Lenovo Legion 5 and 7 (2020)

Haven't finished watching but wanted to share:

 

Intel Tiger Lake Legions announced



Edit:
They'll be released Sometime in June

 

Hi, can anyone who own Legion Pro 5 2021 confirm for additional 2280 NVME can be installed? Why on the PSREF site it only says 1x 2242?

 

Here's Jarrod's Legion 5 Pro gaming test. Full review should be out in a few days.

 

Yes, i have a 2280 2TB plus a 2280 1TB, no worries. That must be a copy/paste from somewhere else i guess?

 

The above is just one of the several charts in Jarrod's video of the 13 games. Although performance tended to drop in the subsequent charts, it was clear that the 5800H with 3070 is a noticeable upgrade from the 4800H with 1660Ti.

Again, no mention on Lenovo's website when this laptop will be released in the US, nor at what cost. If the new Legion 5 comes close to the $1k price point, it will definitely be a noteworthy competitor.

 

He seems to be having issues with performance in his review model, drivers, hardware or something?

 

For some reason, only the 5900HX has an x16 gpu connection. The rest still only have an x8 gpu connection which is what i suspect to be the culprit behind the underperforming amd cpus.

That and slow ass JEDEC 3200 Cl22 memory is bottlenecking amd cpus more than intel cpus.

 

Aren't the Ryzen laptops running Gen 4 x8, which is equivalent to Gen 3 x16? In which case that itself shouldn't be the bottleneck. Performance is usually within the margin of error each other.

NVIDIA RTX 3080 PCIe 3.0 vs. PCIe 4.0 x16 Benchmarks (& Intel vs. AMD for 3080 Discussion) - YouTube

 

Unfortunately not. Only pcie 3.0 is used.

This is from a Schenker XMG Neo 17 (Tongfang GM7ZG7S) with 5800H and 3070 140w


This is from a MSI GP76 Leopard 10UG with i7-10750H and 3070 140w

 

No surprise there because a full power RTX 3070 has the same performance as a RTX 2080 Super and plus with DLSS in certain games it'll help it boost it more. Im still happy with the 1660ti after gaming with a 750m for over 6 years!.

The Intel models will be released in June and it might be the same for the AMD models as well but im not sure. The Legion 5 and Pro with the RTX 3060 is currently the best value atm. Laptops with the RTX 3070 normally cost $1600+

 

I got two of these for my Legion as the Ballistix do NOT work at advertised speeds unless you can enable XMP in the BIOS advanced settings to which there is no access (at least not yet):

F4-3200C18S-16GRS-G.SKILL

They should be here today, i'll check whether there is a big difference from the original 3200 CAS22 nonsense it's shipped with.

EDIT: I'm very very dumb. I didn't even read this in the specifications page, so i wonder if they will even work at 3200Mhz left alone CAS18:
"This product requires enabling XMP in BIOS to operate at the rated speed. Otherwise, the memory kit will operate at the default speed set by the system."

EDIT2: RAM works at 3200Mhz, but CAS remains at 22. So, 22-22-22-52... Sucks.

 

Thank you for that!
My Y720 have the option to boost fan but I didn't found that on Legion 5. Is there any way to set a different value like 70%? 100% is way louder than it was on the Y720

 

Jarrod finally made a detailed video about the issue

 

Im having problems with the webcam lately and it keep shutting off over and over everytime i tried to use it. The privacy settings is turned off through Vantage and i tried reinstalling the driver to no avail and i heard Lenovo laptops are known to have this problem and i kinda want to check the ribbon cable under the display if its easy to remove without breaking it.

 

Just another data point on this. It works!

However, after step three and four (each time), the system (7i 10980HK) was stuck in a boot loop and I had to do a full reinstall of Windows 10.

Was it worth it? Yes! Especially since the system was new-to-me and I had no important data on it.

 

In case of BSOD (inaccessible boot device) you need to switch your Windows 10 to safe-mode once, after it show log-on screen you can safely reboot your system to regular state and it will work normally

 

Update

i managed to remove the LCD bezel to get to the LCD panel but i kinda panicked because i didnt know what to do next and even this video doesnt help much



Do i have to remove the entire lid in order to remove the panel?. All i want to do is to reach the webcam ribbon cable to unplug then plug it back in, The bulit in mic still works and it could be a software issue and not a hardware issue so i wanna be sure first.

 

Update:

I decided to try again and apparently you dont have to remove the entire lid in order to remove the LCD panel, It was hold together with tape and i managed to get to the webcam's ribbon cable and replug it but it still didnt work so i think its a hardware problem and people on reddit mentioned that its a common problem with lenovo laptops. Some people fixed it by reinstalling windows but i dont think that will fix it but who knows.. but it kinda gives me an excuse to upgrade to Windows 10 Pro as i been wanted to do it for months now, Might just buy a external webcam because the camera is crap.

 

You might want to take a look at Windows 11. It's being released tomorrow June 24th.

 

No thanks it looks bad as Windows 10 with useless features and changes and i am already hesitant of upgrading to 21H1. It took me about 6 months to finally upgrade to 20H2 because of the bugs.

