*** The Official MSI GS65 Stealth Owners and Discussions Lounge ***

MSI GS 65 8 RE / RF STEALTH THIN (Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q / 1070 Max-Q Design) 2018 / 1st generation

​

• Features:
  15.6-inch screen in a 14-inch chassis
  Ultra narrow 4.9mm display bezel
  144Hz IPS-level display with 7ms response
  17.7mm slim design
  8 hour battery life
  82Whr battery capacity
  Aluminium alloy with sandblasted finish
  
  Specification:
  CPU: Intel 8th Gen. Core i7-8750H, 6 cores with HT, 2.2GHz base clock, boost to 3.9GHz, 45W TDP
  Cooler: Cooler Boost Trinity 2x 47 blade fans, 1x 37 blade fan, 0.2mm fan blade thickness, 4 heat pipes
  Screen: 15.6-inch, 1,920×1,080 resolution, IPS level, 144Hz refresh, 7ms response (AUO manufacturer)
  Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q or GTX 1060
  Memory: up to 32GB of DDR4-2666MHz
  Storage: 2x PCIe Gen3 x4 M.2 slots
• Slot 1 = Combo NVME - Sata
• Slot 2 = NVME only
  
  (If you want to add a SATA SSD, you have to move the Nvme SSD from Slot 1 to Slot 2, and install your SATA SSD into Slot 1. Windows will boot correctly after changing SSD position).
  
  Audio: 2x 2W Dynaudio speakers
  Ethernet: Killer E2500
  Wi-Fi: Killer AC 1550i for GTX 1070 models or Intel AC 9560 Wireless for GTX 1060 models
  I/O ports:
  3x USB 3.1 Type-A
  1x Thunderbolt USB 3.1 Type-C
  1x HDMI 2.0
  1x Mini DisplayPort 1.2
  Headphone jack
  
  Battery: 82Wh, 180W adapter
  Dimensions: 358.5mm x 247.7mm x 17.7mm
  Weight: 1.8kg (total weight PC + PSU + cable = 2,49 kg)
  Software: Dragon Centre 2.0New Gaming Mode on enabled games such as PUBG and DOTA 2 will automatically enable 4 functions: make SSE3 with preset keyboard backlit to fit the type of the game, “Free up memory” to keep highest performance, turn “True Colour” to gaming mode, and turn Nahimic 3 to gaming mode. When you quit the game, these will return to previous settings.

REVIEWS
Notebookcheck | Notebookcheck Germany | Techspot

VIDEO REVIEWS

Spoiler: Video Reviews

TEARDOWN IMAGES (credits to @kkmah )
https://imgur.com/a/MbxWz3f

TEARDOWN VIDEO by @Donald@HIDevolution

Spoiler: TEARDOWN VIDEO

( updating in progress )

Stay tuned!


Notes about undervolting: http://forum.notebookreview.com/index.php?posts/10798173

 

BIOS AND OTHER STUFF​

Spoiler: BIOS RELEASE NOTES

BIOS RELEASE NOTES:
Model : MS-16Q2
MKT Name : GS65 Stealth Thin 8RE / GS65 Stealth Thin 8RF

;****************************************************************************;

New BIOS : E16Q2IMS.111
ROM CheckSum : 0x895B
Release Date : 2018/12/19

;--------------------------- Description ------------------------------------;

1.Improve system stability.

;****************************************************************************;

New BIOS : E16Q2IMS.110
ROM CheckSum : 0x3F41
Release Date : 2018/10/30

;--------------------------- Description ------------------------------------;

1.Update EC to 16Q2EMS1.106.

;****************************************************************************;

New BIOS : E16Q2IMS.10F
ROM CheckSum : 0xE831
Release Date : 2018/10/24

;--------------------------- Description ------------------------------------;

1.Support Win/FN key switch function control by DragonCenter.

