Secretlab currently offers three different base editions of their Titan Evo gaming chair lineup:

• The Titan Evo (Standard Edition)
• The Titan Evo NanoGen Edition
• The Titan Evo Lite Edition

Each of these chairs targets a slightly different type of user based on budget, materials, comfort features, and customization options. While they all share the same core Titan Evo design, the details are what set them apart.

Below is a full breakdown of the real-world differences between the Secretlab Titan Evo vs NanoGen vs Lite to help you decide which one makes the most sense for you.

Video Breakdown: Secretlab Titan Evo vs NanoGen vs Lite

If you’d rather watch the video version of the guide, you can find it below:

Pricing & Overall Positioning

While prices fluctuate based on sales and promotions, these are the typical price ranges you can expect:

• Titan Evo Lite: around $449
• Titan Evo (Standard Edition): around $549
• Titan Evo NanoGen: around $799

The Titan Evo Standard serves as the baseline Secretlab experience. The Lite version is a more stripped-back, budget-friendly version of that experience. The NanoGen is the premium option, offering upgraded materials and a slightly more refined seating feel.

Read our review on the Secretlab NanoGen Edition here.

If price is your primary concern, the Lite is clearly the most affordable way to get into a Secretlab chair. If you want higher-end materials and are willing to pay for them, the NanoGen sits at the top of the lineup.

Material Differences (Leather & Fabric)

Secretlab also offers a variety of seat material options differing in material type and quality.

Note: Not all of Secretlab’s chair types are available in all of their different materials.

NEO Hybrid Leatherette

The standard Titan Evo comes with Secretlab’s NEO Hybrid Leatherette. According to Secretlab, this material is rated to be 12x stronger than their older PRIME 2.0 leatherette. In practice, it feels soft to the touch while still being very durable and resistant to wear.

This is a high-end synthetic leather and it strikes a really nice balance between comfort, longevity, and price.

NanoGen Hybrid Leatherette

The Titan EVO NanoGen edition uses Secretlab’s most advanced leather material: NanoGen Hybrid Leatherette.

This is designed to be even softer and more durable than the NEO Hybrid Leatherette used on the standard edition.

In everyday use, the NanoGen leather has a noticeably more premium feel, especially for users who spend long hours in their chair each day. If having the softest possible surface is important to you, this is one of the biggest reasons to step up to the NanoGen edition chair.

Titan Evo Lite – PRIME 2.0 Leatherette

The Titan Evo Lite uses Secretlab’s older PRIME 2.0 Leatherette. While this is technically their lowest-end leatherette, it is still a surprisingly durable material.

I’ve personally owned two Secretlab chairs that feature PRIME 2.0 leather, and both of them are still in excellent condition after five years of use. So even though the Standard and NanoGen editions use upgraded materials, the Lite’s leather is still a quality option for long-term ownership.

SoftWeave Fabric Options

Secretlab also offers their chairs in a fabric material called SoftWeave. However, it is not available on every edition:

• Available on: Titan Evo Standard and Titan Evo Lite
• Not available on: Titan Evo NanoGen

If you specifically want a fabric chair rather than leatherette, your choice will be limited to the Standard or Lite editions.

Seat Base & Cushioning

All three chairs use Secretlab’s proprietary Ergonomic Pebble Seat base design, but the internal foam construction differs slightly between models.

• Titan Evo Standard & Lite: Both use Secretlab’s traditional cold-cure foam seat base.
• Titan Evo NanoGen: Uses an upgraded NanoFoam Composite seat base.

The NanoFoam Composite seat found in the NanoGen is softer while still remaining supportive. If you prefer a slightly softer sitting feel for long sessions, this is one of the subtle but noticeable advantages of the NanoGen over the other two models.

Lumbar Support

Secretlab’s older chairs featured an adjustable lumbar support where you could adjust how far inward and outward the lumbar support protruded.

But their new 4-way L-ADAPT lumbar support system offers height adjustment of the lumbar support as well, so taller and shorter individuals will have an easier time getting the lumbar support in the right location.

Standard & NanoGen – 4-Way L-ADAPT Lumbar Support

Both the Titan Evo Standard and the Titan Evo NanoGen include Secretlab’s full 4-way L-ADAPT lumbar support system.

• The right knob controls how far the lumbar support protrudes outward.
• The left knob controls how high or low the lumbar support sits.

This allows you to fine-tune the lumbar support to match your lower back perfectly, which can make a big difference during long gaming or work sessions.

Lite – Fixed Lumbar Curve

The Titan Evo Lite does not include an adjustable lumbar system. Instead, it relies on a fixed lumbar curve built directly into the backrest.

This still provides basic support, but you lose the ability to dial it in exactly to your preference. For some users this won’t be a big deal, but if you are sensitive to lumbar support, the Standard or NanoGen is the better choice.

Armrests & Adjustability

All three editions feature 4D armrests, meaning they can be adjusted up and down, forward and backward, side to side, and rotated inward or outward.

• Lite: Plastic armrest base with fixed pads.
• Standard & NanoGen: Metal armrest base.

The NanoGen armrests also offer a 50% greater height adjustment range compared to the other two editions. This is a nice bonus if you need a wider range of adjustability for desk and arm positioning.

CloudSwap Armrest Compatibility

Secretlab’s CloudSwap technology allows you to easily replace or customize your armrest pads, which is useful for long-term maintenance or personalized comfort.

• Standard & NanoGen: Compatible with Secretlab’s CloudSwap technology.
• Lite: Armrest pads are fixed and not swappable.

Headrest Pillow & Accessories

• Titan Evo Lite: Supports the magnetic headrest pillow, but it is not included.
• Titan Evo Standard & NanoGen: Headrest pillow is included out of the box.

Other Features

All three chairs also:

• Recline back up to 165 degrees
• Include tilt and lock functionality
• Support Secretlab Skins
• Support the ergonomic recliner add-on
• Come with warranties of up to five years

Sizing Options

• Small: Up to 200 lbs, up to 5’6″
• Regular: Up to 220 lbs, 5’7″–6’2″
• XL: Up to 395 lbs, 5’11″–6’9″

• Standard Edition: Small, Regular, XL
• Lite Edition: Regular, XL
• NanoGen Edition: Regular, XL

If you need the Small size, your only option is the Titan Evo Standard.

Aesthetic Options & Variants

• Titan Evo Lite: 5 total variants
• Titan Evo NanoGen: Typically only black or white
• Titan Evo Standard: Well over 100 variants and special editions

If aesthetics and special edition designs matter to you, the Standard Edition is by far the most flexible choice.

Final Thoughts: Which Secretlab Chair Should You Get?

By now, you probably have a good idea of which chair will be right for your needs, but just in case you need a quick cheat sheet, you can use the following generalizations to help you decide:

Choose the Titan Evo Lite if:

• You want to spend the least amount of money.
• You don’t need adjustable lumbar support.
• You don’t care about CloudSwap armrests.

Choose the Titan Evo NanoGen if:

• You want the most premium materials.
• You want the softest seat base.
• You don’t need aesthetic customization.

Choose the Titan Evo Standard if:

• You want the best overall balance of price and features.
• You want adjustable lumbar support.
• You want CloudSwap armrests.
• You want the widest range of design options.

For most people, the Secretlab Titan Evo Standard Edition will be the best overall choice.

Secretlab is running a Christmas sale right now, check out their deals by clicking on the link below:

View Current Secretlab Discounts

The post Secretlab Titan Evo vs NanoGen vs Lite: Which Chair Should You Choose? appeared first on Tech Guided.

In my last post I highlighted how well my older Secretlab series chairs have held up over the past five years and, in this post, I’m going to review Secretlab’s newest Titan Evo NanoGen edition chair.

Also, Secretlab is running a Holiday sale right now, so if you’re considering picking up one of their chairs they are currently at a heavy discount. More on that sale at the end of this review.

Check Out the Secretlab Titan Evo NanoGen

Unboxing & Assembly

Before we get into what this chair is like to sit in and all of the features it comes with, let’s first go over the unboxing and assembly experience…

One thing that always stood out to me with my previous Secretlab chairs was how well Secretlab handles the unboxing experience.

Everything is well-packed and, in unboxing a Secretlab chair, you get the feel that you’re opening a premium product.

The first thing you’re greeted with when unboxing any Secretlab product is a large black card that has Secretlab’s logo on it.

On first glance it’s a nice piece for branding, but if you flip it over it has a large set of clearly laid out instructions to assemble your chair.

Assembly

Assembly is a pretty straight forward process.

Without including the installation of the recliner add-on, it took me about 30-40 minutes to assemble the base edition of the chair, but as I was recording the unboxing the process, you can probably assemble it even faster.

I also got Secretlab’s recliner add-on to test out as well as their OTTO leg rest, which is basically a mini ottoman for your chair, and both of those add-ons were packaged just as well as the Titan and both were very easy to assembly.

More on those in a bit.

Many Changes at Secretlab

A lot has changed with Secretlab’s chairs since I got my Secretlab 2020 edition Titan Evo five years ago.

In this section I’ll discuss some of the many new options Secretlab offers, including what the NanoGen edition chair comes with.

Upgraded Leather Options

Secretlab has upgraded the leather their chairs come with, switching from their Prime PU Leather to their NEO Hybrid Leatherette for their standard edition chair, which is 12x more durable than the Prime leather they used before, and now they also offer an even more upgraded leather, which they dub their NanoGen Hybrid Leatherette, which is 14x more durable than their older leather.

Here’s a comparison of Secretlab’s different leathers and how they stack up.

As you can see the NanoGen Hybrid Leatherette is Secretlab’s softest and most durable leather to date.

And, I’ve got to say from sitting in it, this upgraded leather does feel really nice.

Now, if you saw my last video on my YouTube channel (see below) you’ll know that even their Prime PU Leather has held up perfectly over the course of five years, so I expect the new NanoGen Hybrid Leatherette will treat me well, too.

NanoFoam Composite Seat Base

The upgraded NanoGen Titan Evo also utilizes a higher-end seat base than the standard model.

They dub this seat base their NanoFoam composite seat base. Secretlab says their innovative new cushion offers the best of both worlds, giving a good blend of both softness and support.

Just a note, the NanoGen Hybrid Leatherette and NanoFoam Composite seat base are only available on the upgraded NanoGen Edition chair, and it costs a couple hundred more than the standard Secretlab Titan Evo does, and the standard edition features the NEO Hybrid Leatherette and Secretlab’s regular cold-cure foam seat base.

