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The Best Gaming Desktop Deals This Week*
*Deals are selected by our commerce team
Despite the allure and simplicity of gaming consoles and handheld devices, PC gaming has never been stronger. Enthusiasts know that nothing beats the quality of gameplay you can get with a desktop built for gaming. Today, it’s within almost every determined PC shopper’s grasp to get a PC with the graphics power necessary to drive the latest games on a full HD (1080p) monitor at lofty detail settings.
What kind of desktop PC makes games look and run better than on the Sony PS5 or Microsoft Xbox Series X? If you have deep pockets, it’s a custom-built hot rod from an elite boutique PC maker, such as Falcon Northwest, Maingear, or Velocity Micro. However, a few well-informed choices will go a long way toward buying the right gaming desktop from a mainstream brand, like Dell, Lenovo, or MSI—even if you’re not made of money.
These are the best gaming desktops in 2024 across all budgets and our latest top picks in the category. Every gaming PC we recommend has been thoroughly tested—from tower PCs to compacts—for a variety of uses. Our top picks are followed by a guide explaining how to buy the right gaming desktop for you and your budget.
Deeper Dive: Our Top Tested Picks
NZXT Player: One
Best Gaming Desktop for Budget 1080p Play
Why We Picked It
Budget systems are all about value, and while you’ll find some less expensive systems out there, we believe the NZXT Player: One justifies its $1,049 price. Rather than compromise on design or appearance, this system has the quality and style of a custom build, as well as a comforting two-year warranty. What’s more, the Intel Core i5-12400F processor and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 graphics deliver steady 1080p gaming performance for the cost.
Who It’s For
If you’re on a slightly looser budget than $999, you will definitely enjoy this system. You can enjoy comfortably better-than-60fps gaming at 1080p, with the benefit of a machine with a high-end look without paying high-end pricing. Simply put, the NZXT Player: One is a more-premium experience for a budget desktop than usual, with only a minor upcharge.
PROS
- Excellent 1080p gaming performance
- Custom-built quality
- Standard two-year warranty
- Includes Wi-Fi 6E
CONS
- More expensive than mainstream towers
- Needs more front ports
- Limited storage
SPECS
| Name | Value |
|---|---|
| Desktop Class | Gaming |
| Processor | Intel Core i5-12400F |
| Processor Speed | 2.5 GHz |
| RAM (as Tested) | 16 GB |
| Boot Drive Type | SSD |
| Boot Drive Capacity (as Tested) | 500 GB |
| Secondary Drive Type | |
| Secondary Drive Capacity (as Tested) | |
| Graphics Card | Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 |
| Operating System | Windows 11 Home |
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Alienware Aurora R16
Best Gaming Desktop for Midrange 1440p Play
Why We Picked It
The main draw for the Alienware Aurora R16 prior to launch was a full redesign with a much more mainstream style. Upon review, we found that it not only has a slick new look, but it’s an all-around valuable deal. The complete rebuild improves both performance and aesthetics, and the reasonable starting price brings this new chassis to many gamers. Those with midrange or enthusiast budgets can ramp up the base model to something more like our review unit, which packed an Intel Core i7-13700F processor and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 GPU to powerful effect while keeping under $2,000.
Who It’s For
Alienware’s wide range of configuration options and the desktop’s slick new look make the Aurora R16 a smart pick for mainstream and hardcore players alike. 1080p and 1440p gaming will work comfortably with most component combinations on offer, playing the latest titles at smooth frame rates without much worry. Of course, you’ll find flashier builds with big glass windows and more bling, but you might prefer this more subdued look.
