MSI GX 60 mit 7970

Finally see a MSI barebone with a 7970 graphics card times the performance with the AMD CPU. The price will be great.

MSI Gaming-Notebook GX60 mit AMD A10-4600M sowie Serien CR und CX - Notebookcheck.com News

 

Yes, but my excitement lasted until I checked the performance of the AMD A10-4600M and saw that it's on the level of a Sandy Bridge i3 m CPU...
Would have been awesome for 1200 dollars though.

 

Unfortunately you also can't crossfire the 7970 with the APU, but this is definitely an exciting product from AMD even if the performance is still a bit below par. Having the ability to effectively crossfire the iGPU and a discrete card together would mean a huge increase in performance ceilings for the 15inch and under laptops.

That being said $1200+possible discounts could make for a good buy, I worry though that the CPU's slow speed could be a bottleneck for the powerhouse 7970.

 

the A10-4600M is even no faster than the Pentium B960

 

We have no idea how fast it will be in gaming with the integrated graphics turned down and using a dedicated chip.

Also they tend to be overclockable and CPU performance is not usually the limiting factor.

I think with some tweaking it could really work.

 

Yes, it would be great if it would . At that price point the 7970m + iGPU power would be crazy.

 

Wonder how much are the benchmarks shown in the pics...

 

Can I get one with an intel quad core, pretty please MSI/AMD

(OCed) A10-4600M is no slouch but I wanna play some dolphin/pcsx2 and unfortunately AMD CPUs are no good for that...

 

You can get a GT70 with a GTX680, it's going to cost yah though.

 

All aboard the CPU bottleneck train! Seriously though, make the barebones version $1000 or less and make Trinity overclockable and I'd consider one. Seems like a waste of the iGPU though, I wish that AMD made a 45w Trinity with a beefed up CPU and cut down GPU.

 

Enduro means the 7970M can shut off completely. Trinity has shown excellent battery ability too, so it should actually last a while on battery.

 

This looks like it will be a really interesting system. As R3D can back, the AMD chips are not anywhere as weak as many people like to believe.

Sure single threading may be relatively lacking, but the 3530mx has the multitasking performance of a sandy bridge i5 when overclocked, and lets face it, you would need a seriously weak CPU to worry about it bottlenecking.

People seem to think that without an IB/SB processor you are doomed to a life of slow processing and bottlenecks....... However the IB i7s are so freaking overkill that you can turn off turbo mode and see no difference in gaming! Go look at the HP DV6t-7000 thread (with IB + 650m) It is the GPU that really matters.

Stop and actually think for a second. If the 7970 was going to be so bottlenecked... WHY would MSI put it in the laptop?!?!?!?! You don't think they would have tested it and thrown in something like a 7850 instead?

IMO AMD systems like this are trading unneeded , overkill performance, for a lower price.. and that is totally fine by me. Can't wait for this thing to come out.

 

Judging from Cinebench ( single/ multi, the a8-3520m is clocked at 1.6ghz) and x264 CPU scores, the A10 performs around the same as a Llano clocked at ~1.9ghz (CPU-wise) which in turn is roughly half the performance of an i7-2630qm.

If there's no OCing, there's a very strong chance that the 7970m will be CPU bottlenecked, especially in demanding games like BF3.

Llano and Trinity aren't particularly weak, but the 7970m is just way too strong of a card to not be bottlenecked.

 

Half the single thread of a 3720qm.... With some ocing i think it will be enough.

 

Yeah. I hope AMD left the multipliers unlocked.

edit: Considering that the barebones version of the GT60 is almost $500 less than the branded version, I am very excited for the barebones version of this notebook.

 

Well, I'm still running an old-school i7 740qm. If the CPU that comes with isn't (too much) weaker than what I've got, I might consider it.

Off-topic, but are there plans for more powerful A10s, or is that one the top dog?

 

Yeah I just ran CineR11.5 with my 3530MX @ 2.6Ghz and I got:
Single Core : 0.77
Multi Core : 3.03

@2.8Ghz
Single Core: 0.83
Multi Core : 3.23

I really hope Trinity can OC... because it is kinda sad to see my 3530mx destroy it.... I would not feel right swapping my Llano into a brand new machine lol

 

According to the Cinebench results on Notebookcheck, the i7-740qm should be roughly 40-50% faster.

 

But the 7970m should stomp all over my 5870.

Sigh.

Choices, choices.

