Lenovo Legion 5/5 Pro/7 2021 Discussion

Thank you. I have Samsung memory with my 3080. Looks like +175 core fails. Getting up towards 12,600 GPU score now, so getting there! Hybrid is turned off, went into the BIOS and did discrete only.

 

The AMD version doesn't even have a RAID controller. That is why they are separate and one of the many reasons I sent it back.

 

Well that’s interesting. Wonder what else they’re taking out of the AMD models that they’re not being forthcoming about?

 

They are definitely less feature-rich as they don't support PCIE Gen 4 or Thunderbolt (and AMD was clear on that from the start, even if Lenovo wasn't) but they are also less expensive (usually).

 

Those two things I was aware of. Not a huge deal to me. So atleast it’s not features I need or care about.

 

There is a random chance they may ship with a Realtek or Mediatek wifi, which can have poor performance compared to the Intel AX200 / AX210. So just be prepared to have to swap it. And note that AX201 cannot work in the AMD model because it requires Intel CNVi chipset support.

 

Right, I forgot to add that one. The MediaTek card is garbage. Bought an AX210 to replace it that now sits in my MSI Titan. Thankfully those are very cheap.

 

Down to -0.080 V CPU core wattage and up to +140 GPU core and +1050 GPU memory clock - just nipping 12,900 GPU score in Time Spy now. Cranking GPU core to 150 or higher and GPU memory to 1150 or higher results in crashes so I think I'm nearing the limit. Seems like a batch of "OK" (not great) 3080s!

 

Did a Timespy run in performance mode with hybrid graphics disabled and got 10,612, which is probably about right given the x16 RAM. The stress test passed at 98.9% with the GPU not exceeding 65C, which is one of the best results I’ve ever seen from a laptop.


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I think I am pretty much dialed in here for the most part. Any add'l gains will be single digit in nature so I probably won't bother.

12,577 Timespy (12,843 GPU, 11,259 CPU)

Lenovo Legion 7i Gen 6 Laptop / 11980HK / RTX 3080 / Config: 82K6005SUS / x16 Mem

-0.085 V CPU core voltage offset
+140 GPU core clock, +1000 GPU memory clock

 

So my status has changed to shipped. No tracking number just yet. Hopefully tomorrow morning that will be the case. Hoping I don’t have to wait till Monday to get it. But with thanksgiving and Black Friday I wouldn’t be surprised.

 

Cut off the end of a slim aw 240w brick and soldered / added the Lenovo tip. Works fantastic and way slimmer to put in my backpack every day.

 

Hardcore. I'm lazy, just spent $80 on this: https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/accessories-and-software/chargers-and-batteries/chargers/gx20l29347.

 

That works too! The aw one is just too sexy and 10 extra watts just in case lol. I figure when I get my x17 I’ll just ship and solder them aw tip back on for an extra I can leave at work.

 

based on my experience, the 230w and 300w dimension (at least for that model) is the same. Weight difference is also negligible, what you might want is actually this one
https://www.lenovo.com/ca/en/access...DP-BO-TP-SL-230W-Adapter-Slimtip/p/4X20S56713 which seems lighter and smaller.

 

Lenovo Spare Parts has the 300W for $128.

https://lenovo.encompass.com/item/12713253/Lenovo/5A10W86289/

 

Has anyone have issue upgrading the Radeon driver straight from amd.com? When I update the driver the internal screen was like tearing and the laptop become unusable ;I have to use external monitor to reinstall the system. Reinstalling the driver from Lenovo doesn't help.

 

That’s better. I’ll likely want a second charger if I keep mine. Might try contacting Lenovo reps to see if they can make a special order if this doesn’t come back into stock.

I’ll have to take a look once mine comes in. Looking like Monday is my expected delivery date. I haven’t heard of this kind of thing before. But it sounds like it’s doing something to your video output for the cpu? The hdmi and usb-c on the back are connected to the GPU so that’s why that’s working.

 

Thanks! Canceled and ordered that. I wish I had known about that option - I already ordered one off a sketchy guy on eBay in China for $159.99. At least this way I will have two and I can compare if it is legit from the eBay seller. I have had good luck in the past.

I bought the 230W to have up by the living room for charging pre and post browsing type activity. I definitely want the full 300W for any gaming!

 

You can use USB-C charging for light-duty tasks as well as topping off the battery.


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Ah, good to know - my wife's Macbook Air M1 is up there too so I could use her charger in a pinch...awesome. Love this laptop! Just a smidge bigger and heavier than the Zephyrus G15 GA503 but way more power. I'm sold and selling the Zephy! The only issue I've found is the cooling is no where near the quality of MSI's GE76 - so mining part-time is not even an option (Gaming-wise the Legion 7i does great). Temps get smoking hot (I never mined on the Zeph, either - due to size/thermals).

