Review Lenovo IdeaPad Y510p Notebook

Even though the chassis design of the IdeaPad Y500 was not without its flaws, Lenovo decided not to update it - we could not detect any changes aside from the non-glare display. Since the chassis is a carry-over, the new model inherits all of its strengths and weaknesses.

There are plenty of slimmer and/or lighter multimedia notebooks on the market, but we have to applaud Lenovo for keeping the dimensions in check: not all competing manufacturers would be able to integrate two graphics cards in a chassis that measures 387 x 259 x 39 millimeters (~15.2 x 10.2 x 1.5 inches).

We are happy to overlook the rather substantial weight of 2.9 kilograms (~6.4 pounds) since the notebook includes an UltraBay - a swappable drive bay, which can be equipped with a secondary GPU, a fan, a hard drive, or an optical drive. 

One of our main points of criticism concerns the materials Lenovo uses: the dark surfaces attract dirt - especially the extremely delicate high-gloss display bezel. The unit is also not very sturdy and the touchpad flexes way too much. For details about the chassis, please read our review of the IdeaPad Y500.

Software

Lenovo preinstalls some software, but keeps the number of titles in check. Movie-fans will appreciate CyberLink’s PowerDVD 10. A trial version of Office 365 is also included. The program "OneKey Recovery" allows the user to recover the system. Some additional tools are depicted in the screenshots below.

Since the performance of dual-GPU systems depend a lot on the drivers, it is advisable to update them every few weeks or months. If we had not updated from version 311.41 to version 320.49, some of the games we tested would have run considerably slower. We had no issues installing the official Nvidia driver and did not discover any significant bugs or other problems during our time with the notebook.

Accessories

The IdeaPad Y510p ships with a 170 Watt power adapter, which weights 676 grams (~1.5 pounds) and measures 168 x 79 x 35 millimeters (~6.6 x 3.1 x 1.4 inches). Neither a recovery disk nor a driver DVD is included - but at least the drivers are located on a special partition. It is a bit disappointing that Lenovo now includes a weaker 6-cell battery (62 Wh instead of 72 Wh).

Warranty

Lenovo covers the notebook for a period of two years. The homepage offers several warranty extensions under "Services & Warranty".

The Y510p is equipped with an Intel Core i7-4700MQ. This particular CPU features clock speeds from 2.4-3.4 GHz - same as the previous-generation Core i7-3630QM, which Lenovo used in the predecessor Y510. In addition to the identical clock speeds, the amount of L3 cache (six MB) and the manufacturing process (22 nm) are the same for both processors.

One of the most significant improvements of Intel's Haswell architecture affects the graphics card: the HD Graphics 4600 offers quite a bit more performance than the older HD Graphics 4000 (Ivy Bridge generation). Too bad that Lenovo does not use graphics switching because of the dual-GPU configuration - Nvidia's Optimus technology would have saved a lot of power during idle and while running less demanding applications.

The CPU features a TDP of 47 Watts, can address eight threads in parallel via Hyperthreading, and supports Turbo Boost.

For the IdeaPad Y510p, Lenovo combined two middle-class GPUs from Nvidia's GeForce 700 series. Even though these graphics cards are still based on the older Kepler architecture, the significantly higher clock speeds enable the GeForce GT 750M (SLI) to outperform the GeForce GT 650M (SLI) by a fair margin.

The DirectX 11 GPU improves upon the clock speeds of the predecessor - 790 MHz core and 2000 MHz memory: the GT 750M reaches 967 MHz and 2500 MHz, which is an increase of +22% for the core and +25% for the memory. Using GPU Boost technology (dynamic overclocking), the graphics card tops out at 1058 MHz according to GPU-Z.

The amount of RAM has not changed: 2048 MB GDDR5-VRAM is addressed via a 128-bit bus (although the bandwidth is now 80 GB/s instead of 64 GB/s). The number of shader units (384) is also identical. The next stronger GPU in Nvidia's lineup - the GeForce GTX 760M - has twice as many shader units. All Kepler GPUs are manufactured using the same - still up-to-date - 28 nm process. 

To ensure maximum graphics performance, Lenovo equipped the IdeaPad Y510p with two GT 750M GPUs, which are linked together in an SLI setup. Just like the direct competitor from AMD (CrossFire), Nvidia's dual-GPU setup has certain disadvantages - one of them the much higher power draw and cooling requirements.

Much more critical, in our opinion, is the occurrence of micro stuttering. Since the two GPUs render the frames in turn, the delay between the frames can be irregular at times, which leads to stuttering. The SLI GPU-combo unfortunately falls below the critical threshold of 40 fps - at least for Full HD and high to maximum details (usually the preferred settings for playing games). Some titles - like Far Cry 3 - seem particularly prone to micro stuttering.

