The 5 best HP desktop PCs in 2024

There are a lot of companies you could potentially buy a desktop from, but HP has one of the widest selections of desktops you can pick from, with everything from business to gaming desktops that you can pick from. That said, so many choices can get very overwhelming for those who don’t have a lot of experience with PCs, which is why we’ve looked at everything that HP has to offer and selected some of our favorite picks in various categories so you can pick the perfect desktop for you.  .

The Best HP Desktop PCs in 2024

• Buy the  if you want the best overall HP desktop
• Buy the  if you want the best HP all-in-one desktop
• Buy the  if you want the best Workstation HP desktop PC
• Buy the if you want the best HP gaming desktop PC
• Buy the  if you want the best budget HP desktop PC

HP Envy Desktop

Best overall HP desktop

While this HP Envy Desktop isn’t necessarily the best desktop you can get from HP if you want it all out, it does constitute a really good middle ground that you can do a lot with. The base configuration that you get is pretty good for the price, especially if you can find it on sale, and you can always do a few upgrades to it down the line whenever you feel you’d like more out of it. That said, it is quite big and bulky, and you can absolutely find nicer-looking cases out there, so if you’re looking for something that also has good aesthetics, then you’re a bit out of luck. Even so, some people prefer something more plain and minimal, so who are we to judge?

For starters, you get the latest 13th generation Intel Core i7-13700F, which is a solid mid-to-high-end CPU and should be good for pretty much most use cases, such as going online and watching content, browsing, doing productivity, and potentially even a little bit graphical work. It might struggle with more complex simulations like graphical rendering, but HP’s lineup has better options if you want something like that, some of which we’ve put below. Also, it comes with an RTX 3050, an entry-level GPU that will let you get some basic gaming done, especially for indie and more casual games; plus, it will help with things like graphic design and video editing if you want to do some of that, too.

It also comes with 16 GB, which usually would be pretty good, but this is the older DDR4 RAM, and while that won’t really affect performance that much, we would have preferred to see the newer DDR5 for the price. That said, it does come with a 512Gb SSD and a 1TB HDD, which is quite a bit for this price bracket, and you even get Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 3.3, another nice addition that you might not usually find at this price point. Also, HP throws in both a mouse and keyboard, although they’re rather generic, so it might be worth springing for a proper set of keyboard and mouse.

HP All-in-One 27

Best HP all-in-one desktop

A lot of folks don’t really have a lot of space to put a bulky desktop, so having something like an all-in-one desktop device is the way to go. Luckily, HP has a good option for that, too, in the form of the HP All-in-One 27, a very creative name and a delightfully surprising configuration of specs. It’s also a great iMac alternative if you want something similar but don’t necessarily want to buy into the Apple ecosystem, although the HP all-in-one doesn’t have as good GPU performance, sadly.

Under the hood, you’ll find the AMD Ryzen 7 7730U, a great mid-to-high-end processor and one that is generally a little bit more efficient than the Intel CPU, although that doesn’t matter on something that’s always plugged in. Either way, it will do a good job for productivity tasks, web browsing, streaming content, and pretty much at the same level as an Intel i7. As for graphics, there aren’t any, and you have to rely on the CPU’s integrated AMD Radeon Graphics, which might let you get away with some basic casual and indie gaming, but I wouldn’t bet on it, although you should be able to do some basic creative work like music production and graphical design. Luckily, you do get 16GB of RAM, although it’s also one of the older DDR4 standards.

As for the screen, it’s 27 inches and runs an FHD resolution while having an IPS panel, which means better color reproduction and viewing angles. It can also cover 99% of the sRGB gamut, so it should work well for those who do more artistic and creative stuff. Sadly, it’s not touch-enabled, although it can hit a pretty good 300nits of peak brightness, so even if you’re in a brightly lit room, you shouldn’t struggle to see the screen. It also comes with two speakers for you to work with, although they aren’t necessarily high-quality, so you may want to grab a standalone pair sometime down the line.

