MSi GX400 Gaming notebook Review.

K

Ok this is an review bout an 14.1 inches gaming notebook from MSi.
I am writing this because the company really doesn't promote to well bout this red hot babe.

The Killer Config:-

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Processor & Cache:-[/FONT]Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor 2.0 Ghz
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Chipsets:-[/FONT]Intel®PM45+ICH9M
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]System Memory:-[/FONT]4 GB DDR2 667/800
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]LCD[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Display:-[/FONT]14.1 "TFT LCD Display 1024x800
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Graphics:-[/FONT]nVIDIA Geforce 9600M GT, 256MB DDR3 VRAM
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Audio[/FONT]:-HD Audio, 2/4 Stereo speakers
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]HDD:-[/FONT]320GB SATA (5400RPM)
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Optical Drive:-[/FONT]DVD Super Multi(Optriac)/ Blu-ray(optional)
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Webcam:-[/FONT]1.3M
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Communication Port:-[/FONT]Built-in Gigabit Ethernet LAN and Modem Module
Built-in 802.11b/g/n WLAN Card / Bluetooth V2.0+EDR
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]I/O Port:-[/FONT]Graphics Card Output (15-pin, D-Sub) X 1
USB2.0 Port X 2
Mic-in Port X 1
Headphone Output X 1
Modem Port X 1
LAN Port X 1
PCI Express Card X 1
eSATA (USB Combo) X 1
HDMI X 1

The Look:-

*www.msi.com/uploads/Image/product_img/other/nb/1435/gx400_02.jpg*www.msi.com/uploads/prod_978b8733648b6d9d792f2fdf140163fc.jpg

My review:-

I have been with this babe for 2 months now and i don't regret buying this over Dell XPS M1730. Ok you may think i am a fool but trust you shall belive me.

As i the stated in the config this babe is a mean machine. Its meant for gamers only who like to keep things lite but not loose any performance.

The Vista Index rating is 5.2(Who Cares)
I have played Crysis, Crysis Warhead at meduim Settings Currently Playing Burnout Paradise and HAWX @ High!

This notebook has a good cooling solution too but still you will feel the heat on ur pad but not much to stop u from playing!

This notebook comes with an Eco mode as it is (Centrino 2).
When ur plugged in u can click Turbo and enjoy overclocking on the go. It reaches around 2300 Hz from 1998 Hz.

While in Battery mode there are modes like Gaming mode, Movie mode, Presentation mode, Office mode, and Turbo Battery mode.
The lowest is 1700 Mhz save power.

The Battery life is good enough can stand upto 3 hrs in Turbo battery mode. Actually can stand well I started playing Burnout when i had 21 % battery left and i played almost 20- 25 mins

Comparing with Dell XPS M1730 OHH!

Dell is rated 5.0 by vista ok thast is due to bad Memory

Processor:-5.7
Memory:-5.0
Graphics-5.9
Gaming Graphics:-5.6
HDD:-5.4

MSi GX400
Rated 5.2

Processor:-5.2
Memory:-5.9
Graphics-5.9
Gaming Graphics:-5.5
HDD:-5.4

So got my point ok i agree dell is an sli model but less games support that tech plus some games don't hav an increase in performance if there any it's bout 20-40% max
Plus it is bulky weighs 3.5 KG+ while GX400 weighs 2.2 Kg Only.

Pricing

MSi Gx400 costs 63000 Rs including tax
while XPS cost 1.29 Lac w/o tax (I would buy an MSi notebook and build an gaming rig from that price LOLZ)

Cons
The models avialable in India are without O.S(Its an Pros to me)
as i save 10 K plus, if they give it would be 32 bit Vista Home Premium.
But if not go for an 64 bit system as it is build for it.

How do i get this babe?

you could contact the dealers Priya Ltd/ Topnotch.
They are not keen much the make you wait for pricing etc.

Or you may contact Mr. Ajay Bajaj, Sainath associates, Kartar mansion 2, Off Lamington road,Opp Police Station,
Mobile no:-9223291871

If he asks who told u bout this notebook/contact say Kaustubh Surve.

