Legion 9i Gen 8 16IRX8 review: Lenovo's most ambitious gaming laptop yet
Unveiled just a few short weeks ago at IFA 2023, the new Legion 9i 16 is the highest-end Legion model available surpassing the midrange Legion 5 series and upper-midrange Legion 7 series. It is the first Legion 9 product in several years after the mediocre Legion Y920 back in 2017. The latest model is notable for its mini-LED display and integrated liquid cooling thermals.
Our unit in review has been configured with everything and the kitchen sink to include a 13th gen Core i9-13980HX CPU, 175 W GeForce RTX 4090 GPU, 1 TB PCIe4 x4 NVMe SSD in RAID 0, and 3.2K (3200 x 2000) mini-LED 165 Hz display with DCI-P3 colors for just under $4000 USD retail. All options at the moment ship with the same Core i9 CPU and mini-LED display while only the GPU can be configured down to the RTX 4080.
Alternatives to the Legion 9i 16 include other 16-inch gaming laptops like the Razer Blade 16, Asus ROG Strix G16, HP Omen Transcend 16, and the Alienware x16 R1.
More Lenovo reviews:
Potential Competitors in Comparison
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Height | Size | Resolution | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 90.2 % v7 (old) | 10 / 2023 | Lenovo Legion 9 16IRX8 i9-13980HX, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU | 2.6 kg | 22.7 mm | 16.00" | 3200x2000 | |
| 87.7 % v7 (old) | 08 / 2023 | Lenovo Legion Slim 5 16APH8 R7 7840HS, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU | 2.4 kg | 25.2 mm | 16.00" | 2560x1600 | |
| 89.8 % v7 (old) | 03 / 2023 | Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 RTX 4090 i9-13950HX, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU | 2.5 kg | 21.99 mm | 16.00" | 3840x2400 | |
| 88.4 % v7 (old) | 03 / 2023 | Asus ROG Strix G16 G614JZ i9-13980HX, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU | 2.4 kg | 30.4 mm | 16.00" | 2560x1600 | |
| 87.9 % v7 (old) | 08 / 2023 | HP Omen Transcend 16 i9-13900HX, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU | 2.3 kg | 19.8 mm | 16.00" | 2560x1600 | |
| 88.4 % v7 (old) | 06 / 2023 | Alienware x16 R1 i9-13900HK, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU | 2.6 kg | 18.57 mm | 16.00" | 2560x1600 |
Case — An Evolved Legion Design
The Legion 9i 16 utilizes similar matte magnesium materials as on the Legion 7 series, but they are visually very different. Firstly, the keyboard has been pushed forward to be closer to the user similar to the Asus Zephyrus S GX531 in order to make room for more ventilation grilles and a larger cooling solution. Secondly, a unique carbon wrap pattern around the outer lid helps to reduce fingerprint buildup while contributing to the gamer aesthetic. And lastly, the protruding rear has thickened to better accommodate all the internal changes and more demanding hardware.
Chassis quality is excellent with only a bit of yielding when attempting to twist the lid or depress the keyboard center or palm rests. It doesn't feel any better or worse than the Legion 7 16 or Alienware x16 R1 in terms of rigidity especially since they all weigh about the same. However, the hinges remain relatively small compared to the much larger hinges of the Asus Strix series or the recent MSI Raider GE68. They may be satisfactory when new, but only time will tell how well they will fare in the long run.
The extended rear and demanding Core i9/RTX 4090 internals have led to a larger and thicker chassis than the Legion 7 16. The differences are noticeable as the Legion 9i 16 is larger than many other 16-inch gaming laptops like the ROG Strix G16, Blade 16, or Omen Transcend 16. High performance and advanced features come at the cost of portability in this regard.
Connectivity — Lots To Choose From
Port options are plentiful with most of them located along the rear instead of the sides. Unlike the rear ports on the Alienware X16 R1, however, the ports on the Lenovo are individually labeled with LED indicators for easier access.
Only the two rear USB-C ports can be used for external monitors or for recharging the laptop via Power Delivery. The third USB-C port along the right edge is for data and charging external devices only.
