New MSI GT75 Owner, few questions

My laptop came with 16 GB of RAM installed in SLOT 1 (under the board). I ran CPU-Z and here are the results:
Module Size: 16384 Mbytes
Max Bandwidth: DDR4-2666 (1333 MHz)
Manufacturer: Samsung
Part Number: M471A2K43CB1-CTD

I would like to add another 16GB stick for a total of 32GB and run in dual channel. According to my research, this will require a complete board flip. I would like to confirm that this is the case.

In order to run dual channel; do I need to purchase the exact same stick of RAM that is already installed (per above)? Or just a stick of RAM with the same specs? - Heard this is not wise and it is best to match exactly. Once again, would just like to confirm.

Does a board flip require repasting the CPU/GPU? If so, what is the best thermal paste/compound and what other upgrades would you recommend at this time? (since I'm being forced to basically do a teardown and would like to accomplish everything at once).

I had a defective RBG light on the right button of the touchpad and I am being sent a new part. I see that the touchpad area on this laptop is not fully integrated (looks like a seperate insert). I wondering if anyone has popped this out or know if there is an easy way to replace this component or if that will require a full dissasembly as well? Also, if anyone has located a dissasembly/service guide (if they exist) would love to know where to find that.

Lastly, kind of random... But I purchased a new 35" / 2K / G-Sync Enabled / 120hz external monitor. I also have a Steelseries Keyboard and Mouse (both wired) as part of my external gaming setup for my laptop. I would love to make it as easy as possible to connect my laptop and play. From everything I have read, there is no docking station that utilizes the internal graphics card of your laptop to game on the external monitor with g-sync at 120Hz... Is this the case? If so, are there any other options to making my external setup cleaner and easier to hook up without loosing any performance?

Sorry if I am asking redundent/dumb questions, I'm pretty new to this stuff and really appreciate the help! Hoping
@Phoenix might be able to chime in. Thanks again all.

 

it is not needed to dismantle the complete notebook with the gt72s and the gt73vr it was possible to add the memory in one of the free slots to get dual channel.

 

Why didn't you order your laptop with the RAM you want instead of having to sit and research about this man, just why? to save a few bucks? now the hassle you're going to have to go through is worth much more. Time is money bro.

Anyway, back to your question,

1) It is best to install the same exact RAM for max compatibility and no BSODs or issues although getting the same timings / RAM speed / CAS Latency my work, but not 100% guaranteed

2) Yes you need to dismantle the entire laptop to access the 2nd RAM slot under the keyboard to get Dual Channel.

 

I was able to find this

Couldn't agree more... Long story short - I was able to convince my work to pay for my personal laptop. I had a budget which I was already well over and this was the max I could get them to agree to. Had to do the purchase through the company and further upgrades weren't an option. Pros - I didn't have to pay nearly $3,000. Cons - I'm stuck with managing the ass-backward upgrades I want...

On another note I found this: https://www.msi.com/asset/global/picture/faq/10016371@2018-0417-0714-464641@kb_03006_en.pdf

It says there are 2 channels - A and B. A0 & B0 on bottom and A1 & B1 on top. So, to run dual channel at 2666 I need to be occupying A0 and B0 - two difference channels, hence dual channel. Correct? If thats the case, this finally makes sense...

 

As long as you have 2 sticks, doesn't matter which slots they are in, they will run in dual channel. You can verify this in CPU-Z.

 

Congrats on your new purchase. That's a nice company that you are working for.

 

It was a bigger issue with DDR3 since mixing voltages was pretty much a guaranteed failure. DDR4 doesn't really have that problem, but it's still a good idea to match them. Voltage you don't have to really worry about. Frequency, there is no point going higher since everything will run as if it's the lowest speed. brand isn't as big of a deal but it is correct that the best practice is to match directly if it's at all possible.

EDIT: This may not be the case on all MSI systems that different RAM brands can coexist.

 

Mixing RAM types in MSI boards is NOT recommended at all. Had very MAJOR POST and RAM training problems and errors with 2 MSI (Kingston) sticks mixed with two Hynix sticks. VERY serious, until I removed the two Hyundai (Hynix) sticks. They worked fine at 2133 mhz however.

When I bought two Kingston valueram sticks to replace the Hynix, everything worked 4x8GB at 2400 mhz with much tighter timings and even worked at 2666 mhz at crap timings (18/19/43).

 

Hadn't seen that happen but I'll amend my statement just in case. Thanks!

 

Already talked to Tanner about it but I don't know if you guys changed your policies. My GT73VR was bought from you guys.
You included two Hynix sticks with the two existing MSI (rebranded Kingston valueram) sticks (32 GB 4x8), which caused instabilities (mostly failed re-training) at 2400 mhz. This problem got worse with time until it got to the point where all four sticks would either just give permanent black screens (the power LED 60 second on/off cycle, usually self attempting to reset CMOS would even freeze), or BSOD's trying to load windows. Eventually I found that having 3 sticks in would make them all work at 2400 mhz, and any Hynix stick in the uppermost RAM slot, even if just 3 sticks were installed, would cause problems at 2400 mhz. So the Hynix dimms were not 'bad'. the board just didn't like them.

There were zero problems at 2133 mhz with all four sticks, and the RAM could even be tightened to very tight timings.

I thought maybe the fourth slot was somehow bad, but a cleaning with Deoxit D5 didn't accomplish anything.

So I bought two Kingston Valueram sticks from Amazon to replace them, and boom: ZERO problems at 2400 mhz even at very tight timings (15/15/15/35 1T, tRFC=270, tREFI=65535), and would even work at terrible timings at 2666 mhz at 18/19/19/43 1T or 2T.

Doesn't matter at this point if it's an incompatibility or not with Bios, onboard hardware or anything; an end user should not have to be the one to discover this issue. And it was very painful to discover.

So in the future just make sure identical sticks are used in your builds. And ditch the Hynix stuff too for good measure.

 

I'm sure Tanner had that taken care of, haven't seen any RMAs related to that sort of issue in recent memory.

 

My gt75 came with 16gb installed and i just had to pop off the bottom cover to add more. I had 2 spare 8GB sticks and installed them in slots 2 & 4 for 32gb total.

 

Thanks for the input all! Anyone have any cable recommendations for hooking up my new gaming monitor?
LG 32GK850G-B 32" QHD Gaming Monitor with 144Hz Refresh Rate and NVIDIA G-Sync
It came with a DP 1.2 cable, but my laptop only has a Mini DP so I need to buy a Mini DP to DP cable. Everything I've seen so far only supports 1440 @ 120hz. Is it possible to get the full 144 hz with Mini DP to DP? If so, would really appreciate a link or reccomendation for one that will!