ANY PC gamer worth their salt will know that choosing the best gaming PCs can be the difference between smashing the competition and looking like a total noob.
To do the latest PC games justice, and play them the way their developers intended, you need to invest in a powerful gaming PC that will last, and that won’t look out of place on your rig.
Basic PCs can handle a certain amount of processing power, but it’s worth paying extra to customise your gaming PC to your exact requirements.
For example, are you running games that require less lag? Do you want to play 4K games? Or are you looking for the best gaming PC for VR titles?
Each of the models in our selection below has been chosen based on expert opinion and can be configured with relative ease. Or, in the case of the Overclockers 8Pack Supernova, you’re paying for an expert to do the fine-tuning.
Prices will vary, depending on the spec you go for, but these should give you a baseline price.
Check out our list of best desktop PCs if you’re after something a little more simple.
How much does a decent gaming PC cost?
Gaming PCs are certainly expensive and can range anywhere from around £700 to over £30,000.
Don't worry though, we've done all the hard research for you to find the most affordable but impressive gaming PCs around.
It's definitely worth investing if you're serious about your gaming and want to compete online.
The best gaming PC
- Overclockers 8Pack Supernova, £13,999 from Overclockers – buy here
While all of the other PCs in this list offer great power and style for a decent price, when you consider the technology you’re getting, Overclockers’ 8Pack Supernova gaming PC takes it to a whole other level.
For the same price as a new car, the 8Pack Supernova is a fully customisable powerhouse with numbers that leave its rivals in the dust.
The record-breaking ASUS chipset motherboard is watercooled to offer maximum stability.
The 8Pack has a staggering 18-core Intel i9 processor, 1.5TB Samsung SSD and two 6TB drives.
Each of the components have been tuned to reach their maximum and the 8Pack Supernova has enough graphic power, using two Nvidia RTX 2080TTi cards, to add multiple 4K screens.
For the insane price, you’re getting the best technology money can buy, tailored to your exact needs and gaming style.
Only serious gamers need apply.
The best compact gaming PC
- Corsair One i160, £3,399 from Scan – buy here
The Corsair One is renowned in gaming circles as being one of the best gaming PC models on the market and its i160 version is no exception.
It’s quiet, compact and powerful and uses the very latest in cooling technology, processors and graphics card to offer a lag-free, superfast gaming experience.
For starters, it manages to pack an eight-core Intel i9 processor and a Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti graphics card, plus an assisted convection liquid cooling system into a unit that measures a little more than an Xbox One.
This cooling system helps make the Corsair One i160 super quiet, too.
The whole mini PC has been designed to be seen, and its size, along with an aluminium casing and lighting panels, would make it pride of place on top of a desk rather than under it.
It’s a pricey piece of kit but you’ll soon realise it’s worth it once you get it going.
The best gaming PC for newbies
- Lenovo Ideacentre Y900, £1,790.10 from Amazon – buy here
The Lenovo Ideacentre Y900 is only really matched by the Omen by HP in this list for its sleek black and red design.
Its textured panels and red lighting scheme (which becomes brighter the more intense your gameplay is) make it a punchy looking piece of kit and this punchy nature doesn’t stop there.
It’s powered by a quad-core i7 processor alongside an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 GPU and comes with four hard drive slots each capable of storing up to 2 TB of data.
This GPU, and storage space, make it ideal for VR gaming as it reduces latency and helps deliver up to seven times the processing power needed for 3D apps and games.
Lenovo’s Ideacentre Y900 also has a transparent panel on the side so you can show off your machine’s chassis and cables.
This hasn’t just been designed to look good, it can be easily opened up if you want to add or remove components.
This tweaking isn’t as easy as on the Omen by HP, but it’s certainly a great introduction if you’re new to PC building.
The best gaming PC for VR
- HP Omen 880, £1,349 from Currys – buy here
There’s no point buying games that have been coded to come to life on your screen if you have to play them on less than maximum settings or lower frame rates.
The HP Omen 880 uses the Intel i7 processor with a Nvidia 1070 graphics card to let you crank such settings to the limit.
This CPU/GPU combo also means the HP Omen 880 is VR-ready, and is powerful enough to handle the next generation of VR games before they’ve even been released.
It stays cool using all-round edge vents and fans.
It’s not as quiet as the Corsair, nor is it as compact, but it’s also nowhere near as expensive without sacrificing too much.
Like the Lenovo, the HP Omen 880 has a tool-less door opening meaning you can quickly clean your machine, and replace or upgrade components, with ease.
The best gaming PC on a budget
- Alienware Aurora, from £799 from Dell– buy here
At the other of the scale, coming in at a more affordable price is the Alienware Aurora.
Prices start at £799 for an Intel i3 processor model but the Aurora is fully customisable, even down to the type of video card or memory you want it to run, so, like others in this list, its features and power are only limited by your budget and imagination.
The higher-spec models are built to be VR ready and each version takes in air from the front and right panels to maximise airflow and keep the case cool.
It doesn’t have the slickest design, in comparison to its rivals here, nor does it offer the kind of power but if you’re a budget, you could do a lot worse.
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