Oh, and for the keys - with the FN key can you only dim the brightness or completely turn them off? I'd love to click to go to keylights only but it seems you either do the light show or you have it all off. I disabled iCue from starting so just using built-in stuff.

EDIT: do you guys have another source for this?

https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/acce...z72164?orgRef=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F

 

https://www.coolermaster.com/catalog/coolers/notebook-cooler/notepal-u3-plus/

I’ve been using this for awhile on many laptops. I had plans to swap out the fans for some nicer ones. But it’s probably one of the better notebook coolers I’ve used. Light weight enough that you could fit it into a bag.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07NKWY8SX?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

Or if you just want something to lift the laptop up I highly recommend this. I love this thing. A buddy of mine suggested it to me and I use it all the time to prop a laptop up. Plus when I’m not using it for a laptop it’s fun to play with as a make shift fidget device.

 

Just make sure whatever USB-C charger you want to use with the Legion is capable of 20V/5A power delivery. The factory 30W brick that comes with the MacBook Air won't do anything. If you're in the US, I have an extra 100W GaN charger that I'm not using any more that I'll sell you for basically half of what they typically go for on Amazon. Shoot me a PM if you're interested.

Strange that you're having a problem with cooling as my L7i has some of the best temps I've ever recorded on a gaming laptop. It will hit 85C for a second as the CPU boosts up to 4.6 GHz when starting each render on a Cinebench load, but it settles down to 74-75C under the sustained load at 4.0-4.1 GHz. This is both cooler while maintaining a higher frequency than I've seen with any Ryzen 5000 laptop I've used.

With iCue disabled, I'm pretty sure it's all or nothing. I like the solid blue color but wish I could turn it off on the light bar and vents, leaving only the keyboard illuminated. It's a small price to pay given how good the rest of the laptop is otherwise. I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for any kind of fix to the high power consumption problem that iCue presents. Instead, I'm going to see if there's a way to get the creator of OpenRGB to add support for the Legion 7 line.

 

Thank you - ordered! That looks perfect in a pinch.

Gaming versus crypto mining is a very different scenario. The Legion is great for gaming - solid temps. It just can't hang for mining for my comfort. Not a huge deal. MSI literally wrote a blog on mining with the GE76 so I think it's in a different league. It is also way larger and way louder.

I will PM you!

 

Just got home with my laptop. Drives are in Raid but the memory was 1Rx8 so I will take the wins where I can get them.

Before tweaking or upgrading to Win10:
Time Spy: 12081, 12232 graphics, 11294 CPU

 

Hi folks.

I have the L7 (AMD/3080). The GPU temps are generally pretty good while gaming. However, the CPU temp can hit high 90s (eg 98.5 on Horizon Zero Dawn - so graphically intensive), with Performance thermal mode on in Vantage. This is just sitting on a desk, no cooling pad of any sort. Everything at stock.

Is this normal or is hitting high 90s while gaming without a cooling pad expected?

 

I don’t have the AMD version, I have the i9, and your temps seem higher than I’d expect when gaming.

Try getting the back of the laptop at least another inch off the surface it’s sitting on and I wonder what kind of difference it makes for you.

 

It's interesting - in Cinebench I hit 92.5C (stock, performance mode, no cooling pad).

With a basic unpowered (ie no fan) cooling pad, I hit 87.8C.

So the passive cooling pad reduced temps by about 5C. Not sure why gaming stresses the CPU more than cinebench though.

 

My 7i peaks at 97C in Time Spy. Once am sure everything is working I am going to throw some LM on it. It worked wonders on my Titan so it should do well here.

 

The i9 is hot AF - I would try undervolting first prior to cracking open the laptop and re-pasting. I got mine to -0.085 V and it no longer thermal throttles nearly as much.

 

I may undervolt as well but I have been delidding and using liquid metal for years so I will be fine as long as I take the proper precautions. I just have to put the laptop through all the tests and make sure it is up to spec before voiding my warranty.

 

Do you have a link to which AX200 wifi card would work with the AMD Legion L7 - mine has the Mediatek card and it seems pretty bad sadly. Many thanks!

 

I bought mine off eBay but the seller is out of stock. This is the model I picked up and it worked very well. Note I have no idea how good this particular seller is.

AX210.NGWG.NV
https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Intel/AX210NGWGNV?qs=DPoM0jnrROU0HT87ANhu5g==

 

Thanks! I don't *think* this version works on AMD, which I think needs the AX200 version (but I don't say that with any authority).