I’ve been sitting in the NanoGen for a couple of weeks and after adjusting the chair to my liking and breaking it in a bit, I’ve found the seat base to be very comfortable and supportive to sit in.

New 4-Way L-Adapt Lumbar Support System

Secretlab has since also introduced a new lumbar support system for their NanoGen edition and standard edition Titan Evo. They dub this system their 4-way L-adapt lumbar support.

The older Titan EVO’s had lumber support systems that could be adjusted inwards and outwards, allowing you to increase and decrease how far out the lumbar support protruded.

On my older chair this was fine as the lumbar support hit me at the right spot on my back. However, I could see how a taller person may not have liked where the lumbar support hit them on the older version Titan EVOs.

Fortunately, the new 4-way L-adapt system fixes this by providing a second lumbar support adjustment knob that allows you to adjust the lumbar support up and down. This means most individuals should be able to dial in Secretlab’s new lumbar support system to suit their body type.

New Sizes Available

Also, Secretlab has added an extra large and small version of the Titan EVO, so they’ve made it easy both in terms of the different sizes of chairs AND adjustment options, to make their chairs fit for all body types.

Just note, though, that the upgraded NanoGen Titan is only available in the standard size and the extra large size.

CloudSwap Arm Rest Pads

Another really cool feature that Secretlab has brought to the table is their new cloud swap technology for their arm rests. Essentially, instead of having permanent arm rest pads, Secretlab makes their pads swappable. Their arm rest pads attach to the arm rest base with four strong magnets.

This is a really great feature, as if you were to damage your pads, it would be as simple as purchasing new ones and swapping them out with your damaged pads. A really great way to preserve the value of your chair.

Right now, there are a handful of different arm rest pads you can swap out for, but I imagine Secretlab has plans to offer more options here, just as they offer a ton of custom chair designs.

My chair has the all black memory foam plush arm rests pads and they feel really nice to rest your arms on. But, you can also get a memory gel version of the arm rest pads as well.

Secretlab Skins

Secretlab also introduced chair skins awhile back and this is another great option they have to help you preserve the value of your investment.

Skins are essentially fabric sleeves—they use Secretlab’s SoftWeave material—that fit over your existing Titan Evo to either change the aesthetic of your chair, or if you were to accidentally damage the leather on your chair, you could easily swap on a new sleeve for a brand new look.

Protect Your Investment

So, with both their cloud swap arm rest pads and skins, Secretlab offers a lot of ways for you to refresh your chair.

With other chairs, if your arm rest pads were to get damaged, or your seat material got ripped or stained, your sort of stuck with it and if it really bothers you, your only real solution would be to purchase a whole new chair.

So, these two additional products give you the ability to keep using a chair that is in other wise perfect condition.

Aesthetic Options

I opted for the all-black version of Secretlab’s NanoGen Titan Evo, but you can also get it in all white as well.

As the NanoGen is a bit newer model, there aren’t as many custom aesthetic options for the chair.

If you want to get one of the many custom designs Secretlab offers, you’ll need to consider the standard Titan Evo edition.

Other Features on the NanoGen Edition Chair

Along with all of the advanced features the NanoGen edition Titan Evo comes with, it also offers the same core features that you’d expect to find on other premium gaming chairs.

It has 4D metal arm rests, which can be adjusted up and down, backwards and forwards, side to side, and at an angle.

The NanoGen edition chairs arm rests ARE upgraded over their standard edition chair as well, opting for what they call their heavy duty arm rests, which offer a 50% increase in height adjustment range so you can really dial in the right arm rest height for your body.

And, like the other editions of Secretlab’s Titan EVO, the NanoGen can recline backwards up to 165-degrees and it features tilt and lock functionality.

The regular size version of the NanoGen can hold weight capacities of up to 285 pounds and the extra larger version can hold up to 395 pounds.

Secretlab also switched from a memory foam head pillow that had straps on it to connect it to your chair, to a magnetic pillow. There’s a magnet on the top of the chair and in the pillow and the pillow sticks in place easily.

This cleans up the look of the chair in my opinion.

Chair Add-Ons

Secretlab now offers a number of chair add-ons as well. As mentioned earlier, I got both their recliner add-on and OTTO leg rest to test out.

The recliner add-on attaches to the bottom of any Titan Evo chair and basically turns it into a legit recliner. This is a great addition if you like to kick back and watch content.

The OTTO leg rest serves essentially the same purpose, but does so in the form of a stand-alone otto man that isn’t attached to your chair.

It probably doesn’t make sense to get both of these add-ons, but either would be a good addition to your setup if your use case calls for kicking back and relaxing.

Is the NanoGen Edition Chair Worth It?

Now, I’ve been sitting in the Secretlab Titan EVO NanoGen for a couple of weeks now and my initial impressions are that this is an incredibly well-built chair, even moreso than my previous Secretlab chairs—which I have always felt were quality products.

All of the adjustment options Secretlab offers are incredible, especially when you consider where gaming chairs as a product have come from.

And Secretlab’s commitment to offer you more customization options and more ways to preserve the value of your investment are world class.

Ultimately, I can’t recommend this chair enough and with Secretlab’s huge Black Friday Event going on right now, you can currently get a Titan Evo at a really good price.

Secretlab Holiday Sale

The NanoGen edition Titan Evo typically costs $799, but it’s on sale for just $749 at the moment with Secretlab’s current Holiday sale. The standard edition chair typically costs $579, but you can pick it up right now for just $499.

If you’re in the market for a chair, I can’t recommend Secretlab’s offerings enough. And with their current sale, now is a great time to pick one of their chairs up.

The post Secretlab Titan Evo NanoGen Review appeared first on Tech Guided.

I’ve owned pretty much all of the different variations of Secretlab’s chairs over the past seven years, including a Secretlab Omega and a Secretlab Titan Evo, both of which I’ve had for over 5 years.

In this quick guide I’m going to go over how these chairs have held up for me, I’ll discuss whether or not they’ve lived up to the hype, and I’ll also go over the new options and features Secretlab has introduced since the last time I’ve gotten a chair from them.

Secretlab Sale

Also, Secretlab is having a huge Holiday sale right now and if you are thinking about picking up a new gaming chair, now would be a pretty good time to do so.

Check Out Secretlab’s Current Sale

Durability: How Have These Chairs Held Up?

In terms of durability, my Secretlab Titan Evo from 2020 and my Cyberpunk-themed Secretlab Omega—both of which are over 5 years old now—are both still in, basically, perfect condition.

The leather on these chairs has held up very well. The leather hasn’t faded and is still in excellent shape.

The arm rest pads are still in perfect condition as well.

And, all of the adjustment options still work flawlessly.

The 4D arm rests still adjust smoothly in all four directions.

The lumbar support system still works well.

The recline and tilt feature is functioning properly.

And, the height adjustment feature works as normal.

Overall, these two chairs still feel like they’re brand new to sit in.

What’s New At Secretlab?

However, Secretlab DID upgrade their chairs back in 2022.

They improved upon the PU leather they use on their chairs, they added a ton of new add-ons and customization options for their chairs, and they have come out with a handful of new products.

No More Omega Version Chair

For starters, Secretlab has since stopped making the Omega version of their chairs, which I think is a good move as the bucket-style seats that racing style chairs used to predominantly come in aren’t very practical.

The bucket style seat has been fine for my middle son as he’s not big enough to where the seat will effect him.

However, Secretlab now uses a flat seat base for all of their chair types.

Different Sizes Available for the Titan EVO

And, whereas the Omega was sort of their designated chair for smaller individuals, you can now get the Titan EVO in three different sizes, regular, extra large, and small.

So, the Titan lineup now serves all body types.

Secretlab SoftWeave

I also did get to test out Secretlab’s SoftWeave fabric a few years back as well.

But I did move a couple of states away and with limited space in my UHAUL truck, I did end up selling that chair before I moved.

But, from the time I did spend sitting in it, I did find it very comfortable.

So, again, I’ve tested most of Secretlab’s lineup and overall I can’t say enough for the quality they offer. They have treated me and my family well for the past 5 years plus.

And, I don’t see any reason why the Secretlab Titan Evo 2020 and Secretlab Omega I still have won’t last another 5 years or more.

But, as I mentioned, Secretlab has only continued to improve on their chairs and their offerings over the past few years.

New Leather Options

For starters, they continue to keep improving on the PU leather they use in their chairs.

The standard Titan EVO comes with their NEO Hybrid Leatherette, which is rated at 12X more durable than regular PU leather, and their new NANOGEN Hybrid Leatherette is rated at 14X more durable than regular PU leather.

I’ve got this brand new Secretlab Titan Evo NanoGen edition chair to test out.

This Titan features Secretlab’s NanoGen Hybrid Leatherette, and I’m excited to test it out and see how it differs in comfort and quality from the older generation leather.

You can watch my review of the Secretlab NanoGen below:

New Magnetic Headrest Pillow

The original Secretlab Chairs also came with headrest pillows that use a strap that wraps around the chair, but the newer models use a magnet on the pillow and top of the backrest to keep it in place, streamlining the aesthetic of the chair.

CloudSwap Arm Rest Pads

And, Secretlab’s Titan EVO and NanoGen also feature armrests that come with their cloudswap technology.

This allows you to easily swap the arm rest pads on your chair. Great if you want further customization or if you need to replace damages pads.

More Custom Aesthetics

Also, on top of all of the improvements Secretlab has made to their chair designs, they also keep expanding their partnerships, offering more custom styles on their chairs than any other gaming chair company by a long shot.

Titan Evo Lite

They’ve also introduced their Titan Evo Lite series of chairs, which are a more affordable option that come with a few less features than the standard edition Titan EVO.

Here’s a comparison video that highlights the differences between the Titan Evo standard edition, the Lite edition, and the NanoGen edition:

Secretlab’s New Products, Accessories, and Add-Ons

Along with the long list of improvements and options Secretlab has made over the past few years, they’ve also started to offer a ton of different accessories and supporting products.

Recliner Add-on & OTTO Leg Rest

For chair add-ons, they now offer an ergonomic recliner add-on that will give your legs support when you lean back for added comfort.

And they also offer with an adjustable leg rest that serves as a mini dedicated ottoman for your chair.

I have both of these accessories to test out and I’m excited to see how they elevate my sitting experience.

Secretlab Skins

Secretlab also offers skins, which allow existing Titan EVO owners to change the theme of their chair. These are just essentially sleeves that go over your existing chair to change the style.

