The Best Gaming Desktop That Is Worth Your Investment in 2023

When making an order on a pre-build, pay attention to lead times. There are some manufacturers that have a lead time lasting from three to four weeks before being able to deliver customized desktops to customers. There are other shops that can ship PCs in a matter of days but they can’t be customized now. Since more PC components are becoming readily available, such as GPUs and CPUs, the wait times for a gaming desktop should be shorter as well. 

The best gaming desktop should be equipped with a top-notch graphics card and the best gaming CPU, as long as they do not break the bank. That is the reason why we ran tests on systems that have the best per-dollar framerate value at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K. The list below contains PCs from all budget types, from a low cost to a premium.  

Check out the list of the best gaming desktops in 2023 you can purchase right now.

• The best AMD gaming desktop: Alienware Aurora R10 Ryzen Edition. Check Amazon

• The best Intel gaming desktop: Alienware Aurora R13. View Amazon

• The best gaming desktop for streaming: Corsair Vengeance. Check Amazon

• The best gaming desktop that costs about $1,500: HP Omen.  View Amazon

• A special gaming desktop: Corsair One. Check Amazon

1. Alienware Aurora R10 Ryzen Edition.

The Aurora Ryzen Edition R10 delivers the AMD Ryzen 5000-series CPUs powered by Zen 3 and either the RX 6000-series graphics cards from AMD or the RTX 30-series from Nvidia with high-level performance. This is one of the rare PCs where you can find an AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT as well — The GPU from the red team is more than capable of competing one-to-one with Nvidia's GeForce RTX 3080. 

The most recent AMD Ryzen processors give an excellent example of great performance and price. The Ryzen 9 5900X is a brilliant chip thanks to its gaming ability and productivity. This CPU that’s composed of 12 cores and 24 threads demonstrates AMD’s ability to utilize its Zen 3 architecture based on a smart chiplet  to produce a reasonably priced and extremely high core-count processor for a gaming desktop. 

And while the older model AMD chips couldn’t compete with Intel in gaming, the now available Ryzen series is the opposite when being paired with one of the most recent Nvidia or AMD graphics cards. 

Currently, there are eleven configurations that are offered, although they can totally be customized before purchase if you prefer to choose a different GPU or CPU or an SSD with more capacity. The selection process begins from the superb GTX 1660 and an RX 5600X with 6 cores to the powerful GeForce RTX 3090 and the killer Ryzen 9 5950X with 32 threads and 16 cores. 

The configuration choices are definitely worth being considered, since the option with the lowest spec just comes with one DDR4 memory, which will reduce the available bandwidth by half, compared to running two of them at similar capacity. This is costly, however, and there aren’t any options to have either a couple of 4GB sticks or a single 8GB stick.

Regarding the SSD, its 256GB capacity isn’t going to give you much improvement with Windows 11 and Forza Horizon 5 installed simultaneously. 

Alienware is currently giving two chassis options : dark and light color. The Aurora cases are not very easily upgraded because of their custom-made design. They are quite strange to look into unless you don’t want to upgrade it yourself. And soon you will understand why they don’t provide side panels made of tempered glass yet once you take a look inside. 

But as an entry-level gaming rig, the Alienware Aurora R10 won’t disappoint you. It can now be shipped in a matter of a week, which is so much for the deficiency of GPUs that slow everything down by two months.  

SPECIFICATIONS

• GPU: Nvidia’s GTX 1660 Super–Nvidia RTX 3090

• RAM: 8GB–32GB DDR4

• CPU: AMD’s Ryzen 5 5600X–Ryzen 9 5950X

• Storage: 1TB–1TB HDD + 1TB SSD

• Warranty: 1  year.

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PROS

• Has a combo of both Nvidia GPU and AMD CPU 

• Plenty of USB ports on of USB 

• Post-sale customer service

CONS

• Case design is divisive

2. Alienware Aurora R13

While its celestial style might not be everyone’s cup of tea, the Alienware Aurora R13 gives a spectacular performance. The most recent Aurora R13 utilizes an innovative design compared with its Aurora predecessors. The Alienware’s new chassis provides a home for both the Intel 12th Gen CPUs and Nvidia’s RTX 30-series GPUs. 

Just like the Aurora R10 Ryzen Version, Alienware provides options of both AMD and Nvidia graphics cards, but customization is also available if you want to choose from either RX 6900 XT or the Radeon RX 6800 XT cards. Additionally, Alienware provides 8 different configurations, ranging from the low-priced gaming PC which features the superb GTX 1650 and Core i5 12400F to the killer RTX 3090 gaming rigs.

This gives you a variety of options for Alienware gaming desktops, ranging from reasonably priced 1080p all the way to ferocious 4K gaming performance. In addition, the Alienware AIO cooling system will help maintain the warm interior of the case at an appropriate temperature. 

