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Gaming laptops forum: Bought this laptop, wondering what kind of life it'll get

by: pegastep December 3, 2012 3:05 PM PST

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Bought this laptop, wondering what kind of life it'll get

by pegastep - 12/3/12 3:05 PM

Hello. A few months ago, I bought a Lenovo Ideapad Y580, and I've got a few questions about it. First of all, here are the specs:

Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3610QM CPU @ 2.30GHz
RAM: 8GB
Video Card: GeForce GTX 660M

I'd be happy to provide any more information if necessary. Anyways, a few of the main things I was wondering about:

How long can I expect a computer like this to last? I'm a senior in high school, and I'd like for this laptop to get me at least most of the way through college. Will the laptop life decrease significantly if I'm using it regularly for gaming? Something like Skyrim in terms of graphics would most likely be the highest-level game I'd be running.

I know the video card is decent (or at least I hope it is), but how well-suited will it be for future games? The problem I foresaw with this laptop, along with laptops in general, is that you can hardly pop out your video card and say "oh, time for an upgrade."

Lastly, how much would a cooling pad help? Would it increase the laptop's life, or do they not really help that much?

Thanks in advance, I really appreciate it.


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Very nice.

by R. Proffitt Moderator - 12/3/12 3:31 PM

In Reply to: Bought this laptop, wondering what kind of life it'll get by pegastep

Keep in on the hard desk, get the canned air out every month or so to stop the usual buildup (just like you read on forums, short bursts, don't spin the fans up to screaming with the air) and 2 to 4 years till it needs a repair on average.

Gaming is hard on such machines. Keep it clean and cool.
Bob


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To expand on the "gaming is hard on such machines"

by pegastep - 12/3/12 6:17 PM

In Reply to: Very nice. by R. Proffitt Moderator

What exactly do you mean by "hard"? Like, will gaming physically wear away out the video card? I'm hesitant to play games at all because I keep feeling like each and every minute I'm playing games on it is taking 30 minutes off of my laptop's life. Is this the case, or will moderate-to-heavy gaming not affect the longevity of the laptop given that I clean it regularly and keep it cooled?


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Well discussed. The short version.

by R. Proffitt Moderator - 12/3/12 10:18 PM

In Reply to: To expand on the "gaming is hard on such machines" by pegastep

Because all those high end parts have to fit in the small space the laptops let the temps rise more than what you can get in a big desktop. This is simple enough for most to see this accelerates aging.

Gaming runs the devices at near full throttle so just like your car, take it up to 100 MPH and it breaks down sooner.

It's that simple.

Laptops are great and all that but they come with some issues that we are willing to accept for the form factor.
Bob


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