Several Questions on Y510P

[lolkrn]

Hi everyone!

Newly joined here.. Hopefully my first experience with you guys will be awesome ..

I recently had enough headaches with my desktop freezing and giving me blue screens... so, trying to go with small computer.. :l..
I'm looking into Y510P Dual Graphics with 8 GB ram..
Here is my question.. Since there is Dual Graphics, I know i can not have both hard drive + SSD. So will it be okay with let's say 250GB SSD as main and will i be fine having no problems just playing games..? 2nd question is.. can i just take out 8GB ram and install 16 GB ram on my own? please tell me your opinion on how this set up will work.. Thanks!

 

[k1114]

It's really easy to take the bottom off and change ram/hdd. You can have ssd and hdd if you use a msata ssd. The ssd option that lenovo provides is msata.

 

[PinchedNerve]

I think you may be able to get 16 Gb RAM from Lenovo, unless its cheaper for you to purchase the 2x8 gb sticks somewhere else. 256 Gb SSD is still fairly small considering most games these days are hitting 10+ gigs. It will work & work pretty well as far as speed & FPS but you will have to limit how many games you have installed at any given time, 10 games give or take I would say depending on all your other data.

 

[jaguarskx]

As long as you think 250GB of storage is enough for you, then it is not an issue.

The Y510p does support up to 16GB of RAM so you can always upgrade later. Based on some reviews I have read it comes standard with a single stick of 8GB RAM so all you need to do is install a second stick in the open slot to get a total of 16GB.

Just a warning, like most gaming laptops the Y510p runs hot especially since it has a second graphics card. Note the temps in the following image.

http/www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Lenovo-IdeaPad-Y510p-Notebook.97470.0.html

 

[lolkrn]

Thank you guys for quick response and informative answers!. Looks like temp runs really hot for dual graphics. Is it kept at that temp with cooling pads?? If not, how low can you bring it down?? I'm also looking at Cooler Master NotePal X3 Laptop Cooling Pad with 200mm Blue LED Fan (R9-NBC-NPX3-GP) with Y510P(will always use cooling pads). As far as Space goes for games. I'm not a heavy quality demanding gamer. I enjoy playing LoL and starcraft stuff like these kind. How much space should i leave empty out of 250GB for the laptop to be stable, if it really does matter?? I know i have alot of question as i go along, i can not come up with all the questions i'm going to ask.. sorry about that.. my knowledge with computer is very limited.. seems too complicated.. And it was not 2x4GB RAM awesome!

 

[lolkrn]

Ohoh! another question can i buy different type of 8GB ram (another brand) and will it have no problem? or do i have to get exact same type of ram from levono??

 

[jaguarskx]

Not sure if a cooling pad will help.

I have a Lenovo IdeaPad Y470 and I bought a cooling pad for it (Cooler Master U2 I think). No matter where I placed the fans on the pad, it did not affect the internal temps. Looking at the service manual I figured out why. Lenovo calls the underside of the Y470 and Y570 a "thermal panel" and they were not lying. I suppose the "thermal panel" is meant to prevent your pants from catching on fire if you were to literally use the laptop on your lap. My Y470 overheated when I was playing GTA 4 on it. I was able to place that overheated Y470 directly on my lap, bare skin. While it felt pretty warm, it was not uncomfortable. Therefore, the cooling pad was useless.

I lowered the temps by disabling Turbo Boost so that the CPU would not automatically overclock itself. That basically meant that I prevented the i5-2410m from going above it's base clockspeed of 2.3GHz, Turbo Boost pushes it to 2.7GHz when both cores are used. This is done by going into the advanced power options for whichever power profile you are using and then changing the maximum CPU performance from 100% to 99% which disables Turbo Boost. The max power percentage is not intuitive, you need to play around with it if you lower the CPU's clockspeed even further. For example, I think from 91% - 99% the CPU runs at 2.3GHz from 76% - 90% the i5-2410m runs at 1.8GHz.

Based on many reviews, the i5-2410m in the Y470 hits 90c - 92c when playing games. All the games I played made the CPU hit that range. The exception is GTA 4 which pushed it to 100c with Turbo Boost active. Limiting the clockspeed to just 2.4GHz lowered the CPU temps to between 86c - 88c still pretty hot if you ask me but better than 90c - 92c. I also stopped playing GTA 4 on it.

 

[jaguarskx]

Regarding adding RAM, first make sure it has one 1 stick. Download a program called CPU-Z. There is a memory tab which will let know if the RAM is running in "Single Channel" mode or "Dual Channel" mode. If the Channel # states single, then you got 1 stick of 8GB RAM, dual means you have 2 sticks of 4GB of RAM.

The "SPD" tab also gives you info on the RAM in each slot.

http/www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html


Once that has been cleared up then go to the following Crucial site and allow it to scan the laptop. It should then give you a list of RAM that is compatible. Either buy the model # directly from Crucial or browse around for a better price.

 

[lolkrn]

i'm really concerned buying this laptop now coz of overheating.. i guess i need to do more research how i can improve reducing temp.. before i jump on this although it is very tempting! Thank you so much for your response though!

 

[jaguarskx]

I suggest you skim through the following thread specifically for the Y510p at NotebookReview to find out what owners have to say about any potential overheating problems.

http/forum.notebookreview.com/ideapad-essential/720343-ideapad-y510p.html