The best gaming desktops | Pro Well Tech

The HP Omen 45L is the best gaming desktop you can buy. It’s fitted with the latest CPUs and GPUs from Nvidia, AMD, or Intel, and it includes a unique case design that enables much better cooling than traditional chassis.

Although the Omen 45L is our favorite gaming PC right now, there are several other excellent options available. Using some of the picks from our roundup of the best desktop PCs, we put together the top desktops for gaming, from high-end custom behemoths to bang-for-your-buck budget builds.

HP Omen 45L

The best gaming desktop you can buy

HP’s Omen 30L used to top our list of the best gaming desktops, but it has been replaced by the excellent new Omen 45L. As the name suggests, it’s a larger PC than its 30-liter sibling. HP puts that extra space to good use, though, with an innovative Cyro Chamber that keeps temperatures and noise low.

This chamber separates the all-in-one liquid cooler from the rest of the case, offering uninterrupted access to clean airflow. HP took the redesign to make the case even easier to get into as well, with an improved tool-less design that makes upgrades simple.

It’s kitted out with the latest, most powerful components, too. HP offers AMD and Intel for the processor, up to a Core i9-12900K on the Intel side and up to a Ryzen 9 5900X for AMD. You can pair the CPU with one of Nvidia’s RTX 30-series cards, up to the powerful RTX 3090 and up to 64GB of storage.

The only downside with the Omen 45L is that Intel 12th-generation configurations don’t support DDR5 memory. In the grand scheme of things, that’s not a big deal, as the Omen 45L can put out some of the best gaming and content creation performance we’ve seen out of a desktop.

HP Omen 45L

The best gaming desktop you can buy

Origin Neuron

The best custom gaming desktop

There’s no shortage of PC builders that use components you can buy and put together yourself, but Origin still manages to stand out. You can buy and build an exact replica of the Origin Neuron, but Origin’s careful attention to detail, deep customization options, and excellent support make an argument not to.

Corsair owns Origin, so the Neuron comes fitted with Corsair components across the board. That’s a good thing in this case, as Corsair makes some of the best PC fans, power supplies, and RAM modules you can buy. All of these first-party components give the Neuron a cohesive feel, free of software conflicts that could mess up your RGB lighting.

You can build the machine exactly how you want, too. Origin offers the latest CPUs from AMD and Intel, as well as the latest GPUs from Nvidia and AMD. Beyond that, you can tweak everything else — power supply rating, memory speed, you name it.

The Neuron is more expensive than a mainstream PC like the Omen 45L. That extra money buys you better build quality, more flexibility, and some modern furnishings. Out of all of the custom PC builds you can buy, the Origin Neuron is our favorite.

Origin Neuron

The best custom gaming desktop

Falcon Northwest Talon

The best high-end gaming desktop

The Falcon Northwest Talon is an AMD powerhouse, especially if you want to do some work alongside your gaming. Falcon has made a name for itself for exceptional build quality in the world of custom PCs. If you want someone to build a PC for you, not just another customer, Falcon Northwest can deliver.

It’s a prebuilt PC that’s put together with the passion of a PC you built yourself. None of the cables overlap with each other, and Falcon Northwest goes as far as to include cable extensions to keep your build looking clean. The custom Talon case includes a ton of room for expansion, too, including support for extended motherboards.

We’ve reviewed the AMD model, but Falcon Northwest offers Intel and AMD configurations, as well as AMD and Nvidia graphics cards (including Quadro options). Falcon Northwest offers the latest hardware but only the high-end of that hardware. If you’re looking for a deal, Falcon Northwest isn’t it.

The Talon is significantly more expensive than even the Origin Neuron. It’s not a PC trying to meet a price point. It’s trying to be the best of the best, both in terms of performance and quality, and it succeeds.

Falcon Northwest Talon

The best high-end gaming desktop

Intel NUC 11 Extreme Barebones Kit

The best mini gaming desktop

Intel’s NUC concept has gone through countless iterations, and the Beast Canyon NUC 11 Extreme feels like an inflection point. It’s larger than previous NUCs but still remarkably small given the power inside. You’re getting a beefed-up 11th-gen CPU, along with support for a full-size graphics card.

