Gaming PCs are great because of the flexibility they offer. You can choose the parts you want to fit your needs and the type of games you play. While plenty of people like to put together their own PCs like the best PC builds, others prefer the simplicity of buying a rig that's ready to play out of the box.
If you're playing at 1080p, you may not need the highest-end CPU and graphics cards. But if you step up to 1440p or 4K, you'll want higher-end components. While a GPU is typically considered the gaming workhorse, a CPU is tied to gaming acumen and can help in multi-threaded workloads including video processing, rendering, and encoding.
Intel's latest chips are its Core Ultra 200S series, which are more efficient but aren't great gaming performers compared to previous generations. For Intel loyalists, 13th and 14th Gen chips are still good choices. AMD's Ryzen 9000 processors are a bit more powerful, but the true gaming champion is the cache-heavy Ryzen 7 9800X3D.
With the recent launch of Nvidia's RTX 50-series GPUs, including the RTX 5090, RTX 5080, and RTX 5070 Ti means that desktop companies are refreshing their high-end systems (in fact, with stock shortages, it may be the easiest way to get some of these graphics cards. AMD's RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 also debuted this year, offering strong value in the mainstream with 16GB of VRAM. While these cards finally step up to Nvidia on AI and ray tracing, they don't quite match it yet.
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.
Andrew is a Senior Editor on Tom's Hardware covering systems, including pre-built gaming PCs, laptops, consoles, and handhelds. He has been reviewing hardware for 10 years. While he loves his own DIY rig, Andrew appreciates pre-built gaming PCs because they let people easily step into PC gaming, and the best options give them the option to make customizations down the line.
Quick List
A Powerful Gaming PC With Top-Notch Build Quality
Corsair's Vengeance i7600 gaming PC stands out with its superior build quality, excellent gaming performance, quiet operation, and an extensive two-year warranty. It's an excellent choice for those looking to invest in a premium gaming rig.
Best Mid-range Gaming PC
The iBuyPower Y60 is a strong mid-range gaming desktop with plenty of room to grow. It comes in the beautiful (but large) Hyte Y60 case to show off your components, and we appreciate that you can get it for 32GB of RAM and 2TB of storage for a price that isn't crazy. It also offers a 240 mm liquid cooler, which some PCs in this price range don't include.
Best Full-Size Gaming PC
Alienware's Area-51 has returned after a hiatus, and it's bringing standardized parts with it. Finally, we're getting back to an Alienware rig with an ATX motherboard and a PSU meant for a gaming rig, not a server.
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Best Gaming PC for Upgrades
The Lenovo Legion 5i (Gen 8) is quiet with solid performance at 1080p. At under $1,200 as tested, it's the type of PC you can take out of the box and not have to worry too much about to get started.
A Gaming PC Under $1,500
The Maingear MG-1 Silver is an affordable starter PC that is well built with lots of upgrade options.
A Solid Value Prebuilt
The Predator Orion 5000 delivers excellent performance for the money, with a Core i7 and a GeForce RTX 4070 Super for about $1,500, though its looks and case aren’t as upscale as some competing PCs.
A Small PC to Fit on Your Desk
The Corsair One i500 is bigger than it used to be due to the size of today's GPUs, but it also got a makeover with wooden paneling. The larger size also makes it easy to upgrade, but this PC is only available in pricey configurations.
Best Prebuilt Gaming PCs You Can Buy Today
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A powerful gaming PC with top-notch build quality
✅ You want a quality build: Corsair is using its own case and standardized parts here, and the PC feels and looks premium.
✅ You're worried you might mess something up: Corsair sells the i7600 with a 2-year warranty, which is more support than most pre-builts gaming PCs.
❌ You want a bargain: More mainstream, big box towers may not look as nice, but they're often a bit cheaper.
Not all gaming PCs are created equal. While mainstream brands attract customers with lower prices, specialty aftermarket companies like Corsair can deliver a higher-quality rig. The Vengeance i7600, reviewed at $2,099.99 with an RTX 4070 Super and a Core Ultra 7 265K, incorporates many of Corsair's own components, giving it a custom-built, aftermarket feel while running quietly.
