Msi-1651 barebone review

Msi-1651
Total cost configured = 550$

* Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 (2.26GHz)
* Memory: 2GB - 2DIMM DDR2 800mhz
* HDD: 250gb 5400rpm
* Graphics: Nvidia 900m gt ddr3 (512MB)
* Display: 15.4" wxga 1280x800
* Optical Drive: (DVD/CD +/- RW)
* OS: Windows Vista Basic 32 bit
* Wireless: Intel Wireless 4965 agn
* Mediabay: 4-in-1 Media Card Reader
* Battery: 6-cell

Build and Design

The design of the laptop is very impressive in the 1651. While not at flash as the gx620, it does include all the same features. Including the turbo button that can overclock your cpu by 15% or 20%. I will go into details further down on how to enable this feature. The unit is made primarily of sturdy plastics, while the outside of the lcd and the keyboard area has a aluminum surface.


Speakers

The speakers are as no surprise, the not the best in the world. They certainly work for playing music and games, but if you have a surround sound system at home, the laptop comes supporting dolby surround sound audio connections.

Heat and Noise

This is where the laptop really stands out. The cpu and gpu cooling on this system went far beyond my expectations. I uses AS5 for the gpu and cpu heatsink connections. While typing this my gpu is sitting at 39c and the cpu cores are both below 20c. While gaming the cpu while overclocked goes up to 50c and the gpu never goes past 70c. The gpu usual stays below 65c while playing Left 4 dead, but using something like ati tool it goes up to 70c. The laptop is pretty much silent while browsing the web and while gaming the laptop is audible, but no where near loud.

Battery Life
Using the ecm key and setting the system to turbo batter the system said I had 3 hours left. This was about right while just doing regular browsing. Playing a dvd last a little over 2 hours 30 minutes.
Also the turbo overclock function does not work while on battery.


Benchmarks

I'm excluding 3dmarko6 and other regular benchmark programs from my review, because I don't buy my computers to see how fast it runs benchmarks. I buy gaming computers for just that, gaming.


Left 4 dead - I think I set the settings to low for this one, will redo it tomorrow with higher settings since it can easily handle it.





Devil may cry 4




Portal






Pros:

* Excellent build quality
* Nice keyboard
* Solid performance as configured
* Stays super cool while browsing

Cons:

* Glossy screen, some people like it, I don't.
* Turbo overclock function requires some risky bios/firmware flashing to work
* Function key is in a awkward place




How to enable turbo overclock button.

First please take note that while there is not actual label for the turbo button, it is still there. Also note
to enable it, requires flashing your bios and firmware. Both of these can potentially ruin your system if you shut off the power during the process.

First step is to create a bootable pen/flash drive.

Credit goes to zfactor for providing this portion of the guide.



this is a very easy and simple process.. and here's how..

first get yourself a usb stick. they are so cheap now imo everyone should have at least one of them instead of a floppy drive.

you will need to download 2 pieces of software in order to do this. ive uploaded both of them for you.

the first is a small utility from hp to make a usb stick bootable:
http://rapidshare.com/files/112382685/SP27608.zip

the second is the actual bootable files you need to add to the usb stick:
http://rapidshare.com/files/112382778/bootme.zip

this can also be done with any burning program that can burn a bootable cd/dvd disc. once you select make the disc bootable you will need to add the bootme files to that disc.

Making a bootable DOS USB Key:

first: Extract and nstall the HP USB Drive program.

second: Extract the DOS boot files somewhere just remember where you extracted them. Let's for now say we extracted them to C:\bootme\ (if you do not have this directory it will prompt if it should make it answer yes or extract them someplace you know where they will be. remember we will need to find these in a minute)

third: Now run the hp utility. VISTA: You need to start the HP Drive Key Program as an administrator by RIGHT CLICKING the icon and selecting "Run as Administrator".

fourth: Insert a USB stick and it should install the drivers automatically if this is the first time using it, if not they should already be installed now.

fifth: in the hp "drive key" program Choose FAT32 as the filesystem. call the volume whatever you want i call mine dosboot, but it doesn't matter. Under "Format Options" check the box next to "Quick Format" and "Create a DOS startup disk" . Choose the button next to "Using DOS system files located at:" and click the little browse button "..." next to the blank and navigate to C:\bootme (or wherever you extracted the DOS boot files earlier). Click OK.

