*** The Official MSI GE60 Apache/Apache Pro (850M/860M) Owner's Lounge ***

Hello, everyone! I'm in the market for a new laptop, and have been looking at this MSI GE Series GE60 Apache-469 Gaming Laptop Intel Core i7 4710HQ (2.50GHz) 8GB Memory 1TB HDD NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M 2GB GDDR5 15.6" Windows 8.1 64-Bit - Newegg.com. Reading through this thread, I've seen concerns about the display panel being a lower quality Chi Mei model, but I'm wondering if that'd apply to this particular model? Geno on his MSI Rep thread says these most likely come with a Samsung or AUO panel... in you all's experience, is that true? And, do any of you have this particular model as seen on Newegg?

 

Having read the whole thread, being aware of the 90~ degrees, the touchpad...
I will be always playing with wireless keyboard/mouse, so no hand will be resting on laptop. Don't care if it gets hot.
My main concern with heat is not my hands, its my hardware. Can it be running 3~4 daily hours on 90~ degrees without doing any damage to internal components nor laptop life?
I will be getting new thermal paste and cooler stand, but , since i live in a hot country i'm concerned if this heat issues will suddenly cause some damage.

 

That's my current situation, I use it with external keyboard/mouse, but it easily goes to 98ºC in a League of Legends match.. Still have to change the termal paste, and i'm affraid this can cause damage if it keeps going to such high temperatures.

 

What settings are you playing on? Can you lower them a little to see if it changes? I wouldn't mind playing on medium settings if that makes my system run cooler and extend overall health life.

 

hey guys,
can anyone help me?
my msi ge60 2pe's microphone quality is very very terrible
when i talk, the voice is muffled, beaming and beeping sounds everywhere, static, distortion, etc.
is there a driver update/something to fix dis?

 

Go to Realtek to obtain the latest driver first.
Additionally, go to microphone properties under recording devices and set boost volume to +20 dB.
Test the recording and see how the result comes out as.

 

give me the link to the realtek mic driver pls

 

Click on this link then proceed.
Realtek terminates hot link which expires in a short amount of time.

 

i downloaded and install the new realtek driver from msi's site and the mic quality got slightly better

 

Just slightly? Have you tweaked the Microphone Boost to +20 dB under Recording devices?

 

*more than just slightly actually, yep, with boost to 20dB

 

Okay good, so long it's louder and clearer.
Don't do 30 dB else the sound will be bad.

 

Check problem with nvidia geforce experience backend.
It loads processor. In my case load was ~25-30%.
When i fixed it temperature dropped from 60-65 to 47-50 idle.

 

You can also use Task Manager (CTRL+SHIFT+ESC) to monitor the processes to find out which ones are keeping the processor occupied more often.

 

I am experiencing some serious flicker on my screen, and I am not talking about when playing games. It is happening all the time on my main laptop screen, but it's 10x worse when I have my battery plugged in to the electrical outlet. I have had the laptop (MSI GE70 Apache Pro) for about 6 months now, and it has been great until the last two weeks. I also noticed that it takes a lot longer to start up then it used to since this started happening. Has anyone else heard of this and could there be a solution I haven't thought of. I've tried refreshing Windows, so I don't think it corrupted software, but I am still getting the flicker and the slow start-up. Could anyone offer a suggestion? Thanks

 

The screen quality on my GE60-2PE also looks much worse when it's running on battery, it just gets weird, but i haven't noticed flicker.

 

Hi guys,

I bought a GE60 Apache last week and was pleasantly surprised by the loudness of the speakers. Somewhere down the line I removed the sound driver and installed the latest one from Realtek website, but didnt really use the laptop much before and after it for a few days. Today when I opened up some trailers I felt as though it is not as loud as before (I am not even sure whether it is my imagination that the soud got weaker or just got attuned to the loudness) So my question is, does installing Realtek drivers to fix the mic impact the loudness of the sound output?

If it does then i'd rather roll back to the old driver. Having a working mic is not essential for me. Am going to try this when I get home but still need an opinion because after rollback if it still does not seem loud I will still be confused how I found it to be really loud in the beginning.

 

For Realtek HD Audio driver, you can use the universal driver from Realtek which is frequently updated.
It will have impact on both audio playback as well as microphone function.
Also, you do need to adjust microphone boost to +20dB in order for it to pick up audio reasonably.

 

I noticed that the contrast and brightness of the ge602pe got worse at random times-usually after closing and opening the lid

 

I do close and open my laptop multiple times per day, but i havn't noticed any of this yet.

