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MagyarLenovo G510 (59416358) Notebook Review Update
For the original German review, see here.
Inexpensive Home Office notebooks with 15.6-inch screens are a dime a dozen. Every manufacturer offers at least one series with a model that fits the bill. Lenovo is particularly prolific and actually sells models in several different series that meet the above criteria. We've already reviewed one of the notebooks in the G510 series. Our review notebook this time around comes with a dedicated Radeon instead of only an integrated GPU. What the dedicated graphics card brings to the table is the subject of our review.
To get an idea how the G510 stacks up, we will compare it to its competitors Acer Aspire E1-572G (Core i5-4200U, Radeon R7 M265) and HP Compaq 15-a024sg (Core i3-3110M, GeForce 820M).
Since both G510 models are more or less identical as far as their construction is concerned, we are not going to spend any time on the chassis, the connectivity features, input devices, or speakers. Please take a look at our review of the G510-59405554 for more information.
Display
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Brightness Distribution: 83 %
Center on Battery: 221 cd/m²
Contrast: 264:1 (Black: 1.02 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 6.7 | 0.55-29.43 Ø5.1
ΔE Greyscale 8.46 | 0.57-98 Ø5.4
51% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 1.6.3 3D)
57.3% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
79.8% sRGB (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
55.5% Display P3 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
Gamma: 2.48
Neither the contrast ratio (264:1) nor the black value (1.02 cd/m²) are adequate for a modern notebook in our opinion. The Aspire (367:1, 0.67 cd/m²) is unfortunately not much better. The Compaq (586:1, 0.36 cd/m²) on the other hand offers what could be considered "good" performance. The display is unable to cover the the professional colors spaces AdobeRGB and sRGB at 51 % and 69 %, respectively.
As shipped, we recorded an average DeltaE-deviation of around 6.7 (target: DeltaE less than 3) for the panel , which is certainly acceptable. Most notebooks in this price bracket have deviations of around 10 to 12 units. The display does exhibit a bluish cast, however.
The G510 can be used outdoors without major problems. The glossy display does make things more difficult, however, and very bright environments are best avoided.
Lenovo uses a conventional TN display panel. Consequently, users have to deal with reduced viewing angles.
Performance
Lenovo's G510 series consists of a range of entry-level 15.6-inch Home Office notebooks. The processors are powerful enough to handle most commonly encountered tasks with ease. There are quite a few different models in the series; our review notebook retails for about 530 Euro ($~720). The least expensive version G510 59416359 (Core i5-4200M, no Windows OS) sells for 430 Euro (~$585).
Processor
The G510 comes with a Haswell Core i5-4200M CPU. The processor has a clock speed of 2.5 GHz but can overclock to 3 GHz (both cores) and 3.1 GHz (single core) using the Turbo. Intel quotes a TDP of 37 watts. The processor develops full power with the notebook plugged in, in which case the Cinebench benchmark tests scores are exactly where we would expect them to be. With the notebook on battery power, Turbo Boost is not active and the processor remains at the core speed of 2.5 GHz.
| Cinebench R11.5 - CPU Single 64Bit (sort by value) | |
| Lenovo G510-59416358 | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E545-20B2000PGE | |
| HP Compaq 15-a024sg | |
| Acer Aspire E1-572G-54204G50Mnkk | |
| Lenovo G510 59-406675 | |
| Asus X550LD-XX023H | |
| Asus X550LB-NH52 | |
| Lenovo G510-59416358 | |
| Cinebench R11.5 - CPU Multi 64Bit (sort by value) | |
| Lenovo G510-59416358 | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E545-20B2000PGE | |
| HP Compaq 15-a024sg | |
| Acer Aspire E1-572G-54204G50Mnkk | |
| Asus X550LD-XX023H | |
| Asus X550LB-NH52 | |
| Lenovo G510 59-406675 | |
| Lenovo G510-59416358 | |
System Performance
We can't find any faults with the overall system performance. The notebook works smoothly and without any issues - at least as long as the drivers don't crash (more on that later). Our subjective impression of the performance are confirmed by the good results of the PC Mark 7 benchmark test.
| PCMark 7 Score | 2871 points | |
Help | ||
Storage Devices
The G510 is equipped with a hybrid hard drive from Seagate with a capacity of 500 GB and a rotational speed of 5400 RPM. The drive has access to 8 GB of integrated SSD cache. The cache ensues that frequently used applications start up faster. The transfer rates are in line with what we commonly see from 5400 RPM hard drives.
