Y580 Owners Thread

Anyone know where I can pick up a space Lenovo Y580 battery? I'll be using my laptop for college and the battery only lasts around 3 hours, so a spare would be awesome.

Lenovo doesn't have spares in stock, but does anyone have past experience with any websites that sell spare batteries?

 

Hmm, but when you gonna use a normal SSD (not Hybrid-Drive like in the Lenovo), it should be fine? The thing you discoverd only affects the Cache in the HDD, doesn't it?

 

No, no of course it won't affect...There is Intel's technology called Smart Response. It takes up to 64GB from SSD and marks it as cache. When you do normal things on laptop (starting windows, browser ect) then those things will be saved on this marked space (cached) and next time you use them they won't be load from HDD but from the cache instead, which is much faster.
And it looks like chipset from Y580 lack support for this technology.
It doesn't affect SSD usage as standard storage device. So you can still put SSD in mSATA and install OS there while HDD will be for storage.

 

Ah okay, I think it still is fast enough without Smart Response though? Do you know how much difference there is when you boot a program with and without Smart Response?

 

That depends on SSD used and program started but I would say 2-4 times.
And yes, this notebook is fast enough without it. And if you install OS on SSD then it would be even faster. I would do that but I don't have enough money for that right now

 

Ah well, then I can go for the Asus anyway, as I will buy a SSD. The cache thing in the Lenovo isn't that great as I first thought.

Btw, still waiting for your awesome review

 

If I won't fall asleep after work then it should be in 2-4 hours. And don't expect it to be some super-top-notch (especially that English is not my native language)

 

That's still great. Cause then I gonna compare yours with nipsen' review (from the Asus board) and then I can finally buy my dream laptop

So it's on your choice which laptop I gonna buy! Haha, just joking

 

Can someone post a screenshot of their NVIDIA control panel? Mine somehow only shows the 3D settings, and the flat panel scaling, etc all that stuff is gone :S

When I connect an external monitor using HDMI, I noticed that it looks like the color definition was somehow significantly reduced. Does anyone else have this issue? How did you resolve it?

Also, another very weird issue is that when the GTX660M is active, everything looks great on the desktop, but once I enter a game, areas where the color changes with a slow gradient is showing banding, also indicative of reduced color depth. Any ideas?

 

All true. BUT when someone pay $1100 for a device they dont want it to poop out after 2 or 3 years. They need to come up with a better cooling solution. Liquid may run through the pipes on a laptop but I do not think its anywhere as efficient as liquid cooling on desktops. So yeah you can get an underpowered laptop I guess that runs cools. Which for all intents and purposes is great for basic use. To bad current tech and gaming takes a hit on laptops.

I dont think people are blowing it out of proportion. Not when they are spending $1100.

 

Just buy an ext cooler, problem solved!

 

What I mean is that the only real constraint on the designs is that the temperature of a chip cannot exceed maximum safe temperature for silicon - say 95C. If it does, then the manufacturer would find itself having to replace chips under warranty, which costs a lot of money - so that naturally becomes the limiting factor.

Other than that, there is no reason for a manufacturer to not provide as good performance as possible, especially in a notebook that they market as a high performance system. It is just the nature of physics that if you want to switch a transistor at a higher rate, you will generate more heat.

The only solution to your concern is if some governing body mandates that "you may not make a notebook with GPU/CPU running over 60C". That's no problem - such computers already exist. The only net effect of such a limit is removing all high performance computers from the market.

Let me make an analogy - it's like saying "oh the automotive technology is not mature enough, over so many years they still haven't managed to make a 400 km/h sports car use as little fuel as a sedan". Of course that is impossible. Although engines might improve over time for all cars, you will never have a high performance car use less fuel than a Honda Civic. You simply buy what you need. If what you need is today's high end power but with lower negative effects, then wait till tomorrow when tomorrow's lower performance equals today's high performance, but uses much less power.

 

I rather enjoy the darker display because normally the colors seems to be washed out. I tried to calibrate the Y580 screen the other day using Microsoft's color calibration. I adjusted the gamma to a higher level, as suggested by the program, and when I tried to adjust the brightness using intel's control panel, the whole thing went awry and now I was left with a higher gamma default (or so I thought). Anyways, my eyes easily grew more fatigued with this higher gamma default and when I tried to adjust intel's default down to 0.8, it would ratchet it back up to the (default 1.0) whenever I log in.

Under this scenario, MS's color calibration program recommends a ridiculous gamma setting that noticeably whitewashes the colors on the screen. That was an indication to me that MS's program always recommends adjusting to higher gamma settings. Anyways, using system restore, I restored the system to a point prior to playing around with MS's color calibration.

After finishing up with system restore and restarting, the higher gamma default persisted. This means either Intel's control panel software automatically adjusts back to a "default" that one sets using MS's color calibration or this "higher gamma" was the default. Then again, this is doesn't explain why my eyes tire more easily with this supposedly higher gamma default.

Long story short, I guess I get the best of both worlds after messing around with MS's color calibration and intel's control panel settings. Switching to "Movie Mode" now I get a gamma that I believe (subjectively) is the original out-of-the-box setting and enhanced Dolby surround sound.