Ok guys, so i've read a lot on the internet the last couple of weeks about thermal paste, but they say it's only worth replacing it after a while (for older laptop/pc's).
But my GE60 is brand new and even with the cooler booster on, i run at 90 degrees during gaming. Now i know the max temp. of both the CPU and GPU are over 100 degees, but i've also read that 90 degrees will already decrease it's lifespan. So what is that stuff that MSI puts in there laptop if it would really matter replacing on a brand new laptop?

The reason i just dont replace it is because my father bought me this laptop for study purposes and ofcourse he doesnt want me to possibly break it, unsless it really matters more then 1~3 degrees.

 

Same case like me,
Even when CB's on, CPU n GPU could reach upto 96 degrees C.
Mine's also new (around 1month old), and yes, my dad also bought it for school purposes...

 

Hi good people,
Should I uggrade my laptop (GE60 2PC) with Crucial M550 256GB mSATA? Some people claim that Intel or Samsung SSD is better? Have you used Crucial SSD before, and what's your opinion about this? Thank you so much.

 

(ur lucky i advise computers to a lot of people XD)

Just get the Crucial, Samsung SSD's are slightly faster but you wont notice any difference. So basicly just get the cheapest one. Here at home we have a Samsung 830 Series, 2 * Samsung 840 EVO, Crucial M500 and Crucial MX100. There is some difference, but it's only noticeable in benchmarks. I would say: go for the cheapest one. Here in The Netherlands it means: get a Crucial MX100.

 

Thank you, but if I want to use Crucial MX100, I have to buy a Caddy bay then (I don't like that). So M550 is okie for me. But have you used Crucial SSD for years? How about its quality? I mean, may I expect it runs well for 3+ years?

 

The reliability of these SSD's are indeed really good. I didn't know you wanted a mSATA SSD. Since the price of a M550 is higher then the MX100, just get the cheapest one: either 840EVO or M550. Both are really good and fast SSD's

 

Samsung SSD are really good, and reliable.

 

Thank you

 

Can someone explain how to replace the keyboard? I got an GE60 2PE Apache Pro really cheap but it has a German QWERTZ keyboard that I like to exchange.

Which are the better options for an mSATA SSD?

What would be the best paste for repasting CPU and GPU?

Are there other modifications possible to the cooling system, like a less noisy fan replacement?

 

Hi,

I want to upgrade my ram, but I am not sure what to buy, my 8G memory model is : kingston msi16d3ls1kfg/8g

somebody can tell me other module compatible with this.

thanks.

 

Hey there peeps!

I was just wondering, I recently bought an Apache Pro GE60 from the fine folks at Gentech PC and was wondering...

Since the notebook only uses one stick of RAM, is it possible to put in a different stick of a non-identical variety? Specifically, I have two extra sticks of Kingston HyperX (2X 4GB), and was hoping to stick that, along with a 128G mSata I got off Newegg, in the laptop once it arrives.

Does anyone know whether or not his is alright? To mix and match sizes/brands of RAM?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

They won't work correctly if they have different timings (CL9-10-1-1 - just fake example what i mean)

 

Hey there -- You can mix and match RAM sticks, although I HIGHLY suggest against it for sake of compatibility reasons. As long as the general specs match, like latency timings, clock speeds and voltages, you should be okay.

 

You can go with a different brand/model's module as long as spec is similar as z0mgn0es said, but if you can keep them identical then that would be the best option.

 

Hey guys,
what are your temps after repaste the thermal paste on CPU and GPU?
On idle mode and stress test. Thanks.

 

On the edge of buying a GE60 Apache Pro as a replacement for my Acer V3-571G (i7-3610QM, GT640M 2GB, 8GB RAM, 840 EVO) and just thought i'd ask in the proper owners lounge to get opinions on this laptop from people who have actually owned it.

The budget i have for my laptop is only £800 which doesn't really get very far when it comes to buying a gaming laptop in the UK as we seem to get ripped off on everything over here. I've spent a whole three weeks investigating and it seems the best spec i can realistically get on a new machine at this price point is on a GE60 which i can buy from an eBay store.

MSI GE60 Apache Pro: 2.4GHz Intel Core i7-4700HQ, Nvidia GeForce GTX 860M 2GB, 12GB RAM, 1TB 7200RPM HDD and 128GB SSD

I also looked at an Asus G551JM but in comparison the spec doesn't really stand up to that of the GE60. Sure it has a slightly better processor but that's really the only advantage i can see. Both laptops are the same price at £800 so it doesn't make any sense, i'd rather have the GE60 with that brilliant multicoloured keyboard and the better speakers. Plus the GE60 also has an additional mSATA port which may come in handy at some point. From what i've read both laptops seem to struggle with cooling, the GE60 might be slightly worse though.

