A gaming PC is one of the most flexible ways to play games, with options to upgrade and pick just the parts you need. There’s plenty to keep in mind when buying a gaming PC: power, size, components and what resolution you want to play at. If all you need is to play a few AAA titles at 1080p, you may not need a high-end CPU and graphics card.
But if you want to play at 1440p or 4K, then you need to start thinking about saving more for your rig. CPU horsepower is also tied to gaming acumen, but branching out into anything much over a quad-core processor will primarily see performance gains in multi-threaded workloads such as video processing, rendering and encoding, not games.
Because component shortages have become less of a problem, you may now be able to get a prebuilt gaming PC with one of the best graphics cards for gaming without paying a hefty premium or having to wait weeks or months for you system to arrive.
Intel recently relased its 14th Gen “Raptor Lake Refresh” processors, including the Core i9-14900K, Core i7-14700K and Core i5-14600K. Those processors are now starting to appear in prebuilt PCs. We’re not sure when AMD is going to release a competitor, but in our recent testing, we’ve found that AMD’s X3D chips are still the most powerful for gaming.
On the graphics front, Nvidia is in the process of rolling out its latest RTX 40-series cards, starting with the RTX 4090, RTX 4080, RTX 4070 Ti and RTX 4070. More recently, Nvidia launched the RTX 4060 Ti and RTX 4060 for more mainstream prices, with rumors of an RTX 4050 Ti coming soon. In some cases, you may still find systems with the RTX 30-series, which Nvidia has suggested co-exists with its 40-series, though you won’t get some features like DLSS 3.
Intel launched its Arc A770 and A750, providing power on the low-end and mid-range, but they’re not as popular in prebuilts. And AMD’s high-end 7900 XT and 7900 XTX are also recent powerful performers in the mix.
Computex 2023 showed a series of new motherboards, cases, SSDs, and even experimental GPUs and motherboards with rear connectors. It’s possible we’ll see some of these components land in pre-builts by the end of the year.
We’ll jump into our tested picks for best prebuilt gaming PCs directly below. But if you want more advice about how to shop and specific things to look for, our buying advice follows our top gaming PC picks.
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Quick List
A Powerful, Quiet PC with Room to Upgrade
The MSI Infinite RS 13th delivers powerful performance with an Nvidia RTX 4090 and Intel Core i9, as long as you’re willing to pay for it.
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A Gaming PC Under $1,500
The Maingear MG-1 Silver is a desktop that feels premium, even if it has the performance of a starter rig.
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Powerful Performance with Improved Cooling
The Alienware Aurora R15 is a powerhouse prebuilt with top-end components offering better performance and cooling than its predecessors.
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Best Premium Small Form Factor Gaming PC
The Corsair One i300 is a console-like prebuilt PC that takes up very little space on a desk.
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5. Lenovo Legion Tower 7i (Gen 8)
Upgradeable With Few Frills
The Lenovo Legion Tower 7i is a capable gaming machine with plenty of upgrade possibilities down the line, and a powerful RTX 4080 GPU option is capable of playing games at 4K.
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Best Prebuilt Gaming PCs You Can Buy Today
A Powerful, Quiet PC with Room to Upgrade
If you’re looking for the best of the best, the MSI Infinite RS 13th delivers top-of-the-line performance, as long as you’re willing to pay for it. Between the 13th Gen Intel Core i9 and a liquid-cooled Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090, this system delivers awesome performance, while still being quiet and upgradeable down the line.
All of the parts are standard, and the case (the MSI Prospect 700RL) is roomy. In fact, for some it may be too roomy! But it can fit the two radiators and nine fans that made this system all but silent in our testing.
A keyboard and mouse are included, though you’ll likely want to get something a bit nicer.
In our testing, we got some incredible performance out of the Infinite. If you value smooth gameplay and upgradeability out of your prebuilt and will sacrifice room on or under your desk, this is the one to consider.
Read: MSI Infinite RS 13th review
A Gaming PC Under $1,500
A lot of the gaming PCs we test are top-of-the-line, top-of-budget machines. But it doesn’t always have to be that way. We were impressed by the Maingear MG-1 Silver, largely because it’s a mid-range system that doesn’t feel like you’re getting much less.
The chassis still feels fairly premium, though it could use some more dust filters. It has impeccable cable management, and all of the parts are name-brand, giving you ample room to upgrade later on. And there’s no bloatware on the system, so you don’t have to spend time uninstalling lots of junk before you get to gaming.
The only component we had issue with was the Solidigm P41 Plus in our review unit, which was sluggish at 489.65 MBps. The motherboard in our unit did have room for another SSD, however.
We tested the Shroud Edition of the Maingear MG-1 Silver, which comes with special edition magnetic faceplates. That adds an extra $100 to the $1,149 starting price, so unless you’re a big fan of Shroud, the esports gamer and Twitch streamer, stick to the regular version, which is otherwise identical and spend that money on games.
Read: Maingear MG-1 Silver (Shroud Edition) Review
Powerful Performance with Improved Cooling
The Alienware Aurora R15’s biggest updates are all about cooling. Alienware parent Dell has added in a 240 mm radiator, finally moving on from a 120 mm cooler, which should allow for much better CPU performance. There is also more ventilation on the side, and this all made for a quieter PC to our ears.
It’s not much of a surprise that with an Intel Core i9-13900KF and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090, the Aurora plowed through our benchmarks measuring gaming and productivity performance.
On the one hand, we really like how many ports are accessible on the front of the Aurora, including three USB Type-A ports, a USB Type-C port and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. The downside is that Alienware is using a proprietary motherboard to achieve that, making it difficult to fully upgrade the system in the future.