HP Z2 Tower G9

Best Workstation HP desktop PC

If you want something with a lot of power under the hood, then you can’t go wrong with the HP Z2 Tower G9 workstation. As the name implies, it’s made for high-end performance for those who need something more than your average consumer PC. Of course, the higher specs do come at a higher price, but if you’re working at a professional level, that’s pretty standard. What isn’t necessarily standard is the inclusion of three years of HP Wolf Pro Security, which is a whole security suite made to protect your hardware from both physical and digital attacks, and it’s pretty great if you don’t have a robust IT infrastructure such as in a small or medium business.

What sets the Z2 apart from your usual consumer desktop is that it comes with an NVIDIA RTX A2000 GPU, a high-end professional-grade graphics processor made for video editing, data science, AI, and a lot of other higher-end applications. The 12GB of VRAM also helps a lot with those tasks, especially if you have a visual rendering that you need to do since that tends to rely quite heavily on VRAM, and if you’re editing several 8k sources at the same time, then you’re also going to need the extra VRAM. Interestingly enough, you only get an Intel Core i7 13700 under the hood, and given the price and needs of the desktop, we might have expected something like the Intel Core i9 instead, and while you can pick it as an upgrade option, you do loose access to the RTX A2000.

Nonetheless, other specs are quite impressive, as you get a whopping 64GB of DDR5 RAM, which is great if you tend to do a lot of CAD work or programming since both those applications tend to rely on RAM heavily; having more RAM is always useful, even if you don’t do RAM-intensive tasks. You’ll also be interested to know that you get a 1 TB HP Z Turbo Drive, which is essentially a higher-end version of your typical SSD that’s made to have faster read/write speeds, as well as adding some smart efficiency code to the mix to optimize tasks.

OMEN 45L Gaming Desktop

Best HP gaming desktop PC

HP got into the gaming desktop game a few years ago, and since then, it’s had a lot of success with the HP OMEN lineup, one of its best being the OMEN 45L. While there is both a 40L version and a 25L version of the OMEN lineup, neither of those has the option to go as high as an RTX 4090. So, if you really want the best of the best, the 45L is the way to go, plus the configuration we’ve picked sets a great baseline for you to upgrade based on your needs and budget, with the option to go all out if you want.

In terms of GPU, the base configuration gives you an RTX 4060 Ti, which is a very solid 1080p GPU, especially if you want to hit a 100Hz refresh rate at higher graphical resolutions. You can always go to 2k, but you will likely have to make some compromise with the RTX 4060 Ti if you want to do that. On the other hand, if you want better 2k gaming performance, you can upgrade to the RTX 4070 Ti or even the RTX 4080, both of which are very powerful cards and come with a lot of VRAM to make them future-proof. Of course, if you want 4k then you’ll have to grab the best, which is the RTX 4090, although that’s a whopping $1,200 upgrade, so you’re going to pay a pretty penny, but that’s the price of excellent performance.

As for GPU, you get the very solid Intel Core i7-14700K, which is the latest 14th-generation CPU that will easily handle most games and tasks, although if you want, you can grab yourself an Intel Core i9-14900K upgrade if you feel you need more computing power. You also get 16GB of DDR5 RAM, which should be more than fine for most users, although again, you can upgrade to 32GB or 64GB of RAM, both of which probably aren’t useful if you don’t program, use CAD, or have tons of apps and tabs open at the same time. That said, the one upgrade that is definitely worth grabbing is the storage upgrade since the base configuration only has a 512GB SSD, and that’s not nearly enough for modern gaming, especially if you want to play the sort of games the RTX 4090 can handle.

Victus by HP 15L

Best budget HP desktop PC

While the HP Vitcus 15L is ostensibly marketed as a gaming PC and is part of the OMEN lineup, it’s a rather excellent budget desktop from HP if you want something basic that’s still somewhat versatile. Also, like some of the other options on this list, you can choose to upgrade the base configuration, so you can really get something that fits your needs and budgets. That said, even with the best upgrades, you’re only going to get something that’s a mid-range desktop at best, so just be aware of the expectations going in.

