MSI GS65 Teardown and SSD upgrade Hey Guys, this is my first Video, So kindly bear with the video quality. Hope this helps. Leave a comment if you like.
Just finished. Took just about an hour going slowly. Thanks for the video it definitely gave me some confidence while I took all those screws out. So many ribbon cables....
Confirmed switching the 860 EVO to Slot 1 and your Factory memory to slot 2 works without having to change anything in Bios thanks for a great video as I had to take it apart 2 times as I didn't know the 2nd slot only takes NVME SSDs and it was very easy to do following your video closely very much appreciated.
Man brand new msi stealth downloaded steam was like crap not enough space for all my games, upgrading it in the first hour of owning the laptop, I was so nervous!
@@BarrettKillz Specification says yes, it does. I have one p65 8e, but haven't opened it yet. www.msi.com/Laptop/P65-CREATOR-8RX/Specification. But I think the second slot only accepts NVME SSD, not SATA. See Daniel Rivera comment below.
Nice instruction, this is the only video shows the reassemble process, I really appreciate that, keep it up man. And screw those tiny m.2 screws haha :)
Thank you very much for this video! You gave me the courage to open up my gs65 and do the ssd upgrade. At first I thought it wasn't working but then realize my laptop is out of juice. :)) thanks again mate and cheers!
@@lukss12p so I can buy (WD Blue SN550 1TB High-performance M.2 Pcie NVMe SSD) and put it in the second slot and it will be fine right? Sorry really clueless with these
45minute, accomplished. ty vmvmvm :) most nerve wracking moment for me? turning the computer on. apparently it goes through a initialization process anytime you dig in to it to this extent. watching it not make it past the msi logo 4 times was... hell lol. good to go and folks dont forget once you do this and get to windows type disk management in to the search bar and go with first result. and then just keep hitting next. it'll set up, format and assign a letter / label.
ty for this video! actually feel better about the upcoming ssd addition now, this is within my capabilities. question : ive heard of folks adding 'thermal pads' and figured while the motherboard is out, upgrading the cooling would be a stupid thing to not do. you wouldn't happen to have suggestions for where to put the pads or a video on this subject would you?
god i just had to do that shit just now too. i didnt want to remove the block that prevents you from unplugging the battery cable, which is what i think you did. i had to take out everything else, lift the motherboard enough so i could wiggle it out. took 4 hours because i was really afraid of breaking this damn thing, but it boots, nothing seems broken, and my nvme ssd is working. thanks for the video with the 1.1 version of the mobo
Did the laptop have both RAM slots taken already? I was hoping to buy 1 16BG stick to get to 32GB. If it comes stock with 2x8GB sticks already installed Ill need to buy 2x16GB sticks. Also, great video. P.S. I have the P65 Creator.
Mine had 2 8GB RAMS installed, I dont know if the P65 has single or 2 RAMS. But i know GS65 has 32gig config as well, so should support two 16 GB RAMS.
The part at 1:53 has me nervous. That yellow tape and small wires looks annoying. Other than that I'd be more nervous about ESD. I'll be upgrading mine eventually. 512GB ain't enough. I can deal with 16GBs of ram but I'd probably just upgrade it too since I'd have it open.
I am absolutely terrified to attempt this but all of the positive comments make it seem like a breeze. The only experience I have with this sort of think was building a desktop PC a few years back but this seems much more intense.
The laptops internal wiring is bit fragile and needs to be done carefully when upgrading. Trying to use force will damage, but if you are careful you should be good.
@@sidstechworld7890 I appreciate the reply and the word of advice. I definitely feel comfortable enough that I don't think I'll break anything by force. My fear is that I'll forget to plug something back up or be unable to get it back together but I guess that's what your video is for. I wanted to ask you, do you recommend doing the thermal repaste for these PCs? I have the newer version with the RTX 2060 so I don't know if people are still repasting them or just last year's model. If I am going to do it though I would imagine I should do it at the same time as this.