 

That is the exact model I bought for the AMD Legion 7 I had. It worked perfectly. The AX210 is just WiFi 6E instead of standard 6. The models you want to avoid are AX201 and AX211, which require an Intel CPU.

 

I think the consensus around here has been that you’ll only make the thermals worse by messing with the factory paste.

 

Normal thermal paste, sure. Liquid metal is in a completely different class. We shall see when I do it in a week or so.

 

Ahh gotcha, thanks a lot - I must have mistaken the 210 for the 201 then - appreciate you setting me right.

I watched the Legion 7 teardown video from the Lenovo support site, and it made it look like you had to remove the whole vapor chamber to replace the wifi card, rather than just the battery - was that your experience? I was very surprised if this was the case...! Thanks again for your help.

 

You don't have to remove any of that. You want to disconnect the battery for safety of course but the WiFi card is under the SSD cover on the right side.

 

You don't even need to disconnect the battery from the motherboard. There's an option in the BIOS that automatically does this and then re-enables the battery when you plug the AC adapter back in. Makes upgrades much more convenient.

 

Is opening the Legion 7i as bad as I've heard? I'm worried about breaking the clips. I have upgraded a half a dozen laptops in the past (SSD, HDD, memory, etc. - no LM or anything like that) and built dozens of custom PCs, but I was hoping to not bother messing with my maxed out unit due to the horror stories about clips. Getting that x16 RAM has me second guessing. What memory do you guys recommend? Is there a consensus or is it just "anything but x16".

 

I don't know what you have heard but the bottom as a whole is on pretty tight and there are a few spots that are a little tricky. If you have a guitar pick or spudger you should be able to get under the corner to start. The hardest part for me is at the fan vents as the angle changes a bit. I tend to loosen the front and sides up to the vents and then work on the back before taking on the vents last. Just go slow and be careful and you should be fine.

 

I think I spent about 30 minutes trying to get a pick in the front corner and couldn't. I finally started at the vent on the side and it was very easy after that. I've opened mine so many times I probably broke 2 or 3 clips but it hasn't affected anything I can tell.

I bought 32gb of HyperX Impact for mine. Other people have used Crucial and G.Skill and it works fine. Just make sure the JEDEC is 3200 @1.2v. Lenovo doesn't have an XMP option in their bios, although I have read it is coming.

 

That’s the same kit I have sitting in wait for mine. Since I got the amd version I’m sure there is no way I got the good ram. I’ll have to double check that Wi-Fi card too since it sounds like they’re cheaping out there.

Should be here today actually. They changed it this morning. So here is hoping I get to play with it today.

 

From what I have read in Discord, Realtek is the crap wifi card.

 

I put my 3200 MHz kit of Mushkin Essentials RAM in, and the difference in performance on the L7i was marginal at best. This is with the same timings as the stock memory, just in an x8 configuration. AMD-based machines will see more benefit.


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If I remember right, the stock ram in my 7i was CL22 compared to CL20 with HyperX. The only real difference I could tell was about 500 more points on the cpu score in Time Spy.

 

So my Legion 7 did arrive today. I don’t see any dead pixels. There is one spot near the left hinge that shows some more light bleed than the rest of the screen. Bezel must be a bit tighter there. But it’s only noticeable when the screen is black. Very happy with that.

I have not opened it yet. Doing some benchmarks first. But it looks like I got a mediatek Wi-Fi card. Seems ok? I’ll give it some time to see if I want to swap that out with an intel one if it gives me any trouble.

Performance out of the box seems strong without any tweaking. Two questions though. In the vantage software turning the hybrid toggle on ((green)) enables hybrid mode correct? And leaving it off is for running off the 3080 at all times? And in the bios I see it has the option for dynamic and discrete. This is just the same thing just in the bios right? I don’t have to switch the options on or off in both the vantage software and the bios right? Figure that’s there in case you uninstalled the vantage software.

I’m honestly surprised how small the laptop was. I don’t know why I expected it to be bigger. Considering what the specs are it’s rather thin. And it feels a lot more premium than it looks on review videos. Think a few manufacturers could learn a thing or two from Lenovo.

 

Yes, you can turn hybrid off in Vantage and reboot to run the 3080. No, you wouldn't need to turn it off in Vantage and Bios. I've never changed it in bios and only changed it in Vantage once. I have never run hybrid. I don't need battery life.

 

Ok. Nice. I probably will leave that way myself most of the time. I like how I could do all my overclocking in the bios. So once I find some stable settings in MSI afterburner I may end up using that feature. Though it doesn’t look like there is much over locking available to the 5900HX other than just turning it on in the bios and using what Lenovo has set. Still seems very potent in my short testing with it. I’ll have to see how it holds up to playing Marvels Guardians of the Galaxy once I finish downloading it.