MSI TITAN 18 HX A14V - DISASSEMBLY AND UPGRADE OPTIONS

[@BillyONeal]

Thanks!

[@MakaiTechReviews]

Will check everything you asked and come back to you shortly. (Currently at work). And thanks for your support.

[@BillyONeal]

@@MakaiTechReviews thanks! No rush on my part; if you don't have things handy anymore don't worry about it.

[@MakaiTechReviews]

​@@BillyONeal Created a short video for you about the keyboard sounds: kzbin.infoyDD10pG9aqk It looks like anything smaller than the regular "text" keys are not mechanical. Which means numeric pad / arrow keys, and special letters. Those which are exactly the same size or bigger than the regular text keys are mechanical. I think the reason behind this is simply physical size limitation, as you cannot fit a proper mechanical switch underneath such small spaces.

[@ImHokoo]

I ordered one of these bad boys on 9nth, sucks gotta wait until mid to late February for release/delivery

[@stefos6431]

Which company did you order this from please? We're you able to finance it?

[@ihorlysiuk]

hello could you upload video how to open the display and back cover ? thank you

[@ali-topuz]

Hello, is its case aluminum? because in some places it is said to have a metal case. But on their website it says plastic.!!!

[@MakaiTechReviews]

The back of display is aluminum for sure, the keyboard part is questionable I think it is a mix. Next to the keyboard feels metallic, but around the ports more like plastic. As of the bottom it feels and looks like plastic.

[@ali-topuz]

@@MakaiTechReviews thanks dude

[@mkgriff1492]

That's a lot of thermal putty. Did you replace it, and what did you use?

[@brettweltz8135]

lol that is a good amount form assembly. But only 1/5 as much as I use on my laptop. basically where the copper covers, I used thermal putty. XD

[@crazyelf1]

It seems like MSI has continued its tradition of lots of upgrades. There's 3 SSD slots, the Wi-Fi card, and 4 DIMM slots. For a laptop, the cooling looks as extensive as usual for the Titan series, which have always had the best cooling for laptops. How good is the 4k 120Hz Mini-LED display? On paper it looks like an amazing display for gaming and everything else that the end user might want to do. This will probably be the most powerful laptop for 2024 that you can buy,, unless there are AMD Zen 5 based laptops and Nvidia releases the 5000 series of GPUs (which may not hit until 2025).

[@peterhsu987]

Wow, 3 SSD slots, all M.2? And is this the same across the 18HX series? Thanks!

[@pieproducer]

i got one of these,14900hx 4090,gotta say im having trouble with it.the pcie bandwidth restricts the 4090 to x8,thats basically pcie3 graphics speed.the wifi card is naff,im wondering if its because of the metal casing,i mean ive tried everything driver/software related and i cant connect to 6ghz at all and 5ghz is maxing out at 100mbs,it should be around 350.getting the memory to run at advertised speeds means going into the secret bios and changes lots of settings which seems to work at 5600 but results in some kind of memory training everytime u swiitch it on and a really slow start up.i only have 2 modules installed and cpuz is report its in quad channel and i cant work out which 2 slots out of the 4 should be populated for dual channel,its usually 1 and 3 or 2 and 4 on a normal pc motherboard,i cant find any info on this.all the bloatware u have to install to use this laptops features is just ridiculous ie steelseries GG software for the rgb stuff,msi centre etc.to switch this laptop to performance mode u have to have msi centre installed and reboot to turn off the igpu which is annoying.the screen is nice but theirs no gsync.Theirs no really information on what slots are where,like which of the m2 slots are pcie4 and which one is pcie5 and to top it off the laptop hasnt got anywhere near enough juice to power a 14900hx and 4090.All in all i dont recommend this laptop.its nowhere near as good people on youtube who have reviewed this laptop suggest.its filled with restrictions and compromise,i guess the reviews have been sent their devices for free so essentially they will never say anything bad about them else they will not get follow up gear in future.moral of the story,dont trust independent youtube tech reviewers,period.If anyone has any tips on anything i have just mentioned id be happy to hear from u.

[@jadynsyu9506]

I don't understand why they don't add more vram on the high end laptops it clearly has more room for 2 extra vram module, could have been a 24gb vram version instead for 16 gb

[@MakaiTechReviews]

I guess simply cost is the main factor.

[@12pure]

@@MakaiTechReviews Yeah but they could give the option to high-end laptops, think 4 DIMM slots and all those PCI-e connectors sure it's a high cost but it's dedicated for best laptops. There's a room for more CUDA cores, 200W of TGP and 24GB of VRAM if NVIDIA wanted to. Intel did it with the HX lineup, 14900HX is actually a binned lower TDP of 14900K because everything else in silicon is identical.

[@TestingSuff]

Cost and extra power draw thats better spent on higher clocks.

[@The_Mep_Moppper]

@@MakaiTechReviewsIt is $5,000

[@niebuhr6197]

The reason is EXTREMELY simple: the gpu chip only has 8 memory controllers, that's it.