PROS
- Effective performance for the price
- Refreshing design
- Whisper quiet
- Broad connectivity selection
CONS
- No budget models
- Proprietary mainboard and power supply
SPECS
| Name | Value |
|---|---|
| Desktop Class | Gaming |
| Processor | Intel Core i7-13700F |
| Processor Speed | 2.1 GHz |
| RAM (as Tested) | 32 GB |
| Boot Drive Type | SSD |
| Boot Drive Capacity (as Tested) | 1 TB |
| Secondary Drive Type | SSD |
| Secondary Drive Capacity (as Tested) | 1 TB |
| Graphics Card | Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 |
| Operating System | Windows 11 Home |
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iBuyPower Gaming RDY Y40BG202
Best Gaming Desktop for 1440p or 4K Play
Why We Picked It
Mainstream shoppers looking for midrange pricing want a mix of performance and value, and the iBuyPower Gaming RDY Y40BG202 hits that bullseye. On the surface, this desktop looks likes a machine that costs more, thanks to its chic case, but it stays comfortably under $3,000. On the inside, our review unit is packing an Intel Core i7-13700KF CPU and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti GPU, two smart upper-midrange picks that give you a load of power for your dollar. Our complaints are minor, and between the performance, pricing, and style, you’ll find a lot to love with this prebuilt PC.
Who It’s For
Even if your budget has room to go beyond entry-level pricing, it’s still a budget, so getting a decent deal is still important. This classy desktop will please mainstream shoppers who are looking to play at 1080p or 1440p with super-fast frame rates. The pricing may extend to the upper edge of what you’d consider mainstream, but component prices have risen in the last two years, and it’s thousands less than some of our high-end picks. Conversely, if you’re content with 1080p gaming, you can find a cheaper alternative above.
PROS
- Ample gaming performance at 4K resolution
- Exotic looks, with vertical-mount GPU
- Built-in Wi-Fi 6E
- Reasonably priced for the component loadout
CONS
- Fans could be quieter
- Limited storage drives
SPECS
| Name | Value |
|---|---|
| Desktop Class | Gaming |
| Processor | Intel Core i7-13700KF |
| Processor Speed | 3.4 GHz |
| RAM (as Tested) | 32 GB |
| Boot Drive Type | SSD |
| Boot Drive Capacity (as Tested) | 2 TB |
| Secondary Drive Type | |
| Secondary Drive Capacity (as Tested) | |
| Graphics Card | Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti |
| Operating System | Windows 11 Home |
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Corsair Vengeance i7400
Best Gaming Desktop for 4K Play
Why We Picked It
We can’t help raving about the Falcon Northwest Talon (see below), but even ultra-high-end buyers have their budgets. What if you crave a bragging-rights gaming desktop but have, say, only $4,000 to spend instead of $7,000? Teaming the GeForce RTX 4090 GPU with Intel’s Core i9-13900K, Corsair’s Vengeance i7400 is a relative value, with 64GB of RAM for serious multitasking and impeccable construction backed by a two-year warranty.
Who It’s For
Laden with top-of-the-line Corsair components, from a liquid cooling rig to six RGB-illuminated fans (yet surprisingly quiet in operation), the Vengeance is a fantastically fast gaming PC that—no offense—is built better than you could build yourself. It may not quite match the stellar Talon, but that’s like saying it has only seven-eighths the power of a supernova.
PROS
- Blazing gaming performance
- Top-notch components
- Quiet operation
- Customizable RGB lighting
- Two-year warranty
CONS
- Predictably pricey
- Side door could be easier to remove
SPECS
| Name | Value |
|---|---|
| Desktop Class | Gaming |
| Processor | Intel Core i9-13900K |
| Processor Speed | 3 GHz |
| RAM (as Tested) | 64 GB |
| Boot Drive Type | SSD |
| Boot Drive Capacity (as Tested) | 2 TB |
| Secondary Drive Type | |
| Secondary Drive Capacity (as Tested) | |
| Graphics Card | Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 |
| Operating System | Windows 11 Pro |
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Asus ROG G22CH
Best Compact Gaming Desktop for Mainstream Gamers
Why We Picked It
While this desktop doesn’t stack up to full-size towers in the way our high-end compact pick can, it’s a great way to attain solid gaming performance in a space-saving design. The G22CH starts at just $1,399, making it appealing to a wider audience, while our $2,499 review model shows how high it can soar. The Intel Core i9-13900KF and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 in our review unit produced on-target 1080p frame rates despite the smaller design, though you can get a better deal on these parts in a more traditional tower. It’s a steady performer with a nice design, and can scale for different budgets.
Who It’s For
The mainstream gamer shopping outside of true budget range should consider this desktop. (Making high-performance PCs more compact is inherently more expensive, so you won’t find much in the way of budget options in this class of gaming desktop.) If you are strapped for space, this is a slim and slick tower, though expect some compromises on expandability (and, somewhat, on performance) for the design.
