Support NeoGAF

[Twinguistics]

I understand not wanting to give up, but it really does sound like you’re fighting a losing battle on this one mate. Despite what a video says, if a CPU gets anywhere near its thermal limit then it’s a problem. That limit is there because any higher and it dies. Don’t forget that you’re getting much higher temps than the video did, too.

I can’t help but think you’d be better off just buying a Switch at this point, in all honesty. It satisfies your real world needs without a lot of the compromises, and you can maybe get a desktop down the road when your situation allows for it.

I have a Switch. I've been a Nintendo only gamer for 20 years. I'm tired of that plus we needed a new laptop. I thought, why not get one that can play all of the games I've been missing out on. Also, my temps aren't much higher than the video, maybe about 5 degrees and I'm going to mitigate that.

I hear you but look at from this perspective. You have to go and buy a cheap $10 part to make your $$$$ laptop work properly? What if you go on vacation or go to visit someone and you forget it, does that mean no gaming for you? This isn’t like buying a dock for flexibility or a case for protection and peace of mind. This is literally to make your laptop function as intended. And if that’s operating normally then the inherent design is faulty and you should look at a different model. But it seems like you’ve already made your mind up so I guess I just wasted my time. Best of luck to you.

I understand what you're saying but I don't think there is a model for under £1k that has better cooling and this power. I think it's just how gaming laptops are. It's rubbish, and they get away with selling machines that have this issue but it is what it is. I didn't have a crash for 2 weeks and then when the weather got hotter I got some crashes. But I wasn't raising the back and I wasn't keeping an eye on how hot it was getting. I'm also running it in performance mode, with everything set to ultra and pushing it as hard as it can go - I don't need to do that.

If I go on vacation I'll take my Switch (which I'll still use for the bus and lunch at work) and might take the laptop too. Perhaps, I won't play AAA games in ultra settings on holiday for 2 hours and I'll just have a couple of games of Magic and play indie games.

I am still considering returning it if the cooling pad doesn't do much and/or I keep getting crashes. I'm keeping my options open at this point.

 

[Paracelsus]

Ok, so is me using all of my RAM not an issue then at all? Maybe it's not, I don't know how it works.

Regarding the CPU temp, how is it possible that the GPU stays at 70 degrees when the CPU is hitting 95+? Is that common? Aren't they close to each other and so should both be hot (or not)?

I'm guessing that you're talking about replacing the thermal paste? Is it possible that mine has defective paste and so I should hope to get one with better cooling, or will they all be like this?

Edit - I'll try out the 'balance' thermal mode in the Lenovo vantage application to see if that helps as per suggestion above. I don't mind a small hit in framerate. Let's see; I was using 'performance' mode.

Not the problem, but a problem. 0.4 is basically no memory, and when the system starts swapping it can crash or slow down even the fastest rig to a crawl.

I'm with people saying you should return it, just remember anything below "1gb available ram" is basically no ram.

 

[DESTROYA]

Just a last suggestion try gaming with Vantage set to balance and quiet and the same for the W10 power options balanced, it should help reduce temps even more and should not have to much impact on gaming performance if it all.

 

[Randall365]

FWIW my hardware crashes are usually blue screens (mem issues, overclock issues) - software is usually a frozen screen and a reset required (i.e. the hardware isn’t failing so the computer does not realise anything is wrong).

The only freeze I get now is 1 out of around 5 times after using a VPN and remote desktop connection all day - not sure what causes that!

 

[Kolumbo]

If it's under warranty just rma it.
Judging by the errors described it seems to be a hardware problem, most likely ram or ssd.

 

[Patrick S.]

If it's under warranty just rma it.
Judging by the errors described it seems to be a hardware problem, most likely ram or ssd.

It's either a design flaw or perhaps there isn't enough thermal compound on the CPU. I don't think it's broken, per se.

 

[Rentahamster]

Lenovo Legion Y540

Why'd you get that one?

Intel chips are rated to operate at 100 degrees, but ideally you don't want to ride that line.

