Lenovo ThinkCentre M70s Gen 5 Black 2024

The ThinkCentre M70s Gen 5 scores 73.5 out of 100 overall, with a standout 95th percentile port selection and a solid 82.6 business score. The i5-14400 and 16GB of DDR5 RAM handle office work fine, but the integrated graphics score of 12.5 out of 100 for gaming means this is strictly a work machine. Shop around, because US prices swing from USD 1,097 to USD 1,929 for the same hardware.

The i5-14400 is a 10-core chip running at 2.5GHz, and it handles office workloads without breaking a sweat. Our database puts it at the 59th percentile for CPU performance, which means it's about average for desktops in this class. You won't be waiting on Excel or Chrome with 16GB of 4800 MHz DDR5 RAM backing it up, though that RAM amount is also middle of the pack.

The integrated Intel UHD Graphics 730 is where things get rough. It lands at the 36th percentile for GPU performance, and the gaming score of 12.5 out of 100 tells you everything you need to know. This is not a machine for anything beyond basic display output and maybe some light photo work. The 512GB PCIe 4.0 M.2 SSD is quick for boot times and app launches, but at the 43rd percentile for storage, you're getting less capacity than most competitors at this price point.

Against the HP OMEN B91WHAA#ABA and MSI Aegis ZS2, the ThinkCentre M70s Gen 5 gets absolutely destroyed in graphics performance. Those machines are built for gaming and creative work, while this Lenovo scores 12.5 out of 100 for gaming. But flip the script to business use, and the M70s Gen 5's 82.6 business score and 95th percentile port selection make it a smarter office pick than any gaming tower. The Apple Mac Studio M4 Max is in a completely different league for performance, but it's also a completely different price bracket. The Dell Tower ECT1250 is probably the closest real competitor here, and the Lenovo's port selection gives it an edge for office setups with lots of peripherals.

Pricing on this thing is all over the place. In the US, we're seeing listings from USD 1,097 to USD 1,929 across 5 vendors, which is a USD 832 spread for the same machine. That's wild. The CAD market is even worse, ranging from CAD 1,170 to CAD 2,359, a CAD 1,189 gap. If you're buying in the US, the USD 1,097 listing is the one to grab. At that price, you're getting a solid business desktop with excellent connectivity. At the high end of that range, you're overpaying for hardware that's mostly average.

The Lenovo ThinkCentre M70s Gen 5 scores 73.5 out of 100 in our database, which puts it in the solid but not spectacular zone for business desktops. The port selection is the real story here, landing in the 95th percentile with 9 USB-A ports, a USB-C, HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort, and Ethernet. That's a lot of connectivity for a small form factor box that weighs 5.30kg.

But the internals tell a more mixed story. The Intel Core i5-14400 with 10 cores is about average for this category at the 59th percentile, and the 16GB of DDR5 RAM sits right at the 51st percentile. The 512GB NVMe SSD is actually a bit below average at the 43rd percentile. For a business machine, that's workable. For anything else, you'll feel the squeeze.

If you need any kind of graphics performance, walk away. The gaming score of 12.5 out of 100 and the 36th percentile GPU ranking mean this machine will choke on anything beyond basic video playback. Creative professionals, gamers, and anyone working with 3D or video should look elsewhere. The 512GB SSD at the 43rd percentile is also a real limitation if you work with large files locally. And if you're paying anywhere near the USD 1,929 top end of the price range, you're getting a bad deal for hardware that's mostly average.

The ThinkCentre M70s Gen 5 is a business desktop that knows exactly what it is. The 82.6 out of 100 business score and 95th percentile port selection make it a genuinely good choice for office work, especially if you can find it near the USD 1,097 end of the price range. The 512GB SSD and integrated graphics hold it back from being great, but for spreadsheets, email, and web apps, this thing is more than capable. Just don't expect it to do anything fun after hours.