Hardware & Technical Lenovo IdeaPad Y510p Laptop for ED?

[Storin]

Commanders

Quick question, about to upgrade my 3.5 year old laptop, it is an I7, but I think it's time for a change. I need a laptop that does more than just gaming, I like the look of this one, and having the ubiquitous T series as my work laptop, I know Lenovo is a safe bet. It had good specs.

So guys that know significantly more on this than I do (not hard...), am I on the right track?


S

 

[Dr Wookie]

Commanders

Quick question, about to upgrade my 3.5 year old laptop, it is an I7, but I think it's time for a change. I need a laptop that does more than just gaming, I like the look of this one, and having the ubiquitous T series as my work laptop, I know Lenovo is a safe bet. It had good specs.

So guys that know significantly more on this than I do (not hard...), am I on the right track?


S

Hi,
it looks like there are various configurations of that laptop. Just by checking this review, it looks like the laptop has a 3D Mark Fire Strike score of 3700; this is similar to my recently bought pc (3980). This pc runs the first alpha module well with max settings at 1920x1080 resolution.

However, I would be worried about the laptop overheating (just because of its small size). My laptop is pretty powerful, but sometimes shuts off because it gets too hot when playing games. If you could get away with a desktop, then that would be better value.


I'm no expert though

 

[Storin]

Hi,
it looks like there are various configurations of that laptop. Just by checking this review, it looks like the laptop has a 3D Mark Fire Strike score of 3700; this is similar to my recently bought pc (3980). This pc runs the first alpha module well with max settings at 1920x1080 resolution.

However, I would be worried about the laptop overheating (just because of its small size). My laptop is pretty powerful, but sometimes shuts off because it gets too hot when playing games. If you could get away with a desktop, then that would be better value.


I'm no expert though

Buddy, you are a country mile ahead of me in those stakes, thanks for the opinion!

 

[Stachel]

I'd wait until the complete game is released tbh. Right now the recommended specs are quite high - certainly enough to discount most budget laptops. Even the ones with discreet GPUS. While the Alpha might perform OK on some lower end systems (including laptops) it might be wise to wait and see what the finished game is like, with all the additional modules etc.

 

[Flavio]

Can you get the laptop once the beta is out and trial it before you buy?
As for overheating, there are laptop coolers that sit under the laptop which gives you a spacer and extra fan to blow cool air through it - am not sure if there are models with a metal heatsink on it to take the excessive heat away from the case as well.

 

[Geraldine]

Thread moved.

 

[xyphic]

Commanders

Quick question, about to upgrade my 3.5 year old laptop, it is an I7, but I think it's time for a change. I need a laptop that does more than just gaming, I like the look of this one, and having the ubiquitous T series as my work laptop, I know Lenovo is a safe bet. It had good specs.

So guys that know significantly more on this than I do (not hard...), am I on the right track?


S

I bought a Lenovo Y500 last year which is similar in specs but the Y510p has better CPU and GPU. One of the good things about the Lenovo laptops is that they have the UltraBay, which allows you replace the DVD/Blu-Ray drive with another GPU in SLI configuration. If you're set on getting a laptop, the Lenovo is decent for the price.

With a single GPU, Elite: Dangerous runs at ~20-40 FPS at 1080p resolution with all graphics options set to high. With the SLI configuration[*] the frame rates are pretty much doubled, which is more than good enough for the game as it is at the moment. Of course until we've seen the rest of the game, it's hard to say if there will be anything that the laptop finds more challenging. Most other games also work well, though I don't stand a chance of running Star Citizen at anything like high quality!

In terms of RAM, SSD, etc. someone else might be able to give you more information about whether it's a good specification for all-round general use.

[*] The isn't an official SLI configuration for ED yet, but it works well if you force AFR2 mode so I'd expect it to be supported properly soon.