While gaming laptops tend to get the most attention these days, pre-built gaming desktops still have their place, especially for those who want a desktop experience but don’t have the tech-savvy (or time) to build their own computer. And if you’re looking for a powerful yet affordable pre-built, HP has you covered. Starting with a reduced price tag of $700 — down from $800 — this HP Pavillion gaming rig is one of the best desktop computers in its price range. Plus, you can customize it for slightly better parts if you want to with that $100 in savings!
In terms of specs, they’re surprisingly good for the price they’re giving. With the default build, you get a GTX 1650 Super, and while it may not be part of the RTX lineup, it’s still a pretty strong GPU, especially in these days of GPU scarcity. Paired with that is an Intel i5 11400, one of the later generations of the i5, and it’s a pretty good combo with the GTX 1650 Super that shouldn’t cause any bottlenecks down the line. You’ll also be happy to know that the whole setup comes with Windows 11 Home, so you can go to the latest version of Windows without needing to worry about doing upgrades.
As for other specs, the internal storage is a 256GB SSD, which is on the lower side, but that’s pretty common with pre-built computers. To that end, you’ll probably want to take advantage of some of the best cheap SSD deals pick up an extra SSD on the cheap at some point to help with the storage. You might also want to upgrade the RAM in the future at some point as well since it only comes with 8GB of DDR4, and that’s a little bit on the lower end for a desktop, let alone a gaming one.
As mentioned, the HP Pavillion gaming desktop is a pretty great mid-range pre-built computer and is a perfect platform for upgrades in a year or two when you have the budget for it. There’s also the $100 in savings HP is offering by lowering it to $700 from $800, and it might be a good idea to spend that money on 16GBs of RAM, especially since then it’s two sticks of 8GB, and it works out better for upgrades in the future. Otherwise, you should check out some of our other gaming PC deals.
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