You can build a mini PC that’s more powerful than the NUC 11 Extreme, but the process will be more frustrating. Intel paid clear attention to the build process in the NUC 11 Extreme, making upgrades and troubleshooting a breeze, even in such a small chassis.

Although the components inside get hot, the NUC 11 Extreme never got too loud during our testing, and it never limited the components based off of thermals. The three fans on the top of the case and open airflow design leave plenty of room for cooling, despite the components being tightly packed inside.

The downside is price. The barebones kit runs above $1,000, and that doesn’t include a graphics card or storage. This is one of the most unique PCs on the market, and it comes with a price tag to match.

Intel NUC 11 Extreme Barebones Kit

The best mini gaming desktop

Falcon Northwest Tiki

The best gaming desktop for the living room

The Falcon Northwest Tiki is the perfect small-form-factor gaming PC. Just like the Talon, the Tiki stands out with exceptional build quality, clear attention to detail, and support that puts major PC manufacturers to shame. It’s expensive, but Falcon Northwest makes every penny feel worth it.

For size, the Tiki is the smallest gaming PC you can buy fully configured. But Falcon Northwest doesn’t sacrifice performance in the process. You can cram in up to a 16-core Ryzen 9 5950X as well as a full, fat RTX 3090. You can also add up to 8TB of NVMe storage, which is insane considering the Tiki’s size.

Usually, a smaller size comes at the cost of thermals and noise, but not with the Tiki. It manages to stay cooler and quieter than many mid-sized desktops (read our Asus ProArt PD5 review for an example of bad thermals on a desktop).

Falcon Northwest is one of the few boutique PC builders left, and the Tiki is a perfect showcase for what that model can achieve. It’s an exception PC overall, and it’s even more impressive considering it’s smaller than a PlayStation 5.

Falcon Northwest Tiki

The best gaming desktop for the living room

Dell XPS Desktop (8950)

The gaming desktop for remote workers

If you want to pick up a gaming desktop but you’re not interested in learning about upgrading or tricking it out with RGB, the Dell XPS 8950 Desktop is a great option. It’s a stealth gaming PC, looking like an office desktop on the outside but hiding some of the most powerful components you can buy inside.

You can’t upgrade major components in the Dell XPS Desktop, which is almost always a downside. But you can at least trick out this PC with up to an Intel Core i9-12900K and Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti for about $1,000 less than the competition. You can even configure it with liquid cooling.

Configurations start as low as $750, with the first configuration with a discrete graphics card coming in at around $1,100. You’re giving up all of the trimmings that make a gaming PC look like one, but if you’re content to recycle your PC and upgrade a few years down the line, that’s not a big deal.

Although the XPS Desktop can fit into any office setting, we’re recommending it specifically for remote workers. You might not want to ask your boss to bill an RGB-ridden gaming behemoth; the XPS Desktop is much more reasonable, and it still has enough muscle for gaming after hours.

Dell XPS Desktop (8950)

The gaming desktop for remote workers

Lenovo Legion Tower 5i

The best budget gaming desktop

If you’re looking for a well-rounded PC and you’re not dead-set on having all the latest specs, Lenovo offers a variety of balanced desktops at a reasonable price. Available in seven configurations with different starting price points, these PCs may not pack all the latest components, but they can still handle many games on high settings.

You can pick up a Legion Tower 5i for only $1,000, and that’s a downright deal considering how expensive most graphics cards are. For that price, you can get a respectable six-core Intel Core i5-11400 and an Nvidia GTX 1660 Super — perfect for 1080p gameplay.

Lenovo is slowly updating this machine with the latest components, however, so tracking down a unit is a bit tough. We found plenty of models in stock at a few retailers, but you can’t configure your own with Lenovo at the time of publication.

Lenovo Legion Tower 5i

The best budget gaming desktop

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