Lenovo Y400 Owners lounge

The new Geforce GT 750m will be available to Y400 soon and it is faster by 25% compared to gt 650m and comparable to GTX 670m and will also feature GPU Boost 2.0

Don't ask me for sources and instead look around and use them eyes God has given you.

 

Nvidia Launches GT 700M-Level GPUs; Up to 15 Percent More Power

"Up to 15% more power..."

 

So the 750m is just 650m with a higher clock? Can't we over clock the 650m and get the same gains?

 

Yep:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam...ound-max-clocks-oc-stability.html#post8708811

 

I just got my new y400 in the mail today! SWEEEET JESUS, windows 8 is confusing and annoying. I'm getting rid of this tonight for windows 7, lol. Has anyone had success using W7 on this laptop?

That complaint aside, this thing is glorious. The keyboard is a gift from heaven. I've never seen a laptop with a keyboard this nice. I mean, it might even be better than my usb keyboard. The screen looks bright and crisp. The whole laptop looks slick and sexy. And it's much more compact than my previous 15.6" asus. Just wow. Amazing what an extra $250 can buy you. Can't wait to start tweaking this computer .

 

I did a clean install of win7 64-bit on my Y400. No problems at all. Here is a link to the Win7 drivers:

Drivers and software - IdeaPad Y400 Notebook

 

Thanks a lot! Can you use the synaptec quickpad touchpad software with windows 7 too? Can it be re-downloaded from lenovo?

 

Not sure about the software but the driver works fine. I would recommend installing that driver last/first. For some reason it didn't install the fist time when I was installing all the other drivers at once. It will work without a driver but the mouse speed will be a bit slow.

 

I'm still getting used to the touchpad. I don't think it's broken, but the gestures are a bit loose. You have to keep your fingers very far apart to use two-finger scrolling reliably. Also can't two-finger click the touchpad area to act as a middle click (for opening links in a new tab).

Are there any other things I should do/install to this bad boy before I really start using it?

 

From my experience, that's about it. Once you have Windows7 and all the drivers installed everything should be ready to go. But I did go get a new hard drive to install windows7 on so I don't lose the windows8 recovery partition on the original hard drive if one day I want to install windows8 (probably not likely but just in case). That choice is up to you

 

Darnit. I'm getting a weird screen tearing on my monitor/tv when it's displaying dark/black patterns (connected via hdmi). Really strange. For example, this image produces massive blue tearing on my screen, but only where the image is displayed:

http://images2.layoutsparks.com/1/208178/cat-black-symmetrical-design.jpg

It's REALLY bad. Has anyone else noticed this?

***EDIT***



Here's a picture of what I mean. This only happens on my hd LED tv screen, when hooked up to the lenovo. When it's hooked up to my Asus, the image just looks black with no distortions. It also shows up perfectly when I hook the lenovo up to my PC monitor via vga. Could this be a defect with the hdmi connection on the lenovo?

 

Does the y400 have the touchpad and keyboard problems the y500 suffers from?

 

Neither have touchpad issues now, with the synaptics touchpad. Just make sure you disable the edge motion option, which is the most useless thing I've ever seen and will make you believe the touchpad is broken, lol.

 

wait... that's a thing? you can do that?

 

HI everyone. I'm seriously considering a new Y400 as I like the performance, features, and price point. The model I'm looking at is the top line model on lenovo.ca - model 59371795 .

Does any1 here have any other recommendations etc? Although you cannot change the hardware config in the online store I would like to upgrade the RAM to 16gb and add a Blueray multidrive. I'm also thinking about a 512gb SSD if I could get it.

Any and all comments appreciated

TIA!

 

You can upgrade them yourself (SSD + mSATA). I have ready for mine already an 512SSD + 240mSATA Mushkin drive. You just have to be careful while opening the back cover to add those parts in the system. About the bluray player / writer, I do not know. I guess you could buy one from ebay and have it installed by yourself. It shouldn't be to difficult. Go for the $769 model (59371789 - This is what I got an I am receiving it tomorrow), is not worth to take the trouble in paying extra $50 for 16gb msata drive. Waste of money

 

I just got a brand new y400, yay! But as expected, it is full of crap, and I don't like windows 8... So the first thing I wanted to do is to remove all that crap and do a fresh install of Windows 7 + Ubuntu 12.10.

