The best desktop computers for 2020

We’ve reviewed on the brink of 2 hundred desktop PCs over the years, putting each system through stringent benchmarks to ascertain how they perform.

While desktop PCs are often for heavier tasks like gaming or video editing, our pick for the simplest overall desktop is that the Dell XPS 8930 SE. It comes at a superb price and offers an excellent selection of components, from entry-level to a number of the foremost powerful hardware available today.

There are other, more specialized options though. Read on to ascertain what we consider the simplest all-in-one computer, best gaming PC, and more.
The best desktop PC: Dell XPS 8930 SE
Who it’s for: Families, students, budget-conscious buyers.

Why we picked the Dell XPS 8930 SE:

The best overall desktop is that the one which will work for the foremost amount of individuals , and that’s the Dell XPS 8930 SE. On the outside , it’s not flashy, but it’s a conservative desktop that might slot in as easily as a cubicle or headquarters .

Regardless of what configuration you select , you’ll find something that matches your needs, but the bottom model may be a good place to start out . A six-core Core i5 processor and a discrete GTX 1650 GPU is nothing to scoff at, and will handle most of what you throw at it with relative ease. Importantly, it features a 256GB SSD M.2 boot drive and a 1TB HDD for quick-loading apps and many of hard storage.
From there, if you would like a far better photo and video editing machine, you'll jump up to a Core i9-9900K processor for extra cores.

The best gaming desktop: HP Omen Obelisk

Why you ought to buy this: Punchy performance packaged during a clean design gives this desktop a more mature vibe.
Who it’s for: PC gamers who don’t want to create their own system.

Why we picked the HP Omen Obelisk:

Not everyone has the time or interest to create their own gaming PC from scratch. The HP Omen Obelisk gives you most of the advantages of building your own system, with none of the effort . It’s extremely easy to upgrade, offers nearly limitless configurations, and still gives you a glance through the tempered glass at your glowing gaming behemoth.

You can save a touch of cash by choosing slightly less powerful parts without sacrificing much performance, too. Our review unit, which may be found for as low as $1,700 on sale, comes with an older 8th-Generation processor and an Nvidia RTX 2080. during this configuration, even demanding games were playable in 4K resolution, and most games in our review played at around 100 FPS when stepped right down to 1440p.

Now, you'll configure the Obelisk to be the foremost powerful gaming PC you'll imagine, with up to the Core i9-9900K and an RTX 2080 Ti.

The best all-in-one desktop: Apple iMac 5K (2019)

Why you ought to buy this:

Updated silicon inside an iconic design lets the iMac stand out from the competition.

Who it’s for: 

Professionals and residential users trying to find compact, beautiful, and powerful all-in-one computer

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 offer it even more powerful innards to satiate the power-hungry needs of prosumers. full of up to an eight-core Intel 9th-Generation Core i9-9900K processor, the 5K edition of Apple’s all-in-one is that the fastest we’ve tested and lets desktop Mac users experience discrete desktop graphics without having to intensify to the costlier iMac Pro or newly redesigned Mac Pro.
The 27-inch canvas on this iMac isn’t meant for gaming, but it’s adept for tasks like video and photo editing, office tasks, and media consumption. And because of its bright, high contrast display supporting 100% of the sRGB color space, it’s still a perfect fit editors.

Despite having an older chassis, 2019 iMac 5K remains an almost perfect all-in-one. Though it doesn’t support biometric logins and touchscreen support remains glaringly absent, this desktop delivers fast performance during a compact form factor with an outsized canvas for content creation and consumption.

The best desktop for video editing: Adamant Ryzen Threadripper Professional PC

Why you ought to buy this: it's absolutely ludicrous performance and tons of customization options.
Who it’s for: Creatives and businesses with deep pockets.

Why we picked the Adamant Ryzen Threadripper Pro video editing PC:

Adamant’s PCs won't be the sexiest out there, but they're leading edge when it involves performance. Sporting the newest high-powered AMD Threadripper 3000 CPUs, including the 3960X and 3970X, with up to 32 cores, there’s nothing out there with more multithreaded performance than this technique . Now supporting even the 3990X with 64 cores, you can

Alongside the 32 core CPU is up to 256GB of high-speed memory, options for terabytes upon terabytes of fast storage, and a choice of GPUs between basic workstation cards for general computer graphics rendering, and high-powered creator cards costing thousands of dollars. the bottom model has all the facility you’d need for fast editing, but if you would like more for a few specific tasks, it’s there for the buying.

Better still, with built-in water-cooling, this technique not only stays cool, but it stays quiet too. No got to have a turbine in your house just to urge a quick video editing PC. this technique from Adamant ticks all the boxes.

Why you ought to buy this: it's excellent performance for the worth .