And there's price, too. If the barebones is around the $1000, that would be a pretty damned good deal.

 

Remember trinity is more like dual core with hyperthreading, and its going to be 1 and 2 thread performance that matters in games.

So at stock it matches yours at 2.6ghz.

 

Very interesting indeed. I wonder if they will release a barebones version?

 

Hope so. A 7970m might be too much for the a10-4600m but a 7870m for around $800 would be great.

 

Barebones amd... Not sure due to chip availability.

 

Do you guys think this would be comparable to a Sager NP9150? Does the Sager make up with its processor the price difference (with a 7970m of course) in your opinions?

 

Well seeing as how we do not have an official price or test unit benchmarked, it is difficult to say.

I think that Sagers are priced extremely well and that the IB processor is what makes up the majority of the price difference, but you must also remember build quality. Sagers are some of the best built laptops out there, and MSI is not known for its stellar build quality (of course this varies from model to model)

It is very likely that this system will have a very similar chassis to the GT60 so you might want to look up that owners lounge for build quality and value opinions.

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Regarding the GX60 performance, I found these benchmark from an INTEL system results courtesy of slickdude :

GPU is 7970m




and looking at this image here of the GX60 :



It really sucks because every video source/picture source of the GX60 does not show WHAT VIDEO SETTINGS the benchmark is being run at! The cameras go out of their way to give you an FPS report (GT70 w/ GTX 680m gets about 45fps at start, and the GX60 gets about 31fps to start , and is steadily climbing, but the cameras shift away as it reaches 34-35) but without any kind of video settings this FPS information is rather useless.

This picture is about as good as I can find on the net. It looks like it says 67.3 fps overall (the other picture on the last stage has an average fps of 67.4 to back this up)

So the 2 conclusions I am drawing from this is... either the A10 bottlenecks the 7970 resulting in a loss of 14.4 fps OR the GX60 is running settings that are completely different.

 

At first I was so sure that I was going for the GT60, but now an AMD based is out, I'm actually pretty excited. Super high end graphic card, but a medium CPU (Hope I can OC this thing), but the expected price sure sounds nice.

Just wondering, based on all your guys' experience, about when do you guys think this thing will be on the market, for North America that is.

 

I think is a setting and driver configuration problem. On prototipe GX60 pictures, there is one of experience index, and says "6.1", I can't understand why, my A4 notebook scores "5.9" and my too old MSI GT735 scores "5.1" (Limited by the Turion Ultra @ 2,2 GHz). I think GX60 must be higher...

 

I get 7.6

 

Yes I too was really confused by the 6.1 rating, it must be driver/recognition issue. I think it is almost guaranteed to the the CPU score.

According to notebook check :
WEI Scores

A10-4600m - 6.9
7660g integrated - 6.5
7970m - 7.9
Memory should be over 7
SSDs in super raid are obviously gonna be over 7.

So even if they did botch the test and run it on the iGPU it should be reading 6.5. Meh... its just WEI anyhow, id rather see what kinda 3DMark / FPS it can put out.

My 3530MX @ 2.6ghz get 6.9 for CPU
6750m OC gets 6.5 (lowest score)

 

In your mega Barebone? Running W8 or W7??

Also I found another pic, and this time it says "5.4" (runing Windows 8 Customer Preview), Again I think is a low score. maybe something is wrong...

Yeah, your DV6z has a higher score... but, 6,5 on 6750m? on Aero Perfomance I think... my 6480g scores 6,5 in gaming performance and 5,9 on Aero.

I also suppose CPU will have the lowest score in the MSI, but not too low like in pictures...


By another side, what about the housing? The entire notebook looks like GT60, but upper clam looks like GT683 (Plastic, I think). MSI has not any official information about GX60 in their website, Maybe MSI will release it with GT60 Brushed Aluminium Upper Case? Also I hope a backlighted keyboard like GT60

 

In windows 7.

 

A mechanical platter hard drive is usually the limiting factor for Windows 7 WEI scores that range from 1.0 to 7.9.The WEI score is for the lowest scoring part.The mechanical hard drive normally receives a 5.9.

Add a SATA III 6gb/s SSD and scores will jump to 7.? with the lowest score probably coming from stock graphics.

Windows 8 Release Preview WEI scores range from 1.0 to 9.9.

 

Yeah WEI for me varies from driver to driver. I think on an older one I used to have 6.8-6.9, but having the 6220g turned on probably brings it down a few points.