Asus G551JM: 2.5GHz Intel Core i7-4700HQ, Nvidia GeForce GTX 860M 2GB, 8GB RAM, 750GB 7200RPM HDD

Already looked at some of the other common alternatives to these laptops such as the Acer V15 Nitro Black Edition (Way out of the price range, can't even find used ones cheap enough!) and Lenovo Y50 (Terrible screen and rather poor build quality in areas!), but none really compete against the GE60.

What does everyone think, should i go for it then? What else do i need to consider with this laptop?

 

Hi I have GE70 model and my temps after repaste differs from what i play:
___________
Idle:
GPU: 0 °C - It is off while just webbrowsing etc.
CPU: 45°C - power saving mode, 50-55 - balanced
___________
Games:
Guild Wars 2: both CPU ~ 85°C, GPU stable at 80°C ... sometimes if there's quite a lot of players CPU can hit 90°C but without throttling
Shadow of Mordor: CPU,GPU 85 - 92°C - still without throttling or at least I don't recognize FPS drop, With Turbo Fan: 83-86°C
___________
Mostly it's CPU what is easily hitting 90°C, my GPU never hit 90°C even in Shadow of Mordor ...
You wont hear your fan spinning at full speed if you have your speakers at about 60%

 

Hi,

I have just ordered my very own MSI GE60 2PE-071XCZ Apache Pro and am very excited to be part of this great community My old HP dv7 with AMD HD 6770M was at last not enough for me. As you can probably see from SKU, I am from Czech Republic and I can confirm, that CZ MSI rep confirmed to me, that damaging warranty sticker on the bottom of my notebook does not void my warranty, I am not sure why its there then, but ok. That was my biggest fear when ordering this notebook, since I plan to replace HDD with my SSD and place HDD into DVD bay caddy. Did anyone here try this? How fast is HDD performing in DVD caddy?

One more thing I wanted to ask my fellow owner-colleagues - how do you know if your notebook is throttling? Do you just see it on your FPS or is there a program where you can see this?

Thank you

 

Hello, everyone:

I´ve had this notebook for about 3 months now, and I´m quite pleased with its performance, so far. I´ve even used ColorMunki Display colorimeter to calibrate the Samsung PLS screen, and I thought I should share the profiles with other users who cannot afford the device. I´ve also provided with the installing instructions for Windows, so you can be sure it would work properly:
https://mega.co.nz/#F!lIQ2ATpL!Gb51s4ufSow2FlCBvDii2Q

Needless to say that you can share this link with anyone who needs it. Nevertheless, even though the profiles have been tested and working, I´m not to be held responsible for any malfunctioning due to their use (just like any other software out there, right?).

Enjoy.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: To properly load the .icm profiles in Windows, please read these articles:

http://www.laszlopusztai.net/2009/08/23/stop-losing-display-calibration-with-windows-7/
http://www.laszlopusztai.net/2011/03/12/intels-video-drivers-kill-display-calibration/

 

If I had to make a guess, I would speculate that if you go inside the laptop, the sticker will tell them you did and if you did some physical damage, you can't deny it was you, on the other hand if failure is due to defect sticker shouldn't matter, as a matter of fact in some countries there is law protecting customers, so unless they can prove damage was done by you, they can't deny the warranty sticker or not. I have caddy installed inside mine (regular Apache, not a pro) and HDD speed is the same. HWinfo tells me all sata ports are 6Gb, including DVD port, but even if DVD port was sata 1.5Gb (the slowest), it's still faster than any HDD, only SSD would show difference.
There are many programs than can show throttling, but try none the less but Intel extreme tuning utility, not only will it tell you and record cpu performance but it will let you overclock it a little bit, or like in my case undervolt it for less power usage and less heat.
Good luck with new toy.

 

Yes, that is right. I guess they will be extra cautious when I RMA my notebook, if there is any internal damage, but reseller assured me that they mostly went ahead with repair without charge and that MSI just didnt think the sticker through... For example my old HP had this sticker under keyboard, so you would damage the sticker only when you were truly dismantling the notebook, not accessing few of the parts through smaller case on the bottom...

Thanks a lot for info about the DVD caddy, Im still waiting for my caddy. I noticed the throttling is also mentioned in HWInfo.

I would be interested in undervolting too, if it can make the system running cooler, I am at approx 93 celsius on both GPU and CPU w/ use of colling pad... Could you please suggest how much can I undervolt it in order for notebook to be still stable?

