MSI gx660r-060 is what we've been waiting for

Welcome to the club, that makes it 2. I don't think this is a coincidence anymore, it's obviously a problem that the GX660r is experiencing, similar to the g73jh.

 

Yeah, I'm going to start doing a "MSI GX660R GSOD" search in google daily now. I hope I'm wrong, but I've got a feeling it is going to start generating a lot more hits than me and the other guy over the next month or two.

 

Literally this has delayed me from getting my laptop for like 6 weeks. I waited 2 weeks to get it built and shipped, then another for a rma return, and now I have to wait another 3 for them to get it in stock, build, and ship again. This is brutal, I was debating to get the G73jw or sager and be done with this mess. I just can't get over how poorly built the Asus is. It literally looks like the internals of an Xbox when you see it taken apart, unlike the MSI which has every part imaginable accessible with one panel.

The real mystery is why hasn't clevo responded?

 

Yeah, your situation is exactly what I'm afraid of if I RMA my machine for a repair/exchange. I'm in grad school right now, and I don't want to be without a laptop for another 2 weeks, let alone 6 .

The G73jw does unnerve me a little, especially with the problems the JH had in addition to the GSODs. Still, its the one I'm leaning towards, just cause it looks like they've made some nice improvements, and the price is right.

Sager/Clevo is totally due for a refresh. I'm kind of surprised they haven't jumped on the 460m bandwagon yet.

 

I would be totally on board with sager if they would just come out with something to compete with the GX660r. Another thing I am looking for is decent battery life and this is the only model to provide it with these parts.

 

So i just got my GX660R 5 days ago and ive been doing alot of stress testing before my 10 day 100% return policy expires and i must say I think im sending it back. I love the Laptop (Sound is awesome, Build quality is great) but i get alot of crashes and freezes when trying to overclock just the smallest amount. Its stable at stock settings but im worried later on it will start to get worse.
Example stock clocks are 700/1000 and i cant even get 725/1025 stable at all. I can get 700/1000 Furmark 30 minutes stable/2-3 3DMark06 runs no problem. but 725/1025 no can do. I've tried different drivers and different stress tests (MSI Kombuster) Other owners with the same laptop are able to get very easy decent overclocks. Forge has no probs getting big overclocks. My temps are very good but im beginning to think that I have a bad ATI HD5870
Im might just say "F" it and get the Sager X7200 when it comes out.
Honestly the only reason I like this laptop is because of the looks and the sound. Other than that the screen sucks in my opinnion. It looks good straight on but the viewing angles are horrible.
Im stumped on what to do???

 

Go for the NP8850 or X7200. The build quality would be a billion times better. My previous computer was a clevo and it lasted me for a whopping 7 years before it started to have hardware problems. Yes it didn't have any battery and was heavy but I think the quality of the system well made up for this.

I think that the NP8760 is my machine, I'll prob get a cheap netbook for school.

 

I actually returned my Sager NP8120 for the MSI GX660R
It's so so so nice having great audio. I hate using headphones

 

You could always try a voltage increase because the sagers come with 1.15v and the MSI only has 1.05 from what I've heard... That might increase your OC headroom significantly

 

I'll guinea pig myself and bump up my voltages to 1.1 or 1.15, and see where that leads me.

And I'll probably underclock/undervolt non-gaming clocks.

 

Sounds good, I know for sure I will be doing the same

 

Yea my 5870 won't overclock one bit. Maybe I'm not overclocking right. I'm very familiar with stress testing. Am I supposed to raise the GPU voltage on my GX660R? Hey Forge are you on stock GPU voltage? Your overclock is amazing. Before I RMA my laptop tomorrow I want to make sure I'm actually overclocking the right way!

 

I overclock by moving the sliders around on MSI Afterburner. No voltages touched. Nothing more, nothing less. However, the 840/1050 I use for e-peen posts might not be completely stable. I've had a few crashes on Killing Floor, C&C3, and Left 4 Dead 2. Im sure if I did more games I would also see some crashes. I also got the occasional crash on 800/1050.

On the other hand, I can game with 770/1050 till the cows come home.