The base configuration processor you get is the Intel Core i5-14400F, a pretty solid mid-range CPU that’s pretty great, all things considered, and if you want something basic for browsing online, productivity, and things of that nature, the i5-14400F is perfect. While you can upgrade to the Intel Core i7-14700F for an extra $180, it’s probably not worth it unless you know that you need something that can handle more intense CPU work, such as video editing or graphics work. In a similar vein, the 16GB of DDR4 RAM is perfect for pretty much everybody, and while you can upgrade to 32GB for $140, it’s not worth it. On the other hand, the 256GB of storage isn’t much, so you may want at least to grab the 512GB SSD upgrade for $60.

When it comes to gaming, you get the entry-level Intel Arc A380, and if you don’t plan to do much gaming, or are only interested in older game emulation or indie and casual games, then the Arc A380 is more than enough. That said, if you do plan to do some more serious gaming, then the RTX 4060 upgrade for $170 is absolutely worth it since it gives you access to things like DLSS 3.0 and 8GB of VRAM. It’s also a good upgrade if you want to do creative work or video editing, both of which tend to rely quite heavily on VRAM, and while 8GB isn’t a ton, it’s better than the 6GB the Arc A380 has.

How We Chose These HP Desktop PCs

HP makes a huge variety of desktops including Inspiron, Envy, Omen, and the Z workstations, and that doesn’t even include its thin clients and all-in-one versions of some of these brand lineups. As such, there is a huge number of desktops to pick from, making it a difficult choice for those who don’t have a lot of experience. As such, we did our best to pick a unique option from each of the various types of HP desktops to give a good spread and coverage of its offerings.

CPU

When it comes to CPUs, most modern processors that you’ll find on a desktop are pretty good and will more than happily handle most stuff you throw at them. That said, we didn’t pick any desktops that have anything worse than an Intel i5 or a Ryzen R5 since those are considered solid mid-range CPUs. Luckily, quite a few of the picks above also give you the option to make upgrades, and while not absolutely necessary, if you can swing it, an upgrade to an Intel i7 or Ryzen R7 is worth the price since it adds more versatility. Either way, if you have specific apps that you need to have, always double-check the minimum and preferred processor recommendations before buying anything.

GPU

For the most part, GPUs aren’t really necessary for most folks who just need something basic to get online and get work done, so unless you want to game or do creative work, GPUs aren’t necessary. As such, most of our picks aren’t skewed towards high-end GPUs, except for the gaming option, although one of the nice things about HP is that you can often customize your build. So, if you need something with a GPU or a higher-end one, then check out the options above that give you the option to customize the desktop further before you buy it.

RAM and Storage

When it comes to RAM, 8GBs have become the default you’ll find with the lower-end configurations, and while that’s not a bad amount, Windows 11 tends to eat a chunk of RAM, as much as 3-4GB, so you can see why that’s a problem with 8GB of RAM. That’s why we’ve mostly tried to pick desktops that either come with 16GB of RAM or have an option to upgrade to 16GB or higher because that’s really the ideal amount of RAM to have a better quality of life. Also, there are currently two RAM standards on the market: DDR4 and the newer DDR5, but there’s really not a massive difference in performance at the moment unless you’re running RAM-specific tasks, so if you’re not, don’t worry about getting either one if everything else is perfect.

As for storage, this one is a bit more personal and depends a lot on your usage. For those who tend to stream most of their content online, then having a massive amount of storage probably isn’t useful. Even so, we have tried to aim for a minimum of 512GB of storage, especially since it’s always better to have storage space and not need it rather than need it and not have it. Luckily, storage upgrades are one of the easiest upgrades on a computer, so even if you don’t want to go for a larger storage now, you can always upgrade it later on.

This article is managed and created separately from the Digital Trends Editorial team.

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