The problem is that I can't boot from DVD or USB while in UEFI boot mode. I have to change to Legacy, then I can boot only from DVD, not USB... But it appears that I can't install win7 while in Legacy mode. It says that the partition is GPT style, thus can't format it.

I formatted twice a year for the last 10 years, but it seems that this is not like windows XP with the older computers...

What's the solution for this problem, any clue ??

 

Plug HD into another computer or boot to dos. This is what I did for my first win7 install with the slow 5k drive on the Y400.

start
run
cmd
diskpart
select disk "x"
Clean
create partition primary
select partition 1
format fs=ntfs
exit
exit

 

^^^ You got your system yet?!

 

You can do a UEFI install of Windows 7 as well, which I would recommend. Go read the tutorials on SevenForums for how to make UEFI-bootable installation media and how to do a UEFI installation.

 

Not yet. It's out for delivery today! wooo! Those instructions was from when I had the Y400/650m

Seriously cant wait to get my hands on it and start running some benchmarks.

 

You will notice the difference in games / benchmarks way far from 650m. I am sure that if you overclock this succer (which I already tried), it will be in pair with 650m SLi. I wish you the best and I hope your system will be perfect, without issues. For me, I know that I had a lot of hassle, but in the end with a better screen, I have saved $100 (including the cost of the new screen).

I do not know if you are going to change anything at your system, but here is the direct link for the drivers (though I recommend to use the drivers from your current hdd shipped with your system).

http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/downloads/detail.page?DocID=DS033346

 

When you get it let us know what the stock clocks are and what voltage the 750M is running at. The 650M is at 1.025 V and if the 750M is higher than that, then it will be able to OC past the 650M. If it's the same, it just means they rebranded the 650 with higher clocks that you could've achieved on your own anyway so the the 750M has less OC headroom.

A single 750M faster than 650M SLI? I don't care how high you overclock the 750M, but it's not gonna be close. Sounds like you were misinformed on what the 750M is.

 

750M
Stock GPU : 941
Stock Memory : 2500
Stock Boost : 967

I see 1.137V but I am not sure that is correct.

Got my Y400 today

I am using nvidiainspector to look at these. It jumps around, its now settled in at 1.043 running Torchlight 2 next to the window.
At higher load the clock goes to 1058 at 1.131V.

 

Sweet! Good to hear that new screen is working out nicely.

I'm probably going to install windows 7. Are the drivers for the 750m contained on the hard drive?

 

I thought the leak said GPU Boost 2.0 would make it go as far as 1100 MHz on the core? Well 1058 isn't far off. 1058/2500 makes it identical to the desktop GTX 650. Nice to see that Lenovo actually got Boost working this time around

Those voltage numbers sound a bit high to me. The GT 750M is GK107 isn't it? Well the desktop GTX 650 is the highest-performing GK107 part and it's at 1.113 V by default. I highly doubt a mobile chip based on the same GPU would have higher voltage at the same clocks; usually it's the other way around. Can you run a GPU-burn test like FurMark and look in GPU-Z to see what the VDDC settles at?

It'd be interesting to see if this refresh does indeed overclock higher than the 650M and if so by how much.

 

1058 wasn't at full load, more like 80% I think. Let me see about another test. Still setting things up.

EDIT ok some burn in results:

 

I'm fairly sure the overclocking potential of the two cards will be much the same, when one is able to increase the 650m voltage as well (hence my eagerness for the BIOS voltage mod). The 750m should be able to go past 1300Mhz with its stock voltage settings. The 650m should be able to get to the same range with a similar voltage.

 

Yes, all the drivers are located on a partition on the hard drive. You can make a backup of the drive before you intall windows on it, I totally recommend it, though the backup will be over 30gb.

As per the performance of the 750M all that I can say that everything runs smooth compared to the 650M at max settings.