SD Card Reader
The integrated SD reader is an intention to attract content creators as much as hardcore gamers to the Legion 9i. Transfer rates aren't that great, however, at less than half the speed of the SD reader on the Razer Blade 16.
| SD Card Reader | |
| average JPG Copy Test (av. of 3 runs) | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 RTX 4090 (Angelbird AV PRO 128 GB V60) | |
| Lenovo Legion 9 16IRX8 (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| Alienware x16 R1 (AV PRO microSD 128 GB V60) | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 5 16APH8 (PNY EliteX-Pro60 V60 256 GB) | |
| maximum AS SSD Seq Read Test (1GB) | |
| Alienware x16 R1 (AV PRO microSD 128 GB V60) | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 RTX 4090 (Angelbird AV PRO 128 GB V60) | |
| Lenovo Legion 9 16IRX8 (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 5 16APH8 (PNY EliteX-Pro60 V60 256 GB) | |
Communication
The Killer AX1675i comes standard which is the gaming brand for the regular AX211. Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 are supported and we experienced no connectivity issues when paired to our Asus AXE11000 6 GHz network.
Webcam
The 2 MP webcam is standard for the gaming laptop category. While there is an integrated camera kill switch, there is no IR sensor.
Maintenance
The bottom panel is secured by 8 Phillips screws for relatively easy removal. Unlike on most other laptops, the motherboard on the Legion 9 16 is upside-down and so further disassembly is required to access the cooling solution and RAM modules. At least the two M.2 2280 SSD slots are easily accessible.
Accessories And Warranty
In addition to the usual proprietary AC adapter and paperwork, the retail box also includes a very handy universal 140 W USB-C adapter that can be used to charge this laptop and most other USB-C devices and 8 keycaps.
The standard one-year limited manufacturer warranty applies if purchased in the US.
Input Devices — Comfy Keyboard With Cramped Clickpad
Keyboard
The TrueStrike keyboard offers 1.5 mm key travel to be slightly deeper than the keys on most Ultrabooks. Feedback is surprisingly sharp and comfortable for membrane-based keys to show that you don't need fancy mechanical switches for a good typing experience. The firm keys are louder than the keys on the Blade 16 or Asus Zephyrus M16 but definitely still not as clicky as the mechanical keys on models like the Schenker XMG Neo 15 or Alienware m18.
Touchpad
The clickpad has been reduced in size to just (12 x 5.9 cm) due to the positioning of the keyboard. Vertical cursor movements on the tall 16:10 screen feel cramped as a result especially when compared to gaming laptops with much larger clickpads like the Razer Blade 16. Lenovo is banking on gamers using their own USB or Bluetooth mice for the vast majority of scenarios.
Gliding and clicking are otherwise smooth and with a satisfying click despite the small surface area. However, cursor movements would occasionally freeze on our unit when using the clickpad while the same issue would not occur when using an external mouse. We recommend double-checking the clickpad upon purchasing to make sure it is free of any defects.
Display — The Main Attraction
When compared to traditional IPS and OLED, mini-LED offers superior black levels than the former and even higher maximum brightness levels than the latter for overall better HDR support. In this case, Lenovo advertises a maximum brightness of 1200 nits for HDR1000 support which is rare to see on laptop displays. We're able to confirm a real-world maximum brightness of 1025 nits when HDR mode is enabled or 675 nits when displaying SDR content. Most IPS and OLED panels on gaming laptops typically range between 300 to 500 nits in comparison. Thus, you'll want to play content in HDR mode whenever possible to better exploit the benefits of mini-LED.
