The Best Gaming PC of 2024: Top Prebuilt Desktops

Building your own rig is a hassle. So, grabbing a prebuilt gaming PC instead, like our favorite, the HP Omen 45L, saves you time and frustration. But from a lower-power, budget gaming PC to a beefy option ready to take on any game at the highest settings, we’ve got something for you. Jump to detailed looks at the best gaming PCs, or check out our list below:

TL;DR – These are the Best Gaming PCs

• HP Omen 45L – Best Gaming PC
• iBuyPower SlateMesh Gaming Desktop – Best Budget Gaming PC
• Alienware Aurora R15 – Best High-End Gaming PC
• MSI MEG Trident X2 – Best Mini Gaming PC

Buying a pre-built desktop computer helps you avoid some major headaches, and you almost always have the option to upgrade parts down the road. Even when comparing a gaming laptop vs a gaming desktop, there really isn’t a substitute for a desktop. Take a look at our top PCs – and click here to find our picks in the UK.

The Best Prebuilt Gaming PCs

1. HP Omen 45L

Best Gaming PC

For a beast of a gaming rig that fledgling and veteran PC gamers alike should flock to, grab the HP Omen 45L. With it comes the latest 13th gen Intel Core i9 processor for insane computing power, ensuring this machine breezes through everything from daily tasks to streaming and recording gameplay. That chip pairs perfectly with the Nvidia RTX 4090 graphics, meaning this PC is ready to play games in 4K at high frame rates with ray tracing on. So, you’ll want to grab one of the best 4K gaming monitors for your battle station.

Now if that isn’t enough to sell you on the HP Omen 45L, there’s 16GB of speedy DDR5 memory to make multitasking a breeze, while the 1TB SSD ensures quick boots and a 1TB HDD is handy for storing movies, photos, and documents. Of course, you don’t want its hot-running, high-powered components overheating, so you get 360mm liquid cooling and three 120mm PC fans at the front of the case. Topping off this PC is a tempered glass side panel to show off all the impressive internals and four RGB lighting zones.

2. iBuyPower SlateMesh Gaming Desktop

Best Budget Gaming PC

Snag great hardware for slightly north of $1,000 with the iBuyPower SlateMesh Gaming Desktop. You get an Intel 12th Gen Core i7 processor paired with an Nvidia RTX 3060 for ample processing headroom and excellent efficiency to power through 1080p or even 1440p gaming with some graphical effects turned off.

Those components play nicely with the 16 GB of DDR4 memory, which can expand up to 128GB if you plan on using multiple heavy applications while gaming. The 500GB of PCIe 4.0 SSD storage means those programs should have speedy startups, while the 1TB HDD also ensures plenty of space to make saves. Adding more value to this well-rounded rig are the included RGB keyboard and mouse, so there are two peripherals you don’t need to worry about investing in.

OMEN 16

This selection brought to you by OMEN

3. Alienware Aurora R15

Best High-End Gaming PC

If you have the budget to splurge on a gaming PC packing some serious hardware, check out the Alienware Aurora R15. Inside its head-turning, futuristic case is an Intel Core i9-13900F processor and Nvidia RTX 4090 graphics, providing plenty of muscle to handle whatever kind of PC games you want to throw its way. Whether you’re targeting high framerates at 4K or encoding videos in mere minutes, this rig is ready for the task.

It doesn’t stop there as this Alienware machine is well-fitted with plenty of storage, giving you a 1TB high-speed NVMe M.2 PCIe SSD to quickly run the OS and load all your favorite games. With 32GB of DDR5 memory running at 4800 MHz, you’ll also have no trouble multitasking. And to ensure all these components keep up peak performance is a robust cooling system that includes a 240mm radiator and five 120mm fans.

4. MSI MEG Trident X2

Best Mini Gaming PC

• See it on Best Buy (Sold Out)

The MSI MEG Trident X2 keeps it compact, making it the best mini PC to take on all the action in the game deals you just scored. It’s at the top of the pile in terms of sheer performance. In fact, our hardware editor has been using it daily for three months, and she loves it. With this option, you get a 13th-gen Intel i7 processor paired with RTX 4070 Ti graphics, which should be more than enough to take on most games at their moderate to highest settings. Add in 32GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD storage, and your games are all but guaranteed to run smoothly and load up quickly. But should you feel the need for even beastlier internals, the rig is easily upgradable.

Given this PC packs some powerful hardware in a smaller-than-usual form factor, cooling needs to be a top priority. MSI doesn’t disappoint with a special tech that utilizes independent air chambers to dissipate heat and a unique design to direct cool air toward the GPU. There’s also 280mm AIO liquid cooling, so things should stay relatively frosty. To top it off is a handful of ports for peripherals and a handy ​HMI touch LCD.

