[REVIEW] Lenovo Ideapad S540-14API (R5-3500U, Vega 8)

[genexis_x]

1 hour ago, MooMoo said:

Will this affect gaming performance? 

No, VRAM for APU depends on the RAM. If you change to lower VRAM, the RAM usage will be the same

[MooMoo]

1 hour ago, GeneXiS_X said:

No, VRAM for APU depends on the RAM. If you change to lower VRAM, the RAM usage will be the same

I see. Thanks!

One more thing, is it advisable to upgrade RAM to 12gb? Will it still runs in dual channel?

[genexis_x]

3 minutes ago, MooMoo said:

One more thing, is it advisable to upgrade RAM to 12gb? Will it still runs in dual channel?

No dual channel if 4+8GB

[MooMoo]

Just now, GeneXiS_X said:

No dual channel if 4+8GB

So its best to stick with the current config 4GB + 4GB?

[genexis_x]

48 minutes ago, MooMoo said:

So its best to stick with the current config 4GB + 4GB?

Yes, unless there is 8GB onboard then you can add another 8GB

[MooMoo]

10 minutes ago, GeneXiS_X said:

Yes, unless there is 8GB onboard then you can add another 8GB

Thanks.

Any update on the battery? I'm only able to get around 6.5 to 7 hours battery life.

[genexis_x]

1 hour ago, MooMoo said:

Any update on the battery? I'm only able to get around 6.5 to 7 hours battery life.

6.5-7 hrs is normal, however I can't get such battery life in my unit

 

Will test it soon but probably not these few weeks

[Gorgias]

I updated the drivers from AMD for chipset and vega graphics and then I could choose "AMD Ryzen Balanced power plan" in windows power options. Don't know if it helped any but it could be worth a try to get longer battery life.

[Shacruel]

Did anyone encounter BT issues? Sound in my wireless headphones is choppy while watching 1080p YouTube. I suspect Realtek wireless card. I've heard many laptop users replace them in favor of Intel ones.

[genexis_x]

2 hours ago, Shacruel said:

Did anyone encounter BT issues? Sound in my wireless headphones is choppy while watching 1080p YouTube. I suspect Realtek wireless card. I've heard many laptop users replace them in favor of Intel ones.

Didn't test Bluetooth so can't tell. Some 8822BE cards do have issues but I've used 2 so far and never had issues

[Gorgias]

20 hours ago, Shacruel said:

Did anyone encounter BT issues? Sound in my wireless headphones is choppy while watching 1080p YouTube. I suspect Realtek wireless card. I've heard many laptop users replace them in favor of Intel ones.

I have watched some HBO without issues with my Sony wireless headphones. 

[Shacruel]

11 hours ago, Gorgias said:

I have watched some HBO without issues with my Sony wireless headphones. 

After I got home and connected to 5Ghz wifi instead of phone hotspot BT stuttering issues dissapeared. BT range however is acceptable but still lower than my phone's.

 

It's really not a big deal for a notebook

[yulezuh]

On 7/29/2019 at 9:58 AM, GeneXiS_X said:

Yes, unless there is 8GB onboard then you can add another 8GB

Could you explain this?
Now I am looking for a laptop and think about two variants: Dell Vostro 5581 15 inch (i5 8265U / UNH 620 / 256 SSD / 8 Gb Ram ) or Lenovo IdeaPad S540 14 inch (Ryzen 7 / Vega 10 / 512 Gb / 8 Gb Ram). I know that there is one empty slot for RAM in Dell. Will be able to upgrade Lenovo? May be to put 16 Gb instead of 4 Gb? Or only 4+4 / 4+8?
 Thank you!

[genexis_x]

6 hours ago, yulezuh said:

Could you explain this?
Now I am looking for a laptop and think about two variants: Dell Vostro 5581 15 inch (i5 8265U / UNH 620 / 256 SSD / 8 Gb Ram ) or Lenovo IdeaPad S540 14 inch (Ryzen 7 / Vega 10 / 512 Gb / 8 Gb Ram). I know that there is one empty slot for RAM in Dell. Will be able to upgrade Lenovo? May be to put 16 Gb instead of 4 Gb? Or only 4+4 / 4+8?
 Thank you!