[@leonardonkwocha1132]

Thanks for the tutorial. Can you pls post a detailed tutorial on how to disable raid 0 array on the titan 18 hx? If possible without loosing data. For those of us that would rather have two separate independent ssds. Thanks again

[@brett8556]

You would need a separate drive to copy the Windows to, I personally use a Type C to NVME enclosure that can read/write at 1,000MB/s. Then just google a windows cloning software and make the swap. After breaking the Raid 0 array you would have to format the 2 drives and copy windows back onto one of them.

[@bhargan]

Very helpful. I have 128gb RAM also per the specs of the MSI unit I purchased, but why when I see the specs in widows and cpuz it shows 128GB DDR5-3200?

[@MakaiTechReviews]

could it be it is using the default BIOS settings? Maybe you should check and activate XMP profile?

[@gmarte82m]

Hello :) Thanks for your detailed video!! One question: If they have to replace the chassis because on the keyboard side is bulged, it is possible to remove all the motherboard block and place in a new chassis? Or is all merged with the chassis? Already, Thank you!

[@zechssiguro7476]

You have me wondering a few things... 1) IF..Since chassis is same can 1 buy&put the Titan motherboard chassis in a Raider18? 2) IF. The motherboard can be replaced, with this Intel i9 mobile 14th gen chip fiasco, & MSI releasing Titan A18 Pro AMD laptops in Taiwan & China India,( so far unfortunately NOT America..not yet) ..is it possible to buy. Titan pro AMD Ryzen motherboard online...& Put it in a Raider 18HX...just tweak bios... -"Whatever it takes?!?"- to avoid , blue screens of DEATH, oxidation permanent Damage, & prolly more expensive RMA bk&frths sticking with Intel warranty & most possible rejection... Just thought...as an Raider18HX owner..who hasn't even opened the box, due to complete lack of detailed reviews...sigh

[@stewartmontgomery7089]

I Bought one on launch, 32GB version... Which is the GEN 5 NVME slot? Already stuck in a 64GB RAM kit :)

[@RandomJHK]

I took off all the screws but cant pry the back cover off. I'm afraid to break it.

[@BillyONeal]

1. Are all the keys Cherry switches or are the small ones and numberpad not (like on the GT77)? 2. Does this have the "force integrated graphics" option in MSI center or similar? (I've had issues after being plugged into external displays where the dGPU does not want to turn off after unplug and such an option would have been nice to avoid needing to reboot the thing....) Thank you Very Much for this teardown video... I had no idea the shield covering the DIMMs could be safely removed!

[@MakaiTechReviews]

Created a short video for you about the keyboard sounds: kzbin.infoyDD10pG9aqk It looks like anything smaller than the regular "text" keys are not mechanical. Which means numeric pad / arrow keys, and special letters. Those which are exactly the same size or bigger than the regular text keys are mechanical. I think the reason behind this is simply physical size limitation, as you cannot fit a proper mechanical switch underneath such small spaces. Will also check the GPU part, but don't think it can be totally turned off.

[@BillyONeal]

@@MakaiTechReviews Thank you! It's a shame that they didn't fix ~ but looks like more of the keys use the nice switches than the GT77. Thanks again!

[@MakaiTechReviews]

@@BillyONeal Btw, MSI center support 3 modes, dGPU/Hybrid and iGPU only, the 3rd one can force to use integrated graphics only.

[@BillyONeal]

@@MakaiTechReviews Awesome, thanks!

[@gaosteve7088]

how to overclock or offset

[@kingjez2903]

looks like on CPU and GPU a pad named PTM 7950 ? :D or what they use for? :D

[@wilpang20]

Is there a difference between SK Hynix 95N vs 92N?

[@ozcaks8888]

When MSI will give up that annoying back cover ? SInce 2021 all models using similar type cover and very difficult to take it out or put back in and every time those tiny clips that hold the cover crumbling

[@MartinDlabaja]

Do you know how to plug/ unplug audio to interlan speakers?

[@Mr.X.official.]

Чел ты просто крут, молодец что таким занимаешься и записываешь на видео. От души! Интересно смогу ли дополнительно 3 монитора 4к подключить ?

[@7TechReviews]

Where is the remaining slot for the 4 ssd slot

[@nicuje8771]

i dint know the gt18 titan still use ...termal paste. mine is gt77 titan so i need to change my termal paste i have more than 2 years

[@konstantinavalentina3850]

I look on MSI site and then go to PURCHASE for Titan 18 HX and places where Titan 18 HX have options for 192GB DDR5 5600 RAM. Your disassembly only shows 4 slots for ram up to 128GB. Is there another ram slot hiding under keyboard? I ask because I had ASUS laptop with easy RAM slots on bottom, but then also hidden RAM slots under Keyboard. MSI is not ASUS, but they might do something similar?

[@MakaiTechReviews]

Ehm, no actually there are only 4 slots. What I think is MSI use these new funky weird Crucial 96GB kits available right now. (2x 2x48GB kits - CT2K48G56C46S5) Updated the description links with them.

