How to get Windows 10 LTSC working on a Lenovo Ideapad Gaming 3 15arh7
October 2022How to get Windows 10 LTSC working on a Lenovo Ideapad Gaming 3 15arh7
October 20221 December 2022
I bought a gaming laptop on Black Friday earlier in November.I received it, and I immediately installed Windows 10 LTSC on it, because fuck Windows 11.
I will tell you my mistakes with getting Windows 10 LTSC to work on this so you don't have to go through the same thing.
Once you install Windows 10 LTSC, immediately go to Lenovo's website to install the drivers for this particular laptop. The WiFI and ethernet will not work.
The drivers I used to make this thing work:The Ethernet driver for the 15arh7 refused to work on my 15arh7 running Windows 10 LTSC. I got another driver and it worked. It seemed to have a Realtek driver installer bundled with it, so maybe try that instead. It worked, so whatever.
Now here's the pain in the ass, getting graphics to work.I am not aware of how the bundled system with this computer handles graphics or the switchable graphics, so I was completely in the dark when I was trying to get my machine to use only the 3050 Ti. That was stupid.
Gaming laptops apparently use both the integrated graphics from the APU and the discrete GPU simultaneously. They do this so low-intensity programs like a web browser can use the iGPU, using less battery power. Games theoretically should switch automatically to the GPU. However, with my Windows 10 LTSC installation, the "magic" that makes that happen isn't there. Don't even try going through the NVIDIA or Radeon control panels. It will NOT work!
Instead, navigate to your desktop, right click, and go to Display settings. Scroll down to find Graphics settings. Find Graphics performance preference, then set it to "Desktop app", then click "Browse". Manually find the program or game you want to run through the GPU. Set it to "High performance". Yes, you will have to do this for every game you install, I think.
This is because Windows 10, in its infinite knowledge, decided to make every single program go through the APU / iGPU instead of the discrete GPU, probably because of "battery usage" or something. You'll find this is a common theme with Windows in general, lots of bullshit relating to power management.
This should get you started with doing anything with the computer, at the very least.I don't know how well everything runs yet, but I've played Minecraft on Optifine, with 16 chunks, maxxed out vanilla settings, and am getting a consistent 120fps with a few dips into the 90s. I'd say it runs really well.
I won't do a whole performance analysis. I posted this quickly so everyone who got this epic deal and also doesn't want to deal with Windows 11 and/or OEM cancer can have a functioning computer.