MSI GE600 coming out Early April

The GE600 has switchable graphics and it's barebone version the MS-1675 will have the same switchable graphics:

http://www.msiwhitebook.com/product_spec.asp?model=MS-1675-ID1

You can see the hotkeys in one of the pics to switch between performance and power saving GPU.

 

The 5730 is great for 1366x768. Sadly 1366x768 sucks. Oh well. Still could be good for someone on a budget, but mayb not the best.

edit* perhaps good for the light gamer who needs mobility. Switchable graphics would make it great for someone who does work on it, then plays Call of Duty for an hour when they get home.

 

The screen res is not bad, as long as it has a good quality screen.
I don't know why everyone wants higher res unless they need it for applications they are using.
For everyday use it's fine.

 

The screens fine and the performance will be great on that screen,

As ikas says, its quality not quantity? lolol

 

And here comes the most favorably repeated question : Will it handle SC2 with ULTRA everything, and on bnet?

 

the ge600 is much more of a competitor to the asus n61jq than to gaming rigs like the gx640. the ge600 is a nice sedan with good pickup rather than a blazing fast sport car.... and yes, i would have liked a sport car if i did not have a mortgage.

 

I'm not sure on ULTRA high but it should handle it fine if you play around with the settings.
The poster above makes a great analogy, it can game but falls behind when comparing to laptops with better GFX cards.

 

But does having an i5 paired with a 5730 make it a very good gaming rig?

 

That's debatable.
Really depends what you mean by "very good" gaming rig.
Will it be able to play every game out there?
I'd say yes, it will probably struggle a bit with RTS's which are more CPU dependent than other games, but FPS and other games that are similar it should have no problem.
It will probably even play CRYSIS decently enough without lower the settings too much.
I'm going by reviews of a ASUS N71J that has a i7-520M and ATI 5730.

 

By good I mean plays SC2 on ultra without lag. Also, users are saying that the GX640's i5-430m will be more than enough for SC2 on ultra, but is that influenced at all by the fact that GX has a 5850 vs a 5730? I'd like to know if I should get GE instead because of the switchable graphics, if its specs will handle SC2 well.

 

Google reviews for the ASUS N71J.
It has basically the same hardware, see for yourself bro.
We cannot do all the leg work for you
Have no idea how it's gonna handle StarCraft 2 since it's not out yet.
Like I said RTS's are more CPU dependant than GPU dependent.
Just get a laptop already!
You post in just about every section asking what laptop you should get..lol

 

Yah, thats cuz I'm trying to learn more and more about basically 2 models. Mostly the GX, and then I discovered the GE which has switchable graphics and a lower price tag.

Just want the best bang for the buck, and to be able to have an ultra-able Starcrafting machine.

Sorry to bug

 

dude, you seem to ask about sc2 in every single thread. WHy not just post in the gaming board if _______ can ______, the people over there will be happy to help you

 

@dookie11
what's your budget?
That would help a great deal.
You're not bugging people but it's that there are more games than SC2 and getting a laptop just to play one game Is strange.

 

Well I wouldn't say that. A lot of people only play Blizzard games on PC and get lost in either DotA or WoW or SC for years at a time. Although... those games barely justify (if at all) going out of your way for a gaming laptop.

 

Benchmark Results: Ultra Quality : StarCraft II Beta: Game Performance Analyzed

The GX640's video card will be fine and the processor should survive (dual core @ > 2ghz.) I don't know how this laptop's card will do.

 

Starcraft 2 on Ultra settings is the standard for you? Yeah any gaming notebook will do that. The Nvidia GTX 8800 today in Notebooks is seen as a 9600M. Yeah that old...
- Don't even bother asking if a gaming notebook can run Starcraft on Ultra settings, the answer is yes. Now of course I'm differentiating between gaming and entertainment notebooks.
- Pretty much, if the Mobile GPU is mid-range or high end and is at least 3 years old or newer, it will crush SC2 on Ultra settings.

Direct from Blizzard Quote

We test videocards individually in our labs and perform thorough testing to match them to an in-game quality level that will ensure they meet our criteria for smooth gameplay, in multiplayer as well as the single player and story modes. We err on the side of caution to not disrupt the gameplay experience.