 

[GHG]

I understand what you're saying but I don't think there is a model for under £1k that has better cooling and this power. I think it's just how gaming laptops are. It's rubbish, and they get away with selling machines that have this issue but it is what it is. I didn't have a crash for 2 weeks and then when the weather got hotter I got some crashes. But I wasn't raising the back and I wasn't keeping an eye on how hot it was getting. I'm also running it in performance mode, with everything set to ultra and pushing it as hard as it can go - I don't need to do that.

If I go on vacation I'll take my Switch (which I'll still use for the bus and lunch at work) and might take the laptop too. Perhaps, I won't play AAA games in ultra settings on holiday for 2 hours and I'll just have a couple of games of Magic and play indie games.

I am still considering returning it if the cooling pad doesn't do much and/or I keep getting crashes. I'm keeping my options open at this point.

Dude, those temps are not normal. While the model of laptop might have the best cooling in your price range, you clearly have a faulty one.

Clear all your personal info off of it, get back to the shop and exchange it for a new one of the same laptop. Roll the dice again, you have nothing to lose.

 

[Twinguistics]

Why'd you get that one?

Intel chips are rated to operate at 100 degrees, but ideally you don't want to ride that line.

I got a good deal on it. It seemed to be the best I could afford for under £1k and reviews were pretty good.

Dude, those temps are not normal. While the model of laptop might have the best cooling in your price range, you clearly have a faulty one.

Clear all your personal info off of it, get back to the shop and exchange it for a new one of the same laptop. Roll the dice again, you have nothing to lose.

I understand what you're saying and, yes, 97+ probably isn't 'normal' but I don't think I was caring for it properly. I had it on max settings, performance mode, running for a few hours on a hot day with it flat on my kitchen counter so the fans below were kinda blocked. I've raised the back and I'm now only hitting about 92 max and I've had no crashes again.

Eh, shops are kinda closed dude. Some little virus going around. I might still get another one but, judging by youtube review and forum posts, I can expect this thing to go above 90 so I'm wondering what's the point if it's not crashing anymore.

 

[Patrick S.]

I understand what you're saying and, yes, 97+ probably isn't 'normal' but I don't think I was caring for it properly. I had it on max settings, performance mode, running for a few hours on a hot day with it flat on my kitchen counter so the fans below were kinda blocked. I've raised the back and I'm now only hitting about 92 max and I've had no crashes again.

Out of principle, I woulnd't keep a brand new machine that requires extra steps from me so it doesn't crash. I can't stand computers I expect to crash at any time. It's as if I had to sleep with a loaded gun with the safety disengaged under my pillow

 

[Gormless Noodle]

How much of the ram is in use under normal circumstances? Do you see the SSD fill up at a rapid rate? As in, several GB get lost in a few seconds or something?

 

[Rentahamster]

I got a good deal on it.

Are you sure? Is it a reputable dealer? Was it open box?

 

[PhoenixTank]

He's getting similar temps and doesn't seem to think it's that unusual outrageous for a laptop. He also suggests a cooling stand:

Similar? Your cpu's peak temps while gaming are about 10 degrees worse than his worst case gaming temps and he has two more cores to load up in his laptop, and it boosts about 400MHz higher going on the specs.
I get that you're seeing somewhat better temps now that you're giving it more room to breathe but this still has all the danger signs. You seem keen to not overspend which I applaud, but you're likely buying a lemon... which comes to the same thing. By all means do what you can to keep it going but I can't see it getting better with age - watch it like a hawk.

If nothing else call/email customer services and see what they can do. Even if you physically can't return it yourself or via courier or something, talk them into extending the return period until after you can leave the house.

 

[Rentahamster]

If nothing else call/email customer services and see what they can do. Even if you physically can't return it yourself or via courier or something, talk them into extending the return period until after you can leave the house.

Yup. For seasoned PC vets, it's reasonable to troubleshoot the problem yourself. For newbies, just return it. It's not worth the hassle.