GPU Performance
The G510 comes with both an Intel HD Graphics 4600 and an AMD Radeon R5 M230 in a switchable-graphics configuration AMD calls Enduro (equivalent to Nvidia's Optimus technology). The Intel GPU is used for most tasks and when the notebook is running on battery power, while the Radeon GPU is utilized for high-power applications like gaming. AMD's Enduro technology doesn't work quite as smoothly as Nvidia's Optimus counterpart, so the user has to manually intervene at times to make sure that a specific application or a game actually uses the Radeon GPU. The Radeon R5 M230 is an entry-level GPU with DirectX 11.1 support and a clock speed of 855 MHz.
The results of 3D Mark benchmark tests are comparable to previous-generation AMD GPUs like the Radeon HD 8570M up to the HD 8670M. An equivalent graphics card in Nvidia's lineup is the GeForce 820M.
| 3DMark 06 Standard Score | 5145 points | |
| 3DMark 11 Performance | 1414 points | |
| 3DMark Ice Storm Standard Score | 46344 points | |
| 3DMark Cloud Gate Standard Score | 4155 points | |
| 3DMark Fire Strike Score | 779 points | |
Help | ||
| 3DMark 11 - 1280x720 Performance (sort by value) | |
| Lenovo G510-59416358 | |
| Lenovo G510-59416358 | |
| Asus X550LD-XX023H | |
| Lenovo G510 59-406675 | |
| HP Compaq 15-a024sg | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E545-20B2000PGE | |
| Asus X550LB-NH52 | |
| Acer Aspire E1-572G-54204G50Mnkk | |
Graphics Driver Crashes
Our attempt to run the different benchmark test was a frustrating experience since the AMD graphics driver crashed frequently. In some cases, Windows crashed completely as well (blue screen).
At first, we expected an issue with the install of the driver. We tried the most current, official driver (Catalyst 14.4) as well as the current beta version (Catalyst 14.6) to no avail. We then swapped out the hard drive and installed Windows 8.1 on our own, but the situation didn't improve. Last but not least, we tried an install of Windows 7: now the frequency of the crashes was reduced, but we still encountered them every so often.
There is no visible pattern with the crashes, either. If a crash occurs, chances are good that the next attempt works. The game Rome 2: Total War, on the other hand, refused to start under Windows 8.1 but ran fine under Windows 7. Wolfstein: The New Order didn't run on either OS. Although we tried numerous times, we couldn't get the PC Mark 8 benchmark test to complete.
It's hard to imagine that the above issues slipped through the crack during the manufacturer's testing phase, so maybe our problems are caused by a hardware defect.
Gaming Performance
The G510 handles most games fluently with the settings on low to medium and at a low resolution. The frame rates are in the same range of as the ones produced by the HD Graphics 4600 GPU in dual-channel mode, however, so we have to question why Lenovo didn't opt for a more powerful Radeon GPU.
3D Mark 2011 benchmark is a good reference test to determine graphics power, since the CPU only marginally influences the result. According to this benchmark, the Radeon and Nividia's GeForce 820M GPU perform at the same level. Gaming benchmarks are a different animal and the GeForce GPU comes out on top.
