{"video_id":"s2334eeA9Zs","title":"Two GTX 980s in a trashcan!? - MSI Vortex G65 Review","channel":"Linus Tech Tips","show":"Linus Tech Tips","published_at":"2016-05-06T14:53:29Z","duration_s":633,"segments":[{"start_s":0.16,"end_s":7.04,"text":"the 6 and a half liter SLI equipped Core","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":3.64,"end_s":10.48,"text":"i7 cylindershaped PC that MSI first","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":7.04,"end_s":12.48,"text":"showed off at CES 2016 refusing to allow","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":10.48,"end_s":18.88,"text":"me to see the insides apparently for fear that I would break it which is fair","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":14.719,"end_s":21.119,"text":"I suppose is shipping now. So, after all","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":18.88,"end_s":27.199,"text":"the waiting, then I have finally got my hands on a finished unit of the MSI","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":23.519,"end_s":30.96,"text":"Vortex G65 to validate their claims that","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":27.199,"end_s":33.76,"text":"it is fast, small, and quiet while","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":30.96,"end_s":44.8,"text":"looking, in my eyes, pretty freaking cool. Let's get down to it.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":44.8,"end_s":51.44,"text":"Glasswire is the intuitive, easy-touse firewall software that reveals and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":49.12,"end_s":56.76,"text":"visualizes your network traffic in real time. Get it free now and use offer code","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":53.84,"end_s":61.359,"text":"Linus to upgrade and save 10% for added features. Things got off to a good start","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":59.44,"end_s":66.0,"text":"when I first booted Windows and was greeted by a product registration and a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":64.0,"end_s":70.479,"text":"prompt to download and install Google Chrome. A nice touch, by the way, to not","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":68.32,"end_s":77.84,"text":"even pre-install your bloatware, making it truly optional. Then took a turn down","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":74.56,"end_s":80.4,"text":"Poostick Avenue with a gigantic Norton","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":77.84,"end_s":85.52,"text":"registration popup. Let's see what else is on here. Some of this stuff is okay.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":83.439,"end_s":91.68,"text":"After burner for overclocking the video card, their Nhemic DSP utility, and the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":89.04,"end_s":97.4,"text":"one-year expl. But battery calibration doesn't","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":94.88,"end_s":101.52,"text":"have a battery. MSI social media collection. The help desk seemed like a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":100.0,"end_s":106.0,"text":"good idea, but most of what's in here feels even less useful than in Windows's","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":103.68,"end_s":111.2,"text":"own help tools. Let's move on to hardware. Things get a lot more","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":108.159,"end_s":114.96,"text":"impressive here. Measuring a mere 10 1/2","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":111.2,"end_s":118.399,"text":"in tall and about 7 1/2 in in diameter.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":114.96,"end_s":122.079,"text":"The entire computer is not that much","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":118.399,"end_s":126.32,"text":"bigger than a single GTX 980 reference","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":122.079,"end_s":128.72,"text":"card. And it's got two GTX 980s inside.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":126.32,"end_s":133.08,"text":"Not to mention, it has something the 980 never had: RGB lighting. I guess that","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":131.599,"end_s":138.16,"text":"explains the $4,000 asking price. In terms of IO,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":136.4,"end_s":143.44,"text":"there's nothing at the front but a power button, but I don't really mind that","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":140.48,"end_s":147.52,"text":"given how easy the system is to reach around to the back for a fairly easy","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":145.52,"end_s":151.52,"text":"access to most of the ample connectivity. Starting at the top is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":149.52,"end_s":156.56,"text":"optical audio. 3 and a half millimeter audio jacks for speakers and a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":152.8,"end_s":159.599,"text":"microphone. Four USB 3.0 5 GB typeA","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":156.56,"end_s":162.4,"text":"ports. Two HDMI 1.4 ports. Wouldn't have","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":159.599,"end_s":167.48,"text":"minded if those were HDMI 2.0. 