[@konstantinavalentina3850]

@@MakaiTechReviews - Thank you very much for explaining this. I also have question about how deep the storage bays are? will a Seagate Firecuda 530 4TB with HEATSINK fit? ... or only without Seagate heatsink and thermal pads will need to be used instead? I always replace Harddrives with Seagate since Seagate has best reliability in my experience, and if I can replace RAM with G-Skill I always use G-Skill because G-Skill have lifetime warranty. These are more expensive than other options, but usually last longer, have less problems and less failures. :) G-Skill does not make the strange 2x48 GB RAM so I think I will be happy with 128GB of G-Skill. :)

[@zechssiguro7476]

I wonder myself too. Is it a 4TB SSD Seagate that you are talking about? That would be interesting to know if thye make & of ot aould fot, PCIE etc.

[@konstantinavalentina3850]

@@zechssiguro7476 - the 4TB Seagate Firecuda 530 without heatsink will fit without any doubt, but there is version that comes with a heatsink. I wonder if that heatsink is too big to fit, or if it will work? There are also other 3rd party low profile heatsinks and heat pads that can be used instead if the heatsink that come with the firecuda 530 heatsink version. There is not any real difference in price for one with heatsink and one without heatsink, and the one with heatsink can have heatsink removed if it does not fit, but, it will still be nice to know if stock Seagate heatsink will fit instead of ordering one, and finding it does not, and then having to wait for other 3rd party heatsinks after ordering.

[@BillyONeal]

​@@konstantinavalentina3850construction looks similar to my GT77 (the 12th gen Titan) and double sided drives fit but heatsinks are unlikely to. It looks like they did a better job ventilating by the memory and storage vs. mine; I did have drives angry at me if pushing them :).

[@stefos6431]

Can the graphics card be upgraded from 4080 to 4090 on the Titan 18hx?

[@ihorlysiuk]

its very difficult , and probably brick motherboard sometimes , you can replacement laptop to rtx4090

[@Guttalaser]

I'll use it just only like a desktop replacement but i don't want the battery charging forever. Will it works removing the battery? (i mean with the charger only)

[@MakaiTechReviews]

You can use the laptop without the battery.

[@Guttalaser]

@@MakaiTechReviews tnx man!

[@alirezashakouri1569]

Can we use 3 SSDs with a capacity of 4 TB? A total of 12 terabytes

[@MakaiTechReviews]

Yes you can.

[@g1981c]

great cooling system but the glass area around touch pad is dumb. why add extra weight to a mobile device? and the RGB lighting of touch pad is pointless. could have been a great workstation but they made it too gamery.

[@MakaiTechReviews]

Well I think they "had to" add the lighting to the touchpad, otherwise, it can be difficult to actually find the touchpad barrier in the dark. Obviously a simply painted marking would be enough, but they rather picked this route.

[@moecharms]

Yea probably because it is quite literally a gaming laptop.

[@NatanaelComan]

CreatorPro X18 HX A14VMG is the workstation version of this model.

[@mohammadrafsanjani4879]

That was expensive...

[@MakaiTechReviews]

Anything for the audience! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@Starfall_ultra]

can you put thick ssds like t705 with heatsink?

[@briglittledragon8850]

I have the same question

[@LowSkillGamerYT]

I think the T705 definitely won't fit, but I don't know about other models with smaller heatsinks. I'm also interested in this question. if you know the answer, please share it.

[@nedbazzvictoria6948]

I have the same question. p.

[@IndianWojakk]

Thats one fully loaded laptop compared to my GL503ge 😅

[@IndianWojakk]

But hats off to brave souls of laptop industry, In future around 100 years from now gpu cpu and motherboard will come in one IC lol

[@elbicho0073]

Can the gpu be upgraded?

[@samfra3439]

no, you can't change gpu or cpu on a laptop, they are soldered to the motherboard

[@Mido_]

I looked at your videos and I noticed you only disassemble MSI laptops. Why?

[@สุกิตกานนท์]

สิ่งที่น่าเป็นห่วงคือฐานยึดแกนบานพับจอมีน๊อตแค่ 2 ตัว

[@Mido_]

@@สุกิตกานนท์ też mogę pierdolić w języku, którego nie zrozumiesz, ale po co? Jesteśmy w internecie, używaj angielskiego.

[@megusta6848]

To much repaste work, like old laptops, titan 77 have only paste on cpu and gpu and other thermal pads.

[@keepitorleaveit]

problaby too resky

[@salak750]

4x16gb ram is just insult. Should be 4x32gb ram. This is high high high end laptop,no beyond.My 4060 laptop has 64gbram

[@MakaiTechReviews]

4x48GB in that case.

[@keepitorleaveit]

but i got the best laptop ever😃

[@stefos6431]

How can anyone afford this? My Alienware M17 cost me $3200...

[@BillyONeal]

Sometimes that's just what the workload requires

[@oppaimon9834]

idk but MSI fan look like low quality

[@G-Dimension]

Why does it look so childish and cheap from bottom?

[@Thecreaker1]

That’s what I wonder

[@moecharms]

Looks really cool to me. (Sometime who owns one and can actually afford it)

[@สุกิตกานนท์]

แกนบานพับจอมีความแข็งแรงหรือไม่ครับ ทำไมมีสกรูยึดแต่สองตัว