y510 vs ... y510p

So im planning to get a y510p but im stuck at choosing between the 16GB RAM Version with a single GT750m video card and the 12GB RAM version with dual GT750m.

Im planning to use the laptop moslty for gaming and ocasionally as a home theater.

 

12GB is more than enough for gaming and dual cards will be nicer for games that support SLI.

 

Games that support SLI?...i thought it would work like a normal video card. Im kinda dummy in pcs so a little more explanations would be appreciated

 

Besides high-end games like GTA V And BF3, i will moslty use it to play GTA SA. Do older games also work with SLI?

 

Get the version with 2x GPUs in SLI configuration, for two reasons:

(1) Overall very stable, highly compatible with games, and scales near 80% - 100% bump in framerates over a single card.

(2) Trying to buy a 2nd GPU as an aftermarket part is a pain-in-the-rear. Lots of people have been frustrated by lack of supply, receiving the incorrect part, and relatively high cost. If you want SLI, then get it as part of your initial laptop configuration. It's easy to buy aftermarket RAM upgrades. It's a pain-in-the-rear to buy aftermarket Ultrabay GPU upgrades.

Short answer: Don't worry about it. SLI support is a non-issue. Just buy the SLI model and be done with it.



Long answer: Technically, SLI support needs to be implemented on a per-game basis through nVidia's drivers. If nVidia doesn't have SLI driver support for a particular game, then you will not be able to use SLI for that game. That game will only run on one GPU.

The reason I say "don't worry about it, non-issue" is because nVidia has the best driver update program in the PC industry. They are VERY good at making sure their drivers are updated with SLI profiles for new game. They release new drivers every few weeks, and almost always update drivers with SLI profiles either before launch-day or on launch-day for major game releases. Any major game that comes down the road will have an nVidia SLI-ready driver by launch day.

As an example, look at the most recent nVidia driver update. It is v331.58 from October 21, 2013. nVidia added SLI profiles for games before they are released. You will see similar trends for their past driver releases, and you can expect this to happen in future driver releases as well.

From nVidia Driver 331.58, released October 21, 2013
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – Updated Profile
Batman: Arkham Origins – Updated SLI Profile (game released 10/25/2013)
Battlefield 3 – Updated Surround Profile
Battlefield 4 – Updated Surround Profile, Updated SLI Profile (game released 10/29/201
Crisis 2015 – Added SLI Profile (unannounced release date)
Crysis 3 – Added HBAO+ Profile
Dirty Bomb (a.k.a. Extraction) – Added DX9 SLI Profile (unannounced release date)
Dragon Sword – Updated DX9 Profile
Dying Light – Added DX11 SLI Profile (unannounced release date)
Euro Truck Simulator 2 – Updated SLI Profile
F1 2013 – Updated SLI Profile (original SLI profile added 09/30/2013; game released in EU 10/04/2013; game currently unreleased in US and Canada)
FIFA 14 – Added SLI Profile, Added HBAO+ Profile, Added 3D Vision Profile (Rated "Good") (released 09/24/2013)
GRID 2 – Updated DX11 Profile
Natural Selection 2 – Added DX11 SLI Profile (released 10/31/2013)
Outlast – Added DX9 SLI Profile (released 09/04/2013)
Added DX9 SLI Profile, Added 3D Vision Profile (Rated “Excellent”
Space Hulk – Updated Profile
Splinter Cell: Blacklist – Updated SLI Profile (original SLI profile added 09/20/2013; game released 09/09/2013)
State of Decay – Added DX9 SLI Profile (game released 11/09/2013)
Urban Trial Freestyle - Added 3D Vision Profile (Rated "Good")
War of the Vikings – Added DX11 SLI Profile (Q1 2014 release date)
Watch Dogs – Added DX11 SLI Profile (2014 release date)

 

OP don't worry about SLI compatibility and scaling. It works in pretty much every game and Nvidia's driver support is very good. Heck, SLI even works for me in the 1998 game Unreal. Just make sure you get the i7 CPU.