The following videocards currently pass our tests for best experience at Ultra:

NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Ultra
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 512
NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT
NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT
NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GX2
NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT
NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX/9800 GTX+
NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX+
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 275
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295
ATI Radeon 3870 HD
ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2
ATI Radeon 4800 HD
ATI Radeon 4870 HD
ATI Radeon 3850 X2
ATI Radeon 3870 X2
ATI Radeon 4770
ATI Radeon 4800 Series
ATI Radeon 4850 X2
ATI Radeon 4870 X2

This list may change at any time as we are constantly improving the game to make it faster and better and as we add newer videocards to the list. You may be able to run Ultra on other videocards - those simply didn't pass our stringent requirements for very smooth gameplay.

Please keep in mind Ultra is not required to fully enjoy the game and does not necessarily constitute our recommended spec. Ultra may not necessarily be the highest setting available when the game is released; that is undecided.

 

It's really this forum only, that's keeping me from jumping on the GX

 

Just kidding. This notebook looks really plain and plasticy, almost like those budget Toshiba notebooks.

I'm think I'm gettin the GX, guys.

 

I'm buying a new laptop this Summer and have been researching for months looking at the Sony Vaio F11, Lenovo Ideapad Y560, Dell Studio XPS 16 and Asus N61JQ. At different times I was set on the Lenovo and Sony but now I think I've finally decided on the MSI GE600. It seems perfect for what I want especially with the switchable graphics. Supreme Commander is my benchmark game since RTS is my main genre. But I'm also starting school soon so cant have too big a laptop like the Sony Vaio or GX640(I also hate that red stripe, and the orange stripe on the Lenovo)

Has the GE600 shipped yet? I'm looking at Newegg right now. I want to know if anyone's done any gaming with it yet. I think Supreme Commander is the most demanding RTS out there still and my only concern with the GE600 is the Intel i5. But the i7 I imagine generates more heat which is a big deal for me (I'm also investing in a Zalman ZM-NC2000) and uses more energy. Is anyone else planning on buying the GE600 or does anyone have it yet?

 

i bought a ge600 from newegg that got here yesterday (tuesday, 4/27). newegg did "box the box." ups left it on my doorstep, but i fortunately live in a peaceful neighborhood. no damage to the exterior box.

i got home late last night and today. other than the usual "update -- reboot --- update-- uninstall --install (find) drivers" dance, i have not had time to play around with it much. tonight's project was burning backup disks, which were only two dvd's. tomorrow i will load a few games and see how they run.

so far, i do not have much to add to bagienny's purepc.pl review--i'd go there for a much more thorough and technical review than you will ever get out of me in the next few days.

my first impressions are good--i like the screen and keyboard (no flex). the machine runs quiet and cool (no gaming yet, though). unlike what i have read about some other msi models, the hinges are sturdy and smooth. the machine feels solid enough. there is not much extra junk loaded.

in 5 or 6 hours of being on, there have been no weird malfunctions, bsod's, noisy fans, clicky hard drive, melting plastic, or mystery reboots. if there were some sort of manufacture screw up or god awful driver/software issue, these usually show up pretty quick. none have so far. even with the desktops i have built, i do not do much with them until they have run for a while to make sure they are stable. the ge600 seems to be stable.

my only real problems have to do with my still being new to windows 7. i have been clinging to xp in all but one other machine, which only has had win 7 for a month.

my old laptop has a 15.4 screen, and the 16in screen gives noticeably more real estate without being cumbersome. i did not go for a 17+ screen since i will have to carry this thing from time to time.

that's it for now. i have to get up early.

 

Hope you already know it has the lowest resolution of 1366x768 in a 16" laptop. I think its the worst configuration in a good laptop and a deal breaker for me. It can be ONLY used for gaming and you will have tough time if you will use it for work.

 

For school and work it's fine.
Depends what you are going to use it for.
Stop with the resolution war against every laptop.
Everyone knows what the res is before purchasing, do you think we are dumb?
@ opositive
is the screen nice and vibrant?Bright?
Can you tell us how loud the fans are under full load?