These sleeves utilize Secretlab’s SoftWeave material and there are over 26-different variants you can use.

This is a really great option if you want to have the ability to mix up the look of your Titan in the future, and also a great value-preserver, because if your chair were to suffer any accidental damage (cat scratches it) these skins would be an excellent option to restore the aesthetics of your chair.

Magnus Gaming Desks

Secretlab also introduced their Magnus line of gaming desks, including the Magnus Pro and Magnus Evo, both of which are electric height adjustable desks.

So, if you want to streamline your setup with an all-Secretlab look, the combination of a Titan chair and Magnus desk would be worth considering.

Conclusion: Are Secretlab Chairs Worth It?

Ultimately, though, if you’re looking to pickup a new gaming chair and you’re wondering whether or not Secretlab’s chairs will last, I can say that, for me, they have definitely held up well over the years.

And with their huge sale going on, right now is a great time to take a look at some of their newer options.

The post How Long Do Secretlab Chairs Last? Five Year Titan Evo Review appeared first on Tech Guided.

If you build your own PC, you likely expect ultra-fast drives to host your OS, games and creative projects. But decentralized networks like IPFS, Filecoin and Arweave promise something entirely different: permanence, censorship resistance and distributed storage.

Local SSDs and NVMes still deliver snappy responsiveness, but decentralized storage offers durability and scale you can’t ignore. Cut through the hype and see when (and whether) you should use one, the other or both.

Why you should care

Traditional SSD/NVMe drives dominate local builds because they deliver microsecond latency and consistent performance. Meanwhile, according to Binance Research, the recent fall in the price of Ethereum and other significant assets has shifted developers’ focus toward improving infrastructure utility across decentralized systems.

In that light, decentralized storage addresses fundamental limitations of centralized models, rather than acting as a passing trend.

These new storage networks aim to make data permanent, verifiable and resistant to single points of failure. Instead of trusting one cloud or company, you trust an open network. That idea hits home for anyone who values digital independence or global collaboration.

Performance, you’ll notice, sometimes painfully so

When your OS boots or a massive game loads textures, you rely on blazing-fast I/O speeds. SSDs and NVMe drives deliver those in microseconds. Decentralized networks, conversely, fetch data from peers across the globe, verify hashes and reconstruct content blocks. Even when optimized, cold data retrievals can take hundreds of milliseconds.

In practical terms, you won’t install Windows or Photoshop on Arweave anytime soon. But that doesn’t mean these systems are irrelevant.

They’re perfect for extensive archives, research datasets and immobile content that does not require real-time retrieval. For instance, decentralized media distribution or blockchain node backups can greatly appreciate IPFS or Filecoin’s immovability.

Durability, incentives and trust

What decentralized storage lacks in speed, it makes up for in resilience. Filecoin, for instance, requires storage providers to prove that data is still intact cryptographically, an automatic verification system that discourages data loss. Arweave’s “pay once, store forever” model pushes this further by incentivizing long-term persistence across its network.

Local drives rely on physical backups or RAID arrays. One hardware failure could erase your data unless duplicated elsewhere.

In decentralized systems, redundancy is built in. Nodes compete to store your data, maintain uptime and earn token rewards. Still, these incentives fluctuate and uptime isn’t guaranteed. Decentralization doesn’t eliminate risk; it spreads it around.

How to think about using both

The most innovative approach isn’t choosing one system but combining both. Use your SSD/NVMe for high-speed operations, OS, games and creative workloads and offload long-term or large datasets to decentralized storage.

You might:

• Keep backups of research data on Arweave while editing locally.
• Mirror video assets to Filecoin for global redundancy.
• Cache IPFS files on your drive to cut down retrieval time.

By layering decentralized storage over local infrastructure, you gain durability without sacrificing responsiveness. It’s not a competition, it’s a partnership.

Market context and why Web3 storage matters

The crypto market has always mirrored broader technological sentiment. According to Binance Research, “the total crypto market cap lost more than US$300 B this week, falling to US$3.7 T towards the end of the week. Riskier assets like altcoins fell the most, with Ethereum falling over 13% and Solana by 20%. BNB fell only by ~3% while BTC slipped ~6%.”

That volatility underscores how quickly investor confidence can swing, making durable, decentralized infrastructure even more vital.

Another report from Binance Research adds, “Although volatility traders may see continued calm next month, as seasonal statistics show October and November are historically the two months with the lowest Bitcoin volatility, for price action traders, October is also known for reversing September’s weakness.”

In other words, cycles change, but the underlying infrastructure must endure them.

Institutional adoption is also rising. Binance Research data shows that institutional Bitcoin ownership has jumped from just 0.9% in 2014 to around 19.8% today. That shift signals growing confidence in blockchain’s foundational layers, including decentralized storage as part of that long-term infrastructure stack.

In this context, Web3 storage solutions are less about novelty and more about continuity. They ensure data remains verifiable, auditable and free from centralized control, even when markets fluctuate.

Pick wisely, evolve rapidly

If you’re building a PC today, your SSD or NVMe drive remains the hero for speed and reliability. But decentralized systems are carving out a distinct niche: resilient, long-term, censorship-resistant data storage.

Instead of replacing your hardware, consider decentralized networks as your off-site safety net. They safeguard data against time, censorship and central failure. As decentralized protocols mature, expect faster retrievals, better incentives and easier integration into local setups.

The takeaway? Keep your fast drives for what they do best, but don’t dismiss decentralized storage. The next evolution of computing may not live entirely on your motherboard, but across thousands of nodes worldwide, ensuring your data, like the network itself, never truly disappears.

The post Comparing Decentralized Storage (IPFS, Filecoin, Arweave) vs Traditional SSD/NVMe in PC Builds appeared first on Tech Guided.

Want a powerful custom-built gaming PC without the hassle of building it yourself? While building your own system can save some money, it isn’t the right fit for everyone — and that’s where custom PC builders come in.

Whether you’re looking for a new gaming PC, a system that will let you start streaming, or you’re working professionally, there is a custom PC company out there that can build a system that will meet your individual needs.

In this guide, we’ll cover 10 of the best custom PC builder websites available in 2025, breaking down what each offers, their pricing, and who they’re best suited for. If you want a system that’s built to your exact specs without the DIY stress, one of the builders below will have you covered.

Let’s dive in.

1. Xidax

While Xidax may not have been quite as well-known as companies like Origin PC a couple of years ago, with big name sponsorships with popular gamers/influencers (MrBeast, Unbox Therapy, Steve Aoki, etc.), they’re now one of the more popular custom PC builders.

And, in terms of quality of their systems, they might actually be the best option among custom PC builders.

For starters, their Gamer Enthusiast lineup starts out at $920, which is fairly low for a custom PC. However, their lowest-priced Gamer Enthusiast configuration doesn’t come with a dedicated graphics card and relies on an AMD Ryzen 5 5600G and its integrated Vega graphics, which won’t give you an ideal in-game experience, especially considering what kind of gaming PC you can build with ~$800.

But, Xidax also offers higher-end desktop, workstation, and laptop options for gaming or professional use.

Xidax also offers RTX 5090 gaming PC options, as well as configurations that come with lower-tier RTX 5000-series GPUs like the 5080 and 5070 Ti. The cheapest RTX 5090 desktop configuration you can get from Xidax comes in at just $4,200.

Through their customization options, and of Xidax desktops can be upgraded to have better core hardware, as well as customization options like RGB lighting, CPU & GPU overclocking, CPU delidding, engraving, faster shipping, etc.

Xidax also offers a number of financing options, including through Affirm (with payments as low as $66/mo), Progressive Leasing, and PayTomorrow.

Perhaps the biggest advantage that Xidax has over the competition is that they offer an industry-leading lifetime limited warranty on parts and labor on all of their desktops. And, they are well-known for their exceptional customer support department.

So, if you’re looking for a company that backs their products 100%, Xidax might the right option for you.

Check Out Xidax’s Systems

2. Origin PC

A few years after Dell acquired popular custom PC builder Alienware, three former Alienware employees left to found their own custom PC company, Origin PC, because they wanted to offer higher quality systems. The company was purchased by Corsair in 2019.

Origin PC offers custom-built computers and laptops for gaming and professional use and all of their models and classes of PCs and laptops are ‘configurable’ to match the specs you want. They offer custom PCs in small form-factor cases, mid-tower cases, full tower cases, and super tower cases. And, they have laptop options that come in lightweight designs, as well as laptops that come with single and even dual GPUs.

Origin PC doesn’t have lower-tier systems available, with their least expensive option, their Neuron lineup, starting at $2,272. The base model of the Chronos comes with an AMD Ryzen 5 9600X processor, an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 8GB graphics card, 32GB of DDR5 RAM, a 240mm AIO cooler, and an 850-watt power supply.

Origin PC’s cheapest possible configuration that comes with an RTX 5090 it will run you about ~$4,220.

They do have financing options, though, so if you don’t quite have the budget to drop thousands of dollars on a system right now, you can opt for lower monthly payments instead. And, they do have a small selection of their systems available on Amazon if you are looking for quicker shipping options. They offer 1-year warranties on their systems (you have the option to extend that to 3-years) and free tech support on your system for life.

Check Out Origin PC’s Systems

3. MainGear

MainGear has been building custom computers for over 20 years now. Founded back in 2002, MainGear has a decent selection of computers, laptops, and workstations that can be used for gaming or for professional use.

And, like the other options on this list, all of MainGear’s systems are configurable, with the option to choose everything from the CPU and graphics card in their systems, to adding RGB lights, a custom paint job, multiple storage devices in RAID configuration, and upgraded warranties (among others).

MainGear does have systems that start at fairly decent prices (at least, for a custom prebuilt PC website). Their base gaming computer model, MG-1, starts at $1,249. The base MG-1 comes with an AMD Ryzen 5 7600X processor, an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 graphics card, 16GB of DDR5memory, and a 1TB SSD.

MainGear also features RTX 5000-series GPUs as well, with their cheapest configuration of the RTX 5090 coming in at ~$4,400.

Also, when compared to other custom PC builders, MainGear stands out for the advanced liquid cooling setups they offer in some of their builds. So, if you’re looking for a company that can build you a system with an extreme liquid cooling configuration, MainGear might be your best bet.

All of MainGear’s custom PCs come with a 1-year warranty with the option to upgrade to a 3-year warranty through their configuration options.

