I suspect you're using K-Lite Codec Pack... If so, dump it already... that's the worse codec pack you could end up with... all rendering using CPU, nothing goes tu GPU at all... a waste of resources... and I think I read somewhere it cause stutters on y580? or did I read it related to something else...

CCCP is better... there's another player as well, that utilize GPU a lot better but I forgot the name...

I've never benchmark AC3 because somehow Razer GameBooster has problem with the way this game running... but I'm pretty sure it's beyond 30fps, though I think I played at 1600x900 and medium settings (can't exactly remember, haven't been on the game for quite some time already)

FarCry 3 and Crysis 2, I've never tried but I would expect no problem for Crysis 2 reaching 60fps though might not be at high settings.

I'm using Y580 btw (GTX660M)

I dont think much can be done about the heat... If you're really uncomfortable about the heat at palm rest just because you don't like warmed up hand, I would suggest external keyboards... if you're worried it will damage your hardware as time goes, I think nothing to worry much....

i7 uses highest power when you compare it i3 vs i5 vs i7... it's 2 core vs 4 core...

though if you compare between generation, the one that we have is lower...

when it comes to graphics, I just force it to run on nVidia all the time

there's a couple of reasons;
1. My experience with Optimus has never been good. I heard that it's improved, but I've lost my trust to the technology... Last time, i keep on losing the nVidia GPU and had to restart the laptop to get it back after long idle on intergrated graphics... well, I hate shutting down my device... after I forced it on nVidia, never did lose the GPU again...
2. I run this laptop mostly on AC at home. I keep the battery separately... so, power consumption is not exactly an issue for me... though whenever I use battery sure I will change it back to intergrated...

though this all just my personal preference... I heard Optimus is quite good now and latest drivers will not cause you to lose the GPU on long idle anymore now... so you shouldn't have any problem with switching...

XD it's true though... Lenovo didn't market this laptop as gaming laptop... it's multimedia laptop with good graphic processing...

if I'm not mistaken, a free Lenovo headset is part of the package... I've never tried it, I sell it to my friend since I have 2 headsets already... but judging from the specs and price, the headsets is pretty good quality...

looking at the temperatures, I dont even feel like OC... thinking to downclock the CPU actually... XD

I think the extra exhaust will help actually... though I'm not 100% sure how the air flow going to be... perhaps Lenovo already R&D the airflow so that it won't create vortex or anything...

though, I wonder if we can actually run "Dust Remover" while playing games...

Run "Dust Remover" and end process for the apps... will it stuck at that speed? anybody willing to try?

I wonder if there's any speed controller software can force the fan speed to be high all the time???

both are impossible by default...

if you want 15" why not just go for Y580? and why do you want to downgrade to i5?

I heard that Y500 has better cooling...

though, if you care about performance but dont want to mess with SLI config, take single GPU GTX660M Y580...

but if you are willing to wait for latest driver, keep on updating for better optimization, you can always go to Y500 GT650M SLI...

I didn't do any modification yet... planned, but not executed yet... I find that they're not exactly worrying for my situation...

For me it's not that bad, probably currently I'm in winter right now... my worry is more towards the CPU temp... reaching 100'C while BF3... not sure there's a problem with my heatsink at CPU or what...

btw, anybody knows the throttling temperature for our CPU?

Y500 should have optimus as well right? or did they disable it because SLI isn't compatible?

ODD swap with HDD should solve the HDD overheating issue... original HDD location can install SSD that can withstand heat higher than HDD...

satisfied for the price and performance that I get... who would've thought I can play Skyrim with 1600x900 at medium with 60fps without drop on this baby? beyond my expectation actually...

I'll go first...

HDD swap to ODD with caddy

This post has been edited by mrl: Dec 25 2012, 11:21 AM

no problem at all with Win8... the oldest game I ran with Steam is SimCity 4...

though you might not want to add in non-steam game into your library... last time I tried to launch a non-steam game with steam, it crashed... and use latest driver even if it's beta... other than that, you're good...

I'm not sure if there's a way to make it fast without plugging in the AC, but I believe it's performance limiter for power conservation even if you're on High Performance... the profile was designed that way... perhaps, if you set Dynamic Graphics will help? I dont know... never tried... could be the battery can't provide enough power for full performance as well...

even on high performance alone I can only use for around 2 hours, if gaming on full performance with battery, 30min only perhaps?

those JBL speaker, when i first try it I was like, "man... is this really the laptop speaker? this small sized speaker?"

damn powerful...

that's normal... I still can't believe Lenovo's decision on the battery capacity actually... I wonder if there's any extended battery for this model...

Do you have a working copy of Win8 ISO? (legal, I'm not suggesting ahem here)

If so, burn the ISO into DVD, install SSD and install normally as other windows... I know the name is "Win8 Upgrade" but I have been able to do clean installation from there...

I would say do clean installation... Those Lenovo stuff will give you a lot of headache later on... Clean installation, and install manually all the lenovo stuff...

Here's the thing, whenever you're on battery your GPU will never be on full performance... Even if you're on nVidia GPU and High Performance power profile, your GPU will never be on full performance, you will notice FPS drops...

so, if you want to play high end games that utilize GPU a lot, plug your laptop with AC power... that's the only way to solve it...

After looking at the manual, I believe Lenovo didn't come out with recovery disks options with windows 8 (probably a standard procedure in windows 8 already?)

However, there's 2 alternatives I can think of...

Option 1. Using Win8 recovery itself. Use the search function (Charms bar > Search) and search for "Recovery" under Settings. Click on Recovery. You can create Win8 Recovery Disc from there... I dont know what's in there, I've never been there before, hopefully it will help.
Option 2. Contact Lenovo or the shop that you bought your laptop, obtain your product key so that you can download new ISO from Microsoft.
Option 3. Google for win8 product key finder so you can obtain your product key and download new ISO from Microsoft.

Both option 2 and 3 will make you lose your Lenovo apps and special function, but you can download them back from Lenovo site. After config everything, you can make an image using 3rd party disc imaging apps so that it can easily be restored without re-install everything.

Burn the ISO into a DVD (or USB drive if you want), boot from the drive and proceed installation as usual... when asked which drive to install, select the drive and format it...

hhmmm... i guess this is new coz if I remember correctly on Win7 we can do something like that regardless of license...

maybe that's the reason there's no more OEM licensed version, replaced with System Builder version... hhmmm...

I start to feel like Win8 is not friendly if like this, more advantage to the OEM ready build systems, but not exactly friendly with custom build PC? that's off topic though...

wait, does that mean the upgrade version that we have for Y580/Y480 is retail? or the one downloaded through Upgrade Advisor is properly licensed for OEMs?

actually, retail is the one that not comes with the laptop... you buy it seperately, standalone Win8 not together with any system... that's retail licensed version...

previously, the one that comes with the system is OEM licensed... if you buy a laptop and get Windows, that Windows is under OEM license...

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Added on December 29, 2012, 12:42 pmWin7 uses 7.9 scale while Win8 is 9.9 scale (is it? or it's 8.9?) that's why the rating is different... or so I believed...

This post has been edited by mrl: Dec 29 2012, 12:42 PM

as far as I know, nope... but you can upgrade for RM50 if you buy before Feb...

ouh, I thought you have Y500..

though, you sure they just didn't do the upgrade for you? coz I didn't see a sku with Win8 officially... i might be missing something though...