2 GB LAN ports powered by killer networks. Two","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":164.959,"end_s":174.879,"text":"mini DisplayPort 1.2 ports. And finally, two reversible type-C USB ports","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":171.36,"end_s":177.92,"text":"that can handle USB 3, DisplayPort 1.2,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":174.879,"end_s":180.56,"text":"or even Thunderbolt 3 duty. Let's move","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":177.92,"end_s":185.519,"text":"inside. There are actually two different configurations on the MSIUS site at the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":183.36,"end_s":190.72,"text":"time of writing this, but the only way in which they differ is the installed","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":187.84,"end_s":196.959,"text":"system memory and graphics card setup. So, they both pack an Intel Core i76700","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":194.04,"end_s":203.04,"text":"Kylake quadcore hyperthreaded CPU with a maximum 4.4 4 GHz turbo boost speed and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":200.48,"end_s":208.64,"text":"assumed upgradability to the upcoming codeame KBL Lake architecture thanks to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":205.76,"end_s":213.28,"text":"a socketed CPU design. They both feature a Z170 chipset motherboard that's been","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":210.959,"end_s":218.239,"text":"fully customized to fit in this unusual form factor and provide all the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":215.44,"end_s":224.48,"text":"necessary internal connectivity. Two MXM video card slots for the GPUs. A mini","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":220.56,"end_s":226.959,"text":"PCIe for the Killer N 1535 AC wireless.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":224.48,"end_s":234.239,"text":"This is an MU MIMO capable Wave 2 device, by the way. Two M.2 PCIe X4 Gen","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":231.2,"end_s":236.159,"text":"3 slots for the 2x128 gig RAID zero boot","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":234.239,"end_s":240.4,"text":"drive configuration or whatever you want to put in there after the fact. A SATA 3","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":238.319,"end_s":246.92,"text":"port for the 1 TB 2 and 1/2 in hard drive and customized power connectors","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":243.04,"end_s":249.76,"text":"for the 450W 80 plus gold chicky power","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":246.92,"end_s":254.879,"text":"supply. So then as far as differences are concerned, the lower-end model","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":251.76,"end_s":259.359,"text":"features 16 gigs of DDR4. sodium memory","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":254.879,"end_s":263.04,"text":"and two 3 gig GTX 960s in SLI, while the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":259.359,"end_s":267.44,"text":"other packs 32 gigs of RAM and two 8 gig","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":263.04,"end_s":270.08,"text":"GTX 980s in SLI. It's important to note","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":267.44,"end_s":276.96,"text":"that each of these are full desktop configuration GPUs, similar to the full","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":273.84,"end_s":278.639,"text":"fat MXM form factor GTX 980 video cards","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":276.96,"end_s":282.8,"text":"that started showing up in laptops around September","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":280.12,"end_s":287.6,"text":"2015. Neither of them comes cheap, by the way. The entry level one goes for","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":285.24,"end_s":292.8,"text":"$2,200 with the top-of-the-line ski running about","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":289.0,"end_s":296.44,"text":"$4,000 like I alluded to before. So, how","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":292.8,"end_s":299.759,"text":"then does MSI justify a price tag like","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":296.44,"end_s":302.4,"text":"this? Well, when you've got a unique","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":299.759,"end_s":306.639,"text":"product, I guess you pretty much dictate what it's worth, and they've got that.