The best prebuilt gaming PCs that have impressed us in performance and design
When you’re in the market for a gaming PC, there’s a lot to consider: 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 won’t 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.
It’s that time of year where new CPUs are starting to come out. AMD recently launched its Ryzen 7000 processors, which have proven to be their strongest gaming chips yet. Not to be outdone, Intel’s 13th Gen “Raptor Lake” chips, have generally been more impressive for the price. Some of these new desktops use the latest DDR5 memory, while others are still on older DDR4.
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 and RTX 4070 Ti. More recently, Nvidia launched the RTX 4070, with rumors of an RTX 4060 and 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, 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, and AMD’s high-end 7900 XT and 7900 XTX are also recent powerful performers in the mix.
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.
Best Prebuilt Gaming PCs You Can Buy Today
1. MSI Infinite RS 13th
A Powerful, Quiet PC with Room to Upgrade
SPECIFICATIONS
CPU: Intel Core i9-13900KF
GPU: MSI RTX 4090 Surpim Liquid X
RAM: 32GB DDR5-5200
Storage: 2TB MSI Spatium PCIe 4.0 SSD
REASONS TO BUY
+
Liquid-cooled CPU and GPU+
Very quiet+
Top-end performance+
Case feels premium
REASONS TO AVOID
–
Very large-
Swing-out doors have very little ground clearance
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.
2. Alienware Aurora R15
Powerful Performance with Improved Cooling
SPECIFICATIONS
CPU: Intel Core i9-13900KF
GPU: Nvidia Geforce RTX 4090 (24GB)
RAM: 64GB DDR5-5200
Storage: 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD, 1 TB, 7,200-rpm HDD
REASONS TO BUY
+
Powerful gaming performance+
Lots of ports on the front+
Alienware finally moved to 240 mm AIO cooling
REASONS TO AVOID
–
Proprietary motherboard and server-style PSU make upgrading harder-
At this price, you should get entirely SSD storage
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).
Read: Alienware Aurora R15 Review
Our suggested Alienware Aurora config:
Alienware Aurora Config: Intel Core i7-12700F | Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti | 16GB RAM | 512GB SSD
Alienware’s latest, the Aurora R13, ranges from around $1,300 to over $4,200 as of this writing. A model currently going for $1,899.99 gets you an Intel Core i7-12700F, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. It also has a slightly revamped chassis with a side window so you can see your components.
3. Corsair One i300
Best Premium Small Form Factor Gaming PC
SPECIFICATIONS
CPU: Intel Core i9-12900K
GPU: Liquid-cooled Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti (12GB GDDR6X)
RAM: 64GB Micron DDR5-4800
Storage: 2TB PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD
TODAY’S BEST DEALS
REASONS TO BUY
+
Compact, 12-liter chassis+
Stronger CPU and GPU performance+
Two-year warranty
REASONS TO AVOID
–
Harder to upgrade than standard towers-
Expensive
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:
Corsair One Config: Intel Core i7-11700K | Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 | 32GB RAM | 1TB SSD and 2TB HDD
Yes, we’re recommending an 11th Gen Intel system when a 12th Gen version exists. But here me out: This model of Corsair’s tiny desktop is $3,599.99, and you get 3TB of storage (1TB on an SSD and 2TB on an HDD) as well as an RTX 3080. While the jump up to a 2TB SSD is nice (but no HDD), as is the RTX 3080 Ti, that’s an extra $1,000 as of this writing, coming out to $4,599.99. If you can afford that, go for it. Over $3,000, you may not be counting. But I’d go for this version if my money were on the table.