Y50 Thread

Lenovo Y50 Model Differences FAQ

I’m just tossing this here because this thread seems to get the same questions repeatedly. If any of it is incorrect, please let me know or feel free to correct me. It’s not meant to be an extreme, in-depth look, but rather a quick, straightforward answer to most questions posed by new users reading the thread.

Basic Details

1. GENERAL: Has a review with benchmarks, temps, etc, been released yet? Has it shipped?
The first Y50s are expected to begin shipping this week (5/22). No review has been posted yet.

2. GPU: Is the 4GB version of the 860M Maxwell?
Yes.

3. GPU: How will the 860M perform?
See benchmarks here: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M - NotebookCheck.net Tech

4. GPU: Will there be SLI versions?
There have been rumors regarding an SLI version of the Y50. For the time being, that model has not been released & would likely require some redesign of the laptop’s form factor or motherboard.

5. DISPLAY: Is the display TN or IPS? And what about the 4K version?
All current displays are TN. The 4K display has not been released yet but will be released in the future. We don’t know if it will be TN or IPS, but current speculation is that it will likely be either a Sharp 4K or Samsung PLS display.

6. DRIVES: Is there room for more than one HDD/SSD in the Y50?
No. The current Y50 models only house a single drive.

7. DRIVES: There’s a model with a disk drive in it, can I—
No one has received one of these models yet. From images of the interior of the Y50, we don’t know where it would go. It would likely require it to be either external or have a different form factor for the laptop. For the time being, there are no answers for this.

8. GENERAL: How much does it weigh? What is the battery life?
The non-touch model weighs 5.3 lbs (2.4 kg) & the touch model weighs 5.7 lbs (2.6 kg). Battery life will likely be somewhere between 4-5 h non-gaming, ~2 gaming, though this is speculation.

Model Differences

1. CPU: What is the difference between the 4700HQ & the 4710HQ?
Both CPUs are Haswell CPUs and use the same architecture. The 4710HQ is newer by a year and part of the “Haswell Refresh” line; this simply means there are some minor improvements to power & speed management & a 100 MHz clock increase. Bottom line? It’s about a 4-7% performance boost and you likely won’t notice much in the real world.

There have been some notes about decreased/increased temps. There’s likely to be little difference between the 4700 & 4710; 100 MHz will not make or break your experience or suddenly burn your legs. There is also a note regarding an improved thermal interface to reduce heat; to my knowledge, this is only in the Devil’s Canyon CPUs and does not apply to the haswell refresh.

Intel Devil's Canyon, Pentium Anniversary and DDR4 Haswell

2. GPU: Do I need the extra 2 GB of VRAM on the 860M?
If you are playing games normally (read: without a multitude of texture mods), you will not notice a difference with the extra 2 GB of VRAM. Video Editors & those who participate in 3D model rendering, however, may see improved performance with the extra VRAM.

In regards to gaming, extra VRAM is likely only to be of assistance in very select circumstances. This would include things such as high res triple monitor setups or multi-monitor stereoscopic 3D. The exception to the rule is Skyrim, which is known for high-res texture modifications; if you max out these mods, you will likely hit your VRAM ceiling with 2GB. Will this prevent you from running the majority of mods with a beautiful game? No. Will you need to use 1920x1080 texture res instead of 2560x1600? Probably.

3. DRIVES: What is a Hybrid Drive (SSHD) & how does it compare to the SSD?
SSHD, or Hybrid Drives, are essentially HDD drives with a SSD cache. This means that, as they are used, their internal firmware automatically relocates files for your most used applications to the cache, to greatly improve loading & boot times. However, if you are transferring files or using files that you rarely work with, then the HDD portion of the drive becomes a bottleneck.

Overall, these drives are significant improvement over HDDs, with boot/load times for commonly used programs being quite fast, but not quite as fast as an SSD. They are significantly slower than SSDs when performing full disk operations or working with large numbers of files. However, they are cheaper per GB of storage than SSDs, which is a factor in 1 drive laptops such as the Y50.

