Official MSI GX640 Owner's Thread

Damn, should ask for a small discount

 

Yeah I was going into the Envy expecting your temps.. but on the bottom in the front it would get mad hot, bare skin it would hurt after 5 seconds or so. Not very comfortable with shorts on. This was only doing normal tasks too.. it didn't matter if it was plugged in or not. I was sure I wasn't blocking vents or anything... it just felt like the fans weren't spinning fast enough..

Even so, my temps were relatively normal (I think).. 45 idling with GPU.

Doesn't matter now, returning it today. Already ordered my GX640.. I was planning on returning the Envy anyways. The 1 year warranty simply wasn't long enough.. I want this laptop to last 4 years (like my last one did). The 3 year standard + 1 year accidental is wonderful... And I just learned AMEX is adding another year to the warranty. So I'm set now.

 

Well all sites say that things are subject to change. Really, you should've all seen this coming, other retailers cut out the backpack out of the GX640 package long ago. I'm quite surprised that Xotic had it listed for that long.

 

still though, they had it in production stage when they sent me this. you think it'd be pretty set in stone by then.

 

I think it was kind of misleading by them to leave it up until now. Can't say they didn't see this coming

 

very much so.

 

Anyone contact xotic for a discount yet?

 

I did. they said msi never told them there would be no backpacks, and it wasn't included in the price, so they can't give a discount.

 

I received mine today. I mentioned in another post the AC adaptor died after being pluging in for about an hr or so. There's a green led on top that I can't get to relight. Didn't overheat or short out, just stopped. Will call in the am to get it replaced. Wondering though if I should just send everything back & not just the AC adaptor. Whould appreciate your opinions. Could it have surged before shutting down and caused damage or weakness?

 

Contact your seller and ask if you can just send in the adapter. It's a very common model, many other brands that use 120W adapters (Toshibas, etc) use the exact same adapter.

 

don't send everything back. it's just the adapter. they should replace it for you.

 

Oops, jumped the gun. AC adaptor is fine. My outlets are out. Very odd. Breakers are all ok but all of the empty outlets in 2 bedrooms & a bath are out. Stranger still, my clock, TV, media center, and light switches in those rooms and everywhere else in the house are all fine.

 

Yeah I saw that on the xotic site. I have to say Im dissapointed as I really needed a new backpack for trips. RK is the only one I know of that offers the backpack as an option.

 

Great review Min2209!

My HP Envy 15 2nd Gen's GPU temps come in at 72*C while gaming for 4 straight hours, which is almost 10*C cooler than your GC640's temps. Yet the bottom of my laptop runs so much hotter than yours does apparently.

Any thoughts as to why this is the case (referring to my laptop's bottom running so much hotter)?

Fortunately, my Envy's bottom case cools down in only 3 mins (we're talking "the laptop doesn't even feel like it's on" cool).

 

Metal conducts hear better than plastic.

 

Sorry if you've said this already, but based on your experience, the bottom of GX640 remains relatively cool even while gaming (e.g. can put on lap)? This is the most important factor to me. The bottom of my Envy runs hot even when surfing the internet.

 

How many GX640 vs Envy questions must we have....

 

Lol, yeah.

Anyway, when I played games I always left it on the table. But, when I touch the bottom of the notebook when I play, it's only lukewarm. Mind you though while it's sitting on the table there is no way anything blocks the air intakes.

 

Same thing with my envy. I think that as someone else said, it is aluminum, hence better thermal conduction. I think that this was in fact BY DESIGN, in order to reduce the temps further, as a method of passive cooling, kind of like Macbook Pros.

The question is, does your envy get hot even when not gaming, on the bottom? That was my issue, and it made it kind of useless as a "laptop", even though some people reported that it was generally cool on the bottom unless they gamed.

The reason that we are talking about the Envy is because these two laptops are direct competition with each other.. they really do match up well. With a better coupon, the Envy is close in price, they are similar in size, though they have some key differences that make each laptop better suited for different needs.

I think it makes sense to compare them.

 

Agreed! I'm getting rid of my Envy for precisely the same reason - it gets warm on the bottom even when I'm just surfing the net.

Just bought the GX640...Hopefully it handles heat better than the Envy.

 

But it makes more sense to have this conversation in the "what notebook should I buy" forum. There was a long thread about this exact argument there the other day.

 

Well it's constantly going to be brought up in here anyways... its good to compare like computers.

 

It just seems like there are more curious envy owners in this forum than there are in hp forum

 

csinth: my Envy does not get got when surfing the web. That's even with my GPU overclocked. It's extremely cool to the touch.

It only gets hot after playing BFBC2 for about 30 mins (too hot to touch for a sustained period). But it does cool down very fast (3 mins).