;****************************************************************************;

New BIOS : E16Q2IMS.10E
ROM CheckSum : 0x6DF3
Release Date : 2018/09/12

;--------------------------- Description ------------------------------------;

1.Improve system stability.

;****************************************************************************;

New BIOS : E16Q2IMS.10D
ROM CheckSum : 0xC0CA
Release Date : 2018/07/16

;--------------------------- Description ------------------------------------;

1. Improve the panel display stability.

;****************************************************************************;

New BIOS : E16Q2IMS.10C
ROM CheckSum : 0x7B5D
Release Date : 2018/07/06

;--------------------------- Description ------------------------------------;

1. Improve the stability of the panel display.

;****************************************************************************;

New BIOS : E16Q2IMS.10B
ROM CheckSum : 0x54CA
Release Date : 2018/05/29

;--------------------------- Description ------------------------------------;

1. Improve system stability.

;****************************************************************************;

New BIOS : E16Q2IMS.10A
ROM CheckSum : 0xA363
Release Date : 2018/05/22

;--------------------------- Description ------------------------------------;

1. Update EC FW to 16Q2EMS1.105.

;****************************************************************************;

New BIOS : E16Q2IMS.107
ROM CheckSum : 0x529E
Release Date : 2018/04/13

;--------------------------- Description ------------------------------------;

1. Add Backslash / ALT (Right) Key Swap Function.

;****************************************************************************;

New BIOS : E16Q2IMS.105
ROM CheckSum : 0x8704
Release Date : 2018/04/11

;--------------------------- Description ------------------------------------;

First Release.

Guide by @Falkentyne to unlock your BIOS and get rid of limitations, etc... FOR VERYEXPERT USERS ONLY
(Please, read carefully warnings before eventually doing it!)

Spoiler: Falkentyne's BIOS UNLOCK GUIDE (WARNING!)

DO NOT BLAME ME IF YOU BRICK YOUR LAPTOP BY DOING THIS.
this is at your own risk!! EXPERIENCED USERS ONLY.

The purpose of this is to 1) bypass 45W TDP limit on your CPU permanently to avoid any power limit throttling, 2) disable MSI "overvolting" by setting core IA AC DC Loadline to "1".
THIS HAS BEEN TESTED BY SEVERAL PEOPLE SUCCESSFULLY ON GT75 TITAN. (same basic instructions work on the older "VR" series, but a different version of FPTW64 may be rquired). No one has tested this on GS65, but MSI uses the same bios structure in their laptops and same basic type of EC code so it should work.

Go ahead if you wish. Just keep in mind this unlock was only field tested with the GT75 Titan, so YMMV.

MSI "Dragon Center" installs HIDDEN CPU THROTTLING on the 6 core laptops (mainly, messing with the VR Current Limit and TDC limits, which normal users have no access to).
Even on the 4 core laptops, it still messes with the VR Current Limit setting (one user had to do a full CMOS clear before this option started even working even after removing Dragon Center).

MSI Silent Option just controls the fans. No bloatwares.

tl;dr: Dragon Center is garbage. Don't use it.
DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK.

==================

First, please uninstall Dragon Center.
Dragon Center adds hidden throttling options to your Bios that the normal end users has NO access to. if you want fan control, use "MSI Silent Option".
You can do EVERYTHING Dragon Center does, by using :

1) MSI Afterburner.
2) Throttlestop 8.60.
3) MSI Silent Option.
4) MSI SCM for hotkeys.

THERE IS ZERO REASON TO USE DRAGON CENTER. ZERO. ZERO. ZILCH. IT JUST THROTTLES YOUR LAPTOP.


Ok boys. at your own risk:

1) UNLOCK YOUR BIOS.
2) Set CPU power and performance->CPU VR Settings->Core I/A Domain ->IA AC / DC loadline, = 1
**THIS SETTING DISABLES MSI AUTOMATIC OVERVOLTING WHEN THE CPU IS AT HEAVY LOAD**. When setting this to "1", you must **NOT** undervolt your processor anymore!