 

[GHG]

I got a good deal on it. It seemed to be the best I could afford for under £1k and reviews were pretty good.



I understand what you're saying and, yes, 97+ probably isn't 'normal' but I don't think I was caring for it properly. I had it on max settings, performance mode, running for a few hours on a hot day with it flat on my kitchen counter so the fans below were kinda blocked. I've raised the back and I'm now only hitting about 92 max and I've had no crashes again.

Eh, shops are kinda closed dude. Some little virus going around. I might still get another one but, judging by youtube review and forum posts, I can expect this thing to go above 90 so I'm wondering what's the point if it's not crashing anymore.

You shouldn't have to raise the back of a £1k laptop for it to not crash while gaming, hot day or no hot day. Something is wrong, whether it's thermal paste or an incorrectly installed fan/heatsink. It's going above 100 degrees so it's clearly not performing within spec.

For your own sake you need to exchange the damn thing while you are inside the exchange window. The problem will only get worse with time, it always does with heat related issues on computers as the thermal paste degrades and the dust builds up (dust for laptops especially).

It might seem like hassle to box it up and take it back, especially at the moment with covid but by taking the easy option you're only setting yourself up for bigger problems in the future.

 

[VAVA Mk2]

Maybe you should download more RAM

 

[Iorv3th]

I got a good deal on it. It seemed to be the best I could afford for under £1k and reviews were pretty good.



I understand what you're saying and, yes, 97+ probably isn't 'normal' but I don't think I was caring for it properly. I had it on max settings, performance mode, running for a few hours on a hot day with it flat on my kitchen counter so the fans below were kinda blocked. I've raised the back and I'm now only hitting about 92 max and I've had no crashes again.

Eh, shops are kinda closed dude. Some little virus going around. I might still get another one but, judging by youtube review and forum posts, I can expect this thing to go above 90 so I'm wondering what's the point if it's not crashing anymore.

That is ridiculously hot. Good luck with that thing lasting very long at all.

But "gaming laptops" aren't really meant to be used as a main home gaming desktop all the time. They are way too expensive for that and aren't very reliable. You can't just swap a part out as easily if need be and it's harder to cool them down.

I would reccomend turning settings down to get that thing at a reasonable temp and stop trying to stress it all the time.

Also that "burrrr" noise you talked about earlier sounds like a fan problem.

 

[Tesseract]

the tj. max is just a ceiling, those temps don't look that bad ...

am i popping crazy pills right now or what is happening itt

*edit* those are your load maxes on the unit? prolly thermal issue, bad fan, block, gateway, something

either way, fix or replace

 

[Twinguistics]

Maybe you should download more RAM

Maybe you should download some better jokes.

Played Far Cry 5 on ultra settings and hit 94 degrees with my cooling pad. Not great but no crash. The average was way below 94, it was below 90 for most of the 30 mins and just spiked to 95 once.

Then, twenty mins later I get a crash playing Magic Arena. I don't know the temp as, again, it just hard locked and I had to hold the power down to restart. I can't imagine the temp was too high playing Magic but it would be nice to know. However, I'm using HWMonitor and I can't see how to access any logs and so can't see the temp. Anyone use that program that can explain? I see one excel log file from yesterday but nothing from today - how'd I get it to save a log?

Anyway, it's looking likely that I'll phone and arrange for a replacement. I'll try another Y540 and see if that's any better.

 

[VAVA Mk2]

Maybe you should download some better jokes.

Played Far Cry 5 on ultra settings and hit 94 degrees with my cooling pad. Not great but no crash. The average was way below 94, it was below 90 for most of the 30 mins and just spiked to 95 once.

Then, twenty mins later I get a crash playing Magic Arena. I don't know the temp as, again, it just hard locked and I had to hold the power down to restart. I can't imagine the temp was too high playing Magic but it would be nice to know. However, I'm using HWMonitor and I can't see how to access any logs and so can't see the temp. Anyone use that program that can explain? I see one excel log file from yesterday but nothing from today - how'd I get it to save a log?