PROS
- On-target GPU performance in our tests
- Enticing compact design
- Slick metal chassis
CONS
- Expensive for the parts loadout in our test model
- CPU underperformed in our tests
- Limited upgrade options (memory, for one, is SO-DIMM)
- Few USB ports
SPECS
| Name | Value |
|---|---|
| Desktop Class | Gaming |
| Processor | Intel Core i9-13900KF |
| Processor Speed | 3 GHz |
| RAM (as Tested) | 32 GB |
| Boot Drive Type | SSD |
| Boot Drive Capacity (as Tested) | 1 TB |
| Secondary Drive Type | |
| Secondary Drive Capacity (as Tested) | |
| Graphics Card | Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 |
| Operating System | Windows 11 Home |
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Falcon Northwest Tiki (2023)
Best Compact Gaming Desktop for Hardcore Gamers
Why We Picked It
Almost like Doctor Who’s space-bending TARDIS, the Falcon Northwest Tiki pulls off a lot for a compact desktop. This slim tower is a fraction of the size of your average mid-tower PC, but you wouldn’t know it from the performance. The wizards at Falcon Northwest have packed an AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D processor and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 GPU into this tiny tower. As a result, you’d be hard-pressed to pick it out from the full-size systems looking at the performance testing results alone. Falcon Northwest charges a premium for its stellar space efficiency (our test unit rang up at nearly $5,500), but between the power, the build quality, and even the quiet fans, you can immediately see where that money goes.
Who It’s For
The price and the components should indicate that this is a machine aimed at gaming enthusiasts, media professionals, and big-budgeted hobbyists. Even the base model doesn’t change that equation much—it starts at $3,400—so this is no entry-level or even midrange solution. If cost is virtually no object, or you have a genuine need for a high-end gaming, streaming, or media creation machine and would love something more compact, the 2023 Falcon Northwest Tiki is our top recommendation.
PROS
- Big-tower performance in a compact case
- Immaculate build quality
- Quiet fans
- Excellent warranty and service
CONS
- Only ultra-high-end configurations available
SPECS
| Name | Value |
|---|---|
| Desktop Class | Gaming |
| Processor | AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D |
| Processor Speed | 4.2 GHz |
| RAM (as Tested) | 64 GB |
| Boot Drive Type | SSD |
| Boot Drive Capacity (as Tested) | 2 TB |
| Secondary Drive Type | |
| Secondary Drive Capacity (as Tested) | |
| Graphics Card | Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 |
| Operating System | Windows 11 Pro |
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Falcon Northwest Talon (2022)
Best Gaming Desktop for Pure Bragging Rights
Why We Picked It
Built to order by the hands of a single skilled expert, the Falcon Northwest Talon is nothing less than the ultimate gaming desktop. The latest model makes room for massive E-ATX motherboards and 13-inch graphics cards, yet still qualifies as a mid-tower in size. However, at about 44 pounds, it weighs more like a full tower, since it’s crafted from thick aluminum rather than thin steel or (ew) plastic. Custom liquid cooling, elegant (and relatively subdued) lighting, strong construction, and exquisite cabling all come standard.
Who It’s For
Loaded with a 16-core AMD Ryzen 9 7950X CPU, a GeForce RTX 4090 Founders Edition, 64GB of Kingston Fury Beast RAM, and a 2TB SSD, our test Talon rings up at just under seven grand. As it should, the Talon delivers on that price with downright ridiculous frame rates and benchmark scores. (We consider 4,000 points in UL’s PCMark 10 a sign of excellent productivity performance; this thing posted 10,152 points.) You can certainly spend less for a blazing-fast gaming PC, but if unbeatable quality and engineering are your goal, Falcon Northwest’s flagship reigns supreme.
