Lenovo ThinkCentre M75q Gen 5 Review

A brilliant tiny PC for office drones who hate clutter. Just don't even think about gaming on it.

The Lenovo ThinkCentre M75q Gen 5 is a tiny desktop that punches way above its weight class, but only if you know exactly what you're getting. The one thing to know is this: it's a productivity powerhouse in a one-liter box, not a gaming rig. With AMD's latest 8700G APU, 16GB of DDR5, and a 512GB SSD, it's built to handle office apps, web browsing, and light creative work without breaking a sweat. Just don't expect to play anything more demanding than solitaire.

The performance story here is all about the CPU. That AMD 8700G is a legitimately fast 8-core chip, and in our database, it lands in the 64th percentile for desktop CPUs. That's impressive for a machine this small. The surprise, honestly, is how well the integrated Radeon 780M graphics hold up for basic tasks and even some light photo editing. It's still integrated graphics, so it's in the 8th percentile for GPUs, but it's the best integrated graphics you can get right now. The 90W power supply is a clear sign: this thing is built for efficiency, not raw power.

At the low end of its price range, around $950, the M75q Gen 5 is a solid deal for a business-ready, compact PC. At $1200, it starts to feel a bit steep for the specs you're getting. The value is all about how much you prize that tiny footprint. If you need a powerful but invisible desktop, it's worth it. If size doesn't matter, you can get more for your money elsewhere.

Don't even look at the gaming desktops like the HP Omen or Alienware Aurora as competitors—they're in a different universe. The real fight is against other mini PCs. The new ROG NUC with an Intel Core Ultra chip is a direct rival, often with better graphics performance for a similar price. Also, consider if you really need 'tiny.' A more traditional small form factor PC, like a Lenovo ThinkStation P3 Ultra, might offer better upgradeability for a similar footprint. This M75q wins on pure business-ready polish and that included keyboard/mouse combo.

If you're looking to play any modern games at decent settings, this isn't it. The integrated graphics will choke. Go get a budget gaming desktop with a dedicated GPU instead. Also, skip it if you need tons of storage; 512GB is the bare minimum these days.

We recommend the Lenovo ThinkCentre M75q Gen 5 if your top priorities are a small footprint and strong CPU performance for office work. It's a fantastic, reliable little machine that will disappear on your desk. But if you have any dreams of gaming, video editing, or even just want a cheaper path to more storage and power, you should look at a more traditional desktop. This is a specialist tool, and it's excellent at its specific job.