Lenovo Y50 vs MSI Ghost or Wait for Skylake/Windows 10

[Kaede Nishizawa]

Edit: I have pretty much decided on the MSI GS60 Ghost over the Lenovo Y50, but I am still not sure if I should wait or not for Skylake and Windows 10.

As stated in the title, I am unsure if I should buy [strike]the Lenovo Y50-70 or[/strike] the MSI GS60 Ghost or if I should wait until Skylake and Windows 10 come out before buying a new laptop. Models listed towards the end of post. Edits/additional info listed at the bottom. [strike]Both are within my budget, but I would prefer to save my money if the benefits of the more expensive one are not worth it.[/strike]

I am asking this question because if it's not worth waiting, I'd rather get the new laptop now rather than wait for no reason.

[strike]With regards to the Y50 vs. the Ghost, I am leaning towards the Ghost because of it's benefits and a personal preference, but the Lenovo is just so much cheaper, it's hard to decide.[/strike]

The reason I am considering waiting for Skylake and Windows 10 is because of the (possible) performance increase of Skylake, and because a friend told me that drivers for a newer OS than the hardware was designed for will not be optimized and may cause problems. If I wait until Windows 10 is out, then I'll be able to look for laptops with newer hardware optimized for it. But I was wondering, are these two laptops advanced enough to avoid those possible problems if I upgrade from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10?

Added Questions:
~Do you think Intel's first batch of Skylake CPUs will have equal or better performance (speed) compared to the Haswell i7-4700HQ?
~Do you think MSI will make a new series of thin and light laptops that use Skylake?
~Do you think MSI might make a new variant of the Ghost with Skylake, which once again begs the question, is the computer advanced enough to avoid possible issues that may be caused from upgrading from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10?

If more info is required, I'll try to update as fast as I can.
All help is highly appreciated!

The models I am looking at are as follows:

[strike]Lenovo Y50-70:[/strike]
CPU: Intel i7-4710HQ
GPU: NVIDIA GTX 860M 4GB
RAM: 16GB
Hard Drive: 512 SSD
Screen: 1920x1080 Anti-Glare Matte, FHD
Price: $1120
Pros: 0.10GHz faster CPU (which is not a lot), 2GB more dedicated graphics memory (not sure how much this will benefit me), better speakers (will be using headphones most of the time though), similar specs but $470 cheaper.


MSI Ghost:
CPU: Intel i7-4700HQ
GPU: NVIDIA GTX 860M 2GB
RAM: 16GB
Hard Drive: 1TB 7200RPM [SATA III, 6GB/s] + 2 x 128GB mSATA [M.2] + RAID-0
Screen: 1920x1080 Super Clear Matte [eDP Wide Angles]
Price: $1555
Pros: Mega thin and light, SteelSeries keyboard, Killer E2200 Game Networking LAN, 750GB more storage (I will not really need 1.25TB of storage though).


Edits/Additional Info:
~A few questions have been added.
~I have pretty much decided on the MSI GS60 Ghost over the Lenovo Y50, but I am still not sure if I should wait or not for Skylake and Windows 10.
~Lenovo Y50 still has terrible TN panel screen
~MSI Ghost has a screen equivalent to an IPS screen
~The mSATA that the Ghost comes with are M.2
~Surface heat for both laptops is not a problem
~Lenovo Y50 loses its CPU turbo boost when using more than one core despite temperatures

 

[psycrow395]

hello there are you planning on gaming with this laptop? because most thin or ultra thin laptops when used for gaming have poor heat dissapation and poor cooling options, now regarding your 2 choices i have heard the Y50 has a terrible screen (you can look it up) i dont know much about the gs60 other than its a very slim gaming laptop. now may i make a suggestion i own the MSI GE62 apache its a 2015 model with the latest 9 series graphics cards it also has a steelseries backlit keyboard and you can add 3 M.2 SSD now unlike the gs60 ghost it dont come pre installed with an M.2 SSD but you can add one your self for only 119$ for a 250gb. i would also like to add my laptop dont way very much it has 2 exaust vents and 2 cooling fans and its not a bulky laptop yet its not super thin either i am very happy with it so far waiting for my M.2 drive to come in the mail then i will install it and be good to go with the 1tb as a storage drive and the 250 for os and games here is a link below to my laptop hope this helps

http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152711

 

[Kaede Nishizawa]

Hello psycrow395, and thank you for taking the time to help.