PROS
- Stratospheric performance
- Lavish quality
- Elegant looks
- Ample expansion room
- Excellent warranty
CONS
- May require a second mortgage
SPECS
| Name | Value |
|---|---|
| Desktop Class | Gaming |
| Processor | AMD Ryzen 9 7950X |
| Processor Speed | 4.5 GHz |
| RAM (as Tested) | 64 GB |
| Boot Drive Type | SSD |
| Boot Drive Capacity (as Tested) | 2 TB |
| Secondary Drive Type | |
| Secondary Drive Capacity (as Tested) | |
| Graphics Card | Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 |
| Operating System | Windows 11 Pro |
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Velocity Micro Raptor Signature Edition (Ryzen 7000)
Best Gaming Desktop for Creative Professionals
Why We Picked It
We often see heavy overlap between gaming desktops and professional workstations. Both are costly PCs with cutting-edge CPU and GPU power, which are easily able to satisfy hardcore gamers and creative designers, CGI renderers, and video editors alike. Velocity Micro’s Raptor Signature Edition straddles this fence nimbly; its conservative design and lighting are more tasteful than most gaming rigs’, but it’s got muscle to spare and then some, thanks to a Ryzen 9 7950X processor and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti graphics card.
Who It’s For
As gaming desktops go, the Raptor is a sleeper, almost free of bling but seriously competitive in raw speed and capability for demanding games and top creative apps. It’s definitely pricey ($5,799 as tested), but fills a neat niche for both working hours and after hours.
PROS
- Superlative build quality and customer support
- Phenomenal gaming performance
- Subtle rather than garish design
- Ample component options at checkout
CONS
- Very expensive
- Almost too plain-looking for hardcore gamers
SPECS
| Name | Value |
|---|---|
| Desktop Class | Gaming |
| Processor | AMD Ryzen 9 7950X |
| Processor Speed | 4.5 GHz |
| RAM (as Tested) | 32 GB |
| Boot Drive Type | SSD |
| Boot Drive Capacity (as Tested) | 2 TB |
| Secondary Drive Type | |
| Secondary Drive Capacity (as Tested) | |
| Graphics Card | Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti |
| Operating System | Windows 11 Home |
Cooler Master Cosmos Infinity 30th Anniversary Edition Tower
Best Gaming Desktop With a Bold Design
Why We Picked It
This limited edition PC is the new poster child for big and bold gaming rig design. It’s here to make a statement, and you can’t argue it doesn’t succeed. The massive size, curved glass, color-shifting paint, and screaming performance deliver on that promise. An Intel Core i9-13900KF and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090, shockingly, led to blistering fast performance on anything we threw its way.
Who It’s For
Only collectors, enthusiasts with massive budgets, and those in love with this design should consider this monolithic PC. If you want to play games at 4K, and you have other demanding workloads to throw its way, this desktop is the performance monster and conversation piece that you’re hoping for.
PROS
- Blazing 4K gaming performance
- Top-quality components
- Original look with color-shifting paint and curved glass
CONS
- Fans could be quieter
- Gigantic 76-pound system
- Comparatively expensive
SPECS
| Name | Value |
|---|---|
| Desktop Class | Gaming |
| Processor | Intel Core i9-13900KF |
| Processor Speed | 3 GHz |
| RAM (as Tested) | 32 GB |
| Boot Drive Type | SSD |
| Boot Drive Capacity (as Tested) | 2 TB |
| Secondary Drive Type | |
| Secondary Drive Capacity (as Tested) | |
| Graphics Card | Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 |
| Operating System | Windows 11 Pro |
Origin Chronos V3
Best Gaming Desktop for CPU Power
Why We Picked It
Outside of our reviews of the chips themselves, this was our first taste of Intel’s 14th Gen “Raptor Lake Refresh” CPUs in a full desktop, and the results are stellar. It’s not the same revolution as a full new platform, but you can’t argue with the performance. The Origin Chronos V3 is a blazing-fast machine, and in a pretty compact tower, thanks to its Intel Core i9-14900K processor. This is an expensive system, but not quite at the level of other premium picks, and the CPU is the star. The RTX 4080 GPU didn’t hurt in achieving top frame rates, either.
Who It’s For
Its unique shape may be up your alley, particularly if space is tight. Otherwise, it’s a nice and scalable system that still offers broad expansion options despite the compact design, and the 14th Gen CPU sings for processor-intensive tasks. That’s especially appealing if churning through processing workloads and 3D tasks is your main goal, with more than capable gaming on the side.