@@SmokeAndGnomes Well I dont know if the layout for RTX 2060 ones are same as previous gen laptop, but as far as i know applying new thermal paste would require you to remove the heat sink and re attach it, this one I am not sure if it will complicate the process. If you current heat levels are decent, i dont recommend applying new paste. My GS65 does heat up quite a bit (a known thing) after prolonged use, but I am okay with it, more over mine is GTX 1070 max . I heard RTX 1060 are much cooler than 1070's. So in summary I am not the right guy for suggestion in this regard.
What was your total time start to finish for the job? How was taking off the lid? any surprises you encountered after removing all screws? good work tho for sure man
Took me 2+ hrs to finish, since i was also filming it. No surprise, removing Lid was easy, just need to be careful with pulling the motherboard and cables out, since they are bit delicate.
Not that hard. Did it today to place an extra Samsung 980 500GB SSD next to the 256GB Western Digital unit that was stock. Enjoying this notebook for more than 2 years now, it's still great. Note; one of the two M.2 slots does NOT support NVME.
Do you know if that's the slot configuration for MSI P65 also? (Nvme/Sata slot with HD and NVMe-only empty slot) (well it doesn't matter any more, i'll buy a nvme anyway)
Hi, may I know which SSD below do you recommend for MSI GS65(If budget is not a problem)? Samsung 970 Pro NVMe M.2 Samsung 970 Evo Plus NVMe M.2 Samsung 970 Evo NVMe M.2 Can these SSD fit the second slot as well?
Buy based on read-write speed, in real world you might not notice the speed that much. but Evo plus seems to have 3200 mb/Sec write speed, so in that way Evo plus should be better than other two SSD's. But I am not really an expert at it. your call.
@@sidstechworld7890 I'm not sure what you mean in your response. Can you put a SATA in the second slot where you put an NVME in this video? I want to add a terabyte but I don't need NVME and don't want to pay the price. Your comment says only 1 slot is m2 SSD compatible... but they are both m2 SSD compatible. Please let me know as I'm getting ready to order my m.2 SATA to put in!
M.2 drive only describes a form factor of a peripheral. You can find WiFi modules using M.2 slots. M.2 drive can use SATA or PCIe. On these machines specifically, you have 2 M.2 SSD slots, one is a NVMe PCIe Gen3, the other a combo NVMe PCIe Gen3/SATA. I assume the one in use is the latter, so the free one is the non-SATA NVMe PCIe Gen3. Basically the first is retro-compatible with previous SATA SSD models, the free one uses only the newer PCIe GEN3 data bus.
hello! just randomly watching this video, many months back, i replaced the fan on my msi looking at one of the other tutorials, but since then or maybe before it, the speakers of my laptop dont work anymore. not sure maybe i didnt plug it in or what happened. since i dont use speakers much. any ideas what i can do to diagnose it?
the bottom two screws on the back end of the laptop are really hard to unscrew for some reason, anyone else have this problem? I tried opening up my laptop and got every screw except for those last two out, I screwed it out halfway and put it back in because im afraid something is wrong. I need to take the bottom off to check my fan because it is making pretty loud and odd noises
@@sidstechworld7890 the screw is struck. ordered a new screwdriver, so maybe that one will work. none of mine worked on it so far, even though they did work on the other screws.
I have a new msi gs65 thin 8re, and i want to add 970 evo same as in your vid. It is my first time to upgrade such thing and I get so afraid. Question is if I managed to put it in the empty slot and assemble it back up. Is it done? like, do I have to do some work when I boot it up?
Thanks for you guidance. Could you assist with one issue? I've installed NVMe M2 drive 1 tb corsair into slot 2. I can see it throught device manager, however there is nothing in Disck manager and also in the File explorer.
