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    Y500 Owners and Questions Thread

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by y500, Nov 30, 2012.

  1. kent1146

    kent1146 Notebook Prophet

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    Do not clone. Do a clean install for two reasons:

    1) HDD --> SSD cloning is a bit trickier than traditional HDD --> HDD cloning, since you need to deal with 4K cluster alignment (or else you lose 25% - 40% performance in your SSD over time).
    2) This is a perfect time to do a clean re-format anyway, to clean out the bloatware that Lenovo pre-loads on their systems. A clean install of Windows 8 will properly account for 4K cluster alignment issues.
     
  2. Militant529

    Militant529 Newbie

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    Thanks, I managed to disable SLI, then when I re-enabled and ran the benchmark, the 2nd card seemed to work and I got much better performance, although 1 card did hit 67 and the other 61 (running on a cooling pad, ambient temp around 72ish). Now the other thing I'm confused about is OC'ing which this would be my first time doing. I seem to recall reading about people having to upgrade to a leaked version of lenovo bios and then flashing a modified bios to run? But then again there's a Y500 overclock thread from december where guys appear to be OCing and make no mention of flashing the vbios, am I missing something?
     
  3. octiceps

    octiceps Nimrod

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    Yeah the Ultrabay GPU tends to run a bit hotter than the main one. As far as overclocking is concerned the easiest way would be to flash the unlocked BIOS and vBIOS made by svl7 on Tech Inferno which has the +135 MHz core limit unlocked so that you can use any software like MSI Afterburner to do the overclocking. If you don't use the BIOS mod then you would have to follow the guide here to use Nvidia Inspector and a .bat file to do the overclocking: http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam...guide-workaround-max-clocks-oc-stability.html. It's a more difficult workaround, especially as far as typing the .bat file correctly, and you lose Kepler's dynamic downclocking to save power when idle.
     
  4. TehSuigi

    TehSuigi Notebook Virtuoso

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    Posting a quick hello and question; you may be seeing an awful lot of me in this thread (just acquired the Y500 yesterday).
    How tricky is it to get an mSATA SSD installed and working on the machine? I checked the HMM, and it looks like a lot of screws. Thanks!
     
  5. AriStar

    AriStar Notebook Evangelist

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    unscrewing it is easy, just 9 screws.

    Unhinging the thing is terrifying. I sat there for like 10 minutes trying to figure out how exactly to take the back off (its the WHOLE back that comes off...) Putting it back is a lot simpler, everything just clicks into place.
     
  6. dronelebeau

    dronelebeau Notebook Geek

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    yeah i know, right? it's impossible not to break a sweat lol! watch the rear end, that part are the softest and very prone to breaking, i think.
     
  7. AriStar

    AriStar Notebook Evangelist

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    Lol. I started questioning if I even really needed a 256GB ssd in there. I am glad I went through with it though, SSD's make a huge difference imho.
     
  8. He1p

    He1p Notebook Evangelist

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    Hi regarding the 4k

    I have a cloning kit from apricorn and they have 4k selection

    I would do a clean install but i do not have windows 8 CD or the USB since the windows website need the user to buy first but why would i buy since it comes with it
     
  9. FSU Logan

    FSU Logan Notebook Evangelist

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    If I bought windows 8 on the day of release for my other laptop, could I download it and use it for when I get a new mSATA SSD?
     
  10. Militant529

    Militant529 Newbie

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    Hey, I'm playing on a coolermaster x2 cooling pad with my y500 sli 650 (i7, ss+1tb, 16gb ram) in around 71-72F ambient temps, and my CPU is hitting around 80-81C on the hottest core during stressful loads and gaming. GPU's don't seem to go much over 65C. Considering I plan on using this thing for gaming extensively, will 80C lead to diminished returns on lifespan?

    edit: suppose its worth noting im on stock bios using the 320 drivers and was playing Metro Last night.

    Diablo 3 on max settings around 100fps puts my CPU at high 60's low 70s and my GPUs at 68 and 61 respectively.
     
  11. Dragnoak

    Dragnoak Notebook Evangelist

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  12. Ice Cold

    Ice Cold Notebook Deity

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    I actually took screenshots of that before it gets deleted and removed. I got the 2 year warranty seems like an easy way to kill your system in 2 years and get an upgrade.

