The Lenovo Legion Tower 5i Gen 8 proudly maintains its signature dark Stealth look, exuding an aura of sleek sophistication that captivates both gamers and tech enthusiasts alike. It is an excellent choice for gamers looking for a powerful yet affordable gaming desktop. Offering the ideal combination of convenience and customization, this pre-built gaming machine comes ready to deliver an impressive 4K gaming experience and more. I do wish they sold these cases separately, I think the mesh on the front looks super dope! Legion always nails that stealth-looking appearance we all love. Who wouldn’t want their battle station to look like a stealth fighter?
Customizable and Future-Ready
Right out of the box, the Legion Tower 5i Gen 8 is designed to impress, featuring customizable ARGB lighting effects, the latest RTX graphics, and potent Intel or AMD CPUs. Despite being a pre-built rig, it also leaves room for upgrades. If you’re a gamer who enjoys tinkering with their system, you will appreciate this feature. The improved cooling features ensure that your system remains in optimal conditions even during intense gaming sessions.
Pricing and Availability
With various models available, the Lenovo Legion Tower 5i Gen 8 offers a wide range of choices to fit every budget. The price ranges from $1,000 for the basic model to $2,000 for a higher-end variant. Depending on your preferred retailer, you can find different specifications of the Legion Tower 5i Gen 8. For example, at Best Buy, you can get a high-end model equipped with the 13th-generation Intel Core i7-13700F CPU and RTX 4070 graphics.
Stylish Design and Robust Cooling
When it comes to aesthetics, the 8’s sleek design sets it apart from the competition. It features a glass panel on the left, RGB lighting, and an extremely sick looking mesh bezel on the front grille with an ARGB Legion Logo. The gaming tower’s form factor is reasonable, measuring 8.07 inches long, 15.62 inches tall, and 16.77 inches deep with a 26L capacity. Furthermore, the system now comes with up to five cooling fans, which is an upgrade from the three fans in the previous generation. The ARGB lighting on these fans is a nice touch, allowing you to personalize your gaming setup.
That said, its cooling system does get loud under intense gaming, and the pre-installed McAfee software can be an annoyance, unnecessarily ramping up the fan speed.
Room for Expansion
Lenovo has designed the Legion Tower 5i Gen 8 with future upgrades in mind. It comes with PCIe 4.0 x16 and PCIe 3.0 x 4 expansion slots, three M.2 slots, and two HDD sleds, offering plenty of room for additional storage. The system also includes two 8GB DDR5-5600 RAM sticks, but there are two empty slots should you wish to add more.
Performance
The 13th-generation Intel Core i7-13700F CPU and RTX 4070 graphics in the Legion Tower 5i Gen 8 reviewed here are capable of handling 4K gaming without breaking a sweat. When compared to a desktop with a 12th-generation Intel Core i9 CPU and RTX 3090 GPU, the Legion Tower 5i Gen 8 was able to deliver similar performance, only scoring about 1,000 points lower across several benchmark categories.
When it comes to real-world gaming performance, the Legion Tower 5i Gen 8 outperforms expectations. Games like EA Sports PGA Tour, Street Fighter 6, Lego 2K Drive, and Diablo IV ran smoothly, hitting FPS numbers ranging from 60 to 110 in 4K on medium settings, and 50–60 FPS on ultra settings.
Customization and Upgradeability
One of the key advantages of the Legion Tower 5i Gen 8 is its future-proof design. You have ample room for upgrades, with easy access to the internals of the PC. Whether you’re looking to add extra storage or upgrade your graphics card down the line, the Legion 5i offers that flexibility.
Software
The Legion 5i comes with Lenovo’s Vantage software, which allows you to monitor your system’s performance, customize lighting effects, and tweak hardware settings. Unfortunately, there’s also a fair amount of bloatware installed on the PC, but you can uninstall most of these unnecessary applications easily.
Final verdict
The Lenovo Legion Tower 5i Gen 8 is a powerful gaming PC that offers great value for its price. With a combination of top-tier components, a sleek design, and room for upgrades, it’s a PC that will appeal to both casual and serious gamers alike. There are a few minor drawbacks, such as the noisy fans and the presence of bloatware, but these don’t significantly detract from the overall package.
If you’re in the market for a high-performance gaming PC that won’t break the bank, the Lenovo Legion Tower 5i Gen 8 is definitely worth considering.
Specifications for this Legion Tower 5i Gen 8 Review Unit
| Product | Legion T5 26IRB8 (90UT000GUS) |
| Processor | Intel Core i7-13700F, 16C (8P + 8E) / 24T, P-core 2.1 / 5.1GHz, E-core 1.5 / 4.1GHZ, 30MB |
| Operating System | Windows 11 Home |
| Graphics | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 12GB GDDR6X |
| Memory | 2 x 8GB UDIMM DDR5-5600, 4 DDR5 UDIMM slots |
| Storage | Supports up to five drives, 2x 3.5” HDD + 2x M.2 SSD + 1x open 2.5 HDD Bay Comes with 1TB SSD M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0×4 NVMe |
| WLAN & Bluetooth/ Onboard Ethernet | Wi-Fi 6, 802.11ax 2×2 Wi-Fi + Bluetooth 5.1 / 2.5GbE Realtek RTL8125GB Gaming Ethernet |
| Top Ports | 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 1 x Headphone (3.5mm) 1 x Microphone (3.5mm) |
| Rear Ports | 1 x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (supports data transfer and 5V @ 3A charging) 4x USB 2.0 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 3x Audio connector (3.5mm) 1x Lighting switch 1x Ethernet (RJ-45) 1x Power connector |
| GPU Ports (RTX 4070) | 3x DP 1.4a 1x HDMI 2.1 |
| Audio | Nahimic Audio for Gamers 5.1 Channel Surround Sound support |
| Power Supply (PSU) | 500W 85% |
| Weight | Around 14kg (30.86 lb) |
| Dimensions (mm/inches) | 205 x 396.9 x 425.9mm / 8.1 x 15.62 x 16.76 inches, 26L</ |
