For those who value performance, a large display, and the flexibility to upgrade, the desktop is still the best choice. Not only can you equip these larger compute rigs with a graphics card, but you can easily upgrade to newer, more powerful components as your needs change. Pair a powerful desktop with a stunning display and you have a larger digital canvas for work, play or entertainment than any laptop.
More serious gamers will want to check out HP’s OMEN desktop , which is on sale for $670, while regular home users can opt for a non-graphics card model for less graphics-intensive tasks. Both the Acer Aspire and Dell Inspiron desktops are great options and are sold at a more reasonable price because they lack a GPU. Enthusiast gamers and workstation users looking for the performance of the latest silicon will want to check out the Alienware Aurora R15 Gaming Desktopdiscounted at $630. Now retailing for $3,600, this desktop is powered by a 13th Gen Intel Core i9 processor and Nvidia RTX 3090 graphics.
Best Desktop Deals
- Acer Aspire TC-1760 for $550 (was $620) at Amazon: Not the most powerful desktop on our list, the Acer Aspire desktop still features a 12th Gen Intel Core i5 processor and is a great option for college students and general PC use at home. Discrete graphics are noticeably absent as this model uses Intel UHD Graphics 730. The desktop also comes with 12GB of DDR4 memory and a 512GB SSD. Surprisingly, this model still includes a DVD burner.
- HP Pavilion Gaming Desktop for $1,000 (was $1,315) at Amazon. Designed for work and play, this affordable gaming desktop features an AMD Ryzen 7 5700G processor and Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Super graphics. Serious gamers will likely ditch the old GPU, but with almost 25 percent off, this is an amazing desktop for casual gamers and content creators alike. It comes with 16GB of RAM, 1TB of SSD and plenty of ports to connect your equipment on the front.
- $1,230 HP Envy Desktop (was $1,700) at Amazon: If you’ve got a little cash to spare, we recommend the HP Envy Desktop over the Pavilion model on our list. For $230 more than the Pavilion, you get a much sleeker case design, more powerful silicon with a 12th Gen Intel Core i9 processor and Nvidia RTX 3070 graphics, and similar memory and storage configurations. Inside there’s room to expand and upgrade, and a tool-free latch that allows you to open the sidebar with one touch will give you access to this desktop’s internals.
- Dell Inspiron 3910 Desktop for $723 (was $750) at Amazon: With a 10 percent discount, you get a 12th Gen Intel Core i5 processor in this Inspiron Desktop configuration, as well as integrated Intel UHD Graphics 730, 256GB of memory, and 16 GB of DDR4 memory. Memory. Discrete graphics are noticeably absent, like the Acer model on our list, making this compact body more suited to productivity than creative workflows.
- Dell XPS 8950 desktop for $1682 (was $2349) at Amazon. It’s not the lowest price for the XPS 8950 in recent days, but it’s still 28 percent off the retail price. With a 12th Gen Intel Core i7 processor and Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti graphics, you’ll still get plenty of performance for creative work and gaming if you don’t need a more powerful GPU for AAA gaming. With accessible ports on the front and a handy tower, you can upgrade to a faster GPU in the future if your needs change.
- HP 45L Gaming Desktop OMEN for $1,630 (was $2,300) at HP: The HP OMEN Gaming Desktop is now discounted at $670 on the manufacturer’s website. This desktop computer features an AMD Ryzen 7 5800X processor, Nvidia RTX 3070 discrete graphics, 16GB HyperX DDR4 memory, a 512GB WD Black PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD, and a 1TB 7200RPM hard drive.
- $3,600 Alienware Aurora R15 Gaming Desktop (was $4,230) at Dell: Dell’s latest gaming desktop may be the most expensive option on our list, but it’s also the most powerful. This gaming center is equipped with a 13th generation Intel Core i9-13900F processor with 24 cores and a powerful GeForce RTX 4090 GPU from Nvidia. Other features include 32GB DDR5 4800MHz memory and a 1TB NVM.e M.2 SSD. Less expensive configurations are also available starting at $1,400.
Listing image of Sharon Harding