I ’d give up on the musical theme that you could piece up a gaming personal computer under $ 1,000 . Between the rising price of element and the demand of modern PC games , I thought the geological era of a unicorn gaming PC under $ 1,000 was behind us . The Lenovo Legion Tower 5i turn up me ill-timed . It ’s not only a game PC under $ 1,000 that can hold up today — it ’s one of thebest gambling desktopsyou can grease one’s palms .
A bright configuration with a focal point on gaming allows the Legion Tower 5i to come in under $ 1,000 while still save an excellent play experience . There are a few issues , particularly when it comes to future upgrades , but for those who want to get into PC gaming at a reasonable price without much bickering , the Legion Tower 5i is your ticket .
Specs and pricing
Undoubtedly , the most attractive part of the Lenovo Legion Tower 5i is its price . Available at Best Buy , the configuration I review ( see below ) comes in at $ 1,150 . If you frequent through Lenovo ’s internet site , you may pick up this exact conformation with 512 GB of computer memory and get the fishing gear for $ 990 . It ’s been age since I ’ve seen a desktop under $ 1,000 worth recommending . The Legion Tower 5i fits that broadside . It ’s not just that the terms is low — this is genuinely sinewy gaming PC .
The Core i5 - 14400F at the heart of the PC is n’t anything to spell home about . It ’s a decent central processor with 10 cores spread across six carrying into action cores and four efficiency cores , but it ’s really built for the needs of gaming . I ’m glad to see Lenovo trim down on the C.P.U. to rivet on gambling carrying into action . I see something similar with theStarforge Navigatorearlier this year .
A slightly weak central processor make way for theRTX 4060under $ 1,000 , which is an excellent GPU for 1080p gaming . As I dig into my benchmarks , you ’ll see that in action mechanism . More authoritative than stark naked performance , the RTX 4060 supportsNvidia ’s DLSS 3 , kick in you access to frame propagation and super resolution in some of the most demanding plot available today .
I put together a similar constellation with off - the - shelf portion , and it follow out to about $ 800 , minus a copy of Windows 11 . It ’s cheaper than buy the Legion Tower 5i , surely , but you also have to put everything together yourself . The agiotage Lenovo is asking for is about $ 200 , which is perfectly reasonable .
If you have the budget to part with , Lenovo allows you to advertise this design further . you could compact in up to a Core i7 - 14700F and anRTX 4070 Ti Super , along with 32 GB of memory , for $ 1,827 . That ’s a firm contour , but the base version of the Legion Tower 5i really stands out due to the fact that it get under $ 1,000 .
Build quality and design
The Legion Tower 5i look incredible . Lenovo has nail the design of a innovative gaming personal computer here , with just the right mixture of gamer flair and clean design , with a textured front , longsighted lines on the top of the case , and rounded turning point . It ’s prosperous to write off the design here as basic , but the more you look at the Tower 5i , the more you could value the balance that Lenovo was capable to achieve , peculiarly stack up against designs like theAlienware Aurora R15 .
Internally , Lenovo gives you some solid upgrade option . The case include two thrust sleds for a 3.5 - inch or 2.5 - inch parkway , and Lenovo pre - rout both SATA power and data point cable television to the slots so you’re able to pop in a Modern hard effort and quickly enlarge your storage . The motherboard also include four slot for random access memory , so you may easily upgrade to more memory down the job — just make indisputable to avoid mixing and pair the included memory with newfangled retentiveness .
There ’s even an extra NVMe slot on the motherboard , gift you even more options to extend your store . These are all simple upgrades that should n’t take more than a few proceedings to do . And Lenovo does n’t put any roadblocks in your means .
More pregnant upgrades are a different thing . Lenovo uses its own motherboard innovation , so you do n’t have any options for a full platform upgrade . In addition , Lenovo is using a non - modular 500W power supply with only a unmarried 8 - tholepin connective for PCIe superpower — you wo n’t be able to slot in a more muscular GPU without promote the world power supplying .
I can revalue that Lenovo give you options for critical upgrades like storage and computer memory , though I do n’t see an disceptation for using a custom motherboard layout . Lenovo utilise a stock layout in itsTower 7i , and given the popularity of impost PCs like theOrigin Neuron , the lack of a standard motherboard layout is a overlook opportunity .
Heating and cooling
The Legion Tower 5i has a fairly standard chill setup . You get two 120 mm inlet fans in the front of the PC , along with a single 120 mm exhaust system rooter in the bottom . Lenovo does n’t mess around with additional fans in the top or bottom of the microcomputer , alternatively settle on a single path of airflow through the case . It works , too . The Tower 5i does n’t get too loud under warhead in games .
The mainframe is a dissimilar story . For the Core i5 - 14400F , Lenovo basically use a corner cooler . It ’s a tiny heatsink with a tiny buff capable of dealing with CPUs that can get up to 65 W , and when you push the mainframe in a demand workload like Cinebench , you ’ll hear the CPU fan ramp up . For higher - oddment contour , Lenovo uses a enceinte pillar - way C.P.U. tank . I was n’t capable to test it , but I ’d guess it ’s much quieter .
Still , the cooler works . Under a full Cinebench R24 load , the Core i5 - 14400F maxed out at 88 level Celsius , and it took a few mo for the central processing unit to reach that item . This CPU can run up to 100 degrees , so you should n’t demand to care about thermal throttling .
Bloatware and configuration
The Lenovo Legion Tower 5i is a mainstream gaming PC . you could purchase it at Best Buy , so you could expect some bloatware . Lenovo ’s drug of pick is McAfee , which is preinstalled on the personal computer and is as nettlesome as ever . Not only do you get pop - ups ask you to betroth McAfee ’s tribute and web browser extensions but you ’ll also get a Windows takeover when the religious service has expired , prompting you to upgrade or uninstall it .