 

I just ordered one yesterday. Should be getting it by tomorrow or Sat.

 

Nice!
A nice mini review would be cool.

 

im really considering this laptop, but one thing that i really want to find out about is the build quality of it. Since im leaving for college soon, i want a laptop that could last for about 3 years. I take good care of my laptops, so i wanna make sure that I don't get a laptop with bad build quality.

 

more info after a few more hours of fooling around with the ge600:

there are several different screen brightness settings. the screen is bright and vibrant in gamer and movie mode. the screen settings dim going from brightest to darkest as gaming-movie-presentation-office-turbo battery modes.

the fan is non existent in power saving gpu mode. the fan is a very low woosh in high performance gpu mode. i had to turn off my desktop and unplug the notebook cooler to hear the fan while running fallout 3 (muted) on gamer mode/high performance gpu mode. you cannot hear the fan if there is other ambient noise. i did not do any stress tests, though. at work or when doing presentations, this will be a very quiet laptop.

heat dissipates quickly through the rear "ventilator." the bottom panel has meshed cut outs for good air flow. i bought a cheap startech notebook cooler from newegg to make myself feel better, but the right hand area of the palm rest only gets a little warm when in high performance gpu mode when i ran fallout 3 and far cry 2 without the cooler ( i have not loaded crysis yet. i am downloading mass effect 2 now). the cooler fans line up nicely with the bottom intakes and almost eliminate the warmth in the palm rest.

movie mode works very well with dvd's. iron man looked great, as did youtube videos. flogging molly "live at the greek theatre" looked great.

default speaker settings are meh. after playing around with effects and equalizer, music, games and cd's sounded much better, though not great. volume is fairly loud for a notebook. as usual, headphones sound much better than the onboard speakers. my sennheiser hd280 headphones produced very good sound with the ge600. the speakers sound ok with music at medium volume but less so at higher volume. games and movies sound better, probably because of other settings for gamer and movie mode.

wireless connection was better than with either my 4 year old notebook or 8 month old netbook. my zyxel b/g router is in the front corner of my house connected to a docsis 2.0 cable modem. using the cnet bandwidth meter: in the same room, i had 2200kbps; up the hall through some walls in the den i had 998 kbps; outside through more walls in my yard i had 446kbps.

[edit-after power cycling my router, i am getting 2239 kbps in the den and outside-so the wireless card works better than i thought]

both fallout 3 and far cry 2 played smoothly at max settings at the 1366 x 768 and looked very nice. i did not expect such good results. as for the comments about "low resolution," if i need to "go big," i play on my desktop (the money i saved with the ge600 will let me upgrade from my 22in monitor to a 26in monitor later in the year).

when unplugged, the battery meter claimed to have about 2 and a half hours of juice in high performance mode. after a while, i switched to the low performance mode and got about 3 and a half hours. if i had started in the power saver modes, i probably would be in the 4 hour range. i did not think to check the battery meter until i had been wandering around a bit in either case.

still no weird malfunctions, bsod's, etc.

realtech must have updated their drivers since there is no crackle over speakers or headphones or conflicts with other programs.

windows experience: processor 6.7; ram 5.9; turbo graphics 6.7/6.7--integrated graphics 4.7/5.2; hard disc 5.9

the first game that finished downloading from steam was hl2 lost coast--its video stress test gave 43 fps for the integrated graphics and 151.60 for the 5730.

 

so does this thing have "switchable graphics"? Or does it do it on its own? Is there an indication light, icon, or popup that tells you when its "switching modes"? Please confirm. Thankssssssss

 

On its touchpanel there are 2 icons - one for dedicated, and one for integrated graphics, so you would know which one you're using ATM.

 

OMG it arrived at Newark last night, UPS is holding it at Philly at the moment. They better deliver tomorrow!!! I can't wait.

 

Opositive this sounds great!!! I can't wait till it gets here.

