Lenovo Yoga 700 Review: A Flexible 14-Inch Ultraportable Convertible

The Yoga 700 made a good impression with its web browsing and productivity performance, though as we turn our attention to graphics, it becomes clear that this isn't a system for serious gamers or graphics professionals.

Cinebench R11.5 3D Rendering on the CPU and GPU

Based on Maxon Cinema 4D software, this test uses a 3D scene and polygon and texture manipulation to assess GPU and CPU performance. We ran the full CPU test, which uses all available cores, as well as the graphics-oriented benchmark.


Three of four available Lenovo Yoga 700 configurations use integrated graphics, this one included. Specifically, our test model is running Intel HD Graphics 520—it's fast enough for lightweight tasks and general purpose computing, but for people design in CAD and other 3D programs, it's not going to suffice, as evidenced by the OpenGL test. CPU performance, however, is in-line with other Core i5 configurations.

3DMark Cloud Gate Synthetic DirectX Gaming and Graphics Testing

The 3DMark suite breaks its tests down by computer type. Fire Strike, for example, is aimed at high-end gaming desktops. Cloud Gate, on the other hand, is designed for mainstream notebooks. As with all 3DMark tests the GPU plays a large role in the results, which are measured in points. Higher is better.


Here again we see the that integrated graphics will only take you so far, though impressively, the Intel HD Graphics 520 provides a decent performance boost over last generation systems. The Yoga 700 is one of just a handful of non-gaming systems we've tested to breach the 5,000 mark in 3DMark's Cloud Gate benchmark.

One thing you'll notice is that the Yoga 700 scores around 550 points below HP's similarly spec'd Spectre x360 15t. Part of the reason why could be due to the Yoga 700's single-channel memory configuration—it's running a single 8GB stick of DDR3L 1600MHz memory. There might also be some overly aggressive throttling taking place.

Far Cry 2 DX10 Gaming Performance

When it comes to lush vegetation in a steaming, sinister jungle, no one pulls it off quite like Ubisoft does in its Far Cry series. Far Cry 2 uses high-quality textures, complex shaders, and dynamic lighting to create a realistic environment. The game’s built-in benchmark gives us a good look at a system’s performance with DirectX 10.


Did we say that the Lenovo Yoga 700 isn't equipped for serious game play? That's still true, though as Far Cry 2 shows, casual gaming is possible provided you're willing to dial down the resolution and visual quality settings. By and large though, Lenovo Yoga 700 owners will get their gaming fix through titles like Angry Birds rather than first person shooters.