 

Here's a great test done by JohnyFlash from these forums showing the max OCs he was able to obtain using various voltage changes along with their corresponding temps.....

Results
(Voltage) (Highest Stable GPU Clock) (OCCT Temps [Core/MemIO/Shader]) (Idle MemIO)
(1.15) (910) (84.5 / 110.5 / 91) (61)
(1.10) (870) (81.5 / 105 / 87.5) (60)
(1.05) (830) (79 / 101 / 84.5) (58)

His thread can be found here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam...16111-mobility-5870-undervolting-results.html

This should clear up some confusion to what clocks are obtainable at various voltages =)

@Rob, I think you just have a crappy card, but maybe try a slight voltage increase to 1.1 and see what results you get? (if you are comfortable with that)

 

So after a week of owning my gx660r I've been having horrid issues with the display not working. I can occasionally get it to boot with a display but after random intervals the screen will seize up or display crazy lines that change periodically. Would this point to an issue with the 5870 and therefore require an RMA or is there some sort of tinkering that will get this bad boy to work properly? Blah I can't believe my luck with notebooks!

 

That doesn't sound good at all. I'm willing to bet you will have to RMA the sytem .... What kind of temps are you getting if you can even get far enough to check... Also, try updating drivers if possibe

 

Well, I was going to get this laptop, but then a couple of users reported _SODs, so I'm now on the fence. Is this widespread? Is it only happening when you move away from the factory defaults (updating drivers, overclocking, ect)? Needing some more people to say how their laptop is doing.

It'd be sort of funny if this laptop has _SODs because an MSI vBIOS fixed the G73JH, but MSI didn't make a vBIOS that works on their new product with the same video card. But, of course, it'd be sad at the same time, because that would be another laptop off my and many other peoples' lists.

 

*Update* So im very happy to say im finally able to overclock my GX660R.

In my previous posts I couldnt even get 720/1020 stable whatsoever, but what I did was... put the Core to 800 and Memory to stock 1000 and i'm able to get it 15x runs of 3DMark06/Furmark 20 minutes/Crysis Gameplay Max Settings 2 hours stable. I thought for sure the memory wasnt the problem. On all my previous desktop GPU's the memory clock is normally the easiest to overclock.
I guess overclocking the GPU memory was my problem. I cant up that clock one bit. But im happy with the results so far. I can actually get the core clock up more but im happy with my results so far. My temps are freaking amazing!!! Never above 70C
I scored consistent 13750 in 3DMark06.

 

I think only 3 users have reported problems with SoDs, but they seem to come from factory so they are Lemons. Other people that have experienced any SoD comes from overclocking.

Regardless of any reason, should you get an unstable computer on stock, get support immediately. You should NOT experience black screens of death, stripped screens GSoDs etc etc out of the box.

The GSoD problem was a bit different though, the issue affected 100% of the machines, but it took time for some to experience it. Just like Asus G51J with it's BSoD problem.

 

I have only had mine for 10 days, but it has been used every day for several hours a day and I have 0 SODs. I love this laptop. I have not attempted to overclock or anything at this point. Maybe in the future but the standard performance of this machine is enough for me right now.

 

As being one of the reported 3 people having SOD issues with this laptop, I figure I would weigh in. Unlike the ASUS, where the notebook itself had problems with the GPU, I think the MSI is built fine, but just a few of us have gotten lemon GPUs. This is a gamble you will face with any notebook manufacturer and with any GPU manufacturer, I just think nVidia currently ships less lemons (at least with there recent lines). Anyway the laptop itself is solid, and for the most part I think your chances are good of getting a non-defective laptop. Me personally, this was just the straw that broke the camels back for me when dealing with ATI/AMD equipment.

So if you are not concerned about viewing angles, so-so contrast, and not completely put off by AMD, then this is probably the best laptop you can get for the cash.

 

can someone please verify that the BD combo drive does dvdr DL?

i'm 99% sure it does, just wanna make sure

 

try oc it to 800/1100 mine could hit till 14753 score in 3dmark 06

 

Mine should be arriving tomorrow, I'm very excited!

I noticed on the keyboard that there's a forward slash key to the left of the space bar, does anyone know how to disable it or change it's input to a different function (such as an additional alt key)?