 

By the way, csinth, where did you order the GX640 from? I need to hurry up and order one so I can stop wasting time on the forums, and spend my time on something far more productive like gaming.
The way things look for me, I would prefer a low price and a good return policy, preferably with no restocking fee. Since I'll be going back to Australia later, retailer service isn't worth that much to me.

 

Just got off the phone with XoticPC and it seems my GX640 will arrive on Friday!

By the end of Saturday hopefully I'll have a full(ish) review up!

 

Congrats! Hope it reaches you on Friday.

When I spoke to them a couple days ago they told me to check back on Thursday to see if it will be ready to ship then. I hope I can get it Friday too. BTW when did you order it? I'm just wondering how long the line is. Mine went into "Phase 2" last Thursday.

 

I went from XoticPc.com... the fastest would have been through Amazon, but they're back ordered now. Buy.com has it and for cheap with free shipping.. so I'd assume that'd go out pretty quick. They apparently aren't the best though, but it could be worth a shot if you _need_ it that quick.

Xoticpc.com or gentech.com are both reliable, but take a little bit longer since they're smaller companies. My xotic order took a bit to get through the credit card verification (my fault), so make sure you follow all the steps with them to speed things up. I don't know if Gentech has the same level of verification, so you could try them.

 

Buy.com seems to have a pretty bad reputation. I've heard Provantage is better, but their return policy is rather unclear.

XoticPC is nice, but ultimately I'd be paying extra for service I wouldn't get to take advantage of.

 

NCIX not expected to get it until the 19th, dam...the wait goes on...

Has there been an update on the wacky benchmark results with overclocking?

 

Still forthcoming.

 

I ordered mine last Tuesday, however there were some payment issues and payment finally went through Friday, which is when I entered Phase 2. I purchased rush processing though, so I can get it before I leave the state.

 

guys avoid buy.com, also amazon is great they gave me 50 bucks off the msi and free 2nd day woot

 

Just fixed the keyboard flex with the double sided tape trick found here ...

forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=359411

MSI must have read this tread too. They tried the best they could with some black thin foam pieces stuck to the metal plate under the key board. The problem is they just went across the middle of the key board and that's why the space key gives such a gap and the rest of the keyboard seems firm

I added extra tape in every groove there was and now I have a great firm keyboard.

I used red backing tape... now my computer looks as good on the inside as it does on the outside.

Sorry I didn't take pictures but didn't have my camera. If you are contemplating on whether to do this or not , don't worry. It was very easy.

 

Any recommendations on a thin and cheap sleeve for this bad boy?

 

I have ordered many things from Provantage including the GX640 and have never had any problems with them. Customer service bends over backwards to help you. I have also returned items with no questions asked. But I promise you once you receive the GX640 you will not be returning it.

 

How long did it take you to get your GX640?

 

I ordered overnight. I am an impatient kind of guy. As long as you order by 3 Eastern it is shipped out the same day. Mine came from CA and I am in NC.

 

That's quick!
Provantage sounds like a good choice for me, since I'm going to Australia in July and the service I can get in the USA won't matter after then. It means I'm stuck with just the 1-year global warranty, but it beats the hell out of Australian prices.

 

So, how are you liking it will?

 

Try Provantage . They ship to Australia for about $50 only - with a decent return policy .

 

I'm in the U.S. right now, so there's no need for international shipping at the moment. It's good to hear that they have decent international relations, though.
Maybe if I have trouble after the 1 year global warranty with MSI is over I can still get things sorted out.

 

can anyone please do a battery test? And if possible, on various power scheme options?

I need to get an idea of what 5850 does to you when on battery.

Thank you!

 

A gentle caress.

 

Any Idea how Linux will run on this (particularly Ubuntu)? does Linux still have issues with ati cards?

 

Can you confirm that it came with a 9 cell battery?

 

Most of the listings say 6-cell.

The 1656 I am putting together now has a 6-cell.

The Provantage listing says 6-cell

Interesting if they ship with a 9-cell

 

It seems he already posted that his came with a 9 cell.
Previously he also posted suggesting that all of the ones with the model number GX640-098US come with a 9 cell.

So, I'm quite likely to order from Provantage very soon.

 

It amazes me that this laptop will be powerful than the desktop I've got back in Australia, considering the $1100 price tag. My desktop is from 2007, but back then it was pretty high-end stuff, and not cheap - 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo (E6600), GeForce 8800 GTX (though I must admit, that thing has held up well considering Nvidia is still using essentially the same chip in the GTS 250), and only 2GB of RAM (I was too lazy to bump it up to 4 XD).

Here's two aspects the GX640 definitely won't beat, though - it has something like 2TB of hard drive space, and the best aspect of my setup is the 24" Dell UltraSharp screen I bought back then.

 

What kind of backpack would fit the GX640 comfortably?