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expired Posted by deelseaker • Nov 26, 2019
expired Posted by deelseaker • Nov 26, 2019

Lenovo IdeaCenter T540 Desktop: i7-9700, 16GB DDR4, 512GB SSD, GTX 1660 Ti 6GB

+ Free Shipping

$750

$1,130

33% off
Office Depot and OfficeMax
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Deal Details
Office Depot & Office Max offers Rewards Members (free to join): Lenovo IdeaCenter T540 Desktop (90LW0001US) on sale for $749.99 (price shown for free Rewards members when logged in). Shipping is free or select free store pickup where available. Thanks deelseaker

Note, must be logged in to access the listed sale pricing.

Specs (pdf)
  • Intel Core i7-9700 Octa-Core (8-Thread) Processor
  • 16GB (1x 16GB) DDR4-2666 RAM (max 32GB)
  • 512GB M.2 2280 PCIe NVMe Solid State Drive
  • NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 6GB GDDR5
  • 802.11ac (1x1) + Bluetooth 4.0
  • System Fans (1x front, 1x rear)
  • 310-Watt Power Supply
  • Ports
    • Front:
      • 4x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type A
      • 1x USB 3.0 Type C
      • 3.5mm headphone / microphone combo jack
      • 7-in-1 Media Card Slot
    • Rear:
      • 4x USB 2.0
      • 1x Ethernet
      • 1x HDMI
      • 1x VGA
      • 1x 3.5mm line-out audio jack

Original Post

Written by deelseaker
Community Notes
About the Poster
Deal Details
Community Notes
About the Poster
Office Depot & Office Max offers Rewards Members (free to join): Lenovo IdeaCenter T540 Desktop (90LW0001US) on sale for $749.99 (price shown for free Rewards members when logged in). Shipping is free or select free store pickup where available. Thanks deelseaker

Note, must be logged in to access the listed sale pricing.

Specs (pdf)
  • Intel Core i7-9700 Octa-Core (8-Thread) Processor
  • 16GB (1x 16GB) DDR4-2666 RAM (max 32GB)
  • 512GB M.2 2280 PCIe NVMe Solid State Drive
  • NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 6GB GDDR5
  • 802.11ac (1x1) + Bluetooth 4.0
  • System Fans (1x front, 1x rear)
  • 310-Watt Power Supply
  • Ports
    • Front:
      • 4x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type A
      • 1x USB 3.0 Type C
      • 3.5mm headphone / microphone combo jack
      • 7-in-1 Media Card Slot
    • Rear:
      • 4x USB 2.0
      • 1x Ethernet
      • 1x HDMI
      • 1x VGA
      • 1x 3.5mm line-out audio jack

Original Post

Written by deelseaker

Community Voting

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Top Comments

Well that's a shame... the i5 version of this model was on sale for $679 a month ago. This is a good deal, assuming you want to use it as is (no major upgrade path without swapping the board, case, and PSU).

A few items to note: There's only two available DIMMs on this board, so you're stuck buying an entirely new memory kit if 16GB is not enough.

The 1660Ti is a reference board made by MSI and it comes underclocked. You can bring it up to stock speeds, but don't expect to overclock it, especially considering the power supply is only 310w.

The SSD is a Samsung OEM SKU that isn't picked up by Magician, so no firmware updates are likely to come out. Looks to be as fast as their other NVME SSDs though.

Not a lot of bloat from Lenovo installed, but there's some that I'd recommend getting rid of immediately since it eats into your 16GB with lots of services.
I'm not sure what you mean... there's a wide price range of both desktops and laptops, going from around $250 to $2500. If you just need "a laptop" then you can definitely find one for under $750 somewhere.

This is a really good gaming PC with a high end processor that shouldn't become a bottleneck for gaming for 4-5 years or more. The GPU is also very good and can easily be upgraded in a couple of years if you feel the need for it.

