Building a brand new PC isn’t as fun as it used to be. Almost every PC component now has exorbitant prices because of the global silicon shortage and cryptocurrency boom. If you’re looking to build a PC, you have to deal with almost double the price of GPUs. Build one now, and you may sit and drown in regret a few years later. Thankfully, the all-new NVIDIA GeForce RTX™ 30 Series mobile GPUs perform close to their desktop counterparts thanks to the improvements found on the latest Ampere architecture that houses 2nd Generation RT cores and 3rd Gen Tensor cores.
Gaming laptops such as the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro have received a rave of positive reviews from different media outlets (including us – read our review here) due to components inside that make it a portable powerhouse – so powerful that it can even serve as a Desktop Replacement. With its 140W Total Graphics Power (TGP) as compared to the low power found in other brands, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX™ 30 Series GPUs drives Lenovo laptops such as the Legion 5 Pro to be the most powerful laptops ever made for gamers.
So hold on to your wallets as we tell you why getting a Legion 5 Pro is as good as owning a full-fledged gaming PC.
PRICE COMPARISON
First, let’s start with a quick price comparison of the current PC Components Prices (as of 04/26/21) that matches the price and performance of the Legion 5 Pro. Since the Legion 5 Pro comes with either an AMD Ryzen™ 7 5800H Mobile Processor + NVIDIA GeForce RTX™ 3070 GPU or an AMD Ryzen™ 5 5600H Mobile Processor + NVIDIA GeForce RTX™ 3060 GPU, we drafted two different PC builds for a fair comparison.
Note: Prices are taken from PCHub as of 04/29/2021
Legion 5 Pro with NVIDIA GeForce RTX™ 3070 vs. NVIDIA GeForce RTX™ 3070 Gaming PC Build
| Comparison | Legion 5 Pro | Equivalent PC Components |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce RTX™ 3070 (with 140W TGP) | NVIDIA GeForce RTX™ 3070 (PHP 70,000) |
| CPU | AMD Ryzen™ 7 5800H Mobile Processor | AMD Ryzen™ 5 5600XT Desktop Processor (PHP 18,500) |
| Motherboard | —- | ASRock X570 Gaming Pro 4 (PHP 9,000) |
| RAM | 16GB RAM | Crucial Ballistix RGB 16GB Kit 3600Mhz (PHP 5,920) |
| Storage | 1TB NVMe SSD | 1TB SX8200 Pro (PHP 7,650) |
| Power Supply | —- | Silverstone SST 750w GOLD (PHP 4,310) |
| Display | 16” 1440p In-Plane Switching (IPS) display with 165Hz refresh rate | Lenovo G25-10 monitor (PHP 10,000) |
| TOTAL PRICE | PHP 99,995 | PHP 117,280 |
We quickly put together an above-average gaming PC which can further be kitted out with cooling, motherboard, storage, and a solid-state drive. Depending on the NVIDIA GeForce RTX™ 3070 model, you can save as much as PHP 2,000 for non-OC variants. That said, there’s still a PHP 15,000 overhead compared to the Legion 5 Pro, not to mention the exclusion of a Gaming PC chassis. Moreover, while the AMD Ryzen™ 5 5600X Desktop Processor is stronger than the AMD Ryzen™ 5800H Mobile Processor, it still has two-lesser cores. The PHP 20,000 difference might be worth it for some, but building your own PC would still require getting peripherals and a Windows OS if you don’t have one.
Legion 5 Pro with NVIDIA GeForce RTX™ 3060 vs. NVIDIA GeForce RTX™ 3060 Gaming PC Build
| Comparison | Legion 5 Pro | Equivalent PC Components |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce RTX™ 3060 (with 130W TGP) | NVIDIA GeForce RTX™ 3060 (PHP 40,000) |
| CPU | AMD Ryzen™ 5 5600H Mobile Processor | AMD Ryzen™ 5 3600 Desktop Processor (PHP 10,950) |
| Motherboard | —- | ASRock B550 Gaming Pro (PHP 7,320) |
| RAM | 16GB RAM | Patriot Viper Steel 16GB 3200Mhz (PHP 5,370) |
| Storage | 512GB NVMe SSD | Intel 600P 512GB SSD (PHP 3,500) |
| Power Supply | —- | Silverstone SST 750w GOLD (PHP 4,310) |
| Display | 16” 1440p In-Plane Switching (IPS) display with 165Hz refresh rate | Lenovo G25-10 monitor (PHP 10,000) |
| TOTAL PRICE | PHP 84,995 | PHP 81,450 |
The NVIDIA GeForce RTX™ 3060-powered Gaming PC looks more compelling versus the Legion 5 Pro NVIDIA GeForce RTX™ 3060 variant with PHP 3,500 in savings. However, to achieve a lower price point, we opted for the older generation AMD Ryzen™ 5 3600 Desktop Processor as the AMD Ryzen™ 5 5600X Desktop Processor would’ve raised the total price near PHP 90,000.