PROS
- Blazing performance in a compact design
- Broad expansion
- Fits full-size desktop components
CONS
- Fan noise is noticeable
- Awkward access to motherboard ports
SPECS
| Name | Value |
|---|---|
| Desktop Class | Gaming |
| Processor | Intel Core i9-14900K |
| Processor Speed | 3.2 GHz |
| RAM (as Tested) | 64 GB |
| Boot Drive Type | SSD |
| Boot Drive Capacity (as Tested) | 1 TB |
| Secondary Drive Type | Hard Drive |
| Secondary Drive Capacity (as Tested) | 4 TB |
| Graphics Card | Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 |
| Operating System | Windows 11 Home |
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Buying Guide: The Best Gaming Desktops for 2024
First, Which Graphics Card Do I Need?
Most gaming systems will come preinstalled with a single midrange or high-end graphics card; higher-priced systems will naturally have better cards, since purchase price typically correlates with animation performance and visual quality. AMD and Nvidia make the graphics processors, or GPUs, that go into these cards, which are made by third parties such as Asus, EVGA, Gigabyte, MSI, PowerColor, Sapphire, and XFX (to name just a few).
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card (Credit: Michael Justin Allen Sexton)
Gone are the days of complicated dual-card setups: Today’s top-end GPUs, like the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090, are more than powerful enough on their own. Games are increasingly developed to take advantage of the cutting-edge features available in single GPUs like these, but these premium cards will cost you.
AMD’s Radeon RX 7900 XTX graphics card (Credit: Michael Justin Allen Sexton)
Still, you should divert much of your budget to the best GPU you can afford; the most pivotal decision you’ll make when purchasing a gaming desktop is which card you get. One option, of course, is no card at all; the integrated graphics silicon on modern Intel Core and some AMD processors is fine for casual 2D games and very light 3D gaming. However, to reliably play 3D AAA titles, you need a discrete graphics card, and these cards are what distinguish a gaming desktop from “just a desktop.”
A PCMag-styled Origin PC Millennium 5000T gaming PC (Credit: Molly Flores)
Whether you go with an AMD- or- Nvidia-based card is based partly on price and partly on performance. Some games are optimized for one type of card or another, but for the most part, you should choose the card that best fits within your budget. If you’re buying a complete gaming desktop, you of course don’t have to pay for a card in isolation, but this should help you understand how the card factors into the total price. You also have to know what you’re shopping for.
‘Lovelace’ Is Here: The State of Graphics Cards in 2024
For some time now, Nvidia has been dominant at the high end of the GPU battlefield. Since 2020, this has been through its Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 and top-end Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090. The current generation of Nvidia dominance comes by way of the GeForce RTX 40 series, which launched in 2022, and is based on the newest architecture, called “Ada Lovelace”—more on the Lovelace cards in a moment.
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Founders Edition (Credit: Zlata Ivleva)
In general, for both Nvidia and AMD GPUs, the first number in a model name denotes the GPU generation—RTX 4000-series GPUs are Nvidia’s latest, while AMD is up to the RX 7000 line—while the last two numbers denote the hierarchy within that generation. For example, the RTX 4080 is superior to the RTX 4070, and both replaced their RTX 3080 and RTX 3070 predecessors, respectively.
The 20-series GeForce RTX cards were the first to feature ray tracing (putting the “RT” in “RTX”), a fancy real-time-lighting feature that only cards with the RTX moniker are capable of running. (See our primer on ray tracing and what it means for PC gaming.)
Another angle on the GeForce RTX 3080 (Credit: Zlata Ivleva)
Nvidia’s RTX 30 series was based on its “Ampere” architecture, which replaced the “Turing” design of the RTX 20 series. Only a few of our recommended gaming PCs include RTX 30-series GPUs. However, you can still buy products from this line of GPUs and thoroughly enjoy 1080p and 1440p gaming—that is, if you’re building or upgrading your PC. Otherwise, most vendors have moved on from including GPUs in this series to instead feature the newest models first introduced in 2022.
Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 4090 Founders Edition (Credit: Michael Justin Allen Sexton)
These days, the RTX 40 series and its Lovelace architecture have supplanted the RTX 30 series in new systems. The 30 series hasn’t been so quickly forgotten, however, and the prices for the new RTX 40-series cards are to blame.
