Lenovo Legion Pro 5/5i Gen 9 16IRX9 (2024)

Legion Pro 5i (2024)
Legion Pro 5i Gen 9
Legion Pro 5i 16IRX9

Manufacturer	Lenovo
Product family	Legion Pro
Release date	January 2024 (2024-01)
Introductory price	USD 1300 to 2100
Discontinued	No
Operating system	Windows 11 Home (Can be configured with Windows 11 Pro)
CPU	Intel Core i5-14500HX Intel Core i7-14650HX Intel Core i7-14700HX Intel Core i9-14900HX
Memory	16 (1x16) or 32 (2x16) GB DDR5-5600 Mhz SODIMM (supports up to 96 GB)
Memory slots	2 user accessible (each supports up to 48 GB)
Storage	512 GB, 1 or 2 TB M.2 2280 NVME
Storage slots	2 user accessible
Display	Screen size: 16 inch Panel type: IPS Coating: Matte (anti-glare) Resolution: 2560 x 1600 PPI: 189 Aspect ratio: 16:10 Refresh rate: 165 or 240 Hz Brightness: 350 or 500 Nits Contrast ratio: 1000:1 to 1500:1 sRGB: 99 % Adobe RGB: 73 or 88 % P3: 71 or 99 % VRR: G-Sync Screen-to-body ratio: 78 %
Graphics	Intel UHD Graphics Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop 6 GB GDDR6 140 W w/ Advanced optimus Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop 8 GB GDDR6 140 W w/ Advanced optimus Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop 8 GB GDDR6 140 W w/ Advanced optimus
Sound	2 x 2 W stereo w/ Nahimic audio speakers Realtek HD audio chip
Camera	Front: 720p or 1080p with dual microphone
Touchpad	Mylar, 4.7 inches (12 cm) x 3 inches (7.6 cm)
Connectivity	Intel AX211 WiFi 6E Bluetooth 5.2 or 5.3 3 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 (Type-A) 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 (Type-A, Always On) 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 (Type-C, DP 1.4) 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 (Type-C, DP 1.4, 140W PD) 1 x HDMI 2.1 1 x Ethernet (2.5 Gbps) 1 x 3.5mm headphone/microphone jack
Dimensions	W: 14.3 inches (36 cm) D: 10.25 inches (26.0 cm) H: 1.05 inches (2.7 cm)
Mass	5.6 pounds (2.5 kg)
Power brick	300W slim 3-pin proprietary AC adapter (US)
Battery	4 cell Li-Polymer 80 Wh
Keyboard	4 zone RGB backlit, black (US) Standard full size layout
Chassis	Color: Onyx grey Materials: Anodized aluminium lid; Polycarbonate palm rest, sides and bottom cover Cooling: 2 x 5400 RPM fans
Number pad	Full size
Fingerprint reader	No
Facial recognition	No
Website	Lenovo

The Lenovo Legion Pro 5i (2024) is an upper mid-range high-performance gaming laptop equipped with Intel 14th gen HX series mobile processors and Nvidia Geforce RTX 4000 series mobile GPUs. Available configurations vary by store and location. The Pro 5i is positioned in between the lower mid-range Slim 5/5i and 5/5i series and the higher end 7/7i, Pro 7/7i, and 9i series.

Primary Hardware

Processor

The Legion Pro 5i (2024) ships with the following processors:

• Intel Core i5-14500HX with 14 cores (6 P-cores + 8 E-cores)/20 threads, 24 MB cache and a max frequency of 4.9 Ghz for P-cores and 3.5 Ghz for E-cores.
• Intel Core i7-14650HX with 16 cores (8 P-cores + 8 E-cores)/24 threads, 30 MB cache and max frequency of 5.2 Ghz for P-cores and 3.7 Ghz for E-cores.
• Intel Core i7-14700HX with 20 cores (8 P-cores + 12 E-cores)/28 threads, 33 MB cache and max frequency of 5.5 Ghz for P-cores and 3.9 Ghz for E-cores.
• Intel Core i9-14900HX with 24 cores (8 P-cores + 16 E-cores)/32 threads, 36 MB cache and max frequency of 5.8 Ghz for P-cores and 4.1 Ghz for E-cores.

Lenovo supplies the processors with sufficient power and cooling for CPU-intensive tasks resulting in average to above-average performance compared to other laptops with the same processors. In CPU-only tasks, SKUs with the i7-14650HX and i9-14900HX perform as expected. SKUs with i7-14700HX perform impressively well - scoring on average 9-10% higher than the average i7-14700HX and only 5% behind the average i9-14900HX. Performance sustainability is good but not perfect, with all processors losing about 5% performance in long stress tests.

Lenovo also supplies the processor with sufficient power in mixed CPU and GPU tasks like gaming leading to noticeably better performance than competitors with the same configurations. In particular, the SKU with i7-14700HX and RTX 4060 performs better than most other laptops with this configuration and is only 10% behind the Pro 5i with i9-14900HX and RTX 4070.

All SKUs lose a significant amount of CPU performance when running on the battery.