There is also another series of this laptop launched i guess GX600 the only difference is it has 512 Mb 9600M GT DDR3 GFX card and the pricing is around 65000Rs not sure.

Some Links

*www.msi-in.com/News/MSI GX400X Reviewed by CHIP.htm
*www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4085
*global.msi.com.tw/index.php?func=prodtmpspec&maincat_no=135&cat2_no=271&cat3_no=&prod_no=1596

H

What about the warranty? MSI has service centres only in Bengaluru?

kaustubh4evr said:
MSi Gx400 costs 63000 Rs including tax
while XPS cost 1.29 Lac w/o tax (I would buy an MSi notebook and build an gaming rig from that price LOLZ)

Dell XPS with similar config costs around 70k. Taking into account Dell's superior product and support quality and MSI's average support structure, I would rather get Dell XPS 15 instead of this MSI laptop
And the XPS that costs 1.3L comes with the following:

17" FullHD display
4GB Dual-channel DDR2 SDRAM (2 x 2GB)
Intel® CoreTM 2 Duo Processor T8300
320GB2 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
Dual 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800M GTX with NVIDIA® SLITM Technology
16-color, RGB LightFXTM in the front speaker grill
Illuminated tail lights
An illuminated Dell badge
Customizable touchpad back-lightning
Aggressive lines and a high-tech hydrographic pattern
Multiple color options, including Sapphire Blue, Smoke Grey and Crimson Red
5.1 channel output with for true surround sound experience with no external decoder required.
Wireless N network card

Optional NVIDIA® SLITM Dual GeForce® 9800M GT with 1GB2 GDDR3 Memory
optional Intel® CoreTM 2 Extreme Processor X9000 (2.8GHz/800 FSB/ 6MB Cache)

And the price is totally justified for such monsterous config and it pawns that MSI without mercy.

Dual 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800M GTX with NVIDIA® SLITM Technology

This one costs Rs. 1,00,000 actually.
And dunno if it's still on sale, or even if it's worth buying, considering it's weight to be 5.8-6 KG.

it's still available and with 1.3L you get Dual 9800GT I think. yes. it weighs a lot but is a replacement for gaming desktop (for laptop fans)

^^Better is a notebook with a single HD4870, wonder when that'll come to India.

Hd4870 is not yet available for laptops. Right?

i thibk GX 400 competes with Studio XPS 16.
But GX400 has the edge only in GPU. Everythin else seems crap for a 65k lappy.

it has no comparison with M1730 in performance or pricing. Its in a different league.

Hd4870 is not yet available for laptops. Right?

It is, so is the HD4850, and the HD4870 X2 too, but not in India, and havn't seen any offerrings too with the higher of the three, since lappy makers will not see sense on a power eating moster on a laptop.

4850 consumes same or less power than a 9800GT[the 65nm ones] AFAIK. and 9800GT SLi is much unefficient than 4850 CF in power consumption and performance.

S

My HD 4850(540/890) is as gud as 4870(550/888).

@silicon chip
wat make is that 4850? sonic?

S

Sonic in laptop?
I OC it!
HD 4850(500/850)
HD 4870(550/888 )
MY HD 4850 (540/890)

S

I got my Dell XPS 1730 M last week and it simply rocks!
I changed the processor from T8300 to T9300 and also added a PhysX accelerator. All games I've tried till now give me 60+ FPS on highest settings.

S

@Desibond,the 9800 GT option is not available in India.

@Silicon Chip
oh i missed ur siggy.
btw ive noticed gr8 ocing potential in laptop GPUs.

my 8600GT in XPS runs smoothly @ 660/1550 from stock 475/1400. Not even most of the desktop 8600GT does thats clocks and 3dm06 scores rose from 4k to 6.3k.

HD 4870(550/888 )

hd 4870 has gddr5 afaik.

very correct
890Mhz ddr3 =~ 1.78Ghz effective
888mhz ddr5 =~ 3.5Ghz effective

but still gud oc dude

S

HD 4870 has gddr5, bt only 4870 is in Asus W90 and it has gddr3.
So mine is a HD 4870 nearly.