Check Out MainGear’s Systems

4. iBuyPower

In terms of affordable custom PC options, iBuyPower is one of the best options. They have gaming desktops that start as low as $1,099 and they offer financing options through Affirm as well, so monthly payments are available.

iBuyPower was founded in 1999 and they currently offer a range of custom desktops and laptops that can be configured to meet your own specific needs. And, also like CyberPowerPC (listed below), iBuyPower sells pre-built systems on Amazon for as low as $540.

So, if you don’t want to wait for iBuyPower to build you a custom system, you can always opt to get your computer delivered to you faster by purchasing through Amazon.

Also Read: Best Prebuilt Gaming PCs Under $1,000

Customization options through iBuyPower’s configuration system range from custom RGB lights, to upgraded cases, CPUs, GPUs, CPU coolers, to advanced warranty protection. Their Easy Builder is perhaps one of the best custom configuration features as it simplifies the process down to finding a PC for you based on the types of games you play.

iBuyPower doesn’t currently offer the RTX 5090 in their configurations, but they do offer the RTX 5080. So, if you’re looking for a custom PC builder that can build you a system that comes with the most powerful GPU currently on the market, you’ll have to look elsewhere.

All iBuyPower custom systems come with a standard 3-year warranty and are ready to ship within 5-10 business days (but rush shipping/production is available).

Check Out iBuyPower’s Systems

5. CyberPowerPC

Perhaps no custom PC builder website offers a wider range of base models and configuration options than CyberPowerPC does. CyberPowerPC was founded all the way back in 1998 and they sell both custom PCs and custom laptops.

They also have some of the lowest starting prices among the other options on this list, with gaming desktops starting at $809 and gaming laptops starting at $1,199. However, you can find even less expensive options from CyberPowerPC directly on Amazon, with options as low as $649.

Also Read: Best CyberPowerPC Gaming PC Desktops

Like iBuyPower, CyberPowerPC doesn’t currently offer the option to add an RTX 5090 to their system, but you can go as high as an RTX 5080 in their custom system configurator.

And, like MainGear and Origin PC, CyberPowerPC also offers financing options through Affirm, so there is the potential to make monthly payments on their systems.

All of CyberPowerPC’s systems come with a standard 1-year warranty with a 3-year service plan and lifetime tech support. They do have slower shipping times, with custom systems taking a couple of weeks to be sent out, but you can pay for rushed shipping in as little as 3-days. However, their options on Amazon are Prime-eligible, which means they can be shipped to you in as little as 2-days for free.

Check Out CyberPowerPC’s Systems

6. Digital Storm

Digital Storm has been around since 2002 and they offer a range of custom desktops, workstations, and laptops for gaming and/or professional use.

Unfortunately, Digital Storm’s systems are priced a bit higher than some of the other options on this list. Their lowest price system, their Corsa lineup, starts at $1,290, which comes with an Intel Core i5-12400F processor, 16GB of DDR4 memory, and a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 graphics card.

While that’s a decent configuration for budget-oriented users, and fairly competitive with the competition, you could build your own gaming PC for $700 and get similar performance.

DigitalStorm also offers the RTX 5090 in their configurations, and you can actually get an RTX 5090-based system from them for as low as $3,900. However, that configuration only comes with an Intel Core i5-12400F processor, so it isn’t really a reasonable pairing. If you wanted to get a Ryzen 7 9800X3D/RTX 5090 system from DigitalStorm, it will run you ~$4,700 at minimum.

All of Digital Storm’s models come with 3-year limited warranties, with the option to upgrade to 4- or 5-year limited warranties as well. Their systems also come with financing options if you are looking to make monthly payments instead of paying the full price upfront.

Check Out Digital Storm’s Systems

7. Falcon Northwest

Falcon Northwest has been around since 1992, making them the oldest custom PC builder on this list. If you’re primarily looking for a more budget-friendly custom PC, then Falcon Northwest won’t be an option for you. However, if you have a large budget and you need a high-performance desktop or laptop, then Falcon Northwest might be the custom PC builder you’ll want to consider.

Falcon Northwest has traditional desktop options starting at ~$3,546 and laptop options starting at ~$2,700. All of their systems come with a standard 3-year warranty and offer customization options on the hardware and on the aesthetics (custom painted cases).

The downside of Falcon Northwest is not just that they have a high cost of entry for even their cheapest models, it’s that their systems don’t come with as good of a price-to-performance ratio as some of the other custom builders out there.

For instance, their cheapest desktop option, the Fragbox, comes with a base configuration of an Intel Core Ultra 5 245K, an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti graphics card, and 32GB of DDR5 memory. That isn’t a bad hardware configuration by any means, but for ~$3,550 you could build a PC that has an RTX 5090 in it. Not to mention, other custom builders offer similar configurations for well over a $1,000 cheaper.

Also, Falcon Northwest does not offer financing on their systems and so there are no monthly payment options (unless, of course, you use a credit card.) So, there’s no option to break up the cost of their incredibly expensive computers.

So, while Falcon Northwest is a reputable custom PC builder, if you’re looking for the most performance out of your budget, you’ll likely want to look elsewhere.

Check Out Falcon Northwest’s Systems

8. AVADirect

AVADirect might have the most robust catalog of among all of the options on this list. From high-end gaming desktops, to custom-built gaming laptops, to workstations, to mini-PC builds, to even extreme tablets, AVADirect has a ton of different system options and configurations to choose between.

AVADirect also sells individual components as well, with the option to buy everything from desktop hard drives to headsets, keyboards, and mice.

They have custom-built gaming desktops starting at $1,259 and custom built laptops starting at $609. And, they offer financing on all of their systems if you’re looking to split your investment into smaller amounts.

Their base model gaming desktop ($1,259) comes with an Intel Core Ultra 5 245K processor, an NVIDIA RTX 3050 graphics card, and 16GB of RAM. That’s similar to other custom PC builders’ base model and it has worse specs. So, if you have a tighter budget, you’ll want to check out some of the other builders on this list.

Check Out AVADirect’s Systems

9. Empowered PC

Empowered PC (formerly Computer Upgrade King) is a newer custom PC company, but they have quickly made a name for themselves. You can find a lot of their system’s on Amazon, but they have even more offerings on their website.

They offer a variety of base model desktops and laptops and all of them can be customized to a certain degree. Their desktops start at $649 and their laptops start at $1499, easily making them one of the more affordable options on this list.

And, like many of the other custom PC builders on this list, they offer financing through Affirm on all of their products to make easier to acquire a higher-end system.

Check Out Empowered PC’s Systems

10. Singularity Computers

If you’re looking for a one-of-a-kind custom system, and you’re willing to pay to get a PC that is truly unique, then perhaps there is no better custom PC builder than Singularity Computers.

Unlike the other options on this list, Singularity Computers does not offer a list of builds that you can customize through picking and choosing the parts/components you want. Rather, Singularity Computers simply offers a contact form where you can get in touch with them to start the process of configuring your system.

One look at their build gallery will give you an idea of what kind of computer Singularity offers: extreme custom water cooled systems.

So, while Singularity Computers may not offer as convenient of an option as the PC builder websites listed above, if you’re looking for something that will provide both extreme performance and offer a design that you won’t find anywhere else, then they might be the option for you.

Check Out Singularity Computers’ Builds

Don’t Want to Build Your Own PC? Try These Custom PC Builders Instead

While I will always recommend that gamers build their own computers (rather than purchase them pre-built), I realize that not everyone wants to take on the challenge of building a computer. And, of course, that’s completely fine. The seven custom PC builders listed above are good alternatives to building your own system.

As an idea of the kind of difference in performance you will see between a similarly priced prebuilt/custom PC and a DIY build, check out the video below.

If you do want to build your own computer you can check out our following build guides to help you find the right parts for your system:

• High-End Gaming PC Builds (Over $1,000)
• Budget-Friendly Gaming PC Builds (Under $1,000)

The post Best Custom PC Builder Websites of 2025 appeared first on Tech Guided.

I had been toying with the idea of switching from my triple monitor setup to a single ultrawide monitor for awhile and when I saw Samsung’s 49-inch Odyssey G9 (G95C) on sale for just $680 (typically around ~$1,000) I knew it was time to finally make the change.

In this post, I’ll review the G95C and go over all of its pros and cons and standout features. I’ll also discuss whether or not my switch was the right decision as well as go over why it may or may not be the right monitor for your needs.

Why I Chose the G95C Over Other Odyssey G9 Options

There are a number of 49-inch Odyssey G9 ultrawide monitors currently available. My decision really came down to either getting the G95C, which has a VA panel, or getting the G91SD or G93SC, both of which have OLED panels.

The biggest determining factor in why I chose the G95C over the G91SD and G93SC is simply due to the fact that the G95C was on sale for ~$680, while the G91SD was priced at ~$980 and the G93SC was priced at ~$880 (also on sale).

But, even if the G91SD and G93SC were priced similarly to the G95C, I still would have opted for the G95C. I use my desktop primarily for work as I do a lot of content creation, graphics design, and video editing. And while OLED panels are better for gaming, they are considered to be the less desirable option for productivity work.

So, the G95C was the perfect option for my needs and it was priced very well.

Pros & Cons

Tech Specs

Unboxing

There is a right way to unbox this monitor and a wrong way. I disregarded the manual’s unboxing instructions and unboxed it the wrong way, but fortunately I didn’t end up breaking anything.

This monitor is incredibly heavy, weighing 23-pounds without the stand and 34.4-pounds with the stand attached. I tried to slide the panel out of the box while the box was on its side so I could get a good shot of the process for our video review. It took a little bit to slowly slide the panel and it’s styrofoam encasing out of the box.

However, Samsung has a much easier way for you to get the panel out of the box…

First, you assembly the stand, then with the box lying right-side up (so the back of the monitor is facing up), you simply attach the monitor stand to the back of the display, and then you lift up.

I repackaged the monitor to test out unboxing it this way and, while the monitor is still fairly heavy, it did come out of the box much easier this way.

I’d recommend that you unbox the monitor on the ground close to the desk where you’re going to place it. That way you can just lift the monitor up and into place.

Gaming on this display…

While the OLED versions of Samsung’s Odyssey G9 lineup would have been better options purely for gaming use-cases, I chose the G95C because OLED panels typically aren’t as good at displaying text, and since I spend a lot of time writing articles for my website, the OLED panel wasn’t the best option for me.

I’ve still found the Odyssey G95C to be excellent for gaming. The display still provides high-end visuals and the 240Hz refresh rate and adaptive sync capabilities provide an incredibly smooth experience.