Now click "Start" and the HP Drive Key utility will turn your USB device into a bootable DOS disk! It will popup a window asking you to confirm! answer ok and it will continue.

now if you check the usb stick there should be 3 files installed on it. command.com, io.sys and msdos.sys. if you do not see them you may have to unhide them if they are "hidden" files. or just simply dont worry about it they are there now so no big deal.


Now you will want to download the bios and firmware as well as the system control manager from here.
http://www.msi.com/index.php?func=downloaddetail&type=bios&maincat_no=135&prod_no=1529

Extract the bios and you should get a new folder on your desktop. Drag and drop the 3 files to your bootable flash drive and restart your computer. Go into your bio by hitting the delete key on boot up. Now set your boot priority for your flash drive to 1.
Save your settings and weight till it boots to your flash drive. Once your are running in dos mode type in flash.bat and weight for it to finish. Once finished hit ctr+alt+delete and remove your flash drive. Hit delete again to enter your bios and there should be a new option called advanced and you will see a overclock option. It will not work till you finish two more things.

Now boot into windows and and remove the 3 files from your flash drive. Extract the firmware and again drag and drop the 3 files to your bootable flash drive. Once in dos mode again, type in flash.bat and it will update your firmware. This one updates much faster than the bios, so fast that I thought I might have done
something wrong when I updated my firmware. Once finished again hit ctr+alt+delete and remove your flash drive. Enter your bios again by hitting delete on boot up and and now set your desired overcklock 15% or 20%. Save your settings and boot into windows.

Now install the updated system control manager and restart one last time. After bootinging into windows to the right of the eco button where there is a large gab, push down. On your screen you will now see this.
Notice the bus speed below with turbo on and off. This is with a 15% overclock when activated increasing my cpu from 2.2ghz to 2.62ghz. It can be increased further by using the 20% overclock option in the bios.

turbo off

turbo on





Hitting this key again will turn off the turbo function. Remember you must be plugged into a outlet to use this function, while you are on battery, hitting the turbo button does nothing.

For those who have been purchasing the many barebone units from oconabudget, feel free to ask any questions about assembly. It can be a little confusing for first time installers, especially the wifi card.

 

ahhhh i see you took good care of my ex- p8400 ... nice article there BW... looking forward to my MSI... the WIND lol

 

glad I bought a cheap cpu after all. How many laptops let you turn a cheap 2.2ghz cpu into a 2.7ghz cpu that would cost twice what I paid.

 

very very nice review

+rep!

 

I thought the 1651's have a 9600GT? Cause for a 9800GT those benchmarks are a little low.

 

I would like to add that I love this thing. I just got one too. The prospect of putting a Mainboard in from a GT627 is appealing as a future upgrade too.

If you put a T9600 in, you'll break 3 Ghz EASY on that overclock. I love this thing.

That said I'd like to add two cons:
1) Fingerprints galore. I'm cleaning this thing regluarly, but it attracts them like no other. Used Vodka at first until I got some rubbing alchohol, and honestly the vodka worked better, haha.
2) The turbo feature gets lost in Windows 7. If they don't release a Windows 7 driver, we'll lose the Eco.

 

Yeah, the 1651's have the 9600M GT. Maybe wishful thinking?

Nice review!

 

on the 9800 gt think... maybe BW is just too excited and that caused an oversight...

 

Great review and yes they do have the 9600 in them.

 

Yeah, I was wondering about the 9800M, but apparently from what I've read elsewhere the new barebones with the 9800M GS and the revised mb(analogous to the GT627) will still bear the 1651 designation, but apparently with a different "suffix"...