Besides the webcam not working anymore, the built in mic still works fine which is kinda strange.

 

Hi!

What about thermals in the Ryzen 7 5800h + RTX 3060 version? Is it well designed? It is my mayor concern about a buying a new laptop

At this very moment in Spain it is the best bang for the buck...

Thank you

 

And another point, both 17 and 15 versions cost the same, is it worth going for the 17? In terms of screen quality, I mean.

 

Hello, can u guys help me i cant create vars.txt with cmd. I get this error, so i cant complete it. I have 10300H can someone help me?
Also, how can we undo this action in the simplest way?

 

@dglt please help me dude

 

You wont have any problems with thermals.



The build quality is mostly the same as last years model and its pretty good for an all plastic gaming laptop

Well the 17 inch one is a bit bigger and it has room for a built sd card slot. The 15" inch version uses 3 different screens, 120Hz, 144Hz, and 166Hz. Avoid the 120Hz one as the screen is very bad.

 

I have last years model with the 4800H and 2060

Thermals are fine, but I've had it almost a year and I'm opening it up tomorrow to replace the SSDs

Should I re-paste while I'm at it?

I have Kryonaut and MX-4

 

Clean out the fans with compressed air, but don't touch the paste if you're not otherwise having thermal issues.

 

Well it happened, my right hinge on my Legion 7i failed... 10 months and it completely failed. Didn't break the screen at least cuz I noticed as I was closing it.
Now I have to send it in to the factory to be repaired... This is disappointing for sure.

Sent from my SM-G970W using Tapatalk

 

Sucks to hear man..

If possible after you get it repaired you could try to sell it and get the 2021 Legion 7 instead since they improved the hinges.

 

While I would love to get the new Legion 7 or 7i, they're just too expensive right now. I actually just got my Alienware M15 R5 (QHD, 3070 and mechanical keyboard) I ordered back in June for $1942 CAD all in so it's kind of perfect timing.
Surprisingly, this Alienware is performing wonderfully, no creaks in the chassis at all, screen is glorious and the temperatures are actually in check (less than 100 while playing Black Ops). I was worried with all the disappointing stories I read and saw, but 10582 in Timespy on stock performance mode is fantastic! This is with the high density RAM that I haven't replaced yet (have HyperX).
I have a Legion 5 Pro coming this week and I'll have to determine which one I'm going to keep.

Sent from my SM-G970W using Tapatalk

 

Has anyone upgraded the battery to the 80wh one without any issues because i kinda want upgrade the battery and making sure i get the right one that'll work with my Legion 5. I also want to buy another M.2 NVME SSD for storage and i have a $125 Amazon gift card balance on my Amazon account and I was looking at this one.

https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-NAND...1&keywords=1tb+ssd+nvme&qid=1632952642&sr=8-5

I really dont care about the brand nor speeds as im using it for storage like i am currently using my HDD for.

 

@ KING19

Any NVME drive should be fine as long as you have an open socket for it. When i had a Legion Y720 it only had 1 slot so, it was limited to cloning / swapping. My new Clevo though has 2 slots for NVME + 2.5" drive space for another if needed.

One thing to look at is the TBW / Warranty period. I picked up a BPX Pro & CS3030 a little while back and both had really high TBW values and 5 years on replacements.

https://www.mydigitaldiscount.com/m...-m-m.2-pcie-3.1-x4-nvme-ssd-mdnvme80-bpxp-1t/


https://www.pny.com/CS3030-M-2-NVMe-SSD?sku=M280CS3030-1TB-RB



For the battery it should be an easy swap if you crack open the chassis and ID the existing one and then google the 80wh version.

 

I have a 2nd M.2 NVMe slot but currently its blocked by my current HDD. I mostly wanna do the battery upgrade as the current 60Wh battery is pretty bad and after a year of owning this laptop im only getting about 4 hours with Hybrid mode/Optimus on and about 2 hours with it off. For the SSD i dont wanna spend over $100 as im using it for storage and i want to use the rest of my gift card balance to put on a air fryer or some new clothes.

 

@ KING19

If your data is important then spending the extra $20 makes more sense for piece of mind. If your existing drive is being replaced by this new one you could repurpose it for storage after cloning it to the new drive and slap it into an enclosure for portable use.

It all depends on where you want to end up for data storage. It also makes a difference is we're talking M.2 NVME or M.2 SATA as the keying is different. You also mentioned a 2.5" drive which could also be an upgrade option for 'storage" at a slightly cheaper option rather than NVME.

There are always options when it comes to storage but, things tend to be either cheap OR reliable...if you have redundancy then cheap can be reliable.

My data storage spans different tech:
Raid 10 - server / nas 5 x 8TB WD Red ~400MB/s
USB-C - multiple drive options from SSD like speed @ 450MB/s (sandisk), NVME in an enclosure ~800MB/s
Dual NVME internal drives ~1.5GB/s
I also have a couple of SATA / USB cables for 2.5/3.5 drives sitting around

 

A 2.5 drive is not a option because if i do the battery upgrade the 80Wh battery will cover where the 2.5 drive goes, that why i am buying another M.2 NVMe SSD just for storage, I was planning to do it anyways as loading certain games and other things is painfully slow on the HDD.