Anyway, it's looking likely that I'll phone and arrange for a replacement. I'll try another Y540 and see if that's any better.

Just a joke. No need to get riled up.

 

[caravanqbert]

Have you tried going into your bios to see if the ram timings and voltage is correct.
You probably have DDR4 1.2v CAS 18.
Try upping the voltage by .1v to 1.3v.

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

Fresh install. Doesn't take too long and all you need is a memory stick/usb.
if not it is prob this

the tj. max is just a ceiling, those temps don't look that bad ...

am i popping crazy pills right now or what is happening itt

*edit* those are your load maxes on the unit? prolly thermal issue, bad fan, block, gateway, something

either way, fix or replace

 

[Twinguistics]

Ok so I checked the reliability monitor this morning and I'm getting a livekernalevent 193 and a 1a1 hardware error. A quick google doesn't really show any posts of people solving this error which I find incredible - how is it that in the entire internet no one has posted a forum post explaining these codes? Crazy.

Another look and I also got a 9f bluescreen error yesterday too. Yeah, I'm definitely returning this thing.

What's odd is that these errors occured in the afternoon but I didn't get a crash until 10pm last night?

 

[Hum]

The numerous system crashes can lead additional errors to come up at other times.

If you do a google search for high CPU temps for the y540 you'll see that its a pretty common thing unfortunately.
As an owner of one of these laptops I would say out of the box it is quite flawed, but there are ways to manage the temperatures.

2 things that made the most difference for me were:

1. limiting games to 60 FPS.
This would only apply for SKUs that come with 144Hz monitors which mine did.
I set the limit globally to 60 FPS through the Nvidia Control Panel.

2. I would suggest investing 30 minutes to an hour looking up, and setting up Throttle stop.
Not exaggerating but it lowered my max temps by 10, without affecting the performance.

 

[Twinguistics]

The numerous system crashes can lead additional errors to come up at other times.

If you do a google search for high CPU temps for the y540 you'll see that its a pretty common thing unfortunately.
As an owner of one of these laptops I would say out of the box it is quite flawed, but there are ways to manage the temperatures.

2 things that made the most difference for me were:

1. limiting games to 60 FPS.
This would only apply for SKUs that come with 144Hz monitors which mine did.
I set the limit globally to 60 FPS through the Nvidia Control Panel.

2. I would suggest investing 30 minutes to an hour looking up, and setting up Throttle stop.
Not exaggerating but it lowered my max temps by 10, without affecting the performance.

Thanks! So do you think it actually is the temps then? I ask as it crashed when I'm sure that it shouldn't have been too hot.

In other news, just spent 45 mins in a phone queue to Curry's and when they answered, I'd just explained the issue and we got disconnected. GAH! I think he was taking the call from home.

 

[Patrick S.]

2. I would suggest investing 30 minutes to an hour looking up, and setting up Throttle stop.
Not exaggerating but it lowered my max temps by 10, without affecting the performance.

But now you have to play in the basement because the thing is too loud, right?

 

[Hum]

But now you have to play in the basement because the thing is too loud, right?

nope it got quiter actually...

I'm not sure if its the high CPU temperatures in your case, or if there may be other issues, but just wanted to give my 2 cents.
as I've seen people report redoing the thermal paste, or exchanging their laptops.
But still get 90+ temps.
That just seems how they come out of the box.

my previous gaming laptop had the similar issues with CPU temperatures as well.

 

[Twinguistics]

nope it got quiter actually...

I'm not sure if its the high CPU temperatures in your case, or if there may be other issues, but just wanted to give my 2 cents.
as I've seen people report redoing the thermal paste, or exchanging their laptops.
But still get 90+ temps.
That just seems how they come out of the box.

my previous gaming laptop had the similar issues with CPU temperatures as well.

Thanks - I'm happy with 90+ temperatures with the CPU as long as the thing doesn't crash. If I could be sure that it was definitely the temperatures causing it then I'd work with it and keep this one. I'm just worried that it's actually another problem and if I keep it past next Wednesday, my only option is a repair and an exchange is off the table.

