“Unlock Your Gaming Potential: Why This Budget-Friendly Lenovo PC is My Top Recommendation!”

Key Insights from ZDNET

• Lenovo’s LOQ Tower 17IRR9 configurations begin at $899.
• This computer represents a superb choice for individuals in search of a compact, economical, and well-performing device.
• Nevertheless, its small stature means it has a restricted number of ports available.

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Lenovo’s Legion series is regarded as the premier gaming laptop range from the company. Nonetheless, in recent years, the brand has ventured into the mid-range equipment arena with the LOQ series. While the majority of the offerings are laptops, there is a desktop variant: the LOQ Tower 17IRR9. Desktops might appear outdated, especially with the current strength of mobile computing. In light of this, I suggest that you re-evaluate this belief, as setups like the Tower 17IRR9 provide a functionality that laptops cannot compete with.

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The LOQ Tower 17 is compact for a desktop, with dimensions of 14.8 x 12 x 7 inches and a weight of approximately 20 pounds. Locating a space for this unobtrusive machine should be quite straightforward, even in a disorganized office. Setup is just as effortless since the package includes only a power cable, keyboard, and mouse.

At first glance, the machine resembles a Lenovo IdeaCentre desktop. I would suggest the LOQ Tower 17 for conventional office settings were it not for a potential drawback: a long LED light that runs down the center. While it’s not as distracting as the RGB lights found on a gaming PC, it is still rather luminous. 

On the front, there are a headphone jack, a USB-C port, and two USB-A ports — fairly standard offerings. The back houses an additional 12 ports, which includes four more USB-A ports, an ethernet port, and an HDMI 1.4b input. This layout allows for multi-monitor arrangements in addition to various compatible peripherals. However, the capabilities do remain limited.

I would have preferred more USB-C and HDMI ports, as it only has one of each. I would have appreciated it if Lenovo had omitted the VGA port. While the VGA standard itself isn’t problematic, I can’t foresee the average user utilizing it into 2025. Most individuals are more accustomed to HDMI. Lenovo’s desktop should have provided better support for alternative standards rather than VGA. Hopefully, upcoming models will address this concern.

It is noteworthy that Lenovo’s device is compatible with both Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.1, ensuring fast wireless connectivity without needing an external antenna. All necessary components for an over-the-air connection are incorporated within the hardware. This design element grants the LOQ Tower 17 a competitive advantage over peers like the Dell XPS 8960.

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Inside my LOQ Tower review model was an Intel Core i5-14400F processor, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 graphics card, and 16GB of RAM. Such a configuration is generally light. It operates efficiently across various workloads. It didn’t lag or falter when confronted with 50 browser tabs, multiple webpages featuring videos, and several first-party applications running simultaneously. For everyday usage, the computer stands strong, but pushing the hardware reveals its limitations.

During my testing, I connected an ethernet cable directly to the computer to secure a stable link. This way, any issues couldn’t be attributed to Wi-Fi problems.

The benchmark evaluations revealed much. On PCMark 10, Lenovo’s LOQ Tower 17 achieved a slightly above-average score of 7,658. I then ran 3DMark Steel Nomad, where the machine also underperformed. It stayed below 2,800, lower than the overall average for the hardware combination. These figures indicate that the computer may find it challenging with demanding workloads and high-resolution gaming. My initial concerns were later confirmed.

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As the Lenovo LOQ Tower 17 is one of the company’s budget gaming options, I played several video games on it as part of my assessments. I was pleasantly taken aback by how well it performed as a mid-range machine. Action games like Marvel Rivals ran smoothly. I didn’t encounter any performance issues during my stress testing — as long as I maintained low graphical settings.

Problems emerged when I attempted to push the hardware for 4K resolution gameplay. The frame rate dropped drastically, making it hard to discern what was occurring on the screen. Furthermore, there was notable screen tearing across the display.

Buying Recommendations from ZDNET

The specific configuration of the Lenovo LOQ Tower 17IRR9 that I evaluated has very limited availability. In fact, it is entirely sold out as of this moment. However, there are alternative configurations available for purchase that I would endorse.

Lenovo is presently offering the LOQ Tower 17 with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 graphics card for $900 on its website. Walmart has a variant featuring an Intel Core i7-13700 CPU, an RTX 4060 GPU, and 64GB of RAM for $1,819.