Users looking for a notebook suitable for gaming are better off with a different system. One option is the HP Compaq 15-a024sg (Core i3-3110M, GeForce 820M), which starts at 399 Euro (~$540) without a Windows OS. The Acer Aspire E1-572G (Core i5-4200U, Radeon HD 8750M) is significantly more powerful than both the G510 and the Compaq. This particular notebook also sells for 399 Euro (~$540) without and about 470 Euro (~$640) with Windows 8.
| low | med. | high | ultra | |
| World of Warcraft (2005) | 100 | 78.8 | ||
| Deus Ex Human Revolution (2011) | 49.4 | 32.5 | ||
| The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011) | 38 | 25.2 | 17.1 | |
| Anno 2070 (2011) | 70.7 | 33 | 20 | 9.5 |
| Alan Wake (2012) | 20.9 | 13.4 | ||
| Diablo III (2012) | 66.8 | 41.9 | 32.6 | 21.3 |
| Borderlands 2 (2012) | 38.1 | 26.2 | 19 | 11.9 |
| Dishonored (2012) | 40.6 | 31.3 | 27.8 | |
| Dead Space 3 (2013) | 61.9 | 30.6 | 24.9 | |
| Tomb Raider (2013) | 52.6 | 26.7 | 16.8 | 8.8 |
| StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm (2013) | 91.6 | 33.6 | 20.1 | |
| BioShock Infinite (2013) | 44.4 | 24.8 | 20.2 | 6.6 |
| Metro: Last Light (2013) | 25.2 | 18.5 | 11 | 5.3 |
| GRID 2 (2013) | 68.6 | 49.7 | 32.6 | |
| Company of Heroes 2 (2013) | 24 | 17.4 | 9.4 | 4.3 |
| Saints Row IV (2013) | 31.3 | 26.8 | 11.4 | |
| The Bureau: XCOM Declassified (2013) | 27 | 18.4 | 15.1 | |
| Total War: Rome II (2013) | 42.9 | 32.2 | 27.1 | |
| Batman: Arkham Origins (2013) | 44 | 24 | 8 | |
| Battlefield 4 (2013) | 38.6 | 26.1 | 17.4 | |
| Call of Duty: Ghosts (2013) | 32.8 | 26.6 | 11 | |
| X-Plane 10.25 (2013) | 56.2 | 29.2 | 11.4 | 10.9 |
| Thief (2014) | 18.2 | 11.6 | 9.2 | 4.4 |
| The Elder Scrolls Online (2014) | 61.6 | 32.5 | 17.4 | |
| GRID: Autosport (2014) | 116.9 | 45.8 |
| Lenovo G510-59416358 Radeon R5 M230, 4200M, Seagate ST500LM000 Solid State Hybrid Drive | Acer Aspire E1-572G-54204G50Mnkk Radeon R7 M265, 4200U, Seagate Momentus Thin ST500LT0 12-9WS142 | HP Compaq 15-a024sg GeForce 820M, 3110M, HGST Travelstar 5K1000 HTS541010A9E680 | Asus X550LD-XX023H GeForce 820M, 4200U, Toshiba MQ01ABF050 | Acer Aspire E1-572G-54204G75Mnkk Radeon HD 8750M, 4200U, TOSHIBA MQ01ABD075 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tomb Raider | 66% | 42% | 27% | 76% | |
| 1024x768 Low Preset | 52.6 | 74 41% | 78.8 50% | 70.4 34% | 92.6 76% |
| 1366x768 Normal Preset AA:FX AF:4x | 26.7 | 45.6 71% | 39 46% | 34.7 30% | 45.5 70% |
| 1366x768 High Preset AA:FX AF:8x | 16.8 | 31.4 87% | 22 31% | 19.7 17% | 30.8 83% |
| The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim | 55% | 17% | 55% | ||
| 1280x720 Low Preset | 38 | 55.1 45% | 43.5 14% | 55 45% | |
| 1366x768 Medium Preset AA:4x | 25.2 | 38.51 53% | 29.5 17% | 38.8 54% | |
| 1366x768 High Preset AA:8x AF:8x | 17.1 | 28.67 68% | 20.4 19% | 28.4 66% | |
| BioShock Infinite | 63% | 16% | |||
| 1280x720 Very Low Preset | 44.4 | 71.8 62% | 51.2 15% | ||
| 1366x768 Medium Preset | 24.8 | 39.92 61% | 28.6 15% | ||
| 1366x768 High Preset | 20.2 | 33.31 65% | 24.1 19% | ||
| Total Average (Program / Settings) | 61% /
61% | 42% /
42% | 20% /
20% | 66% /
66% |
Emissions
System Noise
The fan is running most of the time even in idle mode, but remains more or less inaudible. When the notebook is tasked more heavily, the fan noise increases: under medium load levels (3D Mark 06) and full load (stress test, Prime95 and Furmark), we measured 40.4 and 44.1 dB, respectively. Aside from a whooshing sound, the cooling system is quiet and there are no high or annoying frequencies.