I’m not an expert on monitors, so I can’t give you a detailed break-down of how this monitor stacks up to other similarly-specced and similarly-priced models. But, I can say that, for me, picture quality was not an issue.

What did stand out to me, though, is how much different gaming feels on an ultrawide display…

To test this monitor, I played a number of games on it and I was most surprised by how many games easily supported 5120 x 1440 resolution and also how much of an advantage playing on a ultrawide display seemed to offer in certain titles.

It almost feels like borderline cheating in games like Fortnite and Rocket League, where you add a ton of extra peripheral vision. But, as I understand, other competitive titles (like Valorant) don’t support playing at ultrawide resolutions, so this isn’t a universal advantage for all competitive titles.

Games like rocket league played great. This is a game that benefited greatly from the extra screen resolution and since it isn’t too demanding of a game, I was able to get a high enough framerate to fully utilize the 240Hz refresh rate this display comes with.

Ultrawide Gaming Isn’t Perfect…

There are some downsides to playing on an ultrawide monitor that are going to vary from game to game. In this section, I’ll go over some potential problems you’ll want to consider before you choose the Odyssey G95C (or any other ultrawide display.)

UI Issues

Since most games are designed to be played at 16:9 aspect ratio, even the games that do support ultrawide formats still have issues where the UI ends up in unintuitive locations.

As just one example, in Fortnite, the guns and building material menu in the bottom right hand corner of the screen makes sense at 16:9 aspect ratio, but on an ultrawide dispaly, it is almost silly how far out of your vision it is.

A lot of games with fixed UIs are going to have issues like this and without modding there’s no way around this. In a game like Fortnite, it’s not a huge deal as most seasoned players won’t need to constantly check the UI, but in other games it could ruin the experience.

Of course, the easy fix to this UI problem would be to just play that game in windowed mode.

You lose the awesomeness of having all of that extra vision, but if awkward UIs are too difficult for you to handle, you at least aren’t forced into using them.

Need A High-End PC to Fully Utilize

The other important factor that you’ll need to consider before you purchase the G95C (or any other ultrawide monitor) is that the higher resolution display is going to create more work for your PC.

Using the G95C as an example, its 5120 x 1440 resolution gives it nearly as many pixels as a 16:9 aspect ratio 4K display.

Not to mention, its higher refresh rate will require even more powerful components in order to achieve a high enough average framerate to really take advantage of the faster display.

If your PC can only push 50 frames per second in Fortnite you’d waste a lot of money on a monitor like this since you really wouldn’t be able to take full advantage of it.

Working/creating on this display…

When it comes to productivity and creative work, the G95C really shines. The biggest advantage here is obvious: you just get an insane amount of screen real estate on a single panel.

Whether I’m editing videos, writing, or juggling multiple browser tabs, the sheer width makes my day-to-day work feel less cramped.

For video editing, this monitor has been a game changer.

Being able to see so much more of the timeline at once makes scrubbing through footage far more efficient.

That said, not everything is perfect…

Recording Your Screen/Gameplay Isn’t As Simple

Recording your screen or gameplay on an ultrawide like this can be a little tricky if you also create content.

Since the native resolution of the monitor is 32:9, trying to turn that into a standard 16:9 video means you either have to crop out a huge chunk of the sides…

…or you’ll have size-down the ultra wide video to fit in a 16:9 aspect ratio (so you’ll have thick black bars above and below).

The other option is to force the game into a 16:9 aspect ratio when you go to record your desktop or gameplay.

Neither option feels ideal.

It’s not a dealbreaker, but if you stream or make YouTube videos, you’ll want to keep that in mind.

Scaling Issues w/ Multi-Browser Windows

Multitasking with browser windows and apps is generally great, but it does have its quirks.

Some websites don’t scale well when you shrink them down into narrow panes, so you’ll run into the occasional layout issue.

Use Microsoft’s PowerToys Fancy Zones to Fix This…

Windows does offer some snapping functionality out of the box, but I’ve found Microsoft’s PowerToys Fancy Zones to be essential.

It lets you build custom grids so you can set up the exact workflow you want—three browsers side-by-side, or a big editor in the middle with reference windows flanking it.

Curved Monitor Takes Time Getting Used To…

One other adjustment: apps or documents placed dead-center on the curve can look slightly off at first.

It’s a little weird if you’re used to flat monitors. The good news is, you adapt quickly, and after a few days the curvature just feels natural.

Additional Features Worth Noting

Beyond the core specs, the G95C comes with a handful of extra features that make the overall experience a bit nicer:

• EyeCare – Samsung’s built-in Eye Saver mode reduces blue light and flicker. It’s a small thing, but if you’re working long hours, it helps cut down on eye strain.
• Picture-by-Picture (PBP) – Lets you split the screen into two inputs side-by-side, effectively turning the monitor into two separate displays. Great if you’re running both a work PC and a gaming PC at the same time.
• RGB Lighting on the Back – The Infinity Core lighting adds a subtle glow behind the monitor. It’s not essential, but it looks slick in darker setups and gives the desk some personality.
• HDR Support – The G95C supports DisplayHDR 1000, which means brighter highlights and better contrast in games and movies that can take advantage of it.
• Ergonomic Stand – The stand is adjustable for height, tilt, and swivel, so you can dial in the position that feels comfortable for your desk setup. It’s a nice touch considering how large and heavy the panel is.

Taken together, these extras don’t radically change the experience, but they round it out in meaningful ways. And when you combine them with the core strengths of the G95C—its massive screen real estate, smooth performance, and immersive design—it becomes easier to answer the big question: is it worth the investment?

Worth it? Overall Opinion

100% this monitor has been worth it for ME. It allowed me to declutter my desktop without losing too much of the real estate I actually utilized on my triple monitor setup.

The screen has been great, both for working and gaming.

Hopping into competitive titles like Rocket League and Fortnite felt like I was borderline cheating with all the additional information you get with the added screen on your peripherals. I suspect for any esports title that has native support for 5120 x 1440 displays, you’ll gain a competitive advantage with an ultrawide monitor like the G95C.

Playing visually-rich titles was great as well.

Cyberpunk felt even more immersive in ultrawide.

Bottom line is that games that support the ultrawide aspect ratio, it’s a huge boost to your experience.

Games that don’t support it? It’s as simple as playing at traditional 16:9 aspect ratio and playing with black bars on the side.

The only real downside to playing on an ultrawide monitor is if you’re a content creator.

If you play games at the native 32:9 aspect ratio and then you try to scale them down into a 16:9 aspect video, they’re not going to look right. So, you can’t have the best of both worlds, both playing at 32:9 and outputting to 16:9 (except for in titles where cropping out the sides of the game doesn’t change the captured video enough to negatively impact the viewing experience of that video.)

Also, if gaming is your main priority, I’d recommend getting the OLED version of this monitor (G91SD) as it will give you an even better viewing experience.

As I need a monitor for both work and gaming, I opted for the VA panel (G95C).

Overall, this monitor has been an amazing upgrade for me, especially at its ~$680 pricetag. I would have paid $1,000 for this monitor, but got lucky with timing and was able to snag it at its discounted price.

Get the Samsung Odyssey G95C here.

The post Samsung 49″ Odyssey G9 (G95C) Review appeared first on Tech Guided.

There are two main reasons why AMD’s CPUs are the current go-to recommendation for gamers who are looking to build a new PC. The first is their 3D V-Cache technology, which stacks extra cache on their X3D designated chips, allowing them to offer significant performance increases in certain CPU-heavy gaming scenarios—especially in competitive esports titles.

The second thing that AMD has done that has won over not only gaming-oriented builders, but the wider system building community as a whole, is to commit to producing multiple generations of CPUs on the same socket. While Intel has floundered by only offering one or two generations of CPUs per socket, AMD launched four different CPU generations on their AM4 socket and has made a similar commitment to their newer AM5 socket.

So, not only does AMD offer the most performance potential at the moment, but they also offer a better upgrade path. And in this guide we’re going to take a look at a handful of the top AMD gaming CPUs currently available. Whether you’re looking for an extreme CPU that can double as a workstation-grade processor, or a budget-oriented option that will free up room in your budget to put towards your GPU, one of the AMD CPUs below should work for you.

Watch: What to Look for in A CPU

Watch our Beginner’s Guide to Choosing A CPU below, or on our YouTube channel.

AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D

The best AMD Ryzen gaming CPU right now.

Tech Specs

• SOCKET: AM5
• ARCH.: Zen 5
• CORES: 8
• THREADS: 16
• BASE: 4.7 GHz
• BOOST: 5.2 GHz
• TDP: 120W

Pros & Cons

• 3D V-Cache = better perf. in CPU-heavy titles
• Doesn’t use as much power as 9950X3D
• Can be run on B-series chipset boards
• Only requires moderate cooling
• More expensive than 7800X3D

Check Price »

Read Overview »

AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D Overview

Right now, AMD’s Ryzen 7 9800X3D is considered to be the best overall CPU for gaming, let alone AMD’s top option. Yes, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D offers more cores and threads and will provide more performance in productivity-oriented tasks. However, there really aren’t many gaming scenarios where those extra cores and threads will come into play and most benchmarks show the 9800X3D and 9950X3D performing similar to each other.

The 9800X3D is also ~$200 less expensive on its own and it doesn’t require a high-end motherboard and cooling configuration. So, it’s just a lot less expensive to build a system with the 9800X3D than it is to build one with the 9950X3D.

Also Read: Best Motherboards for the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D

Of course, there’s also the older AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D which offers a similar value proposition in that it only offers slightly less performance than the 9800X3D and typically costs ~$100 less.

Ultimately, the 9800X3D is the best option right now if you don’t need the extra productivity performance that the 9950X3D offers and you don’t paying a little more for the small performance boost the 9800X3D offers over the 7800X3D.

AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D

The best value high-edn AMD CPU for gaming.

Tech Specs

• SOCKET: AM5
• ARCH.: Zen 4
• CORES: 8
• THREADS: 16
• BASE: 4.2 GHz
• BOOST: 5.0 GHz
• TDP: 120W

Pros & Cons

• 3D V-Cache = better perf. in CPU-heavy titles
• Similar performance & cheaper than 9800X3D
• Can be run on B-series chipset boards
• Only requires moderate cooling
• Costs a lot more than 9600X/7600X/7500F

Check Price »

Read Overview »

AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Overview

The case for the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D is simple: it basically offers all of the advantages of the 9800X3D for about ~$100 less.