 

Good to know. I still have my 120gb msata and 1tb hd. I'll just plug those in and put the original HD in my extra 2.5 inch external usb 3.0 case.

Just got notification it's delivered. Can't wait to get out of work. 2 more hours... ughhhh I hate Friday software releases :-(

 

Thanks for the image. So it's basically identical to a desktop GTX 650, albeit at a higher voltage. I wonder why they would do that considering the GTX 650 has proven it can run those clocks at a lower voltage. If it increases OC headroom and doesn't increase heat dramatically then I guess it's a win-win for the mobile card.

Can you also tell me the ASIC quality of your GT 750M?

 

Hello Ladies and Gents; I'm making my transition into the future--and from big to small--I just ordered my Y400 with the GT 750 and it is set to be shipped on the 24th. I'm coming from an overly large 7805u that has just about kicked it. It has about the same screen resolution 900 vs 768 but the 14' should be sharper compared to the 17' screen. I do wonder if anyone has found a 1080p screen that will fit in this babies body.

 

"ASIC quality reading not supported on this card."

 

No, there is no higher resolution possible for this system because of the pin connector in the board. The only way to do it is to have a bigger screen of 15.6, that means you should have gone for the Y500. On a second thought, buy an external monitor and while you game at home or do anything, use the monitor while on the road 'be happy' with the 768p screen

 

Yeah, I think the 768p screen is great for laptop gaming. I have a 1080p TV I use for couch gaming. And on the plus side of the 768p screen is you can bump up some of the settings.

 

Oh, I'll be plenty happy with it, as I said, I am coming from a 17" 900 screen. So a 14" 768 screen is going to look a lot sharper and nicer to me. I'll probably be getting a external monitor because I currently don't have a TV.

On a related happy-as-**** note: My ship date changed to shipping out today instead of the 24th. Should be here by next Friday, but from my experience with Lenovo (purchased a Yoga for my fiancee) it will probably be here before that.

 

Been running some benchmarks on my Y400/750m after getting everything setup. Added my 120gb masata ssd, 1tb HD, and installed Windows 7 and all drivers.

All games were run on High presets @768p with at least 4xAA. GFX card was running at 1058mhz and stayed steady around 77 degrees.

3DMark11: 2930
3DMarkVantage: 12354
Dirt 3: Preset High ~75-85fps
Dirt 2: Preset High ~79-89fps
Dirt Showdown: Preset High, Advanced Lighting Off ~60-69fps
Hitman Absolution: Preset High ~40fps
Boarderland 2: Preset High ~75fps
Max Payne 3: Preset High ~55-60fps
Sniper Elite V2: Preset High ~40-50fps

All I got for now. My other steam games are still downloading...

I have to say, I'm pretty damn impressed with this card. Night and day compared to the Y400/650m I use to have.

 

Your Physis score is low. You should be getting around 7600. If you're worried about heat I'd use ThrottleStop only when benching.

77 C for the GPU you say? That's hotter than the 650M. Makes sense considering the higher voltage and clocks.

Come on, it's not "night and day" compared to the 650M. That's a bit of an exaggeration. 650M owners who OC are getting the same or better results. It's the exact same GPU. Once we start overvolting the 650M the difference is gone.

 

Has anyone done any overclocking with the 650m SLI? If so what were the clocks/heats/performance changes when done?

Also would just one overclocked 650m/750m be adequate for 3 years rather then going through SLI? Cause I'm wondering if it'd more worth it to go with the extra fan or a hdd caddy for the ultrabay slot...

 

I'd say skip the fan since they're on backorder until June, and get a good laptop cooler. Definitely save up for SLI in the future, because even with overclocking and overvolting of the one gpu, it's at its limit with playing the latest games on the highest settings. It will start falling behind within about a year~year and a half I'd say. However, SLI overclocked should provide max performance for at least two years I'd think.

