Lenovo ThinkCentre M75q Tiny Gen5 Internal Overview
Inside the system, you might be forgiven to think that you are looking at a Dell Micro or HP Mini PC as there are big changes that align with those platforms. Namely, all of the serviceable components are on the top side of the motherboard and are accessed through opening just the top panel.
In the top corner, we get our AMD Ryzen 7 Pro 8700GE. This is an 8-core, 16-thread processor with all P-cores. It also has the AMD Radeon 780M graphics, which is pretty decent and a huge step up if you are coming from older generations of Intel graphics.
Standard in our system, we got a single 16GB DDR5 SODIMM. This is on the top side in the same place as on a Dell or HP, and unlike other Lenovo Tiny platforms where the memory and M.2 storage are on the back side. Our advice would be to get a second SODIMM as soon as possible. While the system officially supports 64GB, we managed to get 2x 16GB (32GB), 2x 32GB (64GB), 2x 48GB (96GB), and even 2x 64GB (128GB) working, making this the first time in Project TinyMiniMicro history we have had 128GB of RAM in a 1L PC. More on that in Key Lessons Learned.
The fan module for Lenovo is notable insofar as it has tool-less removal, but it is also a bit of a pain. There are three sets of wires going to the fan module. That is for the fan, the speaker, and the little LED light that lights up the ThinkCentre red “i” dot on the front.
We mentioned the coin cell or button battery in the context of the large warning label. When this system arrived, it did not boot, and there was no POST screen. Often on Lenovo Tiny systems you can just hold the power button for 15-30 seconds and that helps do a reset. That did not work. It turns out the CR2032 battery was dead, and replacing it with a new one worked.
On the bottom, we get two M.2 slots for up to M.2 2280 SSDs. Lenovo brings its tool-less retention mechanism which is great. We wish every mini PC used this. If you wanted to add 5GbE or 10GbE networking, we tried using this slot for a M.2 adapter. That worked and you can then use one of the rear optional slots for the port, but you might have to 3D print a bracket. Still, it is an option for folks looking for faster networking since Lenovo has only low speed networking here.
The SSD that came with our system is a Samsung PM9C1a 512GB drive. This is a fairly low-cost drive. If you wanted to add another SSD, or replace this drive, then there is an advantage to the top placement: You can fit SSDs with low-profile heatsinks. We have seen some huge M.2 heatsinks, but you can get at least something cooling better than just using a bare drive in this system.
For our WiFi 6E and Bluetooth, we get the RZ616. Lenovo includes the retention bracket to ensure the antenna connectors do not pop off.
We showed the external antenna. Here is the internal one on the front of the chassis.
We can also see the little speaker attached to the fan assembly.
Here is a quick look at the optional DisplayPort interface added.
One item you might have noticed is that the SATA connector is de-populated from the system above.
Next, let us get to the performance.
The mini systems are neat, but pretty niche.
You are at what, $1200+ if you want 128GB RAM in it by the time you get a couple drives? And still only 1 low speed NIC?
I think the systems are neat from an academic standpoint, but poor choices in any situation where you have room for something a BIT bigger.
If you’re adventurous, then I believe this part would allow powering this unit with a generic usb-c power supply that uis sufficiently rated for required A at 20V:
Lenovo 4X90U45346
Tiny systems without Intel/QuickSync have no use case for my lab.
Good tip by @frank.
Using the same adapter, one can achieve “UPS” using a power bank that has pass through capabilities.
I have a couple of such power banks mainly for my homelab and i bring with me one such for charging Thinkpad laptops.
The latest HP Elite 805 DM has a USB-C port with PD. This I miss in these Lenovos. That is a very nice option if you have a display with USB dock.
I have 4 of these exact systems running in my home along with an older generation of the m75q.
This one is louder than the old ones under load. However they make great PCs for general use, kids workstations and light gaming, and various server/lab workloads that don’t demand ECC.
I have one running as an NVR for an analog encoder because I have a bunch of old BTC cameras and it runs fantastic. Also have one running proxmox with various VMs and containers running. As somebody pointed out, there are better Emby/Plex/Jellyfin options because of the lack of quicksync, but they are still really solid boxes.
The also often go on sale. The last one I bought was just over $600 from Lenovo direct with 32GB or RAM and a 1TB SSD. Pretty hard to beat the value prop. Personally, I prefer these over the Dell/Intel options, of which we deploy a ton of at work. The Lenovo is just a really solid option.