I was sure it was the temps until it crashed playing Magic Arena which isn't demanding at all and now I'm worried there's another issue. I remain amazed that there isn't a way to actually diagnose a problem easily with a PC. Can't someone invent something that you just run and it tests everything and then tells you the fault you have?!

 

[Patrick S.]

Can't someone invent something that you just run and it tests everything and then tells you the fault you have?!

Hard disks have S.M.A.R.T-codes, which are like error codes in a car. Very useful.

Until someone dictates/implements an error code standard for Mainboard, GPU, RAM and CPU-error codes, there won't be a way to quickly diagnose faulty PCs. Some mainboards, like mine, do have inbuilt error code functionality and display the codes on a small display.

 

[Twinguistics]

So I got through to Currys after another hour of waiting (understandable though in these times) and they've made me do what you guy's recommended which is to restore to factory settings to rule out a software issue. I've now done that and am re-installing everything that was on the SSD. I'm trying to remember everything I installed before - I've grabbed the latest GPU driver.

 

[Hum]

Just to clarify.. even if your laptop stops crashing, gaming at those temperatures is still not a good idea long term.
I would recommend using something like throttle stop to get the temperatures down further.

If you've done that and its still freezing up, I would return it.

 

[Twinguistics]

So I just had my first crash following the reset. Annoyingly it happened just in the middle of my 1st ever 3 kill game of Apex Legends - typical!

I've started to use MSI Afterburner OSD to show my CPU temps and I could see it was only at about 76 when the crash happened, but what's weird is that I'm sure OpenHardwareMonitor (which I was using to check temps until today) would have shown much much higher as it always did. What's up with that? Either this thing has gotten 20 degrees cooler overnight or either Afterburner or HWmonitor is wrong. It's pathetic that even the diagnostic tools don't work! I guess I'll run both of the monitors to see what they both say at the same time but it makes me cross that one of them is giving me incorrect readings. Can anyone explain that at all?

Probably gonna get a replacement and see what the next machine does. Wish I could be confident in which temp check software to use though.

 

[Patrick S.]

Man just return that fucking thing already!

 

[DESTROYA]

So I just had my first crash following the reset. Annoyingly it happened just in the middle of my 1st ever 3 kill game of Apex Legends - typical!

I've started to use MSI Afterburner OSD to show my CPU temps and I could see it was only at about 76 when the crash happened, but what's weird is that I'm sure OpenHardwareMonitor (which I was using to check temps until today) would have shown much much higher as it always did. What's up with that? Either this thing has gotten 20 degrees cooler overnight or either Afterburner or HWmonitor is wrong. It's pathetic that even the diagnostic tools don't work! I guess I'll run both of the monitors to see what they both say at the same time but it makes me cross that one of them is giving me incorrect readings. Can anyone explain that at all?

Probably gonna get a replacement and see what the next machine does. Wish I could be confident in which temp check software to use though.

Running multiple hardware monitor programs can mess with results. Pick one you like best and uninstall the other.

 

[GHG]

So I just had my first crash following the reset. Annoyingly it happened just in the middle of my 1st ever 3 kill game of Apex Legends - typical!

I've started to use MSI Afterburner OSD to show my CPU temps and I could see it was only at about 76 when the crash happened, but what's weird is that I'm sure OpenHardwareMonitor (which I was using to check temps until today) would have shown much much higher as it always did. What's up with that? Either this thing has gotten 20 degrees cooler overnight or either Afterburner or HWmonitor is wrong. It's pathetic that even the diagnostic tools don't work! I guess I'll run both of the monitors to see what they both say at the same time but it makes me cross that one of them is giving me incorrect readings. Can anyone explain that at all?

Probably gonna get a replacement and see what the next machine does. Wish I could be confident in which temp check software to use though.

Put that thing put of it's misery and exchange it.

If the store ask you to do anything else to it before you can just return it either tell them you've already done it and/or tell them to fuck off.