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090, though it shows tremendous power in our review, is extremely pricey at $1,599. The RTX 4080 isn’t much better, at $1,199—though it has been discontinued in favor of its new “Super” variant (more on that below). The 30-series represents a good deal while you can still find them, and often at lower prices, given the presence of the 40-series GPUs. Pre-built systems you’re shopping for may still include much cheaper 30-series offerings as a starting point, but it’s increasingly uncommon.
Unfortunately, the sky-high RTX 40-series prices seem to be the new normal. Lower-end 40-series GPUs launched behind their top-end siblings to provide more options: The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Ti Founders Edition are effective 1080p cards for $299 and $399, for example. These lesser GPUs are phasing out of the RTX 30 series.
During the pandemic, and a bit before, it was hard to acquire then-current GPUs at retail price, or sometimes even at any reasonable price. With the rolling debuts of the RTX 40-series cards, that has helped improve availability, but the list prices are also much higher than for the same relative classes of card in the 2010s. Hefty base prices make today’s new cards a significant buy.
Nvidia somewhat remedied this in early 2024 with its introduction of “Super”-class GPUs, like if did with the RTX 20-Series. The Super cards are, essentially, upgraded versions of the original RTX 40-series models, bringing outright better performance while maintaining or reducing prices—an improvement for new shoppers. The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super is a better-performing model of the original RTX 4070, while the latter received a modest $50 price drop.
All of these pricing changes, generational differences, and availability are why buying a prebuilt gaming desktop, like the desktops in our list here, makes a lot of sense: You get parts that complement each other well. Pre-built PCs from major manufacturers or boutique vendors are one of the most accessible ways to acquire a top GPU in 2024 because they take care of acquiring GPU stock for you to buy in their systems, and that can save you some money.
Digital Storm’s Lynx gaming desktop in its many colors (Credit: Zlata Ivleva)
If you’ve held out this long on upgrading from Nvidia’s 10- or- 20-series GPUs, with the RTX 30 series still impressing and the RTX 40 series even more so, we can much more fully recommend that enthusiasts make the jump if they can find any newer-generation GPU on a good deal. We recommend the newest GPUs even more emphatically if you play (or plan on playing) on a faster 1440p or sharper 4K monitor.
Affordable Nvidia Alternatives…and Don’t Forget AMD
Nvidia’s Turing GPUs still show up out there (the GeForce GTX 1650, the GTX 1660, the GTX 1660 Ti, and their variants), but they signify an old system. These have been mostly phased out for at least GeForce RTX 30-series GPUs, if not RTX 40-series cards.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Ti (Credit: Michael Justin Allen Sexton)
Shoppers looking for an entry-level or midrange system have many options. On the lower end, the GeForce RTX 3050 and RTX 3060, RTX 3060 Ti, RTX 4060, and RTX 4060 Ti are more budget-friendly to varying degrees, but still decent 1080p cards. An RTX 3060 Ti or RTX 4060 Ti system suit high-frame-rate 1080p gaming (and capable 1440p gaming, in some cases). You can try ray tracing on a per-game basis or just turn it off to your preference.
Meanwhile, inside prebuilt gaming PCs, AMD competes mainly in the midrange and low end, with its Radeon RX cards, and its midrange products look better now than they have for a long time. AMD’s late-2020-to-2022 products in the high end, the AMD Radeon RX 6800 and the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT, pushed closer to Nvidia’s top cards more than AMD had in many years. When they’re at their best, they’re close to equal with Nvidia’s RTX 30-series GPUs for a little less money, but it depends on the game in question.
The latest AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT, which start at $999 and $899, really push Nvidia’s RTX 40-series GPUs on cost-to-performance. Nvidia still holds the power crown, but AMD’s cards have a strong case with their pricing. More recently, AMD pushed its case further with the AMD Radeon RX 7600 as a go-to value play for steady 1080p gaming, and the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT, which launched in late 2023, may be the best midrange value from either company.
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX (Credit: Michael Justin Allen Sexton)
Finally, Intel has, at last, made its way into the discrete graphics market with its Arc GPUs. While the first effort left us underwhelmed, follow-up GPUs have improved, and the particular Intel Arc A580 we reviewed is one of the better-value budget graphics cards today. You won’t see Arc cards in many prebuilt desktops, but more competition from the Blue Team (Intel) may help keep the Red and Green Teams (AMD and Nvidia, respectively) honest on pricing.