 

I would DEFINITELY go for the SLI model. You can always take the second graphics card out and just use one if you think the performance isn't good (due to lack of SLI support for that game). The graphic cards ultrabay is hard to buy and expensive (230 bucks at least). RAM is much cheaper anyways. Crucial lists 2 sticks of 8gb RAM (to get 16gb of RAM) to be 157.99 ( Computer memory upgrades for Lenovo IdeaPad Y510p Laptop/Notebook from Crucial.com), and I'm pretty sure the price will come down if and when you need to change to 16gb RAM later on.

 

How would you personally compare the 750 SLI against the 770? (or 650 SLI vs 675MX in your case?)

 

At stock, 650M SLI is the slowest of the bunch. Stock performance of 750M SLI, 770M, and 675MX are nearly identical. 675MX is the best performer when overclocked. It's got massive headroom in clock speeds and the same 256-bit backend and bandwidth as 680M. I'd like to think my overclocked 650M SLI keeps up with the others at stock, if not beat them.

 

I currently have the Lenovo ideapad Y470 with GT 550M and core i5 processor which i got August 2011, the machine has served me well and currently does in my favorite games like NBA 2k14, deadspace 3, far cry 3, tomb raider , resident evil 6, battlefield 3, etc.. I play most of my games with medium to high settings with 40fps+ except for (Arkham origins, which I have 40+ fps with low settings and Battlefield 4 which is unplayable with medium settings but Battlefield 3 was, with 40fps+).

I can see in the foreseeable future (early next year or the next-gen games thanks to future consoles) that my laptop will not handle newer games in the future like titan fall and watchdogs at all. My question is should i get the ideapad Y510p with dual GPUs and i7 or wait for future models of the Ideapad Y models. I was leaning towards the GTX 770m ( the gpu is a beast) laptop like the sagers but the computers have horrible speakers and bad build quality compared to ideapads from what I have read in other forums. My current machine has amazing speakers and bass when I pay music in my room or the living room. My current machine idles around 40 degrees and the GPU max temp is 70 degrees when I am playing games like the latest batman arkham origins and NBA 2k14.

I am currently have the lenovo in home warranty, which is the best warranty service I have ever payed for. They recently came to my house to replace my fan and repast my cpu and gpu because my cpu and gpu temps were hitting 90 degrees, two weeks ago; The max temp is 70 degrees now like it originally was. I can't see myself going to another manufacturer but I need to know the pros and cons of the Y510p with dual GPUs.

What is the idle temp of the Y510p with dual GPUS machine? Do you have the ability to control the fan (my current model can)? What is the max temp? How does the machine handle Crysis 3, witcher 2 (one demanding game), COD Ghost and battlefield 4 and what are your settings? What is the battery life while surfing the web and watching youtube videos? What are your pros and cons and please be specific?

P.S. Sorry for the long wall of text but I have been prepping to ask this question for a year now. Hope you guys can help and thanks for any responses to the post

 

I have the y410p with a single 750m so I can only comment on it. I play bf4 on medium with a couple settings on high. My temps get up to around 90*C. My battery life is around 4 hours +or- a half hour. I'm pretty sure that with sli, optimus does not work correctly so you'll get around 3 hrs. Someone with the SLI will have to confirm that though.

 

They're about the same (750 SLI vs 770, or 650 SLI vs 675MX) for 1080p gaming.

You're going to find some margin of difference between the setups in niche cases (anywhere from 0% - 15%) depending on the specific test or scenario. The difference is noticeable in benchmarks, but not going to be noticeable in real-world gaming.

Overall, the performance differences will be minor enough that it will not be a deciding factor on which laptop to buy. Any of those GPU configurations are going to be "good enough" that they might as well be identical. At that point, the more important factors will be laptop size, weight, battery life, screen quality, and price.

 

Computer Games on Laptop Graphic Cards - NotebookCheck.net Tech

In relative order of performance from fastest to slowest:

1. GTX 770M, GT 750M SLI (tied)
2. GTX 675MX
3. GT 650M SLI