While the readily available configurations offered are great, it’s completely worth paying heed to the customization alternatives if you truly want a great gaming rig. Our selected setup, which features the RTX 3060 Ti GPU and Core i7 12700F, is only equipped with 512GB of SSD. But the good news is it is sold with double channel DDR5 memory, compared to the singular sticks that it has been accused of having in the past. 

We have tested the RTX 3090 edition of the last-gen Aurora R10 and in terms of gaming, there aren’t as many higher frame rates as there are in the RTX 3080 build. This isn’t such a big surprise given the fact that we have run tests on the RTX 3090. The 24GB frame buffer is only useful for creative tasks. 

The uncommon case design makes use of every tiny bit of its limited space, but initially it feels a bit strange to play around with. Nevertheless, being able to get access to almost all parts of the PC without the need for tools is a big plus, as it accelerates maintenance and upgrades. Obviously, there’s a priority on creating a convenient and high-quality product with upgrade potential, and the Aurora is just about to achieve that goal. 

You can get an Alienware Aurora R13 after one or two weeks currently, which is good news if you are in a rush.  

SPECIFICATIONS

• GPU: Nvidia GTX 1650 Super–RTX 3090

• RAM: 8GB DDR5-4400–64GB DDR5-4400

• CPU: Intel Core i5 12400F–Core i9 12900KF

• Storage: Up to 1TB M.2 PCIe SSD + 1TB SATA HDD

• Warranty: 1  year.

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PROS

• Accessible without any tool

• Can be upgraded

• Excellent post-sale support

CONS

• Higher-end configurations are costly

• Lack of storage options

3. Corsair Vengeance

The reason why Razer wants to follow Corsair so much is that Corsair is currently one of the top producers of PC gaming hardware. Through some smart merging combined with product expansion, the company has now touched base on almost all areas related to gaming. Through continual product expansion, and some super-smart acquisitions, Corsair now has its fingers in pretty much every facet of our hobby. 

As a matter of fact, GPUs, motherboards, and CPUs are the only components Corsair hasn’t worked on but still, its logo remains on all best-quality gaming desktops. 

And if you want to jump start your Twitch streaming career, Corsair’s integrated tech with Elgato in its PC lineup makes it a perfect option for emerging stream-stars. 

Similarly, the mightful combo of AMD CPU and Nvidia GPU accommodates your streaming and gaming without major issues. The highlight of this system is the optional Elgato 4K60 Pro capture card in the particular "Streaming" machines. This can support 4K gaming footage capture without any delay from your gaming desktop, 4K camera via HDMI, or consoles. 

Of course you can simply use Sure, you can just use Nvidia's Shadowplay or OBS Studio but you’ll need to cope with some overhead. A professional capture card can help you fix the problem and it’s great for live broadcasts. 

Since Corsair’s acquisition of Elgato, it has gained access to some of the best streaming hardware for its Vengeance machines. Combining that with the top-notch quality components from Corsair creates an excellent gaming and streaming rig. Corsair is surely capable of creating a great PC build. 

So far we have talked about its more custom-made Corsair One Desktops, which look similar to the softer Series X or Mac Pro, which are all great computers. However, the Vengeance gaming desktop is more simple, which means they’re also much more easily upgradable in the future.

Corsair's chassis are among some of the world’s best and are mostly used for DIY projects. This makes Vengeance a great choice among the best around, and they're most accessible for DIY projects. The only problem with that is the company doesn’t involve itself in the production of more reasonably priced PCs.   

For $1000, you’re not going to get a starter PC so don’t expect to be on a budget when it comes to Corsair’s gaming machines. These PCs are more for the enthusiasts who prefer more premium gaming desktops.

SPECIFICATIONS

• GPU: Up to AMD RX 6800 XT or Nvidia RTX 3090

• RAM: Up to 64GB DDR4-3200

• CPU: Up to AMD 5900X or Intel 10850K

• Storage: 2x 2TB SSD

• Warranty: 2  years.

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PROS

• Decent performance

• Interesting case

• 4K capture card

CONS

• Not an entry-level machine

• A larger SSD is required.

4. HP Omen

Hewlett Packard has been established since before World War II. Its long-standing expertise shows evidence in the construction and design of the Omen series. Of course they are smaller in size now than in the past but their heritage remains till now. HP Omen provides numerous customizable options, from 25L to 45L systems, which allows for your selection of Nvidia, Intel, and AMD GPU and CPU options. 

That configuration can also be set up in the storage and memory requirements as well, allowing you to custom your system. HP Omen gaming PCs are on the more restricted side of PC gaming, so it’ll be impossible to find an extremely meticulous cooling system or a giant setup of marvelous RGB lighting. Tall and thin towers still possess some of the most high-quality hardware nowadays. 

Omen systems are properly named as plain black computing power blocks. If you prefer compact form design and smooth lines over RGB lighting, the slightly gloomy and dark styling of the HP series is a good choice for you. 