S

Sunny1211993 said:
I got my Dell XPS 1730 M last week and it simply rocks!
I changed the processor from T8300 to T9300 and also added a PhysX accelerator. All games I've tried till now give me 60+ FPS on highest settings.

I dont think GTA IV or Crysis wud give 60 FPS and additionally, I dont like XF or SLI.
It wud hv been lighter, cooler and less power hungry if there was a GTX 260M/280M.
Plus 1.3L is too much for 1730, i wud get a Clevo or even Asus W90 with HD4870 Crossfire for 1.2L and it gets 20k+ in 3D Mark06.

S

Gud for me, bad for Sunny:
m1730(T9300 @2.5ghz, 8800M GTX SLI) gets 11.5k in 3dmark06.
GT725 gets 10.5k in 3dmark06 and gets 12.3k when cpu+gpu Ultraclocked.

Crysis:
It gets 17fps @ 1680X1050 @ gamer settings.
I get 18-19fps @same settings as above.

43k for a slight benefit does nt make sense.
Plus GT725 is only 3.2kgs and is only 120W compared to dell 5kgs and 230W.

The only worth laptops are frm:
Sager/Clevo
Asus
MSI

considering dell premium quality, service etc, M1730 still is a gud buy, but maybe not as gud as the MSi one[solely dur to GPU].

T9300 cud breeze thru all other CPu intensive benchs and tasks.

and i cant believe 8800MGTX SLi gives only 11.5k in 3DM06.
even an 8800GT gives 10.5~11k@ 1024*768.

S

T9300(2.5ghz)(35W) is hotter than mine(2.4ghz)(25W) and slower.
I hv inbuilt OC option in BIOS and can OC upto 24% stable.
Dell also has OC feature bt its already too hot.

Some ppl even reported 8k on m1730.
Jus google it.

S

Silicon Chip said:
I dont think GTA IV or Crysis wud give 60 FPS and additionally, I dont like XF or SLI.
It wud hv been lighter, cooler and less power hungry if there was a GTX 260M/280M.
Plus 1.3L is too much for 1730, i wud get a Clevo or even Asus W90 with HD4870 Crossfire for 1.2L and it gets 20k+ in 3D Mark06.

I'm not gonna play much heavy games on my lappy. I've bought it for hack en slash and adventure games liek Wolverine,Spiderman,HAWX,Splinter Cell etc. and not First Person Shooters as they need mouse. I like playing with Xbox 360 Controller. All the games except Crysis,GTA IV and some other rig killers give me about 50 FPS at highest settings.

Tell me any GTX 280/260M/HD4870 laptop available in India. I searched around my place but couldn't find it. Please enlighten this poor lad.

1.3L is totally justified. Looks at the config and stuff. I won't argue much here.

Moreover,I don't give a fu(king damn to 3D mark scores as long as I can max out my games.

Silicon Chip said:
Gud for me, bad for Sunny:
m1730(T9300 @2.5ghz, 8800M GTX SLI) gets 11.5k in 3dmark06.
GT725 gets 10.5k in 3dmark06 and gets 12.3k when cpu+gpu Ultraclocked.

Crysis:
It gets 17fps @ 1680X1050 @ gamer settings.
I get 18-19fps @same settings as above.

43k for a slight benefit does nt make sense.
Plus GT725 is only 3.2kgs and is only 120W compared to dell 5kgs and 230W.

The only worth laptops are frm:
Sager/Clevo
Asus
MSI

As I mentioned earlier,3D Marks are totally irrelevant for me and what makes you think I spend 43K more on it? I've noticed one thing. You're very good at assuming things. I spent just 3.5K for changing the processor from T8300 to T9300. It's the Core2Extreme processor that costs 43 K more. Research properly before throwing anything you come up with. I also added a AGEIA PhysX proccy for 8K.

Once again you great assumption. Why and how did you assume that my laptop gets 17 FPS with Crysis on whatever settings you mentioned?

As for the weight, gaming laptops are not meant to be placed on laps. Yeah, seems contradictory to their names but they become hot and are too heavy to be placed on laps. Once again this weight thingy is outta the scene.