In our testing, the Core Ultra 7 265K processor and GeForce RTX 4070 Super graphics card showed they are well-matched, though this setup isn’t ideal for 4K gaming. Corsair offers higher-end configurations for that, including the Core Ultra 9 285K and the GeForce RTX 4090 (with RTX 5090 options likely coming soon). When I wasn't running benchmarks, F1 24 ran nice and smoothly.
I find it a bit odd that there's no RGB lighting control software preinstalled, but I was able to get around that by installing MSI Mystic Light, which was compatible with the MSI motherboard on our review unit.
I also appreciate that this system has some of the latest connectivity standards. It's still rarely fair to get Thunderbolt 4, but you can get those ports on this PC. Additionally, it supports Wi-Fi 7.
Although the Vengeance i7600 is pricier than mainstream options like the Lenovo Legion Tower 5i Gen 8, its aftermarket components, liquid cooling, and two-year warranty standard make the extra cost worthwhile for most prebuilt buyers. For an enthusiast-class gaming desktop that’s sure to impress, the Vengeance i7600 is an excellent choice.
Read: Corsair Vengeance i7600 review
Best Mid-range gaming PC
✅ You want a case that stands out: The iBuyPower Y60's case has a wraparound glass window that lets you see the internals from many angles.
✅ You need a keyboard and mouse: Included pack-ins aren't the best, but they're superior to the generic peripherals that also come with a gaming PC.
❌ You value space: The Y60 isn't a full-tower, but it's quite large for a mid-tower.
The iBuyPower Y60 is a strong mid-range performer with some bumped-up specs that will serve you well in the future. It's slightly pricer than some similar desktops that I've tested, but it comes with 32GB of RAM and 2TB of storage, which will let you store plenty of games and will serve you with demanding apps in the future.
You get a classy case — the Hyte Y60 — with this prebuilt, which gives you a wrap-around window to your components and a vertically-mounted GPU. While the motherboard doesn't have a USB Type-C port on the rear, I appreciate that there is one on the case.
Other desktops we tested in this range used air coolers that didn't impress. While liquid cooling isn't a must, the 240 mm liquid cooler in this case was quieter than on some competitors.
There are some downsides, namely in networking. This system uses Wi-Fi 6, which is getting a bit old as a standard. Some gamers may want to plug in Ethernet (always a best practice, if you can), particularly for big game downloads.
Additionally, the Hyte Y60 is a very large case by mid-tower standards. If you're wanting for space, you might want to peruse the other options on this list.
Read: iBuyPower Y60 Gaming Desktop review
A Powerful, Quiet PC with Room to Upgrade
✅ You want a PC that runs quiet: Say what you will about the fact that the Area-51 has no exhaust fans — it ran surprisingly quiet in our testing. The mix of intakes on the radiator, front of the case, and bottom brought in plenty of air.
✅ You need help upgrading: The Area-51 comes with a series of QR codes that give you advice on how to make upgrades in the future.
❌ You want the best gaming CPU for 1080p: Alienware went with Intel here, while AMD's Ryzen processors are currently better for gaming. The Intel Core Ultra option is great for productivity, though. For 4K gaming, the RTX 5090 we tested did great.
❌ You don't have a lot of room: The 80-liter chassis is really big. It's great for adding massive graphics cards down the line and has room for a 480 mm radiator, but many gaming PCs have smaller cases that better fit on or under your desk.
Alienware's Area-51 has returned after a hiatus, and it's bringing standardized parts with it. Finally, we're getting back to an Alienware rig with an ATX motherboard and a PSU meant for a gaming rig, not a server.
What excited me the most about this PC was just how quiet it ran. I won't tell you the fans are silent, but between our stress tests and my playing games on it, I never felt the need to rush for a headset. This surprised me, because there's no exhaust fan here — Alienware is using a series of large intakes to push cool air through the system and out the back.
While the RTX 5090 we tested the Alienware with is powerful, the Intel Core Ultra 285K isn't the best for gaming at 1080p. If you're into esports or want to push down your resolution to increase framerates, you may wish Alienware used Ryzen here.
While the parts are standardized, you will need a $35 adapter kit to replace the motherboard, as it needs to attach to a special daughterboard for fans, RGB lighting, and the power button. For many parts on the system, you can scan QR codes with your phone to get detailed instructions on how to make the upgrade, which is a nice perk for PC builders getting into the space with the Area-51.
