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Desktop Reviews

A reliable spot for honest desktop reviews by Digital Trends’ expert reviewers. Compare desktop machines based on their form factor, rating, operating system, and more.

corsair i5100 review 09

Corsair Vengeance i5100 review: falling short of its potential

The Corsair i5100 has all the hallmarks of a top-tier gaming PC, but it doesn't quite match the pace of the competition.
The ports on the back of the Mac mini M4 Pro.

Apple Mac mini (M4 Pro) review: a silver box of magic

The Minisforum AtomMan G7 Ti sitting on a coffee table.

Minisforum AtomMan G7 Ti review: smaller and more powerful than a PS5

The AtomMan G7 Ti achieves the impossible. It's very performant, impossibly small, and best of all, reasonably priced. That all makes it easy to recommend.
The Tecno Megamini G1 sitting on a table.

Tecno Megamini G1 review: a beautiful mini PC

Through a collaboration between Tecno and Geekom, the Megamini G1 delivers performance far above what its specs would suggest.
The Lenovo Legion Tower 5i sitting on a coffee table.

This is the gaming PC you should buy under $1,000

It seemed like the era of gaming desktops under $1,000 was behind us, but the Lenovo Legion Tower 5i proves that sweet spot gaming desktops are alive and well.
Ghost of Tsushima running on the Asus ROG Ally X.

Asus ROG Ally X review: better in every way

The ROG Ally X is a massive improvement over the original, even if its price tag is a bit hard to swallow given the competition.
The Asus ROG NUC 970 sitting on a table.

Asus ROG NUC 970 review: an impossibly small PC

The Asus ROG NUC 970 is an impossibly small desktop, but looking closer at the performance reveals why it's so tiny.
The Corsair One i500 sitting on a coffee table.

I hate prebuilt gaming PCs — but the Corsair One i500 changed my mind

The Corsair One i500 is an expensive gaming PC, but it still manages to feel worth every penny.
The HP Omen 40L desktop sitting on a coffee table.

HP Omen 40L desktop review: missing what counts the most

HP has the pricing and specs nailed with the Omen 40L, but it falls short of expectations when it comes to performance.
The Falcon NW Talon on a table in front of a window.

Falcon Northwest Talon review: you get what you pay for

Falcon Northwest's Talon is a boutique gaming PC, now complete with the very latest and greatest PC parts.
The Starforge Navigator PC sitting on a coffee table.

The biggest Twitch streamers swear by this gaming PC. Is it any good?

Starforge Systems has resounding endorsements from some of Twitch's largest streamers, but are the company's PCs any good?
Ayaneo

I tested the cutest mini PC in the world, and it completely won me over

The Ayaneo Retro Mini PC AM01 not only boasts an appealing design but also delivers the performance you need for everyday computing and light gaming.
Apple Mac Studio front view showing ports.

Mac Studio review: can it replace my Windows PC?

Apple's Mac Studio is its most powerful desktop PC for almost all users. It's small, elegant, and fast. But the price is high when fully configured.
HP Envy Move front view showing AiO and keyboard.

HP Envy Move review: a PC unlike any you’ve seen

The HP Envy Move is a well-executed design, offering an AiO that's easy to carry around. It has some compromises, though, to hit an affordable price.
The back of the Blue iMac on a desk in an office.

Apple iMac (M3) review: When enough is enough

There's a new iMac, now using the M3 chip. It's not the iMac you want, but it might be the one you need.
Lenovo Yoga AIO 9i desktop showing an HDR demo.

Lenovo Yoga AIO 9i review: an iMac killer in the making

With its price and features, Lenovo's Yoga AIO 9i is squarely targeted at the iMac, but it still stumbles in a few areas.
Alienware Aurora R16 sitting on a coffee table.

Alienware Aurora R16 review: almost the final form

Alienware has totally redesigned its Aurora desktop with the R16, making it a much more competitive gaming PC in 2023.
Dell XPS Desktop sitting on a coffee table.

Dell XPS Desktop (8960) review: a new performance class

The Dell XPS Desktop 8960 reaches a new level of performance, but it comes at the cost of flexibility that made last-gen's model so attractive.
Lenovo Legion Tower 7i gaming PC sitting on a table.

The Lenovo Legion Tower 7i is a great gaming PC with one big mistake

The Lenovo Legion Tower 7i ticks all the boxes with flagship performance, great design, and room for upgrades, but it makes a critical mistake with RAM speed.
The Mac mini on a wooden desk.

Apple Mac mini (M2 Pro) review: the best mini computer ever

The M2 Pro makes the updated Mac mini the best compact computer ever made. And it's a fantastic value too.
Alienware Aurora R15 placed at an angle on a table.

Alienware Aurora R15 review: fixing a critical issue

Alienware's long-running Aurora line sees iterative updates every year, but 2023 brings a critical change that makes it a much more attractive gaming desktop.
Intel NUC computer on a table.