Aside from the very high brightness levels, the panel also features G-Sync, full DCI-P3 colors, fast 165 Hz refresh rate and fast response times to be fit for both content creation and gaming purposes alike.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brightness Distribution: 96 %
Center on Battery: 674.9 cd/m²
Contrast: 16873:1 (Black: 0.04 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 2.56 | 0.5-29.43 Ø4.91, calibrated: 2.47
ΔE Greyscale 3 | 0.5-98 Ø5.2
87% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
99.9% sRGB (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
97.2% Display P3 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
Gamma: 2.38
| Lenovo Legion 9 16IRX8 CSOT T3 MNG007ZA2-2, Mini-LED, 3200x2000, 16" | Lenovo Legion Slim 5 16APH8 BOE NJ NE160QDM-NYC, IPS, 2560x1600, 16" | Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 RTX 4090 AUO B160ZAN01.U, mini-LED, 3840x2400, 16" | Asus ROG Strix G16 G614JZ TL160ADMP03-0, IPS, 2560x1600, 16" | HP Omen Transcend 16 AUOA3A6, Mini-LED, 2560x1600, 16" | Alienware x16 R1 BOE NE16NZ4, IPS, 2560x1600, 16" | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Display | -16% | 2% | -1% | 1% | 1% | |
| Display P3 Coverage | 97.2 | 69.3 -29% | 99.9 3% | 97 0% | 99.2 2% | 99.2 2% |
| sRGB Coverage | 99.9 | 100 0% | 100 0% | 99.9 0% | 100 0% | 100 0% |
| AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage | 87 | 70 -20% | 90.9 4% | 84.9 -2% | 87.6 1% | 88.6 2% |
| Response Times | 27% | -154% | 53% | -89% | 37% | |
| Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 13.3 ? | 10.7 ? 20% | 10.2 ? 23% | 5.1 ? 62% | 26.4 ? -98% | 5.1 ? 62% |
| Response Time Black / White * | 11.6 ? | 7.8 ? 33% | 62.04 ? -435% | 6.6 ? 43% | 28.2 ? -143% | 10.3 ? 11% |
| PWM Frequency | 4742 | 2420 ? -49% | 3506 ? -26% | |||
| Screen | -109% | 62% | -111% | -26% | -73% | |
| Brightness middle | 674.9 | 371.6 -45% | 730 8% | 470 -30% | 791.1 17% | 302.2 -55% |
| Brightness | 682 | 343 -50% | 729 7% | 459 -33% | 800 17% | 285 -58% |
| Brightness Distribution | 96 | 84 -12% | 94 -2% | 93 -3% | 95 -1% | 89 -7% |
| Black Level * | 0.04 | 0.44 -1000% | 0.0045 89% | 0.42 -950% | 0.04 -0% | 0.26 -550% |
| Contrast | 16873 | 845 -95% | 162222 861% | 1119 -93% | 19778 17% | 1162 -93% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 2.56 | 1.52 41% | 5.65 -121% | 1.86 27% | 4.37 -71% | 1.63 36% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 4.16 | 2.68 36% | 10.11 -143% | 3.87 7% | 10.39 -150% | 4.13 1% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 calibrated * | 2.47 | 0.33 87% | 1.85 25% | 0.93 62% | 1.04 58% | 1.17 53% |
| Greyscale dE 2000 * | 3 | 1.2 60% | 8.1 -170% | 2.7 10% | 6.5 -117% | 2.5 17% |
| Gamma | 2.38 92% | 2.1 105% | 1.98 111% | 2.246 98% | 2.28 96% | 2.23 99% |
| CCT | 6799 96% | 6503 100% | 5874 111% | 6711 97% | 6000 108% | 6590 99% |
| Total Average (Program / Settings) | -33% /
-70% | -30% /
7% | -20% /
-64% | -38% /
-33% | -12% /
-41% |
* ... smaller is better
The display comes well-calibrated out of the box against the P3 standard with average grayscale and color DeltaE values of just 3 and 2.56, respectively.
Display Response Times
| ↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
|---|---|---|
| 11.6 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 5.1 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 6.5 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows good response rates in our tests, but may be too slow for competitive gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 28 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is better than the average of all tested devices (20.9 ms). | ||
| ↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
| 13.3 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 5.7 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 7.6 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows good response rates in our tests, but may be too slow for competitive gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.165 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 23 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is better than the average of all tested devices (32.8 ms). | ||
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
| Screen flickering / PWM detected | 4742 Hz |  | |
The display backlight flickers at 4742 Hz (worst case, e.g., utilizing PWM) . The frequency of 4742 Hz is quite high, so most users sensitive to PWM should not notice any flickering. In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 8705 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 343500) Hz was measured. | |||
Flickering is present on all brightness levels at a steady frequency of 4752 Hz.
Outdoor visibility is excellent for a gaming laptop due to the aforementioned high maximum brightness of mini-LED. Nonetheless, the heavy weight and short battery life of the system still limit the laptop to mostly indoor scenarios.
Performance — No Core i7 Allowed
Testing Conditions
We set our unit to Performance mode and dGPU mode via Lenovo Vantage prior to running the benchmarks below. GPU Overclock is also enabled by default at +150 MHz GPU and +200 MHz VRAM much like on other high-end Legion models. It's recommended that owners become familiar with Vantage to adjust power profiles and other auxiliary settings.
