Lenovo Legion 5i 2025, Core Ultra 9 285K, 16GB, 4TB SSD, RTX 5070, Black

Elite CPU and storage, but 16GB of RAM in a machine this pricey is a joke. Buy it cheap, upgrade the RAM, and you've got a winner.

The Core Ultra 9 285K is a monster. 24 cores at 3.7GHz base clock means this thing chews through multitasking and productivity workloads without breaking a sweat. The RTX 5070 with 12GB of VRAM handles modern games and ray tracing well, sitting comfortably in the 89th percentile. But here's the thing that bugs us: 16GB of DDR5 in a machine this powerful is just odd. You'll be fine for most games today, but the second you start streaming, running Discord, and keeping Chrome open with 40 tabs, you're going to feel the squeeze. The 4TB NVMe SSD is fantastic though, one of the best storage setups we've seen in this category.

Against the HP OMEN GT16-0364, the Legion 5i wins on CPU and storage but likely loses on RAM configs. The MSI Aegis ZS2 is a closer match on the GPU front, but again, that 16GB RAM is the weak link. The Apple Mac Studio M5 Max is a different animal entirely, better for creative pros who don't need discrete gaming graphics. The CLX SET and Dell ECT1250 are more budget-friendly options if you don't need the Core Ultra 9's raw power. For pure gaming, the RTX 5070 is great, but you might find better-balanced systems elsewhere.

Here's where it gets tricky. The price spread on this thing is wild, ranging from USD 2,269 to USD 4,199 across 23 US listings. That's a USD 1,930 gap for the same machine. If you can snag it near the low end, it's a solid deal for the CPU and storage alone. But at the high end, you're paying way too much for a system with only 16GB of RAM. Shop around and don't pay a premium for this config.

The Lenovo Legion 5i is a weird beast. You've got a top-tier Intel Core Ultra 9 285K and a massive 4TB SSD, but then someone in the config room decided 16GB of RAM was enough. That's like putting racing tires on a minivan. The CPU and storage are absolutely elite, sitting in the 98th percentile of everything we track. The RTX 5070 is no slouch either, landing in the top 11% of GPUs. But that RAM choice is going to hold this thing back in ways that'll annoy you later.

If you're looking for a compact or portable setup, this isn't it. The compact score is one of the worst we've seen, and at nearly 15kg, this thing is a desk anchor. Go grab a smaller form factor build or a gaming laptop instead. Also, if you're a heavy multitasker who keeps 50 Chrome tabs open while gaming, skip this config and find one with 32GB of RAM already installed.

The Legion 5i is a frustratingly close miss. The CPU and storage are phenomenal, the GPU is strong, but 16GB of RAM in a machine this expensive feels like a deliberate upsell trap. If you find it under USD 2,500 and don't mind adding RAM later, it's a great foundation. If you're paying over USD 3,000, walk away and find something with 32GB already installed.