MSI GX740 vs GX660R

drakioned

drakioned

drakioned

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Hi,

I know this was probably done to death when it was first released, but now they're out for a bit now, there's different price points, I wonder how people feel about them now.

GX740:
Intel Core i5 430M
4GB DDR3 Memory
500GB 2.5" Hard Drive
ATI Radeon HD5870 1GB
17" Wide SXGA (1680×1050)
£770

GX660R:
Intel Core i5 460M
6GB DDR3 Memory
1TB (2x500GB) 2.5" Hard Drive
ATI Radeon HD5870 1GB
15" Full HD (1920×1080)
£877

Which do people think is the better deal?

Also, I'm planning on upgrading from a Gateway P7811FX, so I already have a full HD laptop screen, I'm kinda pondering that, if I end up playing all the HD movies on my present laptop, whether the GX740 would be the better deal since it's about £100 cheaper, and the lower res should mean more fps... if anyone has any advice/thoughts, they would be appreciated.
 
Have a Dell XPS m1710 which is slowing its age now and been looking at those GX740 in clearance at £600... Very tempting.

Long term i think the 660R may be the better bet as it has a bit more memory, little bit quicker CPU, USB 3.0 and that HD screen.

Be interesting to see what others have to say to.
 
i'd go for the 660r too, although i've heard the fan is very loud on that model when turned up which could be annoying! may i ask where you have seen the gx740 for £600 shannowdr?
 
For the price the GX740 in b grade is unbeatable.

Performance wise it will be indistinguishable from the GX660R whilst offering better native resolution performance (in my experience resolution sclaing has been generally poor on laptop screens).
 
Seeing that the B grade GX740 is going for £600 (compared to £799 for a GX660R B-stock), does the GX740 have a 2nd HD bay? I need one to stick my 2nd HD from my old laptop into a new one as it contains all my Steam games!!!
 
Hey up,

The GX740 im afraid does not have a second hdd bay, however you could take out the optical drive and buy a caddy to fit a 2nd drive in there.
 
Too late - just ordered the gx740. I'll have to copy my Steam folder to my 1TB ext hdd. Worst still, is my warcraft folder (21GB!!!!!), Eve Online and the grief of reinstalling Medieval TW II & Kingdoms from dvd.
 
Shaggyd could you let us all what you think of the 470 when you get it.

It is bargin at that price for the UK.

May be Gibbo could bend a few arms/legs at MSI and get us a similar deal to the one a huge
e-seller had in the states yesterday....660R for $799. Truely a Gibbo Sale of the Century type deal!
 
Last edited:
shaggyd said:
Too late - just ordered the gx740. I'll have to copy my Steam folder to my 1TB ext hdd. Worst still, is my warcraft folder (21GB!!!!!), Eve Online and the grief of reinstalling Medieval TW II & Kingdoms from dvd.
Click to expand...

I rang up today at 1PM ish and they said it just sold >.>, nice one. Cracking deal.
 
I am at work this morning chewing my nails as I wait for the laptop to arrive at home. I have got the wife under house arrest so that I can ensure someone is available to recieve it.
It took me 6 hours to transfer my Steam, WoW, Eve, My Photos & My Music folders to my ext hdd by e-sata last night. looking forward to stress test it tonight with Arma II: OA and Empires TW.
 
Got the laptop today and it has taken me most of the afternoon to copy my steam folder onto the new laptop.

The red strips on the casing is not as bad as I feared :)
My first stress test was Armed Assault II : Operation arrowhead (wasted 2 hours getting the combined ops to work with steam) - Absolutely fluid!!! Most settings on high & 1600m visibility, the animation and game ran silky smooth. Created a mission with 20 US Army against 60 Insurgents & a mixture of technical jeeps, the game did not suffer any stuttering once the action kicked off. Ramped the post processing effects on very high and no noticeable slowdown.

Next test was Just Cause 2 - everything was set to max and the game felt responsive, smooth and gorgeous to look at!!! Again no slow down when driving a jeep off a mountain down the gorge and grappling myself to a passing plane. :)

Finally, managed to play World of Warcraft at ultra settings with constant 60fps. I know WoW is not really a stresser on computers, but I wanted to make one of my guild mates jealous!! :)

Downside? - Only one hdd bay for a 17" laptop? Not good if the hd is only 340GB and Steam keep tempting me with weekend deals. Also couldn't get wireless lan to work, only to accidently discover that the wireless symbol is actually a touch sensitive switch as well as a light!

As this was a b-stock laptop, only things missing were recovery discs, instructions and the mains lead that plugs into the power brick (not a problem as I robbed one of an older laptop). But for £599 I cannot really complain. Definitely a good buy!
 
shaggyd said:
Finally, managed to play World of Warcraft at ultra settings with constant 60fps. I know WoW is not really a stresser on computers, but I wanted to make one of my guild mates jealous!! :)
Click to expand...

GX740

I must be doing something wrong... I can only ever get about 30fps max and 10 -15 standing around Stormwind regardless of what resolution. And thats set at either 'Good' or 'High'. In Stormwind standing still on Ultra settings I get 7 fps. Am I missing something obvious here?
 
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