Watercooling isn’t that uncommon on a desktop PC. However on a laptop computer? Completely. Lenovo’s new 16-inch Legion 9i is the world’s first liquid-cooled laptop computer with out the necessity for an exterior pump, pairing top-of-the-line Intel Core i9-HX {hardware} with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 for extended gaming periods.
We’ve seen Lenovo supply the Legion 5 Professional and the Legion 5i, each gaming laptops that attempted to supply slimmer profiles for mainstream use. Lenovo’s Legion 7 sacrificed a few of that for purer efficiency. Lenovo representatives say that the brand new 9i makes an attempt to mix the most effective of each worlds.
The Lenovo Legion 9i represents a partnership between Lenovo and Cooler Grasp, and CM’s Coldfront cooling system (dubbed the Legion Coldfront, right here) has been built-in contained in the laptop computer. An array of three followers sucks in air by way of 6,333 consumption vents and routes air by way of the chassis. The Coldfront system kicks on when inside temps hit 84 levels centigrade, routing warmth away from the GPU and the VRAM to chill the system down.
Though the liquid cooling does enable Lenovo to eke out an extra 10W value of extra energy out of the GPU, the concept isn’t simply to permit extra efficiency, however to make sure extended, sustained efficiency over lengthy gaming periods. Executives stated there’s “almost zero throttling” on prolonged gaming periods, the place usually the laptop computer would actively forestall efficiency drops by decreasing the ability and ensuing warmth.
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Externally, the Legion 9i has a distinct look as nicely. Lenovo used what’s known as cast carbon relatively than the carbon fiber it has used elsewhere. Solid carbon takes small bundles of carbon fibers, embeds them in resin, and heats them, giving every Legion 9i a novel look. Based on Lenovo, the brand new cowl was additionally structurally essential to accommodate the brand new cooling system and the venting as nicely.
The Legion 9i is a gaming laptop computer, although, and RGB figures prominently, on strips across the keyboard and backside covers, on the Legion mark on the again of the laptop computer, and particular person keys on the TrueStrike keyboard. (Key journey is a relatively impressively snug 1.5mm.) It’s all managed by the Legion software program and what Lenovo calls its LA-2 AI chip, which not solely manages the person RGB controls but in addition the interplay between the CPU and the GPU. The LA-2 is liable for managing energy between the 2 parts, guaranteeing that body charges keep easy.
Internally, Lenovo chosen premium parts: a Thirteenth-gen Core i9-13980HX processor, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 GPU, and overclocked 32GB or 64GB of 6400MHz DDR5 RAM. (No Ryzen choices can be found.) You’ll have the choice of not one however two terabytes of SSD (PCIe 4.0) storage, too.
All of it sits behind a 16-inch 3,200×2,000 show operating at 165Hz, and able to placing out 1,200nits utilizing an miniLED array. Lenovo even permits for 100-percent Adobe RGB and 100-percent DCI-P3 colour gamut protection, making the 9i best for content material creation in addition to gaming.
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And when you shouldn’t count on the Lenovo 9i to run all that lengthy on battery (Lenovo received’t say how lengthy), there’s a 99.99Wh battery inside, or the utmost allowed by the TSA on U.S. airplanes.
Usually, we’d cease there. However there’s much more inside: you’re in all probability aware of Wi-Fi 6 and even Wi-Fi 6e, which supplied extra bandwidth and vary. However the Legion 9i contains the MediaTek Filogic 380 card which helps the brand new Wi-Fi 7 customary, with as much as 6.5Gbps of bandwidth, in addition to Bluetooth 5.3, a extra dependable improve to the Bluetooth customary. Even the webcam is a really respectable 1080p, and features a Tobii Horizon head-tracking system for some video games.
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A spread of ports adorn the Legion 9i: on the rear there may be the proprietary energy jack, an RJ45 enter, HDMI 2.1, a USB-A port for charging, and a pair of Thunderbolt ports. On the aspect the Legion 9i hodes a second USB-C and USB-A port, plus a small shutter button to disable the webcam.
The Legion 9i ships with each a 330W proprietary adapter in addition to a 140W USB-C adapter, which can be utilized relying on what you’ll be utilizing the Legion 9i for: heavy gaming or extra common work. Lenovo confirmed, nevertheless, that if you happen to attempt to play GPU-intensive video games whereas utilizing the 140W charger the laptop computer’s energy draw will exceed the charger’s capability. That implies that the battery will drain, regardless that the laptop computer is supposedly charging.
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All the Legion 9i configurations ship with Home windows 11, Lenovo Vantage (the corporate’s system utility) and Lenovo Legion Enviornment, a GOG-like platform to consolidate video games saved on totally different platforms.
The Legion 9i measures 14.08 x 109.93 x 0.89 inches at its widest level, and weighs 5.64 kilos.
How a lot does the Lenovo Legion 9i value? Lenovo will cost $4,399 and up, and Lenovo will ship the Legion 9i starting in October.
