The best gaming PC 2017: 10 of the top gaming desktops you can buy

To everyone who told you that PC gaming is a novelty of the past, that the best gaming PCs have been overtaken by consoles and smartphones, you tell them TechRadar said they’re dead wrong. Despite recent initiatives to make console boxes smaller and 4K-capable, PC is still the best place to play your looming backlog of unplayed video games.

Once your PC search is over, reach for the best gaming mouse

But that’s not the case for every PC. Your five-year-old cheap laptop isn’t going to beat out the new Xbox in terms of graphics and frame rate. To achieve that feat, you will need the best gaming PC around. That doesn’t mean you have to spend a ton of money either. Au contraire: we’ve constructed a list full of desktop PCs that range broadly in price.

Unlike many competing publications, however, we’ve made sure to invest ample amounts of time into testing these machines for reliability, power and bang for the buck. We’re not here only to tell you about the best gaming PC based on its appearances and capabilities, but we also want to advise you of its upgradeability and hidden fees you might otherwise have missed.

best gaming pc

The Alienware Aurora R5 impressed us with its clever, compact design and impressive power and the Aurora R6 doubles down on the latter. By introducing Kaby Lake processors and up to two Nvidia GTX 1080 Ti's in SLI, it's every bit as capable as the Alienware Area 51 Plus and half as small to boot. Even with the small chassis, there's plenty of room for more RAM, storage for the years to come.

Read the full review: Alienware Aurora R6

The Chillblast Fusion Spectrum might sound like the sweetest water gun ever made, but is in in fact a gaming PC, and it’s the first of which we’ve reviewed to contain an AMD Ryzen 7 processor. Although it’s pricey and perhaps even unnecessary for a lot of our readers who haven’t made the jump to 4K resolution displays, this computer delivers exceptional performance, especially for streamers and multi-taskers.

Read the full review: Chillblast Fusion Spectrum Ryzen 7 Gaming PC

This product is only available in the UK as of this writing. US and Australian readers: check out a fine alternative in the Corsair One.

It’s not uncommon anymore for PC makers to brandish their pre-built desktop rigs as VR-ready. What is unusual is to do so with a computer that’s also ready to conquer any game you throw at it at well over 60 frames per second and for under two grand. That’s exactly what MSI has accomplished with the Infinite A, a tower whose graphical efforts aren’t thwarted by its preparedness for VR, nor is it so expensive that it would see your head turn the other way.

Read the full review: MSI Infinite A

This product is only available in the US as of this writing. UK and Australian readers: check out a fine alternative in the Overclockers 8Pack Asteroid.

Positioned as a ’console killer,’ the MSI Trident 3 looks a lot like an Xbox One S and is more powerful than a PS4 Pro, but at the end of the day, it’s a PC that feels just right in your living room. Complete with all the ports you could ever dream of, the MSI Trident 3’s advantages are clear. Still, in trying to be as thin and light as possible, the MSI Trident 3 comes equipped with a 330W external power supply brick, resembling some of the most less attractive console designs.

Read the full review: MSI Trident 3

best gaming pc

If you’re buying a pre-built PC, upgrades should be simple, right? That’s the philosophy behind the Lenovo IdeaCentre Y900. Embellished with red lights all over, the front of its chassis is bespeckled with textured patterns that’ll no doubt make your friends jealous. On top of offering support for a VR-ready GTX 1080, the Lenovo IdeaCentre boasts SLI support and room for up to 64GB of RAM, which are thankfully complemented by a convenient tool-less design.

Read the full review: Lenovo IdeaCentre Y900

This product is only available in the US and UK as of this writing. Australian readers: check out a fine alternative in the Corsair One.

The Dell XPS Tower Special Edition is a shining example of how to make a gaming PC subtle. Without all the superfluous RGB lighting effects and tempered glass enclosure, this is a machine that puts its money where its mouth is and competes on the merit of performance alone. Well, performance and also state-of-the-art customer service. You won’t find a version of it with a GTX 1080 Ti housed inside, but its tool-less design makes it easy to upgrade nevertheless.

Read the full review: Dell XPS Tower Special Edition

This product is only available in the US and UK as of this writing. Australian readers: check out a fine alternative in the Corsair One.

best gaming pc

Sure, for the price of an Origin Millennium PC, you could buy a halfway decent car. But why would you need to leave the house when you can play games in 4K at a buttery smooth 60 fps? Between its pair of EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Founders Edition twins and the Intel Broadwell-E Core i7-6950X processor, there is nothing the Origin Millennium can't handle – and on the best of the best displays at that. Of course, it's expensive; it's like ten years worth of future-proof.

Read the full review: Origin Millennium

This product is only available in the US as of this writing. UK and Australian readers: check out a fine alternative in the Overclockers 8Pack Asteroid.

In classic Alienware fashion, the Area 51 Threadripper Edition pushes the limits of both technology and your wallet. It’s wildly powerful, markedly featuring the latest AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X across all of its configurations. The Area 51’s triad-design hasn’t changed much since its introduction back in 2014, but on the inside this machine is essentially tool-less to upgrade, not that you would even need to.

Read the full review: Alienware Area 51 Threadripper Edition

Both in its appearances and temperature, the MSI Aegis 3 is one of those few examples of a gaming computer that’s way cooler pre-built than what you could probably assemble yourself. Not only does its chassis look like an anime mecha robot, but it also features customizable, interactive lighting. What’s more, it’s similar in size to the Alienware Aurora, but with a Kaby Lake processor rather than a Skylake.

Read the full review: MSI Aegis 3

Known in part for putting out RAM that’s faster than your processor, Corsair has made a name for itself in nearly every PC component category there is. Be that as it may, the company has only begun to flirt with assembling its own rigs. Luckily, with the Corsair One, the first time was the charm. This is a machine that prides itself in power, speed and portability and succeeds on all fronts, save for maybe upgradeability, which is all but impossible on the Corsair One.

Read the full review: Corsair One