4. DISPLAY: Is the 4K version worth it on a small screen?
This is a preference question, so I will just point out a couple things regarding the 4K screen.
First, the ideal viewing distance for a 15.6” 1080p screen is a little over 2 feet. This means you will likely see a benefit with a 4K screen (which has an ideal viewing distance a little over 1 foot).
On the flip side, many desktop programs are not optimized to scale for 4K (especially Adobe), meaning that text & toolbars can be very small. Furthermore, the 860M will not be able to support gaming at ultra 4K resolution (nor will any single laptop GPU), so you will need to use 1080p for your gaming.

Technical Questions

1. GPU: What is the difference between Kepler and Maxwell?
There are very specific technical differences in the architecture (read wiki), but at the bottom line, Maxwells are higher performing but less power hungry GPUs. On average, Maxwell has a 10% performance increase (up to 30%) on Kepler; power use in max settings is likely similar, but in base settings Maxwell will be using less power.

All Y50 GPUs are Maxwell.
Review Nvidia GeForce GTX 860M Maxwell vs. Kepler - NotebookCheck.net Reviews

2. DISPLAY: What is the difference between IPS & TN?
I’m not going to go into the technical differences. See Wikipedia.
Bottom line, IPS screens have much better viewing angles (especially at the extremes) and better color accuracy. One the flip side, TNs are much cheaper & have better response times (high end IPS is ~5ms & TN is ~2ms), which can result in less ghosting.

To see viewing angle differences, youtube Y510p (as these are Lenovo’s TNs, though slightly older than the Y50). This is generally a factor if you are pushing the screen at certain angles, have a lot of people trying to watch a movie, or lean far back in your chair. TNs undeniably have lower color accuracy, but in most cases is it more than adequate.

All current Y50 models use TN screens.

 

15,6 to 17 + its a bit thicker is like apples to oranges or whatever comparsion you like. You still need to improve cooling if you add another 860m if you want it to not throttle back and its not much room for that.so i dont know.

Up for a bet, Y50 with 2*860m and same dimesions released within a month from know? $100 for that or are you ready to bet an Y50 with those specs?

 

It will never become the norm because there just aren't that many people who need/want SLI and would be willing to pay the premium for it. It's not the norm on the Y510p and won't become the norm on the Y50.

 

He left a while ago. (I am guessing that you mean Jinx). As for workarounds for Canada, some companies ship to tax-free US states and then ship from there tax-free to Canada. Also, if you live close enough to the US border (I don't know where you live), you can get them to ship to a US PO box and then go pick it up I think. I may be wrong on this one though. After countless tries, I can't seem to get Lenovo to give me a better deal on the SSD models. They offered extra deals on other models, just not those. Sorry

 

ignore, delete

 

My turn to ask a question!
Does anyone know how long it takes for tracking information (including shipping date and expected delivery date) to appear on the Lenovo order tracking website? I placed my order at 10am this morning and the only information I can see right now is my order number: the date cells are blank. The page says that it can take up to 6 hours to update but it's already been longer than that (4:43pm where I am now). If I am actually supposed to receive my laptop within 1-3 days, shouldn't some tracking information appear before then? What are people's experiences with ordering from Lenovo?

 

$1459 is still one hell of a deal, don't you think so? Comparing to the $2,399.99 price of the 512GB SSD XPS 15, it would seem so (factor in lack of touch, smaller battery vs better GPU of Lenovo than XPS).

If someone would actually confirm the track pad is ok and battery life is at least 4 hours for office use at decent brightness, I would pull the trigger.

 

Maybe rumrored sli on the rumored y70 that was in rumored france in this rumor thread

 

There is no y70, all people talking about the y70 is because they see "y50-70" and think there is an y70, but that 70 y the version/model of the y50

 

So the y50 IS dual fanned right? Can't tell from intervals

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

Dual fan, but one for CPU and one for GPU. Luckily they are right next to each other, so cooling might be better.

 

just an fyi to canadians - all keyboards are bilingual.

 

Annnnnd I'll just order from the U.S and pick mine up at the border.

 

Question is, how much weight does the bluray drive add to this laptop

 

Site is down for me on the y series. Anyone confirm?

 

I'm very hesitant on these Lenovo helpers, as they always seem to claim that they know what they're doing but not really. However, if I placed my order on May 19th and my estimated delivery is by June 18th. Will lenovo really take 4 weeks to ship?

 

Both Canada and U.S sites working for me.

 

It's still up and running for me.

 

Just checked. It isn't down for me (USA).