Yes, I do intend to game on this laptop as well as some 3d modeling, but I believe the 860M will be sufficient for my needs. I don't intend on playing the most demanding games on ultra quality so anything better is not really necessary, but I would most definitely prefer the performance of the 860M over the 850M.
From what I've seen people say, these laptops do get quite hot on the surface due to being so thin, but their internal temperatures are quite fine, so long as their vents aren't blocked, so their parts' life-time should not be significantly shortened (as long as they're not used at max load a lot). My current laptop apparently has similar surface temperatures, but it has not bothered me at all, so that should not be a problem with these laptops for me.
About the Y50's screen, I had hoped that they would have improved it by now with all the new models, but after doing a bit of searching, it looks like the problem remains. This makes me lean more towards the Ghost again should I buy one instead of waiting on Skylake/Windows 10.
The GE62 Apache you suggested is quite powerful and not too expensive and even has similarities to the Ghost, but I've already decided to stick with laptops under one inch. I also really like how light the Ghost is as the Apache is only about half a pound lighter than my current laptop, the Y50 being the same weight as the Apache.
Also, the Ghost model I am looking at will come with two 128GB mSATA with RAID-0. I had forgotten to mention that the mSATA are M.2 and will add that in as an edit.

Thanks to the info you provided as well as the searching I did because of it, I'm just about ready to drop the Y50 as one of my options, but not just yet... because of that amazingly low price.

 

[psycrow395]

hello again thanks for the reply im not sure when and where we will see companies putting out skylake so thats a debateable and windows i have heard that if you buy a windows 8.1 pc they will give you windows 10 for free when it comes out if you look on newegg it will tell you in green letters if the laptop you buy gets a free windows 10 or not because apparently all windows 8.1 laptops dont mine didnt say that when i bought it soo but if i was you i would stay away from the y50 because you and i both know you save some money and then 3 months later you complaining about the screen and regretting your choice so i would go with the MSI ghost my GE 62 has 3 M.2 spots if i had the money i would buy 3 and run them at raid0 but i can only afford 1 but if you get the ghost i would just suggest a laptop cooler at least to help with the cooling, anyways good luck with your search would love to hear what you decide

 

[Kaede Nishizawa]

Hello to you again as well. As far as I've seen, Intel apparently plans to release Skylake at or around the same time as the release of Windows 10 in the second half of 2015. I'm quite sure that most computer companies will jump onto the next-gen CPUs pretty quickly when it's available to them, but there will still likely be a wait for the development of these new computers. They might, however, put them in older computers and just create a new variant, if the technology is compatible.
I don't see why Newegg would advertise whether you get Windows 10 for free or not because Microsoft has said that if you have Windows 7/8.1 on a computer (that is able to run Windows 10), you will be able to upgrade to Windows 10 free of cost when it's released. They limit the time for the free upgrade to the first year it's out, but once you do the upgrade, it's there for the life-time of your computer (unless you change it of course). Which means that your GE62 Apache (which I'm sure will be able to run it) should be able to upgrade to Windows 10 for free upon release.
Also, although the Ghost doesn't have 3 mSATA slots, I don't mind because I just don't need that much storage space.
Lastly, I agree with you in that for a computer I plan to use for a while, it would be better to go for the better quality one than the cheeper one that I will complain about in the future. I've pretty much decided on the Ghost over the Y50, unless someone is able to bring new info to change my mind, but I'm still not sure if I want to wait or not for Skylake and Windows 10.

Thanks for the help!