    #1. Just don't ever do the battery reset thing until the day you want to kill your system
    #2. There won;t be any old Y500 lying around because its a hardware design flaw so they Upgrade is a) cheaper for lenovo and b) is a given because of the design flaw


    Only thing now is Lenovo, will put its top level engineers and designer on a special team to fix this by

    A. A BIOS Update, that will likely fix other issues and improve system performance alltogether
    B. They will disable this battery reset feature and issues a press release saying it was never meant to be user acessible anyways there by not really fixing anything but preventing us from accidentally killing the system.
     
  13. FSU Logan

    FSU Logan Notebook Evangelist

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    This seriously is going to sound stupid, but is it illegal to intentionally cause your system to fail just to get an updated system?
    I also bought the 2 year warranty..
     
  14. JeffNebraska

    JeffNebraska Notebook Enthusiast

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    I can't respond to the original post, because my IT department at work ended up installing the mSATA for me. However, I can say that the boot up, shut down, and game launch performance using the mSATA SSD as my C:/ drive is stunning. The thing starts up and shuts down in like 5-8 seconds. I will just use the original HDD for storage, if I ever need it.
     
  15. Militant529

    Militant529 Newbie

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    I tried asking on the previous page and was overlooked, but I don't want to create a thread for a simple question. Playing games on their "optimal" settings with Nvidia experience, or close to the optimal settings, my Ultrabay graphics card is hitting 70C, processor floats around 67-82 depending on the game. Any issues with these temps in the long run? Stock clock speeds. stock bios, y500 650m sli.
     
  16. xninjagrrl

    xninjagrrl Notebook Consultant

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    Count me part of the Y500 club. Finally got one that is a keeper. Great deal for the price and nope, I wont be regretting this purchase when Haswell comes out and I wont cry a year from now when the newer versions of this laptop come out. In all honesty, I'll probably buy one of those too and give this one to my bff.
     
  17. jaysonsd

    jaysonsd Notebook Enthusiast

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    So, some useful bits from people just jumping on this thread as I've spent the better part of yesterday going through the whole thread :)

    Talked to Lenovo this morning and they claim all new y500s have their touchpads fixed.

    Overclocking guide
    Clean install of Windows 8
    UEFI Install Windows 8
    Samsung 840 120gb SSD, cheapest I could find - 90
    Samsung 840 250gb SSD, cheapest I could find - 168 (very tempting for me)
    How to nuke your new laptop... possibly

    If you can't haggle well over the phone to drop the price. Try the b&n discount, shaved 60 bucks off the laptop and 20 bucks off the warranty.

    I just ordered the Y500 750M SLI yesterday. I was hung up on the GE60 w a 660M, but it was the same size as my old GX640 and just a pound lighter. Don't want to drop 1300 bux and still play games windowed @ 1024x768.

    Couple questions:
    What's this guy weigh?
    Does the motherboard support integrated graphics so I can switch out of the 750Ms when I'm not gaming?
     
  18. He1p

    He1p Notebook Evangelist

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    i would wait for next gen cpu because MSI already releae new GT70 with GTX 780m and GE40
     
  19. arcticreaver

    arcticreaver Notebook Consultant

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    i've read the y500 sucks thread. and i see that the major problems are the mousepad, usb, typing problems and short battery life.

    the mousepad and usb problems seems to be addressed in the newer models with the gt 750m, right?

    i'm not worried about battery life. but how about the keyboard? anyone know?
     
  20. Estbarul

    Estbarul Newbie

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    The keyboard is awesome, I really don't know why people complain about it.
     
  21. xinawesome

    xinawesome Notebook Enthusiast

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    My keyboard flex around the Delete button. Then sent me a replacement unit; same problem. I don't know if I can trust the lenovo ideapad line anymore.

    touchpad works fine for me though.
     
  22. jaysonsd

    jaysonsd Notebook Enthusiast

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    Haha, I've gotta unique situation: deployment. Got about a month before they ship me out to the Baltic. I'm not completely sold on it, I'm gonna put it through the ringer while I'm in the states. After popping in an SSD and upgrading the warranty, I'm actually spending more than the GE60 w the rebate. But, back lit keyboard, superior graphics, bigger harddrive, same weight as my old gx640. But then, GE60 is a good 1lb lighter (matters to me), independent graphics, 1 year accidental coverage.

