Before we jump into the latest Lenovo “gaming” laptop, let’s talk about the external GPU.
Thunderbolt 3 connections allow the use of external peripherals that wouldn’t work via the normal USB connection or the wouldn’t work as fast, anyway. The same technology also supports external GPUs or graphic cards that can drastically improve your gaming experience even if your laptop’s hardware can’t.
That’s where the Lenovo Y740S comes in. It has been coined as the world’s thinnest gaming PC, and technically it is, but it’s only a gaming PC when you hook up an external GPU via the aformentioned Thunderbolt 3 connection. For a short business, movie trips, or just a coffee, you can take the laptop with your want to enjoy your time. When you want to play, however, just plug in the external GPU and enjoy high-quality gameplay. This device is connected by a wire, so you don’t need a diploma in IT to use it. The problem with this device is that the external GPU can be costly and that it redues GPU performance compared to those connected at the motherboard level.
The thing is if you’re into gaming, the laptop is just half of the picture. The laptop alone may run some games but don’t expect Ultra high graphics and 60 FPS, you won’t get it. Alongside the laptop, you will have to get the Lenovo BoostStation GPU. There are ther aftermarket options available, but the Lenovo GPU and comes much cheaper, $50 less than a Razer Core X, for example, which is $300.
Now I don’t say that this is the best, you can always buy “ a normal” laptop which will be way better than these 2 combined. As far as other specs go, you can have a maximum of 32Gb Ram, 1 TB SSD storage, and a 4K-capable 15.6-inch screen. The 15-inch Lenovo Legion Y740S starts at $1099.99 as a configure-to-order (CTO) offering, and Lenovo Legion BoostStation eGPU starts at $249.99 as a standalone accessory or option to bundle a NVIDIA GeForce RTX2060 or AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT GPU. Both are expected to be available starting in May 2020.
