Best Gaming PCs 2020: Prebuilt Desktop PCs Made to Game

It’s not incredibly hard to build your own gaming PC, so it’s easy to overlook pre-built gaming PCs. Most computer parts simply slot together, and really great computer cases include lots of tool-less thumbscrews and offer plenty of space to set up your PC with ease. But, that doesn’t mean you need to go through all the trouble.  Even experienced PC builders can run into issues getting their self-assembled computer to boot up, and plenty can go wrong. We’ve run into bent CPU pins and the painstaking effort it takes to get an expensive part back into working condition. A pre-built PC can let you skip right past all of that, giving you a gaming PC that will work right out of the box just like a PS4 or Xbox One. Many of them even offer compelling value.Even if you’re interested in building your own PC, buying a pre-built can give you a great starting point. This way you can upgrade parts over time, letting you slowly get used to the various steps involved in building a PC until you’re comfortable enough to start from scratch. Until that time, here are our best picks for pre-built gaming PCs.

Our choices for the Best Gaming PCs

1. Asus ROG Strix GA15DH

Best Gaming PC

If you’re looking for the computer that will get you up to speed gaming, this config of the Asus Rog Strix GA15DH will give you that strong starting point. It comes kitted out with everything you need to get a great experience in 1080p and 1440p gaming. It’ll even excel at esports title where high framerates are a must.

So, what parts are helping it do that? For one, it has an AMD Ryzen 7 3700X eight-core CPU that’ll readily handle even the most demanding games. It pairs that with a tame but capable Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti that can easily top 100fps at 1080p and even 1440p in some games. You’ll also be getting 16GB of fast DDR4 memory and a 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD. Asus packs all that into a slick case with some RGB lighting and a glass side panel. The rig is even ready for some travel to LAN parties thanks to a handle built onto the top of the case.

2. Skytech Archangel

Best Budget Gaming PC

That’s right – you can get a fairly capable gaming PC all assembled, packaged, and delivered for under $1,000. This Skytech Archangel configuration is just such a computer, and it’ll make short work of almost anything you want to play in 1080p or 1440p. Plus, it comes with tons of stylish RGB lighting, so you can dazzle your friends.

This Skytech Archangel model packs in an AMD Ryzen 5 3600 processor that performs nearly as well as its more expensive siblings in a wide variety of games. It’s paired with 16GB of RAM and a 500GB SSD. You’ll also be getting an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Super graphics processor that’ll serve as the heart of your gaming experience. And, even though the price is low, Skytech saw fit to include an 80 Plus Certified power supply for improved energy efficiency.

3. Corsair One a100

Best Compact Gaming PC

One of the best excuses for getting a pre-built gaming PC is the compact designs available. Some of them manage to pack so much power into such a tight space, it can be hard to imagine doing it yourself. The Corsair One a100 is a perfect example. This gaming PC squeezes some beefy hardware into a chassis that’s only 12 liters in volume.

How much power exactly? Well, it comes loaded with an AMD Ryzen 9 3900X processor (that’s 12 cores and 24 threads), 32GB of RAM, and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Super? If you want high frame rates and resolutions all with graphics settings maxed out in games, this computer will do it. All that, and it even loads in a 2TB hard drive to complement its 500GB PCIe NVMe SSD.

4. Alienware Aurora R11

Best Upgradeable Gaming PC

Sure, you may miss out on some of the fun of designing a computer yourself by going with a pre-built, but the Alienware Aurora makes up for that with a stellar, compact design that will still give you the chance to get your hands dirty with plenty of upgrade options inside. The Aurora R11 desktop brings along Intel’s 10th-Gen Core processors, giving you the latest options from Team Blue including the Intel Core i5-10400F on the affordable end or as high as the Intel Core i9-10900K on the premium end. The motherboard even includes room for up to 64GB of DDR4 memory, so you can start small and load the DIMM slots up as your needs grow. Alienware also has the Aurora R10 if you want a fairly similar option packed with a Ryzen 3000-series processor instead.

With all that processing power available, it should be no surprise that the Aurora 11 also has the latest Nvidia graphics cards available to it, including the option of running dual Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti cards in SLI. The AMD Radeon VII is also an option when choosing your configuration. Dell even goes as far as offering CPU and GPU water cooling solutions. With all the customization options available at checkout, you’ll likely find yourself hardpressed to have anything else you want to change once your order arrives, though the case design makes it easy to get inside and add RAM or extra storage.

What to Look For in a Gaming PC

Below we go over the basic specifications you should prioritize when buying a gaming PC and how to get the most of your purchase of a prebuilt rig. I also explain a few alternative prebuilt gaming PC options you might find of interest as well.

Prebuilt gaming PCs are the most surefire way of getting into gaming and arguably the most cost-effective hardware you can buy. When buying a system, you’re not only getting the hardware inside but time savings of having to track down the best processor to best RAM for your system and putting it all together yourself and praying it actually boots up correctly.

That said, just like building your own PC you want to make sure you’re spending your money where it’s needed most. Firstly, you should prioritize you’re getting the graphics card you need for the gaming monitor or the 4K TV you’re gaming on. There’s no need for anything better than an Nvidia GTX 1660 if you’re just playing games on a 1080p display.

Likewise, you should only need an Intel Core i5 or Ryzen 5 processor with at least four cores to play most modern games comfortably at any resolution.

System memory and solid-state drives can be the biggest money sink for any system. Those comfortable with upgrading their system after it arrives should choose a configuration with the smallest storage and RAM capacities possible, as buying these components yourself can often be more cost-effective.

If that last suggestion resonates with you, perhaps a barebones system is what you seek. Barebones PCs can be much cheaper since they come with all the major hardware—such as the CPU, GPU, and power supply—installed, but they usually lack storage, memory and an operating system as a trade-off.

Lastly, if you want more control over what exactly is going into your build, go with a boutique PC builder. Origin, Maingear, DigitalStorm, Falcon Northwest, PC Specialist, and many more companies offer excellent PC building services that let you pick exactly which components go into your gaming PC. From there, they build your system with the sort of cable management some can only dream of while ensuring it all works properly out of the box.