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":305.04,"end_s":312.32,"text":"While there is one other high-performance trash can-shaped PC on","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":309.12,"end_s":314.52,"text":"the market, the 2013 Mac Pro, that one","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":312.32,"end_s":319.28,"text":"will appeal to a very different customer. Sure, they're both round and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":317.28,"end_s":322.96,"text":"they both feature an assisted convection cooling configuration with a large fan","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":321.199,"end_s":326.479,"text":"that draws air in the bottom and exhausts it from the top of the unit,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":324.88,"end_s":331.919,"text":"but other than that, I would argue they are really nothing alike. Thanks to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":328.8,"end_s":334.88,"text":"Apple's use of an LGA 2011 CPU socket,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":331.919,"end_s":340.56,"text":"they can cram up to 18 CPU cores into theirs. But while both computers boast","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":337.68,"end_s":344.8,"text":"dual video cards, the Workstation Fire Pro GPUs in the Mac Pro are more","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":342.8,"end_s":352.4,"text":"appealing to creative professionals than they are to gamers. The Vortex G35's LG1","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":348.32,"end_s":355.6,"text":"1151 socket can, by contrast, hold only","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":352.4,"end_s":357.52,"text":"a maximum of four CPU cores, but this","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":355.6,"end_s":361.52,"text":"feels like a sensible direction given that more than four CPU cores hasn't","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":359.759,"end_s":364.8,"text":"been demonstrated to help with straight gaming. I've got a video, by the way,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":363.36,"end_s":368.88,"text":"showing what it takes to finally overwhelm an 8 core Extreme Edition.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":366.56,"end_s":374.319,"text":"Check that out here. So, that extra power and thermal budget can be used to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":371.68,"end_s":380.039,"text":"throw more video card horsepower at the problem. So, what does that translate to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":376.639,"end_s":382.8,"text":"then? Well, really, really good","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":380.039,"end_s":388.16,"text":"performance. As advertised, the Vortex G65 is a very strong little gaming","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":385.84,"end_s":392.4,"text":"machine capable of handling anything you can throw at it, including gaming at","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":390.0,"end_s":396.88,"text":"resolutions above 1080p, gaming with textures maxed thanks to the 8 gigs of","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":394.479,"end_s":401.039,"text":"VRAM per GPU, and thanks to the top-of-the-line consumer grade Core i7","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":399.199,"end_s":405.28,"text":"processor. But of course, all this hardware means nothing if it creates an","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":403.44,"end_s":411.28,"text":"unpleasant user experience due to acoustics or doesn't run to its full","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":407.759,"end_s":413.12,"text":"potential due to thermal issues. And I'm","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":411.28,"end_s":418.479,"text":"pleased to report that the acoustics, much like the Mac Pro, are shocking with","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":416.16,"end_s":423.199,"text":"the tower emitting only an unobtrusive low hum even while gaming. And the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":420.72,"end_s":429.36,"text":"thermals are pretty darn good. On the GPUs, you'll see about 75° in our Crisis","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":426.24,"end_s":432.56,"text":"3 Skybox and UniGen Heaven tests. And","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":429.36,"end_s":434.479,"text":"while under full CPU load in I to 64,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":432.56,"end_s":441.919,"text":"that's without the GPUs doing anything. By the way, the CPU did sit in the low8s","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":438.24,"end_s":444.36,"text":"in a 19° ambient room. This result","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":441.919,"end_s":448.8,"text":"doesn't to me indicate a poorly designed computer. That kind of a sustained","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":446.8,"end_s":454.0,"text":"multi-core load would only be seen in short bursts, like while rendering a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":451.12,"end_s":458.4,"text":"video, for example, on a gaming machine. So, all it means to me is that I","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":456.72,"end_s":462.52,"text":"probably wouldn't find myself overclocking this system in spite of its","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":460.96,"end_s":468.24,"text":"advertised