MSI Vortex Mini Gaming Tower

Product Description

Aluminum Black Core i7-6700K 4-4.2GHz Z170 Dual GTX980 [SLI] 16G GDDR5 (8GB each) VRAM 32GB (8G*4) DDR4 2133MHz Super RAID 4 256GB SSD (PCIE Gen3x4) [128GB *2]+1TB (SATA) 7200rpm PCIe RAID Dual Killer Gaming Network E2400 Killer N1535 Combo (2*2 ac) BLUETOOTH 4.1 HDMI 1.4*2 Thunderbolt*2 USB 3.0 *4 450W Build-in Win 10 Multi-language 450W Build-in 2 year Limited warranty (Include 1 Year Global)

Features

• Intel Core i7-6700K processor - 4-4.2GHz w/ Turbo Boost
• NVIDIA GeForceDual GTX980 [SLI] 16G GDDR5 (8GB each)
• 32GB (8G*4) DDR4 2133MHz and Super Raid 4 512GB SSD (PCIE GEN3 NVMe)(256GB*2) +1TB (SATA) 7200rpm
• Windows 10 Home; Nahimic Sound; Dual Killer Gaming Network E2400; Killer N1535 Combo (2*2 ac); Bluetooth; USB 3.0; HDMI; Storm Cooling; Matrix Display
• 6.5-liter and 27.8cm High Chassis, Desktop Gaming Redefined

Top Reviews

Amazing Little System
by TechExec (5 out of 5 stars)
October 12, 2016

This is an amazing computer. Typically I build my own systems but due to time constraints I decided to buy a pre-built. Frankly I wasn't satisfied with anything I saw until I discovered the Vortex. Finding just the right combo of components at the right price-point is pretty tough. I am not a gamer anymore so my use case is as a typical web surfer/business documents user.

Here's the upsides of this device:
- Amazingly quiet: I have it sitting on my desk and cannot hear it even when the fan is running. This is a brilliant design leveraging convection perfectly. I'm amazed how cool this system runs and how infrequently the fan needs to run.
- Small form factor: Really tiny and very cool looking, easily placed close to your monitor. Combining the fan/convection feature with being off the floor it's less likely to suck in dust which is a system killer over time.
- Everything but the kitchen sink: There's no way I could have built such a compact unit with all the features included in the Vortex. Literally it has everything anyone could want (except for an optical drive which are cheap and easy to add via USB). The Bluetooth for example let me sync my phone and also allowed me to replace my wired headset with wireless. The built-in Wi-Fi is great too.
- SSD RAID 0: This thing is a fast booter. Everything is snappy and coming from a traditional hard drive environment I have to say I'm sold on solid state boot drives now.

Here are the potential downsides:
- Proprietary design: As awesome as the Vortex is, upgrading components would be a nightmare. Search YouTube for videos of disassembly and you'll understand. Closely related, if something breaks the entire device will likely need to be sent to the shop versus easily swapping parts as one could do in a more traditional design.
- SSD RAID 0: As long as everything goes well solid state drives in RAID 0 are a huge performance-boosting asset. If something goes wrong however, like the RAID connection between the two SSDs is lost, re-establishing them takes technical skill that will likely be beyond the ability of the average home user. This happened to me but it was my own fault, not some defect with the system. Theoretically the MSI recovery tool should help you restore a system that gets corrupted but in my case it didn't work and I had to spend a lot of time learning how to fix the problem. If you don't monkey around with things this is an unlikely problem, but I'm living proof it can happen.
- MSI Support: MSI Support is only available during normal business hours. If you need help on the weekends you are out of luck.

To be clear about the potential SSD RAID 0 issue noted above it is not a Vortex specific, or Vortex only issue. MSI has integrated and implemented the technology beautifully. The comment simply reflects the nature and relative immaturity of the technology itself. Any PC with the same configuration/components could have the same issues.

I'm really happy with this Vortex system and glad I purchased it. It's an amazing piece of engineering and a massive step-up from my previous 5 year old system. If the price point does not scare you I think you'll be very happy with this computer.
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Loudest Fan of any of the PC's I've built or owned
by IQof3 (2 out of 5 stars)
January 22, 2019

Constantly runs hot. +80C on GPU's during gaming. That is only on 60Hz refresh. If I bump it up to 100Hz or 144Hz, the fan spins at 100% ALL the time. Way to loud for me and the GPU temp is 82-89c. This has been happening since I bought it almost 3 years ago. Everything is up to date including bios. Not to fond of the only one fan in the unit idea. Would not try and buy this kind of set up again. Local shops wont even service it and would have to send it to MSI for repair.
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Brand new out of the box (BROKEN ALREADY):-(
by benjo medina (1 out of 5 stars)
January 9, 2017

Brand new out of the box and to my surprise it wasn't working. I tried about 5 different outlets to make sure it wasn't my power outlet that had an issue but still wouldn't come on. I ended up paying hefty $45 for shipping to return the item.
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Great pc
by Mike Chandler (5 out of 5 stars)
February 20, 2017

Great pc
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Nice little gaming PC, performance is extreme and looks cool too! I will use this for my HTC Vive VR
by Ellapapa (5 out of 5 stars)
March 20, 2016

This Mini Gaming PC features the same cylindrical shape as the Mac Pro from Apple that I have. It is slightly bigger and comes with its own MSI Gaming style looks compared to the all glossy black layout on the Mac Pro. This PC is a full fledged gaming focused device but comparing the two in terms of specifications reveals that the Vortex is better in every possible way. First of all, the chassis which MSI states is a Tower form factor has a capacity of 6.5 liters. The casing has two fans, a bottom intake fan and a top mounted exhaust fan which are used as cooling solution for the entire hardware assembly within the Vortex. It should be enough to cool the PC under normal gaming loads but there's another thing about the Vortex, it fully supports overclocking too and the hardware that is packed within it..

This powerful little piece fits very well in my office, very small foot print and run quiet, it is only about 6.5L which is much smaller gaming PC then any gaming PC I bought before. (I might just get another one for my living room since it looks cool), The CPU is powerful i7K and come with dual GTX 980 SLI graphics for super fast performance, and a 360° Silent Storm Cooling fan for superior performance under the most of heavy loading. It will also support multiple 4K video outputs simultaneously for my six 4K monitor setting and allow for ability for an easy-to-upgrade later. if I want. I am waiting to get my HTC Vive arrives and to run on this beast!
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Poor reliability
by Nathan Landreville (2 out of 5 stars)
March 8, 2018

When our office decided to purchase powerful desktop computers that could handle working with Revit, 3DS Ma, AutoCAD, the entire Adobe Suite, and powerful rendering software, we opted to got with this MSI product. We ended up purchasing 6 machines. One year later, we have had to send 4 of 6 back to MSI for repair. Common issues are power supply unit failure, thermal paste degradation, graphics card failure, overheating, and occasional processor under-performance. We will not purchase from MSI ever again.
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Four Stars
by ericlis niu (4 out of 5 stars)
September 27, 2016

It's not quite.
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Bricked after just over a year of use
by Adam Zenner (1 out of 5 stars)
October 26, 2018

My G65 bricked after a little over a year of use, I purchased a new power supply hoping it would fix it. No power system will not turn on.
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excellent piece of hardware.
by Ingiomar (5 out of 5 stars)
March 21, 2016

In response to the guy who said you can build a cheaper pc with the same specs. He's right. But you still wouldn't have this awesome design.
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Four Stars
by Amazon Customer (4 out of 5 stars)
March 20, 2016

price overkilled 2200$ it will be good

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