MSI GT60 2OD-261US w/ 3K screen testing

T

TheGoat Eater

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Nov 26, 2005
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I just got my new favorite thing in and have been doing some testing of it. I have tried to do as many tests as I can think of and will add them over time. So far I am in love with the 3K IPS screen and I won't go back to 1080 :) , I also have been playing some BF4 @ 3K... At stock GPU clocks and Medium settings in BF4 it looks friggin beautiful and with good frame-rates (60-90) I am doing some more testing with settings and clocks soon, but I fear I am having too much fun with it. So far in my benchmarks this thing is really proving to be a hell of a beast.

MSI Product Page

First I will show you the unboxing :)


Box


Notebook Box


Opened Notebook Box


Additional Materials / Warranty Info


Lid


Opened Up


Keyboard / Controls


Info Stickers



Left Side


Rear


Right Side
 
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I'm so Hard right now.

Can you cover the speakers for me? I always recommend the MSI laptops for sound to people when asked just from what I've read in reviews but have never seen them IRL. Is the headphone jack amp'd?
 
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Looks exactly the same as any other older GT60 (apart from the specs on the sticker)...

Let's see some pics with the screen fired up :). Also, very doubtful anythings changed, but would be interesting seeing the internals.
 
Awesome sounding laptop! Always been interested in the MSI laptops, never been a fan of the look. Shame as I've heard they are very good and come with an excellent keyboard.

Let us know your thoughts on the 3k screen!
 
harmattan said:
Looks exactly the same as any other older GT60 (apart from the specs on the sticker)...

Let's see some pics with the screen fired up :). Also, very doubtful anythings changed, but would be interesting seeing the internals.
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Look at the display outputs, 2xDP + HDMI, all are direct to the GPU so it supports surround gaming and are not impacted by optimus.
 
benchmark results added :) - Yes the only physical difference in the chassis between this and my old GT60 0NE is the display outputs on the rear - the older 680m model just had DE-15 (dsub) vga and hdmi
 
Meaker said:
Look at the display outputs, 2xDP + HDMI, all are direct to the GPU so it supports surround gaming and are not impacted by optimus.
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Huh, didn't notice that. Not sure how useful Surround would be on this since a) there's no monitor out there that would adequately match the display on this in size or resolution, and b) even if there was a monitor to pair the 780m isn't nearly powerful enough to push three 3k screens. I guess this feature would better serve on with a 1080p where you could actually do surround (on native resolution) with a single 780m.
 
You can use surround on 3 external displays and have the internal as an extra, it can support 4 displays at once.
 
elzeus said:
I'm so Hard right now.

Can you cover the speakers for me? I always recommend the MSI laptops for sound to people when asked just from what I've read in reviews but have never seen them IRL. Is the headphone jack amp'd?
Click to expand...

LOL, never seen one but RC them?

The MSI's use creatives soundblaster cinema software layer with some extra hardware gimicks to gussy up your standard onboard, yes the headphone jack is usually amped on the gaming ones. It's great, for a laptop, even competes with onboard desktop sound over headphones... no it doesn't stack up to a quality dedicated soundcard.

I've been through a couple MSI's, the quality has really picked up.

Huh, didn't notice that. Not sure how useful Surround would be on this since a) there's no monitor out there that would adequately match the display on this in size or resolution, and b) even if there was a monitor to pair the 780m isn't nearly powerful enough to push three 3k screens. I guess this feature would better serve on with a 1080p where you could actually do surround (on native resolution) with a single 780m.
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It's for desk use, these are considered desktop replacements. I'm on a GS70 right now and it does the same quad display, and 4k... just 765m. It's great for productivity, the use for gaming isn't there.

Also be aware of hybrid power. The headphone amps, turbo boost, GPU boost, often won't kick in without it. The damn things just draw more power than the AC adapter can handle at times. Hybrid just zaps the battery when things crank up. If you haven't enabled it, turn it on... then plug in your headphones and game
 
The speakers on the GT60 line are hands down the best I have ever heard from notebooks ( previous notebook was GT60 0NE w/680m), They can get pretty loud and are more than enough for when I want to take a break from my headphones that have a bit of weght. The onboard audio to headphoen jack is nice for some of the headphones I have but for my higher end ones I prefer to use an external DAC and AMP w/ my HiFiMAN HE-400s. I would suggest using the turbofan when gaming to keep the system as cool as possible. I have mine on a Cooler Master CF-19 cooler (going to swap out fans soonon it), and when I game I use headphones 99% of the time so the extra noise is no problem then. The IPS panel sure is beautiful to game on after coming from a TN panel.
 