3) Set VR Current Limit to 800 (this will prevent "EDP Other" or CPU Current throttling.
4) make sure TDC is DISABLED and value is set to 0. MSI Dragon center messes with this option behind your back.

5) brownie points: if you want to never, ever, ever, EVER EVER EVER reach "power Limit" throttling of 45W, set IMON SLOPE to 50, IMON OFFSET to 31999 and IMON OFFSET PREFIX TO NEGATIVE. Yes, negative. Then you can draw 100W of power and the CPU will only report about 35W. VERIFIED AND TESTED.

To unlock your bios follow the instructions here.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...-cmos-and-prevent-common-issues.812372/page-8

Get the INTEL CSME SYSTEM TOOLS V12.
https://www.win-raid.com/t596f39-Intel-Management-Engine-Drivers-Firmware-amp-System-Tools.html

For older GT73VR and GT75VR, v11 works, but if you get an ERROR on your GT75 Titan, that 'unsupported platform" with v11, use v12. IT WILL WORK.

Run FPTW64 as administrator: FPTW64.exe -d MSIcancerbiosbackup.com -bios
Download UEFITool and Universal IFR extractor from Paloesco's post I inked above.
Download RU from the website as the one paloesco had previously linked in his tools had BUGS which would cause your entire laptop to shut off on "UEFI Variables".

http://ruexe.blogspot.com/

Make a backup copy of your bios dump you made. Save it somewhere.

Download AMIBCP 5.0.2 from https://forums.tweaktown.com/gigaby...-info-benchmarking-stability-tools-print.html

somewhere over there. 5.0.2 works on the older VR series also so it is safe. Note: USING 5.0.1 will CORRUPT THE APTIO BIOS CAPSULE ON THE GT75 and GS65 series !!!

Now, first things first.
Run UEFITOOL on your bios backup that you made. Open image file click the backup you made.
Click FILE->SEARCH->Text Enter "Bios Lock" in the text search.

At the bottom you should see "bios lock found at pe32 something". double click that.
A menu tree will appear at the top with a PE32 field already highlighted. RIGHT CLICK THAT AND choose extract as is. Name it whatever, like "extractedfield.bin" or something.

Close UEFItool and open universal ifr extractor. open the file you just extracted. . the words UEFI should be in GREEN. If so, good. click extract. And save it as the suggested txt file name. Should be no errors.

Now open that new text file in windows notepad.
Edit->Find, search for BIOS LOCK
You should see it, then some HEXADECIMAL variable.
WRITE THIS VARIABLE DOWN ON PAPER. Example: 0x8AA. Ignore the part in brackets.

Now, follow paloesco's instructions on making a boot disk with RU
Once you make a flash drive boot disk with RU, you need to disable secure boot, boot to your disk and boot into RU.

In RU, you then need to follow the instructions shown by Paloesco and go to UEFI variables. And look for "setup."
there should be two. A small one and a large one. The small one is wrong. You want the large one.
Once you go to the large one you need to page down (i forgot if its control page down or not) through all the HEXADECIMAL OFFSETS on the left, until you get to the PROPER HEXADECIMAL OFFSET FOR BIOS LOCK.. Example: if yours was 0x8AA, then you would look for 08AA (leading zeros are basically placeholers.

Press enter on that hex offset and change the "01" there to a "00". Should be pictures and more info in paloesco's thread.
Click write value (forgot the key, might be control W). It will say its written successfully.

use the next menu to exit RU and restart your laptop.

Now:
Boot to windows, Open AMIBCP 5.0.2, open that bios backup you originally made with FPTW64. Click on Advanced and change everything that you want unhidden to "SUPERVISOR".
You also need to change each and every submenu and option that you want unhidden as well. Most boring thing you will ever do in your life.

