Just got a MSI GT60 0ne w/ GTX680m - gaming notebook

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TheGoat Eater

[H]ard|Gawd
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I just got the GT60 0ne w/ GTX 680m and I am really in awe of it. I have had only mid entry level notebooks int the past and they haven't been anything great. This one has good build quality, feels nice and solid during use, and is suited nice for gaming. The Steelseries keyboard built into it feels great, much more of a solid feel when typing and gaming. Not to mention that the customization ability of the led back-lights give it a nice fun feel. The audio is actually good, as I am usually a headphone person I am finding myself gaming with Spotify cranked up through the onboard speakers. The screen is 1920x1080 and @ 15" it is very sharp and looks great, even when text is small it is crisp and clean. I Have enjoyed my time gaming with it over the weekend. I played WoW for a few hours and loved that I could tune the settings to look great with good framerates. I love the screen for gaming, though I found that I had to increase text size in WoW to actually read it easily as it was nice and readable but insanely small lol. I will be trying more games over the coming days and will be running a few benchmarks to see how it fares. Does anyone else have one - or used one? Interested in what you think and if there are recommendations for gaming on laptops? Like good packable headsets, good small gaming mice, and the like.
 
I have the bigger 17" version of that laptop and I love it, nothing else out there even comes close to the build quality, performance, and price of this laptop. I have yet to play a game that couldn't run at 1080p at max settings and still have playable fps, skyrim with the high res texture packs looks beautiful.

I am kinda regretting getting the 17" instead of the 15" version as I am currently on the road for work and have found that the laptop does not fit in my backpacks laptop partition due to being so damn long and wide.
 
I got the big one as well, but with the 670MX. Its pretty damn amazing how far these companies have come. Screen is bright, sharp and has good colors for a TN Matte display, junk compared to my 6 year old IPS dell though. Keyboard is fantastic. Audio output is fantastic both internal speakers and jacks. Surprising 4 hour battery life when browsing.Runs very very quiet and cool. Many people do not like the exterior design, but I think its very cool and futuristic. Furthermore, better design than any notebook in the same tier, better support, better internal layout, better cooling design.I put a Samsung 840 Pro in it and its ridiculous. Playing through some old games at max graphics and its handling with nary a hiccup, gonna throw dead space and dishonored on it and see how it goes. So far very happy.

As far as must have accessories. I don't like small mice because I have large hands and small mice lack the extra buttons, so I use the Logitech G400. As for headphones, if you dont want to spend a lot I vote for Koss Porta Pro's if you are ok with open ear. They are small, sound great and fold up nicely. If you got the change, get a set of shure in ear headphones.
 
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There are also a TON of tweaking options like unlocked system bioses, vbioses, memory timings and base clock tuning.
 
I am finding myself playing music from the speakers and not using a headset while I game. It just sounds good and no discomfort from headphones or a cord to keep giving me the creepy brush feeling lol (is that a bug or what?). I am going to run some benchmarks and take some pics/video... any benchmarks that you guys want to see?
 
Watch out, you may be disappointed by other brand's speakers if you go back now ;)
 
There was a video comparing it to asus, I believe the MSI needed to be at 30ish percent volume to match the asus speakers at 100%.
 
I got a GT70one for 5 months now... and to me its best laptop i have ever used, really great screen, gpu, cpu, ssd in raid... i practically dont miss my desktop when im on the road.
 
Well the 680M is pretty close in power to the 580 desktop, has more overclocking room in it too.
 
I have been playing with it and am loving it even more - the power I can have on the go in a small(er) size of 15". I have been using it to play controller enabled games while hooked up to my tv and movies via XBMC. I have been doing benchmarks as I go and am retaking pics as the white balance was off
 
MSI was like asus with focus on mid end consumers the last few years, until now they enter top end with the GTX680m... but their laptop are really nice with steelseries keyboard, dynaudio speakers (the best i heard on laptop), matte screen (a lot switched to glossy), GTX680, dual mSata III ssds and raid capable... imo one of the best gaming laptops out there... but its expensive.
 
After using this notebook I am no doubt intent on getting my sister the GT60 workstation with the Quardo. I am impressed with this and know it will have enough power and durability of this GT60 model. She will be needing something for editing photos that is portable and the workstation model seems to have a good panel for that as well :)
 
I've had a look at the quadro model and with the 95% gamut screen and 4 simultaneous displays it's a pretty impressive machine.
 
What is battery life on this like? As in not gaming, just normal browsing/email youtube etc. Also how "portable" is this. Looking to get into a gaming laptop that is a decent size, but not too big and akward, mainly to use around the house when not at the main gaming desktop.
 