 

@ KING19

Ok, so you'll be running dual NVME drives like I am currently.

So, are you happy with your current NVME?

Would your current NVME be large enough to store your stuff on it?

I would probably use the existing one for storage and put the new one in as the OS after cloning the existing drive to it.

Old NVME >> New NVME (1TB / OS / Sotrage)
HDD >> Old NVME
New NVME / New Partitions 100GB for windows / rest for storage should yield at least 800MB or more of formatted space.

Or instead of cloning, do a fresh windows install on the new drive for better performance.

 

Yeah, Its my main windows drive, i usually store my programs and some games on it and its enough space for now.

The new SSD will be used as my 2nd drive for storage with the battery upgrade.

 

@ KING19

So, single drive housing both OS / Storage is fine. If you partition the drive into 2 partitions it's a bit easier to segregate the data from the OS in the event something with the OS borks you still keep your data.

I would go with a 100GB for the OS if it's Windows and let it split up the 100GB into the partitions it needs with an advanced setup where you tell it what you want vs taking up the whole drive. Though either method will work if you have a partitioning tool to adjust the size post install. This will give you better performance over cloning the existing drive due to mappings of bytes over time not being the most efficient.

Since you'll have to remove the 2.5" drive to accommodate the new drive and battery it might be helpful to get a SATA USB adapter to copy the data from the 2.5" so you don't have to open the machine several times to complete the process. If not an adapter get an enclosure for the drive and you can easily use it as a backup destination if you wanted to.

The key to this whole thing is some planning on growth over time since you're bound to collect more data as time goes on. So, if you're current NVME + 2.5" = say 512GB then bumping to a 1TB should buy you a few years of data storage. Going bigger in a single drive also allows you to use just 1 drive for faster data access since it won't have to cross the PCH bottleneck to transfer between the drives. A single drive will also extend your battery time slightly.

Also, going with a higher capacity drive usually garners a better warranty / TBW before failure. 5 years is the most I've seen on drives for warranties which will outlast most laptop owners before getting a new laptop.

 

I already have a old external HDD and i was planning to move the stuff i wanna backup on to it then copy it on the new NVME SSD afterwards. Most of the stuff on it especially games i dont need anymore among other things. I like having 2 drives, one for Windows, programs and certain MP games, and the other drive to be used as storage for things that take up a lot of space.

 

I do something similar with my "server". I use an NVME for the Linux OS and the Raid is setup w/ spinners. I don't need GB/s on long term storage and a reboot takes less than 10 seconds. The reason for not needing GB/s though is a limitation to the network speed available today for laptops being extremely cost intensive for 10GE vs 5GE. If I was running all desktops though it would be a different story or having a 2-10GE fiber connection would make a difference as well. I'm sure the I/O could handle those speeds if it was available and if not adding a flash cache to the miz would fix any speed issue.

When it comes to storage though most of the bigger files aren't "critical" like like music / video. The important stuff is usually photos / docs and those should be backed up in several places or at least 2 places like a NAS/thumb drive/enclosure. Google drive is a good place to stash those sorts of items as well up to 15GB for free. Since I don't particularly trust online storage I tend to PW protect the files before uploading them onto someone else's HW.

Tech is just a rabbit hole / money pit sometimes but, if you plan a little bit beforehand for the long term it negates some of the spending.

 

Update:

I finally pulled the trigger and bought the battery and the SSD. Both items should be arriving on Monday but with the holiday season coming up it might arrive later this week because of delays.

This is the SSD i got.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PHQ6Q1D/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'll let you guys know how the upgrade goes when i have some free time.

 

Update: The battery upgrade didnt work out too well and you gotta be careful of what 80wh battery you buy online even if you're buying Genuine Lenovo batteries, Some of them are fake and wont compatible with your Legion especially with a manufacturer date of 2019. This goes for the 2021 models as well. The most common case is that the laptop refuses to boot on battery and it'll quickly shut off and you'll need the AC adapter in the order to boot your laptop everytime and after that it'll work and charge normally but its annoying as hell. I told the seller about the problem and he'll send me another 80WH battery, hopefully the right battery otherwise im gonna request a refund. This is a example of a fake/defective battery...

I got the one with the short cable (L19C4PC1).

 

Update: Looks like i would have to return another 80Wh battery. Same problem as before but at least this time i can restart my laptop without the AC Adapter but its still bad and also the AC light on my legion flashes orange 3 times every 20 seconds which could be a future problem. The battery manufacture date is 10/29/2019 (Oct 2019) which are one of the fake/defective batteries that are being sold online........

Examples of the issue:

https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Gaming...-if-not-Plugged-In/m-p/5071457?page=1#5346652

https://www.reddit.com/r/Lenovo/comments/lsmjd1/legion_5_wont_turn_on_without_ac_charger_plugged/

I think i'll have better luck going with a 3rd party non genuine Lenovo battery instead....

 

is it possible to upgrade the screen to something better like 4k 120hz or 1440p 144hz?
I have the legion 5 15arh05