Jun 3, 2022 9:00 AM

The Best Desktop Gaming PCs

Forget hunting for a PlayStation 5. A desktop PC lets you play thousands of games on Steam and glows in the dark while you're doing it.

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Consoles like the Nintendo Switch or PlayStation 5 may be great for gaming, but they're hard to come by. Fortunately, a good old-fashioned gaming PC is always an option. If you want to get access to the massive library of games on stores like Steam and Epic, we've got some of the best gaming PCs collected here.

Since gaming desktops can be upgraded more frequently than consoles, they can deliver high-fidelity visuals unrivaled by most other systems. Paired with the right peripherals—a quick and responsive mouse, a mechanical keyboard, and a good headset, not to mention some of the best PC games—a gaming PC can quickly become the place you spend most of your free time.

Choosing a gaming desktop can be incredibly complex, though. There are several factors to consider, including specs, what kinds of games you're going to play, and how many thousand RGB lights you want on it. Building your own PC is also a great option if you’re handy and want to upgrade it over time, but for everyone else, these are the best gaming desktops we've tested.

Updated June 2022: We've added the Maingear Vybe system, updated the Alienware Aurora R13, and removed the Acer Predator Orion 3000.

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Photograph: MSI
Best Compact Desktop
MSI Trident X
Sometimes you just need something small and speedy. For anyone who doesn't have the extra space for a gaming setup or the desire to dedicate a corner of your hangar bay to housing a big old desk, look no further than the MSI Trident X. The Trident is about the size of a standard game console, like an Xbox Series X or the PlayStation 5 (OK, maybe not that big.) It's the perfect size to slip beside your TV or into an entertainment center. Despite its compactness, the Trident X is a powerful gaming machine that can play most anything without trouble.
As listed on Amazon, the Trident comes with a GeForce RTX 2070 graphics card and 32 gigabytes of RAM, which should be enough horsepower for most of the latest games.
$2,202 at Amazon
$2,399 at Microsoft Store
Photograph: Dell
Sleek and Stylish
Alienware Aurora R13
Alienware's design language used to be all about making computers look like angular space artifacts; cursed objects half-hidden beneath the sands of Mars, humming with power. More recent Alienware products, like the Aurora R13, embrace a smoother, more organic-looking exterior, and I couldn't be happier.
The Aurora R13 is a powerful gaming desktop, but it's also a conversation piece. Its smooth, rounded exterior makes it look like a big speaker or air purifier, and I mean that in the best way. Those design flourishes aren't just for show—that sleek chassis is designed to maximize heat dissipation and ensure that cool air is well distributed among internal components.
You want at least an Intel Core i7 processor (i3 and i5 are weaker). It will also come with a graphics card from the RTX 30XX lineup, which will give you ample power for your money.
$1,299 at Dell

Photograph: Origin
Bespoke Beauty
Origin PC Millennium
Visiting Origin's website to shop for a PC is like walking into a sleek spaceport with merchants from all over the galaxy. There is a wealth of customization options at your fingertips, and each PC is built to order, so you can be sure you're getting exactly what you want. On top of that, the Origin Millennium is a remarkably solid machine that's built to last. It arrives at your doorstep in a crate worthy of the Ark of the Covenant. Origin's attention to detail makes it one of the best gaming rigs money can buy.
Origin's configuration is super comprehensive. We suggest an AMD Ryzen build, starting with a Ryzen 5 5600X processor and GeForce RTX 3060 graphics card. If you don't have strong opinions on them, the default motherboard and fan options are fine.
$2,257 at Origin PC
Photograph: Maingear
Personalized Power
Maingear Vybe
Maingear's customizable machines are some of the best blends of prebuilt and DIY gaming PCs. You can pick from a selection of prebuilt arrangements or customize every part. The company will then ship the PC out to you, fully assembled, with what we found to be impressive cable management and plenty of stylish LEDs.
Unlike many prebuilt PCs, however, Maingear's are still built with standard parts, so you can upgrade them later. We tested a fully tricked-out $7,000 machine with an RTX 3090 Ti, and it chewed through fast-paced games like Doom: Eternal. Normally, paying such a premium would make us worry about longevity, but knowing parts can be upgraded makes it easier to customize a build and not worry that it will be useless in five years.
$1,699 at Maingear

Photograph: NZXT
A Custom PC on Rails
NZXT BLD
One of the best ways to get a great gaming PC is to build one yourself, but if you're not up for learning how to put it together—and we can't blame you, it's not simple—then NZXT offers the next best thing. The company's BLD gaming PCs let you pick the parts you'd like in your gaming rig, using handy wizards that will give you an idea of what your new machine will be capable of.
You can see frame-rate estimates for popular games like Fortnite or Minecraft that will update based on which graphics card, processor type, or other components you choose. This can help you decide on the right parts even if you're not sure what they all mean. Once you've chosen your build, the company will put it together and ship it to you.
Buy at NZXT
Photograph: Nvidia
Do It Yourself
How to Find a Good Deal
Set a Budget: If you're new to PC gaming, it's easy to get overwhelmed by the price of entry. You don't need to spend $2,000; PC gaming is just as much about deal hunting as it is about, you know, playing games. You can put together a solid rig for $700 to $1,000. We have a full guide on how to build a PC if you're ready to take the plunge.
Choose a Graphics Card: For a gaming desktop, your graphics card is your most important piece of hardware, but that doesn’t mean you need the best one. An older GeForce GTX 10XX will be OK for some games (and possibly easier to find), but the newer GeForce RTX 20XX will handle modern games more easily. The GeForce RTX 30XX are more future-proof, but it’s nearly impossible to find at MSRP right now. Fun fact: One of the most reliable ways to get an RTX 30XX is to buy a PC with the card already inside, remove it, and sell the remaining parts.
For most people building a gaming PC, the 10-series will do for shoestring-budget machines, and 20-series cards will get you to the middle of the pack. Unfortunately, tricking out a high-end PC right now is a chaotic market due to supply chain shortages.
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Jaina Rodriguez Grey is a product writer and reviewer at WIRED covering coffee, sex tech, and gaming. Previously, she was a legal researcher for Thomson Reuters and a tech reporter for Digital Trends. She currently resides in Portland, Oregon, with her partner and a pet rabbit named Lola.

Writer and Reviewer

Eric Ravenscraft is a product writer and reviewer at WIRED, based in Austin, Texas. He's guided readers on how to use technology for nearly a decade for publications including Lifehacker, OneZero, and The New York Times. He also streams on Twitch for WIRED occasionally and can be found on YouTube... Read more

Product Writer and Reviewer

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