 

[psycrow395]

hello hello to you again sir if your still on the fence about skylake and winodws 10 then may i offer this thought how big of a hurry are you to get a new laptop? And do you have a old laptop or desktop you can use in the meantime because to me the best solution for you and your mind would be to wait it out and see what comes out later in the year instead of having that feeling you didnt get the latest and greatest as i did i was almost gonna buy a GT70 or GE60 because of the price but when i heard there was a new model GE coming out i waited so i could have the latest and be happy for a few years with my purchase. i also would like to say thanks for that info on windows 10, because if you go and browse the laptops on newegg it says in green letters by some fo them free windows 10 upgrade but by others it dont say that im not sure why they are doing that but anyways hope this helps keep me posted

 

[digitaldoc]

I would wait for Skylake at this point if there is not a pressing need for the new machine. It will probably be out September this year, after the Intel Developor Forum. Win 10 should be out in the Fall as well. Both promise to be the next step in performance and usability.

 

[Kaede Nishizawa]

Hello digitaldoc, and thank you for taking the time to help.

While it's not pressing for me to buy a new laptop at the moment, as I previously stated, if I'll end up buying pretty much the same thing in the future, I'd rather buy it now rather than wait for no reason.
Also, how sure are you about their release in September (rather than, say, July or August?), because I was hoping to buy my new laptop before college began, at least.

Some questions I will add to the post:
~Do you think Intel's first batch of Skylake CPUs will have equal or better performance (speed) compared to the Haswell i7-4700HQ?
~Do you think MSI will make a new series of thin and light laptops that use Skylake?
~Do you think MSI might make a new variant of the Ghost with Skylake, which once again begs the question, is the computer advanced enough to avoid possible issues that may be caused from upgrading from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10?

And to psycrow395, no problem for the Windows 10 info. Also, and I mean no disrespect when I say this, I would like to point out, for future reference and for others to know, that I am not a "sir" but rather the gender depicted in my profile picture.

 

[psycrow395]

hello there again Kaede firstly i would like to APOLOGIZE for calling you a sir im sorry. now to your relevant questions skylake and broadwell will be better than anything haswell has to offer it is said that the next generation of something is better than its previous generation which is true. now i don't know how much you know about broadwell but it still uses the same architecture as the haswell its just a more improved version intel doesnt always make a new system or architecture every time it makes new processors. hope this info was helpful now onto your other questions i think at some point MSI will make a new GS series of laptops with skylake and broadwell but i just dont know when most technology companies like to release products at electronics shows or technology summits so i would suspect that whenever the next big one is weather its in the US or another country you might hear something from MSI thats how i found out about the MSI GE62 i just bought they showed it off at CES 2015 last month. i think MSI is going to keep there top players around for awhile the apache series will never go away the dominator series will never go away and i think the ghost series wont go away either. and upgrading from windows 10 should be no problem keyword "should be" remember its windows we are dealing with lol anyways sorry to rant hope this helps

 

[Kaede Nishizawa]

Hi you two! Sorry I haven't made any updates for a while.
I thank you both for your thoughts, and while I believe it would probably be best for many people to wait until Skylake comes out, I've decided to get the Ghost based on the following reasons.
First: I found sources stating that Skylake-S (desktop version) and Skylake-U (low power laptop version) are the only versions currently scheduled for release in 2015, around Q3. Skylake-H (normal/high-power laptop version) is not on any current released roadmaps I have seen and will likely not be released until Q1, or maybe even Q2, of 2016. Meaning no gaming laptops with Skylake for a while still.
Second: While Skylake will supposedly have the largest performance increase in the past decade, according to Intel, I no longer see it nor the new technologies as necessary for me - although the lower TDP would be nice. As in, I don't really need the wireless charging or the improved streaming, etc. I also don't really need the performance increase as there is not much difference in just buying a laptop with a more powerful CPU now for a higher price, or waiting to buy one with Skylake when it's out for a higher price.
Third: There will always be newer and better products out there, you just can't wait for them all.

I will leave this open until I actually buy the Ghost, probably in a few days, in case anyone discovers new information or wants to try to convince me otherwise.