Thank you!

 

I´ve repasted using GELID EXTREME compound, and I have to say the results are pretty good, to say the least. Before this, both CPU and GPU would stay stable between 80-90 degreees under great stress, and now these temps have dropped around 10 degrees in average. There are still some spikes on the benchmark graphs, reaching 92, but it happens so randomly, and only for a few miliseconds, even when performing the same test, that I guess it has to be some kind of error in temp readings (just a guess).

Sky Diver (turbo Fan On, No Cooling Pad) by raulcito posted Mar 25, 2015 at 11:44 AM

Sky Diver (no Turbo Fan, No Cooling Pad) by raulcito posted Mar 25, 2015 at 11:44 AM

Fire Strike (turbo Fan On, No Cooling Pad) by raulcito posted Mar 25, 2015 at 11:44 AM

Fire Strike (no Turbo Fan, No Cooling Pad) by raulcito posted Mar 25, 2015 at 11:44 AM

First of all, you have to keep in mind that the apache is no match for 3DMARK´s Fire Strike benchmark, it could hardly churn out 10 fps in some of the tests (no wonder it reached these temps), whereas we all know most of the latest games could easily be played with more than 30 fps, so you will never get this kind of stress in real life. Closer to reality is Sky Diver, which was designed with mobile GPU-s in mind (hence the "M" in Geforce 860M). With the latest BIOS update, the fan table has changed, so it kicks in only after 70 degrees are reached, meaning that, when fan boost is not used, almost the entire test is performed in an absolute silence!!! And without any additional help from the cooling pad, which normally results in even lower temps.

I almost forgot: in order to alleviate GPU load, in the Nvidia panel I´ve set the CPU as default for the physics part, so none of them would suffer in excess. That´s the reason why the CPU temps are not as low as expected.

Now, about the repaste: as you can see from the photos, the stock paste had been spread unevenly, lots of it spilled all over the place, and what´s even worse, the heatsinks came with a lot of scratches and punctures (a big round of applause for MSI, I know it for a fact it´s not an isolated case, my brother´s had the exact same issue). What I had to do was polish their surfaces to an almost mirror finish prior to repasting. The grease I used was GELID´s EXTREME compound, which is quite fluid and incredibly easy to spread, as it sticks to the metal, not like other so-called premium products.

Stock paste (what a mess!) by raulcito posted Mar 25, 2015 at 11:44 AM

CPU Heatsink before polishing by raulcito posted Mar 25, 2015 at 11:44 AM

GPU Heatsink before polishing by raulcito posted Mar 25, 2015 at 11:44 AM

GPU Heatsink after polishing by raulcito posted Mar 25, 2015 at 11:44 AM

Unfortunately I cannot provide you with any "before" screenshots, when I first started testing the process had already ended. I guess all you have to do is perform the benchmarks, compare and decide for yourselves whether it´s worth the trouble. As for the idle temps, 50 degrees is what you normally get, repaste or not, the really noticeable improvement is above 70 degrees, I reckon.



Cheers.

 

Quote:
I would be interested in undervolting too, if it can make the system running cooler, I am at approx 93 celsius on both GPU and CPU w/ use of colling pad... Could you please suggest how much can I undervolt it in order for notebook to be still stable?uote:



Sure,I started backwards and at -150mV it crashed, at -100mV seemed to be stable during 10-20min stress tests, so I settled at -85mV to be safe and I have not have a crash once in about 3 weeks of usage, so I think it's where it should be. You can also undervolt cache and intel GPU I think, but I don't think it's even worth to bother, so I just lowered both by -25mV. Your CPU could be different but I would be really surprised if you had problems if lowering voltage by 50-80mV. GE 60 spins the fans at low RPM at all times, so I don't think cooling pad ads much to that, on the other hand if you run some heavy loads I think you should manually switch fan to full speed and leave it there, it should run little cooler. Some people claim they repaste CPU and GPU even on brand new computer and get better thermals, but my CPU never went above 90c and Nvidia GPU above 75c, so I don't want to bother, yet. BTW try MSI afterboorner to overclock Nvidia, it really works and gives you about 10% boost, unless you still overheating, but if you lower cpu voltage and ramp up fan manually you should be running much cooler, than 93c, BTW at 93c you're probably throttling or very close to it.
Good luck
PS
if you have any more question I'll try to answer best I can

 

Hi guys. I do a lot of 3d modelling, video and photo editing and some gaming and was wondering if I should purchase either the Ge60/Ge70 Apache or Apache Pro versions. I use software such Maya, Nuke, After Effects, Premiere, Photoshop, ZBrush and Topogun (there are others too). So maybe there someone that can advise me or give me their experience when using the above applications for medium-heavy work load. Also what type of screen panels are they and who manufactures them? The screen is very important to me. Does it have exceptional colour accuracy and gamut (Adobe RGB)? Black and Contrast Levels any good, etc? Is 2GB DDR5 enough for heavy video editing work load?