FLyGuYyy said:
What is battery life on this like? As in not gaming, just normal browsing/email youtube etc. Also how "portable" is this. Looking to get into a gaming laptop that is a decent size, but not too big and akward, mainly to use around the house when not at the main gaming desktop.
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I get around 2.5 hours on my GT70... while the gt70 imo is managable.... i wouldnt consider very easy to move as its a 17'', i just prefer a bigger screen, enough to put off with the extra managing of a bigger laptop, but the GT60 should be a better option for you, as its going to be slightly smaller, with the same kinda of power as the GT70.
 
I rarely am not plugged in and when I am on battery I forget to tweak my profiles so I end up draining it faster than it should
 
How has no one brought up the fact that you void the warranty if you open up the back of this laptop? I just purchased one and when I found this out I'm pretty pissed and am regretting the purchase.
 
Rusty4560 said:
How has no one brought up the fact that you void the warranty if you open up the back of this laptop? I just purchased one and when I found this out I'm pretty pissed and am regretting the purchase.
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I just got my GT60 this week and noticed the sticker on the bottom too. I called MSI and asked about it because the whole user upgrade ability was a huge selling point for me. The MSI support tech told me that they are very liberal when it comes to upgrading the memory & HDDs in the machine. As long as you do not break anything the warranty is good. Called twice and got the same story both times. So I popped the bottom off and stuck a Crucial M4 in it. Loved it before but now... :D
 
eth3ton said:
I just got my GT60 this week and noticed the sticker on the bottom too. I called MSI and asked about it because the whole user upgrade ability was a huge selling point for me. The MSI support tech told me that they are very liberal when it comes to upgrading the memory & HDDs in the machine. As long as you do not break anything the warranty is good. Called twice and got the same story both times. So I popped the bottom off and stuck a Crucial M4 in it. Loved it before but now... :D
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Quoted for truth. You have to read the verbiage in their warranty coverage and it basically explains the same thing.
 
Basically if the warranty seal is removed then they will check for physical damage inside the serviceable area. If you never touch it they would assume it's damaged from the factory.

So be very careful and do a proper inspection if you do open it.
 
I have taken my MSI GT780 apart (everything inside) for cleaning, replacing the wifi card and adding a third antenna behind the monitor. Changed hard drives a number of time and even lost a screw to the outside panel to get to the hard drives. But I never damaged anything inside. Then I had the power plug on the mobo go out and I RMA'd it and they fixed it, no questions asked and replace the sticker, which I have already broke again.

Just be careful and you are fine. MSI is great.
 
Yes, essentially with MSI it seems that it is along the lines of "if you know what you are doing and take care with the upgrade/ servicing then its all good", and to the flip side if you are careless and have no idea what you are doing it will be visible. I mean even looking at something as simple as screws should give most experienced users / techs an insight about how much care was taken with the servicing prior. I have never been let down by MSI products and have used them in all my family's and friend's builds and upgrades. I may be partial to them as some of you might know I have done extreme overclocking events with them in the past (unfortunately that has been on hold for a long time now - extreme ocing)... In doing this I gained a lot of insight about what goes into a product and how dedicated the engineers are that make the parts. Thus I still to this day am a believer in their HW, seeing the bar being raised each gen for the last few years has been fun to watch.
My 2 cents there ;)
 
TheGoat Eater said:
After using this notebook I am no doubt intent on getting my sister the GT60 workstation with the Quardo. I am impressed with this and know it will have enough power and durability of this GT60 model. She will be needing something for editing photos that is portable and the workstation model seems to have a good panel for that as well :)
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How exactly does it provide 4 outputs? 4 jacks or some kind of proprietary cable with splitter?
 
4 outputs (including internal) at once :)

I've had a play with one with 3 screens connected and it was fun :)
 
I am really loving the customizable LED Steelseries keyboard for when I am typing in a darkened room. Much easier for me than my last notebook's keyboard, wow did I ever have a worn out backspace key :p. What do you guys like to play on notebooks when you are taking them with you to waste time - coffee shop, laundry, work, parent's house and so on? I am one for casual games for then or something that is fast paced with enough times to stop - Super Meat Boy anyone?...
 