The 80-liter chassis is massive, and takes up a ton of space on either a desk or a floor. While this leaves room for huge GPUs and plenty of uninterrupted airflow, you might want to consider other options if you prefer a mid-tower.
Read: Alienware Area-51 review
For 1080p Gaming
✅ You play games at 1080p: in our testing, this system's RTX 4060 delivered great FHD performance for the money.
❌ You're a stickler for cable management: The back of this system isn't gorgeous. But hey, the case fits on, right?
If you're buying a PC from a big box store rather than building it yourself, you're likely looking for something with solid performance, quiet operation, and decent quality that you otherwise don't have to think about.
The Lenovo Legion Tower 5i (Gen 8) checks those boxes, delivering strong 1080p gaming for under $1,200 as tested.
Despite a small 80 mm fan on the Core i5-14400F, the system offered quiet cooling and operation during our gameplay testing. Among competitors like the MSI Codex R2 and Maingear-1, I found that this system had quieter fans even when the system was under load.
You get a solid case with good build quality and customizable RGB lighting, though it lacks a front USB Type-C port, which is convenient as more accessories and peripherals move to the newer standard.
I don't think that it's a beautiful system, but if you're putting it under a desk anyway, you won't have to worry too much about that. The cable management is also a bit haphazard in the back, but as long as you can fit the case on, you should be golden.
Read more: Lenovo Legion Tower 5i review
A Gaming PC Under $1500
✅ You hate bloatware: Maingear didn't include any preinstalled software that we'd want to delete on this system.
✅ You want professional build quality: Even for an entry-level system, the Maingear MG-1 Silver was clearly put together with care.
❌ You don't like to clean: The MG1 Silver could use more dust filters to protect the fans and case from requiring frequent cleaning.
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. I was 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 to keep the fans clean. 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.
If you're playing games at 1080p, you shouldn't have an issue with the Silver. The RTX 4060 I tested in this machine was fine for games on high settings at FHD. If you want a 4K machine, though, you'll need to turn down the settings or pay more for a better graphics card.
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 Performancer
✅ You want a solid value: When we reviewed this PC, you could get a 14th Gen Intel Core i7 and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super for just $1,499.
❌ You want a fancy case: The Orion 5000's quality is average at best, and doesn't feel very premium despite the parts inside it.
The Acer Predator Orion 5000 isn't super flashy (beyond the RGB, of course), but it has the basics and then some. A mix of a 14th Gen Intel Core i7 and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super provide strong performance. It's a solid value under $2,000, and when we reviewed it it was at just $1,499. Considering it's been a bit since we reviewed it, I think you should ensure you get at least that price, if not something better.
In gaming, the 4070 Super showed off at 1080p and was able to run some of the benchmarks I ran at 4K. If you're willing to experiment with settings, this could be a sweet spot for price and performance.
I appreciate the variety of of ports, including 20GBps USB Type-C. There's a mix of USB-A and USB-C on top, which is only now becoming more popular.
With the money you save, you may be able to consider upgrading the CPU cooler later, as it can be a bit noisy while gaming. Or you can invest in headphones and get more games.
Read: Acer Predator Orion 5000 review
A Small PC to Fit on Your Desk
✅ You want something small: While the latest Corsair One has increased in size since the previous generation, it's still among the smallest pre-built gaming desktops you can get with real power.
✅ You're into mid-century modern: The wood paneling on the Corsair One certainly makes a statement. I happen to love it.
❌ CPU cooling is your priority: There's room for something bigger, burt Corsair has only put a 120 mm radiator on the processor.
It's not exactly a secret that many desktops end up sitting on the floor, not a desk. The Corsair One i500 is designed to fit on your desk, even if this version is a bit larger than previous iterations. The new model can fit large graphics cards, like the Nvidia RTX 4080 and RTX 4090, and also has a bit more room for upgradeability.
The One also follows another recent trend, offering wood paneling on the case. Corsair offers both dark and light wood, and in theory no two should look exactly the same. I'm a fan of the look, which mixes in some mid-century modern sensibilities with a bunch of metal and RGB.
