How well does Lenovo’s new Legion 5 Pro gaming laptop compare against others in games?
I’ve tested 13 different titles at two resolutions to find out, and spoiler, it’s not doing
quite as well as I expected.
These are the specs of my Legion 5 Pro, I’ve got one of the higher specced options with
Ryzen 7 5800H CPU, 16 gig RTX 3070 graphics, and a 16” 165Hz screen, but there are also
other configurations like the RTX 3060 model which you can find updated prices for down
in the description.
It’s using a 16:10 screen with a 2560 by 1600 resolution, so I’ve tested games with
this, but I’ve also lowered it to 1920 by 1200 as well, as I think this still looks
pretty good, so basically we’re dealing with the 16:10 versions of 1080p and 1440p,
and this just means there’s a bit more vertical space compared to a traditional 16:9 screen
- there’s extra pixels.
The Lenovo website doesn’t list the power limits for the GPUs, which is unfortunate
as they do specify it on the Legion 7.
Based on my own testing though, I found my RTX 3070 would run up to 140 watts in a GPU
only stress test, and then with both the CPU and GPU loaded up in a stress test it would
run up to 125 watts, so basically this means it’s a full powered RTX 3070 mobile chip,
and based on this I would also expect the lower tier 3060 model to be full power too.
The Legion 5 Pro has a MUX switch, so you can disable optimus after a reboot by turning
off hybrid mode through the Vantage software, and this will boost gaming performance.
G-Sync is only available with optimus disabled, but if you do have optimus enabled you still
get FreeSync, so you’ve got the option of using both.
Lenovo’s Vantage software lets you modify performance modes.
I've done all testing in the highest performance mode for best results, and unfortunately like
the Legion 7, there’s no fan speed control.
Alright so let’s start out by checking out how well this configuration of Legion 5 Pro
performs in 13 different games at 2 resolutions.
I’ll also compare it with other laptops afterwards, then we’ll check out screen
response time after that - or if you get bored of my graphs at any point just use those timestamps
below to time travel to a relevant section.
Cyberpunk 2077 was tested in little China with the street kid life path.
I’ve got the 2560 by 1600 native resolution shown by the red bars, and the lower 1920
by 1200 resolution is in the purple bars.
Max settings at the lower resolution was still above 60 FPS, though we’re not quite there
with max ray tracing at the same time.
The native resolution was a fair bit lower comparatively in the red bars, but still 50
FPS at high settings.
Red Dead Redemption 2 was tested with the games benchmark.
There was only a small difference between the different resolutions at low and medium
settings, so might as well take advantage of the higher resolution as it does look clearer.
Above 60 FPS at max settings with the higher resolution is a great result though.
Call of Duty Warzone was tested with either all settings at minimum or maximum, as it
doesn’t have predefined setting presets.
100 FPS was possible even at max settings with the native resolution, though we could
boost this by 40% simply by lowering the resolution, a bigger improvement compared to the 22% gain
on offer by instead going to minimum settings.
For Control let’s start without ray tracing or DLSS, so just stock default gameplay.
Max settings at native resolution was still above 60 FPS, so yeah probably no real reason
to lower settings or resolution as this game still plays well without high frame rates.
Here’s how much performance drops back with ray tracing enabled but without DLSS, so not
that great now at native res, but still close to 60 FPS with the lower resolution, but DLSS
is able to improve this, where again max settings native resolution is back to above 60 FPS
while getting the advantages of ray tracing now.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla was tested with the game's benchmark.
Again close to 60 FPS at max settings with the native resolution here too, and this is
another game that you don’t need a particularly high frame rate to enjoy, but lower is certainly
possible at lower settings.
Microsoft Flight Simulator was tested in the Sydney landing challenge.
The results here are a bit weird, there’s basically no difference between the resolutions,
it looks like a mistake but that’s how it was.
I’ve noticed this game to be pretty inconsistent with resolution testing, so I might dump it
in future.
Watch Dogs Legion was tested with the games benchmark, and this was another where the
differences at lower settings between the resolutions was small.
It’s also yet another where you don’t really need ultra high frame rates to play
well, definitely usable at higher settings with full resolution.
Battlefield V was tested in campaign mode, again lower differences at lower setting levels
and more of a difference at higher settings.
The 1% low difference was much more minor compared to average FPS changes, but regardless
above 100 FPS at max at full resolution is great.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider was tested with the games benchmark tool, and again small
differences at lower settings.