 

Apache comes with chi mei TN screen(I have it), which sucks. Apache pro comes with Samsung PLS screen (IPS) which I didn't see but read good reviews about. I already ordered Samsung screen to replace TN, so could review it in about a week, if it works. I think pro also comes with SSD drive which non pro doesn't have, but I already upgraded mine to Msata drive and highly recommend, since originally my laptop booting from HHD took 1min 30 sec to desktop and another 30-50 sec before start responding, by far slowest boot I ever had on any computer, with msata drive it takes about 20sec to boot and ready to work. I don't like touchpad that much either, but keyboard is nice and otherwise everything else is on a par. I don't use your programs, but since the computer has quadcore cpu with Nvidia GTX 860 graphics, I don't think it should have any problems handling any program, maybe with exception to most demanding, newest games at highest settings. What system are you using now to compare? Fastest quadcore desktops could be maybe twice as fast as Apache, but this is laptop after all and only midrange at that, but without knowing what you're comparing it to, very hard to say if you would be happy, there are faster and more powerful, but more expensive laptops on the market, than this.

 

Thanks a lot, appreciate it!

I wont be tinkering with GPU overclock, I am more than satisfied with performance my Apache pro gives me, so I´ll leave that to future Joe

Yes, I do see throttling on rare occasions, but its nothing extreme and I hope that with a little undervolting (thanks to your advice), it´ll stop altogether.

I can only speak as real amateur in display panels and colours, but I had TN screen before I ordered Apache pro with PLS screen and I can say - this screen has taken me to whole new world. Colours and viewing angels are great in my opinion, I am not sure about the colour accurancy and gamut though, since I cant measure it.

 

Well I had a HP Pavillion DV6 laptop and recently it died lol (I had it for 6-7 years though). Desktop without question would blow this laptop out of the water, but need the portability and power as I will be travelling a lot soon and need to do work on the go. Do you have a link that reviews the screen of the Apache Pro (Is that Ge60 or Ge70)? Also what other laptops would you recommend?

 

I've exactly the same problem .My OS is W7 PRO ,i'm leaving in Barcelona Spain and in Madrid there is two others guys with the same problem .I don't touch mine because it's something strange and others guys try all the possibilities without cure .BIOS ,OS etc .

 

If you want maximum power get Clevo p-750ZM, it has desktop cpu, at least GTX970 and it's probably one of the most powerful notebooks in the world ATM. But price starts at $1600, battery life especially under heavy load is non existent and it's bigger and heavier than most other laptops. Especially with laptops, it's all about compromising one thing for the other, but I think Apache pro is good performing for the price.
screen review in the middle
http://www.notebookcheck.net/MSI-GE60-2PEi781B-Notebook-Review.117056.0.html

 

Hello, I´m actually one of the guys from Madrid, the one you sent an e-mail to about this video I´ve posted:


in which I´ve tested and proved the USB 2.0 connectivity issues of this specific notebook. I recommend everyone to watch it, at least the first half of it, and do some testing for yourselves. And when you get the same results as I did, contact MSI to urgently write a new BIOS version to adress the issue. In my case they told me that this was "so strange that we suggest you to ask MSI service center to do a whole check of your laptop", after re-installing Windows 7, and the drivers, and the firmwares several times. Of course I didn´t, I don´t want to take so many chances...

In the meantime, I became more and more fond of my computer. But the e-mails I get from customers like you remind me I have an obligation to uncover to the community this problem our notebook has: after restarting having a memory stick, or an external HDD (basically anything that Windows sees as a volume, the mouse or other devices don´t count) inserted in either of the USB 2.0 ports, one CPU core gets stuck under full load, the keyboard doesn´t light up, the mouse freezes, and sometimes cannot even shut down. The video proves it has to do with the residual electricity persistent in the aforementioned ports long after shutdown, which prevents the devices from having a fresh start. Strangely enough, the 3.0 USB ports, even though presenting the same residual electricity, don´t seem to suffer from it. My brother bought the same computer and has the same problem, so I reckon this could affect most, if not all, of these laptops.

I tried alone to make them understand the importance of the issue, and didn´t get too much of it. Maybe with your help the manufacturer will provide us with the solution.

Thank you.