Which makes more sense - Lenovo y520 or y720?

[olender]

Don't have room for a dedicated gaming desktop to build myself at my apartment. However, I would like a decent gaming laptop around the $1000 or less price point, that is decently future-proof for at least 3 years for most games.

Looking at a y520 or y720.

Already picked up a y520 from costco for $850 (still within 90 return period):
-i7700hq, 16gb ram, 1tb hdd +256ssd, gtx1050ti

On the lenovo website, with a birthday coupon I can get a y720 for $999 with specs:
-i7700hq, 8gb ram, 1tb hdd +128ssd, gtx1060

Is the y720 worth the extra $150 for the gtx1060, but only 128ssd, and only 8gb ram? The better gpu is more future-proof but would the system run worse with a smaller ssd and less ram in comparison to the y520? Assuming I don't upgrade the ram and ssd and keep as is for $999, which one is a better choice?

I like lenovo as they seem to have a better quality build, I can probably pick up a helios for that price with better specs but I figure the lenovo will be a better quality machine and last longer. Any input would be greatly appreciated and advice if there are other things to consider. Thank you in advance.

 

[jay32267]

Here's the thing....I don't see the 720 as a deal over the 520.

It will probably work better NOW though. Most games don't top 8 GB...and as long as you don't fill up the SSD you would be OK....and the system would run faster than the 520 for games.

....but 128 GB is too small for me....so I wouldn't go for it....plus I imagine you will be upgrading to 16 GB in not too long.

So I would stay with the 520....and probably up the graphics card instead.

 

[nobspls]

For the Y720, if you look here:
http/laptopmedia.com/highlights/inside-lenovo-legion-y720-disassembly-internal-photos-and-upgrade-options/

https/www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh188V8ibN0

It looks like stuff like drive, memory, and SSD can all be easily replaced, and expanded upon. The GTX1060 will be substantially better than the GTX1050ti and will probably remain more useful for at least that 3-year period you have in mind.

So this means you can always upgrade ram and ssd at a later date to your liking. As it stands right now, 8gb and 128 ssd is plenty adequate for current games and applications. If anything I'd upgrade on the both the y720 and y520, is replace the hdd with a sata SSD. Which means a smaller 128GB SSD for the windows boot drive would not be a big deal.

I would go with the GTX1060, because replacing that is impossible.

 

[olender]

Here's the thing....I don't see the 720 as a deal over the 520.

It will probably work better NOW though. Most games don't top 8 GB...and as long as you don't fill up the SSD you would be OK....and the system would run faster than the 520 for games.

....but 128 GB is too small for me....so I wouldn't go for it....plus I imagine you will be upgrading to 16 GB in not too long.

So I would stay with the 520....and probably up the graphics card instead.

Is it that easy to upgrade memory card? It seems like it would be the most difficult/impossible part of upgrading a laptop, especially these. Plus the y720 comes with a thunderbolt port I believe so it could be possible to upgrade with external gpu in the future?

For the Y720, if you look here:
http/laptopmedia.com/highlights/inside-lenovo-legion-y720-disassembly-internal-photos-and-upgrade-options/

https/www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh188V8ibN0

It looks like stuff like drive, memory, and SSD can all be easily replaced, and expanded upon. The GTX1060 will be substantially better than the GTX1050ti and will probably remain more useful for at least that 3-year period you have in mind.

So this means you can always upgrade ram and ssd at a later date to your liking. As it stands right now, 8gb and 128 ssd is plenty adequate for current games and applications. If anything I'd upgrade on the both the y720 and y520, is replace the hdd with a sata SSD. Which means a smaller 128GB SSD for the windows boot drive would not be a big deal.

I would go with the GTX1060, because replacing that is impossible.

Could you definitely have two ssd's in these laptops? Also if I upgrade an additional 8gb ram and 128gb ssd in the future to the y720, I'm estimating the total cost would be about +200-300 extra. So total spent overtime would be about $1300 for the y720 with upgraded ram and ssd, is that still considered worth it? Or is there now another laptop that would make more sense spending that much?

 

[jay32267]

I'm not at all sure how difficult the upgrade would be. If it looked to be beyond my capabilities, I would have to reconsider.

 

[nobspls]

Is it that easy to upgrade memory card? It seems like it would be the most difficult/impossible part of upgrading a laptop, especially these. Plus the y720 comes with a thunderbolt port I believe so it could be possible to upgrade with external gpu in the future?

Did you watch the youtube video link. It is just a few screw to get the back panel off and another screw for the memory access, and memory swap is super easy on the Y720. So is the hdd to SSD upgrade. The TB3 port on the Y720 makes it that much more the better choice over the Y520. I got my wife the Lenovo Yoga 720 13 2-in-1 (less than 3 pounds), and she can game on it purely because of the TB3 port. I had and old GTX970 to spare that I put in an e-GPU enclosure. Overwatch, Destiny 2, etc. runs great on it.

Could you definitely have two ssd's in these laptops?

Absolutely. There is no reason why you can not. I have a MSI GS63VR which I got 18 months ago. The first thing I did was upgrade the 1TB HDD with a 750GB SSD, and I still have the windows boot drive on the 128GB SSD.And let me tell you, GS63VR is a real pain in the you know where just to get the back panel off in comparison to the y720.

Also if I upgrade an additional 8gb ram and 128gb ssd in the future to the y720, I'm estimating the total cost would be about +200-300 extra. So total spent overtime would be about $1300 for the y720 with upgraded ram and ssd, is that still considered worth it? Or is there now another laptop that would make more sense spending that much?

You can spend more but any of those even at $1300 will probably require you to upgrade memory and SSD. Any machine selling you 2 SSD, especially a laptop with a SSD in the 1TB range or more will be well north of $2000.

 

[olender]

MERGED QUESTION
Question from olender : "Is this lenovo Y720 worth the price?"

I recently purchased a y520 from costco for about $850 - i770hq, 256gb ssd +1tbhdd, gtx1050ti, 16gb ram.

Had it for a few days, it's okay, but I prefer to have something a tad more future proof, so I looked into the y720 - https/www.costco.com/Lenovo-LEGION-Y720-Gaming-Laptop---Intel-Core-i7---6GB-NVIDIA-Graphics---4K-Ultra-HD.product.100380691.html

Ordered the y720, will have it in a few days. Is the upgraded 4k panel worth the extra money and gtx1060, plus thunderbolt3 port (for future-proofability with a stronger e-gpu one day), plus 2 year warranty from Costco?

From my research most reviews rated the y720 as a really well built laptop with only really the display on the regular models falling short. This is where I'm hoping the 4k screen solves any display issues and brightness/colors are no longer a problem.

The problem now becomes, for about $100 dollars more you start getting into other laptops with 120hz screens, possibly even a gtx1070. Then once you do that, another $100 dollars gets you looking at something even better and it seems to become a never ending cycle of "only another hundred and it'll be that much better" -kind of thinking.

Also the dilemma I'm having is whether or not buying a 8th generation intel laptop would be better. I'm not looking to have build quality issues or heating issues which I tend to find with some of the other laptops that I could get for about $100 extra over the y720.

So in essence I went from spending about $850 in the hopes of not spending more than $1000 on a gaming laptop, to spending $1500 for the y720, and would like to know if the y720 is worth that price for performance, quality and longevity with regard to the i7700hq and ability to upgrade gpu with thunderbolt3 if needed.