And for carrying, Dell has provided me with a perfect carry bag for my lappy.( included in the cost)

Silicon Chip said:
T9300(2.5ghz)(35W) is hotter than mine(2.4ghz)(25W) and slower.
I hv inbuilt OC option in BIOS and can OC upto 24% stable.
Dell also has OC feature bt its already too hot.

Some ppl even reported 8k on m1730.
Jus google it.

How do you know that it's slower and hotter. Did you great assumption power help you here too? I've got Vista Ultimate 32-Bit SP1,Windows 7 RC1 and Ubuntu 9.04 installed on my lappy and they are as fast as you can get. Hot? 45-50 C ain't that hot for a mobile CPU? I've seen my MacBook C2D 2.4Ghz processor going upto 60C and still running smooth.

I never bought my lappy with overclocking in mind. In fact,I never OCed my PC too. I simply never needed it!

And about those 8K reporters, I don't care for people who run Windows 98 on SLI configs :-D

. Sorry for this one.

S

These are no assumptions, they are benchmarks.
Go google, read some reviews.

I thought that m1730 was much faster than mine bt stuttering is the negative effect of SLI.

I dont mean to offend bt Asus w90 with dual HD4870 and QX9300 and 6GB RAM with 18.4" lcd is 7.5-8kgs and a ton powerful than any nb.
Nthing beats it.
34FPS on 1920 X 1080.

@Mayanksahni
I dont reply to an idiot who thought that Q6600 was a quad core and who games on a shitty 8600 GT.

S

I was saying that m1730 is 43k more expensive that mine.

And when u want to buy a laptop with GTX 280M worth 1.5L, then u dont care if it is in India or USA.
If u want it, then get it.
Asus India can get u the W90 on request bt it wud take some time plus custom duty, So..... It wud be, ehm..... 2L.
Thats the max i can think.
Coz mine costs
62k in USA bt 87k in India.

S

Silicon Chip said:
These are no assumptions, they are benchmarks.
Go google, read some reviews.

I thought that m1730 was much faster than mine bt stuttering is the negative effect of SLI.

I dont mean to offend bt Asus w90 with dual HD4870 and QX9300 and 6GB RAM with 18.4" lcd is 7.5-8kgs and a ton powerful than any nb.
Nthing beats it.
34FPS on 1920 X 1080.

Been using a SLI rig for 2 years now (PC),no stuttering as yet. I think you've had bad experiences with nVidia or something.

18.4",8 KGs,2 Lacs!!!!!!!! :shock:

And yeah what is Q6600 if not a quad core?

Please don't start personal attacks on somebody.

Silicon Chip said:
I was saying that m1730 is 43k more expensive that mine.

And when u want to buy a laptop with GTX 280M worth 1.5L, then u dont care if it is in India or USA.
If u want it, then get it.
Asus India can get u the W90 on request bt it wud take some time plus custom duty, So..... It wud be, ehm..... 2L.
Thats the max i can think.
Coz mine costs
62k in USA bt 87k in India.

If it's 40K more expensive then it's worth the extra cost.

I'm not a idiot who'd import laptops from USA or somewhere and end up paying 1.5 times the cost with duty and all. It's fine for me buying here only. I also couldn't find any ASUS dealer around and as far as I know Dell's service is top notch and way above others.

Silicon Chip said:
@Mayanksahni
I dont reply to an idiot who thought that Q6600 was a quad core and who games on a shitty 8600 GT.

lol
i pity u. then is it a half core? or a quarter core??

and do u think playing at max possible quality and res is what is called GAMING?
get a life dude. One of world most popular game CS dun even need an 8600GT for gaming. and AFAIK fnatic and others are far far greater GAMERZ that u are...

and if we import an ASUS lappy, and what if somethin goes wrong or deads?? is that the end of it?
or get another with all the saving u got while purchasing the first one?