 

i hate to ask a diablo 3 related question but im sure some people would be interested. is anyone else getting weird lag spikes while playing?

it seems to happen when I run into a group of newly spawned mobs or moving into an unloaded area. ive tried games such as skyrim, battlefield 3, and crysis and they ran beautifully but im always running into problems with D3.

 

This laptop has Optimus right? Is it enabling the Nvidia card when you play Diablo?

 

Woo, shipped out today! I'm not going to do a full review or anything, but I have a camera and am currently free, so if you want me to get video of anything when it comes, feel free to ask.

I don't have Battlefield 3/Crysis/Diablo 3/Skyrim/most mainstream pc games for testing, but I'm able to do video processing and rendering tests if you guys want that.

 

Hey guys, I've had my y580 for the last two days and I know how many times battery life and temperature has been asked so here's what I got.

I had replaced the HDD vs ADATA s510 but i'm not really sure how it affects battery life. From just browsing the web on power-saver with 1/4 brightness, I got over 7 1/2 hours of battery life from a single charge. This is definitely because of 7286 mwh battery that came with it and the lenovo battery software which is quiet good.

On the temperature side however, the CPU got quiet toasty at 78-80c on battlefield 3 while the GPU was a bit cooler at 70c. The fan wasn't necessarily the loudest I've heard but you can definitely hear it.

Overall I'm pretty impressed with this laptop and would definitely recommend it if your getting the laptop for school or home use. If you have any specific questions, I'll be more than happy to answer them

 

im pretty sure. i set it to always use nvidia card in the control panel for D3 and it runs at about ~50fps at max settings. the problem is it randomly drops to ~35 fps when it stutters. its rather annoying but doesnt make it unplayable. i just really want gameplay to be smooth like it should be with this card

 

Yeah but as you said tech from a few years ago now runs cooler than it did when first released.(If I understood you correctly) I guess to release something that will overheat due to performance is ok when its first released and than the cooling tech catches up to it later?

Still though I just dont want to play that game. Because bottom line is Laptops that have extreme heat just wont last as long as say a desktop.(generally speaking) As much as i wanted this laptop I just could not justify paying $1100 for a laptop that is high performance but not cooling.

NOW I have heard the Lenovo thinkpads run cool. Though they are not built for todays games. Still though I am thinking about one of those for a portable computer situation and decided to just purchase a nice desktop through HP. All the bells and whistles of the y580 and DV7 plus better everything.(except for the portability of course. ) For less the price. My last desktop got almost 7 years. I hope this new one will as well.

 

One more day ... good thing my Y580 is getting in on a Friday.

First things first:

-mSATA Mushkin Enhanced Atlas 60gb SATA III SSD (Going to be primary O.S. drive).
-Samsung 830 512gb going into HDD slot (1TB going to be in external enclosure).
-Corsair Vengeance 1600mhz RAM

...all going in immediately.


So excited.

I don't reaaaaly want to do a complete teardown. I suppose my question would be how much taking-apart must be done to get to the mSATA slot? Also, would it be worthwhile to put some IC Diamond on the CPU/GPU? I did so on my M14x and it made a fair difference, but if the Y580 is fine from the factory, I'd just as soon not go through with the hassle.

 

The mSATA slot is to the left of the HDD bay and is fully accessible along with the HDD, wireless card, ODD and memory sticks by the removal of two screws that hold the main bottom panel of the Y580. Note, I found chinese screws can be stripped easily, so proceed methodically.

 

How about the CPU and GPU? How difficult are they to get to?

 

Don't know, I haven't tried it yet. You might have to do a teardown to access them: LINK.

EDIT: Someone in china applied artic silver to the CPU and GPU of the Y580. Initially noted a drop of 2C for the GPU and 7C for the CPU. The author also noted some strange stuff happening afterwards. LINK with pics.

 

I just talked to one of the lenovo representative and confirmed that Lenovo Y580 doesn't support intel smart response technology.

 

What do you guys think about Dell Inspiron 15r special edition at 1099 price ? Do you think that would be better option if I am not into playing games on my laptop. My main purpose of buying this laptop is hd video editing, some photo editing and watching movies.

 

If Google's mess-up translation is correct, he said performance decreased? Something like seeing as the computer didn't think it was under heavy load (due to lower temps) it throttled itself!? I seriously hope I misread that.

Also it looks like you have to remove the keyboard to get there, and that the keyboard is attached by a very fragile wire.

 

Wow, 7.5 hours? Are you serious? Did you actually use the laptop for that duration or that the Windows estimated time? If it truly lasts 5-6 hours when browsing then ill buy one since I need it for college.

Can anyone else please test the battery life? Its the one factor that I must have more information about before purchasing this laptop.

Sent from my GT-I9100

 

I think the battery result is too optimistic. 3-4 hours is more realistic, but tips for improving battery life is very welcome.

 

I will be getting the the 500GB/7200rpms with the FHD screen model on July 16 or sooner if Lenovo hurry up and finish it... I will post some benchmark test results and temperature with my U3 for those who want to compare models or are interested in this model. *Note this will be factory setting*

 

Well, to be honest I only used it for 6 but there was 15-20 percent remaining. I watched very few videos and tried to replicate how it would be used in a classroom setting.