I'm trying to figure out just how good of a deal this is and if I need to jump on it. The last time I followed PC prices was 2 years ago when GPUs and RAM were twice the price they are today due to mining... so I saw all of this for $750 and was like "holy crap, I have to buy this now..... waaaait a minute." I'll just do it here...

i7 9700 - $370 (more than I expected)
GPU - $250
RAM - $50
SSD - $50

So that's $720 already. A cheap motherboard is about $50, PSU $20, case $30 so that's $820 not counting Windows and the cheap mouse/keyboard.

Definitely a "cheaper than building it" price and a solid gaming PC. But it's questionable whether you really need that much CPU. So I'd call this a pretty good deal, but not quite a "you'd be stupid not to buy this" deal.
If the spec sheet [lenovo.com] is to be trusted, there are two memory slots with one occupied by a 16GB stick.

277 Comments

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Nov 26, 2019
47 Posts
Joined Oct 2019

This comment has been rated as unhelpful by Slickdeals users.

Nov 26, 2019
1 Posts
Joined Aug 2018
Nov 26, 2019
JrueAMG
Nov 26, 2019
1 Posts
Quote from AviatorPilot.12.3k :
Can't you get a laptop for this price? Have desktops always been this expensive?
Not with those specs. It's a pretty good pc
Nov 26, 2019
4 Posts
Joined Apr 2014
Nov 26, 2019
Gary-JamesK
Nov 26, 2019
4 Posts
Anyone know how much ram the motherboard can handle?
Nov 26, 2019
129 Posts
Joined Sep 2009
Nov 26, 2019
anilj
Nov 26, 2019
129 Posts
"Memory is not expandable" that could be bad for future expansion.
Expert
This user is an Expert in Home & Home Improvement
Nov 26, 2019
4,647 Posts
Joined Oct 2013
Nov 26, 2019
wherestheanykey
Expert
This user is an Expert in Home & Home Improvement
Nov 26, 2019
4,647 Posts
Well that's a shame... the i5 version of this model was on sale for $679 a month ago. This is a good deal, assuming you want to use it as is (no major upgrade path without swapping the board, case, and PSU).

A few items to note: There's only two available DIMMs on this board, so you're stuck buying an entirely new memory kit if 16GB is not enough.

The 1660Ti is a reference board made by MSI and it comes underclocked. You can bring it up to stock speeds, but don't expect to overclock it, especially considering the power supply is only 310w.

The SSD is a Samsung OEM SKU that isn't picked up by Magician, so no firmware updates are likely to come out. Looks to be as fast as their other NVME SSDs though.

Not a lot of bloat from Lenovo installed, but there's some that I'd recommend getting rid of immediately since it eats into your 16GB with lots of services.
Nov 26, 2019
633 Posts
Joined Mar 2008
Nov 26, 2019
skyzophrenyk
Nov 26, 2019
633 Posts
Quote from AviatorPilot.12.3k :
Can't you get a laptop for this price? Have desktops always been this expensive?
A laptop was posted recently with the mobile version of this video card. It was an i5, 8GB RAM and was $70 cheaper.
Nov 26, 2019
90 Posts
Joined Nov 2010
Nov 26, 2019
slingblade01
Nov 26, 2019
90 Posts
Why would more RAM be necessary? Is gaming going in that direction?

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Nov 26, 2019
2,887 Posts
Joined Nov 2005
Nov 26, 2019
BrainDoc
Nov 26, 2019
2,887 Posts
Quote from slingblade01 :
Why would more RAM be necessary? Is gaming going in that direction?
Not for years. 16 GB is plenty for gaming.
Original Poster
Pro
Nov 26, 2019
9,584 Posts
Joined Nov 2011
Nov 26, 2019
deelseaker
Nov 26, 2019
Original Poster
Pro
9,584 Posts
Quote from skyzophrenyk :
Quote from AviatorPilot.12.3k :
Can't you get a laptop for this price? Have desktops always been this expensive?
A laptop was posted recently with the mobile version of this video card. It was an i5, 8GB RAM and was $70 cheaper.
You could also buy a phone or a TV for this price. Even a phone and a TV if you lower your expectations.
Nov 26, 2019
2,239 Posts
Joined Jun 2006
Nov 26, 2019
Chocobo
Nov 26, 2019
2,239 Posts
Quote from AviatorPilot.12.3k :
Can't you get a laptop for this price? Have desktops always been this expensive?
I'm not sure what you mean... there's a wide price range of both desktops and laptops, going from around $250 to $2500. If you just need "a laptop" then you can definitely find one for under $750 somewhere.

