Having a dedicated gaming PC is an absolute blast, but the rigamarole of building your own or forking out for a custom can be daunting. If it’s all a bit too much to fathom –particularly when shortages and scalping have sent prices soaring — a prebuilt gaming PC could be the perfect solution for you.
While some prefer custom-built PCs, it can be cheaper and easier to buy a ready-made. There’s plenty of great prebuilt gaming PCs and laptops around which will give you the performance boost you need.
Getting into PC gaming doesn’t have to be complicated, and it doesn’t have to break the bank. For everyone feeling overwhelmed or confused by your GPUs, CPUs and RTXs, a prebuilt is a perfectly valid option.
Here’s a few of the best prebuilt gaming PCs and laptops currently on the market.
ASUS Zephyrus G14
Price: Starts at $2,199
Where to buy: Scorptec
The Asus Zephyrus G14 is a thin, light laptop that packs a powerful punch in a small package. The base model is equipped with a Ryzen 7-5800HS, GeForce RTX 3050 and 16GB RAM — pretty killer specs for the price. It’s a little too far out of the ‘budget’ range if you’re looking for a cheaper rig, but $2,199 for the base model is still a decent option.
When Kotaku Australia’s Alex Walker took the laptop for a spin, he said it was wildly flexible and great for portability: “AMD and ASUS have made a gaming laptop that regular people can actually live with, instead of a gaming laptop that lives on a desk.”
You can check out the full Kotaku Australia thoughts here:
NXZT: Streaming PC, H1 Mini PC
Streaming PC Price: Starts at $2,999
H1 Mini PC Price: Starts at $3,399
Where to buy: NXZT
Custom maker NXZT sells prebuilt gaming PCs at a premium, but if you want a powerful, hassle-free build it’s certainly a name to consider. The default Streaming PC is the most affordable PC on offer at $2,999 and packs in a Ryzen 5 5600X, RTX 3070 and 16GB RAM — making it a formidable rig.
If you’re able to spare a few more bucks, you can also fork out for the $3,399 H1 Mini PC, a tower-style case with an Intel Core i7-10700KF CPU, a Gigabyte RTX 3070 and HyperX Fury RGB 32GB RAM.
These lads may be out of your price range but they’re certainly hefty, impressive prebuilt PCs. More info on the NZXT BLD service is available here.
Razer Blade Stealth 13 or Razer Blade 14
Razer Blade Stealth 13 Price: Starts at $2,449
Razer Blade 14 Price: Starts at $3,099
Where to buy: Razer
The Razer Blade Stealth 13 and Razer Blade 14 are two of the best prebuilt gaming laptops Razer has to offer. They’re also two of the more expensive prebuilt gaming laptops around, but for those prices you get absolutely ripping machines.
The starter Blade 14 rocks a GeForce RTX 3060 GPU alongside an AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX CPU and 6GB GDDR6 VRAM, while the starter Stealth 13 has an Intel i7-1065G7 GPU, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Max-Q GPU and 16GB RAM.
Yes, they are fairly expensive but they’re also very stylish, light and perform excellently. This is a luxury purchase, but one that’ll elevate your gaming significantly.
You can check out what Mike Fahey of Kotaku U.S. thought of the Stealth here.
Aftershock: Bolt, Flow
Bolt Price: Starts from $1,280
Flow Price: Starts from $1,280
Where to buy: Aftershock
Aftershock is one of Singapore’s leading PC builders, and it’s garnered a loyal audience for a reason: every rig it creates is great value for money and impressively powerful.
The Bolt and Flow gaming PCs are two of their most popular, and they’re perfect for anyone looking for an easy custom click-and-buy prebuilt PC. The major difference between the pair is looks, and their base models share the same innards: an Intel Core i5-11400F, Gigabyte GTX 1650 OC GPU and 8GB DDR4 RAM.
Currently the base GPU is listed as out of stock at Aftershock, but you can tailor these builds to your heart’s content. If you’re looking for a stylish, ready-made PC alternative, check out the goods on offer at Aftershock.
Acer Nitro 5
Price: Starts at $1,399
Where to buy: Acer, Harvey Norman
The Acer Nitro 5 is a fantastic gaming laptop for anyone on a budget, and rocks blistering performance that’ll make you blush. The base model features an Intel Core i5-10300H processor and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 with 8 GB RAM, but the model Kotaku Australia tested out and loved was a smidge more powerful.
The $1,999 model includes an Intel Core i7-0750H, Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660Ti and 16GB DDR4 RAM that makes it an impressive and affordable prebuilt gaming laptop. This is one you should absolutely consider purchasing, regardless of your budget.
Check out the full Kotaku Australia review here:
Alienware Aurora R12
Price: $3,399
Where to buy: Dell
The Alienware Aurora R12 is a pricey beast, but there’s good reason for that. Not only is it a hot-looking machine, it’s also got some drop-dead gorgeous specs on the inside. The base model includes an 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i7 11700F processor, a NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3060 Ti and 16GB RAM — so you know it’ll handle any gaming challenge with ease.
Given the specs in the box, it’s also surprisingly well-priced. While it won’t be affordable for every gamer, it’s a solid option if your budget will stretch and it’ll look great in any gaming setup.
Scorptec Phantom
Price: $2,599
Where to buy: Scorptec
The Scorptec Phantom is a prebuilt gaming computer made by one of Australia’s longest-running tech retailers — and according to reviews, it’s an absolute bloody ripper. The Phantom packs in an AMD Ryzen 5 3600 CPU, AMD B450 Chipset, GeForce RTX 3070 8GB and 16GB 3200MHz RAM, and while it’s fairly pricey it appears to live up to the hype.
It has everything you’d want in a high-powered gaming PC without the hassle of putting it together yourself. It’s also very good bang for your buck.
Lenovo Legion 5
Price: Starts at $1,954
Where to buy: Lenovo
The Lenovo Legion 5 is a great gaming laptop that offers excellent performance on a budget. The mid-range model houses an AMD Ryzen 7 4800H, Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Ti and 8GB RAM, which is really everything you need to kick off some wild gaming adventures. Your prebuilt gaming computer doesn’t need to break the bank, and the Legion 5 is the perfect example of that.
In 2020 Kotaku Australia was able to review the Legion 5, and you can check out our full thoughts below.
Overall it’s a solid, sturdy choice.
Are you currently using a prebuilt gaming PC? Have any recommendations for your fellow Kotaku Australia readers?
Pop on down to the comments below and share your experiences.
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