Gaming desktops still play second fiddle to gaming laptops for most people, but PCs have a place in the hearts of those who want power and upgradability for now and the future. PC configurations change a lot more frequently, though, and it's hard to keep up with testing and reviews, so our current gaming PC recommendations may include previous configurations that we've reviewed. We also include configuration suggestions that we haven't specifically tested but are based on our experience with similar components.Â
What's the best gaming PC overall?
Our pick for the best gaming desktop is the Lenovo Legion Tower 7i, thanks to its solid performance up through 4K, without costing as much as you'd usually spend. It's got some flaws -- you can't overclock the memory and it's a little light on the dust filtering -- but for a prebuilt model costing $2,220 (at the time of writing this) it's a nice balance.
Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 8 34IRZ8
Delivering good performance and 4K gaming without a sky-high price, Lenovo's midrange Legion T7i runs quietly at top speeds and looks stylish while doing so -- even without jumping to the more recent RTX 50-class GPUs.Â
Velocity Micro Raptor Z95A
Our top gaming system recommendation will probably always be from a custom builder, simply because a top-end gaming PC will have a lot of upgrade options and an upgrade-friendly design, in addition to excellent performance. Even most ready-to-ship systems from custom builders have great upgradability because they're built from off-the-shelf parts. Velocity Micro is an almost 30-year veteran in the business, and while it doesn't create the glitziest gaming systems -- for that, you want builders like Maingear, Origin PC, iBuyPower and the like -- it knows how to build a top-flight gaming performer. The Raptor Z95A we tested uses some of the fastest components available (the "A" is for AMD, and there's a Z95 built around Intel CPUs) and has a clean internal layout for easy fiddling and sleek appearance.
Alienware Aurora R16
Alienware drew a little further away from its roots in 2024, redesigning its Aurora desktop to look novel and stylish but not as out-of-this-world as it was. That allowed the company to shrink its overlarge footprint as well as introducing tool-free access and parts to what's still a fast and quiet system.
HP Omen 35L
The Omen 35L configuration we tested was overpriced, especially given its somewhat unbalanced match of a midrange Ryzen 7 7700G CPU with higher-end options like 64GB RAM and an RTX 4080 Super GPU. But if you configure it with the memory and GPU matching the level of the CPU -- an RTX 5060 Ti (with a matching upgrade to an 850W power supply), 1TB SSD and 32GB RAM -- it should grant you a pretty nice mainstream 1080p/1440p system for around $1,500. The system has a solid build quality with an uncluttered design visible behind the glass.
Mac Studio (2025)
If you want to run AAA games on the Mac you don't have a lot of choice: It's either the Mac Mini or the Mac Studio (you need the more powerful GPU that you don't get with the base M4 for decent performance, which leaves out the iMac). I err on the side of the Studio because you can get the M4 Max chip and it has a higher power cooling system than the Mini -- since you can't upgrade the either of the systems, you need to buy as much as you can afford now -- but bumping up the Mini to the M4 Pro may be a solid alternative. A lot of non-AAA games that support the Mac don't need as much graphics power but if you're planning to hold on to the system for a while, you might want to assume you'll need more at some point before you're ready to give it up.
Other notable gaming PCs we've tested
Lenovo LOQ Tower: The LOQ Tower can deliver decent 1080p performance in its compact 20-liter case, but it's ultimately a budget system with a budget design. That means it's limited when it comes to options, ports and even airflow.
Factors to consider when buying a gaming desktop
Size
There's no one-size-fits-all answer for this. If you want high-powered components or a motherboard with more than just a slot for a graphics card, you need a midtower or full tower case -- it needs to accommodate extra cooling or a larger motherboard. If you've got limited space, measure the width and depth you can accommodate and look carefully at a computer's dimensions. If you don't plan on upgrading and can afford to pay for the configuration you're going to still want in three to five years, then you can go with a small form factor, or SFF, PC. While you can use liters as a measurement for case size, actual dimensions are more useful.
Motherboard
You generally only can choose the motherboard for custom or DIY builds, but even with a prebuilt system you need to ensure it can meet your needs. For instance, not only that it has sufficient PCI slots but that if you hypothetically require both 16-bit slots to run at maximum bandwidth they will. The motherboard and its chipset determines the maximum possible USB ports; networking types; type and maximum amount of memory; maximum amount and type of SSD and more. Prebuilt and small systems sometimes have proprietary motherboards, so confirm you'll be able to upgrade if you think you'll want to.
Operating system
Windows. You can play games on MacOS or Linux, but far more games are developed for and supported on Windows.
Processor
The CPU doesn't matter as much as other components, but games that spawn and calculate the movements of a lot of objects or characters -- complex simulations and RTS, for example -- may lean on it to run well. AMD's chips with "X3D" in the name are its best gaming CPUs, while Intel's overclockable chips have "K" in their model names and its Core processors are still generally better for desktop gaming than its newer Core Ultra CPUs.Â
Graphics
For the most part, the GPU is the most important component for running games, not just to render quickly and at high resolutions now, but to drive AI-based upscaling technologies without sacrificing frame rates or smoothly running AI-based technologies of the near future (such as in-game contextual help or smart NPCs). The amount of memory accessible by the GPU also makes a difference: I recommend at least 8GB VRAM for 1080p, 12GB for 1440p or 16GB for 4K. The amount of VRAM tends to correlate with the class of GPU, and the class correlates with speed; in other words, in general (but not necessarily so), more memory means a faster class of card and a faster class of card means a higher frame rate.
System memoryÂ
I don't recommend ANY system with 8GB RAM or less -- 16GB should be your absolute minimum and many games already require that much -- but 32GB is a good bet to support games for at least another few years. Most desktops let you upgrade memory; ultracompacts or all-in-ones may use laptop parts, which means soldered (and therefore not upgradeable) memory, so you want to watch for that if you plan on saving money now.
Storage
Games are getting bigger and bigger, so more storage is always better. If you play serially you can probably get by backing up to an external SSD, but if you jump around or want to keep multiple games installed on your system (and use the system for more than just gaming!), I suggest 1TB minimum.
How we test gaming desktops
We test all desktops with a core set of benchmarks, including Primate Labs Geekbench 6 and Geekbench AI, Cinebench 2024, PCMark 10, a variety of 3DMark benchmarks (whichever can run on the desktop), UL Procyon Computer Vision and Image Generation AI benchmarks and more. If a desktop is intended for gaming, we'll also run benchmarks from Guardians of the Galaxy, The Rift Breaker (CPU and GPU), Shadow of the Tomb Raider as part of our core set, then supplement with a variety of other game benchmarks (such as Returnal and Cyberpunk 2077) and general gameplay, all in a variety of resolutions depending upon the system. Our testing suite for systems with discrete graphics also includes SPECviewperf 2020 for pro graphics.
For the hands-on, the reviewer uses it for their work and gaming during the review period, evaluating how well the design, features (such as the screen, camera and speakers) and manufacturer-supplied software operate as a cohesive whole. We also place importance on how well they work given their cost and where the manufacturer has potentially made upgrades or tradeoffs for its price.
The list of benchmarking software and comparison criteria we use changes over time as the devices we test evolve. We do not report all the results of our testing, only the data which adds information rather than duplicating a comparative pattern.
