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    Gaming Question - Y570 or W520

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by Lost Soul, May 11, 2011.

  1. Lost Soul

    Lost Soul Notebook Enthusiast

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    So I'm looking for a new notebook - I'm pretty much set on a Think/Ideapad again.

    Realistically, any notebook I pick will work for my needs - except gaming. That's always the issue, isn't it? If it's any help, I'm more interested in a notebook which will remain gaming-capable for a while than in having an absolute top-end machine now.

    I think that the real bottleneck will be the GPU. So is the W520's 2gig NVIDIA better than the Y570's GPU for gaming?

    Also, will the W520's rather ludicrous upper range for RAM be helpful, or is 8G of RAM sufficient?

    Finally, would an SSD be a significant positive for gaming purposes? I think that the Y570 comes with an hybrid drive, would that work as well?
     
    Lost Soul, May 11, 2011
    #1
  2. Karamazovmm

    Karamazovmm Overthinking? Always!

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    I would go for the y570, since the problem here is the that the gtx 460m is going to have a DDR3 buffered memory, so its going to be a hit in performance.

    No 8g is plenty.

    SSDs only help in loading times
     
    Karamazovmm, May 11, 2011
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  3. bogatyr

    bogatyr Notebook Evangelist

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    The GPUs (2000M vs GT 555M) are similar for performance, especially at higher resolutions:
    Computer Games on Laptop Graphic Cards - Notebookcheck.net Tech

    It is unlikely that you will need 8GB of ram for gaming, but I prefer to have room to grow rather than hit the ceiling early on.

    SSD will only be an improvement for loading times. Actual gameplay is rarely affected by hard drive access.
     
    bogatyr, May 11, 2011
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  4. mrpeaches

    mrpeaches Notebook Consultant

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    Is price a factor in this decision? What is the price difference between the two?
     
    mrpeaches, May 11, 2011
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  5. Lost Soul

    Lost Soul Notebook Enthusiast

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    Not that big of a difference when you factor in the various rebates available to obsessive bargain-hunters like me, which probably won't apply for the Y570early on.

    Otherwise, the Y570 is much cheaper.
     
    Lost Soul, May 11, 2011
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  6. edit1754

    edit1754 Notebook Prophet

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    If you want a NVIDIA 555M, check out the Sager NP5165 if you can deviate from Lenovo. You'll get the 555M GPU without having to settle for the measly 1366x768 resolution. The NP5165 comes with 1920x1080 standard, and on that note be sure you get 1600x900 at least if you get the W520. It's a really big difference and the upgrade is only $50.

    On another note, I'm not sure if the two 555M cards are exactly identical, because I've heard there are ~3 different versions, but both are good.
     
    edit1754, May 12, 2011
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