Mix and match SLI with ALL Y series GPUs (650m, 750m, 755m) might be possible!

This is the same conclusion I came to. There has to be some setting on the y510p SLI models that is not exposed through the BIOS menus to enable SLI. Perhaps it is exposed on the modded BIOS, but no one has gone through the menus and taken pictures of a y510p with SLI to show the settings. This is the same way with the y410p as well. Great job @Lenovo to gimp their laptops.

 

I tried disabling the IGP on mine and ended up borking my screen, had to blindly reset the BIOS.

 

Same thing happened to me, you thinking that Optimus is breaking SLI? I am thinking the same thing...

 

Then how come SLI Y510p users can get Optimus Working by just pulling out their 750M's?

 

I think it's a BIOS setting that is hidden and set at the factory for y510p's that have SLI. That also explains why SLI does not work on non-SLI y510p's like @Varroa

In pseudo-C the logic behind it may look something like this (don't take this seriously, just want to illustrate my point):

If you notice y500's don't have Optimus. Everything is rendered by the NVIDIA card. They do not have any problem using the SLI card even on models that were sold without SLI.

 

I can't get any answer from the official mods on the lenovo support forum either. The lenovo support person on the phone said I should be able to see the cards in the bios and there is nothing in the bios related to video cards.

 

Have you tried running linux and then running lspci as root?

Anyways, guess it's caddy time for me

 

Nope, haven't tried that yet.

 

I'm just curious, do you have secureboot enabled?

 

Encryption? No, no secureboot at all.

 

Not talking about encryption. I'm talking about UEFI vs Legacy boot options in the BIOS settings. Did you leave it on UEFI or is it on Legacy?

 

I left it as UEFI

 

Enable Legacy and check to see if the Second bay is detected.

Try booting a non-uefi OS like linux.

 

Legacy did not help. Will try Linux tomorrow.

 

Didn't bother with Linux, I am shipping this card back and getting a replacement shipped out today. I will update on my progress as soon as the new card arrives.

 

Somebody over on the Lenovo support forums is going to try his "dead" second card in a friends SLI machine to see if it is detected. If it does then we know it is a bios issue for sure.

 

This probably explains why Ember's card (and yours) did not work. Hopefully SLI owners can dump a bios.

 

I extracted the SetupUtility binary from my BIOS dump and was looking around to see if there were any interesting settings. There is a hidden option on the "Configuration" page that would be between the "Intel Virtual Technology" and "BIOS Back Flash" options called "Graphic Device" with description "Select graphic device". The options for this setting are "[Switchable Graphics]" and "[Discrete Graphics]".

IIRC this hidden option is not exposed by the modded BIOS. Perhaps, if this option was enabled in an additional BIOS mod, we could be able to potentially turn off Optimus (and thus, the Intel integrated graphics) and use SLI on our non-SLI models.

 

Interesting. You are right about that setting not being exposed in the modded BIOS. This could definitely be something. Guess we'll have to stay tuned. This saga is not over yet and there is still hope for you guys.

 

Should we ask Svl7, he might know.

 

Yeah, probably. An alternative would be to boot into an EFI shell and use setup_var commands to change the settings for the variable that that setting changes without doing the BIOS mod. Problem is, I couldn't get Falseclock's UEFI settings page parser to work properly on my SetupUtility so I don't know what the settings variable number is, I suppose I could just look at it a bit more in my hex editor to find out what it is.

As always, this carries the risk of soft-bricking the laptop into not displaying video, or might not do anything at all, blah blah blah.

 

Now that you have done it, you don't want to risk it again. I know that feel. Seeing that it's just on the regular "Configuration" page I would HOPE that it would properly also apply the right settings to make it happen but you know, we are dealing with the undocumented here and anything could happen.

 

Given what the other guys have been going through in trying out the 750m ultrabay, I'm wondering if the 650m ultrabays would work better than the 750m ones currently being sold, as in having the correct vBIOS settings out of the box. Whoever formulated this whole ultrabay scheme at Lenovo is one major idiot.