Good morning mate. The same equipment. I am looking to install an xd x SX8200 Pro m.2 2280 PCIe Gen 3x4 SSD. But when installed in the second slot does not enter windows 10, and if you put in slot 01 also does not enter, it is locked in the home screen of the MSI notebook. What could I do? Bom dia amigo. estou com esse mesmo equipamento. Estou querendo instalar um m2 xpg sx8200 Pro m.2 2280 PCIe Gen 3x4 SSD. Porem quando instalo no segundo slot não entra no windows 10, e se coloco ele no slot 01 também não entra, fica trancado na tela inicial do notebook MSI. O que poderia fazer?
Only 1 slot supports M2 SSD, also for the drive to work, once you install it you need to format the drive and clone your OS else your OS wont work. Ensure you have your stock SSD in the laptop before adding another one. also if you have 2 M2 SSD they wont work, both the slots accept Nvme, but only Slot 1 accepts M2 SSD.
I've actually been troubleshooting the same issue with a crucial 1tb NVME. After returning one of these laptops and two drives and a couple of calls to MSI support, I believe the laptop only supports certain models of m.2 drives. I think the best bet is to stick with the Samsung brand. I have taken apart this laptop 10 different times, tried to different placement of the ssds and moving the RAM around and still have lockups and driver errors on the NVME port itself with the drive I purchased. Will be returning and spending the extra on the Samsung 970. Hope this helps.
So easy question, if i buy another m2 nvme like samsung 970 evo. Can i just swap this into slot 2? or can only 1 drive be in at a time? then why 2 slots? Also what speed does the OEM one work with?
It looks way too complicated, but if you in past have done simple upgrades, then this should not be that difficult. But proceed with caution, these parts are delicate.
HI. Nice video. i have a msi GS65 -gtx 1060. i want to buy same HDD, and put in slot 2. after installing the HDD in slot 2, the laptop will just boot as normal and register the new HDD or require more installations on the laptop? is it like "plug N play" :)
thanks. installed a 512gb 970 pro on mine and made it a dedicated game drive. did not bother transferring my OS from the stock 512 NVME that came with my 8RF. @@sidstechworld7890
How much of a difference did it make in terms of fps and loading s. Speed (your games and OS being in different ssd s) and did you had to do anything with bios after installing the new ssd
does this void your warranty since the factory seal is broken? Edit: I just did mine, and it was easy thanks to your video. I have been tearing down machines for 5+ years so I have no doubt I would have figured it out, but your video helped out. I recommend it for anyone who needs guidance
I called MSI directly and asked. They informed me that in North America they are not legally allowed to void your warranty over an upgrade and would not try to unless whatever you're attempting to get warrantied was clearly due to you damaging when you upgraded. As long as you don't tear anything up your warranty will be just fine.
Can I replace the stock SSD with one of those 970 EVOs as well? I want to put two of those in at 1 TB each and reinstall Win10 in RAID 0 to get 2 TB total storage.
you should be able to swap both SSD's, as far as i remember both slots will take Nvme, you can either clone the OS and then swap SSD's or do a fresh install. either was should work.
Sids Tech World Sorry... I meant 860 EVO m2 2280 , it is not nvme and not sure if it would be compatible. I wanted to install it as a second m2 drive...
Hey I recently did this upgrade and everything works except that the display has no signal. It turns on and I've connected to an external display and the PC works fine
after adding to the existing 256 with a 512 it sees the card but when I try to download a game it still tells me I do not have enough memory. just like before the addition...any help would be appreciated. atlanta
Did you try formatting the new disk or try creating partition. Since the Disk is new, it might be unformatted memory. Try going to disk management and see if the data is available or unformatted.
I buy for my MSI GS65 the samsung 970 evo 500gb ssd PCIe NVMe M.2 and put it on the empty slot #2 but it's not recognized. I dont know if 970 pro 512 gb will work or what would be the most recommended/compatible SSD?