overclockability. Which leads us then to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":464.56,"end_s":470.88,"text":"the conclusion. Is the Vortex G65 worth","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":468.24,"end_s":476.0,"text":"your money? I guess it depends what you're after. While Thunderbolt 3 and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":474.16,"end_s":480.72,"text":"external PCI Express expansion enclosures seem to be finally reaching","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":478.72,"end_s":486.479,"text":"maturity, making me feel better about giving up all of my PCI Express slots, I","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":484.0,"end_s":492.479,"text":"find the core component upgradability of this device a little bit worrisome. with","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":489.36,"end_s":495.44,"text":"future CPUs likely to arrive in only","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":492.479,"end_s":500.319,"text":"four core variants and no guarantee at this time that MSI will be offering","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":497.44,"end_s":505.28,"text":"Pascalbased GPU upgrade modules like they promised on their GT80 Titan. But","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":503.28,"end_s":511.199,"text":"with that said, if you're willing to pay NVIDIA's premium for those MXM GTX 980","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":508.319,"end_s":515.36,"text":"video cards for a super small gaming rig that packs a shocking punch, then","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":513.36,"end_s":518.519,"text":"there's simply nothing else on the market like it.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":517.44,"end_s":523.279,"text":"And we're back with another offer from our friends","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":521.2,"end_s":526.88,"text":"at Massdrop. If you guys aren't familiar with Massdrop, head over to their site.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":525.44,"end_s":530.56,"text":"It's linked in the video description. They've got all kinds of cool stuff.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":528.72,"end_s":534.72,"text":"Everything from Wow, my tablecloth's going away. That's okay. They don't have","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":532.88,"end_s":539.519,"text":"tablecloths as far as I know. But they do have things like knives, drones, uh","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":537.44,"end_s":544.32,"text":"audio file gear like headphones, amps, and decks, keyboards, all kinds of cool","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":541.839,"end_s":548.0,"text":"stuff, camping supplies even. And the way it works is the community says,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":545.839,"end_s":552.56,"text":"\"Hey, we want to buy this thing, but it's kind of expensive.\" And Massdrop","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":550.0,"end_s":556.399,"text":"goes, \"Yeah, okay, cool. We'll go to the manufacturer. We'll get them to slash","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":554.399,"end_s":561.2,"text":"the price as long as a bunch of you guys agree to buy it.\" So, the more people","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":558.08,"end_s":563.36,"text":"glom on to a drop, the further down the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":561.2,"end_s":569.519,"text":"drop goes to a maximum limit. And they've got a pretty cool offer to talk","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":565.839,"end_s":572.399,"text":"about today. This is the AKG K553 Pro","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":569.519,"end_s":575.92,"text":"headphones. They feature a closed yet open design which offers the noise","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":574.32,"end_s":580.72,"text":"isolating qualities of closedback headphones with a more expansive sound","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":578.48,"end_s":585.04,"text":"stage. It's an overyear headphone with soft leatherrett ear pads. It terminates","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":582.64,"end_s":590.08,"text":"in an 8 inch or 3 and 12 mm jack but also includes a quarterinch adapter and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":586.959,"end_s":592.24,"text":"features 50mm drivers. It's got an MSRP","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":590.08,"end_s":595.76,"text":"of $299, but it's available on MassDrop for","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":593.24,"end_s":600.959,"text":"$119.99 at the lowest drop. So check out the link in the video description. That","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":597.839,"end_s":600.959,"text":"is draw.lt","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":602.04,"end_s":608.64,"text":"/lT-553. Thanks for watching, guys. If this video sucked, you know what to do.