Lenovo IdeaPad Y510p Gaming Laptop Review

I have known Lenovo for years since my wife’s first and trusty laptop was a T-61. It was issued to her by her company and it has been her reliable work companion for almost 5 years now. Based on what I’ve seen so far, it’s the most durable corporate laptop on the market – perfect for your day-to-day business activities. But I never thought Lenovo would create a gaming system that can deliver both the performance and price suitable for hardcore gamers like me.

When it comes to gaming laptops, I’m very particular with graphic performance since it’s the main reason why we’re buying a gaming system in the first place. In fact, I love pushing my gaming rig (desktop PC) to its limits: tweaking, overclocking, and regularly upgrading its graphics card so I can play my games on “ultra-settings.” I can’t blame myself – I just want to see those eye candy graphics! It’s what makes gaming more immersive and believable, and that keeps the gaming industry alive and well. 

However, we all know that most high-end gaming laptops like Origin and Alienware puts PC gaming out of reach due to their steep cost. Not to mention that you can only get them through order basis and that for sure will discourage your typical on-a-budget “Pinoy Gamer.” 

Now that I’ve mentioned those high-end gaming laptops, would you believe that a brand known in the corporate world as a provider of reliable and durable business laptops can produce a worthy gaming system? 

Well, Lenovo definitely surpassed our expectations! Enter the IdeaPad Y510p, a sleek 15-inch metallic notebook with a black aluminum lid, red-tinted keys, great Dolby speakers and simplistic but ergonomic design. It’s powered by an Intel Core i7 at 2.4Ghz with an 8gb of ram. 

It also weighs 6.4 pounds and feels more portable than those 17-inch gaming notebooks, which can weigh up to 9 pounds or more. At first look, you will notice the two “enter keys” and a clickpad rest which is slightly off the center. I think they made it that way to give way for the Numpad on the right side of the keyboard.  It also sports a spacious deck which provides plenty of room for your wrists to rest.

Here’s my in-depth rundown of its features:

·         Ports

The IdeaPad Y510p has several ports which include an HDMI-out, VGA, Ethernet and two USB 3.0 ports on its left side. It also has a standard microphone jack and one headphone jack. Another unique feature is the “always on USB 2.0 port” that allows user to charge and plug-in their mobile gadget even if the laptop is powered down. You will also find a removable drive on its right side called Ultrabay, this optical drive can be swapped with an additional fan or second graphics card to enhance your GPU strength.

·         Display

When it comes to its display, the Y510p has a 15.6-inch Led-backlit screen which can be expected from a gaming notebook. Although I like its maximum resolution of 1920x1080, which for me, outshines the other gaming laptops on the market. I was really impressed when I watched my favorite trailer for “Guardians of the Galaxy” on YouTube, this laptop really brought the colors and contrast on the characters’ uniforms as well as the neon particles from the spaceships in one of the movie’s battle scenes.

·         Audio

Most laptops these days ignore the importance of high quality audio, and though we consider the Y510p as a high-end gaming machine, it would be a waste if it doesn’t have top quality speakers. Fortunately, Lenovo integrated two Dolby-certified JBL speakers that can produce clear and crisp sounds without those annoying distortions. 

As I played several popular games like Diablo III, Rome 2 Total War and StarCraft 2, I noticed some ambient sounds that were not present when I first played these games using another machine. This clearly shows that the JBL speakers can bring out the best audio on your games and that will eventually enhance your overall gaming experience.

·         Keyboard

One of the best features this laptop has is a backlit keyboard with a cool red glow, much like the ones you see on high-end machines. It may not be a new innovation but it’s an essential feature that can add to its sophistication and wow factor. Who wouldn’t want to play in the dark? 

Well, I do once in a while!

Although I’m having some problems pressing the “backspace” because you cannot distinguish it from the other keys on the keyboard, it would have been more user-friendly if it was highlighted with some distinguishing marks. However, this is just a small setback for most gamers since you’ll be doing more gaming rather than typing anyway.

·         Touchpad

The touchpad is smooth and error-free as it responds to all known gestures like pinch-to-zoom, two-finger scrolling and edge swiping. I also tried the accuracy of the cursor by gliding across the screen, and it went smooth from one corner to the other. So, I would safely say that the touchpad is working perfectly.

·         Heat

When playing games on a portable gaming machine like the Y510p, you should expect that it will get warm in just a few minutes. In my experience, a typical gaming notebook can get warm in a matter of 15 minutes. Usually, you will feel the heat on the touchpad and on the sides where the exhausts are located, and there are times you could feel the temperature rising between the G and H keys as well.

As I tried playing Diablo III for about 45 minutes, I’m pretty much impressed with the Y510p cooling system because it fared better than most gaming laptops I’ve tried before. Though you can still feel the heat on both the exhausts, the temperature on the keyboard and touchpad is still comfortably normal.   

·         GPU and Gaming Performance

Now, we come to the last part of my review and I will make this portion as in-depth as possible. For starters, let’s tackle the main GPU of Y510p and why it’s considered a significant factor in its performance. Based on my findings through DXDIAG, this laptop powered by an NVIDIA Geforce GT 750M GPUs with 2GB of Vram for each chip.

When I’m playing Diablo III, I’m getting 40-60 FPS depending on the amount of mob I’m battling on the field, but my usual lows would stooped down to 40s and that is decent enough for a graphic intensive game like D3. I’m also strict when it comes to graphic settings since I often maxed out all the options available for the game. 

Here are some of my screenshots for D3:

As you can see in this particular screenshot, I'm getting 57 FPS even if I already maxed out all the graphics settings.

Another game I tried is Grid 2 which is a racing sim from Codemasters and it’s another graphically demanding PC game. When I maxed out all the settings, I’m still getting a decent 22 – 30 FPS on several race tracks with several high resolution buildings and other ambient elements on the side. 

Here’s the screenshots for this game:

 I'm getting 35 FPS during this race - not so bad after all!

My Final Verdict:

This laptop is indeed a powerful gaming machine that could handle any graphically-intensive game, but it also comes with a decent price (in my opinion). Currently, the Lenovo IdeaPad Y510p will cost around Php63,995 which is still a fair price considering the features and performance it can provide us.  Overall, I’m giving it a grade of 8 out of 10 and it’s an essential gaming laptop for any hardcore gamer out there.

Posted in: Game, Gaming Laptop, High-End Gadget