Vostro 5581 is OKish overall, S540 is better

 

If there's 4GB soldered out of the box, in order to get dual channel you need another 4GB in the other RAM slot. If 8GB soldered then 8GB in the other slot

[yulezuh]

14 hours ago, GeneXiS_X said:

Vostro 5581 is OKish overall, S540 is better

 

If there's 4GB soldered out of the box, in order to get dual channel you need another 4GB in the other RAM slot. If 8GB soldered then 8GB in the other slot

So, is there one more empty slot for RAM in s540?
Also I'm afraid that lenovo will not linux friendly. 

[Shacruel]

I have found this image of the s540 board on the Internet. It looks like there is empty m.2 socket on the right. Was anyone able to use it?

[Shacruel]

2 hours ago, yulezuh said:

So, is there one more empty slot for RAM in s540?
Also I'm afraid that lenovo will not linux friendly. 

Looks like there is always 4Gb soldered + whatever Lenovo puts in the only sodimm. 0, 4 or 8 Gb of additional memory

[Shacruel]

I think that m.2 I mentioned is actually SATA6 they used on this model. https://psref.lenovo.com/Detail/Lenovo Laptops/ideapad_S54014API?M=81NH005TRK

[genexis_x]

8 hours ago, yulezuh said:

So, is there one more empty slot for RAM in s540? 

If the single RAM slot is occupied then there's no empty slot

5 hours ago, Shacruel said:

It looks like there is empty m.2 socket on the right. Was anyone able to use it?

Yes - it's a 2242 M.2 slot

5 hours ago, Shacruel said:

Looks like there is always 4Gb soldered + whatever Lenovo puts in the only sodimm. 0, 4 or 8 Gb of additional memory

From what I noticed, yes

[Gorgias]

Does anyone know if it's possible to get hdmi out from the usb-c port? I have understood that 4k is not possible but how about 1080p? I'm thinking about buying a usb-c hub of some sort and is wondering about if it is worth it to get a fancier one with hdmi and possibly ethernet built in.

[allenfaust]

Hi again. So I went and got myself the R5 version (will get it next week). I am considering to upgrade the RAM (to 12gb at least) and the m.2 ssd (to at least 500gb). Just want to know, what type of m.2 ssd is in there ('cause I'm confused with the different slot and size I'm seeing) ? Also what is a good brand for this that is not too overpriced (like samsung)?

 

Thanks again!

[allenfaust]

On 8/4/2019 at 12:05 PM, GeneXiS_X said:

If the single RAM slot is occupied then there's no empty slot

Yes - it's a 2242 M.2 slot

From what I noticed, yes

Would you suggest to just add a 2242 m.2 or just change the other ssd entirely ? 

[genexis_x]

12 hours ago, allenfaust said:

upgrade the RAM (to 12gb at least)

Why 12GB? No dual channel

52 minutes ago, allenfaust said:

Would you suggest to just add a 2242 m.2 or just change the other ssd entirely ? 

Why need to change? The original one isn't enough?

[allenfaust]

4 hours ago, GeneXiS_X said:

Why 12GB? No dual channel

Why need to change? The original one isn't enough?

4 soldered + 4 non-soldered, I plan to change the non-soldered into 8 ? is that possible ?

 

Yeah original is only 256 gb for the R5 model, i'd like to have 512gb. Is that possible ?

[genexis_x]

15 hours ago, allenfaust said:

4 soldered + 4 non-soldered, I plan to change the non-soldered into 8 ? is that possible ?

It's possible but you'll lost dual channel which isn't ideal

15 hours ago, allenfaust said:

Yeah original is only 256 gb for the R5 model, i'd like to have 512gb. Is that possible ?

Yes, however you need to know how to do clean install / clone Windows