Lenovo Y500 SLi review

got my y500 with sli graphic 2week ago,and now i am going to do the review here
the spec is here

Model: Lenovo Y500 i7 3630QM SLi Dual Graphic Card Gamer Laptop
Model Number:5934-9366
Processor:Intel® Core™ i7-3630QM Ivy Bridge Processor (Latest)
Memory:8GB DDR3 1600 SDRAM
Hard Drive:500GB SATA Hard Disk Drive
Graphics: Nvidia GT650M 2GB D5 Onboard Graphics+ Nvidia GT650M 2GB D5 External Graphic Card
Camera : HD Front Camera
Display type:15.6" Full HD LED Monitor
Optical Drive:Not Available
Keyboard: Back-lit Keyboard with Numpad (Red Color)
Connectivity:Wireless Lan 802.11 b/g/n |Bluetooth|LAN RJ45
Interface:2 x USB 3, 1 x USB 2.0, mini-PCIe, 6-in 1 card reader,mic, headphone, HDMI, RJ45,
Battery:6-cells Li-ion battery (Support up to 4 Hour)
Color: Dust Black (Aluminium)
Speakerremium SRS+ JBL Speaker
Operation System:Window 8 SLV
Weight: 2.5 kg
Bagenovo 16" Backpack
Warranty: 2 Year International Warranty By Lenovo

some picture for y500




cpu and gpu detail




will be have more picture in next post

 

will be have more pic and details on this post

gt650m sli enable


aida64 full stress test
before test
View attachment 88181
after test


and the most important thing,...
3dmark 11 result for gt650m sli

the score would be higher if there is driver for gt650m sli released by nvdia
i am still using v306.00 which came from machine itself,and also this is the latest driver from lenovo

so far only few game tested by me in sli(all those game tested by me was supported by sli)
crysis 2 in all ultra setting in 1920*1080 ,i get around 30-40 fps (sli)
battefield 3 in all ultra setting in 1920*1080,i get around 30-42fps(sli)
cod black ops 2 in all ultra setting in 1920*1080, i get around 45-55fps（sli)

and this is some game tested by me in single gt650m (those game are not supported by sli)
assasins creed 3 in high setting 1920*1080 ,35-42 fps
need for speed most wanted hight setting 1920*1080 19-27 fps

END
this machine is great for me,and the jbl speaker is awesome ~

 

looking forward to it.

 

yeah,this machine is great~

 

what do you think about the quality of the fullhd screen

 

Too much better then the laptop i used for 3 year which in 1366*768 !HAHA
1920*1080 view in gaming and movie is really awesome~

 

thank you very much!

 

Not too shabby, looking forward to getting my Y400 sometime next week or the week after depending how Lenovo is dealing with manufacturing and shipping.

I wonder when they'll start selling the GT 650m to enable SLI because i had no such option when purchasing.

 

thanks. +1 repped

could you comment on the build quality also? especially when compared to thinkpad T series and/or lenovo Y480/580?

and how is the hinge? is it fairly tight and sturdy?

thanks

 

does the sli version have switchable graphics?

 

many thanks! could you please test again crysis, battlefield and cod with single 650m and same game settings and resolution?

 

Can we start bashing lenovo wallpaper? it just doesn't match the machine.

How is the fan noise and heat you feel?

 

yes,i did
the fps for crysis 2 in single gt650m is around 20 fps in ultra 1920*1080
battefield 3 in single gt650m is around 20-25 in ultra 1920*1080
cod 9 in single gt650m is around 15-30 in ultra 1920*1080

the driver version i use for gt650m sli is v306.00
according to my friend,if i upgrade it to v310.64,i can get more fps
but there is a issue there,if upgrade to 310.64,i cant adjust the brightness,because310.64 cant fit with the gt650m sli yet

didnt hear any fan noise so far =.=
and i keep playing game for 5-6 hour without stop,the temperarure never hit more then 70 ,so i think it is great for gaming
of course if you wan better heat cool down system,you can buy a fan cooler

the machine i bought,it came with the external graphic already,but without the ODD DRIVE,anyway i can buy it later on
now still cant get to buy external graphic yet
and external graphic for y400 is different with y500 ,external graphic for y400 only will be released next year

 

How about battery life? Can you test how long does the battery last while playing and typical usage (wifi, medium brightness, browsing the web etc.) ?

 

how do you attach the second graphics card?

 

I too am interested in knowing the battery life. I've heard three hours, but I've also heard three hours while playing games in SLI which surely draws much more power than just browsing the web, or playing games with a single graphics card. Mine comes in this week and I'd like to know how long the battery lasts while just browsing the web/watching movies, and while playing games on a single graphics card.

 

You don't attach it. You swap it out via its interchangeable ultrabay drive.

 

Hey guys, I've been looking for a new laptop as of late. The best value in gaming laptops right now seems to be either the lenovo y500 or the lenovo y580. For those with experience- is there any difference between the y500 and the y580 in terms of the construction of the laptop? The only difference I can see is the slight upgrade in graphics card.

TLDR: Go with the y500 or the y580?

 

Optimus or no?

 

it last around 2hour and 30 minut when playing game with non stop , and also the battery plan, i put it on high performance, if i put it on balanced or power saved plan ,it should last longer

y500 have better design, better heat cooling system, and also you can have more options in ultra bay
for few hundred bucks, and you will get 40-50% improvement in gaming performance compare to y580,why not ~

sorry that i dun know much about this, but according to chinese forum, system will auto hide the intel graphics 4000

 

How is the fhd screen compared with Y580?