Prep for 4K Gaming and VR, or Keep It Real?
Equipping your system with any high-end GPU will boost your total PC bill by a few hundred dollars. Beyond adding extra power to your gaming experience, some graphics cards can power up to four displays, and few gamers go beyond three (and even then only rarely).
A better reason to opt for high-end graphics, in the long run, is to power 4K and virtual reality (VR) gaming. Monitors with 4K resolution (3,840 by 2,160 pixels) and the displays built into the latest VR headsets have much higher pixel counts than a “simple” 1080p HD monitor. You’ll need at least a single high-end graphics card to drive a 4K display at the highest quality settings. If you mean to play games on a 4K panel with detail settings cranked up, you’ll want to look at one of Nvidia’s highest-end cards suited for 4K play, with the RTX 3080, RTX 4080, and RTX 4090 easily the best picks.
A closeup of the Falcon Northwest FragBox gaming PC (Credit: Charles Jefferies)
Selecting a graphics card for VR is a different set of considerations, and not quite as demanding as 4K play on recent AAA games. VR headsets have their own graphics requirements. Generally, a GeForce GTX 1660 Ti or a Radeon RX 5600 XT/RX 6700 (or higher, in either case) should suffice as the floor for VR. Naturally, more demanding VR games will benefit from superior GPUs. Look at the recommended minimum GPU specs for your specific VR headset and exceed it by at least a small margin to guarantee smooth performance.
The 2023 Falcon Northwest Tiki (Credit: Molly Flores)
Now, VR and 4K gaming are unquestionably high-end matters (the latter even more so than the former). You can still get a rich gaming experience for thousands of bucks less by choosing a desktop with a single but robust middle-tier video card (an RTX 3060 or 4060, for example) and gaming at 1080p or 1440p; 2,560 by 1,440 pixels is an increasingly popular native resolution for gaming monitors. If you’re less concerned about turning up all the eye candy found in games—anti-aliasing and esoteric lighting effects, for example—then today’s less-powerful graphics cards and GPUs will still give you plenty of 1080p oomph for a lot less money.
Which CPU Do I Need in a Gaming Desktop?
The parallel heart in any gaming system to its GPU is its main processor chip or CPU. While the GPU specializes in graphics quality and some physics calculations, the CPU takes care of everything else, and it also determines how able your PC will be for demanding tasks that require non-graphics calculations.
On the CPU front, AMD and Intel are in a race to see who can provide the most power to gamers. Mainstream speed lies chiefly with the Core i5, Core i7, and Core i9 CPU options on the Intel side, and the Ryzen 5, Ryzen 7, and Ryzen 9 on the AMD side.
The most common mainstream CPUs range from $150 to $499, such as the AMD Ryzen 5 and Ryzen 7 lines, and Intel Core i5 and i7 CPUs. These provide the computing muscle needed for a satisfying gaming experience without breaking the bank, losing out mostly on some higher-end productivity and media creation capability rather than gaming performance.
This is the real sweet spot for gamers. On the higher end of midrange, you have chips like the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, the Intel Core i7-13700K and Intel Core i7-14700K, and the AMD Ryzen 7 7700X, which deeply impress in this category. The latter two are two of the best gaming value CPUs in Intel and AMD’s latest processor platforms, 14th Gen “Raptor Lake Refresh” and the Zen 4-based Ryzen 7000 series, respectively.
An Intel Core i7 processor held in hand (Credit: Zlata Ivleva)
In late 2022, AMD launched its newest generation: the Ryzen 7000 processors based on the new Zen 4 architecture. We tested and reviewed several of these chips at launch (the aforementioned Ryzen 7 7700X and the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X), and both produce impressive performance across the board.
The upshot is that consumers still have more options than ever. At the very high end, AMD Ryzen 7000 is very much in play: AMD’s launch of its latest specialized 3D V-Cache CPUs, notably the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D and AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D, deliver targeted game boosts under some circumstances for extreme gamers using the very highest-end GPUs, like the GeForce RTX 4090. Now, we’ve seen the first Ryzen 8000-series processors, like the AMD Ryzen 7 8700G.
