HP Omen Gaming Desktops Bring Liquid Cooled Intel And AMD CPUs, Radeon And RTX GPUs To Striking Designs
by
Zak Killian
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Tuesday, January 04, 2022, 01:25 PM EDT
It's not a total exaggeration to say that PC gaming is among the main reasons that anyone is buying desktop PCs anymore. This fact hasn't escaped the top-tier OEMs, and so it goes, then, that HP is launching a big pile of new PCs for play at CES 2022. A couple of new and refreshed Omen desktops, a fancy Omen-branded 4K monitor, and a little Victus desktop comprise the company's gaming system offerings for the new year.
We'll start things off with the flagship Omen 45L desktop. That's not just some cryptic model number; it literally stands for "45 liters," as that's the displacement of this full-sized tower PC. This is pretty much your standard full-size ATX gaming PC, with few surprises, but that's a good thing in this case given that it appears to be built using more-or-less off-the-shelf components.
HP Omen 45L desktop. (click to enlarge)
The Omen 45L is configurable, of course, but the top-end setup ships with an Intel Core i9-12900K Alder Lake CPU, 64GB of DDR4-3733 memory, a pair of 2TB WD Black M.2 SSDs, and a GeForce RTX 3090 graphics card, although if you bleed AMD Red you can instead get it with a Ryzen 9 5900X and a Radeon RX 6700 XT. It includes liquid cooling on the CPU, and an 800W power supply from Cooler Master that HP says passes 80 PLUS Gold certification.
The most notable thing about the Omen 45L—at least, aside from its use of standard system components—is the so-called "cryo chamber" on top of the system. The liquid-cooling radiator for the CPU rests in this vented box atop the system; separated by an air gap from the main system cavity, it's able to use outside air to chill its coolant. HP claims that the cryo chamber can provide a drop of 6°C at full load compared to a similar model without the chamber.
HP Omen 45L ATX case. (click to enlarge)
If you're not interested in liquid cooling, HP will also sell essentially the same system as the Omen 45L without the cryo chamber, known simply as the Omen 40L. It's the same chassis, just without the extra vented box on top. Alternatively, if you're really into liquid cooling but you'd rather choose your components yourself, HP will be selling the Omen 45L chassis separately. The case (seen above) will will support ATX motherboards and power supplies, a pair each of 2.5" drives and 3.5" disks, and up to seven 120mm fans. It'll also include an ARGB lighting controller and fan hub.
HP Omen 25L in new white color. (click to enlarge)
Of course, upgradeable chassis with standard components are nothing new for the Omen brand. The Omen 25L (which was launched in the middle of last year) is getting a mid-life refresh with new component choices, an optional tempered glass window panel, and a white color choice. HP says you can get an Omen 25L with your selection of "the latest AMD Ryzen processors" or 12th-gen Intel CPUs, although apparently Core i9s and Ryzen 9s are right out. GPU-wise, selections range up to the GeForce RTX 3080 or the Radeon RX 6700 XT, and you can stuff 64GB of fancy HyperX RAM and a pair of 1TB WD Black SSDs in the system.
HP Victus 15L SFF gaming PCs. (click to enlarge)
Last and likely least (at least for this lineup), we have the "Victus by HP 15L Desktop." Victus, for those out of the loop, is HP's new lifestyle gaming brand. The idea is that Omen will remain for high-end enthusiast products while Victus fills out the range with systems that are still suited for serious gaming, but are both more budget- and design-conscious than the Omen series. Victus launched with a 16" laptop that offered surprisingly solid value for the money earlier this year; the Victus 15L is the first desktop for the brand.
Naturally, then, the small-form-factor Victus 15L desktop can be had with CPUs up to the 12th-gen Core i7s or "the latest AMD Ryzen 7 5000G processors." It's not clear if that means Ryzen fans would have to accept a "G"-series chip or not, but we'd wager on "yes." GPU options on the little machine scale up to a GeForce RTX 3060 Ti or a Radeon RX 6600 XT, and it can be kitted-out with a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD, a 2TB HDD, and up to 32GB of RAM.
The Victus 15L desktop comes in your choice of black or white models, and the Victus "V" logo on the front is a stylish infinity mirror lit with RGB LEDs. Like the other two systems, the Victus 15L comes with the Omen Gaming Hub software preinstalled; aside from futzing with the LEDs, you can also use this software to adjust system parameters and tweak performance, although the options are relatively limited on the Victus compared to the Omen machines.
HP Omen 27u 4K Gaming monitor. (click to enlarge)
Finally, besides the PCs, there's also the all-new Omen 27u gaming monitor. HP has sold monitors under the Omen brand before, and they've always been high-end devices with price tags to match. The 27u is no exception: it's a 27" gaming monitor with an IPS LCD panel in 3840×2160 resolution with a refresh rate up to 144 Hz. The panel is pretty fancy; besides the high resolution and refresh rate, it has rich colors (95% DCI-P3) and a 1ms response time.
HP is eager to point out the 27u's console gaming chops in addition to its PC gaming prowess; the monitor supports HDMI 2.1 alongside DisplayPort 1.4, and when connected to a compatible device like the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X, it will automatically take advantage of its variable refresh rate and HDR support (although it's only DisplayHDR 400 certified.) The monitor also includes a two-port USB 3.2 Gen 2 hub and built-in speakers.
All this gear will be out pretty quick here. In fact, the Omen 45L desktop launches today, and starts at $1899.99 for an unspecified base configuration. The Victus 15L desktop will come along in February; HP didn't offer pricing for that one. The refreshed 25L gaming desktop and the 27u 4K monitor will both show up "this Spring"; HP didn't price the PC, but says that the 27u monitor should start at $699.99.