It’s going to perform within ~5% of the 9800X3D in most scenarios, it can be paired with a budget-friendly B-series chipset motherboard (just make sure you do your research and pick a B-series board that has a good VRM), and it doesn’t require a lot of cooling.

Also Read: Best Motherboards for the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D

But, why not pay $100 more for the small performance gain that the 9800X3D brings to the table?

The reality is that, for gaming, that $100 can probably be put to better use in your system, especially if it allows you to get a better graphics card. While AMD’s V-Cache technology will provide a big boost in titles that are CPU-dependant, in GPU-heavy scenarios it won’t make as big of a difference. And with a budget that can accommodate a more expensive CPU like the 7800X3D, you’re probably targetting higher resolution gaming, which will only further put your workload onto your GPU.

So, the bottom line is that the 7800X3D currently offers the best of all worlds. It offers about as good of CPU-performance as you can currently get for gaming and it frees up some room in your budget (at least when compared to the 9800X3D) to put towards your graphics card.

AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D

The best Ryzen 9 gaming CPU available.

Tech Specs

• SOCKET: AM5
• ARCH.: Zen 5
• CORES: 16
• THREADS: 32
• BASE: 4.3 GHz
• BOOST: 5.7 GHz
• TDP: 170W

Pros & Cons

• 3D V-Cache = better perf. in CPU-heavy titles
• More cores/threads = better productivity perf.
• Requires a high-end motherboard
• Requires higher-end cooling
• More expensive than 7800X3D & 9800X3D

Check Price »

Read Overview »

AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D Overview

As we mentioned in our overview on the 9800X3D, the 9950X3D doesn’t offer a performance advantage over the 9800X3D for gaming. However, its extra cores and threads do allow it to outperform the 9800X3D in certain CPU-heavy productivity tasks.

So, there are really only two use cases where it would make sense for you to choose the 9950X3D over the 9800X3D…

First, if you have an unlimited budget and you can take on the additional costs required to accommodate the 9950X3D (the extra cost of the CPU itself, plus the extra cost of a higher-end motherboard and CPU cooler.)

And second, if you are building a gaming PC that will double as a workstation to perform CPU-intensive tasks.

If those two scenarios don’t fit you, you’d be much better off choosing the 9800X3D or 7800X3D and reallocating the cost difference to your other components.

AMD Ryzen 5 9600X

The best AMD gaming CPU under $200.

Tech Specs

• SOCKET: AM5
• ARCH.: Zen 5
• CORES: 6
• THREADS: 12
• BASE: 3.9 GHz
• BOOST: 5.4 GHz
• TDP: 65W

Pros & Cons

• Similar perf. as X3D in GPU-heavy scenarios
• Lower price means more to spend on GPU
• Can be run on B-series chipset boards
• Only requires moderate cooling
• No X3D means less performance in CPU-heavy titles

Check Price »

Read Overview »

AMD Ryzen 5 9600X Overview

If you don’t have the ~$350+ that is required to get AMD’s 7800X3D, the Ryzen 5 9600X is an excellent alternative.

No, it doesn’t come with AMD’s 3D V-Cache technology, but it does cost ~$200 less than the 7800X3D and in non-CPU dependant scenarios it will perform similarly.

Like the 7800X3D, the 9600X is also very inexpensive to build with as it doesn’t require a high-end motherboard and CPU cooler.

Of course, if you’re looking to save even more money, you could also opt for the older Ryzen 5 7600X or 7500F without sacrificing too much performance.

AMD Ryzen 5 7600X

A cheaper alternative to the 9600X.

Tech Specs

• SOCKET: AM5
• ARCH.: Zen 4
• CORES: 6
• THREADS: 12
• BASE: 4.7 GHz
• BOOST: 5.3 GHz
• TDP: 105W

Pros & Cons

• Similar perf. as X3D in GPU-heavy scenarios
• Lower price means more to spend on GPU
• Can be run on B-series chipset boards
• Only requires moderate cooling
• No X3D means less performance in CPU-heavy titles

Check Price »

Read Overview »

AMD Ryzen 5 7600X Overview

AMD’s Ryzen 5 7600X is going to offer very similar performance to the Ryzen 5 9600X (most benchmarks show the 9600X having a ~5% performance advantage.)

And as of right now, the 7600X is priced about ~$20-$30 cheaper than the 9600X. So, as long as there is a significant price difference between these two CPUs there will be a case to be made for choosing the 7600X over the 9600X.

In a budget-oriented system, that $20-$30 extra could allow you to make an important component upgrade.

However, there is the Ryzen 5 7500F as well, which also costs ~$20-$30 less than the 7600X…

AMD Ryzen 5 7500F

The best budget AM5 AMD CPU.

Tech Specs

• SOCKET: AM5
• ARCH.: Zen 4
• CORES: 6
• THREADS: 12
• BASE: 3.7 GHz
• BOOST: 5.0 GHz
• TDP: 65W

Pros & Cons

• Similar perf. as X3D in GPU-heavy scenarios
• Lower price means more to spend on GPU
• Can be run on B-series chipset boards
• Only requires moderate cooling
• No X3D means less performance in CPU-heavy titles

Check Price »

Read Overview »

AMD Ryzen 5 7500F Overview

The Ryzen 5 7500F offers the same advantage that the 7600X holds over the 9600X: it’s noticeably cheaper despite offering similar performance.

The 7600X holds a ~5% overall performance advantage over the 7600X, but that advantage will be even less (if anything at all) in GPU-heavy scenarios.

And if you really wanted to, you can overclock the 7500F to match the 7600X.

The only real problem with the 7500F is that it was only released in Asia and, as such, the only way you can buy it is from an Asian online retailer. Typically, users have gone to AliExpress to pick one up, but the best-priced 7500F right now seems to be the Newegg listing we linked to above.

The bottom line, though, is that the 7500F currently offers the best CPU option for anyone who is looking to free up as much room as possible in their budget to put towards their GPU.

AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D

The best upgrade option for AM4 systems (if you can find it).

Tech Specs

• SOCKET: AM5
• ARCH.: Zen 3
• CORES: 8
• THREADS: 16
• BASE: 3.4 GHz
• BOOST: 4.5 GHz
• TDP: 105W

Pros & Cons

• 3D V-Cache = better perf. in CPU-heavy titles
• Low cooling/motherboard requirements
• Locked into the older AM4 motherboard
• Limited to using DDR4 memory
• No longer in production, will have to buy used

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Read Overview »

AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D Overview

If you’re still on the AM4 socket and you’re deciding whether or not you want to do a major upgrade to the AM5 platform or to try and extend the life of your AM4 system a little longer, the Ryzen 7 5700X3D might be the option for you.

The 5700X3D will offer overall performance on par with the Ryzen 5 7600X.

However, there are some major downsides to the 5700X3D…

For starters, being locked into the AM4 socket will limit you to using DDR4 memory. And there is no path for a CPU upgrade in the future unless you plan on upgrading your motherboard and memory as well.

The other problem is that the 5700X3D is no longer in production and supply is starting to dwindle on online retailers. This has made the price shoot up. A year ago you could pick the 5700X3D up online for ~$200. Now, if you can find it, it costs well into the $300s, completely killing it as a quick value-oriented upgrade option. For the same price you’d almost have enough to buy a 7500F, a compatible AM5 motherboard, and DDR5 memory.

So, the real only scenario where the 5700X3D still makes sense is if you’re able to find one for ~$200 or less on the used market. If you can’t you’d be much better off committing to a platform upgrade to the AM5 socket.

The post Best AMD CPUs for Gaming in 2025 appeared first on Tech Guided.

While you might only know ZOTAC as a company that makes NVIDIA graphics cards, they’ve actually been offering prebuilt gaming PCs for awhile. However, in the past their prebuilt PCs were mostly small form-factor options.

Now, with their MEK lineup, they have fully jumped into the market for standard-sized prebilt PCs. And, as of right now, they are pricing their MEK series very competitively. In fact, I would say that right now they have the best-priced prebuilt desktops currently available.

In this guide, we’re going to highlight a handful of the best prebuilt PCs that ZOTAC currently has available at a number of different price points.

MEK AI – 9800X3D + 5090

The best ZOTAC gaming desktop right now.

PC Specs

• CPU: Ryzen 7 9800X3D
• COOL: 360mm AIO
• GPU: RTX 5090
• RAM: 32GB DDR5
• SSD: 2TB NVME
• PSU: 1300W Gold

Pros & Cons

• Comes with top CPU/GPU combination possible
• X3D CPU will handle CPU-heavy titles well
• Cheaper than other 9800X3D/RTX 5090 PCs
• Plenty of storage out-of-the-box
• Comes with extreme pricetag

Check Price »

Read Overview »

MEK AI – 9800X3D + 5090 Overview

We recently put together a list of the cheapest RTX 5090 gaming PCs available right now and wouldn’t you know it, this configuration of ZOTAC’s MEK lineup is currently the cheapest option.

This desktop features the best-possible CPU/GPU combination for gaming, offering both the Ryzen 7 9800X3D and NVIDIA’s flagship RTX 5090. The 9800X3D and RTX 5090 will allow you to max out pretty much any game on a 4K display (with exception to those games that are poorly optimized or are at the edge of video game graphics technology.)

This system also comes with 32GB of DDR5 RAM, a 360mm RGB AIO CPU cooler, a 2TB NVME SSD, and a 1300-watt Gold-rated power supply. The hardware is housed inside of a panoramic-style case that features six ARGB fans (three on the AIO cooler).

Ultimately, if you like the MEK lineup of gaming PCs and you’re looking for the best PC possible from ZOTAC, this configuration right here is the option for you.

MEK AI – 9700X + 5080

The best RTX 5080 ZOTAC system.

PC Specs

• CPU: Ryzen 7 9700X
• COOL: 360mm AIO
• GPU: RTX 5080
• RAM: 32GB DDR5
• SSD: 2TB NVME
• PSU: 1000W Gold

Pros & Cons

• Close to the top CPU/GPU combination possible
• Good produvity performance
• Nice-looking panoramic case design
• Most affordable RTX 5080 desktop available
• Non-X3D chip will lose FPS in CPU-heavy titles

Check Price »

Read Overview »

MEK AI – 9700X + 5080 Overview

While ZOTAC doesn’t have the cheapest RTX 5080 desktop currently on the market (that honor goes to this HP OMEN 45L configuration), they do have the second cheapest option.