Yeah I think build will be very similar to GT60. I'm hoping to buy barebones and get more customization.

 

Exactly... Storage Drive can't be...

GX60 has 2 Sandisk U100 in RAID0, so the score must be higher than 7,9

Also, the graphics are 7660g on APU and a 7970m... both are very, very powerful, so it can't be the lowest score.

Well, I think we must wait a little more... I'm very interested in this model...

 

I ran across some new blogs that put American pricing in the $1500 range , which is quite far from the $1200 price tag that was initially foretold.....................If this is true then my excitement for this will be short lived.

 

Might as well get a Sager or a GT60 at that point. I dunno if MSI would shoot themselves in the foot like that.

 

Dunno. If it's a fully loaded notebook, (Blu-ray, 2x500GB+ HDDs, backlit keyboard, good wireless), it might still be viable. But if it's much more over, I don't know, $1350, I'll be very critical of performance tests.

 

The Max WEI score that any of sub scores can produce in Windows 7 is 7.9 so 2 SSDs in raid0 or a single SSD will only go up to 7.9.

Where did you see that the GX60 will have 2 x U100(Super Raid) raid0?

 

Except there's no backlit keyboard, no killer NIC and no Dynaudio speakers that the other variant has. I think MSI was trying to balance out the costs of the 7970m and/or just make the system as cheap as possible.

 

Yeah, In windows 7, but as I said before, there was some GX60 Running Windows 8 Customer Preview...

I saw Super Raid configuration and windows 8 CP here:

Killer NIC was listed in the exposition, Keyboard is SteelSeries, in the prototipe is the not backlit version, but quicklaunch pad has the same backlit button from the GT60, maybe the button is for switching external lights or maybe release version will have backlit keyboard. About Dynaudio... yeah, Dynaudio mark don't appear... but Is possible MSI release a Gseries without Dynaudio Speakers? I hope they don't do that!

I don't think MSI want to balance costs, then why they put two SanDisk U100??

 

Hm, Notebookcheck said there was not killer NIC, but it's listed in one of the pictures. Shoulda looked more carefully.

Hopefully there's a backlight on the final model too.

 

With a WEI score of 5.1 something is really dragging it down.I suspect it's the CPU?

 

I'll run a few 2310M + 7970M benchmarks if you like guys?

 

Yes please! I have never tried OC/UCing Sandy/Ivy Bridge, but would it be possible for you to underclock the 2310 to the point where Cinebench R11.5 scores are similar to that of the A10-4600m, and then compare some benchmarks/FPS between stock and A10 speeds.

IMO that would probably be the best indicator for A10/7970 combo performance. If it is not possible for you to UC the 2310, I will see if I can get one of the nehalem i7 guys to try it.

 

Metro 2033 @ 1080p, very high, 4xaa, 4xaf DX11 (no adv physx)

Average Framerate: 33.67
Max. Framerate: 91.91
Min. Framerate: 2.20

7970M @ 950/1575 + 2310m.

I believe the gaming potential of trinity is that of a 2310m (cine != gaming fps).

 

Definately

 

I just realized when looking at multiple benchmarks/performance tests that the A10 and 2310 score extremely similar in almost every one I saw.... guess we don't need to worry about UCing.

What kind of FPS do you get with a higher end CPU like your 2820?

Thanks

 

Average Framerate: 43.24
Max. Framerate: 88.79 (Frame: 1744)
Min. Framerate: 10.57 (Frame: 1301)

At 925/1575.

A lot of the frame drop is earlier in the test with the AI I believe.

It all comes down to price.

If it's either a 3610qm + GTX670M or A10 + 7970M then I would go with the A10 as an overall package.

 

It could be the reason Trinity is slow is because it has the same flawed turbo mode voltages that effectively eliminated turbo mode from Llano.

Llano turbo is pretty much useless and never kicks-in stock. If Trinity has the same flawed turbo mode as Llano, then it would be running tests at it's base 2.3Ghz VS 3.2 turbo. (AMD made the turbo voltages for Llano so high that as soon as they kick in, they would cause the system to heat up immensely and turn off turbo). Llanos turbo mode on its own was not horrible, just the stock voltages were ridiculous (2.6 stock turbo was at 1.31V, where as almost every user runs 2.6ghz @ 1.15-1.16v)

If we couple this with the possibility of overclocking, perhaps Trinity may be much faster than it appears.

 

Llano cores are totally different. I doubt that's the issue.

It's a power budget issue.