Also, what are you guys doing to stress test it and make sure all the hardware and features are working properly? This is my first brand new laptop, so while I'm pretty decent with computers, I'm feeling a bit like a noob.

Thanks!

 

That's actually a backward-slash key. It's the same key as above the Enter key. A forward slash is the one on the key with the question mark.

I have no idea what that key is doing there, but I don't think you can remap it to anything. Most keyboards are set in stone for which key sends which signal. Unless there is software in Windows to change what each signal represents to the rest of the computer, I don't think it would be changeable.

Just a side comment, it's more of a programmer's key. I've never used it except when programming, so I don't expect you'll be using it much.

 

Ahh, you're right, it is a backslash key - my mistake .

I might be using it in web design, but I'd rather use the standard placement of the key. My main issue with it being there is, since I'm a graphic design student and rely heavily on using shortcuts in Adobe software, it's where my finger would usually go to press Alt. I suppose I might be able to train myself around it, but it just seems like it will be annoying. It's the only part of the laptop that looks like it will bug me. Otherwise, I'm pretty stoked to get it. I've been dealing with a pretty old computer for too long!

I really appreciate the info. I figured it was "hardwired" into the programming, but maybe I'll figure out a way around it.

 

Fear my sexy vBIOS.

Look at my GPU temperature. This is in a 74.9F room and only passive cooling. I love idling cool.

(Although I must say my SSD wins in that department, haha.)

 

Are you stable at 800/1050 with more voltage or is still a no go?

 

I'm perfectly stable at 1.05, if two and a half hours of maxed Dragonage Origins means anything. I'll try something like Crysis when I have the time.

 

Man do I have a QUESTION for You!!!
I noticed in the Control Panel (Uninstall a Program)
In the List of Programs there is-"SRS Premium Sound /Control Panel"
Where in the hell is it???? I searched everywhere. All I have is the Realtek Control Panel. I would think that with all the time they spent with DYNAudio there would be a better Control Panel then the Realtek crap.
Am i missing something here? Do you guys have it?
Should look like this.
srs-control-panel

 

I finally got my GX660r!

I'm loving it so far. I got it from Newegg, so it's the standard model without upgrades.

Everything has been running like a dream for the past few days until just now. It's a strange issue, so I'm not sure if you guys can help me.

When I start up my computer now I get a message that says "Don't support the LED controller. Please uninstall the msi LED Manager!!" and the only option I have to click on is "OK". That's all the text in the message and when I click "OK" it comes up a second time. After I select "OK" again it doesn't come up again unless I try opening the msi LED Manager, then it opens up twice again. The LED lights still work and the msi LED Manager still works, but it's a pain that I'm getting the error message and I'm not sure what I did to cause it.

I noticed that it started after I used PC Decrapifier to remove unwanted programs. The only programs I removed were the Arcos programs that came pre-installed, which looked like crap-ware to me. I have also used CCleaner.

Any ideas? Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Jason

 

i would just go to the Control Panel... Uninstall MSI LED Manager.. then just pop the MSI Driver disc in there and reinstall the Driver. That should fix it!

 

Hey Rob! Very sound advice. I actually just tried that, thinking it was the logical solution as well. Unfortunately, I'm still getting the error. I have no clue what's going on. Aside from the error, everything seems to be fine. I may have to contact MSI to resolve this pesky issue.

On another note - I noticed that both of my hard drives show up in Windows Explorer. I was under the impression that since Raid 0 is being used, that they would show up as one hard drive and all information would be dispersed between them somewhat evenly. It says it's setup as Raid 0 in the bios, so I'm not sure what's up with that. Unless, of course, the info I read on the interwebs regarding the nature of Raid 0 was incorrect . Entirely possible!

 

I'm not sure what causes this, but I got that message also after the first few days. I thought it was a windows update because if I used a restore point to the day I got the computer it goes away. However, I did a clean windows install and all the drivers and utilities back and it is better than ever. no led error message to be found.