Where to Get the Best Gaming PC in the UK

Getting your gaming PC prebuilt can save a lot of time and hassle for you, and this is still the case no matter where you are in the world. We’ve cheated a little bit with this, as plenty of the options on our list are available to purchase and shipped to the UK. Newegg, for example, will ship several brilliant pre-builds, all the way from the US to the UK. Costs for shipping, and the PCs in general, are low, so you shouldn’t have any worries going forward.

What to Look For in a Gaming PC

Below we go over the basic specifications you should prioritize when buying a gaming PC and how to get the most of your purchase of a prebuilt rig. We also explain a few alternative options you might find of interest as well.

Prebuilts are the most surefire way of getting into gaming and arguably the most cost-effective hardware you can buy. When buying a system, you’re not only getting the hardware inside but time savings of having to track down the best processor to best RAM for your system and putting it all together yourself and praying it actually boots up correctly.

That said, just like building your own PC you want to make sure you’re spending your money where it’s needed most. Firstly, you should prioritize you’re getting the graphics card you need for the gaming monitor or the gaming TV you’re gaming on. There’s no need for anything better than an Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti if you’re just playing games on a 1080p display.

Likewise, you should only need an Intel Core i5 or Ryzen 5 processor with at least four cores to play most modern games comfortably at any resolution.

System memory and solid-state drives can be the biggest money sink for any system. Those comfortable with upgrading their system after it arrives should choose a configuration with the smallest storage and RAM capacities possible, as buying these components yourself can often be more cost-effective.

If that last suggestion resonates with you, perhaps a barebones system is what you seek. Barebones PCs can be much cheaper since they come with all the major hardware—such as the CPU, GPU, and power supply—installed, but they usually lack storage, memory, and an operating system as a trade-off.

Lastly, if you want more control over what exactly is going into your build, go with a boutique PC builder. Origin, Maingear, DigitalStorm, Falcon Northwest, PC Specialist, and many more companies offer excellent PC building services that let you pick exactly which components go into your gaming PC. From there, they build your system with the sort of cable management some can only dream of while ensuring it all works properly out of the box.

In case this all sounds a little overwhelming to you, NZXT has its own PC building service called BLD. Instead of picking every part that will go into your PC, you chose the games you’ll actually play and the service gives you several configuration options that will be able to run the games for a smooth experience.

Similarly, iBuyPower offers an Easy Builder service that operates in very much the same fashion. Users can select games that they play from a small pool that includes Fortnite, GTA V, Apex Legends, WoW, League of Legends, Overwatch, and Battlefield V. From there, users can select whether they play at a 1080p or 1440p resolution, as well as their budget and the system, will spit back a few configurations to choose from.

Beyond choosing the components you need, prebuilt PC’s come with several features and pieces of software you might find convenient. Many gaming PCs in this category come with some sort of overclocking support and even a one-click button to boost your system’s performance. Of course, it’s easy enough to download a piece of overclocking software like MSI Afterburner or EVGA Precision X. Additionally, your machine may come with system monitoring software that makes downloading and updating drivers a breeze.

Life after purchase

Another important thing you’ll want to keep in mind when buying a prebuilt desktop is how easy is it to upgrade down the line.

Most PC manufacturers have figured out users absolutely hate proprietary parts. While you might still find no-name motherboards installed into the hearth of your PC, they should all at least fall in line with the standard size and layout of Mini ITX or Micro ATX motherboards. The best gaming PCs should allow you to easily swap out the CPU, GPU, RAM, and storage on your system with just a few simple tools or just a screwdriver.

Better yet, systems that tout tool-less upgradability don’t require you to undo screws or anything to replace any of the major components. One of the things you’ll likely find on most modern chassis are thumbscrews, which can be removed after a few quick twists with your fingers rather than a screwdriver. Additionally, tool-less SSD and hard drive caddies make expanding and replacing your storage just a little bit easier.

Gaming PC vs. Console

When comparing a gaming PC vs. console, there appear to be more similarities than differences these days, but one still comes out on top—the gaming PC.

Not every aspect of a gaming PC beats consoles like the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. Consoles are much easier to use, as you need to worry less about the system internals playing nicely, and game launches are quicker and simpler. You’ll also find that even the most expensive consoles are cheap compared to a quality gaming PC with a good graphics card. There are some great handheld gaming PCs and mini PCs that are more affordable, but they’re better for indie games or older cross-platform console titles.

Where a gaming PC pulls ahead is in its gaming library, peripherals, upgradeability, and overall performance. There’s no denying that there are a massive amount of PC games, and of course, a gaming PC has cross-platform compatibility with popular console titles. Beyond the best gaming keyboards and gaming mice, you’ll find a wealth of other peripherals, from racing wheels to controllers, all of which work seamlessly with a PC. You also get better visuals and a higher performance ceiling, and it’s usually easy to upgrade components to get more out of your PC. That makes a well-equipped PC the clear winner.

Kevin Lee is IGN’s Hardware and Roundups Editor. Follow him on Twitter @baggingspam.

Image Credit: Annalee Tsujino is a multi disciplinary designer and illustrator. Check them out on Instagram @antsu_illustrations.