You shouldn't have to be the one reinstalling shit and running diagnostics on a brand new laptop you just bought. You should just be able to enjoy it.

 

[Twinguistics]

Man just return that fucking thing already!

I am doing. I had to rule out a software issue first which I've now done.

Running multiple hardware monitor programs can mess with results. Pick one you like best and uninstall the other.

I don't think I had both running tonight, just Afterburner. I have both installed though. How can I choose which one is better when they give me vastly different results?! One says 70 degrees, the other has been saying 95. What a joke.

Put that thing put of it's misery and exchange it.

If the store ask you to do anything else to it before you can just return it either tell them you've already done it and/or tell them to fuck off.

You shouldn't have to be the one reinstalling shit and running diagnostics on a brand new laptop you just bought. You should just be able to enjoy it.

They will repair it no problems but will only replace the hardware when I've confirmed it's a hardware issue. By doing this reset (which they had to talk me through on the phone) they will now replace it I'm sure. Curry's/PC World is the biggest PC store in the UK, I'm not worried.

In the meantime, someone tell me what on earth is going on with my temp readings - it's annoying me more then anything.

 

[Bonfires Down]

Sorry OP that your first laptop was a hot mess like this. Hope it works out with the new one.

About temps I would guess that either you're looking at the wrong number, or the software itself has chosen the wrong sensor. Yeah, those things are not very reliable, especially in laptops. Openhardwaremonitor is probably more accurate if it shows hotter but I can't say that for sure.

 

[Twinguistics]

So the saga continues. There aren't any in stock at Currys but they will refund or replace with a one of the same cost. I've had a look and a Acer Nitro 7 is now on sale. Same GPU but the CPU is an i7 instead of an i5 that I have. It also has a bigger SSD (500hb) but no HDD (I had 1tb). Screen is the same and ram is the same.

So, would an i7 be worth getting instead and then just buying a 1tb HDD? I'm not sure how much difference it would make. Also, is it likely to run cooler given it's a better model of CPU?

 

[GHG]

So the saga continues. There aren't any in stock at Currys but they will refund or replace with a one of the same cost. I've had a look and a Acer Nitro 7 is now on sale. Same GPU but the CPU is an i7 instead of an i5 that I have. It also has a bigger SSD (500hb) but no HDD (I had 1tb). Screen is the same and ram is the same.

So, would an i7 be worth getting instead and then just buying a 1tb HDD? I'm not sure how much difference it would make. Also, is it likely to run cooler given it's a better model of CPU?

The Acer nitro sounds better on paper.

Whether it runs cooler or not depends on the cooling solution used.

For the hard drive situation having more SSD space is much better than having a small SSD and then a large mechanical hard drive. At least now you will be able to run a decent number of games from the SSD and get better load times along with slightly better performance (in some games). You can get an external HDD to use as back up for games that you aren't playing and then just copy them onto the SSD when you do want to play them.

Unless anything alarming comes up in the reviews for the Acer then I'd say go for it.

 

[Iorv3th]

So the saga continues. There aren't any in stock at Currys but they will refund or replace with a one of the same cost. I've had a look and a Acer Nitro 7 is now on sale. Same GPU but the CPU is an i7 instead of an i5 that I have. It also has a bigger SSD (500hb) but no HDD (I had 1tb). Screen is the same and ram is the same.

So, would an i7 be worth getting instead and then just buying a 1tb HDD? I'm not sure how much difference it would make. Also, is it likely to run cooler given it's a better model of CPU?

I don't know how Acer is currently, they seem to be doing better. But years ago they were absolute shit quality wise.

 

[Patrick S.]

So the saga continues. There aren't any in stock at Currys but they will refund or replace with a one of the same cost. I've had a look and a Acer Nitro 7 is now on sale. Same GPU but the CPU is an i7 instead of an i5 that I have. It also has a bigger SSD (500hb) but no HDD (I had 1tb). Screen is the same and ram is the same.