 

How is the build quality I have the ex 625 227US and it appears to me that its the same case.

if I lift mine grabbing the extremities I can see clearly the chassis flex in the middle. I don't have that much of problem with the flex in the keyboard. And the temps are high, I usually reach almost 90c for the cpu and the gpu while playing games (mostly empire total war, and cities XL, some shooter now and then)

So has anything of those improved? If so I recommend buying the lenovo y560 since it has the same specs as this one, and the same price as well.

 

Can anyone who already owns this confirm that it has Switchable Graphics? Thanks

 

ge600 has switchable graphics which are activated within the quick launch strip. integrated graphics give you less heat and increased battery life.

the chassis does not flex when i pick up the laptop from a corner with the lid closed. with the lid open, there is some flex when picked up from a corner. lifting with both hands shows no flex. this is the only msi i have handled and cannot compare it to other msi models. i prefer the feel of 16in toshibas, but i do not think that this msi chassis is anything to worry about.

the meshed cuts on the bottom help with airflow. good ol crysis makes the card get quite warm, and the temp is much better with the laptop cooler on. with the laptop cooler off, the fan noise is more noticeable, but the game drowns out the fan. the cooler is louder than the fan.

crysis plays smoothly at high settings at 1366 x 768, as did mass effect 2 and far cry 2. temps were not as noticeable in either me2 or fc2. i did not expect games to look and play as well as they do.

the touchpad has a textured surface and 2 buttons, which i like better than my asus netbook single piece rocker bar (but i still prefer a mouse).

the screen is glossy with vibrant colors when on the brighter screen settings, but all glossy screens are... well..glossy and can be annoyingly reflective depending on lighting conditions.

although i mentioned the right palm rest getting warm with games, i would not describe it hot, like the gx640 people keep saying about their machines.

i wish that laptop makers would not use shiny smooth plastic for covers since such surfaces print and scratch. i ordered a skin last night.

the ge600 has some compromises but is very hard to beat at this price. i do not understand the comments comparing this to more expensive full time gaming rigs which are in a different class. of course the resolution is 1366 x 768-- you would have to shell out significantly more money for a higher res and more powerful gpu to support it--which i still do think would make much sense without a larger screen--which then kills battery life and portability since you are into the desktop replacement category. another thing about the res: i was in a training class last month and thought it was funny that almost everyone were hunched forward squinting at their cranked up laptop screens trying to read the tiny type. anyway, for me, the ge600 is a very good working computer that i can also use for games....

i hope someone else gets their laptop soon since i do not know what else to say about this thing.

 

Opositive, could you make a list of pros and cons to summarize what you thought was good and bad of this laptop, if thats cool with you?

 

Opositive, could you run SC2 beta on it, and see how well it runs
ULTRA-everything settings? Also, if you could run FRAPS and upload to youtube, I'd be ever so grateful of your efforts.

 

I'll just ask if you can post GPU and CPU temps when gaming.
HWmonitor should work fine.
Easy!

 

ok--since i have been lurking on this site for months and have relied on ya'll's collective knowledge, i guess i should add some more info to "pay it forward":

furmark: 1.7.0 1024 x 768 min 36 max 64 avg 43

3dmark06: 7915 3d marks; sm2.0 2936; sm 3.0 3648; cpu 2601

ambient room temp: 75-78 f
hwmonitor/fraps

avg. idle temps: i5:48c; acpi 50c on turbo graphics, lower temps by 4 degrees for integrated graphics


unless otherwise stated, the screen settings in games were high settings, 1366 x 768, aa default (i do not see much point in using aa for this screen size and resolution). i did not use the cooler. yes, i need to buy some newer games, but i have held back since i have been looking for a laptop. i also got bored with downloading and loading games.

crysis: 5730-74c; i5-72c; high-upper teens to low 20's in combat; medium - mid to upper 20's (little perceived difference between high and medium, but i would leave crysis on med. yes, these fps would be much more noticeable on a bigger screen). wandering around/no combat-low 40 fps

me2: 5730-75c; i5-72c; combat-40-45 fps; wandering--60fps

fallout 3: 5730-58c; i5 - 53 c; just wandering around the vault in the opening sequences (i have not transferred any saved games yet)--60fps

fc2: 5730-71c; i5-69c; 40-50 fps regardless of what is going on.

