Lenovo Ideacentre 720 Desktop - Amd Ryzen 7 - 4gb Amd Graphics Review
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Recently we were on the chase for business computers for a family member'due south new role. Being a computer geek who has congenital my current PC from parts all sourced on sale during one Black Friday, I was tasked with finding something affordable even so still speedy enough for a business concern on a budget. In the end, we settled on three Lenovo Ideacentre 720 computers from Costco. Here are my thoughts on everything virtually this PC – the good, the bad, and the ugly, and why a cocky-proclaimed computer geek would buy a pre-built computer from a manufacturer.
| Lenovo Ideacentre 720 | |
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Lenovo Ideacentre 720 Specifications
- AMD Ryzen 5 1400 processor
- 8 GB DDR4 RAM expandable to 32 GB
- 1TB Seagate Desktop Hd 7200 RPM
- AMD Radeon R5 340 Graphics with 1 GB memory
- Wireless-Air-conditioning networking with Gigabit Ethernet
- DVD±RW/CD burner
- 6 USB ports – 4x 2.0 and 2x 3.0
- Born retentiveness card media reader
- Bluetooth connectivity
Download: Ideacentre 720 Specifications and Ideacentre 720 Hardware Transmission
Price
We purchased this estimator from Costco online for $399 plus $fifteen shipping. This is a great cost for this computer. Best Buy is currently selling this exact computer on their site for $569 on clearance.
At the $399 price, we would take to settle for a computer with an Intel i3 processor if I had went to the local Microcenter. Quotes from a group purchasing arrangement were in the $600 range for something similar. I estimated I would take had to pay around that cost if I decided to build my ain with the individual parts along with a copy of Windows 10.
Lenovo offers a 1-twelvemonth warranty. Costco doubles the manufacturer's warranty to 2 years. We besides paid for it with the Costco Anywhere Card, which added ii more years for 4 years total. While not equally skillful as next twenty-four hour period parts replacement with a business warranty programme from the group purchasing organization, not having to worry virtually problems for four years is nice. Keen for $399.
Case
Looks-wise, the Ideacentre 720 is a good-looking computer that would look smashing anywhere, whether at home or at the office. From online, it appears that the front end of the instance could be brushed aluminum but it is really made of plastic. The computer has a sleek appearance with a panel on the right side of the case that slides over to reveal four USB ports, line-out and mic connectors, and the media menu reader hidden backside it.
The specifications say there is a v.25 inch external bay, but don't expect to be able to employ that to install annihilation that needs to be accessed from the front of the example because there are no other openings other than the one for the vertically mounted slim DVD/CD drive that is similar those used in a laptop.
The back of the estimator has the line-in, line-out, and microphone ports; two more USB ports; a series port; and the Ethernet port on the motherboard's faceplate. There is likewise a HDMI and VGA port, simply they are covered up with rubber covers because they aren't active due to the PC not having integrated graphics. There is a HDMI and VGA port on the AMD Radeon video bill of fare in the x16 PCI-East slot.
It's a good affair that the two USB ports in the back are the slower 2.0 variety since we really don't need much speed for connecting a mouse and keyboard. The two high-speed 3.0 USB ports are at the front end of the case, easily attainable to plug in USB flash drives, digital cameras, or hard drives.
Getting inside the case is a cinch with 2 thumbscrews to remove, no other tools required. Although you might need a screwdriver for the showtime time since they did creepo those thumbscrews down pretty tight from the manufactory. Everything else inside that'due south replaceable, the graphics card and drives, are as well tool-less.
A friend says that the computer looked big from the online images, but it'south actually a compact and light computer. The case measures 14.8" loftier by 6.5" wide and 12.8 inches deep. The shipping weight was 21 lbs, which included the mouse and keyboard.
Performance
With the Ryzen processors, AMD finally has a competitive CPU again to compete with Intel'southward offering. The Ryzen 5 1400 CPU benchmark results prove that it is equivalent to an Intel Core i5-7500.
Most reviews say that for gaming, the Intel i5 does better because it has meliorate single threaded performance. For a multitasking surroundings such equally in an part setting where multiple programs such as a web browser with many tabs opened, spreadsheets, and word documents are all running at the same time, the AMD CPU should be a better performer due to information technology having 4 cores and viii threads versus Intel's 4 cores and four threads.
At the present, 8 gigabytes of memory should be the minimum amount installed in a PC. With all the sites these days that are embedding autoplay video content, I've observed regular slowness on my laptop with 4 GB of ram when the web browser with a dozen tabs open chews through all the available retention.
