The Lenovo Y545 gaming laptop is available with decent mid range specs, but just how
well does it actually perform in games? I’ve tested 20 different games at all setting levels
and also compared it with other laptops to help you decide if it’s worth it.
The configuration I’ve got has an Intel i7-9750H CPU, 85 watt Nvidia RTX 2060 graphics,
16gb of memory in dual channel, and a 15.6” 1080p 144Hz screen. It’s also available
with different specs too, you can find examples and updated prices linked in the description.
The Lenovo Vantage software lets us select different performance modes, I’ve done all
testing with performance mode enabled for best results. It also gives you the option
of disabling hybrid mode, which basically turns off Optimus and will improve performance
in some games.
We’ll only be covering gaming performance in this video, so if you’re new to the channel,
you'll definitely want to get subscribed for the full review which will include more information
like thermals, battery life, overclocking and more. Let’s start out by going through
all games at all setting levels, then afterwards we’ll see how the Y545 compares with some
other laptops.
Red Dead Redemption 2 was tested using the game’s built in benchmark tool. High settings
was still giving decent results, only just below 60 FPS in this resource heavy game.
Battlefield 5 was tested in campaign mode, and I’ve tested it with RTX on, shown by
the green bars, and RTX off, shown by the purple bars. With RTX on, the frame rates
were on the lower side at ultra and high settings, so there’s no real point using it at lower
settings. In my opinion, it looked better using ultra with RTX off while also performing
much better too.
Control was also tested with and without RTX, I used the highest RTX settings and the results
weren’t great regardless of setting level, although it did look nice, I’d prefer the
much higher frame rates with it off though.
Apex Legends was tested with either all settings at maximum, or all settings on the lowest
possible values, as it doesn’t have predefined setting presets. Even at max settings the
average frame rates were quite good, while minimum hit the 144 FPS frame cap, and there
wasn’t much of a difference in 1% low performance.
Call of Duty Modern Warfare was tested in campaign mode, and I’ve also tested it with
the settings either maxed out or at minimum. Again I thought it was still playing fine
even with max settings, still above 60 FPS, with only a 20 FPS improvement at minimum.
Borderlands 3 was tested using the game’s built in benchmark, and the high setting preset
was just able to hit 60 for average FPS, while low and below was able to push beyond 100
FPS.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider was tested with the built in benchmark, and the results were
similar to many other 2060 laptops I’ve tested, but we’ll see how the Y545 compares
against other laptops in this game and more soon.
Ghost Recon Breakpoint was also tested with the benchmark tool, and ultra settings were
needed to average 60 FPS in this test, however the 1% low was quite a bit lower comparatively,
so a little lower would probably be a good sweet spot.
Fortnite was tested with the replay feature, and as a less demanding game epic settings
was almost able to average 100 FPS, while high settings was closer to the refresh rate
of the screen, with now 100 FPS for the 1% low.
Overwatch is another less demanding game and was tested in the practice range. Again, even
with the epic setting preset the average frame rate is quite high, the 1% low was well above
100 FPS and even the average wasn’t far off the screens refresh rate.
CS:GO was tested using the Ulletical FPS benchmark, and the results are much better here when
compared to most other laptops with similar specs due to the option of disabling Optimus.
Every time I test this game with a laptop that only uses the Nvidia GPU without the
Intel GPU getting in the way, the performance is way up.
Dota 2 was tested playing in the middle lane, and there was hardly any real measurable difference
between the different setting levels, let alone one you’d practically notice, so might
as well just play with all settings at max.
Rainbow Six Siege was tested with the built in benchmark, where the high setting preset
was hitting average frame rates above the refresh rate of the screen with more than
100 FPS for the 1% low too.
Metro Exodus was tested using the built in benchmark, most parts of the game perform
a fair bit better than this, so don’t take these results as a good indication of what
to expect throughout the entire game, it’s more of a worst case.
The Division 2 was also tested with the built in benchmark, and although it was possible
to average above 60 FPS at ultra settings, the 1% low was around half this, so lower
settings would likely be needed for a more stable experience, but this seems pretty normal
for this test.
PUBG was tested using the replay feature. The game was still getting decent frame rates
at ultra settings, almost 100 FPS, while low settings pushed passed the refresh rate of
the screen, so a nice experience for a first person shooter like this.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey was tested with the built in benchmark, and as a resource
heavy game the frame rates weren’t that high with the higher setting presets, but
this is pretty standard for this game and it doesn’t need super high FPS to play.
Far Cry New Dawn was also tested with the games benchmark, and the results are pretty
similar compared to most other i7 based laptops that I’ve tested on the channel.
The Witcher 3 was playing alright at ultra settings, however there was a decent improvement
just by playing with high settings, and I think the game still looks pretty good at
high anyway.
F1 2019 was tested using the game’s benchmark tool, and although max settings had decent
average FPS, the 1% low performance was down substantially, however stepping down just
one level to high increased performance significantly.
Let’s also take a look at how this config of the Lenovo Y545 compares with other laptops,
use these results as a rough guide only as they were tested at different times with different
drivers.
In Battlefield 5 I’ve got the Y545 highlighted in red near similarly specced machines. It’s
a little ahead of a couple of other RTX 2060 laptops I’ve previously tested, however
the MSI GE65 was noticeably higher, however that one is overclocked by default and also
has a higher GPU power limit of 90 watts.
These are the results from Far Cry 5 with ultra settings in the built in benchmark.
The results were similar to the last game, where it was a little ahead of the Triton
500 and Scar II with same 2060 graphics below it, and again the GE65 was out in front, but
still not quite as good as the Helios 300 with lower specs as that’s tuned very well
out of the box.
These are the results from Shadow of the Tomb raider with the built in benchmark at highest
settings. Similar to the other two games, it was a little ahead of the two 2060 machines
below it, but not able to get close to the GE65 which was performing very well for a
2060 based laptop.
Overall the performance wasn’t that impressive considering the RTX 2060 graphics, I tested
the Y7000 with GTX 1660 Ti just before this one, and in most games the difference in performance
was only a couple of FPS. This seems to be due to thermal limitations that exist with
the Y545, but I’ll cover that in depth in an upcoming video.
I’ve compared the GTX 1660 Ti with the RTX 2060 in another video without the throttling
limitation, and found that on average the 2060 was 14% faster, so it doesn’t seem
like we’re getting the full use out of the 2060 here, granted at the same time this 2060
runs up to 85 watts, while many others go up to 90 watts. I guess due to thermal constraints
they weren’t able to push this one up to the typical 90 we usually see in many other
2060 based machines. That said, it was still beating the Triton 500 and Scar II with 2060,
granted I’ve only got data for the older 8th gen models.
Let me know what you thought of the gaming performance from the Lenovo Y545 gaming laptop
down in the comments, and if you’re new to the channel consider getting subscribed
for the full review to see everything this gaming laptop has to offer.