Desktop Computer System Reviews And News
Desktop computers come in all shapes and sizes these days, from traditional floor-standing cases to small form-factor PCs that fit in the palm of your hand. Regardless, each of these different systems and platforms have their pros, cons and distinct feature sets. Find out what your platform and form factor of choice might be, then gain insight into top desktop products and systems from big brands names and high-end boutique builders alike, right here.
MSI Aegis RS 14th: Price As Tested $2,100 MSI Aegis RS 14th Gen desktops gaming PCs are priced competitively and are built around MSI's enthusiast-class components that are designed to work together seamlessly. Priced Fairly Uses MSI's Standard Components Solid Performance, Well-Balanced Build Balanced Fans Speed /...
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Origin PC Neuron (starts at $2,200, as tested $4,625) Origin's customizable gaming PC has lots of high-powered hardware, an attractive design, and a quiet cooling solution that's up to the challenge. Great attention to detail in build 100% industry standard parts and components Plenty of options in the...
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Performance is one of the most important considerations for many people buying or building a desktop PC. Faster CPUs and GPUs can hit higher framerates with better image quality settings, a speedy SSD can launch apps quicker, and more memory can keep a system humming along while multi-tasking with nary a hiccup. But...
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Alienware Aurora R16 Gaming Desktop PC (Starts at $1,299, as tested $1,949) Alienware's latest Aurora R16 desktop has a new look, the latest PC gaming technology, and cooling that's both quiet and efficient. Good performance for the price Very quiet under load Plenty of external connectivity High-performance...
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Kamrui AM08 Pro - Starting at $699 (Use Coupon Code 2C729Y55 For $100 Off) A pint-sized Ryzen-Powered mini-PC with solid performance, the Kamrui AM08 Pro is held back somewhat by a middling price-to-performance ratio. Compact micro tower form factor User configurable TDP with a twist Easy access to RAM and storage upgrades 2.5...
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We had another chance to visit our friends at Maingear and build a custom gaming PC decked out with high-end hardware, including AMD's top-of-the-line Ryzen 9 7950X3D CPU. This is the first time we've done so since the boutique builder partnered with Michael "shroud" Grzesiek, a top streamer who joined the fray last...
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Alienware Aurora R15 Gaming Desktop: Starting At $1399, $4588 As Tested The Alienware Aurora R15 is the culmination of both a thermal redesign and a silicon platform refresh, which results in excellent gaming performance. Slick, Spacey Design And Aesthetics Powerful PC Gaming Performance Cool And Quiet Even Under...
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We have been enjoying some hands-on time with Alienware’s new Aurora R15 gaming desktop PC. The sleek exterior may be familiar, as Alienware has continued to iterate the Legend 2.0 design language for several generations now. Nevertheless, gamers should be satisfied to hear this machine has the latest gen processors –...
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MAINGEAR MG-1 Gaming Desktop: Starting At $1499 The Maingear MG-1 is the fastest pre-built gaming PC we've ever tested. It also makes for a solid workstation, and it's not hard to look at, either. Excellent Performance Massive Room For Expansion Attractive And Customizable Impressive Build Quality High-Quality...
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Pre-built gaming PCs have gained in popularity dramatically, as crypto demand and chip shortages drove graphics cards and other component prices through the roof. That said, regardless of current PC components price points (which are now drifting back to MSRP thank goodness), we've always seen the value in a quality pre-built for a myriad...
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Back in the mid-90s, I recall sitting around with his friends at the school lunch table poring over glossy magazines like PC Gamer and the long-defunct PC Accelerator, as well as the immense, phone-book-like Computer Shopper. Sure, you had your Dells, and your Compaqs, and your smaller vendors too, like ZEOS, Quantex...
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Dell recently reached out and offered a review unit of their newest XPS 8950 desktop. We initially said, "but we've already reviewed that one," to which Dell replied "no, that was the 8940 Special Edition. We've since dropped the 'Special Edition', and updated the hardware. It's got a 12th-gen CPU now, and we made its chassis larger to accommodate...
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Origin PC has been building top-flight gaming rigs for over a decade now, and the attention to detail that the company demonstrates in its builds is right up there with the best of them. There was a time when Origin PC featured custom chassis designs, like the Genesis series of years past, which only Origin had in its...
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We recently became aware of Gigabyte's beautiful Aorus Project Stealth PC concept, with connectors and cable routing moved behind the motherboard deck, in what seemed to be a truly innovative gaming desktop design with better air flow and an easier build process. It appears, however, that Maingear patented the design...
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It hasn't been long since we last took a look at the 2021 version of the Falcon Northwest Talon, and found it to be impressive. However, it’s finally time for Intel’s Alder Lake 12th Gen Core processor launch and we all know what that means -- a deluge of reviews with tons of charts and opinions for you to...
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If there's been one drawback to Alienware's previous gen Aurora desktop series, it's that the systems we've gotten in for review have made a bit of a racket at times. These systems have always been well-equipped with the latest hardware and turn in some great performance, but their noise floor has sometimes been a...
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We are no strangers to Alienware’s Aurora line of gaming PCs here at HotHardware. In fact, we have reviewed many Aurora systems over the years, and for good reason. Aurora desktops embody the essence of a powerful, mainstream prebuilt rig, with semi-custom, almost boutique styling, in a manner that makes them...
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Even if you have never owned one, because of the long-standing boutique quality of their systems, there is a good chance you have heard of Falcon Northwest. Falcon Northwest is one of the earliest and now most well-known boutique system builders around. If I can break from the "royal we" for a moment, Falcon Northwest...
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When it comes to high-end content creation, time is money. Businesses with employees that are stuck sitting around waiting for compute-intensive tasks to finish, simply can't get as much accomplished as those with speedy hardware that can power through the most demanding tasks. Tons of parallel processing power and...
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A powerful PC does not have to be loud or flashy, not in today's era of computing. Proving this to be the case is Dell's refreshed XPS Desktop Special Edition, available in two subtly attractive trims: Mineral White (as seen here) and Night Sky. While each are eye catching in their own right, neither one makes the...
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If there is one thing we can count on whenever hot new component hardware arrives, it's that it will not be long before Dell integrates it into their Alienware gaming systems. So naturally, with the release of Nvidia’s latest and greatest GeForce RTX 3080 and 3090 graphics cards, it was no surprise to see...
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The late 90s and early 2000s was a special era for personal computing. We saw PC prices drop drastically, we moved from dial-up to broadband, and we dealt with Windows ME while waiting for XP to arrive. While some of us went the DIY route at the time, many started with a prebuilt rig purchased from a brick and mortar retailer. One of the more...
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