 

Strange! I'm sorry you had to deal with it too, but I'm glad to know I'm not the only one. Forgive me if I'm being noobish, but when you did a clean install, you lost everything on the hard drive, right? In other words, would I have to reinstall all of my other programs and back up all my data first? Because I've been busy the past few days lol. If so, I'll probably wait until I can get an external hard drive to back everything up first. As of now, I have the LED Manager uninstalled and the error won't bug me. I'm still able to turn the LEDs on and off and I guess for now it's permanently set to breathe mode when I have them on. It's my favorite anyways, so no biggie .

So aside from that, this machine is KILLER!

Did you do all the stress testing like everyone else did? I haven't bothered to. I plan on mostly using this for graphic design, music production, and the occasional first person shooter game (such as CS:S). I'm not really sure how to overclock anything aside from the Turbo button, but I would prefer to keep the system stable anyways.

I appreciate both of you and your fast input .

 

If your computer is still relatively new--meaning you don't have a lot of personal files and customization on it yet--reinstall windows onto it. Should take thirty-ish minutes and you get to pick what goes on the laptop. Just back everything up and move it all back once you're back up and running. (I used 'back" three times in that sentence. I need a thesaurus).

As for overclocking, the only time I would say you should overclock it is during any graphics or music editing. Most games aren't going to be affected by a boosted CPU, especially a powerful 740qm. Overclocking the GPU isn't hard at all, either. Just download MSI Afterburner and it should explain itself.

 

I followed this very easy step by step guide. There are also several on these forums.
Clean Install Windows 7 - How to Perform a Clean Installation of Windows 7 - Part 1 of 3

Drivers and extras from here.
MSI Global ? Computer, Laptop, Notebook, Desktop, Mainboard, Graphics and more

Just google windows 7 iso and you will find several places to get a clean copy. then hit up microsofts website to get the writer.
Microsoft Store: Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool Help

Once you have all the stuff it all goes smoothly and your computer will be free of crap.

 

You guys rock, seriously. Thank you so much!

While I'm not in a position to back up and reinstall right now, I will definitely be doing it once I'm able to purchase an external hard drive and also once school slows down a bit. I had a really old computer and transferred a ton of files over to this one, so the amount of personalizing and data backup I've done since I purchased it is too extensive to do again right now - mostly because of school.

I bookmarked MSI Afterburner, Forge - I had no idea such a thing existed - looks pretty cool. Is it pretty stable on your MSI and is there any risk of hardware damage with overclocking?

A few other questions if you don't mind indulging me lol:

So when you guys look at your drives in Windows Explorer, do they show up as one 640 drive or two separate 320 drives?

Does pressing the Turbo button make a notable difference in performance?

Also, I was thinking of upgrading hard drives later on. Would it be worthwhile to get two 500gb hybrid drives for a performance upgrade? I've read good reviews regarding how they speed up booting and opening common programs. Or would you recommend grabbing one SSD and another roomy 7200rpm drive?

Last question: I have an Asus FHD external monitor that I have hooked up via HDMI - it's running beautifully. I have an older flat panel (non-widescreen) with a VGA hookup that I plugged into the back of the MSI also. When I went into Catalyst, it detected both monitors, but it said I'd have to disable one external monitor for the other - both wouldn't work together. I wanted to do a triple extended display. Is there a way this can be achieved by way of drivers, utilities, or programs that can be attained?

On another note, maybe this advice will help anyone else that had the same dilemma as me. I really hated the placement of the backslash key between the spacebar and alt keys. I found a freeware program called KeyTweak that works well with Windows 7 and allows you to reassign any key you'd like. If you decide to do this but have questions, just let me know. I currently have that backslash key as a second alt key just in case my finger slips. This is important in graphic design, for me at least.

Sorry for the lengthy post and I hope I'm not bugging you guys with too many questions.

Have a great weekend.

 

Very nice! I think several people were looking for a solution to that backslash key. Great find.

 

By default, it should act as one physical drive in RAID. However, it'll have two 320GB partitions.

It depends. While surfing or for most games, not at all. If you're rendering pictures or videos, maybe, depending on the program.

I have an OCZ Vertex LE 240GB SSD and a Samsung 640GB @ 7200rpm HDD. Works nicely. The SSD is probably overkill, though, since you could easily get away with 80GB.

