The best desktop PC: Dell Inspiron 5680
Why you should buy this: You want solid performance without breaking the bank.
Who it’s for: Students, families
Why we picked the Dell Inspiron 5680:
The Inspiron 5680 is a quiet desktop PC that just gets the job done. Properly specced it can do pretty much anything you need without breaking your budget. It can serve as a solid, reliable workstation, or its intended purpose: A budget gaming rig.
Priced at $800, there’s a lot to love about the Inspiron. The 8th-gen Intel processor remains speedy despite not being the newest silicon on the market, and this unit ships with discrete Nvividia GTX graphics, making it a versatile system for gaming, graphics work, and general computing needs. Coupled with this desktop tower’s compact size, the Inspiron’s near silent operating even when it’s stressed under heavy load makes this PC a perfect solution for dorm rooms and living rooms.
For students looking to play games on their down time, the discrete GTX 1060 graphics on this system allows it to handle most games at 1440p resolution with ease, making it a well-rounded PC with few compromises. USB-C is an optional extra, but with enough internal space for future upgrades, the Inspiron promises to be a versatile PC that will grow up with you.
The best gaming desktop: HP Omen Obelisk
Why you should buy this: Punchy performance packaged in a clean design gives this desktop a more mature vibe.
Who it’s for: Gamers, home users.
How much will it cost: $849 – $4,000. Tested at $1,999.
Why we picked the HP Omen Obelisk:
Even if you’re looking for a desktop to get things done, chances are you’ll also want a system that’s powerful enough to handle some gaming in your free time. Topping out with RTX 2080 Ti graphics and Intel’s 9th-Generation processor in an understated design, HP’s Omen Obelisk checks both boxes.
And despite its Omen branding, this desktop will appeal to both casual home gamers and enthusiasts, with HP offering multiple configurations to suit your need and price point. Starting at just $750, the Omen Obelisk starts out with GTX 1050 graphics, but serious gamers will want the latest silicon and optional upgrades like 64GB of HyperX memory and Intel Optane storage.
Home users can save a bit of money by opting for slightly less powerful parts without sacrificing much performance. Our review unit, which can be found for as low as $1,500 on sale, comes with an older 8th-Generation processor and non-Ti RTX 2080 graphics. In this configuration, even demanding games were playable in 4K resolution, and most games in our review played at around 100 FPS when stepped down to 1440p. If you need more performance down the road, the spacious tower makes the upgrades simple and easy.
The best all-in-one desktop: Apple iMac 5K (2019)
Why you should buy this: Updated silicon inside an iconic design lets the iMac stand out from the competition.
Who it’s for: Professionals and home users looking for compact, beautiful, and powerful all-in-one computer
How much will it cost: $1,799 – $5,249
Why we picked the Apple iMac 5K (2019):
The iMac’s silhouette hasn’t changed much for about seven years now, a testament to the enduring nature of Apple’s design. This year, Apple updated the iMac 5K to give it even more powerful innards to satiate the power-hungry needs of prosumers. Packed with up to an eight-core Intel 9th-Generation Core i9-9900K processor, the 5K edition of Apple’s all-in-one is the fastest we’ve tested and lets desktop Mac users experience discrete desktop graphics without having to step up to the more expensive iMac Pro or newly redesigned Mac Pro.
Our AMD Radeon Pro 580X-equipped review unit delivered strong performance on graphics tasks. However, MacOS isn’t built on gaming, and on titles like Fortnite and Civilization VI, and unfortunately, this GPU trailed the performance of Nvidia’s GTX 1050 Ti on HP’s 15-inch Spectre x360 laptop with a Max-Q design. That said, the 27-inch canvas on this iMac is more adept for tasks like video and photo editing, office tasks, and media consumption. And thanks to its bright, high contrast display supporting 100 percent of the sRGB color space, this desktop feels even more like a “pro” level desktop this year. Apple made design changes, allowing for easy memory upgrades down the future, and the SSD is extremely fast, making launching applications and file transfers speedier than ever.
The 2019 iMac 5K is an almost perfect all-in-one. Though it doesn’t support biometric logins and touchscreen support is still glaringly absent, this desktop delivers fast performance in a compact form factor with a large canvas for content creation and consumption.
