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The Legion Tower 5i’s numbers look good. The Corsair edged it out in Fire Strike, but the Lenovo more than compensated for that in the graphics card-focused Superposition 1080p test. The Dell wasn't anywhere close with its 6GB GeForce GTX 1660 Ti, though it is a much less expensive card. As these ports are on the top panel, you might have wires cascading down from there should you put the tower on top of a desk. Also, I always miss having a media card reader, and this tower doesn't have one. They're becoming uncommon on desktops, full stop. The wireless antennas are conveniently built into the case so you don't have to deal with the awkwardness of external ones. Priced to Compete
There really isn't any excuse these days, either, with other systems either offering half terabyte drives, or even full 1TB models such as the WD Blue SN570 we've seen in the NZXT and iBuyPower rigs we've tested. Last but perhaps most important, we'll try some real games. We use the built-in benchmarks in Far Cry 5 (at its Ultra preset) and Rise of the Tomb Raider (at its Very High preset) at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K/UHD resolutions. Far Cry 5 uses DirectX 11, while we flip Rise of the Tomb Raider to DirectX 12. The results are measured in frames per second (fps); we look for at least 60 for smooth playability.Battery: These systems do not support batteries that are not genuine Lenovo-made or authorised. Systems will continue to boot, but may not charge unauthorised batteries. Lenovo has no responsibility for the performance or safety of unauthorised batteries, and provides no warranties for failures or damage arising out of their use. **Battery life is based on the MobileMark® 2014 methodology and is an estimated maximum. Actual battery life may vary based on many factors, including screen brightness, active applications, features, power management settings, battery age and conditioning, and other customer preferences. Despite some Lenovo branded, the otherwise no-name motherboard, RAM, and GPU componentry inside are all standard parts. Unlike an Alienware system, that means as you get more confident in your PC gamer identity you can then upgrade parts piecemeal without struggling to fit them into a proprietary system. Our benchmarks bear that out, with the CPU core showing excellent multi-core performance, but comes way down the list for single-core. And that means it's not really driving its RTX 3060 past the other similarly specced machines, and is obviously behind those with superior graphics cards installed inside them. Our first test is UL's PCMark 10, a holistic performance suite that simulates different real-world productivity and content-creation workflows. We use it to assess overall system performance for office-centric tasks such as word processing, spreadsheet work, web browsing, and videoconferencing. PCMark 8, meanwhile, has a storage subtest that we use to assess the speed of the system's boot drive. Both tests generate a proprietary numeric score; higher numbers are better. The Legion Tower 5i’s excellent scoring continued in these tests. It had no trouble keeping pace with the 95-watt Core i9-9900K in the HP despite its Core i7-10700 being only a 65-watt part. That said, it couldn't quite match the efficiency of the 65-watt Ryzen 7 3700X in the Corsair, making me wish Lenovo offered a Ryzen version of the Legion Tower 5i.
Two of the motherboard’s four UDIMM slots for DDR4-2933 memory are populated by 8GB modules (a total of 16GB, running in dual-channel mode). The motherboard also has not one but two onboard M.2 slots. The one above the graphics card (which is almost impossible to see in our photos since it’s overshadowed by the CPU cooler) is populated by a 512GB solid-state drive loaded with Windows 10 Home. The empty slot is located under the graphics card. Limits: Limit 5 per customer. Offers valid from Lenovo in the US only. Lenovo may increase or decrease these limits, from time to time, for certain offerings.My unit's GeForce RTX 2070 Super provides one HDMI and three DisplayPort video outputs plus a VirtualLink port (USB Type-C connector) for future virtual-reality headsets. The last is not always present on GeForce RTX-class cards, so it’s nice to see. The Legion Tower 5i comes standard with the latest Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) and Bluetooth 5 wireless standards courtesy of an Intel AX201 card. It does get a little toastie with the single fan tower CPU cooler installed in it, but I never found it got too loud during gaming or under productivity loads. Lenovo has a compelling mid-tower gaming rig on its hands with the Legion Tower 5i. It's well designed, easy to service, and looks the part without overdoing it. Its standard features are impressive, including user-configurable case lighting, Wi-Fi 6, and 16GB of memory.
The left panel is secured by two thumb screws for toolless access. Removing it reveals a spacious interior. Now onto the 3D-focused tests. We use two benchmark suites to gauge the gaming performance potential of a PC. In the first, UL's 3DMark, we run two DirectX 11-driven subtests, the mainstream Sky Diver and Fire Strike, which is more suited to gaming rigs. Our other graphics benchmark is Unigine Corp.'s Superposition, which uses a different rendering engine to produce a complex 3D scene.The Legion Tower 5i's ample cooling power comes from two 120mm fans at the front and one at the rear. The rear exhaust and processor fans support RGB lighting—up to 16.7 million colors. You can choose a static color or among preset patterns such as color cycling. The interior case lighting and the Legion logo on the front of the tower are pale blue only, though you can change their brightness and effects. There's no shortage of brightness, and the lighting can be turned off. Overall, the lighting is smartly implemented. Simple, Organized Innards I compared the Legion Tower 5i to a diverse crowd of gaming desktops, both budget and high-end, for our benchmark testing. Their basic specifications are as follows.
But the CPU and GPU, though inevitably important, aren't going to tell the whole story themselves. Storage is one place where a lot of pre-built gaming PCs fall down, and where system builders seem to think they can save a bit of cash. The 256GB Samsung SSD in the Lenovo is a solid performer, but that is far too small a drive to run a modern gaming PC on. 75GB of it is already used from the instant you pull it out of the box. Sure, you do get a 1TB data drive, but it's a spinning platter hard drive, and you shouldn't be running games from that ancient tech in 2023. The actual build quality, however, is really good. It's clean, well laid out and there's a bunch of space in there for upgrades, too. And, of course, it's got RGB illumination inside it, but interestingly you do have to turn that on via the installed Vantage software as it ships in stealth mode. There is a bit of bloatware in there, though it's not too intrusive and you can always uninstall McAfee.This unit also has a traditional 1TB spinning hard drive in one of the 3.5-inch bays at the lower right. Installing drives is a toolless affair. Ports (rear): 2 x USB-A 2.0 2 x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 3 x Audio out (5.1 Channel) 1 x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 1 x Ethernet (RJ-45) 1 x Power Connector The Legion Tower 5i would even be usable for 4K gaming with slightly lowered detail settings. Though it's something of a moot point since the GeForce RTX 2070 Super is its top choice, I'd argue that card is the peak of value for high-fps 1080p and 1440p gaming. (Reference the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti-equipped HP's numbers to see what you get for dropping a lot more cash.) A Mid-Tower Gamer That's Easy to Recommend
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