Advanced Optimus, MUX and G-Sync are all supported unlike on the recent Legion Slim 5 14.
Processor
CPU performance is excellent with results that are about 80 to 90 percent faster in multi-threaded workloads than the common Core i7-13700H. The Core i9-13980HX is one of Intel's fastest mobile CPUs at the moment, but it still falls behind the competing Ryzen 9 7945HX in most multi-threaded benchmarks by about 10 percent.
Performance is only 5 percent faster than the Core i9-13950HX based on our time with the 2023 Razer Blade 16. Unfortunately, Lenovo does not offer any other CPUs options other than the Core i9-13980HX for those who might have wanted to save a few hundred dollars.
Cinebench R15 Multi Loop
Cinebench R23: Multi Core | Single Core
Cinebench R20: CPU (Multi Core) | CPU (Single Core)
Cinebench R15: CPU Multi 64Bit | CPU Single 64Bit
Blender: v2.79 BMW27 CPU
7-Zip 18.03: 7z b 4 | 7z b 4 -mmt1
Geekbench 5.5: Multi-Core | Single-Core
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2: 4k Preset
LibreOffice : 20 Documents To PDF
R Benchmark 2.5: Overall mean
Cinebench R23: Multi Core | Single Core
Cinebench R20: CPU (Multi Core) | CPU (Single Core)
Cinebench R15: CPU Multi 64Bit | CPU Single 64Bit
Blender: v2.79 BMW27 CPU
7-Zip 18.03: 7z b 4 | 7z b 4 -mmt1
Geekbench 5.5: Multi-Core | Single-Core
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2: 4k Preset
LibreOffice : 20 Documents To PDF
R Benchmark 2.5: Overall mean
* ... smaller is better
AIDA64: FP32 Ray-Trace | FPU Julia | CPU SHA3 | CPU Queen | FPU SinJulia | FPU Mandel | CPU AES | CPU ZLib | FP64 Ray-Trace | CPU PhotoWorxx
| Performance Rating | |
| Lenovo Legion 9 16IRX8 | |
| Average Intel Core i9-13980HX | |
| Asus ROG Strix G16 G614JZ | |
| HP Omen Transcend 16 | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 RTX 4090 | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 5 16APH8 | |
| Alienware x16 R1 | |
| AIDA64 / FP32 Ray-Trace | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 5 16APH8 | |
| Asus ROG Strix G16 G614JZ | |
| Lenovo Legion 9 16IRX8 | |
| Average Intel Core i9-13980HX (21332 - 29553, n=9) | |
| HP Omen Transcend 16 | |
| Alienware x16 R1 | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 RTX 4090 | |
| AIDA64 / FPU Julia | |
| Lenovo Legion 9 16IRX8 | |
| Average Intel Core i9-13980HX (108001 - 148168, n=9) | |
| Asus ROG Strix G16 G614JZ | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 5 16APH8 | |
| HP Omen Transcend 16 | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 RTX 4090 | |
| Alienware x16 R1 | |
| AIDA64 / CPU SHA3 | |
| Lenovo Legion 9 16IRX8 | |
| Asus ROG Strix G16 G614JZ | |
| Average Intel Core i9-13980HX (5264 - 7142, n=9) | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 RTX 4090 | |
| HP Omen Transcend 16 | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 5 16APH8 | |
| Alienware x16 R1 | |
| AIDA64 / CPU Queen | |
| Asus ROG Strix G16 G614JZ | |
| Average Intel Core i9-13980HX (126758 - 143409, n=9) | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 RTX 4090 | |
| Lenovo Legion 9 16IRX8 | |
| HP Omen Transcend 16 | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 5 16APH8 | |
| Alienware x16 R1 | |
| AIDA64 / FPU SinJulia | |
| Asus ROG Strix G16 G614JZ | |
| Average Intel Core i9-13980HX (13785 - 17117, n=9) | |
| Lenovo Legion 9 16IRX8 | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 5 16APH8 | |
| HP Omen Transcend 16 | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 RTX 4090 | |
| Alienware x16 R1 | |
| AIDA64 / FPU Mandel | |
| Lenovo Legion 9 16IRX8 | |
| Average Intel Core i9-13980HX (53398 - 73758, n=9) | |
| Asus ROG Strix G16 G614JZ | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 5 16APH8 | |
| HP Omen Transcend 16 | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 RTX 4090 | |
| Alienware x16 R1 | |
| AIDA64 / CPU AES | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 RTX 4090 | |
| Asus ROG Strix G16 G614JZ | |
| Lenovo Legion 9 16IRX8 | |
| Average Intel Core i9-13980HX (105169 - 136520, n=9) | |
| HP Omen Transcend 16 | |
| Alienware x16 R1 | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 5 16APH8 | |