 

I used to dislike bilingual keyboards but have gotten really used to them and now actually like them, lol. The larger Enter key is nice and the smaller Shift key doesn't matter much because it is on the very edge of the keyboard and thus really easy to find anyways. Especially on the Y50 keyboard which has shrunken Enter and Backspace keys (to accomodate the numpad): with a bilingual keyboard I will at least be able to have a decently sized Enter, haha.

 

The rest of the layout is the same except that the backslash key is to the left of the Enter key instead of on top of it. Which I am more used to now anyways. Bilingual keyboards really aren't a big deal, and definitely not enough of a reason to travel all the way to the Canada-US border and pay double tax (once when purchasing from Lenovo and again when crossing the border back to Canada unless you want to be sneaky and risk genuinely severe consequences).

 

If it's external, it wouldn't add any.
I've asked several reps that this non touch model would still be 5.3 lbs.

 

I've spoken to a couple different reps and they said the website only gets update once a week for shipping times, or something silly like that. Mine was ordered on the 18th & they're saying it will be shipped for me sometime between June 3rd & June 10th (has varied a little). I'm guessing they are actually taking that long, but we might get lucky and those dates might be over estimates.

 

Booo, you are so mean, dont kill our hopes that baldy, its good to dream

Anyways... on Lenovo site they announced a Blu Ray Drive right? then people started to ask Reps like crazy if was integrated or external drive and it was so many questions that they actually modified the site info clearly state "Integrated" Blu Ray Player... that doesn't looks like a typo or something but rather a very intentional statement. If you think about it, if there is some chance of some crazy sudden miraculous modification on the Y50 design to have an internal Optical Drive space, then there IS chance for a SLI configuration too o.o

Also remember there is some "Y70" name bouncing around on some manuals, or somewhere too.

EDIT: Bleh, nvm about the Y70 thing.

 

The size of the shift key on the bilingual keyboard is actually a deal breaker for me. I type on a few keyboards during the day at work and at home, and whenever I encounter a bilingual keyboard, it disrupts my work considerably. Why would Lenovo deprive Canadians of their own choice of a keyboard layout?

 

Not w/o taking out the subwoofer at least if not more. If they have enough space for that then we would msata slots Too

 

Maybe buffed y510?
In china the y410 is getting a buff with the gtx 850m and is now called the y430p.

 

Interesting, and what is the price of that y430p compared to y410p and y40? do you know if is a chine only model?

 

Check the y40 thread for more info.

 

Non-US Y50 models are referred to as Y50-70, including all of the Canadian ones. So the 70 is just a part of the Y50's name, not a whole new laptop. I'll grant you that with a modified shell, Lenovo may be able to shove in one more graphics card with a smaller fan. But what exactly is the point of SLI for this laptop, even if it was an option? It would definitely greatly increase heat output and the battery life of the computer would be a total joke (it's already not fanastic...). A single GTX860 can run every modern game, and most at ultra or high settings. Is the point to get un-noticeably better frame rates or something? Maybe it's useful for 4K gaming but for me the extra heat and lower battery life would not be worth it at all. And even that plan would obviously require the 4K screen, which will definitely be more expensive.

Big titles made in at least the next 3 years will be PS4/XBox -compatible, so they will have to be able to run on those specs. In such cases, the current Y50 should be more than powerful enough to play everything just fine. I don't see why everyone is getting so excited about a random SLI rumour: I wouldn't take it even if it was an option (which, like I said, is unlikely to ever happen).

 

I wouldn't mind at all to have the thicker Y510p body being a "Y50" buffed version with 860M SLI

 

I ordered my touch y50 on may 11 and it is saying a ship date of June 23

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

860m maxwell sli at least would be relatively tolerable compared to other gpus--2 860m maxwells add up to tdp of 100tdp, which is how much a single 870m uses. The gs60 with a thinner frame uses an 870m, granted I have heard of some overheating issues with gs60, but the y50 is of a slightly bigger build, so i do think 860m sli would be doable. However, I highly doubt that it's actually happening...

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

Hey, since you mention the next gen consoles, I always wondered if the GPU on those (say PS4) is superior to any GPU on a laptop? (I think GTX 880 SLI being the highest one). If not, then which mobile GPU would be the closer equivalent to those console GPU? (I know is not that easy to compare... but still wanna know).