DO NOT USE AMIBCP 5.0.1 on anything newer than the GT73VR (GT75VR "may" be safe for this also), YOU WILL CORRUPT THE BIOS CAPSULE !

Once that's done, save your settings, flash your bios capsule back with FPTW64.exe -f msicancerbiosbackup.bin -bios
Shut off the laptop, wait 10 seconds, power it on, go in your bios and have fun.

BETTER HAVE A SPI PROGRAMMER (SKYPRO RECOMMENDED) available to flash your bios chip if something goes wrong. The Bios chip is SPI Bus isolated, meaning it is SAFE to read and flash with a programmer, as long as AC power and battery connector are all DISCONNECTED.
Note that the thunderbolt 3 chip is NOT SPI ISOLATED. Doing a read on this without desoldering the chip can DAMAGE The chip.

On the MSI GT73VR, the bios chip is under MXM video card (crappy area, but at least there's no confusion.
On the GT75VR and GT75 Titan, the bios chip has been moved by the fan location for the GPU. There is ANOTHER CHIP next to the bios chip. And I do NOT know which chip is which! if someone here knows, please post--it will be helpful to some people.

This unlock method HAS BEEN ALREADY TESTED as working by another user here on his GT75 Titan.

Doing this on the GS65 stealth is UNTESTED. It SHOULD work, but it has only been confirmed on the Titan. Finding the actual correct bios chip will be harder than following instructions to unlock your bios menus.

@hackness guide: GET FULL CONTROL OF INTEL i7 8750H on MSI GS 65

@hackness repository: full official MSI BIOS list whit download links.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/index.php?posts/10877604

GS65 8RF BIOS

E16Q2IMS.10A
E16Q2IMS.10B
E16Q2IMS.10C
E16Q2IMS.10D
E16Q2IMS.10E
E16Q2IMS.10F
E16Q2IMS.105
E16Q2IMS.107
E16Q2IMS.110
E16Q2IMS.111

GS65 8RF EC

16Q2EMS1.103
16Q2EMS1.104
16Q2EMS1.105
16Q2EMS1.106
16Q2EMS1.107

EXAMPLE OF THERMAD PADS INSTALLATION

 

Just saw this review - https://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/msi-gs65-stealth-thin

 

PC World Magazine's preview

 

Where to buy:

HIDevolution


Specifications:

Display
15.6" FHD (1920*1080), 144Hz 7ms Wideview 72%NTSC Color Anti-Glare

MSI True Color Technology

Video Graphics & Memory

NVIDIA GeForce® GTX1060 w/ 6.0GB GDDR5
Processor Support and

Heat Management

Intel® 8th Generation Coffee Lake Core™ i7-8750H 6 Core - 12 Thread Processor, 2.6 GHz (Max Turbo Frequency 4.1 GHz), 9MB Smart Cache

Operating System Genuine Windows 10 Pro 64 bit
Chipset Mobile Intel® HM370
System Memory (RAM)
16GB DDR4/2400MHz System Memory (2 x 8GB) - 2 Memory Slots

Expandable to 32GB DDR4/2666MHz

Hard Drive
512GB M.2 PCIe SSD

Optional:

2x M.2 PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe SSDs, M.2 SATA III SSD

Optical Drive
None

Card Reader N/A
Video Camera Built-in 720p HD Webcam Web Camera
LAN/WLAN
Killer DoubleShot Pro - Killer Gaming Network E2500 + Intel 9560 Jefferson Peak (2*2 ac) w/ Bluetooth 5.0

Input/Output 1 x Thunderbolt 3
3 x USB 3.1 Gen2
1 x SPDIF (ESS Sabre HiFi)
1 x Microphone-in jack
1 x Microphone-out jack
1 x mini display port v 1.2
1 x RJ45 LAN - Killer E2500 Gigabit LAN
1 x HDMI v2.0
Audio
Nahimic 2
Dynaudio Speakers 2W*2
Audio Boost Amplifier 2.0