i think that the thermal compound on the gpu and cpu has "settled in" since the palm rest area has cooled down considerably. the temps were better than i expected. i was worried after all the chatter about hot gx640's.

the 5730 results were similar to what i have seen elsewhere in different laptops.

sorry, dookie--i am not a mumorpuger. i would expect the ge600 to put out similar benchmarks to any other laptop with a 5730.


giving pros and cons will result in much babbling:

pros :
high value for the dollar ($899 newegg): i5, 5730, 4g ram, 7200 rpm hd. esata, hdmi, express slots. placement of audio/mike inputs. for this screen size, 1366 x 768 looks fine. very little junkware (i only tossed norton and will toss the ms office trial later). switchable graphics and battery life of 2 to 4 hours (I have not run the battery down--this is just from unplugging and checking the battery meter). the plastic chassis feels solid enough, but i would not go tossing it around. now that the system has burned in, the cooling system has proven effective. the palm rest is barely warm, and the already quiet fan runs less. i like the vent in the rear instead of on the side. so far, no hardware failures, bsod, program conflicts--looks like msi has the right mix in this one. i expect to be able to use this machine for 3-4 years for almost all work/office purposes. since programmers and game developers for the most part have not yet taken advantage of hyper threading, ati 5xxx series design, or dx11, i think that the ge600 will have longer legs than some people are saying.

cons: of course i would have loved to have i7, 58xx gpu, aluminum chassis, higher res bigger screen (but all those would have jacked up the cost, increased the heat, lessened the lifespan, added weight and size). i am not a big fan of touchpads. the two mouse buttons audibly click when pressed. the exterior lid is shiny easily scatched fingerprint loving plastic. i would have preferred for the whole express strip to be lit rather than just whichever button is on. the speakers are good at lower levels but lack richness. the keyboard is not backlit. there are only three usb 2.0 slots: one in the back (which is where i plug the cooler), and one on each side. although the meshed cutouts of the bottom panel help air flow, you have to be mindful of not blocking or clogging them--like by putting the laptop on a pillow or blanket. the chassis colors are kind of bland. no blu ray (so what--an enclosure and bd player can be put together for $90-100).

at present, the intel mobile i series cpu's and mobile ati 5xxx series gpu's are superior to amd mobile cpu's (though i use amd desktop cpu's) and nvidia mobile gpu's (before someone jumps down my throat about a 260 or 360 gpu or the like, i am also taking into consideration dx11 in future game design, not just present day benchmarks)(the ati 5850 in my desktop is the 1st ati i have owned--i waited until the drivers were fixed).

i wanted to stay under $1k since you end up replacing laptops every few years. spending over $1k would have made me paranoid about taking it anywhere.

i7 and 58xx produce more heat (poison) and eat more power than the i5/5730. i am hoping that less heat/less power usage will result in a longer lifespan.

msi got the price point and component set just right with the ge600. it does not have everything on my wish list but has the essentials of hyper threading multi core cpu, dx11 gpu, 7200 rpm hd, 4gb ram. on a good-better-best scale, it is "better" since it has all i really need and much of what i want.

now somebody else please get a ge600 so i am not the only one writing about it.

 

What's a mumorpuger? MMORPG-er? SC2 is an RTS. Do you own any RTSes? It doesnt have to be SC2-- if you have any of the CC series, or even Warhammer, I'd be grateful if you could test those with the 5730+i5.

I'm honestly trying to decide between the GE and the GX. I have enough funds for either one, but want to be secure in my purchase, cuz I have a tendency to regret purchasing stuff. The last thing I bought that I didnt regret were Kobe Zoom IV's, LOL, which cost around $150 total.

 

sorry about the mis label of sc2. sorry starcraft fans.