Higher resolutions tend to rely more on GPU power, but so do higher settings, and it’s
that combination that widens the gap at highest settings.
Fortnite was tested with the replay feature.
This is more of an esports test, so higher frame rates are expected, especially with
the ability of disabling optimus, as optimus typically becomes a bigger bottleneck at high
frame rates.
High settings at full resolution was only just a little behind the screen’s refresh
rate, while medium was scoring above this even for the 1% low.
CS:GO is another esports title, and this one in particular is one I’ve found to see big
gains with optimus disabled due to the high frame rates that the test can hit.
Either way again high frame rates are easily achieved here too.
Rainbow Six Siege also hits high frame rates without issue, even at the higher native resolution,
where max settings was reaching 1% lows above the screen’s refresh rate, so a perfectly
smooth experience here too.
The Witcher 3 is an older game that I still test so that you can compare with my older
videos.
No problems at all maxed out at full resolution, while medium settings puts the average FPS
at full resolution right on the screen’s refresh rate.
Now let’s find out how well this configuration of the Legion 5 Pro compares against other
laptops.
I’ve had to specially run these tests at 1080p, as that’s just the resolution I’ve
got data for for the purposes of comparing.
I’ve tested Battlefield 5 in campaign mode at ultra settings, and the Legion 5 Pro is
highlighted in red.
The results are great compared to most others, I mean it’s ahead of even the desktop replacement
Alienware 51m with desktop 9900K processor, just think about that for a moment.
That said, it’s a little behind the two machines above it which have the same 3070
graphics with the same power limits.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider was tested with the games benchmark tool with the highest
setting preset, and the Legion 5 Pro moves down a few positions here relative to the
same laptops.
This time it’s quite a fair bit below those other 3070 laptops which are hitting 120 FPS
and above, it’s just 3 FPS ahead of the HP Omen 15 which has a lower wattage 3070
and that one also doesn’t let you disable optimus.
Far Cry 5 was also tested with the games benchmark tool at max settings.
The Legion 5 Pro continues to move down compared to other laptops in this one.
I wasn’t expecting to see it performing below the Omen 15, again for those reasons
just mentioned.
Sure the difference between them is small, but still this is now the lowest result I’ve
got from any 3070 laptop tested.
Setting the laptop to 1080p or 1440p in Windows adds black bars above and below, but it depends
on the game and whether or not it supports the 16:9 aspect ratio.
If it doesn’t, it will just stretch the game vertically so it fills the whole screen,
while others like CS:GO let you set 16:9 resolutions which keeps the black bars.
As for how 1920 by 1200 looks, honestly, I think it’s still pretty good, if I go out
of my way yeah it looks a little blurrier compared to 2560 by 1600, but when I’m in
the game and playing it’s not something I’m actively noticing, but this could depend
on the person viewing.
So compared to others, it’s not doing quite as well as I expected, though it depends on
the game.
I’m only comparing my usual 3 titles here.
In Battlefield V it’s in line with other RTX 3070 laptops, but then otherwise the other
laptops with 3070 I’ve also tested are ahead.
That said, it’s not like this level of performance is bad or anything, I guess I just let the
hype get to me.
I’ll cover thermals and everything else about this machine in the upcoming detailed
review video, so make sure you’re subscribed for that one, maybe it has a low CPU power
limit or something, I’ll find out there, for now let’s check out screen response
time.
The vantage software lets you enable or disable panel overdrive which affects screen response
time, mine was off by default.
If we turn on overdrive, the average grey-to-grey response time for the panel was around 4.5ms.
There’s a link down in the description if you need an explanation on what all of these
numbers mean.
With overdrive instead disabled, we’re looking at a 7.3ms response time now, however there
was now no overshoot or undershoot which was present with it on.
The result with overdrive enabled stacks up quite well when compared against other laptops.
It’s using the exact same panel model as the Legion 7 which is within margin of error
despite looking better in this lineup.
I’ve found same model panels to vary by up to 3ms, so that’s fine.
There’s a LOT more I need to show you about the Legion 5 Pro, so make sure you’re subscribed
for the upcoming full review video as well as for future comparisons with other laptops
like say the HP Omen 15.
For now, come and join us in Discord and get behind the scenes videos by supporting the
channel on Patreon, and while you wait for the full review of the Legion 5 pro why not
check out the Legion 7 here.