So, would an i7 be worth getting instead and then just buying a 1tb HDD? I'm not sure how much difference it would make. Also, is it likely to run cooler given it's a better model of CPU?

Pull the trigger on that Acer \m/

 

[ThatGamingDude]

T Twinguistics I'm free at work right now if you don't mind me remoting in to check stuff out

PM me if you want to meet up

It'll be better than having 30 people all go through and give you different advice, and working with screen shots
Not saying their advice is bad;
Plus one of the EW logs you provided had bloat ware reportings in it, might be some of the bloat ware causing the issue

 

[Twinguistics]

T Twinguistics I'm free at work right now if you don't mind me remoting in to check stuff out

PM me if you want to meet up

It'll be better than having 30 people all go through and give you different advice, and working with screen shots
Not saying their advice is bad;
Plus one of the EW logs you provided had bloat ware reportings in it, might be some of the bloat ware causing the issue

Thanks for the offer but I'm actually busy right now. Plus, I'm actually wary of giving control to a stranger. Is that odd? I dunno the etiquette to be honest. Maybe you could do something nefarious to my machine?

Can you elaborate on the bloatware you saw? I didn't think I had much, if any.

 

[ThatGamingDude]

Thanks for the offer but I'm actually busy right now. Plus, I'm actually wary of giving control to a stranger. Is that odd? I dunno the etiquette to be honest. Maybe you could do something nefarious to my machine?

Can you elaborate on the bloatware you saw? I didn't think I had much, if any.

As someone who works in IT, it's 100% understandable you may not trust a complete stranger with hopping into your computer, and I applaud you for it lol

Yeah, there are things I COULD do; but no one in IT really cares to do that lol, for a variety of reasons.
I'm not trying to convince you by any means, just something that's a bit funny in the grand scheme of things; we have the power but we just don't care enough to abuse it lmao

Bwahhh it was the Lenovo manager...the fuck is it called...Lenovo Vantage Service

Lenovo Vantage - Using your PC just got easier - Lenovo Support US

support.lenovo.com

It just scrapes your usage while giving you some dumb advertising shit about the stuff it's doing; Windows does most of that stuff out of the box
You'll have to maintain your drivers though; woe is you that you have to go to lenovo's web site to get drivers than some program running 24/7

 

[Patrick S.]

As someone who works in IT, it's 100% understandable you may not trust a complete stranger with hopping into your computer, and I applaud you for it lol

Yeah, there are things I COULD do; but no one in IT really cares to do that lol, for a variety of reasons.
I'm not trying to convince you by any means, just something that's a bit funny in the grand scheme of things; we have the power but we just don't care enough to abuse it lmao

It's funny isn't it? I'm a sysadmin in a large domain, and people are so afraid to give me their laptop's Bitlocker-password or user password in case I need it, because I could possibly read their mails or something, and don't realize that I can just give myself full access to their exchange account or grab all their files off the terminal server

 

[Twinguistics]

As someone who works in IT, it's 100% understandable you may not trust a complete stranger with hopping into your computer, and I applaud you for it lol

Yeah, there are things I COULD do; but no one in IT really cares to do that lol, for a variety of reasons.
I'm not trying to convince you by any means, just something that's a bit funny in the grand scheme of things; we have the power but we just don't care enough to abuse it lmao

Bwahhh it was the Lenovo manager...the fuck is it called...Lenovo Vantage Service

Lenovo Vantage - Using your PC just got easier - Lenovo Support US

support.lenovo.com

It just scrapes your usage while giving you some dumb advertising shit about the stuff it's doing; Windows does most of that stuff out of the box
You'll have to maintain your drivers though; woe is you that you have to go to lenovo's web site to get drivers than some program running 24/7

Lol, I get that. My machine isn't that interesting anyway even if you did abuse your powers lol.

I thought you'd mean vantage or perhaps the nivida geforce thing but I actually find vantage helpful? I can choose between performance, normal or quiet mode in it and do some other stuff too. Isn't that useful? Although, to be honest, the difference between normal and performance doesn't seem to be much, if anything.