This MEK configuration comes with an AMD Ryzen 7 9700X processor, NVIDIA’s RTX 5080 GPU, and 32GB of DDR5 memory.

While the 9700X doesn’t offer AMD’s 3D V-Cache technoloy—thus meaning this desktop will lose some frames in CPU-heavy titles—it is still plenty strong enough for the majority of modern gaming use-cases. Not to mention, if you’re looking for an RTX 5080 gaming PC, you’re probably wanting to game at a higher resolution and at higher resolutions the extra cache that AMD’s X3D chips offer starts to lose its value a little bit—especially in GPU-heavy titles.

So, while we’d prefer to see the 9800X3D (or even the older 7800X3D) in this system, the reality is that the 9700X is still a solid option.

This setup will be able to run games at 4K with no problems and will offer extreme performance at 1440P resolution.

To round out the part list, this configuration of ZOTAC’s MEK lineup comes with a 360mm AIO cooler, a 2TB NVME SSD, a 1000-watt Gold-rated power supply, and the same panoramic-style case that all of the MEK desktops use (with exception to the budget option listed at the end of this guide.)

Overall, if you don’t want to spend the $4,000 that is necessary to get an RTX 5090 desktop, this RTX 5080 version of ZOTAC’s MEK series is a really solid alternative.

MEK AI – 7600X + 5070 Ti

The top ZOTAC desktop under $2,000 right now.

PC Specs

• CPU: Ryzen 5 7600X
• COOL: 360mm AIO
• GPU: RTX 5070 Ti
• RAM: 32GB DDR5
• SSD: 2TB NVME
• PSU: 850W Gold

Pros & Cons

• Higher-end GPU than other sub-$2,000 PCs
• Perfect setup for high-end 1440P gaming
• Well-priced compared to competition
• Plenty of storage out-of-the-box
• Non X3D CPU will limit perf. in CPU-heavy titles

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Read Overview »

MEK AI – 7600X + 5070 Ti Overview

Perhaps ZOTAC’s best overall value gaming PC right now is this MEK configuration.

It does come with the older AMD Ryzen 5 7600X, but the 7600X is still a good enough CPU to where it won’t bottleneck even the most powerful graphics cards on the market in most cases—especially treu in GPU-dependant games at higher resolution.

So, it’s pretty clear what ZOTAC is doing here… save on the CPU so that they can afford to put a better GPU in this system.

And that’s exactly what they did.

At the time of writing this guide, there are not a lot of prebuilt gaming PCs on the market that offer an NVIDIA RTX 5070 Ti that cost under $2,000, yet that’s what this MEK configuration gives you. And it’s not like this PC sits close to the $2,000 mark. In fact, at just under ~$1,800 this is easily one of the better value prebuilt gaming PCs currently on the market.

Along with the Ryzen 5 7600X and RTX 5070 Ti, this PC also comes with 32GB of DDR5 memory, a 360mm AIO CPU cooler, a 2TB NVME SSD, and the same panoramic-style case.

The bottom line is that if you’re looking for a high-end gaming PC, but you want to stay under the $2,000 mark, you’ll definitely want to consider this configuration of ZOTAC’s MEK lineup. Its hardware array for the price is just too good.

MEK AI – 7600X + 5070

The best ZOTAC gaming PC for under $1,500.

PC Specs

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 7600X
• COOL: 360mm AIO
• GPU: RTX 5070
• RAM: 32GB DDR5
• SSD: 2TB NVME
• PSU: 850W Gold

Pros & Cons

• Best GPU in a prebuilt at this price
• Good for 1440P gaming
• AM5 socket offers best CPU upgrade paths
• Plenty of storage out-of-the-box
• No X3D chip = less perf. in CPU-heavy titles

Check Price »

Read Overview »

MEK AI – 7600X + 5070 Overview

ZOTAC doesn’t slow up on their aggressive pricing strategy as this configuration of their MEK lineup is easily one of the better-priced sub-$1,500 prebuilts currently available, and also one of the few options in its price range that offers NVIDIA’s RTX 5070 GPU.

This setup comes with AMD’s Ryzen 5 7600X processor, NVIDIA’s RTX 5070 GPU, and 32GB of DDR5 RAM.

This combination will be great for 1440P gaming and also for high framerate 1080P gaming.

The RTX 5070 does only come with 12GB of VRAM and that is a bit dissdisappointing. It could hamper the GPU’s ability to run games at higher resolution in the future.

However, the 5070 is still a much strong GPU that what other similarly-priced prebuilts are offering (usually an RTX 5060 Ti or RX 9060 XT 16GB). And with NVIDIA’s DLSS, some of those performance issues that could crop up in more demanding future titles could be mitigated a bit by using upscaling.

Ultimately, though, at just under $1,500, this MEK configuration is just another example of how ZOTAC is not messing around in the prebuilt market. It’s a very solid hardware array for a very solid price.

MEK AI – 7600 + 5060

The best budget ZOTAC gaming PC under $1,000.

PC Specs

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 7600
• COOL: Single tower cooler
• GPU: RTX 5060
• RAM: 16GB DDR5
• SSD: 1TB NVME
• PSU: 650W Gold

Pros & Cons

• Good 1080P gaming performance
• Very affordable pricetag
• Only comes with 16GB of RAM
• GPU’s 8GB of VRAM isn’t ideal
• Not a lot of storage out-of-the-box

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Read Overview »

MEK AI – 7600 + 5060 Overview

While ZOTAC’s top sub-$1,000 gaming PC doesn’t win the price war quite like its other configurations of its MEK lineup do, this budget entry still might be the best gaming PC under $1K currently available.

For hardware, it comes with an AMD Ryzen 5 7600 processor, NVIDIA’s RTX 5060 GPU, 16GB of DDR5 memory, and a 1TB NVME SSD.

Its closest competitors are this configuration of Thermaltake’s LCGS View (Intel Core i5-14400F + RTX 5060) and this desktop from Skytech (AMD Ryzen 7 5700 + RTX 5060 Ti 8GB).

This ZOTAC MEK configuration holds the edge over the Thermaltake LCGS View, as even though they have similar hardware, the MEK is built on AMD’s AM5 socket, which will offer the better CPU upgrade path in the future.

And while the Skytech desktop offers the better GPU (RTX 5060 Ti 8GB vs RTX 5060 8GB), it is also stuck on the AM4 platform, which means no DDR5 memory and a weaker CPU upgrade path.

So, while there is more competition for ZOTAC in this price range, they still have one of the better options in this MEK configuration.

What is the ZOTAC Gaming Desktop Right Now?

Despite the fact that ZOTAC isn’t widely known for producing prebuilt PCs, the reality is that they currently offer some of the best gaming desktop options on the market right now.

Their MEK lineup is consistently priced better than other brands’ desktops, including having the most affordable RTX 5090 desktops, one of the cheapest RTX 5080 PCs, and one of the top prebuilt options under $2,000 and under $1,500.

Ultimately, if you’re in the market for a new gaming (and you don’t want to build it yourself), you should strongly consider ZOTAC’s MEK lineup.

The post Best ZOTAC Gaming PCs for 2025 appeared first on Tech Guided.

Striking the balance between having a capable gaming PC and not spending a fortune can be a tricky endeavor. If you’re looking to play old school retro games, then a basic PC with a budget graphics card can work.

But when you want to play modern, competitive titles, you want something with a little more “oomph” to it, both to get nice visuals and great frame rates.

With an $800 budget, you can get a pretty capable gaming machine.

But if you’d rather buy a prebuilt gaming rig, you can still find solid options. In this guide, we’ll take a look at a handful of the best prebuilt gaming PCs under $800.

ZOTAC MEK AI-Enhanced

The best prebuilt gaming PC under $800 right now.

PC Specs

• CPU: Ryzen 5 5500
• COOL: Single tower air
• GPU: RTX 5050
• RAM: 16GB DDR4
• SSD: 1TB NVME

Pros & Cons

• Comes with next-gen NVIDIA GPU
• Solid performance at 1080P resolution
• DLSS will help in more demanding games
• Can upgrade to the 5700X3D in the future
• Weak CPU performance out-of-the-box

Check Price »

Read Overview »

ZOTAC MEK AI-Enhanced Overview

We like this configuration of ZOTAC’s MEK AI-Enhanced lineup of gaming PCs as the current best prebuilt gaming PC option under $800.

For starters, it comes in at ~$750, making it an even better value option. And it comes with a decent array of hardware for this price configuration as well…

It offers an AMD Ryzen 5 5500 CPU, NVIDIA’s RTX 5050 GPU, 16GB of 3200MHz DDR4 memory, and a 1TB NVME SSD.

The combination of the Ryzen 5 5500 and RTX 5050 aren’t going to have you maxing games out at 1440P or 4K resolution, but it should do the trick to get you solid performance on a 1080P display. You’ll probably have to turn the settings down a bit and rely on DLSS some to help you get good performance in more demanding titles.

We’d highly recommend that you consider building your own $800 PC in this price range as the performance gain will be significant.

But, if you don’t want to go through the building process and you’re looking for a decent 1080P gaming PC that will run your favorite games, this ZOTAC desktop should do the trick.

Skytech Nebula

Desktop with the best CPU on this list.

PC Specs

• CPU: Ryzen 5 5600
• COOL: Single tower air
• GPU: RTX 3050
• RAM: 16GB DDR4
• SSD: 1TB NVME

Pros & Cons

• Solid performance at 1080P resolution
• DLSS will help in more demanding games
• Better CPU performance than other options
• Can upgrade to the 5700X3D in the future
• Comes with older gen NVIDIA GPU

Check Price »

Read Overview »

Skytech Nebula Overview

Another option that you might want to consider is this configuration of Skytech’s Nebula lineup.

It comes with an AMD Ryzen 5 5600 processor, NVIDIA’s RTX 3050 GPU, 16GB of DDR4 RAM, and a 1TB NVME SSD.

This setup does offer the better CPU compared to the ZOTAC desktop listed above, but it has a weaker GPU. The RTX 3050 is still okay and with DLSS you should still be able to play any game at 1080P resolution. Just note that, just like with the ZOTAC desktop above, you’ll likely have to turn settings down and rely on upscaling to play more demanding titles. And even moreso with the weaker GPU.

The other downside of this Skytech gaming PC is that it currently costs ~$40 more than the ZOTAC desktop so not only do you get the weaker GPU, but you also have to pay more for it.

So, unless you really need that slight boost in CPU performance, for now we’d recommend with going with ZOTAC’s MEK AI-Enhanced.