Benchmarks:

• Cinebench R23:
  • i7-14650HX: ~1950 pts (single-core), ~24000 pts (multi-core)
  • i7-14700HX: ~2100 pts (single-core), ~28000 pts (multi-core)
  • i9-14900HX: ~2100 pts (single-core), ~30000 pts (multi-core)

Graphics

In addition to the integrated Intel UHD Graphics, the Legion Pro 5i (2024) ships with the following discrete GPUs:

• Nvidia Geforce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU with 6 GB GDDR6 memory, 2370 Mhz boost clock, and 140 W Total Graphics Power (TGP).
• Nvidia Geforce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU with 8 GB GDDR6 memory, 2370 Mhz boost clock, and 140 W TGP.
• Nvidia Geforce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU with 8 GB GDDR6 memory, 2175 Mhz boost clock, and 140 W TGP.

All configurations support Advanced Optimus, DLSS 3.5, Dynamic Boost 2.0, VR ready, and DirectX® 12 Ultimate technologies.

Lenovo supplies all GPUs configurations with 140 W of max power even though RTX 4050, 4060, and 4070 get diminishing returns beyond 100W. Nevertheless, in GPU-only benchmarks, SKUs with RTX 4060 perform slightly above average while SKUs with RTX 4070 perform impressively with results that are up to 15% faster than the average laptop RTX 4070.

In gaming, the RTX 4060 SKUs with the i7-14700HX perform significantly better than the competition with the same GPU and are just 10% behind the RTX 4070 Pro 5i with the better i9-14900HX CPU. The RTX 4070 and i9-14900HX SKU also perform above average and outperform laptops with the same 140W RTX 4070 configured with a lower power processor.

All SKUs lose a significant amount of graphics performance when running on the battery.

Benchmarks:

• 3D Mark TimeSpy 2560 x 1440:
  • RTX 4060: ~11000 pts
  • RTX 4070: ~13500 pts
• 3D Mark Fire Strike 1920 x 1080:
  • RTX 4060: ~27000 pts
  • RTX 4070: ~31000 pts
• The Witcher 3 1920 x 1080 Ultra HBAO+:
  • i7-14700HX and RTX 4060: ~110 fps
  • i9-14900HX and RTX 4070: ~130 fps

Memory

The Intel HM770 chipset used in the Legion Pro 5i supports a maximum of 2 SO-DIMM sticks and the 14th Generation Intel HX processors support up to 192GB DDR5-5600Mhz memory. The maximum available capacity currently DDR5 SO-DIMM is 48GB 5600 Mhz, therefore the Legion pro 5i can support maximum 96GB DDR5 5600 Mhz memory.

Pre-configured SKUs come with either 16 GB (1 x 16) DDR5-5600 or 32 GB (2 x 16) DDR5-5600 Memory. These sticks perform identically even when paired with different CPUs.

Benchmarks:

• AIDA64 Memory Copy: ~79000 MB/s

Storage

The Legion Pro 5i can ship with 512 GB, 1 TB or 2 TB M.2 NVMe SSD depending on the seller. The OEM SSD only uses 1 slot in all configurations leaving the other slot open for upgrades.

Reviews of the i9 14900HX + RTX 4070 and i7 14700HX + RTX 4060 SKUs note that both came with the Samsung PM9A1 1 TB SSD which is an OEM version of the popular 980 Pro. This is a downgrade from the SK Hynix PC801 used in the 2023 model since the transfer rates drop to 50 % after some time in stress tests due to thermal throttling.

Benchmarks:

• CrystalDiskMark 8:
  • SEQ1M Q8T1 (Sequential 1MB blocks): ~6600 MB/s (read), ~4900 MB/s (write)
  • RND4K Q1T1 (Random 4 KB blocks): ~90 MB/s (read), ~250 MB/s (write)

Input Devices

Keyboard

The Legion Pro 5i comes with a standard keyboard layout with full size number pad and full size arrow keys. The Legion line is one of the few laptops still using a full size standard keyboard. The keyboard offers 1.5 mm travel and 0.2 mm pitch. The RGB backlight has two modes - single zone or quad zone. The refresh rate of the display can be changed using the Fn + R keys - three steps (60, 165, 240 Hz) on the higher-end 240hz display and only two (60, 165 Hz) on the lower-end 165hz display. The Fn + Q keys can be used to switch between the three performance modes - Quiet, Balanced and Performance.

The typing experience is identical to the previous model with the only difference being the inclusion of the Co-Pilot key instead of the right Ctrl key. The deeper travel and stronger feedback result in a better typing experience than competitors like Razer Blade or Asus ROG Zephyrus.

Touchpad

The Legion Pro 5i comes with a Mylar plastic clickpad that measures 4.7 inches (12 cm) x 3 inches (7.6 cm).

The touchpad is smaller than the ones in competitors like Razer Blade but is spacious enough for simple tasks. The clicking is shallow and lacks enough feedback.

Webcam

The Legion Pro 5i comes with a 720p or 1080p webcam with an electronic shutter and no IR options.

The webcam has poor color accuracy with a minimum DeltaE of 2.31 and a maximum DeltaE of 17.75.

Microphone

The Legion Pro 5i comes with a dual microphone array.

Reviews

Problems Summary

Has a Microsoft Copilot key instead of a right Control key.

Links

i7-14650HX, RTX 4060, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD: TomsHardware,

i7-14650HX, RTX 4060, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD: TechGuyBeau

i7-14700HX, RTX 4060, 32 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD: NoteBookCheck,

i9-14900HX, RTX 4070, 32 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD: NoteBookCheck

Purchase Links

Lenovo, Ebay, Best Buy, Ebay, Ebay, Ebay