S

Q6600 are two dual cores on a single die, more like two dual cores on Intel Skulltrail mobo.
The four core hv prob. Sharing cache and that is a reason why Q6600 did gud in games coz only two cores were utilized whereas the task shud hv been divided amongst four cores.
@mayanksahni, man go to school learn physics, then go to college and learn what are transistors and them maybe you wud know what are dies and silicon wafers.

@Dom1nator, i think 8800M GT has 96 SP vs 32SP in 8600M GT.

And CS is one of the pathetic games with crappy gfx.

@sunny, was ur dell m1730 made in India?
Coz even regular Asus and MSI are made in Taiwan.

S

Taiwan.

Manners dude, manners. Next time you'll get reported.

One more thing. Graphics aren't everything that matters. CS is the No.1 online first person shooter. Nobody cares for lame comments dude. People like it and play it.

BTW I wiped out Vista and installed Windows 7 64-Bit RC1 on my laptop. Installed just Wolverine and played it on 1920x1200 all settings highest(by default),getting 60+ FPS. Will install Crysis and post frames.

Q6600 is still is a quad than a dual core. maybe its not a native one like phenom.
and btw 8800 has 112SP.

and that CS that u called pathetic, actually i was wondering how pathetic a gamer are u?

have u heard bout FATAL1TY? do u think he got the title by playing with world's greatest gfx card at highest setting and resolution?
he got titles in many games including UT 04, which cud be played at max even on an 8400GS card.
its one's skill which defines a gamer, not his wallet.

IMO M1730 is the best lappy u would get in India.....and of course, the best customers services from Dell makes it even more worthy.

btw who is dat Silicon Chip here...?!!!

@Silicon Chip
if u try hard, u can get the NOTW title here...lol !!! ;-)

S

^
Absolutely. 1730M simply rocks! I researched a lot before buying this one.

Silicon Chip said:
These are no assumptions, they are benchmarks.
Go google, read some reviews.

I thought that m1730 was much faster than mine bt stuttering is the negative effect of SLI.

I dont mean to offend bt Asus w90 with dual HD4870 and QX9300 and 6GB RAM with 18.4" lcd is 7.5-8kgs and a ton powerful than any nb.
Nthing beats it.
34FPS on 1920 X 1080.

@Mayanksahni
I dont reply to an idiot who thought that Q6600 was a quad core and who games on a shitty 8600 GT.

lol... dude, everyone does not rely on their father's money to go out and buy costliest hardware parts just to brag on forums. ****, does it matter what you are gaming with ? NO, what matters is how you game. A friend of mine has 7600GT and I have an 8800GT and still he beats me at games like GRID, CoD4 and CS... so is he an idiot ? And even if the Q6600 is not a native Quad Core, it still can be called a Quad proccy....

And yes, online benchmarks are never precise and I must admit that you have an awe-****ing-some assumption skill.

Keep it up!

S

@Silicon Chip, mate you're getting bashed from all four sides. Better move quietly to a corner or you'll be chewed by people here

S

@Silicon Chip, mate you're getting bashed from all four sides. Better move quietly to a corner or you'll be chewed by people here

S

Fu(k You!
A**holes!

Cant you fu(king idiots earn some $$$ yourself?

Its You ppl who hv spoiled India and reduced it to slums!
Fu(k You, you pretending impotent *******s!

And I dont care for mods. Anyway I didnt start it, and only kids go and do childish stuff like reporting.

If you got BALLS then come face me!

And you gamerz out there, first play Crysis at DELTA and then you are a gamer.

Till Then Fu(k You!

^^some never learn!!!! Reported for uncivilized childish rants

@Sillicon Chip: Enough of your dumb rantings. I am not wasting the click on the report button as desiibond already did that.

Want to prove your manliness ? Come and face the onboard graphics user's wrath here: *www.thinkdigit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=79745

I bet your HD4850 OC can't beat The_Devil_Himself's Intel GMA x3000 :lol:

crysis at delta?? are u joking?
ive finished 10 times in delta, even w/o using any weapons. just punches and throwing.
this proves, u are an uncivilized masochist.
and for ur knowledge, ive won tons of prizes for CS and UT 04,here in Kerala.