At times, a game that looks good on paper does not perform that well when it is actually played. High-performance dual-GPU setups - like the GeForce GTX 765M SLI (Schenker XMG P723) - are not affected as much.

Another drawback is the strong dependence on drivers. Games that are slower or only marginally faster when played with dual GT 750Ms are usually missing a profile for the driver, which is necessary for the SLI setup to reach the full potential. Nvidia needs to implement such a profile for each and every game. In addition to some lesser-known games, brand new games are also sometimes not included yet. We checked 32 games and only found Dirt: Showdown and Company of Heroes 2 to be affected - not bad considering that AMD's drivers support is spotty. 

It is not easy to summarize the gaming performance. Less demanding titles like FIFA 13, Counter Strike: Global Offensive, and Dishonored run at high frame rates regardless of the settings, but resource-intensive games like Crysis 3, Metro: Last Light, and Sleeping Dogs will not play perfectly at the highest settings.

According to our measurements, the SLI setup offers almost the same performance as the GeForce GTX 770M and positions itself between the dual-GPU siblings GTX 765M SLI (+36%) and GT 650M SLI (-22%), A single GTX 765M is about 20% slower - but some games play more fluently with the single GPU.

Because of the meager CPU clock speed (lack of Turbo Boost), the performance of the system lags behind at some settings and for certain games. In some cases, the older IdeaPad Y500 actually ends up being the faster system (examples are Assassin's Creed III and F1 2012 with the settings at medium-high). When playing graphic-intensive games, the GeForce GT 750M SLI compares very well against the former top models GeForce GTX 680M and Radeon HD 7970M.

Although the IdeaPad Y510p comes equipped with two graphics cards, the noise level is perfectly acceptable. During idle and while performing simple tasks, the system is barely audible at 31-32 dB(A) (distance of 15 centimeters/~6 inches) - the slight whooshing sound of the fan and the whirring of the HDD are not bothersome in the least.

Considering the performance level of the notebook, even 3D operation is no cause for complaint: while 38-41 dB(A) are certainly noticeable, the noise level - slightly lower than what we recorded for the IdeaPad Y500 - is still not annoying or disturbing. Louder games push the system noise in the background. The Schenker XMG A523 - equipped with the lower-performing GeForce GTX 765M - reaches a very prominent 44-49 dB(A).

One of the major cons: the 15-inch system runs extremely hot - similar to the IdeaPad Y500. We measured a maximum of 48 °C (118.4 °F/ top) and 44 °C (111.2 °F/ bottom) after running our stress test with FurMark and Prime95 for one hour, which can get quite uncomfortable after a while. The notebook also heats up substantially when playing games.

Not surprisingly, even low load levels cause the system to get quite warm: almost 35 °C (95 °F) after two hours of idle time seems quite high. The competitors Clevo P150SM (Schenker W503) and P157SM (One K56-3N2) stay cooler even under maximum load.

A look at the hardware temperatures shows why the system gets so hot: the processor and the graphics card top 90 °C (194 °F/ CPUID hardware monitor) during the stress test - and the Core i7-4700MQ throttles down to 800 MHz. The second GPU had a clock speed of 135 MHz and 203 Mhz memory speed during our test. Our benchmark tests showed no evidence of throttling, however.

The battery life falls short of expectations: a portable 15-inch notebooks should be capable of more than three hours away from any outlet. The IdeaPad Y500 - equipped with hardware that is more frugal and a more powerful battery - lasted about 30-60 minutes longer.

With moderate power savings enabled, we were able to surf the Internet for about 140 minutes. To stand a chance against the competition that implements Optimus technology, Lenovo needs to outfit the next model with a more powerful battery. During our tests, SLI was always active.

In some ways, the IdeaPad Y510p covers the gamut from success to failure. One of the most distinguishing factors is without question Lenovo's UltraBay. 

The swappable bay allows the user to quickly adapt the notebook to the task at hand - regardless if it is watching a Blu-ray movie (insert the optical drive) or playing demanding games (replace the optical drive with the secondary GPU).

Despite the occurrence of micro stutters and the dependency on the latest drivers, the IdeaPad Y510p has the makings of a bestseller. Which other notebook sells for 1000 Euros (~$1300) and offers the performance of a system with a GeForce GTX 680M or GTX 770M graphics card? It would be hard to cram more performance into a 15-inch notebook - at least not if weight and dimensions are a concern.

In some areas, the notebook is less than perfect: high-gloss plastic parts, high temperatures, and a rather short battery life might discourage some potential buyers. The spongy touchpad and the inadequate Turbo Boost also hamper the overall score.

On the plus side, the notebook features a non-glare Full HD display with exceptional brightness. We also like the backlit keyboard, the upgradability, and the good sound system. All things considered, the IdeaPad Y510p is an interesting and recommendable multi-purpose notebook.