 

Lenovo staff are posting in the thread at Lenovo's official forum, so we may have some progress on the issue.

@Kukri I don't know. While I was snooping in the BIOS, I also saw this message "Second VGA module is not suitable to this produce[sic]. Power off and remove it." by the wording, I would assume that if a 650M ultrabay is installed, the BIOS will not boot (like the WiFi whitelist). Again, since no one has tried it, I can't confirm it will ever be triggered, but that would require another BIOS mod.

 

Yep, finally got Lenovo to acknowledge the new card not being detected (I spammed them via PM, Facebook, etc). They are looking into the issue finally.

 

Yes, it would require one of the modded BIOS versions, as well as the driver fix to actually use it in SLI. But all in all, that could've been done months ago, compared to waiting for this debacle over the same product that they keep mucking up :/.

 

Kukri, what temperatures do you get on your y400's 650m? That's a pretty substantial overclock.

 

When I run it around 1200, I think it pushes the thermal limit. The biggest problem is the CPU taking heat from the GPU, but the 650m itself gets into the 80s. I haven't clocked it that high in a while because something (I assume newer drivers) is preventing me from going past 1099 Mhz...

You know, what sucks about this SLI thing is I didn't get it until after I had played all the cool games that came out this year. Its now been months without a new release on the PC that actually interests me, and will apparently stay that way through the new year. I might just pawn off my ultrabay for the time being because it's not getting any use, lol.

 

Wait for GTA V for PC. Getting rid of the ultrabay on the Y400 does nothing for battery life.

 

Any success on this?

 

Got my replacement SLI card (750m5) and it still doesn't work (no surprise). Lenovo says they are still working on it. However, another Lenovo forum member said he sent in his entire laptop and they are shipping it back with the description "Fixed". That might mean they fixed the problem or they just sent him a new SLI laptop. We will find out later today but as of now there doesn't seem to be a fix for people with single card version of the y510p who buy a second card for SLI and the second card isn't detected.

 

But i can't just "send" in my Y410p, pay 230$ and then get a working SLI model, because there are no GT750M4's out on the market. However i can try, i might contact Lenovo and tell them, see if i can speak to Mark.

I will ask to see if i can trade in my Y410p for a Y510p SLI for 230$.

 

Code:

Chat Transcript
Please wait while we connect with you with a Lenovo Chat Representative.
You have been connected to ^Chetan Sharma.
^Chetan Sharma:  Thank you for contacting Lenovo Sales Chat. My name is Chetan and my Rep ID is 2900713386. Happy to help you today.
^Chetan Sharma:  How may I assist you today?
Jobine:  one second
Jobine:  i need to speak with a specific rep
^Chetan Sharma:  Sure.
Jobine:  his name is Mark, let me find his ID
Jobine:  (browsing through forum posts, give me a second)
^Chetan Sharma:  Do you want me to connect you to him?
Jobine:  yes please
Jobine:  Mark is an Admin on the Lenovo forums, i would like to contact him
^Chetan Sharma:  Let me check the availibility.
^Chetan Sharma:  Kindly give me one minute.
Jobine:  no problem
Jobine:  his name is Mark Hopkins
^Chetan Sharma:  I am trying to get connect to Mark, however just want to know the issue you want to talk about, so that I can let him know about it.
Jobine:  It is concerning the SLI issues with the GT750M Y410p and Y510p laptops, and i need to talk about a specific forum thread
Jobine:  that mark posted in
Jobine:  ....
Jobine:  hello?
^Chetan Sharma:  I am still checking wiht him, kindly be online for 2 minutes.
Jobine:  ok no problem, i'll be here for the next hour, i just want answers
^Chetan Sharma:  I am sorry, but I am not getting any reply from him as he is busy with the chats, so I am connecting you in the Quea, so that it can be resolved.
^Chetan Sharma:  Kindly be online for a minute.
Jobine:  ok
^Chetan Sharma has left the session.
Please wait while we find an agent from the US Sales department to assist you.
You have been connected to _Heather R.
_Heather R:  Hello, thank you for choosing Lenovo Sales Chat. My name is Heather, your sales chat representative. My Rep ID is 2900716043. May I please have your name and address?
Jobine:  My name is*****************and my address is**************************** Prince Edward Island, Canada
_Heather R:  Hi, How can I help you today?
Jobine:  so i wanted to talk to Mark
Jobine:  But Chetan told me he was busy
Jobine:  so he/she directed me to you
Jobine:  *Mark Hopkins
_Heather R:  yes, it does not look like Mark is online. Can i help you?
Jobine:  Well, my friend Varroa (that's his Lenovo forum ID)
Jobine:  ordered a Y15'' GT750M graphics card
_Heather R:  ok
Jobine:  and even after recieving two cards, neither of them worked in his laptop
_Heather R:  I am sorry to hear that. She he want to return them?
Jobine:  as seen in this thread
Jobine:  [url=http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/IdeaPad-Y-U-V-Z-and-P-series/New-y510p-sli-card-not-detected/td-p/1312283/page/7]New y510p sli card not detected - Page 7 - Lenovo Community[/url]
_Heather R:  ok
Jobine:  so one of the Lenovo reps let him send in his laptop to get it upgraded to a SLI (dual graphics) edition
_Heather R:  ok
Jobine:  now, my problem is
_Heather R:  ok
Jobine:  I have a Y410p, and i was interested into buying the Y15'' GT750M so i could mod the bezel and get it to work with my Y410p
Jobine:  this is known to work, as reported by user Blitzkrieg from that thread
Jobine:  Unfortunately, it seems that the cards you people are selling are defective
Jobine:  and do not work in any laptop period, whether Y410p or Y510p (which are the same laptop, same motherboard, etc)
_Heather R:  OK. I have heard that we ahve been having troubles with those cards
Jobine:  I currently own a Y410p (june 2013) with 900p display, 24GB M.2 SSD, DVD writer and GT750M
Jobine:  It is still under warranty
_Heather R:  ok
Jobine:  the laptop works perfectly fine, however i am greatly upsetted that i cannot upgrade it at all, which was one of the reasons i purchased this laptop in the first place. Plus, when i originally bought this laptop, you people advertised that it was Dual-Graphics compatible, however after a few months you removed that description from your site.
Jobine:  Leaving me the only option to buy Y15'' cards and then have them modded to fit my laptop.
Jobine:  So i have 3 questions/comments to say
_Heather R:  I understand where you are coming from.
_Heather R:  ok
Jobine:  1. Can you start selling GT750M4 cards? I am seriously frustrated, i have contacted you every single month since i purchased this laptop, and the rep kept telling me to "wait till the end of the month" but i kept getting lied and lied
Jobine:  and the funny part is, the GT750M4 is just a GT750M5 with the bezel taken from the Y400's fan accessory, which i was going to buy and attach myself. I am upsetted that you cannot sell a product that you can easily asssemble from your own parts
Jobine:  2. Can you ship "working" 750M Y15 cards? People such as Varroa have bought the SLI-compatible Y510p and have been recieving nonworking cards, however when they took the cards from their buddies' working Y510p SLI models the cards were working and detected
Jobine:  3. If that does not work, can you guys at least allow me to send in my Y410p (which is still under warranty) in exchange for a Y510p (1080p/8GB/24GB SSD) with dual graphics, i will pay the 230$ GPU upgrade.
Jobine:  that is all, i am very frustrated with some of your business practices
_Heather R:  I understand what you are saying.
_Heather R:  We have had some troubles with that part on these laptops.
_Heather R:  Unfortunately I cannot do anything for you in sales unless you are purchasing something, but post sales might be able to assist you
Jobine:  >_>
Jobine:  so you will redirect me to post sales where i can then get the problem fixed
_Heather R:  yes. one moment
_Heather R has left the session.
Please wait while we find an agent from the US Post Sales Team department to assist you.
You have been connected to Kiara L.
Thank you for contacting Lenovo. You may now close this window.
Your session has ended. You may now close this window.