I wonder why MSI didn't enable the Turbo feature and print the label for the button as it's still there only requiring users to use the GX620 BIOS to gain access to it? Just for the off chance that build components will NOT function correctly with "Turbo"? They should've just put in a caveat, and left it setup to go... i.e. say this MAY or MAY NOT work with your build, if it does great, if it causes problems don't use it... as presumably most barebones purchasers will be more advanced users, and for the little builders/vendors they could make a BIOS with it entirely disabled at the vendor's discretion...

 

Have you tried it, by chance, with Windows 7?

 

im using windows 7, works PERFECT. specs are in my sig.

 

dang it i just ran into some problems..so last night after like a 3rd or 4th reboot on windows 7, now it won't load to the desktop. and my widnows XP cd doesn't seem to work either. it sets Lets set up Windows now or something but it says there for the longest time and doesn't let me format it.

 

Where did you hear about a new MSI barebone coming out with a 9800M in it?

 

I'm trying to format with XP PRO but for some reason its stuck at "Setup is starting Windows" can anyone help me?

 

have you checked the ahci setting in the bios?

 

explain with a little more details ? please tahnsk!

 

Restart your computer and hit delete to get into the bios. Under the advanced tab look down till you see Sata#1 set this to compatibility and then the tab bellow it to IDe. Save, restart and now install your OS.

 

I got the MS 1651 yesterday and i don't see a over-clock button at all. The only buttons I see are the media buttons, webcam, bluetooth, wireless and p1 buttons.

 

you have to follow the directions in the first post and flash the bios to the 620 version to get the overclocking

 

I know, what I am trying to say is which button is the turbo button? All of the buttons that i can see have a purpose already, except P1, but that is supposed to be the program button, right?

 

on the 1651 there is no button there its blank. press the area next to the eco button about 1" to the right looking at the notebook

 

Thanks zfactor, will try and get the turbo function working. Is there a 100% safe way to flash a BIOS, heard that even if you give it plenty of juice it can still go very wrong.

 

anyone know how to downgrade the firmware? or should i keep it updated, its giving me this darwin.exe error everytime i shut down laptop.

 

Received a barebone from OConBudget. T9600 works right out of the box. BUT, for WinXP users...

Well first, the MSI documentation/support is non-existant. You are on your own. But the wires for the Wireless [all black] are labeled, the CPU doesn't have the clear orientation marking and is missing the typical flip clamp lever - but the screw to lock down is easy to figure out. There is a package of two plastic self stick pieces which I used the larger under the hard drive and the smaller inline with the mounting screw hole to keep the hard drive from mocing up or down and the rectangular block provided sticks into the gap at the end of the hard drive. Pretty low tech.
For WinXP users, first visit Bios and disable AHCI.

The disk provided has some Vista Drivers which kinda work for a few WinXP devices, but I ended up without ethernet or wireless card support. The device drivers as referenced in the initial post of this thread gets you up and running, with the help of another computer and some file transfers. It was running within a couple of hours, but I haven't done the Bios Flash, so the Turbo Function is not yet available.

It's a nice Laptop, and fast... If something could change, I'd ask for a larger Return Key.

 

Ok, how fast is fast. Using wPrime Ver1.55 as a basis:

E6700 Desktop oc to 3.4 MHZ runs 25.2 seconds
Dell 1310 with 2.5 mhz cpu runs 31.2 seconds
MSI 1651 with 2.8 mhz cpu runs 30.2 seconds
MSI 1651 with 2.8 mhz oc 20% runs 25.5 seconds
Clevo with 3.3 mhz (E8600) runs 22.8 seconds

Wow, this Laptop is fast... for the price!

 

Quick note in case someone else has the same issue... When I flashed the Firmware, it reset the Hard Drive to AHCI, so the boot up got the BSOD. But a quick reset in the bios to IDE fixes the problem. Also after the Firmware flash, the Laptop did not want to start UNTIL all power, INCLUDING the battery, was disconnected. Killing all power for a minute [timing not critical] and then re-establishing power fixes the Firmware issue. The flash of Firmware does turn off the default settings for bluetooth, wireless, etc. Simply touch the buttons to turn these back on.