 

Here are some of my 750M (single) benchmarks using a game's benchmark feature (all at 768p of course), settings were how they come default, nothing changed:

Hitman Absolution
Medium: Min: 34 Max: 130 Average 44.6
High : Min : 26.4 Max: 56 Average 33.9

Dirt 2
High: Min: 69 Max: 89
Ultra: Min: 67 Max: 89
Seemed strange they were the same

Dawn of War 2
High Min: 29.7 Max: 115.65 Average: 58.23
Ultra: Min: 24.85 Max: 109.78 Average: 54.26

 

The logic gt 650m is as fast as the gt 750m when you OC the 650m is flawed. It should be default vs default or oc vs oc and gt 750m is faster than gt 650m if 750m is also oc'd.

So don't ruin and spoil it for him and future gt 750m y500 owners just because you're stuck with an older tech. Real Talk

 

To me it was night and day. I had my 650m at stock. I don't overclock my laptops and don't plan to overclock my 750m. Not sure, but it sounds like you are just trying to justify your 650m... You even made a separate thread to "prove" your point. Kinda pointless. Be happy with what you got.

 

Wow that's real "colpolite" of you. You win at life.

 

Well there is so little known about the 750M (Nividia doesn't even have the card to select for drivers) so finding out what it is compared to the 650M is informative. I never have much luck with OC'ing so 750M is nice since it can do it on its own. And so maybe the 650M can be pushed to the same speed or whatever, its not like Lenovo is charging anymore for the 750M systems. Maybe keep it more on the information gathering side rather than the 750M sucks because its a 650M rebadge and the 650M can get the same performance.

 

If you're talking about this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ideapad-essential/716619-calling-all-y400-y500-gt-750m-owners.html

I didn't make that thread to prove any point and I'm not trying to justify anything. I'm not a petty kind of person and yes I'm perfectly happy with my machine. I made that thread because I wanted to know the specs of the 750M from people who owned it, especially which core because AnandTech had mentioned up to three possibilities-GK106, GK107, and GK208. This is important information for those of us who want to mod the BIOS and vBIOS of the machine.

I don't want to get into a semantics discussions but objectively speaking there is not a "night and day" difference between the 650M and 750M. I'm not speaking for you personally because you may have had problems with your 650M machine but when I overclock the 650M to 750M speeds it is a 10-15% boost in gaming performance over stock 650M for me. Believe it or not people base important purchasing decisions on what they read in these forums so making sensationalist claims of "night and day" differences could be misleading. It could, for instance, cause a potential buyer to needlessly wait for a 750M machine to become available or skip over a better deal on a 650M machine because he mistakenly believed that the refreshed GPU is a million times better.

 

Well stated. That is exactly my intent for questions regarding the 750M. The more information the better and it benefits all Y400/Y500 owners if we can, for instance, undervolt the 750M to 650M voltage to maintain performance while reducing heat or allow the owner of a 750M machine to use the 650M Ultrabay by flashing its vBIOS with that of a 750M. It's amazing how quickly people jump the gun on an Internet forum.

 

One thing I haven't tried is using Nvidiainspector to add the 135MHz overclock to see what happens.

 

Lol, give it a try! Seriously, in going from 835Mhz at boost to a constant 1110Mhz, I get a 30% increase in fps with some games and emulators. Makes a really big difference.

 

I am not trying to blame anyone, but as some members on this forum, we had the previous version of 650m systems and we returned them because we could do so (we were in the time frame of 21/30 days return period), thinking that the new card 750m will be better then what we had.

And for what I have used, the same games as what I played on the 650m, I wasn't happy with the performance of a single card. Even when tried to overclock it and see if it makes a difference, I reached to a conclusion that I have to reduce the settings in the games to play it smooth. Ofcourse, when I got the SLi card in, it was a totally different story because everything was running the way I was expecting too.

This is not the case for the 750m, because the same games are running at full settings, maybe little tweaking here and there. It beats the 650m at all times, no matter what everyone believes or contradicts with. So, better order the new technology, even if it is not by far better, believe me it is worth to do so.

Another thing we all have to remember is that this is the first release of NVidia driver from the manufacturer, on NVidia.com website they have not even released a driver and in time will be a lot of new releases which will proof the 750m even better then the current status.

Please, no offence everyone