 

Hi everyone!

I have been following this thread for the past couple of months now, and am ready to take the plunge and order this laptop. Before I do though, is there any reason at all that i would not want to get this one, and wait for a G53, or GX663?

I use my computers for moderate gaming, office applications, graphic editing, etc. Nothing to extreme.

I presume this laptop would be up to the challenge. And has anyone ordered from Newegg.ca in the past? I am curious how their customer service rates in the slim chance that I do have to RMA it

 

Wait for the G53JW, G73JW, or GT663 if you want an NVIDIA GPU instead of an ATI GPU. The G73JH has been shown to have great cooling, but I don't think it matters much because the GX660r has cooling that is definitely good enough.

I've ordered from newegg.com many times. They have good customer service, but you'll have to pay to ship anything back to them if it's defective or if you just want to return it. I have noticed that some stuff I've been getting from them lately seem to be refurbs when I'm buying new, but this laptop hasn't been out long enough to have any refurbs available, so that shouldn't be a problem.

 

I would actually prefer the ATI, as my parents have a G73-JH.. So everyone is happy with their 660r's?

 

There have been 4 users I think that got their machines with what seemed a faulty GPU, but several others, me included, have been using it problem free, even overclocked and no issues so far.

I have been using it for 3 weeks with programming, gaming, HD video playback, with my TV etc and moving it around everyday.

 

Question, has anyone taxed the cpu with a couple of continuous wPrime 1024 tests? Just curious to see how good the CPU cooling thing is on the GX660 cause the GPU cooling matches my alienware.

 

Hi all,

What is the best Synaptics TouchPad Utility to download to get multitouch working? My version installed is Synaptics ToupadV6.2, but my aspire has TouchPadV7.2 ... which has all the multitouch features.

Anyone have a link to go to ? I cant seem to find one...

Cheers
Chumby

 

Thanks for the info Forge . I've noticed that on my secondary hard drive that some seemingly random installation and program files have been finding their way there, which is a little annoying. I'm not sure if they could be deleted or moved without an issue. I figure I'll just create a primary folder on that drive for storing files for music production and other media.

I'd probably grab the 80 GB if I do get one - they are so expensive! I know you're loving your setup though.

 

I would say wait for the g53 at this point. I think thats what I'm gunna do and pray that all the positives from the 73jw (ie crazy cooling) are also present in the 53jw and no additional major problems present. I am one of the ones who got a faulty gpu in the 660r and I returned mine for a full refund. I was in the g73jw thread and saw two other users I hadn't seen before who said they just traded in their gx660rs for g73jw and are happier.. Based on these additional datapoints it seems like a significant percentage of ppl are getting lemons...?
So I vote g53

 

Those users are among the 4 reported ones heh. They went with the asus to avoid any problems.

So far, it seems the G73JW is problem free, so it's a good indication. Saddly, I can't really say much about the issues with GX660R as I have none. And I know many users with working machines (including real life friends).

It sucks to get a lemon, but sure, G53 should be problem free if G73 is any indication. They are on a similar performance level anyways, the GX660 is about extra ports and sound heh.

 

Well, don't forget me. I had two unsatisfactory machines in a row, but because of the awesomness of Ken Lee of GentechPC I got everything straightened out. +1 for Ken.

The only thing that's making me scratch my head is the weird vBIOS issue. I want to underclock/undervolt my idle clocks, but they go on the fritz when I'm not plugged in.

Technically, it's not a secondary hard drive. Your computer sees the two of them as a single hard drive, but partitioned. So you get the speed benefits of RAID but it looks like you have two HDDS. Hope that makes sense.

As for these programs, what are they, if I can ask? Maybe you're doing default paths for programs and they're going there?

And concerning an SSD, yes, definitely. 80GB is more than enough for most people. Back when I used a 160GB Intel SSD, I still had about 100GB free. My OCZ is a little more full since I'm putting some games as well as programs on there, but, heck, and SSD only helps load times so it's not a big deal.

See attachment with a standard pass of Intel Burn Test. I forgot what my ambient was, but it was in the mid 70s F.