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":606.959,"end_s":611.6,"text":"But if it was awesome, get subscribed, hit the like button, or even consider","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":610.0,"end_s":615.44,"text":"supporting us directly by joining our forum, using our affiliate code to shop","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":613.519,"end_s":619.279,"text":"at Amazon. Instructions up there, buying a cool shirt like this one, or even with","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":617.44,"end_s":623.12,"text":"a direct monthly contribution. Now that you're done doing all that stuff, you're probably wondering, hm, what should I","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":621.44,"end_s":628.16,"text":"watch next? So, click that little button up there to check out our latest video","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":625.279,"end_s":632.42,"text":"on Channel Super Fun, where uh the boys and I, well, we do something super and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":630.399,"end_s":634.66,"text":"it's fun.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0}],"full_text":"the 6 and a half liter SLI equipped Core i7 cylindershaped PC that MSI first showed off at CES 2016 refusing to allow me to see the insides apparently for fear that I would break it which is fair I suppose is shipping now. So, after all the waiting, then I have finally got my hands on a finished unit of the MSI Vortex G65 to validate their claims that it is fast, small, and quiet while looking, in my eyes, pretty freaking cool. Let's get down to it. Glasswire is the intuitive, easy-touse firewall software that reveals and visualizes your network traffic in real time. Get it free now and use offer code Linus to upgrade and save 10% for added features. Things got off to a good start when I first booted Windows and was greeted by a product registration and a prompt to download and install Google Chrome. A nice touch, by the way, to not even pre-install your bloatware, making it truly optional. Then took a turn down Poostick Avenue with a gigantic Norton registration popup. Let's see what else is on here. Some of this stuff is okay. After burner for overclocking the video card, their Nhemic DSP utility, and the one-year expl. But battery calibration doesn't have a battery. MSI social media collection. The help desk seemed like a good idea, but most of what's in here feels even less useful than in Windows's own help tools. Let's move on to hardware. Things get a lot more impressive here. Measuring a mere 10 1/2 in tall and about 7 1/2 in in diameter. The entire computer is not that much bigger than a single GTX 980 reference card. And it's got two GTX 980s inside. Not to mention, it has something the 980 never had: RGB lighting. I guess that explains the $4,000 asking price. In terms of IO, there's nothing at the front but a power button, but I don't really mind that given how easy the system is to reach around to the back for a fairly easy access to most of the ample connectivity. Starting at the top is optical audio. 3 and a half millimeter audio jacks for speakers and a microphone. Four USB 3.0 5 GB typeA ports. Two HDMI 1.4 ports. Wouldn't have minded if those were HDMI 2.0. 2 GB LAN ports powered by killer networks. Two mini DisplayPort 1.2 ports. And finally, two reversible type-C USB ports that can handle USB 3, DisplayPort 1.2, or even Thunderbolt 3 duty. Let's move inside. There are actually two different configurations on the MSIUS site at the time of writing this, but the only way in which they differ is the installed system memory and graphics card setup. So, they both pack an Intel Core i76700 Kylake quadcore hyperthreaded CPU with a maximum 4.4 4 GHz turbo boost speed and assumed upgradability to the upcoming codeame KBL Lake architecture thanks to a socketed CPU design. They both feature a Z170 chipset motherboard that's been fully customized to fit in this unusual form factor and provide all the necessary internal connectivity. Two MXM video card slots for the GPUs. A mini PCIe for the Killer N 1535 AC wireless. This is an MU MIMO capable Wave 2 device, by the way. Two M.2 PCIe X4 Gen 3 slots for the 2x128 gig RAID zero boot drive configuration or whatever you want to put in there after the fact. A SATA 3 port for the 1 TB 2 and 1/2 in hard drive and customized power connectors for the 450W 80 plus gold chicky power supply. So then as far as differences are concerned, the lower-end model features 16 gigs of DDR4. sodium memory and two 3 gig GTX 960s in SLI, while the other packs 32 gigs of RAM and two 8 gig GTX 980s in SLI. It's important to note that each of these are full desktop configuration GPUs, similar to the full fat MXM form factor GTX 980 video cards that started showing up in laptops around September 2015. Neither of them comes cheap, by the way. The entry level one goes for $2,200 with the top-of-the-line ski running about $4,000 like I alluded to before. So, how then does MSI justify a price tag like this? Well, when you've got a unique product, I guess you pretty much dictate what it's worth, and they've