| AIDA64 / CPU ZLib | |
| Lenovo Legion 9 16IRX8 | |
| Asus ROG Strix G16 G614JZ | |
| Average Intel Core i9-13980HX (1513 - 2039, n=9) | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 RTX 4090 | |
| HP Omen Transcend 16 | |
| Alienware x16 R1 | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 5 16APH8 | |
| AIDA64 / FP64 Ray-Trace | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 5 16APH8 | |
| Lenovo Legion 9 16IRX8 | |
| Asus ROG Strix G16 G614JZ | |
| Average Intel Core i9-13980HX (11431 - 16325, n=9) | |
| HP Omen Transcend 16 | |
| Alienware x16 R1 | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 RTX 4090 | |
| AIDA64 / CPU PhotoWorxx | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 RTX 4090 | |
| Lenovo Legion 9 16IRX8 | |
| HP Omen Transcend 16 | |
| Alienware x16 R1 | |
| Average Intel Core i9-13980HX (37069 - 52949, n=9) | |
| Asus ROG Strix G16 G614JZ | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 5 16APH8 | |
System Performance
PCMark scores are some of the highest of any gaming laptop regardless of size due in no small part to our 13th gen Core HX CPU, RTX 4090 GPU, and especially the RAID 0 PCIe4 x4 configuration. Nonetheless, we still experienced wake-from-sleep issues where the screen would sometimes remain blank and "frozen" for unusually long periods of time. We suspect this could be due to how the model juggles between the many different GPU modes.
CrossMark: Overall | Productivity | Creativity | Responsiveness
| PCMark 10 / Score | |
| Lenovo Legion 9 16IRX8 | |
| Average Intel Core i9-13980HX, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU (8650 - 9068, n=4) | |
| Alienware x16 R1 | |
| HP Omen Transcend 16 | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 5 16APH8 | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 RTX 4090 | |
| Asus ROG Strix G16 G614JZ | |
| PCMark 10 / Essentials | |
| Asus ROG Strix G16 G614JZ | |
| Lenovo Legion 9 16IRX8 | |
| Average Intel Core i9-13980HX, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU (11215 - 11644, n=3) | |
| HP Omen Transcend 16 | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 5 16APH8 | |
| Alienware x16 R1 | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 RTX 4090 | |
| PCMark 10 / Productivity | |
| Lenovo Legion 9 16IRX8 | |
| Average Intel Core i9-13980HX, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU (10125 - 11067, n=3) | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 5 16APH8 | |
| Alienware x16 R1 | |
| HP Omen Transcend 16 | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 RTX 4090 | |
| Asus ROG Strix G16 G614JZ | |
| PCMark 10 / Digital Content Creation | |
| Lenovo Legion 9 16IRX8 | |
| Average Intel Core i9-13980HX, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU (15052 - 16012, n=3) | |
| Alienware x16 R1 | |
| HP Omen Transcend 16 | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 RTX 4090 | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 5 16APH8 | |
| Asus ROG Strix G16 G614JZ | |
| CrossMark / Overall | |
| Asus ROG Strix G16 G614JZ | |
| Average Intel Core i9-13980HX, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU (1935 - 2176, n=4) | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 RTX 4090 | |
| HP Omen Transcend 16 | |
| Alienware x16 R1 | |
| Lenovo Legion 9 16IRX8 | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 5 16APH8 | |
| CrossMark / Productivity | |
| Asus ROG Strix G16 G614JZ | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 RTX 4090 | |
| Average Intel Core i9-13980HX, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU (1764 - 2005, n=4) | |
| Alienware x16 R1 | |
| HP Omen Transcend 16 | |
| Lenovo Legion 9 16IRX8 | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 5 16APH8 | |
| CrossMark / Creativity | |
| Asus ROG Strix G16 G614JZ | |
| Average Intel Core i9-13980HX, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU (2267 - 2469, n=4) | |
| HP Omen Transcend 16 | |
| Lenovo Legion 9 16IRX8 | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 RTX 4090 | |
| Alienware x16 R1 | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 5 16APH8 | |