If you had to put money on it, what's causing these crashes? Temp, faulty ram? Lack of ram? Faulty SSD? Faulty power supply, other?

 

[ThatGamingDude]

It's funny isn't it? I'm a sysadmin in a large domain, and people are so afraid to give me their laptop's Bitlocker-password or user password in case I need it, because I could possibly read their mails or something, and don't realize that I can just give myself full access to their exchange account or grab all their files off the terminal server >

Lmao I'm on the Windows side of shit myself
People have no idea how tied into the domain their accounts are, and that we have absolutely complete control over them

If we wanted to do any damage, it would've been done by now lol

I don't care you use your work email for ordering sex toys or browse Etsy 80% of your shift; I want to restore your PST and get on with my day and deal with Exchange corrupting the mailstores

 

[Patrick S.]

Lol, I get that. My machine isn't that interesting anyway even if you did abuse your powers lol.

I thought you'd mean vantage or perhaps the nivida geforce thing but I actually find vantage helpful? I can choose between performance, normal or quiet mode in it and do some other stuff too. Isn't that useful? Although, to be honest, the difference between normal and performance doesn't seem to be much, if anything.

If you had to put money on it, what's causing these crashes? Temp, faulty ram? Lack of ram? Faulty SSD? Faulty power supply, other?

Could be the Knoppler-Charge Inducer

 

[ThatGamingDude]

I thought you'd mean vantage or perhaps the nivida geforce thing but I actually find vantage helpful? I can choose between performance, normal or quiet mode in it and do some other stuff too. Isn't that useful? Although, to be honest, the difference between normal and performance doesn't seem to be much, if anything.

Yep, Vantage and the GeForce experience are bloatware; I only have GeForce Experience installed because I use nVidia Game Streaming and just haven't installed Moonlight (3rd party open source app) to do it instead

Performance options are built into Windows; that program is just making registry changes like the Windows wizard would

Windows key + S > Control Panel > Power Options > Change Plan Settings > Changed advanced power settings

They just have some custom profiles that they apply; if you want, you can take a gander on what options it changes by changing the Lenovo application settings and see what it changed in the power options

Any of those programs out there that "Magically," do something to the machine, say like controlling power, is just making edits to the OS level of things (Or likely, there's some scenarios where programs make direct changes to hardware, like updating BIOS)

If you had to put money on it, what's causing these crashes? Temp, faulty ram? Lack of ram? Faulty SSD? Faulty power supply, other?

I take this like a doctor; troubleshooting is troubleshooting. Hard locks that don't get BSODed out could be hardware incompatibility/failure, or it could be the Windows kernel is just panicing too hard because of old code
Could be your router is using old TCP/IP standards and causing your NIC driver to shit all over Windows
Could be your processor has a bent pin, or a faulty chip
Could be the RAM is a little loose and doesn't have a full connection and is building up a charge and finally dispersing and causing the OS to hard lock

Could be cosmic rays and dancing Satanic dwarves have cursed your machine as the vessel for their dark lord

Without being able to properly troubleshoot the device, which includes being able to look at full logs and doing testing, I can't say anything for certain

-=-=-=-

Could be the Knoppler-Charge Inducer

Dude WTF is with people beating me to the punch today? Fuck all ya'll; quarantine got you guys more snarky than usual

 

[Hum]

Yep, Vantage and the GeForce experience are bloatware; I only have GeForce Experience installed because I use nVidia Game Streaming and just haven't installed Moonlight (3rd party open source app) to do it instead

Performance options are built into Windows; that program is just making registry changes like the Windows wizard would

I would have to disagree here.
Changing between the thermal options in vantage, doesn't appear to change between power plans in windows or the max processor state.

And although there are a lot of useless options, it doesn't really use too much resources, and there are still some useful things that aren't in windows, or aren't as easy to get to otherwise.
Especially for less experienced users.

Things like:
- Always on USB
- battery charge limit for improving battery lifespan
- rapid charge option
- camera options
- BIOS, and driver updates