    Next gen MSI always costs more, buggy, and when/if needs repair, I'm paying for shipping. If the Lenovo breaks, they pay for shipping (for some reason, that makes a difference).

    This helped me decide as well (750M SLI vs 660M)
     
  23. arcticreaver

    arcticreaver Notebook Consultant

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    the flex, is that a big issue? does the button still work?
     
  24. xinawesome

    xinawesome Notebook Enthusiast

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    It's not too big of an issue. I admit that I'm a little OCD on electrics. The keyboard feels great the only quirk is that it flex and makes a noise when I press down the Delete button.
     
  25. arcticreaver

    arcticreaver Notebook Consultant

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    haha i know what you mean. i hate typing on my hp laptop. the keyboard feels way too cheap. looking for something with better feel and backlit. the question is the sale ends today. wonder if i should buy it today or just wait for something better.
     
  26. xinawesome

    xinawesome Notebook Enthusiast

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    I think they'll come up with another sale, eg. memorial day sell or something. Since the new CPU is coming out, I'm sure Lenovo wants to sell as many of their older models as possible. I would wait and see, I don't think you lose much(if at all) even if you miss the deal than buying a wrong laptop that brings you headache.
     
  27. arcticreaver

    arcticreaver Notebook Consultant

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    the deal is so tempting though. sli gaming laptop that looks good and isn't all that heavy to haul around. decisions, decisions.
     
  28. irc2

    irc2 Newbie

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    Hello.
    I'm looking for a laptop that fit my gaming/programming needs. First I looked at the alienware m14x with this specs:

    Code:
    Intel® Core™ i7-3840QM
    256GB SSD SATA
    16GB (2 X 8GB) Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600MHz
    2 GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 650M with Optimus™
    Price: $1,947.00
    But then I checked out Y500 and I liked it, the GPU is more powerful and the laptop it self is much cheaper [its on offer]. The one I liked is the most powerful one which has a SLI GFX card, IdeaPad Y500 Laptop - Dual Graphics - 59371963 - Dusk Black, specs:
    Code:
    Intel Core i7-3630QM Processor( 2.40GHz 1600MHz 6MB)
    NVIDIA GeForce GT750M GDDR5 2GB
    16.0GB PC3-12800 DDR3 SDRAM 1600 MHz
    1TB 5400 RPM+16GB SSD
    Ultrabay SLI Graphics - NVIDIA GeForce GT750M GDDR5 2GB
    Price: $1,086.75
    I'm saving almost $1k but I have few questions:
    • Is there are a big difference between the i7-3630QM and i7-3840QM?
    • How many hours Y500 Battery last? and is there are a way to manage and standby the graphic cards to save power?
    • Does the i7-3630QM come with turbo?
    • I'm upgrading and installing a 250GB SSD to it. Do I have to remove the 1TB and I can just replace the 16GB SSD?
     
  29. FSU Logan

    FSU Logan Notebook Evangelist

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    First of all, you could probably shed $200 of that price. Call Lenovo and negotiate.
    Your questions:
    1) I really do not know what I would assume it isn't THAT big of a difference.
    2) Battery lasts 3-5 hours depending on your settings
    3) Yes, it blatantly says it comes with turbo boost, haha.
    4) You will have to remove the 1TB HDD if you are talking about a 2.5" SSD.. Buy a 256GB Plextor M5M mSATA SSD if you want to just replace the 16GB mSATA SSD Cache.. Once you do this, you will have to make the mSATA your main drive.
     
  30. He1p

    He1p Notebook Evangelist

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    should i buy lenovo y500 or stick with my msi gt783 ?
     
  31. jaysonsd

    jaysonsd Notebook Enthusiast

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    1. Try this out
    2. This willl give you some info on unlocking the bios. From all the searching I did, looks like either the H4000 integrated graphics aren't accessible or can't be unlocked. There's no Optimus either.
    3. Yep
    4. To me it makes more sense to keep the 1tb as a slave and slap a 250 in the 16SSD slot. Storage and speed. Don't know about RAID though.

    On a good note, B&N discount with the new memorial day savings drops it another 140 bux!
     
  32. Junra

    Junra Newbie

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    Hi there!