Noise Level
| Idle |
| 29.1 / 31 / 31 dB(A) |
| HDD |
| 31 dB(A) |
| DVD |
| 37.2 / dB(A) |
| Load |
| 40.4 / 44.1 dB(A) |
 | ||
30 dB silent 40 dB(A) audible 50 dB(A) loud |
||
min:  , med:  , max:  Voltcraft sl-451 (15 cm distance) | ||
Temperature
A positive side effect of the pretty active fan system are the low temperatures emitted during the stress test. Only one area (near the fan) exceeded 40 degrees C.
During the stress test (Prime95 and Furmark in parallel for at least one hour), the CPU remained at 2.5 GHz no matter if the G510 was plugged in or not. The GPU fluctuated between 785 an 855 MHz on external power, but dropped to 400 MHz with the notebook running on battery. The CPU stabilized at 77 degrees C during the stress test with the notebook plugged in.
(±) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 42.8 °C / 109 F, compared to the average of 34.2 °C / 94 F, ranging from 21.2 to 62.5 °C for the class Office.
(+) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 36.4 °C / 98 F, compared to the average of 36.7 °C / 98 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 28.5 °C / 83 F, compared to the device average of 29.5 °C / 85 F.
(+) The palmrests and touchpad are reaching skin temperature as a maximum (32.9 °C / 91.2 F) and are therefore not hot.
(-) The average temperature of the palmrest area of similar devices was 27.8 °C / 82 F (-5.1 °C / -9.2 F).
Energy Management
Power Consumption
The power consumption of the G510 is in line with what we normally see from 15.6-inch notebooks with standard mobile processors. The G510 draws a little more power than its sibling, but given that the system is equipped with a dedicated GPU, this doesn't come as a surprise.
| Off / Standby | 0 / 0.1 Watt |
| Idle | 6.4 / 10.4 / 11.1 Watt |
| Load |
43.6 / 53.7 Watt |
   
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Battery Life
In idle mode, the G510's battery lasts for 10 hours and 5 minutes. The Aspire (7 hours 52 minutes) doesn't run for nearly as long. To determine the maximum battery life, we use the Battery Eater Reader's Test with the screen brightness turned all the way down, the power saver profile active, and the wireless modules turned off. Under load conditions, the G510 shut down after 1 hour and 8 minutes. The Aspire (1 hour 20 minutes) lasted a few minutes longer before we had to plug it back in. For the minimum battery life, we use the Battery Eater Classic Test with the screen set to maximum brightness, the high performance profile active, and all wireless modules on.
During the WLAN test, the G510 lasted 4 hours and 43 minutes before we had to plug it back in, which is quite a bit longer than the HP Compaq at 3 hours and 5 minutes. For this test, an automated script visits various websites every 40 seconds. We activate the power saver profile and set the display to a brightness of about 150 nits. Watching DVD movies was possible for 3 hours 41 minutes; the Aspire managed 2 hours and 58 minutes. Here, we use the power saver profile unless the movie playback isn't stutter-free, in which case we switch to a different (less frugal) profile. The screen brightness is set to its maximum and the wireless modules are turned off.
Verdict
The Lenovo G510 is a solid notebook. The system is designed for desk use, offers good performance and comes with decent input devices. Unfortunately Lenovo incorporated a glossy display - a matte display would've been a much better choice in our opinion. The panel offers decent enough brightness though, although the contrast is too low. Another positive attribute is the large maintenance cover, which makes it easy to gain access to the hardware components. The battery life is also very good.
The fact that the AMD driver crashes frequently remains a significant drawback. We can only hope that these crashes are an isolated occurrence which only affect our particular review model.
The entry-level version of the Acer Aspire E1-572G, which offers much better gaming performance, sells for 399 Euro (~$540) at the time of writing. The HP Compaq 15-a024sg also sells for the same price.