This is a really good gaming PC with a high end processor that shouldn't become a bottleneck for gaming for 4-5 years or more. The GPU is also very good and can easily be upgraded in a couple of years if you feel the need for it.

I'm trying to figure out just how good of a deal this is and if I need to jump on it. The last time I followed PC prices was 2 years ago when GPUs and RAM were twice the price they are today due to mining... so I saw all of this for $750 and was like "holy crap, I have to buy this now..... waaaait a minute." I'll just do it here...

i7 9700 - $370 (more than I expected)
GPU - $250
RAM - $50
SSD - $50

So that's $720 already. A cheap motherboard is about $50, PSU $20, case $30 so that's $820 not counting Windows and the cheap mouse/keyboard.

Definitely a "cheaper than building it" price and a solid gaming PC. But it's questionable whether you really need that much CPU. So I'd call this a pretty good deal, but not quite a "you'd be stupid not to buy this" deal.
Original Poster
Pro
Nov 26, 2019
9,584 Posts
Joined Nov 2011
Nov 26, 2019
deelseaker
Nov 26, 2019
Original Poster
Pro
9,584 Posts
Quote from Gary-JamesK :
Anyone know how much ram the motherboard can handle?
Quote from anilj :
"Memory is not expandable" that could be bad for future expansion.
If the spec sheet [lenovo.com] is to be trusted, there are two memory slots with one occupied by a 16GB stick.
Pro
Expert
This user is an Expert in Video Games
Nov 26, 2019
5,045 Posts
Joined Nov 2007
Nov 26, 2019
raven70
Pro
Expert
This user is an Expert in Video Games
Nov 26, 2019
5,045 Posts
I couldn't find a good photo of the rear [lenovo.com].

I believe you need Display Port to support higher refresh rates on monitors and free sync or something along those lines. Description and photo of plate on back just shows a single HDMI, so multi-monitors is kind of limited too. Not sure if GPU has more ports on it.

At this price, decent components, but really locked in. No go for me.
Nov 26, 2019
2,239 Posts
Joined Jun 2006
Nov 26, 2019
Chocobo
Nov 26, 2019
2,239 Posts
Quote from skyzophrenyk :
A laptop was posted recently with the mobile version of this video card. It was an i5, 8GB RAM and was $70 cheaper.
FYI, the mobile GPU is 80-85% as powerful as the desktop one. They really shouldn't give them the same name. With only 8GB RAM and an i5, the performance would be well behind this desktop and it would become obsolete sooner. On the other hand, it has a screen and all the other benefits of a laptop... both are probably decent deals, it just depends on what you're looking for.
Nov 26, 2019
2,239 Posts
Joined Jun 2006
Nov 26, 2019
Chocobo
Nov 26, 2019
2,239 Posts
Quote from raven70 :
I couldn't find a good photo of the rear [lenovo.com].

I believe you need Display Port to support higher refresh rates on monitors and free sync or something along those lines. Description and photo of plate on back just shows a single HDMI, so multi-monitors is kind of limited too. Not sure if GPU has more ports on it.

At this price, decent components, but really locked in. No go for me.
Stock photos of desktops rarely show the GPU ports on the back. Dell does the same thing, there's no GPU in their stock photos.

The GPU will definitely have plenty of ports, probably at least 1 Displayport and 2 HDMI and should be fully capable of supporting multiple monitors. That single HDMI port you mentioned is part of the motherboard and wouldn't be used at all.

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Nov 26, 2019
2,729 Posts
Joined Jul 2012
Nov 26, 2019
osugsxr
Nov 26, 2019
2,729 Posts
Seeking input on hp omen 870-213w at $375 , or Xbox one x for casual gaming. Well be used on a 4K oled tv .

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