Upgradeability
Naturally, the outset thing I did upon getting the Ideacentre was to open it up to expect inside. If y'all are looking for a laptop replacement and you practise not plan to do much upgrading of the components, the Lenovo Ideacentre 720 would be acceptable. However, if you are a PC enthusiast, stay away. I give the upgradeability of the AMD-based Ideacentre 720 a F.
Power Supply
The major drawback of the Ideacentre design is a proprietary power supply and motherboard. The Ideacentre comes with a 250W power supply that has the blank minimum of connectors. At that place are no 4-pin molex connectors or SATA power connectors to add additional drives. In fact, at that place are no molex or SATA connectors at all if y'all were thinking of using a Y splitter. The power supply connects to the motherboard with a Lenovo-specific 10-pin connector instead of a standard 24-pin ATX.
Usually the ii components that are most likely to become bad in a computer are either the power supply or the difficult bulldoze. If the power supply dies, you will need to wait for a replacement from Lenovo or buy a 24-pin to 10-pin adapter for the Lenovo Ideacentre if you lot want to use it with an ATX power supply.
If you are a gamer and think you might want to upgrade the video carte du jour in the future for higher frame rates in your gaming, the Lenovo power supply volition also limit your choices considering in that location isn't an available 6 pin or 8 pin ability connector for the more than power-hungry graphics cards.
Storage
The motherboard has a connector coming from it that supplies the ability to the DVD and hard drive. This is the blackness connector to the left in the above photo.
This means that if you want to add together a SATA SSD or another difficult drive, you will be unable to unless you make up one's mind to give up the existing difficult drive or get without the DVD bulldoze.
But adding drives probably won't be possible either because the motherboard only has two SATA ports, which are red in color. Both are currently used by the Seagate hard drive and the DVD drive.
You exercise have the option to add together a SSD with the open up M.2 slot located at the bottom correct of the motherboard. Merely you lot will demand to purchase the bracket (office number 01EF905 – One thousand.2 SSD Brkt Assy 213mm MB) that secures it to the case because Lenovo cheaped out on a $10 part and didn't include that either. I've seen people spiral in a piece of plastic with a sheetmetal screw to the case and secure their NVMe SSD to that.
RAM
The motherboard supports 32 gigabytes of ram, however there are only two memory slots, both of which are filled with 4 GB modules. I would take preferred more slots or if Lenovo used a single viii GB DIMM, leaving a slot complimentary for the future. Since both memory slots are occupied, if you want to upgrade the memory, y'all will accept to replace the current modules. If you've looked at ram prices lately, they aren't exactly cheap.
Expansion Slots
The specs for the AMD version of the Ideacentre 720 shows that it has one full-length PCI-Eastward x16 and i half-length PCI-E x1. The Radeon R5 340 occupies the x16 slot and the x1 slot is available. Luckily the Radeon bill of fare doesn't accept up ii expansion slots of space like I've seen in some other Ideacentre so you'll be able to use the x1 slot to add together an expansion bill of fare. Perhaps a PCI-E SATA card for additional drives if y'all solve the power supply connector issue. There are as well two M.2 slots, one of which is used for the wifi card every bit seen in the above picture below the fan for the Radeon graphics menu.
Fans
For cooling, there is a fan on the CPU'southward heatsink and on the AMD Radeon R5 340 graphics card. Having simply two fans helps with keeping the noise to a minimum. During normal use, the computer was nearly silent with the difficult drive making more dissonance than the fans themselves. If you find your Ideacentre 720 is running also warm for your liking, the motherboard does have two 4-pin headers for y'all to add additional case fans. Another reviewer said that he was able to add together a 92mm rear fan and a 80mm intake fan to their Ideacentre.
Closing $ense
The Lenovo Ideacentre 720 may not exist easily upgradeable, simply it could still make a good choice for your computing needs depending on what you are using it for. For what we paid for it, the four year warranty, and where the computers volition exist used, information technology made good financial sense. In four years when the AMD Ryzen 5 CPU starts to run the newer programs slower, we can still upgrade the CPU to a Ryzen vii 1700 or faster for a fraction of today'due south prices not to mention boosting the memory upwardly to 32 gigabytes.
I generally prefer desktops for home or office utilise over laptops due to easier servicing and better cooling. I've had to take apart several family members' laptops after a few years to blow out the dust that was bottleneck the frazzle fan and causing overheating.
Do you adopt laptops or desktops? Do you build your own computers or buy from a major manufacturer?
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Source: https://www.goodmoneysense.com/lenovo-ideacentre-720-ryzen-5-review/
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