Found a $100 rebate form for those looking at GT60 0ne w/ GTX 680m and some of the GT70 models for the US
covers from Feb 1 - Feb 28th
UPCs in the PDF
products:
GT60 0NE-249US
GT60 0NE-403US
GT70 0NC-008US
GT70 0NC-012US
GT70 0ND-204US
GT70 0ND-491US
GT70 0NE-446US
GT70 0NE-452US
The PDF for the rebate < my google docs
 
anyone else have this notebook? I am wondering if I should go to win7 or stck it out lol, as well as your impressions with this / any pointers to give.
 
Well I think if you add the start menu back in and learn your way round the rest you should be fine.
 
I just picked this laptop up last week, well the 0ND with the 675m. So far I am liking it but haven't done enough testing with it to really judge it.

I did swap out the original HD with a 256 GB Samsung 840 Pro SSD. This thing flies now, but I did have some issues getting Windows 7 Pro (64 bit) to work properly. There were no issues with the default Win 8 install, however, I with the fresh install of Win 7 the GPU started flaking out, BSOD with a nvlddmkm.sys error. Multiple drivers were tried and all had the same results. Wound up tracking down a solution that worked:

1. download latest NVIDIA Driver
2. Uninstall the previous version of the Driver & restart
3. once restarted install the downloaded drivers
4. Restart the system
5. Now you have to disable it from startup (type Msconfig in run Goto startup tab & uncheck NVidia option) (there are 2 options there)
6. Now start Services.msc from run command then find Nvidia Display Driver service & Stop & disable it from its properties
7. Restart the system

Will be interesting to see what happens when I upgrade my driver in the future but hopefully Nvidia will have fixed their software by then.

Other than that issue this thing is quick as hell and I am happy with it for now.
 
So you put the SSD in bay under the ODD and moved the old HDD That sits towards the front edge of the machine? (only the slot under the ODD is Gen3).
 
Just a bit of tests for now, more on the way ;) as I have come to terms with win8 - I can do better with a win 7 benching image no doubt :D

3dmarkgt600ne403us.jpg

p6884.jpg
 
Meaker said:
So you put the SSD in bay under the ODD and moved the old HDD That sits towards the front edge of the machine? (only the slot under the ODD is Gen3).
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Whats ODD?

If you flip the machine over and the battery is closest to you, the bay ahead of the battery is SATA 3. Basically the bay that supports super raid OR even more lay the one with the SATA adapter is Sata 3. The bay to the right is SATA 2.

TheGoat Eater said:
anyone else have this notebook? I am wondering if I should go to win7 or stck it out lol, as well as your impressions with this / any pointers to give.
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I removed Windows 8 after playing with it for 2 days and went back to Windows 7.

Aside from a minor issue with installing the GPU driver and the presence of an unknown device(radio control button) it works perfectly. Regarding the radio control button, MSI does not provide a windows 7 driver that allows you to turn the radio on/off from the touch key on the panel. Therefore you will always have an unknown device, but you can disable it. Controlling the radio will need to be done from networking options or leave it on all the time even when plugged into the LAN.
 
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Rope said:
I just picked this laptop up last week, well the 0ND with the 675m. So far I am liking it but haven't done enough testing with it to really judge it.

I did swap out the original HD with a 256 GB Samsung 840 Pro SSD. This thing flies now, but I did have some issues getting Windows 7 Pro (64 bit) to work properly. There were no issues with the default Win 8 install, however, I with the fresh install of Win 7 the GPU started flaking out, BSOD with a nvlddmkm.sys error. Multiple drivers were tried and all had the same results. Wound up tracking down a solution that worked:

1. download latest NVIDIA Driver
2. Uninstall the previous version of the Driver & restart
3. once restarted install the downloaded drivers
4. Restart the system
5. Now you have to disable it from startup (type Msconfig in run Goto startup tab & uncheck NVidia option) (there are 2 options there)
6. Now start Services.msc from run command then find Nvidia Display Driver service & Stop & disable it from its properties
7. Restart the system

Will be interesting to see what happens when I upgrade my driver in the future but hopefully Nvidia will have fixed their software by then.

Other than that issue this thing is quick as hell and I am happy with it for now.
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I did not experience any issues upon a fresh install of Win 7. I did have an issue where the installer complained there was no supported video card when I downloaded the driver from MSI's website listed under Win 7, but the driver for Win 8 worked perfectly.

BTW, If you want to use the latest and greatest Nvidia drivers straight from Nvidia you need to modify 1 file from the installer which includes the device ID of the card in the laptop. Otherwise it will complain there is no supported video card.
 
I ran some more benchmarks for everyone to see... Now I know if I were to put in a SSD with my bench OS I could leave these in the dust. These are on a fully bloated win8 install, with all the stuff I use daily on it.









 
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