The GPU, RAM and CPU are accessible on our model, and there’s room for additional storage. (Our review unit was maxed out, so there wouldn’t be much of a reason to make many changes outside of storage anytime soon).
For those who want Alienware’s latest chassis, we also recently reviewed the Aurora R16, which is smaller but comes in more limited configurations.
Read: Alienware Aurora R15 Review
Our suggested Alienware Aurora config:
Best Premium Small Form Factor Gaming PC
In some ways, the Corsair One i300 is a console-like prebuilt PC. It takes up very little space on a desk with a 6.93 x 7.87-inch base that rises slightly taller than an Xbox Series X. But in that metal chassis is a set of top-end components, including an Intel Core i9-12900K, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, 64GB of DDR5 RAM and a 2TB PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD.
The design pulls in air through the sides and exhausts it out the top, and it’s not particularly loud. But that same petite form factor is what makes it difficult to upgrade. Sure, it’s possible, but you have very limited room to work with, and the sides don’t come off because the radiators are connected to them.
In order to get this top-tier, tiny system, you’ll have to pay a high price, however. We tested it at a wallet-busting $4,999, and the other configuration with Intel’s 12th Gen CPUs starts at $3,649.99. If that’s too much (and it is a lot of money!) you may want to consider some of the cheaper options on this list.
Read: Corsair One i300 Review
Our suggested Corsair One config:
Upgradeable With Few Frills
The Lenovo Legion Tower 7i isn’t the flashiest prebuilt gaming PC, but with standardized parts, it’s upgradeable for the future. We’re fans of the board’s four M.2 slots, which allow room for lots of storage (though one is taken up by the Wi-Fi card).
There are four USB Type-A ports on the front, which is a nice amount for a gaming desktop, and it means you won’t have to reach behind the system just to plug in some accessories or external storage.
The combination of the Intel Core i9-13900KF and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 provided strong gaming scores across our benchmarks. Those should also make for a powerful workhorse, though our system wasn’t running at advertised RAM speeds. While it includes DDR5-5600 RAM in the system, the sticks ran at 4,400 MHz, which may have an effect, particularly in productivity applications.
But those looking for a gaming PC that doesn’t stand out too much will have a powerful gaming PC in the Legion, especially if they’re looking to make changes to the internals later.
Read: Lenovo Legion Tower 7i (Gen 8) Review
How to Choose a Gaming PC
How to Choose a Gaming PC
- Bigger isn’t always better: You don’t need a huge tower to get a system with high-end components. Only buy a big desktop tower if you like the look of it and want lots of room to install future upgrades.
- Get an SSD if at all possible: This will make your computer far more faster than loading off of a traditional HDD, and has no moving parts. Look for at least a 256GB SSD boot drive, ideally paired with a larger secondary SSD or a best hard drive for storage.
- You can’t lose with Intel or AMD: As long as you opt for a current-generation chip, both companies offer comparable overall performance. Intel’s CPUs tend to perform a bit better when running games at lower resolutions (1080p and below), while AMD’s Ryzen processors often handle tasks like video editing better, thanks to their extra cores and threads.
- Don’t buy more RAM than you need: 8GB is OK in a pinch, but 16GB is ideal for most users. Serious game streamers and those doing high-end media creation working with large files will want more, but will have to pay a lot for options going as high as 64 or even 128GB.
- Don’t buy a multi-card gaming rig unless you have to: If you’re a serious gamer, get a system with the best-performing single graphics card you can afford. Many games don’t perform significantly better with two or more cards in Crossfire or SLI, and some perform worse, forcing you to disable an expensive piece of hardware to get the best experience possible. Because of these complications, you should only consider a multi-card desktop if you are after more performance than can be achieved with the best high-end consumer graphics card.
- The power supply is important: Does the PSU offer enough juice to cover the hardware inside? (In most cases, the answer is yes, but there are some exceptions, particularly if you intend to overclock a CPU.) Additionally, note if the PSU will offer enough power for future upgrades to GPUs and other components. Case size and expansion options vary drastically between our picks.
- Ports matter: Beyond the connections necessary to plug in your monitor(s), you’ll want plenty of USB ports for plugging in other peripherals and external storage. Front-facing ports are very handy for flash drives, card readers, and other frequently used devices. For added future-proofing, look for a system with USB 3.1 Gen 2 and USB-C ports.
Graphics cards, including Nvidia’s RTX 4090, RTX 3090, RTX 3080, and RTX 3070 GPUs, have dropped in price and are easier to buy than they were months ago. That being said, supply chain issues mean you may still have to shop around a little bit to get what you want in your desktop.
For most people, budget plays the biggest role in a desktop buying decision. You can sometimes find good deals on big-box desktops when they go on sale, but you’ll be stuck with the components chosen by the likes of HP, Lenovo or Dell. The beauty of a custom-built PC is that you can adjust the component configuration until it suits your needs and budget. We are happy, though, to see more builds coming with standardized parts than ever before, so you can upgrade them later on.
Between Intel’s Raptor Lake CPUs, AMD’s Ryzen 7000 processsors and the latest GPUs from Nvidia, AMD and Intel, we should expect some refreshes in the coming months.
Discounts on the Best Gaming PCs
Discounts on the Best Gaming PCs
If you’re looking for a system that’s among our best gaming PCs or something similar, you may find savings by checking out the latest Newegg promo codes, Corsair coupon codes, Dell coupon codes, HP coupon codes, Lenovo coupon codes or Razer promo codes.
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