How close is the performance of the Legion 5 Pro and a similarly priced Gaming PC?
Of course, we wouldn’t be sharing this idea without the numbers to back it up. For our quick performance testing, we used an AMD Ryzen™ 5 3600 Desktop Processor and an AMD Ryzen™ 7 5800X Desktop Processor paired with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX™ 3070 Founders Edition GPU since we don’t have an AMD Ryzen™ Ryzen 5 5600X Desktop Processor on hand.
- Lenovo Legion 5 Pro RTX 3070 Benchmark
- Lenovo Legion 5 Pro RTX 3070 Philippines
- Lenovo Legion 5 Pro Philippines
CPU Synthetic Benchmarks show that the Legion 5 Pro outperforms the AMD Ryzen™ 5 3600 Desktop Processor as much as 20% in our suite while it lags behind the AMD Ryzen™ 5800X Desktop Processor by 30% – not bad for a locked, mobile processor.
- Lenovo Legion 5 Pro RTX 3070 Benchmark Rainbow Six Siege
- Lenovo Legion 5 Pro RTX 3070 Benchmark Cyberpunk
- Lenovo Legion 5 Pro RTX 3070 Benchmark Dota 2
Gaming on the other hand tells an interesting story as the Legion 5 Pro goes head to head with our desktop PCs at 1080p resolution. One of the factors why the Legion 5 Pro pulls out a similar level of performance is due to Legion’s Coldfront 3.0 cooling system. It keeps both the CPU and the 140w variant of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX™ 3070 GPU at steady temperatures, thus preventing thermal throttling.
You’re Getting More Value Out of the Legion 5 Pro’s Display
The Legion 5 Pro is the first gaming laptop to feature a 16″ 16:10 2560 x 1600p In-Plane Switching (IPS) display with a 165Hz refresh rate. Yes, that’s a lot of listed specs but to put it simply, getting a monitor that could match the Legion 5 Pro’s display would cost you around PHP 25,000 and above. In our comparison build, we used the Lenovo G25-10 as our baseline gaming monitor but it only has a 1080p 144Hz display and is a TN panel. Our measured Color Gamut of 100% sRGB makes the Legion 5 Pro capable of professional-grade work. Its specs roughly match the Legion Y27Q-20 27” 1440p QHD Monitor. Moreover, the 16:10 aspect ratio is a joy for multi-window lovers and excel-users as you are basically getting more vertical space to improve your productivity.
Availability
Yes, a Gaming PC should still be the way to go especially at higher prices but chances are, you won’t be able to get every component in one shop as these are scarce, especially GPUs with today’s volatile pricing. There’s no denying the value that the Legion 5 Pro offers regardless of whether you opt for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX™ 3060 or NVIDIA GeForce RTX™ 3070 variant. In fact, one thing that we didn’t include in our computation is the Legion 5 Pro’s 3-Year Premium Care warranty solution that’s included upon purchase. You’ll definitely get your money’s worth with it through its solutions designed to provide an advanced and tailored level of care such as a 24/7 direct hotline to technicians, comprehensive hardware and software support, and an Annual PC Health Check.
Moreover, the Legion 5 Pro is simply available nationwide in almost every mall and PC store with no fluctuations in prices as well as stock shortage. That said, pre-orders for the Legion 5 Pro are still ongoing, so secure your unit at Legion Exclusive Stores and authorized resellers or order one at their official Lenovo Legion Flagship Store in Lazada.
Follow also Lenovo Legion Philippines on Facebook and Instagram for updates on their latest products and promos.
Grant is a Financial Management graduate from UST. His passion for gadgets and tech crossed him over in the industry where he could apply his knowledge as an enthusiast and in-depth analytic skills as a Finance Major. His passion allows him to earn at the same time help Gadget Pilipinas' readers in making smart, value-based decisions and purchases with his reviews and guides.
