[SOLVED] Used laptop choice - Legion Y540 vs Asus Tuf FX 705DT?

[Rutwick]

Specs are practically identical -

Y540 (i5 9th gen/GTX 1650/8 Gigs Single Channel/512 GB SSD)
Asus Tuf 705 DT (Ryzen 7 3750/GTX 1650/8 Gigs Single Channel/512 GB SSD)

I plan to use them for my daily use - programming, UI development, entertainment and some 1080p gaming (I can do medium to high settings as long as its playable smoothly, I am not an ultra/epic settings fanboy) since I primarily play on my desktop. I am getting them both for the exact same price, used (around 1 year old, Asus has some warranty left on it). Asus is in a better condition as well, since the guy I am buying it from is not much of a hardcore user. The battery left is over 80% too.

I have read rave reviews about the Y540, including Dave Lee and Jarrod Tech's recommendation, and I personally want it. However it is in a very far city and I won't be able to go and test it manually before buying, at least not anytime soon. I tested the Asus laptop thoroughly today, and it seems fine to me, but I have heard it has some throttling issues/thermal issues. which I didn't see except for when running a CPU stress test with the charger removed.

Has anyone used the Asus laptop, is it any good over the Legion? Any thermal/throttling issues? So much confusion.

 

[Lutfij]

By 1080p gaming, you forgot to mention the titles you'd like to tax the laptop with.

I'd get the Asus since you seem to have more information about that being in better condition. Overall, Lenovo's aren't a deal breaker but they're sometimes of sub par built quality, IMHO.

Ever since the 6th Gen Intel mobile platforms, they all suffer from thermal issues, which is a result of the processor pulling more power than it needs and Intel nerfed the ability to undervolt with the latest firmware updates.

You should be good with either platform.

 

[Rutwick]

Thanks man!

I am not particularly a fan of eSports, arena shooters, multiplayers or racing games (bye bye PubG, Apex Legends, Fortnite, NFS, Forza etc.), so I will mostly be playing story based games, even shooters for that matter I like the ones with a solid single player campaign. If I have to give you an example, then Deus Ex, Borderlands, Ghost Recon, Halo, Metal Gear, Witcher, Tomb Raider and maybe Death Stranding if it works etc.

Yes, I have personally checked the Asus today, a thorough 2 hour test against a huge checklist I made from reading around including stress testing. It is in a fine condition. Quite frankly I know that buying a used device always involves some degree of a gamble! I do plan to throw in an extra RAM stick to help it work better.

 

[geofelt]

What is the processor in the y540?
Is one significantly better than the other?

On ram, one can not casually throw in another 8gb.
Ram needs to be matched for proper operation.
ryzen seems to be more picky about this than Intel.

Logistics may rule out the Y540 for you.

 

[Rutwick]

Hey, the Y540 has an Intel i5 9th gen. It is slightly better than R7 3750 (user benchmarks), but it has an edge when it comes to a higher GPU, which is 1660ti or 1060 ti, R7 bottlenecks these. However, since it is a laptop, I am not going to be able to change the GPU anyway! I am aware of the RAM mismatch, although I am also aware of matching them. Have done quite a bit of research when I was upgrading my desktop.

 

[geofelt]

If you go to crucial or kingston, and access their ram upgrade app, you can get a list of supported upgrades. If, for any reason it does not work, you have some recourse.
So far, I have had zero problems upgrading laptop ram.

What may make a big difference to you is the quality of the displays.

For that, you would need to take that trip to the Y540 and see it for yourself.
That would be my suggestion.
Otherwise, you would always wonder if you made the right decision.

 

[Rutwick]

If you go to crucial or kingston, and access their ram upgrade app, you can get a list of supported upgrades. If, for any reason it does not work, you have some recourse.
So far, I have had zero problems upgrading laptop ram.

What may make a big difference to you is the quality of the displays.

For that, you would need to take that trip to the Y540 and see it for yourself.
That would be my suggestion.
Otherwise, you would always wonder if you made the right decision.

Thanks, I have already checked Crucial's site for this particular laptop memory, but I think I will have a better idea once I see the exact memory model. I will come back with a question then for a compatible second stick.

The displays are both the same, 60Hz IPS level panels, not the best in the class but they get the job done well.