I also did a clean install which sped things up a considerable ammount, installed lenovo battery management and batterycare. The latter allowed me to enable extra power saving settings.

Watching a movie should effectively decrease the battery in half or more

 

An idea is you can disable dedicated graphics in BIOS. That forces the Intel HD to be used in all scenarios. I get approximately this amount of battery life also like that.

 

But can you manually switch the vid card in Windows?

 

Any tips for a clean install? Like where did you get the drivers (or did they come on a CD) and how hard was it to find Lenovo's battery management software to redownload? Any other tips would be appreciated, I plan on doing a reinstall soon after I get mine in the mail but it doesn't arrive until the 12th...

 

Do you get 3-4 hours or the 6 hours mentioned before when performing light tasks?

I'm truly amazed if it is 6 hours. I'll pick one up Monday!

 

Light tasks, 6 hours looks about right. I recall a review that used a battery benchmark software that simulated low activity and came up with 6.6 hours. The battery is pretty massive in terms of capacity, and really, I there isn't much difference from laptop to laptop in terms of power consumption... the laptop uses about 10-12W at idle, of which maybe 1/3 is the CPU, 1/3 is the screen, and 1/3 for the rest like RAM motherboard, and HDD. That doesn't leave a lot of room for variations between laptops. So since this came with a fairly big battery, there's no reason to think that the battery life would be bad, just because it has a powerful GTX 660M which is turned off.

Also, there is no manual control over Optimus implemented in software... so either hope that it's working right, or disable the GTX660M in BIOS.

 

I apologize for my mistake. I don't own a Y580, only a Y470. I didn't realize in the Y580, Lenovo instituted the Dolby Surround Sound. I'm glad you found a work around. In my Y470 the One Key Theater looks OK on the laptop monitor screen, but awful on my 50" plasma secondary display. It's way too dark.

Sorry for the misplaced posting, and false info.

Cheers!

 

Wow. 'Very disappointed. 'Placed order at lenovo.com on Thursday, June 28. 'Originally projected ship date was yesterday, July 5. Now, it is scheduled to ship on July 15 and arrive on the 22nd. Really? That's more than three weeks from the order date. How can the ship date slip 10 days after they've had the order for a week? It isn't like they're building a customized unit; I chose a model from their selection. 'Anyone else experienced this? Are they padding? Thanks.

 

Sooooo is it just mine or do all the Y580s downclock the GPU to 405MHz when it's on battery?

 

Anyone know if opening the laptop up and repasting the CPU and GPU would void the warranty? Has anyone confirmed it with a Lenovo Rep?

Both HP and Sony told me that repasting would NOT void the warranty, as long as you follow the service manual step by step, but I haven't had time to call Lenovo yet.

 

well I burned windows onto a disc and went from there. The drivers are saved on the recovery partition so you might wanna back it up before you do anything.

I used battery care which switches it to powersaving the second its on battery. As well it turns of Aero and other power users like indexing and such. Thats really all there is to it to get about 7 hours battery life for me.

 

Mine was delay as well and the status read " In Production." What model did you order maybe that delay it as well...

 

Has anyone played some Path of Exile yet on their Y580? I'm getting some really low FPS and was wondering if others were experiencing it as well.

 

That's about how long mine took to get to me, they put the lenovo box inside of another box with no extra padding. Unfortunately the screen on the laptop they sent me is defective, so now I have to send it back and get a replacement ugh.

 

Try forcing the game to use the nvidia card. Sometimes the recognition program will choose the integrated one instead.

 

I just bought this laptop and im still waiting for it to arrive. I was just wondering if it has a lot of bloatware.

 

I tried that, however I can't seem to add the exe. File as it is named "client" and won't add to the list. Anything I can do for this? Wouldn't it be nice to have an easy button to have all games use the nvidia 660?

 

Mine says "Released to Manufacturing". What does it mean? I placed my order on 4th July and expected ship date is 12th. I assume mine will be delayed, too

 

Remember guys, don't go by what the order status page says. Those dates jump around all the time. That page is not reliable at all.

On average it will ship anywhere from 6-10 days after you order and shipping takes 4-5 business days. That's the earliest.

 

I ordered mine on the 24th. Est Shipping on july 12 and estimated delivery 19 : (

 

What I had heard for the sales of Lenovo is that "Released to Manufacturing" means that your order has been accepted and the information about your product has been forward to the manufacturing, kind of like pending order or something along that line... Later on, it took a week for me, it change to "In Production" so I assume that my order has finally been read by the manufacturer and now is being made and a estimate delivery data has appear and a new ship, delay data appear. It also depends on the model you got. I got the one with the 500GB/720rpms and the FHD screen. It seems the one with the lower resolution screen take shorter time to ship, possible because they have to wait for the FHD screen or something...

I will keep you update on when I get it, so you can estimate your... I order on 6/29, ship estimate 7/9 and delivery 7/16

Yeah the whole order status is really not reliable, It just that we want to know what happen to our laptop.