BTW, the soft touch buttons on this Laptop are a really nice feature. Hope this helps someone out there...
I Thank Rorschach for this helpful thread and his excellent post regarding the Turbo Button flash process...

 

Did you buy the retail version of the T9600 or off of eBay. I cannot wait to get mine with the T9400 from extremeprocessors on eBay.

 

No, I got the retail version from Newegg. The extremeprocessor pricing is much better, but then the delay to receive the CPU grows and Newegg/Amazon/ZipZoomFly process and deliver quickly. If I built another I would probably try the extremeprocessor route and save some cash...

 

Seeing that newegg's price is double what extremeprocessor charges, I can deal with the extra delivery time. The estimated total cost for my system is around $630, which is unreal for how fast it will be. Anything laptop that can play current games for only $600 is unbelievable.

 

alan what are the idle temps for the t9600 for you? thanks

 

Opps, just checked my records, the CPU came from Amazon. I "lucked" out and picked up the T9600 from for $436 total. Still expensive, but it was a safe choice... My total cost was about $920, and while 50% more than you will pay, I can't complain. My Dell 1310 Laptop that I use at work cost over $1000 from the Dell Outlet!

 

zfactor, which program are you using for your temp acquisition?

 

core temp, real temp, and hardware monitor. hardware monitor seems the most accurate imo

 

I have been loading it up with software, so it really hasn't been just idling.

At std speed, it was running 48 to 50 C. At 20% overclock, it's running 51 to 56 C.

Hasn't missed a beat. No lock ups or miss steps. Actually has been amazingly stable, considering all of the software; firewalls, virus scan, browser, utilities and Programs that have been loaded in. If it wasn't for the keyboard size and feel, I could mistake is for my Clevo (D901C). Oh, again not really, because I always run the fans full on the Clevo, so it's always a little loud. But then the Clevo exhaust out the back and not onto my right hand...

 

zfactor, it's been sitting idling for a half hour and the temp is 44 C according to CoreTemp Program...

 

exactly where mine is. mine is down to 41 now with mx-2 instead of as5

 

What is the best thermal paste to use as far as performance/ease of application goes? I want to buy a tube when I buy my MS-1651.

 

i personally like and recc mx-2 easier to apply than as5 and is non conductive like as5 can be works just as good if not better in some cases

 

ocz freeze is the best imo, its all i ever use on desktops. and yes better than as5

 

freeze is good to but mx-2 is easier imo to find locally and works just as well

 

yeah its tough to find local, i always just order mine off of the egg

 

Shoot these things are pretty cool. I half-wish I'd picked up one of these instead of the gt627

 

Why? You essentially have the same thing the rest of us 1651 owners have -- minus that cool 9800M GS.

 

Hey can you please post some pictures of your laptop? Thanks

 

Is that cpu or gpu temps? What do you mean by idle (any programs running?).

 

When one of these laptops is put together is it wise use thermal paste on the GPU as well, or does the GPU come with something?

 

those are cpu temps. idle meaning nothing is working at all. 1% or so cpu usage if that i assume is what he means. i have tried 3 different t9400 in this including one retail chip i borrowed and they are the same so i know its not the es chip. i have my t9400 down to 34deg idle now btw

the gpu actually has a shin etsu thermal pad which is really good. but i removed it anyway in favor of mx2. if you use as-5 BE CAREFUL applying to the gpu because it can be conductive and there is other stuff around the die that an be shorted out with it

 

Yes, the temps were for the CPU. My Dell Vostro 1310 with 2.5 ghz idles at 35 to 38 C and hits 40 C with a light work out. This type Laptop has a reputation for running hot due to the graphics card.

The MSI with 2.8 ghz starts at 42 and drifts to 44/45 with very light work. It hits mid 50s with defrag or other repetitive tasks. So it runs a bit high on temps, but for the components involved, not unreasonable. But it is hot enough to discourage me from overclocking the video card.

 

Opps, correction. Fired up the MSI this morning and left it idling on a desk [I don't use any form of cooling device with it]. Temps run 39/40 C without load. So again, reasonable. All it would need is a second fan to be a great overclocker...