Who it’s for: Students, families, entry-level gamers

Why we picked the Dell G5 Gaming Desktop:
Even though most students are going to be ready to get by with a cheap desktop with a competent processor, more and more schools are requiring projects that believe more graphics power as a part of the curriculum, and having a discrete GPU are going to be beneficial.

With recent price cuts making this technique even more competitive, it’s an excellent time to shop for .

The best compact desktop: Apple Mac Mini

Why you ought to buy this: It’s tiny and powerful.

Who it’s for: Budget and space-restricted Apple fans.

Why we picked the Apple Mac Mini:

Apple’s Mac Mini may need been the foremost neglected of the company’s hardware — that's , until the 2018 version made its surprise appearance. This Mac Mini truly embodies the thought of a miniature computer and doesn’t scrimp on the hardware inside. It’s a touch pricier than previous iterations of the micro-system, but with an 8th-Generation six-core Intel CPU at its heart and up to 64GB of memory, it can crunch through general computing tasks with ease.

The Mac Mini, however, isn’t without drawbacks. Though it’s ideal for a majority of your computing needs, the shortage of discrete graphics support and non-upgradeable RAM makes this a but ideal choice for gamers and PC users trying to find flexibility during a desktop. Fortunately, Apple made some smart decisions in designing the Mac Mini — Thunderbolt 3 support means you'll add an external GPU and therefore the included SSD is one among the fastest drives we’ve tested on a system. And despite the worth jump, the Mac Mini is one among the foremost affordable ways to hitch the MacOS ecosystem.

For most home and office users, the Mac Mini are going to be a quick and capable desktop that’s ready to handle most of your office tasks, web browsing, and media consumption. Most users are going to be pleased with how speedily MacOS runs on the upgraded 8th-Generation Intel processor for many of your computing work. as long as Apple didn't find it necessary to update the previous version of this desktop for five years, if history is any indication, this year’s model should be ready to stay relevant for even as long.

How we test

You’ve read our reviews. You’ve read our conclusions. And now you’re wondering how we came to them.

Reviews often lack context. We’ll give out a score and analyze the finer points of desktop performance, but how can we reach those conclusions? How can we test these machines?

Allow us to lift the veil. Here we’ll explain the benchmarks we use for objective testing and therefore the perspective from which we approach subjective topics. We don’t expect everyone to accept as true with our opinions, but we hope that sharing our process will leave you better equipped to make a decision what desktop most closely fits your needs.

What’s the simplest desktop brand?

Picking the proper desktop to serve your needs for subsequent few years are often an awesome decision, given the massive selection of models on store shelves and online. Fortunately, though, unless you’re checking out a very niche model — like a particularly compact desktop or one that’s equipped with multiple graphics cards — most systems today ship with similar components inside, so you'll expect comparable performance for systems outfitted with similar components. Some are costlier than others, but the choices are there.

When picking the simplest desktop, we wanted something that would do everything at a reasonable price. That’s the Dell G5 Gaming Desktop to a tee. Even its $580 base model is solid PC, including a GTX 1650 and a quad-core Core i3 processor. That’s many power for many students, whether you’re performing on a video project, editing photos, coding a game, or simply writing your research paper.

With performance out of the way, this frees you up to seem at a number of the more unique features, sort of a desktop’s unique design and therefore the manufacturer’s post-purchase support. For support, Apple usually wins with its Genius Grove — formerly called the Genius Bar — where you've got in-person access to support at the company’s many retail locations. If you’re trying to find extended support, you’ll be more happy with an enterprise-class desktop from brands like Dell, HP, and Lenovo.

The best desktop for students: Dell G5 Gaming Desktop

Even if you’re not a gamer or heavy content creator, having discrete graphics are often beneficial. With more apps offloading a number of the work from the processor to the GPU, an honest graphics card can help speed up some Office tasks and web browsing where GPU acceleration is enabled.

Should my personal computer have an SSD or GPU?

SSDs and graphics cards are premium upgrades which will be worthwhile to assist keep your desktop running smoothly for years. Prices for SSDs have come down in recent years, but you don’t need to spend extravagantly for a high capacity solid-state drive to reap the rewards. Instead, students on a budget can accompany a dual-drive strategy, combining a more manageable and speedy SSD with enough capacity to store the OS and regularly used applications, while resorting to a less costly and expansive disk drive to deal with larger files. additionally to the storage, you’ll also want to explore what proportion memory you’ll want on your desktop, and most PCs today will ship with a minimum of 8GB of RAM. 16GB is well worth the price for gamers and heavy web users, but 32GB and above is merely really useful for high-end tasks like video editing and rendering.


If the worth may be a little high, Adamant does offer systems with the mainstream Ryzen 3950X and 3900X, which have 16 and 12 cores apiece. They’d still be fantastic editing machines and would come at a fraction of the worth .


.