NEW 15.4-inch GX630 and the 17-inch GT735

This is a thread for posting any news or information about MSI's two new notebooks and answering any questions (in general)
A few questions...
1. Will the notebooks performance and power efficiency be better than mainstream notebooks? (considering it runs on the new PUMA platform).
2. How does the ATI's GPU compare to the new nVidia ones? How will these notebooks compare to older MSI models?
3. Does MSI have a good reputation for the quality of its products? How is the customer service? How does international shipping work? Are there any worthy resellers at the moment?

The only information we've been offered so far from this website:

"Two new MSI gaming notebooks based on the AMD Puma platform have been uncovered: the 15.4-inch GX630 and the 17-inch GT735. Both models essentially have the same specifications except for the display size. Information on the specifications is sparse, but it is known that the GT735 will be able to have one of the new ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3850 with 512MB of dedicated memory.

The GX630 and GT735 have not yet been announced by MSI, but since they are likely to replace MSI's current gaming notebook, the GX610, they will probably retail around €1000 (~US$1535)."

 

No similar laptops have been released, we don't know about the specs.

 

The barebone models are up on msi's website but have not been launched yet. The specs are the same as the pre-configured models:

http://www.msicomputer.com/NB/product_spec.asp?model=MS-172X


http://www.msicomputer.com/NB/product_spec.asp?model=MS-1652


http://www.msicomputer.com/NB/product_spec.asp?model=MS-1671

 

Are there any additional specifications or images of these new models?

 

What other specs are you looking for? Everything is pretty much there?

 

any word if these new models will come with LED backlit screens?

 

So if these are Puma notebooks, does that mean that they will be able to use the ATI XGP External Notebook Graphics Platform that everyone was talking about a while back?

 

Yes the amd puma notebook can use the ATI XGP

 

if any of these uses a led screen i will buy one.

 

Sweet.... I might actually have to consider one of these in the future, I'm all over MSI anyways, they're an awesome company...

 

Will these notebooks have nVidia graphic cards?

 

No, they are based on the AMD Puma platform, and will thus use ATI graphics.

 

The 17" model will have ATI GPU

The 15.4" and 16" will have Nvidia GPU

 

Oh, I misread the original post - thought that both models were getting the HD 3850.

Interesting that MSI is doing both a 15" and a 16" - the screen sizes come down as 15.4" and 15.6", and overall size of the notebook should be similar in either case. Is there really a point to doing BOTH a 15.4" and 15.6" notebook? Seems like their biggest competition would only be themselves.

 

So far no, should be the same LCD as the current models.....

 

Wasn't the 17" model supposed to come with a high-end nVidia GPU?

 

I checked the MSI FAQ thread for retailers. Which retailers are the most reliable out of the ones listed?

 

RK Computers, I think. They are very helpful on the forums, so I'd get an MSI from them.

 

How is MSI's customer service?

 

Yeah, I'm wondering the same thing myself... what number do you call anyway if you have an MSI notebook and want some support?

 

MSI is not a well-known brand. Therefore, it is important to know what their customer service is like. It looks like nobody has anything to say about their support. MSI is probably rated excellent in their services...

 

??? I don't follow

Are you saying that MSI has good customer service? When I got my notebook, I didn't really care about CS or whatever since I was pretty confident that I could diagnose my laptop's problems myself... But now that I come to think of it, the extra service would be nice.... just in case....

 

About the XGP question, will these laptops support it? Puma =/= XGP. The laptop maker also has to add the socket etc.

And the GX630 has the 9600 GT apparently...

 

These notebooks will most definitely support the Puma Platform. The GX630 and the GT735 will both have ATI GPUs. They will also support external graphics cards. I'm not sure the 9600GT was mentioned though...

 

In case anything happens to your notebook, it is good to have a warranty and some kind of support. This is the reason why I'm wondering what the customer service is like. MSI is not a well-known brand, particularly in the United States. It would probably be a good idea to start a new thread in which people share their experiences...

 

The MS-1652 (GX630) will not have an ATI GPU. It uses the NVIDIA® MCP77 chipset and will have the NVIDIA® NB9P-GS (GF 9600M GT) 512MB VRAM GPU.

The MS-1721 (GT735) uses the ATI® RX781 + SB700 chipset and will have the ATI ® M88 512MB VRAM GPU.

Both support Turion™ X2 Ultra Dual-Core CPU's.

 

Any ETA for the MSI GT735. I really want another PUMA lappie! Will it be available to USA soon?

cheers
Hawk

 

i was hoping they would be released today, guess not =/

 

As to the ati xgp support, in the current versions neither of these laptops will feature xgp support as the laptop requires an external pci-express x8 port which neither of msi's new laptops have due to the fact that msi are not currently manufacturing an xgp device.

Also even if they did change the specification of the gt735 to allow for xgp in the future (which is unlikely as it already has a reasonably powerful card onboard and the xgp is mainaly for 15.4" or less laptops) the gx630 will never feature xgp support as amd has confirmed that it is not possible to use an external ati graphics card on a laptop with a non-ati (nvidia) internal graphics card as windows does not simulataneously support graphics drivers from different manufacturers.

At the moment as far as I'm aware the only xgp solution it the fujitsu siemens amilo xgp graphics booster which is designed for the fujitsu amilo sa3650 (the first xgp compatible notebook)

 

A laptop does not have to have external pci-e x8 port to have XGP.

XGP runs at PCI-E 2.0 x8 (x16 possible), but the connector is proprietary.