 

i use device manager to do a check
and
Device manager show GT650M SLI, no optimus for Intel HD.

 

How is the touchpad?

 

Can the Y500 be operated without the battery pack? I usually have all my laptops plugged into the outlet about 90% of the time so I would prefer to remove the battery to reduce heat and "wear & tear". Would removing the battery affect the performance or life of the laptop in any way? Just wondering...

 

I'd like to know what the battery life of this thing is with and without the ultrabay SLI GPU while watching a DVD or surfing the web.

 

Is laptop utilizing sata 2 or sata 3?

 

Where can you buy the HDD Ultra Bays? Are the Thinkpad Ultra Bays compatible?

 

I found a review on the Y500 but its in another language You get to see gaming on ultra settings for Skyrim, Metro 1333, and Crysis 2.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCMDPl7Brcs

 

How many watts power supply laptop GF 650 SLI?
Will you need to buy additional power supply if you install the second GF 650 in stock laptop.

 

Y580 with 660M GTX is only 15% better than the 650M.
With the Y500 down the road you could pop in a 2nd 650M for a 50% SLI boost.

Now the 670/680M GTX would be a significant GPU boost

 

a tab bit smaller than the one on the y580. at first i did not like the thing at all. but after tweaking the software the touchpad now works brilliantly. i would prefer side scrolling but the touch pad gives you a 2 finger scroll that works like natural scrolling. touch gestures are implemented and i have to say i hate them but i think they can be turned off. (swiping form the left edge to the center will switch apps). you cannot play fps games on this thanks to the click pad. cannot aim and shoot at the same time. you need a sperate mouse to do that. ... is that everything.. let me know if you need to know more

 

I talked to a rep via chat who said the Ultrabay trays came with the sli model, i.e. the 2nd hd tray, extra fan tray etc came with the sli model. did you get this or does the bay that comes with it let you remove the graphics card from it and put a 2nd hd in it?

 

I was excited about this laptop, but at double the resolution than my y580, the two 650m would either give the same experience as 1 650m at 1366x768 at best.( Frame rates that is ).

Example (random numbers)

Crysis 768p - 30 fps (1 650m)
Crysis 1080p - 30 fps (2 650m) (IF the scale is 100% which it rarely is).

Its nice to this idea out on the market, but I think they should have used slightly more powerful cards, just because 1080p is nearly double the resolution...harsh mistress

 

SLI unfortunately doesn't add 50%. It adds 10-45% due to calculation overhead and game compatibility. (depends on the game)
In most cases you would have better performance with a single 650m on an HD panel than SLI on FHD.

The best bang for the buck has been y580 with an HD screen and 660m. Beastly specs for such a resolution.
650m is not bad for a 14" though.

 

if you look on notebookcheck they did a review of both the Y580 and Y500. the Y580 GTX 660m seems to underperform for some reason or other so in fact the Y500 with stock 650m seems to perform a little better if you take the numbers literally.

 

Can you pls send me link - i cant find review of Y500 on notebookcheck.

Thank you.

 

Can any Y500 owner try to right click desktop, go to nvidia setting, and in one of the tab (forgot what is the tab), and there is a drop down list with 3 options (If not mistaken, should "nvidia 650 single", "sli", "cpu"), try to choose the cpu, and use it on battery, see how long can it last.
I went to pc fair and try it out, I guess the option "CPU" should be the Intel HD 4000.
Thanks you very much.

 

I can't find the setting you are referring to, however, the battery life seems to be quite well. I had it unplugged and was installing software and transferring files for about 3 hours and it said I still had over 2 hours remaining. This is on a non-SLI Y500.

 

Does it last 5 hours when your on power saver on lowest
Brightness?

 

5 hours will be a strain but yes i can see that happening considering i get 3 hours while doing like 50 things on 50 percent brightness.

 

Can you add an extra SSD disk instead of additional graphic card?

 

I'm going to start a new thread but I went ahead and overclocked my non-sli Y500 last night to 1100mhz and got this:



Can't wait to add another 650m and see what it can do!!

 

Just checked the website, there's no more SLI model BUT that means they're going to add the Ultravay( HDD, Extra Fan, Blu-Ray, GT650m) soon!!!

 

With the price/cost ratio in mind, if the Y500 SLI is pegged at $1250-1300. One might consider the P150 with the GTX670 or 675 and still arrive at the same price point (or even cheaper with some resellers) with the added bonus that your GPU can be upgraded later on. That is a tremendous added value and would minimize upgrade costs. But again, with March/April around the corner with Haswell... (which has an integrated GPU that promises to be at least 50% more powerful than HD4000 -but is still bested by medium dedicated GPUs). I was very tempted to splurge right away for the Y500 but I will wait as my system is still chugging along.

 

Haswell is supposed to increase GPU performance, lower energy usage, and extend battery life and I to might wait but then again Broadwell is gonna be the time to change because the chips will be drastically smaller (IVY and Haswell 22nm to Broadwell 14nm).

 

Can you upgrade the Hardrive on this machine

 

Is it possible to detach keys and put them somewhere else on the keyboard?

 

Do you think there is a big difference between y500 sli with i7 or with i5? Thanks

 

The octo core threading helps with cinebench and like civ5 (which is thread enabled). But an i5 is good enough for gaming especially with the 650m SLI.

 

Do the models on the website offer sli or will it distinctly mention it. I assumed with the Ultrabay, all y500/400s had the option but after reading this forum I am not sure.