when plugin to max battery. The video card should clock itself to 300/400. Just make sure you turn off power play when gaming.

 

There is something wrong with all-those-powerplay-options. Abouth a month ago I was experimenting with power states in vBios with RBE (Radeon Bios Editor). I was trying to achieve maximum automatic downclocking and undervolting when in windows and full clock speed when gaming. However, I screwed up flashing and was lucky enough to get my card replaced by warranty service. Since then - editing vBios is no-no for me

If only AMD GPU Clock tool had a working voltage setting....

In my view, the card should be able to downclock to 100/150@0,9V when Idle. The idle temp in that case would be something like 43-48, which is perfectly OK. Although there is such a power state included in vBios, it is only applied when external monitor is connected to the notebook :/

 

Where can I get powerplay? / Is it true working with AMD clock tool only won't work? (for me, I tried some modifications with only AMDCT and it gave me some craze artefacts)

 

I setup a shortcut with AMD Clock to switch between 625/1000 and 150/400. 150/400 clocks make the thing run pretty cool. i seem to get artificats on screen whenever I clock the ram below 350 mhz or so.

 

I found this nice thread about managing clocks/voltages with ATI profile manager to avoid problems with driver instability (I had crashes when playing youtube videos on 100/150).

HD 5XXX, 2D Clocks & Video - techPowerUp! Forums

I'll update this post once I'll test this.

 

Using the guide I managed to change my core clock frequency and voltage.
However, memory clocks remain the same no matter what I do. That's pitty.