Michael Crider
If you’ve searched for a computer lately, you might have noticed a lot more packing AMD processors than you remember. The company’s Ryzen line of CPUs has been making great strides in the marketplace. Lenovo is taking advantage of that for its latest gaming machines, pairing them with NVIDIA GPUs.
First up is the Legion 5 series. These power-focused models come in 15.6 and 17.4-inch varieties with screens at up to 144Hz. Though the highest-end options use the Ryzen 7 4800 h-series CPU and top out with NVIDIA’s RTX 2060 discrete graphics cards, they start at just $760 for the less powerful GTX 1650Ti version. RAM and storage top out at 16GB and 1TB SSD, respectively, and Lenovo says its new-and-improved mobile keyboard has up to 1.5mm of key travel.
Lower-end versions of the 15-inch Legion 5 should be shipping today, with more powerful variants and the 17-inch model coming in September.
If you’re looking for an even cheaper option, check out the IdeaPad Gaming 3, sans Legion branding. It gets access to the Ryzen 7 4800 and GTX 1650Ti as well, but goes with a slightly slower 120Hz refresh rate on its 15-inch screen and a less bombastic case design. It starts at just $660, and should be shipping before the end of the month. Strangely, the cheaper laptop has access to more RAM on the highest configuration, up to 32GB.
Old-school PC gamers who want to preserve their upgrade options can go with the Legion Tower 5 desktop. With a full-sized ATX motherboard and case, it should be good for years of part-swapping. Prices for the AMD-based system start as low as $830, but the options go pretty darn high. If your budget will stretch, it can hold a 16-core Ryzen 9 3960X processor, RTX 2070 Super graphics card, two 1TB SSDs and two 2TB hard drives (6TB of total storage). Memory tops out at a shocking 128GB of 3200MHz RAM, or approximately 18 Chrome tabs.
The chassis comes with some surprisingly subtle LED lights and an optional 200-watt liquid cooling system. If your battlestation isn’t near your router, then you can use the Wi-Fi 6 radio built into the motherboard. The Legion Tower 5 will be available in October.