EDIT: I think I found it, for the PS4 is around the AMD Radeon HD 7970M power. Curious thing 860M is ranked on position 31 on Notebookcheck Mobile GPU List while 7970M is ranking 29. But game benchmarks on 860M are kinda better on some games (maybe cuz drivers?) so yeah I suppose 860M would be very on par with the PS4 power.

 

860m, but that is without taking in account that CPU bottlenecks PS4

 

that reminds me of that recent watchdog bs. console gaming these days are just hilarious

 

Hey, Y50 already appears on Amazon (linking to Lenovo site though) but also appears on Amazon as advertising linking to other sites. I remember when Amazon had the Y510p this same way for the first time, then just some days latter they were selling it directly

Amazon

 

Anyone stuck deciding between this and the Asus N550JK like me? Better GPU here, but better IPS screen on the Asus, both similarly priced.

 

Asus is actually signicantly bulkier at 6 pounds and 1.1 inches thick. That pretty much decides it for me. By that point your going into the heavyweight laptop category IMO, which is not why someone would choose these laptops

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

Malaysian here as well. Waiting for either Lowyat or Digital Mall gets their stock before I pull the trigger.

 

Yeah, the main thing that turned me off the N550JK was the bulk too. And the useless DVD drive.
Also, saying that the Y50 has a better graphics card is an understatement: the N550JK's card can't really compare at all. The Y50 does have a worse screen but the computer can actually do whatever you want it to apart from professional graphics design. But for that there are better computers than the N550JK anyways. Meanwhile, the N550JK just flat out cannot play many games at good settings. Laggy games are far more annoying to me than a slightly worse screen (which isn't really noticeable unless compared to a fantastic one side-by-side).

 

You're not giving the 850m enough credit. It's not like last gen's GT 750 vs GTX 765 or anything like that. Yeah, the gddr3 sucks, but really, only if you are hell bent on 1080p / high texture gaming. The 850m will almost certainly, for example, play Watch Dogs on Medium settings at 900p (likely matching or beating the consoles) at 30 or more frame per second. I wouldn't be surprised if you could play on high settings (maybe even ultra with AA turned off) if you bump yourself to 720p. I know many people see <1080p as heresy, but on a laptop screen, I think the fight is just silly. The 850m is highly overclockable, insanely low-temp, and is basically an underclocked Maxwell 860m with gddr3 instead of gddr5.

 

Agreed. The 860m and 850m are miracle cards.

 

I for one would not like to go down any lower than 1080p, but to each his own

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

I also think there's some value in getting the best available maxwell card right now. Who knows when the 20nm cards are coming out. BTW the difference between the 850m vs 860m is about 35%. For comparison, 860m vs 870m is about 30%, however the 870m is going to be a lot hotter with Kepler, where as 850m vs 860m has essentially no heat increase. So a 35% performance increase with virtually no increase in heat? Definitely worth it to me.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

Very nice write up sir.

 

Hi, Malaysian here too. Im interested in Y50 as well... any ideas how long more will it reach our shores?

 

Holy crap, it's even better than I thought: Battlefield 4: GTX 850M (1080p, Ultra), Eurocom Electra 2.0 (W650SJ) Review & Benchmarks - YouTube

Are you guys seeing this?! Battlefield 4 on ultra WITH AA @ 1080p and the 850m is chugging away at an average of freaking 25 frames per second! O_O

Talk about the little card that could! Holy crap!

 

don't give the OC bs, it's not like you can't OC 860M

 

I know we are finally close but I'm to the point that I get extremely annoyed with every new post that goes by without a real review.

It is absurd to me that this thread has gone on for this long with almost three thousand posts and we still don't have a review on this laptop.

How did Lenovo not get this laptop into the hands of a legit website like Tomshardware or something for a review while we wait for ours to arrive or decide if were gonna place an order. This seems ridiculous to me.

Every new post feels like an endless amount of useless information and annoyance. I can't even bring myself to read them anymore, I just kinda skim through it very fast.

Sorry I know this isn't constructive at all and some of these new posts might be helping some people but I just needed to vent a bit.

/end rant

Again, sorry! I'm just really frustrated and can't wait anymore for mine to arrive! =)