GTX 950 (NOT 950M) in Laptops?

[Raraku]

Hey all,

So I'm on the market for a new gaming laptop and I noticed some great deals on Lenovos at the Canadian website for the next week. The odd thing was that the listed video card in several Lenovo 700 models was the GTX 950 (not the 950M).

Here is the link to the laptop I'm looking at: http/shop.lenovo.com/ca/en/laptops/ideapad/700-series/700-15-inch/?sb=:000001CA:00007D33:#SYSTEM

This caught me by surprise so I also asked a service agent via chat, and she 'confirmed' it. But what do you guys think? Is there a chance this is an error (perhaps intentional) on Lenovo's part? this a legit 950, not a 950M? Obviously there's a significant difference in performance so it matters. If it's the actual GTX 950 I feel this is a great deal and something I'll probably buy.

Please let me know if you guys have any thoughts on this, and thank you in advance .

 

[MarkW]

The GTX 950 is a bottom end card. Meant to replace the GTX 750. It runs just using the power it gets from the motherboard. As such, it probably could function in a laptop, but unless they have specifically stated that the laptop iis a gaming laptop, I would not use it for that. The heat will accumulate, and you will have problems due to that at some point or another.

Almost all laptops are designed to be web browsers, word processors, and spreadsheet entry machines, Tasks where you do something that produces someheat, and then the laptop has a couple minutes or more to disipate the heat before you again do something that produces some heat, followed by a few more minutes where it can cool itself down.

Gaming creates heat continously, often for hours at a time, and the machine never has a chance to cool itself down properly.

 

[Xtergo]

950 pff....
That is possible with even a 980! take a look here https/www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJeXUKFvcHs
So thats no mistake a slightly lower clocked version of a real 950 it is indeed.

Speaking on your choice of the laptop why not go with one with an external Graphics card or a Thunderbolt port ? In some time the 950 would be of no use its not even something good now and you might want to upgrade the GPU then. research those kind of laptops you can buy any GPU separately and pair it, but this doesn't work wile on the go.

 

[Quixit]

I'd say it's most likely a typo. For reference the GTX 750 TI is basically identical to the GTX 960M so a desktop 950 would blow a 950M away. GTX 950s can be crammed into a 75W TDP, but that's too much for a laptop the size of the Ideapad 700, especially because it also has a 45W CPU. I own a laptop with a 960M and it's ok, for the occasional game, but I wouldn't consider it a serious gaming GPU. The 950M? pretty slow.

And don't trust their salespeople, they don't know the difference.

 

[Raraku]

Thanks for the input guys. A couple different ideas here but what I gather is that the legit 950 COULD fit into a laptop, but also that it might be a typo. Seems like it would be a pretty huge one though since it is listed on several of their 700 models, and also there are other laptops on the site listed with 9xxM titles.

I realize that a laptop is almost never going to be considered a real 'gaming' machine but as I'm moving overseas to a less developed country it seems like my only real option right now.

 

[Raraku]

950 pff....
That is possible with even a 980! take a look here https/www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJeXUKFvcHs
So thats no mistake a slightly lower clocked version of a real 950 it is indeed.

Speaking on your choice of the laptop why not go with one with an external Graphics card or a Thunderbolt port ? In some time the 950 would be of no use its not even something good now and you might want to upgrade the GPU then. research those kind of laptops you can buy any GPU separately and pair it, but this doesn't work wile on the go.

Xtergo, you mention an external graphics card or Thunderbolt port - can you elaborate on these options a little? How do they work?

 

[Quixit]

Thanks for the input guys. A couple different ideas here but what I gather is that the legit 950 COULD fit into a laptop, but also that it might be a typo. Seems like it would be a pretty huge one though since it is listed on several of their 700 models, and also there are other laptops on the site listed with 9xxM titles.

I realize that a laptop is almost never going to be considered a real 'gaming' machine but as I'm moving overseas to a less developed country it seems like my only real option right now.

I feel like you might just be reading what you want to read. What we told you is that it is definitely an 950M. In fact, I just checked and even on Lenovo's site the typo isn't on every page.

This one shows 950m:
Main shop page.

As for external graphics over thunderbolt. It is possible to run a desktop graphics card on a notebook, attached to a Thunderbolt GPU chassis, connected via Thunderbolt 3. Unfortunately at the moment the only available chassis is the Razer Core and it costs $699.99 (CAD), without a GPU. Less expensive models will probably come out at some point, but I doubt they'll be less than about $299.99.

A more cost effective option would be to buy a gaming-focused notebook Like a Lenovo Ideapad Y700, Alienware 13 or 15 of one of the ASUS ROG notebooks. All of these are larger than the Ideapad 700 to accommodate a larger GPU.

 

[Xtergo]

950 pff....
That is possible with even a 980! take a look here https/www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJeXUKFvcHs
So thats no mistake a slightly lower clocked version of a real 950 it is indeed.

Speaking on your choice of the laptop why not go with one with an external Graphics card or a Thunderbolt port ? In some time the 950 would be of no use its not even something good now and you might want to upgrade the GPU then. research those kind of laptops you can buy any GPU separately and pair it, but this doesn't work wile on the go.

Xtergo, you mention an external graphics card or Thunderbolt port - can you elaborate on these options a little? How do they work?

Honexstly even though I know what it is i havent ever had experience with it so you will have to research it.
A laptop Normally is having a CPU that performs very close to the Desktop one the only difference being that it is usually clocked lower to reduce power input and heat output. Thus when gaming on a laptop the Processor is usually not the problem the Graphics cards is which has been significantly reduced in Power to get jammed in the congested body of the laptop.
Something to know is that even if a Laptop doesn't have a dedicated GPU it can use the built in Intel HD graphics and run apps or less demanding games like mine craft or solitaire. Some laptops have now appeared in the market with a port called "thunderbolt 3" which is an extremely high bandwidth port that is capable of giving your laptop a connection similar to a Computers PCIe Slot in which you connnect a real desktop sized graphics card.
AMD calls it ConnectX http/www.amd.com/en-us/innovations/software-technologies/technologies-gaming/xconnect
and Nvidia calls is Optimus.

Basically what your doing is connecting a GPU when you are in your home to your laptop and using the builtin Intel HD graphics when you need portability.

For that you need a thunderbolt compatible External Graphics card enclosure that looks like this:
http/www.ebay.com/itm/Akitio-Thunderbolt-2-PCIe-Box-Expansion-Chassis-AK-T2PC-TIA-/361055180029

There are a few videos out there here is one done with a mac:
https/www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OkQrzdE_I8

It might be allot complicated and expensive so maybe its not of your taste bud do check it out.

 

[Raraku]

Thank you for the help again all. I wouldn't say I was hearing just what I wanted to hear - I honestly wanted to get to the bottom of this, and it seems we did when you posted the link to their main shop page Quixit, so thank you.

Yes, it does seem a Thunderbolt port might be a bit complicated for me at this point, I just want something that can run modern games at medium-high settings and 60 fps for the next couple years while I'm overseas, so I might just pay a little more for a more powerful laptop.

Thanks again all.