Skytech Archangel

Would be better with a price drop.

PC Specs

• CPU: Ryzen 5 5500
• COOL: Single tower air
• GPU: RTX 3050
• RAM: 16GB DDR4
• SSD: 500GB NVME

Pros & Cons

• Comes with white-themed design
• Solid performance at 1080P resolution
• Can upgrade to the 5700X3D in the future
• Weaker CPU performance out-of-the-box
• Less storage out-of-the-box

Check Price »

Read Overview »

Skytech Archangel Overview

Another option that you might want to put on your watch list is this configuration of Skytech’s Archangel lineup.

At $750—the same current price as ZOTAC’s MEK AI-Enhanced—it’s currently priced too high to recommend since it has a weaker hardware array.

It comes with an AMD Ryzen 5 5500 CPU, NVIDIA’s RTX 3050 GPU, 16GB of DDR4 memory. So, it has a weaker CPU than the Nebula and a weaker GPU than the ZOTAC desktop.

But, if the price were to drop ~$30-$40 it may be worth considering.

And if you’re looking for a white-themed gaming PC it is one of the few white options available in this price range.

MXZ Desktop

This wild card option might be the best of the bunch.

PC Specs

• CPU: Intel Core i5-12400F
• COOL: Single tower air
• GPU: RX 7650 GRE
• RAM: 16GB DDR4
• SSD: 500GB NVME

Pros & Cons

• Comes with best GPU option on list
• Great performance at 1080P resolution
• Lesser-known prebuilt company
• Weaker CPU upgrade options
• Only 500GB of storage out-of-the-box

Check Price »

Read Overview »

MXZ Desktop Overview

If you’re feeling like taking on a bit of risk, you could always opt for this desktop from MXZ.

MXZ isn’t as well known as ZOTAC or Skytech, but this desktop that they are currently selling for just under $800 offers the best GPU, an RX 7650 GRE out of all of the options in this price range.

However, the RX 7650 GRE was only released in China and so it’s tough to say if the graphics card in this desktop was built by a reputable manufacturer or not.

That being said, the RX 7650 GRE benchmarks well above all of the other GPUs that typically come in prebuilt desktops in the sub-$800 price range. So, if you’re willing to risk it to potentially get a lot more GPU performance, this desktop might be the right choice for you.

To round out the hardware, it comes with Intel Core’s i5-12400F processor, 16GB of DDR4 memory, and a 500GB NVME SSD.

Ultimately, not the perfect hardware configuration and it comes with some risk… but it has the potential to offer the most in-game performance out-of-the-box.

Finding The Sweet Spot Between Price and Performance

While we recommend building your own PC in this price range (you’ll get a lot more performance), there are still some decent prebuilt desktops available for under $800. Right now we like ZOTAC’s MEK AI-Enhanced configuration the best, but if you don’t mind taking on some risk, MXZ’s desktop could offer you even better performance.

The post The Best Prebuilt Gaming PCs Under $800 appeared first on Tech Guided.

With the release of NVIDIA’s RTX 5000-series GPUs, there is a whole new generation of high-end prebuilt gaming PCs on the market. We’ve already taken a look at the top 5090 prebuilts and 5080 prebuilts, but in this post we wanted to highlight a few of the cheapest RTX 5080 gaming PCs currently availably.

These systems do make a few sacrificies to achieve a lower pricetag, but if you want the most affordable desktop options that come with NVIDIA’s RTX 5080 GPU, one of the PCs below should work for you…

Also Read: The Cheapest RTX 5090 Gaming PCs

HP OMEN 45L

The cheapest RTX 5080 gaming PC right now.

PC Specs

• CPU: Ultra 7 265K
• COOL: 360mm AIO
• GPU: RTX 5080
• RAM: 32GB DDR5
• SSD: 2TB NVME

Pros & Cons

• Strong enough to game at 4K resolution
• Incredibly low pricetag for an RTX 5080 desktop
• Solid cooling configuration
• No CPU upgrade paths on LGA 1851 socket
• No X3D CPU means less perf. in CPU-heavy titles

Check Price »

Read Overview »

HP OMEN 45L Overview

This configuration of HP’s OMEN 45L is currently the cheapest RTX 5080 prebuilt gaming PC you can buy. With a price of just ~$2,300 it’s on par with about how much you’d spend to build your own RTX 5080-based system.

It comes with an Intel Core Ultra 7 265K, an NVIDIA RTX 5080 GPU, and 32GB of DDR5 RAM. That core combination is good enough to allow you to max out most games on a 4K monitor, or achieve an extremely high framerate at 1440P resolution. For this setup (and all of the RTX 5080 PCs on this list), you’ll want to pair it with a high refresh rate display to take advantage of the higher average framerate.

The Core Ultra 7 265K isn’t the best gaming PC and it is on a socket that likely won’t receive any new CPUs—so there probably won’t be any upgrade options in the future. However, if you’re planning on playing graphics-intensive titles at higher resolutions, your CPU will matter less than your GPU and, in that case, the Ultra 7 265K won’t hold you back too much.

But, if you play CPU intensive titles, you may want to consider spending a little more to get a system that has an AMD X3D chip in it, as the extra cache those CPUs possess allow them to provide a lot more performance in those kinds of games.

This system also comes with a 360mm AIO CPU cooler, a 2TB NVME SSD, and a mid tower case that has a tempered glass side panel.

Overall,this configuration of HP’s OMEN 45L series doesn’t come with the perfect configuration of components, but it is pretty darn good and if you’re looking to spend as little as possible, it is currently your best option.

ZOTAC MEK AI-Enhanced

Cheapest AMD RTX 5080 gaming PC.

PC Specs

• CPU: Ryzen 7 9700X
• COOL: 360mm AIO
• GPU: RTX 5080
• RAM: 32GB DDR5
• SSD: 2TB NVME

Pros & Cons

• Strong enough to game at 4K resolution
• CPU upgrade path to X3D chip
• Clean-looking panoramic-style design
• Slightly more expensive than Omen 45L
• No X3D CPU means less perf. in CPU-heavy titles

Check Price »

Read Overview »

ZOTAC MEK AI-Enhanced Overview

The next cheapest RTX 5080 desktop option right now is this configuration of ZOTAC’s MEK AI-Enhanced lineup. This system comes with an AMD Ryzen 7 9700X processor, an NVIDIA RTX 5080 GPU, and 32GB of DDR5 memory.

This is pretty close to the configuration that the HP OMEN 45L listed above comes with, with the main difference being the CPUs that the two desktops offer.

The Ryzen 7 9700X and Ultra 7 265K will offer similar gaming and productivity performance when compared to each other, with exception for use-cases where Intel or AMD CPUs have a performance advantage.

However, the one major advantage that the Ryzen 7 9700X has over the Ultra 7 265K is that its AM5 socket still has future upgrade paths. AMD has committed to releasing at least one more new CPU generation on the AM5 socket and if their track record for their AM4 socket is any indication of the future, we could see 2-3 more generations released as well. Not to mention, having an AM5 setup offers you the chance to upgrade to one of AMD’s X3D chips, which, if you’re playing CPU-intensive titles, will offer you a lot more potential performance.

The downside of this system is that it does cost about ~$100 more than the OMEN 45L despite not offering any significant difference in out-of-the-box performance.

So, as long as these two desktops remain priced the same, if you are considering between the two, your decision will really come down to whether or not you prefer to save that $100, or spend it to get a more future-proofed system.

Cooler Master NR2 Pro

The cheapest mini-ITX RTX 5080 gaming PC.

PC Specs

• CPU: Ultra 7 265F
• COOL: 280mm AIO
• GPU: RTX 5080
• RAM: 32GB DDR5
• SSD: 2TB NVME

Pros & Cons

• Strong enough to game at 4K resolution
• Small form-factor design
• No CPU upgrade paths on LGA 1851 socket
• No X3D CPU means less perf. in CPU-heavy titles
• Less cooling due to compact design

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Read Overview »

Cooler Master NR2 Pro Overview

If you’re looking for a mini-ITX based RTX 5080 desktop, then your best option right now is this configuration from Cooler Master’s NR2 Pro lineup.

This compact gaming PC comes with an Intel Core Ultra 7 265F processor, an NVIDIA RTX 5080 GPU, and 32GB of DDR5 memory. It also comes with a 280mm AIO CPU cooler and a 2TB Gen4 NVME SSD. So, the same basic core configuration as the other desktops on this list.

Again, with an Intel CPU, this desktop won’t have a great CPU upgrade path for the future. And like with all mini systems, there is a premium placed on small form factor hardware. So, despite having the weakest CPU on this list, this desktop still costs ~$100-$200 more than the options above.

But if you absolutely need the smaller footprint that this PC offers, it is an option worth considering.

Skytech Azure 3

The cheapest RTX 5080 PC with an X3D CPU.

PC Specs

• CPU: Ryzen 7 7800X3D
• COOL: 360mm AIO
• GPU: RTX 5080
• RAM: 32GB DDR5
• SSD: 1TB NVME

Pros & Cons

• Close to the best CPU/GPU combination
• X3D CPU will handle CPU-heavy titles well
• Ability to upgrade to future AM5 CPUs
• Much more expensive than options above
• Only 1TB of storage out-of-the-box

Check Price »

Read Overview »

Skytech Azure 3 Overview

This configuration of Skytech’s Azure 3 lineup is the cheapest RTX 5080 prebuilt desktop currently available if you also want an AMD X3D CPU.

It comes with an AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D processor, NVIDIA’s RTX 5080 GPU, 32GB of DDR5 memory, a 360mm AIO CPU cooler, and a 1TB NVME SSD.

The Ryzen 7 7800X3D represents what is by far the best CPU option for gaming out of all of the other desktops on this list. Thanks to utilizing more cache, AMD’s X3D chips are able to offer a lot more performance in CPU-heavy titles (esports games, online shooters, sims, etc.).

However, the downside of this system is that it costs ~$600-$700 more than the cheapest option currently available (OMEN 45L). So, whether or not this Skytech gaming PC would be the right option for you will come down to whether or not you play the kinds of games that utilize AMD’s X3D technology.

The most afordable RTX 5080 gaming PCs…

In the end, there really aren’t any cheap RTX 5080 desktops out there. However, these four options are currently much cheaper than the other RTX 5080 desktops that are currently on the market.

The post Here are the cheapest RTX 5080 gaming PCs right now appeared first on Tech Guided.