"zhatzee" croshaw is the amusing cynical game critic of "zero punctuation" who came up with mumorpuger for people who play mmorpg. when i saw sc2 at blizzard, my first thought was of wow.

i do not play rts games. i have a (literally) dusty copy of the 2006 warhammer dark crusade that i never did anything with. that is so old that i do not think it would serve your purpose.

i signed up for a battlenet account in an effort to get the sc2 beta. battlenet says that i have to have a full version of a blizzard entertainment game to set up a beta account. i do not have any blizzard games (is there anything other than wow?).

i definitely understand avoiding impulse buying. i have some rotten early release games, which is why i wait a bit for reviews before buying new ones.

as for the ge600 vs gx640, it depends on how you prioritize a)need b)want and c)afford. although the msi page is full of threads about heat, loud fans and driver concerns, i think the gx640 is a great machine for the price. as you already know, most of the gamers here will tell you to get the gx640 instead of the ge600. since my priorities were ordered as a) afford b)need c)want, i bought the ge600.

if you are this undecided but can wait longer, i would wait for some additional reviews of the ge600 (as far i know, i got a good one, and the rest are crap) and see whether msi addresses the gx640 heat, loud fan, driver conflicts.

 

Looks like UPS is delivering the laptop to me on Monday. I'll try SC2 beta on it and tell you guys how it runs.

 

Are you gonna do a quick review?

 

Thank you thank you. I was reading benchmarks on Tomshardware, and cross referencing them with the chart on bnet forums, and it seems that the 5730 should do fine. The bottleneck would be the i5. Same goes for the 5850 on the GX.

Please do run game tests, and upload a video if you could. Thanks so much

 

Can you guys comment on the heat on the bottom of the laptop when gaming without a cooler? Is it possible to game on this laptop in my lap?

I have a GX640 and Envy 15. Both are too hot to game on my lap.

 

I have a question about the memory. Is the max memory supported only 4gb or will I be able to upgrade in the future to 8gb? I've searched a lot and haven't been able to find that out. I see with other laptops with the intel i5 430m and with ddr3 1066 that it is possible to upgrade to 8gb of memory but I'm not sure about the GE600.

 

manual at 2-5 says max memory 8gb.

 

As for performance, battery life and temperatures, srsly, have a look at my review - it covers pretty much everything you want to know
http://translate.google.com/transla...ww.purepc.pl/msi_ge600_mlodszy_blizniak_ex625

 

Has anyone else thought about the MSI MS0ID1, the barebone of the GE600? I love how the barebone is all black and with a matte finish, all and all a much more subdued look. But buying it from RKcomputer with the equal specs of the GE600 from Newegg is over $1200. Why is buying a less flashier version so much more expensive? Why can't the GE600 look like this, regular black and not a fingerprint magnet. I'm already planning on putting a big sticker over the MSI logo on the cover.

I'm probably going to bite the bullet and get the GE600 from Newegg because that is my budget. Why are gaming laptop manufacturers designing laptops this way, all flashy and shiny? Even when I was just a kid going to LAN parties that did not appeal to me. I even taped over annoying leds on my desktop. Maybe I can get this professionally repainted.

One more quick thing. Does anyone know of any screen filters that tone down the glare and glossiness of the screen? Here's something I found what do you guys think? ViewGuard® Privacy Filters & Screen Protectors for Laptop, Notebook & Desktop Computers; LCD Screens; Mobile Phones; PDAs and More

 

Ok finally got my laptop. It feels more like a 15.6 inch screen than a 16 inch. Been toying it around for hours and it only gets warm when you play games,etc. It doesn't get HOT! The highest it got was about 74 degrees C for both processor and video card. My 1st game I tried was L4D2, it runs really well on high settings and 2nd game was BFBC2 it runs good with med-high settings. For those who wants to know how StarCraft II runs on it, it runs really really well on high settings, but on ultra it was a little slow.
The keyboards are average, damn only if they all made them like Alienware.
This notebook is one of the smaller 16 inch out there and is really light. Highly recommended for gamers looking for a PORTABLE notebook.

 

Thank you sir. I really appreciate your comment on SC2. Even though it was brief, it's just what I needed to read, cuz you mentioned the settings and even elaborated using an extra "really", hahaha.

Thanks. I now have more confidence in which notebook I might choose.

Btw, where'd you buy yours, and what was the total bill (U.S. dollars please).