XMG C703 - GS Stealth Remake

Hi,

So firstly anyone had much experience with XMG? Link Looks like they re-paste as well, is that a good quality paste? I'd imagine would help with temp issue and fan noise?

They have a version of the GS70 but with the options to customise what you can get in it. I'm toying with this as I cant get a Razer Blade 14 in the UK and feel this is probably the next best option. I don't think the P35k from Gigabyte looks very nice and I want a slim light laptop for portability but with the gaming and Haswell performance.

My issue with a 17" laptop is the battery life, so I'm wondering if I use a different HDD config of 2 x 256GB in Raid 0 than the standard MSI ones (1 or 2 SSD + HDD) if this would improve the battery life? I wouldn't need any more storage than that, may even go for 2 x 128GB.

Any thoughts on if this will improve battery life? as well as what people are getting with the GS70 in real world usage. If anyone has FM2013 and how many hours on that I'd be very grateful as thats my 'on the train' game!

Thanks

 

I was looking for a new laptop quite a while now and finally chose to go this this one. I expected to arrive around 20-23 Sept.

If you go with only SSD drives then for sure you will get a better battery life.

I will get back to you once I get it in my hands.

 

Thanks - what config did you go for?

 

XMG C703 17.3" Core Gaming Notebook - XMG

ro Notebooks

everything on stock +750GB sataIII 7200rpm HDD total: €1,320.08 (I got student discount which essentially offers you free shipping worth around €29 for Ireland)

then I will add a plextor PX 256M5M (256GB) SSD
Plextor PX 256M5M Plextor SSD 256GB M5M Msata Udma 600 | eBay
for around 220eu total (including paypal's ripoff interest)

Total: €1540

pretty happy with the config.
I might do an unboxing video

 

Unboxing would be great if you're able as well as report on battery life.

 

The reviews for the GS70 stealth were quite good. I would be very interested what the main differences are - mainly monitor, temperature, loudness and battery.
Some shared user experience would be nice.

Thinking strongly about purchasing this more budget oriented modell for a portable desktop replacement and gaming machine... ;-)

 

I just received the laptop at my office now!
I will do an unboxing video after I get back from work.

For battery life, I would first need to install windows8 and then run a few recharging cycles so it might take a few days.

 

Wow, good news! Im really looking forward to your unboxing...

EDIT: Hey psyauto... I don't want to be nagging, but when will your unboxing come out?

 

Hi guys,

first of all, I went full retard and forgot the camera on a different bag on my office desk

So since I could not contain myself I went ahead and opened the box with just some lame pics from my phone...

So far the laptop is simply AMAZING. Idle temps rest at around 39-40C but still did not run any stress tests.

The unbranded option that I went with is really neat. No dragons on the back of the screen and no company logos at all.
just a black metallic slab. An actual stealth laptop!

The box which it came with as well as the driver cds and manual is the epitome of "generic box 2.5.production.run" but who cares.



In the pictures you can see the installed plextor mSATA.

 

Thanks for the review and congratulations. Look forward to hearing more as you get installed.

 

So far, battery life is around the same as the original gs70 with 4+ hours of casual usage (browsing/music player/youtube/created 2 ubuntu ISO images/external HDD) using the intel HD gpu.
It is something to be expected since the only differences would be the amount of RAM, HDD/SSD configurations, OS and wlan modules.

I will do some stress tests when I will have some more time.

 

So far, battery life is around the same as the original gs70 with 4+ hours of casual usage (browsing/music player/youtube/created 2 ubuntu ISO images/external HDD) using the intel HD gpu.
It is something to be expected since the only differences would be the amount of RAM, HDD/SSD configurations, OS and wlan modules.

I will do some stress tests when I will have some more time.

 

Looking forward for a detailed review. Build quality, performance, throttling (hopefully not)... Even though I don't really play much at all this looks interesting for me for graphics work, blending performance with a small size and weight.

 

Hi. Could someone please tell me whether the battery is easily removable? Is it possible to run on AC power only and store the battery when you don't need it?

 

From the pictures available, this thread included, you can see that the battery is stored internally. So it would not be recommended at all to remove it just for means of storage and preservation. The concept behind it is to mess with the battery only to actually replace it once its dead.

 

psyauto,

Congrats on your new system.
It's a nice system.

The enclosed system is still tamperable, but it is a pain to work with.

 

Thanks!

Then I have another question. Would it be wise to get one of these and use it as a desktop replacement? It would probably be on 20 hours a day on average. Would the battery take a beating from that within a year or so?

 

I think that generally if you use a laptop constantly, but plugged in, the battery does not wear down. I am also considering this XMG (still waiting for a detailed review on notebookcheck) to use as my only computer for graphic editing etc. I have a 3 year old Dell which runs pretty much non-stop but since it is usually plugged in the battery still holds about 80-90% of the time it did when it was brand new.

 

Yes, you can use it as a desktop replacement, you can also reduce your electricity bill by switching to a notebook system compared to a desktop systems.
The battery may still take some beating, but not as serious as if you were going to perform a cycle frequently through charging/discharging processes.

 

congratulation for your new system!
I'm thinking on bouying one too. What do you think about the backlit keyboard? can you post some more photos please?

 

Thanks for your advice guys.

The screen isn't IPS, right? I wonder how good the vertical viewing angle is. On my current Probook you can actually see distortions without ever moving your head, it's pretty bad.

 

It's not, but it's probably high grade TN panel with good view angles.

 

Hows this working out after a week of usage? Battery life in particular but also how is it running games?

 

Hi guys, I just made the small review for the laptop. find it at:
xmg C703 (msi gs70) laptop overview - YouTube

As for the battery, its pretty decent and similar in performance to the gs70 (check the review here: Review MSI GS70-65M21621 Notebook - NotebookCheck.net Reviews)

So far I only played bioshock infinite and it runs as described to the same review (very high at more that 30fps in FHD)

Cheers!

 

Thanks, really helpful.

How is the noise level? Does the case get hot to type on or the track pad?

Is the case aluminium all around? Other than the rubber section on the bottom you pointed out.

 

The noise is really acceptable but never totally silent. The case gets hot only at the back and you will never be bothered by it. I was playing for a couple of hours
and the keyboard is relatively cool.

The case is all aluminum except the screen bezel (matte plastic). The rubber section at the bottom is an added layer on top of the metallic case. It was placed there to help
transportation and perhaps to isolate heat when you put the laptop on your lap.

 

It also grips a bit better.