Lenovo Y50 70 - GT860m 4GB DDR5 or GT960m 2GB DDR5

baburajiv2007

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I'm from India, and I'm about to purchase a new laptop to satisfy my gaming, rendering requirements.
I'm an architectural student, hence I do a lot of renderings in vray.

The laptop that I've shortlisted is Lenovo y50 70
Specs are as follows:
Intel i7 4720HQ
8gb ddr3
4 Gb ddr5 gt860m
1 tb hybrid hdd w/ 8 Gb ssd
15.6" FHD display

My main concern is over the graphic card. I know that DX12 is out, and an update to GT860m has happened already.
But the sad part is, Lenovo hasn't updated their models here in India, and in the updated US sites, its 2 Gb ddr5 gt960m. And I know that gt960m is the same as gt860m, with minor increase in clock speeds.

Is it worth to wait and settle down for the 2 gig gt960m, or just go for the 860m.?
Will I be able to play dx12 titles with the gt860m.?

Thank you in advance.
 
1) You will be able to play DX12 games, however there may be certain features that need the 900 series.

2) Games that run DX12 will also likely support DX11 mode.

3) I would put the higher performance of the GT960M ahead of the lack of Video RAM.

Summary:
I think the most important thing for gaming is the GPU performance. VRAM amount I put as secondary though if you tweak correctly there shouldn't be too many titles that have a problem with "only" 2GB of VRAM. Finally, the DX12 differences are unlikely to be significant IMO. I've often noticed that game devs have most of the code fit the common denominator and the "newer" features in fact have been traditionally ones you might turn OFF anyway due to performance issues (like Tessellation).

So if my choice is 960M 2GB vs 860M 4GB then I strongly recommend 960M 2GB.
 

baburajiv2007

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Thanks.
That was really helpful.

It seems that Lenovo wont be updating their models any time soon here in India.
I just need your help in one more thing.

What do you think about MSI Leopard Pro GP60 2QF

Sports a 1 TB HDD @7200RPM, 128 GB SSD, and a GT 950m 2 GB DDR3.

Will it be a better laptop than the Lenovo Y50 70?

I heard that the performance difference between GTX860m and GTX950m are minimal (GTX860m has higher performance).
But, should i really go for a DirectX12 card to make it future proof or something?

Any help is really appreciated.
Thanks.