Some of the cooling could use work, particularly on the CPU. There's a 120 mm radiator on the Core i9, but there's room for something bigger. That being said, performance didn't seem to suffer too much in my testing. It did great at 1080p and 4K, though it's not surprising that systems with RTX 4090 cards did even better.
If you don't like bloatware, you'll like that the One comes largely clean. Corsair doesn't even use its own iCue software, instead opting for a minimalist app to control the RGB lighting. There's also a touch strip on the front to control the effects, but the software is more exact.
Read: Corsair One i500 review
How We Test Gaming PCs
How we test gaming PCs
We put prebuilt gaming PCs through a number of benchmarks and other tests as part of our review process.
Currently, games that we run and may include in our reviews are:
Game | Preset |
|---|---|
Shadow of the Tomb Raider | Highest |
Grand Theft Auto V | Very High |
Cyberpunk 2077 | Ray Tracing Ultra |
Far Cry 6 | Ultra |
Red Dead Redemption 2 | Medium |
Borderlands 3 | Badass |
We also run a stress test, which currently consists of the Metro Exodus benchmark on the RTX preset, run 15 times in a loop while recording system statistics with HWInfo.
While productivity performance takes a backseat to gaming, we also run benchmarks such as Geekbench, Handbrake, and our proprietary file transfer test.
We also pore over a PC's build quality, components, cable management, and port selection. Ideally, we like to see a system that you can buy off the shelf, but upgrade or repair down the line if you need to. We prefer standardized parts and want to see clean cable management that makes it easy to swap out parts. In some more unique form-factors, we may give some of these a pass, but it has to provide benefits elsewhere.
If a test system includes a keyboard and mouse, we use them to evaluate if they add value or if you'll want to replace them. We don't typically penalize systems for not including peripherals.
Additionally, we spend time playing games and using systems on our own, playing games, listening for fan noise, and seeing how systems perform outside of benchmarks.
Gaming PC FAQs
◼ Is a gaming PC worth it?
Gaming PCs are different from consoles in that they provide significant levels of flexibility, from the components inside to tons of settings to tweak and adjust. If you want to make your gaming experience completely yours, a gaming PC is worth it.
There are other benefits. Games you buy once on stores like Steam or Epic Games will stay with you when you upgrade your rig, and you'll have access to decades of games.
If you don't care about those benefits and just want simplicity, you might be better off with a console. But even a cheaper gaming PC can be upgraded later.
◼ How much storage space do I need?
Look for at least a 256GB SSD boot drive, ideally paired with a larger secondary SSD or a best hard drive for storage. Get an SSD if at all possible; This will make your computer far faster than loading off of a traditional HDD, and has no moving parts.
◼ How much RAM do I 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 64GB or even 128GB.
◼ Are bigger gaming PCs better?
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.
◼ Why are gaming PCs expensive?
Gaming PC parts are expensive, partially due to intense demand for the latest graphics cards. But when you buy a pre-built system, you're also paying for labor, warranty service, and support. But with the price of GPUs these days, getting one in a desktop can sometimes be cheaper than going the standalone route.
Not all gaming PCs will break the bank. Some start for as little as $1,500, and you can upgrade down the line.
◼ Are gaming PCs good for video editing?
Gaming PCs often have high-power CPUs and graphics cards, both of which can be great for video editing. If you're using an Nvidia GPU, you might want to consider installing Studio drivers that offer the most compatibility with creative applications.
If you're a professional video editor, you may want to consider professional-grade CPUs and GPUs.
◼ Do gaming PCs use a lot of electricity?
It depends on the gaming PC, but in general, using a PC for playing intense video games requires more power than browsing the web, running spreadsheets, or streaming videos. In general, both CPUs and GPUs have been consuming more and more power year after year in order to improve performance. Anything higher than a mid-range system will use more electricity than a console.
If energy use is a primary concern, consider sticking to something like one of the best PC gaming handhelds.
GPU Hierarchy
The GPU is widely seen as the most important component in a gaming PC because it is the powerhouse behind graphics performance. In a pre-built, that's still the case, but you need to make sure you're getting a good value between the GPU, CPU, RAM, storage, motherboard, and other components.
Our GPU benchmarks hierarchy ranks current and past GPUs by performance so you can get an idea where your card stands. Here's a sampling of cards you may find in pre-built gaming PCs on the market now and how they rank:
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.