Keyboard and Touchpad Steel Series per-Key RGB with Anti-Ghost key (84 Key)
Click Pad
Battery 4 cells - 82Wh (Internal)
AC Adapter Output: 19.5 V 16.9 A DC, 180W Slim
Input:100~240 V AC, 50/60 Hz universal
Dimension & Weight
14.08"x 9.75"x 0.69" (W x D x H), 358 x 248 x 17.5 mm (W x D x H)
4.14lbs (1.88 Kg)

Security
Trusted Platform Module (TPM) - Intel ® PTT
Cable lock port

 

Looks like a great machine. No G-sync for now though. I wonder if the panel will get certified.

 

It's possible to enable g-sync even if at the beginning it's not available on the same machine?
In Italy, at the moment, there's only the 6RF version with 1070 max-Q available for pre-order (2399-2499€ depending by the shop; 3 years warranty limited offer)

 

No, there is no way to have G-Sync enabled on this model.

 

So, no possibility that they will certify for G-Sync this panel in a second time, allowing the MSI GS65 owners to use it?
I know that some Clevo machines were not "G-Sync" sponsored but they were G-Sync capable.
I don't know if G-Sync would be really a game changer on a 144 Hz 15" monitor, though.

Probably, Gigabyte position (about the new Aero 15 notebook that features a 144 Hz display as the GS65 - probably the same panel?) gives us the answer to this lack:
Source

• High-refresh, no G-sync panel: One decision that’s sure to elicit response is Gigabyte’s decision to jettison a 1080p, 60Hz MVA screen for a 1080p, 144Hz IPS display. The new screen isn’t based on Nvidia’s G-sync tech, which ties refresh to the GPU’s frame rate. Gigabyte’s rationale was to save battery life. While variable refresh rate technology delivers beautiful gameplay, it requires the GPU to be active at all times. Gigabyte instead uses Nvidia’s Optimus tech, which switches over to Intel’s low-power integrated graphics when you’re not gaming.

Again PC World says the same about GS65, but...

• While the GS63 came with a 1080p 60Hz screen and an option for a 4K panel, the GS65 features a 1080p 144Hz panel. The panel isn’t quite approved for G-sync, but MSI tells us it can support Nvidia’s variable refresh-rate technology. The screen on the GS65 also folds to 180 degrees and features a truly miniature webcam on the top bezel, an improvement over being located beneath the display.

 

@Skylake_ Gsync is one of the long standing sore points on this forum. Past MSI laptops were never advertised as supporting Gsync, and Gsync was not even mentioned on the MSI official website, yet was mentioned on SOME OEM's sales pages, and users found out that the laptops they received DID support Gsync, even when some companies claimed they did NOT support Gsync. That's completely MSI's fault for not being up front with the OEM. But the fault also rests with NGreedia as well: If MSI does not tell an OEM that their model supports Gsync, the OEM's hands are tied, because if they make MSI upset, MSI can cut the leash....you know exactly what I mean...

1) Some panels are released before they are certified for Gsync.
2) Ngreedia will not allow a panel to be Gsync certified unless their license fees are paid to them for whitelisting the panel first. Gotta keep them shareholders happy and well fed !
3) Panel certification requires the panel itself being whitelisted in the system Bios for Gsync, and a Gsync enabled video card (via PCI ID) and video bios.
4) Gsync cannot work on systems using Optimus techology, without a way to physically disable the intel iGPU from being active.(e.g. a hardware Mux switch or Bios muxless GPU switch option).

MSI has released Bioses for systems which only use the dGPU (or which allow the iGPU to be completely disabled) to enable Gsync when it was disabled at initial release of the laptop.

That's pretty much the history.
So if your laptop does NOT have hybrid graphics/optimus technology (where the iGPU and dGPU are used at the same time together), then there is a chance that Gsync may become available later. And take that with a huge grain of salt.