Once again, thanks for the input you two!

 

[digitaldoc]

The old adage is the best PC is the one coming out 6 months from now!

Skylake will likely debut in September, and unlikely before that as they clear out the Broadwell summer systems. Skylake will not really be available for purchase until Oct or even November in all likelihood.

Haswell is a solid chip, but the allure of something better has some of us waiting. If you need the system sooner, than certainly go ahead.

 

[TheMiniGamer]

Edit: I have pretty much decided on the MSI GS60 Ghost over the Lenovo Y50, but I am still not sure if I should wait or not for Skylake and Windows 10.

As stated in the title, I am unsure if I should buy [strike]the Lenovo Y50-70 or[/strike] the MSI GS60 Ghost or if I should wait until Skylake and Windows 10 come out before buying a new laptop. Models listed towards the end of post. Edits/additional info listed at the bottom. [strike]Both are within my budget, but I would prefer to save my money if the benefits of the more expensive one are not worth it.[/strike]

I am asking this question because if it's not worth waiting, I'd rather get the new laptop now rather than wait for no reason.

[strike]With regards to the Y50 vs. the Ghost, I am leaning towards the Ghost because of it's benefits and a personal preference, but the Lenovo is just so much cheaper, it's hard to decide.[/strike]

The reason I am considering waiting for Skylake and Windows 10 is because of the (possible) performance increase of Skylake, and because a friend told me that drivers for a newer OS than the hardware was designed for will not be optimized and may cause problems. If I wait until Windows 10 is out, then I'll be able to look for laptops with newer hardware optimized for it. But I was wondering, are these two laptops advanced enough to avoid those possible problems if I upgrade from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10?

Added Questions:
~Do you think Intel's first batch of Skylake CPUs will have equal or better performance (speed) compared to the Haswell i7-4700HQ?
~Do you think MSI will make a new series of thin and light laptops that use Skylake?
~Do you think MSI might make a new variant of the Ghost with Skylake, which once again begs the question, is the computer advanced enough to avoid possible issues that may be caused from upgrading from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10?

If more info is required, I'll try to update as fast as I can.
All help is highly appreciated!

The models I am looking at are as follows:

[strike]Lenovo Y50-70:[/strike]
CPU: Intel i7-4710HQ
GPU: NVIDIA GTX 860M 4GB
RAM: 16GB
Hard Drive: 512 SSD
Screen: 1920x1080 Anti-Glare Matte, FHD
Price: $1120
Pros: 0.10GHz faster CPU (which is not a lot), 2GB more dedicated graphics memory (not sure how much this will benefit me), better speakers (will be using headphones most of the time though), similar specs but $470 cheaper.


MSI Ghost:
CPU: Intel i7-4700HQ
GPU: NVIDIA GTX 860M 2GB
RAM: 16GB
Hard Drive: 1TB 7200RPM [SATA III, 6GB/s] + 2 x 128GB mSATA [M.2] + RAID-0
Screen: 1920x1080 Super Clear Matte [eDP Wide Angles]
Price: $1555
Pros: Mega thin and light, SteelSeries keyboard, Killer E2200 Game Networking LAN, 750GB more storage (I will not really need 1.25TB of storage though).


Edits/Additional Info:
~A few questions have been added.
~I have pretty much decided on the MSI GS60 Ghost over the Lenovo Y50, but I am still not sure if I should wait or not for Skylake and Windows 10.
~Lenovo Y50 still has terrible TN panel screen
~MSI Ghost has a screen equivalent to an IPS screen
~The mSATA that the Ghost comes with are M.2
~Surface heat for both laptops is not a problem
~Lenovo Y50 loses its CPU turbo boost when using more than one core despite temperatures

I have a y50, as a matter of fact I'm typing this on it, this laptop is very well suited for what I do. This is a newer version with a I7 4720HQ processor, 2.6GHZ to 3.6GHZ on turbo and a gtx 960M. This versions screen does not have problems anymore, at least for me, since it has a IPS display.