Buy old Lenovo ideapad 700 or new ideapad 520 ?

[ahmedsimio]

Ideapad 700 specs:
Intel® Core™ i7-6700HQ (6M Cache, 2.6GHz)
8 GB DDR4 2133 MHz
1TB HDD 5400 rpm
15.6" FHD (1920x1080)
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX950, 4GB
730$

Ideapad 520 specs:same as ideapad 700 except for:
Intel® Core™ i5-8250U Processor (6M Cache, up to 3.40 GHz)
Nvidia™GeForce MX150 4GB
640 $

I tried comparing benchmark numbers of the processors and the VGAs and they were too close. I'm a little frustrated how i5 processors can have equal performance to an i7. Is the process generation thing that important ?

Please help as I'm going to buy soon. The prices listed is the lowest i could get from local stores. If a better laptob within the same budget range exists please recommend
Thanks in advance.

 

[GreyCatz]

1. The Y700 is a gaming laptop, and the Y520 is a productivity/entertainment laptop.

2. The Y700 will allow you to play sophisticated 3D games, including Tomb Raider and GTA V, but it has poor battery life and the model itself is a bit old by now.

3. The Y520 will give you decent battery life from the 8th-gen CPU and a good GPU for fancy Excel and PowerPoint animations. It's also designed for smooth web surfing and watching YouTube videos and Netflix movies.

4. Yes, the 'generation thing' is really that important. The i5-8250U is a quad-core 15W TDP unit running at 1.60GHz and can reach 3.40GHz if needed. This means low power consumption, modest heat generation, and very little fan noise. In contrast, the i7-6700HQ is an 'older' quad-core 45W TDP unit operating in the 2.60GHz to 3.50GHz range. This means significantly higher power consumption, very noticeable heat generation, and equally noticeable fan noise.

5. If you're into gaming, get the Y700. If you're looking for a very capable all-round entertainment laptop, get the Y520.

 

[ahmedsimio]

To make sure we are talking about the same laptobs, this is the ideapad 700 i'm talking about, It's called ideapad 700 (same as y700?):
http://laptopmedia.com/review/lenovo-ideapad-700-15-review-the-chinese-powerhouse-gives-asus-a-run-for-its-money-with-the-new-slim-and-powerful-multimedia-notebook/
I couldn't find the ideapad 520 with the same specs as the one I found at the local store , the laptob I could find with the same specs (same GPU, CPU) is called ideapad 320 and here is the review I could find about it :
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-IdeaPad-320S-13IKBR-i5-8250U-MX150-Laptop-Review.272208.0.html
As seen , the review gives a every bad opinion about the laptob and says that it cannot make full use of its CPU and GPU.
I thing I should go on with the ideapad 700, right?

 

[GreyCatz]

My mistake. The Y-series is a different model line. But simply going by the specs, it's still a question of what you are going to do with the laptop. They are designed to do very different things.

I agree that the notebookcheck verdict is rather gloomy, but it's more a question of Lenovo making some weird choices with the CPU settings - probably to improve battery life. But, again, it ultimately depends on what you want from the computer.