The headphone amps will be fine without hybrid power and GPU boost will work too.
 
Meaker said:
The headphone amps will be fine without hybrid power and GPU boost will work too.
Click to expand...

Odd. Linus from NCIX was on video saying that hybrid is required to boost the ones maxed out on CPU/GPU because the power adapter can physically draw enough power when they are loaded. So hybrid power is needed.
 
Yeah but he is not really properly from the notebook world.

It's more used in those editions with the 4930MX to overclock the CPU.
 
I just installed windows 7 on my gt60 notebook, had a few nagging issues with certain things using windows 8.1, mainly bluetooth turning off and on whenever the hell it felt like it and the synaptics touchpad turning off upon waking from sleep. everything works perfectly with windows 7, I didn't install hybrid power yet, is there any advantage/disadvantage by not installing it then?
 
All the application does is monitor usage.
 
I installed win7 on the last gt60 and found out while I was initially testing this one that win8 definitely works better with the apps for the features of the notebook. That is why I stuck with it after my 3x ssd raid 0 install. I do like the fact that the win8 version does keep the settings where they were after waking up or restart ( turned off touchpad - it will stay off until I reactiveate it). I have no issues with bluetooth, It does require me to get into my desktop first before it will reconnect ( past the lock screen ) which is fine because its just pressing a button and then typing in the password. At least that is what I take away from it
 
Yeah 7 socks at scaling it really does need 8 to work properly.
 
Mine is working better than it ever did on windows 7. Don't get me wrong, I installed windows 8.1 on my desktop and like it, but I could NOT get some things to work right consistently on the notebook with windows 8.1.
 
Meaker said:
Yeah but he is not really properly from the notebook world.

It's more used in those editions with the 4930MX to overclock the CPU.
Click to expand...

Perhaps but... I have the GS70 and I can tell you it behaves differently between hybrid, plugged in, and battery. Given how hybrid works (it can't actually drain the battery) it just makes more sense to enable the damn thing anyways.
 
The gt series is quite a different beast in many ways. :)
 
"Beast" is definitely the term for this notebook :D I am so glad I got this upgrade from the GT60 0NE. I plan to take some close up pics this week and some of the inside :)
 
Very much a compact little beast, if you are up to it then applying IC diamond and 0.5mm thermal pads will improve thermals.
 
I am up to it - though I need to source the thermal pads first - then its a matter of motivation lol...alotting the time to do it.
 
Hi guys,
1.- I will buy the next week.. the new one have w8 but I want to use win7.. is it very dificult find the drivers etc for win7??
2.- I like to use in a future a external monitor 3840x2160, anyone know if it is posible to use this resolution by displayport?
thanks in advance
 
The drivers you need can be found on MSI's page for the notebook. I think it should be fine though I am not sure if you will get more than 30Hz @ 4K, though I am not sure
 
30HZ is a little low in my opinion.. so.. where do you find this information?? In the nvidia website I found that you can get 4k resolution in the displayport but I dont find nothing about the 30Hz. Myquestion is because I can get for the same price more or less MSI GT60 2OKWS-278US i7 4GB NVIDIA Quadro K3100M ...so if the output in the k3100M is better .. I will change my election. thanks in advance
 
I say that as I am not sure of what version of DP it has from the mobile card - PM Meaker for the best answer ;). If you are looking to game at all then you will be disappointed if you get the Quadro
 
The display port can do the same as the desktop gtx 770.
 
Meaker said:
The display port can do the same as the desktop gtx 770.
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Gtx770 desktop specification is 4096x2160 (including 3840x2160) at 60Hz supported over Displayport would be nice for me ... in the Nvidia website is not possible find a correct specification for the780m. they speak about the 3840x2160 .. but not say nothing about 30hz or 60 Hz
 
No company currently makes a 17.3" 3k panel for MSI to use.

3840x2160 should be 60hz as the display port is hooked to the dGPU not the iGPU.
 
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