Computer Setup

Dat Y500. It's like a super portable desktop PC and I love it

That, and the GT650M that is inside of it can overclock like no other. I have mine up near (if I remember correctly) 1.1 ghz from around 650mhz. Absolutely mad.

I didn't know about this. I have the sli version, could i overclock them both? is it safe?

I'm sure you could, but how far and how much benefit you get out of it and whether or not it would be stable is a completely different matter. I know that I had to go through and use nvflash to install a modified bios onto my single GT650M in order for the overclock to become the standard speed on the card, but this was months ago and you may want to try and do some research yourself as to how to get this done. Might even run across a post or two of mine on some other websites trying to get this to work.

Forgive me if this sound stupid, but doesn't that absolutely ruin your battery life? How many hours were you getting out of it earlier, and how many are you getting now?

Well the laptop has pretty poor battery life to begin with (3-4 hours when surfing/etc.) and gaming is even worse (around 1 hour maybe 1.5). So I typically game on it when it's plugged in. I never expected the laptop to have great battery life while gaming though, and that's just one of the realities of gaming laptops whether or not they be portable such as this one.

Overclocking a GPU only lowers the battery life if you are gaming or doing a task that brings the GPU's clock up to its max. The CPU and GPU dynamically clock themselves to power-saving states when not under heavy load.

MSI Afterburner or EVGA Precision are a great overclocking tools. The GT 650m/750m (same card) can overclock to around 1050-1150 MHz core and up to around 3000 MHz memory. I wouldn't advise such a high memory clock because it draws a lot of power.

Just got a y410. I have the GT750M, and I haven't even needed to consider overclocking it. I was all ready to get an overclock setup going when I got it, but benchmarking in some recent games proved I didn't really need it (mind you, I haven't been playing with any visual mods yet).

If it's working great for you right now then there is no need to overclock, but if you ever feel you need the extra umph then I'd definitely look into it.

The only thing I don't like about the Y series is that it doesn't have a docking station for it. As a multimedia laptop, you would think you would want to dock her somewhere with another monitor. A shame too because I really like IBM/Lenovos. On my 4th (currently T410).

Nice to see another Y500, I'm using one right now. Love it.

I'm looking at buying the y500, how do you like it?

It's fast. The keyboard keys are starting to erase after just a few months of not too much intense gaming.. so thats dissapointing. ( just asdw keys so far..)

I have seriously considered the y410p for a while. Pretty much the same as what you have, but with the 750m and Haswell. I guy I used to work with had the y500 and he loved it. Really nice machine.

I just got the y410p a month ago. It's worth it, and is a bit cheaper than the y500. If you have any specific questions about the machine and want answers, PM me.

I'm gonna have to wait until next semester, ran out of money this year. Thanks for the offer, though.

Yeah, I love my Y500 but the W and S keys are wearing down after only a few months and it can get over 80C sometimes.

The battery sucks because NVIDIA Optimus is disabled on SLI systems. Your Intel i7 has a nice integrated graphics chip that would double your battery life. You should technically be able to disable SLI, reboot, and enable Optimus to have ~ 4 hour battery life.

I've got the same thing - some comments on OP's comments:

Oh, and the backlit keyboard is really nice. I couldn't imagine not having it.

Yeah i neve turn it off. The latpot gets a bit hot, but i meant the temperatures of the cpu/gpu stay cold. I've never seen it above 65..

Interesting. I like the keyboard backlight so much that I try to turn it off when I'm not using it so that it lasts longer. If you just leave yours on all the time then maybe I don't have to worry so much about it.

I bought one, specs were 8gb ram, 1TB HDD, 24GB SSD (enough for the OS), GT650M GPU, i7. It's pretty sweet, and honestly, you'll probably never find anything better for the price.

Why not extend the desktop instead of mirror it?

Actually i normaly leave the laptop screen off, i don't get used to use two monitors, i always end up only looking at one.

It's awesome for productivity. Try spreading out information when you find your self tabbing between things a lot. Although with your current screen placement that might not be too ergonomically sound. Maybe if you angle your laptop a bit.