Gamers on a lesser budget should look to lower-priced (but still speedy) processors, such as the AMD Ryzen 5 or the Intel Core i5 lines, which will knock hundreds of dollars off the bottom line. This includes the latest chips like the Intel Core i5-14600K. The baseline has come a long way, so even these less expensive chips are well-suited to gaming. Even AMD’s latest Ryzen 3 processors can get the job done if you’re shopping on a very tight budget.
A sample AMD Ryzen 7000 processor (Credit: Michael Justin Allen Sexton)
At the top of the Intel and AMD mainstream stacks, we have the Core i9 and Ryzen 9 tier. The most recent powerhouses are the Intel Core i9-13900K and Intel Core i9-14900K, heading Intel’s 13th and 14th Gen families. AMD’s Ryzen 9 7950X and 7950X3D are the most direct AMD challengers to these chips. These are more expensive than the lower tiers: the i9-13900K, for example, is priced at $589, while the Ryzen 9 7950X is listed at $699.
If your choice comes down to paying for a higher-level GPU or a higher-level CPU, and gaming matters most, favor the graphics, in most cases. A system with a higher-power Nvidia GeForce GPU and a Core i5 processor is generally a better choice for 3D-intense FPS gaming than one with a low-end card and a zippy Core i9 CPU. But you may want to choose the latter if you’re into games that involve a lot of background math calculations, such as strategy titles (like those in the Civilization series), or if you also mean to use the system for CPU-intensive tasks, like converting or editing video, or editing photos when you are not gaming.
How Much Memory and Storage Should I Get?
One thing that’s often overlooked on gaming systems is RAM; it can be severely taxed by modern games. Outfit your PC with a bare minimum of 8GB of RAM, and budget for 16GB if you’re serious about freeing up this potential performance bottleneck. The most powerful machines out there will pack 32GB, though there are diminishing returns for gaming beyond 16GB. (See lots more about how to choose RAM in our memory primer.)
Solid-state drives (SSDs), meanwhile, have become much more popular since prices began dropping dramatically a few years ago, and the price drops have accelerated especially over the last couple of years, unlike most PC components. They speed up boot time, wake-from-sleep time, and the time it takes to launch a game and load a new level. They are the de facto choice for boot drives now.
A WD Blue SN570 SSD (Credit: Molly Flores)
Although you can get an SSD of any size up to around 4TB (with the larger 8TB capacity still being relatively rare and expensive), the pairing of a small one (a capacity of 500GB or 1TB is a good minimum floor to set) with a large-capacity spinning hard drive (8TB or more) is a good, affordable setup for gamers who download lots of games and want to keep them installed and local. You can keep a subset of your favorite games and applications on the smaller SSD, where they’ll benefit from quicker loading, and install the bulk of your library on the hard drive.
Favor PCI Express SSDs over SATA ones. (The former, the performance darlings of the moment, are now the norm for boot drives in current-model desktop gaming systems.) Almost all of these drives come on gumstick-size modules in a format called M.2.
The Perfect Accessories
Don’t stop at internal components. Once you have your ideal gaming desktop, a couple of extras can really enhance your gaming experience. We recommend that you trick out your machine with a top-notch gaming monitor with a fast refresh rate, as well as a solid gaming headset so you can trash-talk your opponents. A high-refresh-rate monitor can absorb the excess frame rates that a robust video card puts out, for smoother gameplay. In-monitor support for Nvidia G-Sync or AMD FreeSync, matched to your brand of video card, can also eliminate artifacts that result from varying frame rates.
An RGB keyboard is a PC-gaming staple. (Credit: Mike Epstein)
A comfortable gaming keyboard, gaming mouse, or specialized controller can round out your options at checkout, but know that oftentimes you’re better off selecting these items separately, rather than limiting your selection to what’s offered by the system seller.
So, Which Gaming Desktop Should I Buy?
Below are the best gaming desktops we’ve tested of late. Some are configured-to-order PCs from boutique manufacturers, but some come from bigger brands normally associated with consumer-grade desktops. Note that many of the same manufacturers also make gaming laptops, if you’re weighing between the two.
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