The Lenovo LOQ Tower 26: Strong Performance, Key Limitations
The Lenovo LOQ Tower 26 is a budget-to-midrange gaming desktop that offers strong performance but has limitations in other areas. It features an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 Ti and an AMD Ryzen 7 8745HX, providing solid gaming capabilities.
While its list price is $2,089, it has been observed on sale for around $1,300 or less, making it a potentially cost-effective option.
Key Limitations
The LOQ Tower 26 has a limited port selection. On the top panel, it includes two USB Type-A 3.2, one USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 2, and a headphone jack. The back panel offers four USB-A 2.0 ports, an Ethernet jack, an HDMI 2.1 output, and another headphone jack.
The internal design is relatively compact, restricting space for internal modifications. Additionally, the system uses a proprietary, low-wattage 500W power supply and motherboard, which limits future upgrade potential for components like the CPU or GPU. The GPU itself offers three DisplayPort 2.1 ports and one HDMI 2.1. For wireless connectivity, it comes with Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2.
Configurations and Pricing
The model tested included an AMD Ryzen 7 8745HX processor, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 Ti (8GB), 32GB of 5,200MT/s DDR5 memory, and a 1TB solid-state drive. Its 'value' price is listed at $2,089, but observed sale prices were around $1,329 or less.
A configuration with 16GB of 5,600MT/s DDR5 RAM was priced at $1,779.99 directly from Lenovo. The PC is recommended for purchase primarily when on sale.
Design Overview
The LOQ Tower 26 measures 15.9 by 8.1 by 17.2 inches (HWD), making it one of the smaller tower-style PCs in its comparison group. Its aesthetic is understated, featuring a gray slatted front, honeycomb vents, and a glass side panel.
RGB lighting is present in the chassis fans but requires BIOS access for customization. A fixed filter is located on the top panel for cooling, and the system does not require an external Wi-Fi antenna.
Internal Components and Upgradeability
Accessing the interior is straightforward, with case panels sliding off easily. However, the internal space is constrained. The motherboard is a proprietary, MicroATX-sized unit that uses laptop SO-DIMM memory and a non-standard power supply connector.
It includes one PCI Express 4.0 x16 slot (occupied by the GPU), one PCI Express 3.0 x1 slot, and two M.2 slots (one occupied by the 1TB SSD). Two 3.5-inch hard drive bays are also available. The two DDR5 SO-DIMM slots support up to 128GB of RAM.
The 500-watt power supply is proprietary and considered barely sufficient for the RTX 5060 Ti, potentially hindering significant future upgrades without sourcing specific Lenovo parts. The system is cooled by four case fans and a CPU heatsink/fan combo, which are audible under load.
Performance Benchmarks
The Lenovo LOQ Tower 26 is optimized for gaming at 1080p or 1440p resolutions, with 4K gaming possible with frame generation enabled for demanding titles.
Productivity and Content Creation
The AMD Ryzen 7 8745HX performed well in benchmarks such as PCMark 10, Cinebench 2024, Geekbench 6.3 Pro, HandBrake, and PugetBench for Creators, generally keeping pace with or outperforming competitors. Storage throughput was the only area where it lagged. Real-world performance for everyday tasks and multitasking was smooth.
Graphics and Gaming
The RTX 5060 Ti offered slightly better performance than a standard RTX 5060. It provided playable frame rates in AAA games at high settings at 1080p and 1440p. Performance was comparable to the Asus TUF Gaming T500 with an RTX 5060 Ti (16GB VRAM), with the Asus showing an advantage in certain scenarios due to its larger VRAM.
4K gaming is feasible in some titles, such as Modern Warfare III, but typically requires DLSS 4 frame generation for demanding games, which may introduce visual artifacts.
Conclusion
The Lenovo LOQ Tower 26 is positioned as a midrange gaming PC. Its performance is suitable for 1080p and 1440p gaming, especially when purchased at its sale price. However, prospective buyers should be aware of its limited port selection, restricted internal space, and proprietary power supply and motherboard design, which complicate future upgrades.