For some people (like myself) it's just not practical enough to do. I've tried it several times, and it just doesn't want to happen. This is one reason why I'll be investing in a 30" 4k monitor as soon as those things come out. 1440p is starting to look like dinosaur pixels lol

I have the y500 SLI as well. Do you get that weird SLI stutter where it runs smooth but every 5th or 6th frame will stutter? It's just easier to turn off SLI and have one card to do physx and the other do graphics.

My roommate purchased one of these and I set it up for him (removed Windows 8). I noticed fairly severe SLI stutter on certain games. He has to disable SLI to be able to play TF2, and Arma 2 for example.

Nobody has a GNex anymore it seems :(

I have this laptop as well. Worst POS trackpad ever.

If you've bought it within the last year (which it has to have been within a year since they came out in late october/early November 2012) then you can send it in and they will fix it free of charge. I did that for mine and it works just fine now.

Yeah I received it as a gift last December. How did you go about sending it in for repair?

You literally are me. I got this same laptop last December, and was wondering the same thing. Sorry I don't have an answer (because I really want to know too), I just thought it was kind of cool and I felt like sharing...

Call up lenovo, and ask them about it. If they ask for a receipt and you really cant provide it, then mention that the laptop has only been out for under a year. Usually they can also determine when the laptop was sold depending on the serial number. I'd try to get this done sooner rather than later though.

Mine was manufactured in February this year, and has no problems whatsoever with the trackpad.

They very recently switched suppliers on trackpads. The newer ones are much better, from what I've heard. I have the newer one, so I can't compare to the old one.

As a fan of both Lenovo and Ikea, nice simple setup!

Do you usually keep your chair lower or are your feet really slim? It simply looks like there is no place for your feet there!

When i sit the chair goes a bit further down and my legs fit just right. I can make the chair lower as well.

An excellent choice, been recommending the Y500s to anyone who asks me. How is it with graphically heavy games btw?

It runs everything i've put on it so far. Bioshok infinty, skyrim, gta4, grid2 etc...

Awesome! It's a great little laptop and very affordable. Congrats!

As someone who has to give up his gaming desktop and will be purchasing his first gaming laptop, do you know how this stacks up compared to the Asus ROG laptops?

It's much better for price/performance. The super high end Asus ones are generally better constructed and use higher quality materials (which can be a big deal for a machine like a laptop that goes through a lot of stress), as ROG branded things usually do. ROG laptops may also have more tweak-ability as far as overclocking, etc.

I have a y500 and love it! I was considering a ROG lappy from Asus, but ultimately decided to go with the y500 because of the price. The exterior contruction on the ROG laptops are awesome. The y500 isnt bad, but sometomes it feels a bit flimsy.

Mouse on top of a tablet... you might not want to keep it like that. Those tablets are pressure sensitive. Well maybe that one isn't..... what do I know. Clean setup though, nicely done.

Either you have an awesome camera skills or this is from a magazine nice set up!

What model is the desk? Looks slick.

I have the desk, its an Ikea MICKE desk, the best desk I've ever had :-)

Hm. I can't find his specific desk without the storage compartment on the side.

The storage compartment is rather handy, you know.

I think I have the same monitor as you

I have the same chair as you only in blue. Brilliant cheap chair. I love the chair Nice and clean Gaming setup

I`m almost sure it's a Dell S2340L

I have the same ikea desk :D I wish its base was heavier / sturdier though... because it gets really wobbly on carpeted floor.

Really? i had so much fun building it! it's very stable on marble floor.

What chair is that? Looks very comfortable.

All of the new Ikea desks make mine from 2008 look horrible. May have to invest in a new one...

I have the y400 which is basically the same except the screen sucks balls. How is the display on the y500?

I really love that desk, god damn those Swedes and their styling

What chair is that? Comfortable? How is the lack of head rest treating you?

Snap! I JUST got my very own y500 last week! I wish you were around two weeks ago when I was struggling to get some info on it.

What is that strange light source on the right?

What camera did you use?

Sony nex 5, with kit lens.

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