If you replaced the existing one, then you need to install OS completely new, else if you just added new SSD then check in BIOS if both the SSD's are showing up and which SSD is set as boot drive.
@@sidstechworld7890 Hi , thanks for info. The thing is i cant even go to the bios, i have no screen and no battery indicator but i ccan hear fan starting slowly then speeding up and staying in same speed untill i turn it off. I tried to replace the old ssd, now the battery light turns on, im pretty sure battery is working, the only thing im afraid of that i broke the cable or something :( is there any option left for me at this point ? sorry about asking too many questions i really need help, guess i have to take to msi repair center tomorrow hope i didnt destroy the motherboard
@@AliPAioubi Did you check if all the cables are connected. did you check if the display cable is connected, Its really small one that you could have missed. the cable is at 2:35 in the video. Let me know if it helps.
I moved the stock 512ssd to slot 2 and the new 970 evo plus on slot 1, booted on bios and the stock one is no longer detected :( any help? I have the gtx1070 model from 2018 halp me pls...
Second slot supports only nvme and not M2 SSD. Slot 1 supports both Nvme and M2. Thats why your PC is not detecting stock 512 GB SSD, because its a M2 SSD drive and not Nvme.
bro what is the original ssd provided with the laptop ? is it nvme? if yes can i move it to the second slot and purchase a normal bigger m.2 ssd for the first slot? i need a cost effective solution for this
MSI GS65 has many sub models, So its hard to say if the one you have is Nvme or M2. The one in my laptop was M2 SSD. check your complete model no and see on MSI website for correct details.
Yes it does. They say opening up your laptop voids warranty. There is a factory seal sticker on top of one of the screws if that tears then warranty is void.
Hi. So, I want to add a Samsung 860 EVO on mine, but as you may know, it's not NVMe. Therefore, I may need to replace the original SSD with the 860 EVO and move it to the empty slot. My question is, if I do so, can my laptop boot after that? Thanks in advance
Unfortunately this laptop doesn't support 860, this doesn't have 2.5" bay for hard disk. it can only take M2 2280 format. SSD Slot 1 can use both M2 and Nvme, SSD slot can do only Nvme.
@@sidstechworld7890 Oh, I mean it's the V-NAND SSD 860 EVO SATA M2 one. It can only be placed on the 1st slot, yes? And as in my product description, it said that on the first slot they put 512 GB NVMe, therefore I can replace it to the second slot, and put my additional 860 on the first slot in exchange. Can it still boot after that, considering the boot drive has been switched slot?
@@クレスナ-v9i Generally if you change the boot drive in your BIOS then the system should be able to automatically detect the OS and boot up, But having said that since i did not try that I am not sure, I am not 100% sure about it. Also the default drive I had in laptop has 512GB regular M2 and not Nvme.
The process should be same as long as it has same mother board. My laptop was purchased from bestbuy.Also as far as i know most of them.should have 2 slots.
Dont need any thermal pad, when i upgraded mine i did not add anything and have been using it for few months no issues. Plus i dont see any space for adding thermal pad either.
@@sidstechworld7890 clarification on this please. you say only one accepts nvme. but the factory ssd in this laptop is listed as nvme and you just added a second one
There are multiple options of GS65, so few come with Nvme and few with normal M2 SSD. Mine was brought from bestbuy, which came with 512GB M2 SSD, so i added Nvme.
The GS75 is actually easier. You can replace or add an m.2 without removing the motherboard as far as I have read. I considered that one but I really didn't want a 17" screen.
No i did not. Since i just added new ssd dint need to reinstall. If you remove the existing one and replace it with new than you willnhave to reinstall OS.
@@sabreflash6489 I added additional Nvme drive, my laptop has both 1tb NVME (which i added) and 512GB (M2 drive that came with laptop.) I cloned the OS from M2 to NVME.
By law Few states in US does allow upgrades and let you keep the warranty, But in this case since its a complete over haul sort thing, could void warranty.