    My y400 ships on June 6th (ordered it like a month ago, but I live in India so I had to Fedex it and all sorts of customs and ugh). It's the one with the 750m.

    I've looked around and there don't appear to be any gaming benchmarks for the 750m. I was wondering if someone could post their FPS at 1366x768 for games like:

    BF3
    Skyrim
    Crysis 3
    Far Cry 3

    I know this is the Y500 owners lounge but the Y400 owner's lounge hasn't been active for the past one month and it's practically the same laptop (internals are the same, you guys just get a bigger screen :D )

    Thanks
     
  33. FSU Logan

    FSU Logan Notebook Evangelist

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    won't a laptop perform differently at varying resolutions
     
  34. Junra

    Junra Newbie

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    Well, yes it will. I'd appreciate some input specifically at 1366x768. Many y500 owners will have the FHD option and of course FPS is going to be lower at 1080p compared to 768p. The Y400 wouldn't have that issue because 768p is native res for it. It would be great if someone could benchmark a few titles at 768p on their Y500, because that would tell me exactly what to expect from the Y400.
     
  35. clifdenhill

    clifdenhill Notebook Enthusiast

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    How many days do you have before you can't return an item for refund or replacement with lenovo? I couldn't find it on the site probably looking in the wrong places.
     
  36. FSU Logan

    FSU Logan Notebook Evangelist

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    Refund (full) is 21 days
     
  37. clifdenhill

    clifdenhill Notebook Enthusiast

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    Ah okay Thank you
     
  38. arcticreaver

    arcticreaver Notebook Consultant

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    any games that does not work well with windows 8?
     
  39. octiceps

    octiceps Nimrod

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    Not that I've seen. I've played games from 1997 and 1998, specifically Unreal and Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II and Mysteries of the Sith, on Windows 8 Pro without major issues. Mind you, these are from the original CD-ROM's I bought back in the day, not the modernized download versions from places like Steam and GoG that have been patched and fixed up somewhat to ensure compatibility with modern operating systems. Games this old still usually require a bunch of workarounds such as alternate installers and custom Direct3D renderers to work properly and generally have small glitches, but they are playable if you are dedicated and put in the time to get them to work. Playing really old games in Windows 8 isn't any more difficult than what I'm used to in 7 or Vista, but admittedly compatibility is quite a bit better in XP. You could probably get most post-DOS games to work in Windows 8 with varying degrees of difficulty. I have been rather surprised with Windows 8 so far; its software compatibility has been excellent for me and it feels very fast. If only they would get rid of the awful Metro UI.

    I answered your question by discussing old games because I have always found them to be the most difficult to run on modern operating systems. Games released in the new millenium are much easier in my experience, although there are exceptions.
     
  40. arcticreaver

    arcticreaver Notebook Consultant

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    most of my games are from downloads like steam. hopefully, all is well when i get my y500.
     
  41. Junra

    Junra Newbie

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    Any help with those benchmarks? :)
     
  42. He1p

    He1p Notebook Evangelist

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    temperature on SLi ?
     
  43. He1p

    He1p Notebook Evangelist

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    does it come with 170w ? or 120w ?
     
  44. ace13x

    ace13x Newbie

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    Hi everyone. I just recieved my y500 today. But I purchased the i7 model and the sticker says i5 so I went to the control panel and looked at the hardware and that says it is actually the i7. Is there any other tests I can run to make sure I got the right one and if I did how can I remove the sticker?
     
  45. swoley2k

    swoley2k Notebook Deity

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    This is off topic and I apologize.

    Can anyone tell me the name of the webcam viewer software that comes preinstalled? Not the driver but the actual program you use to play around with the webcam

    Thanks
     
  46. octiceps

    octiceps Nimrod

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    CyberLink YouCam.
     
  47. Character Zero

    Character Zero Notebook Evangelist

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    Just peel the sticker off. I removed the sticker on the left that has al the stuff about the USB ports and Speaker. I kind of like the Intel and Nvidia badges, but the Lenovo sticker was just advertising.
     
  48. He1p

    He1p Notebook Evangelist

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    How do you clone and transfer to a mSata ssd
     
  49. vito357si

    vito357si Notebook Guru

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    I installed windows 7 and cant seem to find what program to install to get the volume icons to show up on screen?
     
  50. swoley2k

    swoley2k Notebook Deity

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    Thank you!
     
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