Really frustrated atm. She either dc'ed or hung up on me.

 

Looks like i can't get a refund, i will call tech support once i get home.

 

I was thinking of buying the gt750m5 when I receive my y410p, but I see that there are many problems to work. It may be impossible to do.

Recommend me return and refund it? Because i want play games in high setting for minimum two years in that laptop, better get a 770m or 780m...

 

Dude just get the Y510p SLI.

 

I don't want to buy a 15" laptop
Prefer small screen, my next option is a Eurocom M3

1080p ips 13.3"
i7 4700mq + 765m
2 Msata slot + hdd

My point is that I got the y410p for 749 XD I still think it was a good deal

Thank you

 

That's a re-badged Clevo w230st and it packs a big punch in a small form-factor! I would probably get the Clevo, but buy it through re-badger (Eurocom, Sager) so you at least get warranty and support if it breaks. The y410p leaves a bit to be desired as far as build quality is concerned, and from what I've seen, Lenovo's desire to actually support the laptop leaves a lot to be desired (see: the whole y510p SLI not being detected on non-SLI models, WLAN whitelist in the BIOS requiring a warranty-voiding BIOS mod, lackluster cooling...). They'll repair it, but they seem to have a record of not issuing any BIOS updates the entire life of the laptop (meaning you will only, if lucky, get a leaked BIOS to fix issues). Not saying it is a bad laptop, just Lenovo supported their products much better when they did Thinkpads with IBM. Now, they don't care. Personally, I would get the Clevo w230st if I could go back and choose again.

Seeing you all ready bought the y410p, give it a try for a week, see if you like it, if not just return it. At least Lenovo has a generous return policy.

 

Just called post sales, they told me to contact tech support. Unfortunately this means i will need to do some phone calls tonight.

Reflex > Eurocom if you live in Canada, and in the US there are much better resellers out there, Xotic/Prostar/Gentech/LPC/Mythologic to name a few.

 

For the time being, while everything else is being resolved I just wanted to know-
For a 755m model, is it still possible to get a 750m to work alongside in sli?
Assuming the bios/mobo is compatible, or whatever is the actual fix needed to make a nonsli model sli, does the modded driver patch posted earlier still work to make a 755m compatible with a 750m in the ultrabay slot?

 

"For the time being, while everything else is being resolved I just wanted to know-
For a 755m model, is it still possible to get a 750m to work alongside in sli?"

Well, you should be able to, using EmberV's dSLI, however i would just wait for the 755 cards to come out, because they are already out on Lenovo malaysia.

 

So do we need to find a used y500 or something and get the BIOS for Ember? Im not opposed to the idea, y500 can be the home machine while y410p be the primary. Then I can always resell the y500 later if I dont have a use for it anymore. Tax season is around the corner so for the moment Im gathering any and all information that I can.

I have seen the y500 around here (SLI) for as low as 600 in my area (craigslist)

 

Hi All,

I am new to the forums. I have a friend in Malaysia who attempted to obtain me a Y 15'' Removable Graphics GT755M5. Lenovo told her that they did not directly sell this item, and she would have to obtain it through a reseller/vendor. The reseller/vendor then said that they do not sell this item directly. She also asked a colleague in Singapore and got the same result.

Has anyone actually been able to get their hands on one in Malaysia?

Cheers,

Sky

 

Hey guys, first of all thanks in advance for all your amazing work, it really helped me out in choosing the y410p as my new laptop.

I just wanted to ask, I've ordered a y410p 755m version, any clue about where I could find a Gt755m4, if a thing like it even exists right now?

 

This may work Y510P Removable Graphics GT755M5 | Lenovo | (US)

 

Good luck, no one has gotten it to work so far

 

Which I find odd, considering I used a GN36 650M (for the y500) for months.

 

And I don't think I'm willing to take the risk to try it xD also considering that import stuff from america here in italy usually cost me 2 times the real value of the item. Well then, I'll just wait to see if something comes out, in the meanwhile a single 755 should be able to play Wildstar decently on medium settings ^_^