BOTS are just dumb, and its obvious that u havnt even tried the real challenge, the co-op games. Or it it too much for u kid to handle??????????????? maybe u shud get a better gfx card and try that DELTA all over again, maybe ull get a chance to shoot atleast.
lol

dOm1naTOr said:
crysis at delta?? are u joking?
ive finished 10 times in delta, even w/o using any weapons. just punches and throwing.
this proves, u are an uncivilized masochist.
and for ur knowledge, ive won tons of prizes for CS and UT 04,here in Kerala.

BOTS are just dumb, and its obvious that u havnt even tried the real challenge, the co-op games. Or it it too much for u kid to handle??????????????? maybe u shud get a better gfx card and try that DELTA all over again, maybe ull get a chance to shoot atleast.
lol

yup, he is right. I'm a CS player in his team, but to be honest am a pathetic UT player :-(

When ever I hav played against him, I dunno wat he is doing or predict his movements. All I know is, some flashing here and there and am a dead man.... :-x

Till Then Fu(k You!

don't do yaha, do side mein.

Silicon Chip said:
Fu(k You!
A**holes!

Cant you fu(king idiots earn some $$$ yourself?

Its You ppl who hv spoiled India and reduced it to slums!
Fu(k You, you pretending impotent *******s!

And I dont care for mods. Anyway I didnt start it, and only kids go and do childish stuff like reporting.

If you got BALLS then come face me!

And you gamerz out there, first play Crysis at DELTA and then you are a gamer.

Till Then Fu(k You!

You just facepalmed dude...

People like us have reduced India to slums... care to explain ? How ? Just how ?

You want to face me eh ? Sure but you gotta pay the ticket and accomodation prices.

And yes, why would someone **** an impotent person ?

lol
hi guys lets behave ourselves, ok
hes just a desperate child who got scared the he*l after playing crysis @ delta. we must not make fun of newbies.

Psychosocial said:
People like us have reduced India to slums... care to explain ? How ? Just how ?

This n00b thinks that because most of us are reluctant to spend 2 lakhs on a laptop, we should live in slums. :lol:

Some people never understand that money when "invested" leads to development, but money when thrown around only makes available less money for development. Its guys like him who cause slums to remain in India for a longer time.

Oh so in short, he is bragging... well who cares ? I am off to play!

S

dOm1naTOr said:
Q6600 is still is a quad than a dual core. maybe its not a native one like phenom.
and btw 8800 has 112SP.

8800M has 96SP and your 8600M(8500 GT Desktop) is nt even close to 8800.

You guys show off much more than me, and plus it is all false.
I hope you guys meet Germans, Brits and American and then realize than gaming in kerala is nthing.
Being a Pro takes money and lot of it!

S

So,you spend big money becoming a pro. Meanwhile,we'll enjoy gaming.

Reminder: If some people here forgot then I'd like to remind that gaming is intended just for fun. Leave out being a pro or a noob.

I've seen many idiots who think that they are the most intelligent persons on this planet whatever they buy is the best. Silicon chip is one of them.

lol
8600M GT = 8500GT desktop
lol
lol
actually its the same core with slightly reduced colcks
8600M GT ddr3 clocks: 475/1400
and its desktop version: 540/1400
everythin else is same, and u can even surpass the desktop one by overclocking.
used to play UT 04 online most of the time and have met lots of Germans, Brits and American.

I have a P4 rig. I have a FX5200. I think that PS1 is the best console. Gameboy Advance SP is the best handheld. Buying the expensive equipment makes you a great gamer. Playing CoD4 and winning a tournament with your clan with a 8600GT is stupidity. You arent gamer unless you own the most expensive equipment. Assumption is the most important virtue in this world and it means more than personal experiences. Silicon Chip is my god.

Psychosocial said:
I have a P4 rig. I have a FX5200. I think that PS1 is the best console. Gameboy Advance SP is the best handheld. Buying the expensive equipment makes you a great gamer. Playing CoD4 and winning a tournament with your clan with a 8600GT is stupidity. You arent gamer unless you own the most expensive equipment. Assumption is the most important virtue in this world and it means more than personal experiences. Silicon Chip is my god.

lol