got that. While there is one other high-performance trash can-shaped PC on the market, the 2013 Mac Pro, that one will appeal to a very different customer. Sure, they're both round and they both feature an assisted convection cooling configuration with a large fan that draws air in the bottom and exhausts it from the top of the unit, but other than that, I would argue they are really nothing alike. Thanks to Apple's use of an LGA 2011 CPU socket, they can cram up to 18 CPU cores into theirs. But while both computers boast dual video cards, the Workstation Fire Pro GPUs in the Mac Pro are more appealing to creative professionals than they are to gamers. The Vortex G35's LG1 1151 socket can, by contrast, hold only a maximum of four CPU cores, but this feels like a sensible direction given that more than four CPU cores hasn't been demonstrated to help with straight gaming. I've got a video, by the way, showing what it takes to finally overwhelm an 8 core Extreme Edition. Check that out here. So, that extra power and thermal budget can be used to throw more video card horsepower at the problem. So, what does that translate to then? Well, really, really good performance. As advertised, the Vortex G65 is a very strong little gaming machine capable of handling anything you can throw at it, including gaming at resolutions above 1080p, gaming with textures maxed thanks to the 8 gigs of VRAM per GPU, and thanks to the top-of-the-line consumer grade Core i7 processor. But of course, all this hardware means nothing if it creates an unpleasant user experience due to acoustics or doesn't run to its full potential due to thermal issues. And I'm pleased to report that the acoustics, much like the Mac Pro, are shocking with the tower emitting only an unobtrusive low hum even while gaming. And the thermals are pretty darn good. On the GPUs, you'll see about 75° in our Crisis 3 Skybox and UniGen Heaven tests. And while under full CPU load in I to 64, that's without the GPUs doing anything. By the way, the CPU did sit in the low8s in a 19° ambient room. This result doesn't to me indicate a poorly designed computer. That kind of a sustained multi-core load would only be seen in short bursts, like while rendering a video, for example, on a gaming machine. So, all it means to me is that I probably wouldn't find myself overclocking this system in spite of its advertised overclockability. Which leads us then to the conclusion. Is the Vortex G65 worth your money? I guess it depends what you're after. While Thunderbolt 3 and external PCI Express expansion enclosures seem to be finally reaching maturity, making me feel better about giving up all of my PCI Express slots, I find the core component upgradability of this device a little bit worrisome. with future CPUs likely to arrive in only four core variants and no guarantee at this time that MSI will be offering Pascalbased GPU upgrade modules like they promised on their GT80 Titan. But with that said, if you're willing to pay NVIDIA's premium for those MXM GTX 980 video cards for a super small gaming rig that packs a shocking punch, then there's simply nothing else on the market like it. And we're back with another offer from our friends at Massdrop. If you guys aren't familiar with Massdrop, head over to their site. It's linked in the video description. They've got all kinds of cool stuff. Everything from Wow, my tablecloth's going away. That's okay. They don't have tablecloths as far as I know. But they do have things like knives, drones, uh audio file gear like headphones, amps, and decks, keyboards, all kinds of cool stuff, camping supplies even. And the way it works is the community says, \"Hey, we want to buy this thing, but it's kind of expensive.\" And Massdrop goes, \"Yeah, okay, cool. We'll go to the manufacturer. We'll get them to slash the price as long as a bunch of you guys agree to buy it.\" So, the more people glom on to a drop, the further down the drop goes to a maximum limit. And they've got a pretty cool offer to talk about today. This is the AKG K553 Pro headphones. They feature a closed yet open design which offers the noise isolating qualities of closedback headphones with a more expansive sound stage. It's an overyear headphone with soft leatherrett ear pads. It terminates in an 8 inch or 3 and 12 mm jack but also includes a quarterinch adapter and features 50mm drivers. It's got an MSRP of $299, but it's available on MassDrop for $119.99 at the lowest drop. So check out the link in the video description. That is draw.lt /lT-553. Thanks for watching, guys. If this video sucked, you know what to do. But if it was awesome, get subscribed, hit the like button, or even consider supporting us directly by joining our forum, using our affiliate code to shop at Amazon. Instructions up there, buying a cool shirt like this one, or even with a direct monthly contribution. Now that you're done doing all that stuff, you're probably wondering, hm, what should I watch next? So, click that little button up there to check out our latest video on Channel Super Fun, where uh the boys and I, well, we do something super and it's fun."}