So far, we have reviewed gaming desktops with last-gen CPUs, which can be an economical way since they still come with the most recent Nvidia GPUs. It’s possible to get last-gen GPUs, but it’s recommended that you stay away from either the RTX 2080 or RX 5500 Super PCs. These products are slightly more pricey and the hardware for graphics will become outdated faster than other components. 

HP has lately improved its products and integrated more choices from Intel's Alder Lake up, although it still comes with DDR4 memory due to the high cost of DDR5 right now. This might change in the future, but we tend to lean towards the mid-range and budget options because from a value for money perspective, it makes more sense. 

SPECIFICATIONS

• GPU: Up to Nvidia RTX 3090

• RAM: Up to 64GB DDR4-3733

• CPU: Ryzen 9 5900X or Intel Core i9 12900K 

• Storage:  Up to 2TB M.2 SSD and additional HDD storage

• Warranty: 1 year

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PROS

• Sturdy components

• Designed to remove unnecessary frills to bring down the cost

CONS

• Software is limited

• Airflow is not the most optimal

5. Corsair One

Corsair has utilized the most updated components from Nvidia, AMD, and Intel in its compact gaming desktops. The Corsair One i300 is the most recent edition of the compact premium gaming computer with top-notch hardware.  

The storage or memory in this gaming rig can’t be overlooked. Its DDR5 is the one that’s hard to find in the market. And 64GB is more than enough to run just about any game you like without any issue. This allows for long-lasting performance without the need to upgrade anytime soon. 

The Corsair One A200 and i300’s gaming performance is unmatched. They feature an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti and an AMD Ryzen 9 5950X. Meanwhile, for Intel, the most up-to-date Alder Lake chips, such as the powerful Core i9 12900K, are available. It's crazy how much you can put into such a small chassis and still are able to have it moderately quiet and cool. 

One thing that hasn’t had much change since its first appearance is the chassis. The reason why this is such a beautiful computer is that it is built around high-end components. Not only is this a machine that makes your desk look more stunning but it also saves up space thanks to its compact form that measures only half as deep as most mid-tower systems and more wonderfully, it runs very quietly. 

To achieve this, the Corsair One uses two compact liquid coolers for CPU and GPU each. CPU temperatures might be a little high during vigorous operations. However, there’s hardly anything that these chips can’t handle. 

The temperatures of premium computers can get very high. The Core i9 12900K in this gaming desktop is a chip that’s hungry for power. It can absorb up to 241W and become heated when put even in much larger systems with three fan coolers. However, it’s still an amazingly mighty CPU and one of the most speedy machines that we have ever used. 

Overall, the Corsair One is a gaming desktop that is packed with the most updated hardware in a bold and beautiful looking case. This is a machine that many game geeks would love to own but only a few can afford. 

SPECIFICATIONS

• GPU: Up to RTX 3080 Ti

• RAM: Up to 64GB DDR4 3200

• CPU: Up to AMD Ryzen 5950X or Intel i9 12900K 

• Storage:  Gen4 PCIe SSD up to 2TB

• Warranty: 2 years

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PROS

• Incredible hardware

• Silent running

• 4K gaming powerhouse

• Great looks

CONS

• CPU runs a bit too hot

• Not very easy to upgrade

Also check out: 

• Best Gaming PCs under $500

• Best Gaming PCs under $800

• Best Gaming PCs under $1000

• Best Gaming PCs under $1500

• Best Gaming PCs in 2022

• Why do we buy a prebuilt gaming desktop? 

One of the major benefits of building your own PC is the opportunity to choose every component according to your wishes. This allows you to have the time to shop for the best deals and find the best combo that matches your performance requirements and budget. The disadvantage of this process is that for the inexperienced, it can occupy lots of time and cause headache if anything goes wrong. And you are only warranted on individual components, not the whole PC, which is where the best gaming desktop outperforms.

• What do you benefit from a prebuilt gaming PC? 

When you pay for a prebuilt gaming PC, you don’t just pay for the product itself. You also pay for warranty, post-sale support, and the relief that you’re buying a system put together by professionals. These are several things that are highly valued when considering purchasing the best gaming desktop. Other benefits that are also worth noticing are upgradability and design or anything else that you are incapable of doing when building a PC on your own. 

• What are the differences between a pre-build and a DIY build? 

One of the biggest factors that set PCs apart from other competitors is their design. Prebuilt computers such as the Corsair One or Alienware Aurora R11 use in-house chassis designs that are 100% unique. You can take a relief to know that these systems are designed and constructed particularly to house your configuration, although that can make upgradability a little more difficult in the future.

When we decided to pick our top choices for the best gaming desktop, we reviewed almost all big suppliers to find the best combo for value, customer feedback, design, reliability, and performance for different budget types and needs.