Intel NUC 12 Enthusiast review: a gaming PC the size of a book

The Intel NUC 12 Enthusiast delivers much higher performance than its size would suggest, all while expertly handling heat and noise.
The CLX Scarab on a wooden table.

CLX Scarab review (2022): High-end PC gaming at its finest

Equipped with up to a Core i9-12900KS and an RTX 3090 Ti and retailing for about $5000, the Scarab is worth considering if you're after high-end performance.
The HP Z2 G9 Workstation standing up on a desk.

HP Z2 Mini G9 Workstation review: a serious Mac Studio rival

A PC that's both small and powerful? That's hard to come by, but that's exactly what the HP Z2 mini G9 workstation manages to pull off.
The HP Chromebase All in One 22 sitting on a desk.

HP Chromebase All-in-One 22 review: Taking ChromeOS to new places

The HP Chromebase All-in-One 22 is all about twisting ChromeOS to a new place and giving you new ways to enjoy the OS on a desktop
Acer Predator Orion 7000 sitting on a table.

Acer Predator Orion 7000 review: A great gaming PC that’s too expensive

The Acer Predator Orion 7000 is a fantastic gaming PC, but it's too expensive. You should buy it, but only if you can find one on sale.
Logo on the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro headset.

SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless review: A new standard

The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless takes the best gaming headset and makes it better, and it's the top premium headset you can buy in 2022.
falcon northwest tiki review 2022 08

Falcon Northwest Tiki review (2022): Mini PC gaming, perfected

The Falcon Northwest Tiki is a monster of a gaming PC, and in its pursuit to offer the smallest form factor possible, it sacrifices very little.
asus proart station pd5 review 10

Asus ProArt Station PD5 review: Too little, too late

The Asus ProArt Station PD5 is too little, too late. It's held back by a last-gen processor, which makes it a bad buy for creators in 2022.
The Dell XPS Desktop sitting on a table.

Dell XPS Desktop (8950) review: A larger, faster design

Liquid cooling in the XPS Desktop? Dell's latest 8950 XPS Desktop packs modern furnishes and powerful hardware, and it's our go-to PC for most people.
EK Fluid Conquest sitting on a table.

EK 275 Conquest review: Custom watercooling for cheap

If you want custom watercooling without the time or monetary investment, the EK 275 Conquest is for you. It's an excellent machine with a low price.
Maingear Vybe desktop sitting on a table.

Maingear Vybe review: Great bones, outdated details

Maingear's Vybe has been a touchstone for custom gaming PCs for years, and it's still a solid option in 2022. It's not the perfect platform it once was, though.
MSI Aegis RS 12 sitting on a table.

MSI Aegis RS 12 review: Cheaper than building your own

The MSI Aegis RS 12 is packed with the latest and greatest hardware, and it's cheap. There are a few build quality oversights you need to know about, though.
HP Omen 45L sitting on a table.

HP Omen 45L review: A master class in prebuilt gaming PCs

The HP Omen 45L is like a dream where gaming PC designers deliver on every promise. It improves an already great design, and it'll be tough to top in 2022.

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Senior Editor, Computing

Luke Larsen is a Senior Editor at Digital Trends and manages all content covering laptops, Macs, monitors, PC hardware, and peripherals. Around here we call it “computing,” but here’s a good rule of thumb: If it’s a computer or something that plugs into a computer, you found your guy. Oh, and these days, AI too. So much AI.

After getting a degree in music from the University of Oregon, Luke started his career in media hoping to get into music journalism. But when the opportunity arose, he landed in tech and hasn’t looked back since. He has over a decade of tech journalism experience, first joining Digital Trends in 2017 as a native Portlander, happy to join a tech media company that called his city home. Before working at DT, he worked as Tech Editor at Paste Magazine for over four years and has bylines at publications such as IGN, TouchArcade (RIP), and The Oregonian.

In his years at Digital Trends so far, Luke has covered high-profile industry events such as CES, IFA, and Microsoft Build, delivering on-the-ground coverage, breaking news, and first-hand reporting. He’s hosted countless YouTube videos, made podcast appearances, and written over 600 articles.

Some of his earliest tech memories include learning HTML through his MySpace account and trying to play Baldur’s Gate II on his parents’ dusty old beige box. These days, his obsession with technology is in telling stories with tech — in finding the narratives that ebb and flow through both technological advancement and product design, trickling right on down to our day-to-day experience of it. He is convinced that we all spend too much of our time using technology and not enough time thinking about it — cue a healthy dose of navel-gazing and philosophizing.

When he’s not endlessly debating what the best laptop is, Luke spends his days being a dad and a husband. Oh, and when there’s time (which there isn’t), he’s an avid fiction writer, player of designer board games, and still occasionally makes some music.