It ’s evenhandedly tame all things considered — you’re able to just uninstall McAfee the moment you set up the Legion Tower 5i . More authoritative is how Lenovo allows you to manage the PC , which happens through Lenovo Vantage . There , you could get software package update , monitor your organisation ’s vital organ , and get support . Companies like Dell and HP spread out their financial support over several apps rather than condensing everything into one spot , so it ’s great to see Lenovo fructify you up with a one - stop - workshop for managing your PC .
As for the configuration , nothing was out of space . The retentivity was lean at 4,400 MT / s as advertize , andResizeable BARwas enabled for the GPU . The memory amphetamine is unknown , though . Although there are technically speeds below DDR5 - 4800 , that ’s the immoral swiftness you see most DDR5 run at . DDR5 - 4400 just was n’t a heavy choice . It has in high spirits latency than even DDR5 - 4000 , and faster DDR5 has become the standard . There ’s some performance red ink , as you ’ll see from the benchmarks below , though the Core i5 - 14400F is n’t as sensible to memory speed given its low-down overall carrying into action .
The memory is more of an interesting note than anything else . You might see a slender fall in performance in games , but those situation should be few and far between . My best guess is that Lenovo chose DDR5 - 4400 because it ’s not democratic , and the company was likely able-bodied to cut the cost of production by opt a slower retentivity spec .
Performance
The Lenovo Legion Tower 5i is a gaming PC first and first , and that shows up in its performance . There are some compromises , particularly with the CPU and slower DDR5 speeds . However , the Legion Tower 5i still holds up in the expanse it matters most , even if that means trading a bit of performance in other applications .
you’re able to get a sense of CPU public presentation from my results below . The Core i5 - 14400F is below both the Ryzen 7 7700 in theHP Omen 40Land the Core i7 - 13700KF in theAlienware Aurora R16 . However , it ’s significant to note that the Core i5 - 14400F is in a class below these two C.P.U. . It ’s slow in apps like Premiere Pro and Photoshop , but it can still hold up for basic productivity tasks as long you do n’t need as much CPU oink as possible .
The independent limiting broker here is the organisation of cores in the Core i5 - 14400F. It ’s efficaciously a six - core central processing unit , so apps that want to see eight strong carrying out cores will lose some performance . you could elevate the Legion Tower 5i with a more powerful CPU if that ’s your focus . For my review unit , the weaker CPU makes sense for a focus on gambling .
On the gaming front , the RTX 4060 beam . Here , I ’m comparing the Legion Tower 5i to a customs RTX 4060 gage microcomputer with a more powerful central processing unit and faster DDR5 computer memory . Most graphics cards consort within a few systema skeletale of each other , so the comparing here is seek to serve how much performance you ’re give up with the configuration Lenovo reconcile on . Some performance loss is expected , but even with that outlook , the Legion Tower 5i have up surprisingly well .
This is n’t a microcomputer build for 4 K gaming , though it may be able-bodied to hit 60 skeleton per second ( fps ) in some title with the avail of DLSS 3 . At 4 kilobyte , completely constrained by the GPU , you may see that the Legion Tower 5i matches the customs RTX 4060 microcomputer inReturnalandRed Dead Redemption 2.The custom personal computer gains a few frames inHorizon Zero DawnandCyberpunk 2077,likely due to how those game can descale to CPU with higher core count .
1440p is more well-fixed for the RTX 4060 in games likeHorizon Zero DawnandRed Dead Redemption 2,where you ’re capable to dispatch above 60 fps with the Legion Tower 5i . To be cleared , this configuration is n’t built for 1440p . It ’s built for 1080p , and more demanding games likeAlan Wake 2orBlack Myth : Wukongwill force you down to that resolve . Still , it ’s great to see how you ’re able to get above 60 Federal Protective Service in large AAA game at 1440p with a PC that costs less than $ 1,000 .
Still , 1080p is where the Legion Tower 5i shines the most . Even the demandingCyberpunk 2077is guide above 60 fps , and that ’s before you factor in the upscaling or frame generation usable to the RTX 4060 inside this PC . Performance is shockingly close to the custom RTX 4060 gaming PC at 1080p , with onlyCyberpunk 2077showing a clear remainder . Again , this is due to how the secret plan can descale to larger CPUs , and a unspoiled showcase of what the Core i5 - 14400F gives up in practice — not much .
I did n’t include upscaling and shape propagation performance here , and that ’s for good cause . At 1080p , the benefits of upscaling start to vanish . Because of that , it ’s of import for a background to nail rude performance . From there , upscaling is just a cherry on top . gratefully , the Legion Tower 5i meets that stigma .
Should you buy the Lenovo Legion T5?
Yes . For $ 1,000 , the Lenovo Legion Tower 5i is a marvelous gambling PC . There are some crotchet with the remembering , and you may carry through money by building the PC yourself . For those who want to skip into PC gambling without a thought about configuration and piece everything together , however , the Legion Tower 5i steer you down the right path .
The major limiting factor is upgradability . Lenovo provide a deal of options to do dewy-eyed acclivity with extra hard cause space , pre - routed cables , and excess way on the motherboard for both memory and memory board . When it comes prison term for a more important ascent , however , you do n’t have a tidy sum of selection in the Legion Tower 5i . And in the example of a full platform swap , you ’ll have to trench the Tower 5i and start from scratch .
That ’s a reasonable caution feed the cost of the Legion Tower 5i . consider the performance you get out of the box , you should n’t need to make that important of an upgrade for quite some clip .