| CrossMark / Responsiveness | |
| Asus ROG Strix G16 G614JZ | |
| Alienware x16 R1 | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 RTX 4090 | |
| Average Intel Core i9-13980HX, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU (1556 - 1904, n=4) | |
| Lenovo Legion 9 16IRX8 | |
| HP Omen Transcend 16 | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 5 16APH8 | |
| PCMark 10 Score | 9068 points | |
Help | ||
| AIDA64 / Memory Copy | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 RTX 4090 | |
| Lenovo Legion 9 16IRX8 | |
| HP Omen Transcend 16 | |
| Alienware x16 R1 | |
| Average Intel Core i9-13980HX (62189 - 80776, n=9) | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 5 16APH8 | |
| Asus ROG Strix G16 G614JZ | |
| AIDA64 / Memory Read | |
| Lenovo Legion 9 16IRX8 | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 RTX 4090 | |
| HP Omen Transcend 16 | |
| Average Intel Core i9-13980HX (62624 - 89096, n=9) | |
| Asus ROG Strix G16 G614JZ | |
| Alienware x16 R1 | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 5 16APH8 | |
| AIDA64 / Memory Write | |
| Alienware x16 R1 | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 5 16APH8 | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 RTX 4090 | |
| Lenovo Legion 9 16IRX8 | |
| HP Omen Transcend 16 | |
| Average Intel Core i9-13980HX (59912 - 79917, n=9) | |
| Asus ROG Strix G16 G614JZ | |
| AIDA64 / Memory Latency | |
| Alienware x16 R1 | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 5 16APH8 | |
| HP Omen Transcend 16 | |
| Asus ROG Strix G16 G614JZ | |
| Average Intel Core i9-13980HX (79.4 - 93.2, n=9) | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 RTX 4090 | |
| Lenovo Legion 9 16IRX8 | |
* ... smaller is better
DPC Latency
LatencyMon reveals DPC issues when opening multiple browser tabs of our homepage. 4K video playback at 60 FPS is almost perfect with just one dropped frame recorded during a one-minute interval.
| DPC Latencies / LatencyMon - interrupt to process latency (max), Web, Youtube, Prime95 | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 RTX 4090 | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 RTX 4090 | |
| Asus ROG Strix G16 G614JZ | |
| Lenovo Legion 9 16IRX8 | |
| HP Omen Transcend 16 | |
| Alienware x16 R1 | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 5 16APH8 | |
* ... smaller is better
Storage Devices
Our unit comes configured with two SK hynix HFS001TEJ9X115N PCIe4 x4 NVMe SSDs in RAID 0 configuration for insanely fast sequential read and write rates of up over 12000 MB/s an 11000 MB/s, respectively. Unfortunately, the drives are prone to throttling when running at such high speeds for extended periods. Our DiskSpd loop test results below show read rates for one of the drives falling to around 4600 MB/s after about 4 minutes.
| Drive Performance Rating - Percent | |
| Alienware x16 R1 | |
| Lenovo Legion 9 16IRX8 | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 RTX 4090 | |
| Asus ROG Strix G16 G614JZ | |
| HP Omen Transcend 16 | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 5 16APH8 | |
* ... smaller is better
Disk Throttling: DiskSpd Read Loop, Queue Depth 8
GPU Performance — 175 W TGP Graphics
Our 175 W mobile GeForce RTX 4090 performs within just 1 to 2 percentage points of the average laptop in our database with the same GPU. Results are impressive considering how large some RTX 4090 laptops can be such as the MSI Raider GE78 HX 13VI.
When looking at the bigger picture, the mobile RTX 4090 is about 40 percent slower than a "proper" desktop RTX 4090. In fact, it offers only modest benefits of just 5 to 10 percent over the mobile RTX 4080 configuration.
Running on the Balanced power profile with overclocking turned off would reduce graphics performance by about 17 percent according to our Fire Strike results table below.
| Power Profile | Graphics Score | Physics Score | Combined Score |
| Performance Mode | 46386 | 38687 | 11456 |
| Balanced Mode (w/ GPU Overclock off) | 38285 (-17%) | 39020 (-0%) | 12715 (-0%) |
| Battery Power | 22176 (-52%) | 21072 (-46%) | 6306 (-45%) |