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Desktop Reviews

Falcon Northwest Talon

Falcon Northwest Talon (2015) review

Want a subtle but powerful desktop PC? Falcon Northwest’s Talon may be for you. It has the hardware to compete with much larger systems, but its compact form factor comes at the price of upgradability and fan noise.
Digital Storm Velox

Digital Storm Velox (2015) review

Digital Storm’s Velox is a powerful, highly configurable system, but it’s up against some incredibly tenacious competitors. Can the Velox overcome them, or is it just another competent – yet not incredible – enthusiast rig?
Origin Millenium Battlebox

Origin Millennium Battlebox (2015) review

Origin’s Millennium Battlebox is an impressive desktop that combines class-leading performance with low power draw and modest fan noise. It’s an obvious pick -- as long as you have enough space for the massive enclosure.
Maingear X Cube Z170 hero

Maingear X-Cube Z170 review

Maingear’s small cube PC is supposed to save space, but its unusual design takes up more room than it seems at first glance, making its advantage over traditional mid-tower desktops a bit dubious.
Asus Zen AIO S

Asus Zen AiO Pro Z240IC review

Premium Windows all-in-ones have always existed in the iMac’s long shadow, but Asus’ brilliant new Zen AiO Pro may outshine Apple’s best.
AVADirect Z170

AVADirect Z170 review

Expensive gaming rigs can be incredibly extravagant, and that leads to high prices. AVADirect’s Z170 Gaming PC takes a more basic approach, delivering only what’s needed for victory in games. Is that a winning formula, or a recipe for disaster?
iBuyPower Revolt 2

iBuyPower Revolt 2 Pro review

Inexpensive gaming desktops are usually drab, but iBuyPower has challenged that trend with its stylish new Revolt 2. Does the system also pack the power gamers crave, or is it all show, and no go?
Alienware X51

Alienware X51 R3 review

While most systems we test are decked out with every possible upgrade, the X51’s modest GTX 960, Intel Core i5, and PCIe solid state drive show there’s value in mid-range rigs.
acer predator g6 review room

Acer Predator G6 review

Acer is starting to take PC gaming seriously, and its new Predator G6 is the company’s flagship desktop. Can this all-new rig handle today’s most demanding games, or has this hunter lost its way?
Dell XPS 8900 Desktop

Dell XPS 8900 Special Edition review

Gaming desktops don’t always announce their arrival with blazing LEDs, and Dell’s XPS 8900 proves a subtle approach can lighten the damage to your wallet. But is it as capable as more boisterous rivals?
origin chronos 2016 review vhero v2 16 9

Origin Chronos (2016) review

Small form factor PCs rarely match the performance of their full-sized peers, but Origin’s new Chronos thinks it can be the exception. Can it take down competitors twice its size?
AVADirect Avant PC

AVADirect Avant (2016) review

With an overclocked Intel Core i7 and a GTX 980 Ti, the AVADirect Avant takes high-end performance and shaves some of the cost off the top -- but can it keep up with more heavily customized competitors?
Intel NUC 6i7KYK

Intel NUC Skull Canyon review

Intel’s newest NUC looks the part with its intimidating skull logo, but whether it’s fast enough to satisfy serious – or casual -- gamers is another issue entirely.
Digital Storm Aventum 3

Digital Storm Aventum 3 review

We’ve reviewed many big, beefy desktop computers, but Digital Storm’s Aventum 3 is by far the largest. It weighs over 100 pounds -- also contains the most powerful hardware we’ve ever tested.
Best Desktop Computer Falcon Northwest Mach V

Falcon Northwest Mach V (2016) review

Falcon’s flagship, the Mach V, isn’t the biggest desktop on the market, or the most extravagant – but it is the end result of decades of work. Can this refined, old-school rig defeat up-and-comers from Digital Storm, Origin, and others?
Origin Millenium PC 2016

Origin Millennium (2016) review

Origin, founded by former Alienware staff, has become a major player in the arena of high-end PCs. Its flagship Millennium is now available with Intel’s beastly Core i7-6590X processor – but finds itself facing no shortage of competition.
Alienware Alpha R2

Alienware Alpha R2 review

The initial Alienware Alpha impressed by packing gaming hardware into a tiny box, but left much to be desired. Now the dry run is over, and the revised version of the compact gaming PC is ready to prove there’s still air left in the Alpha’s tires.
Acer Predator G1

Acer Predator G1 review

Sitting on a desk, the G1 cuts a slim figure with gaming written all over it -- but inside, things aren’t as they seem. Acer has made some compromises in search of a smaller footprint.
Lenovo Y900

Lenovo Ideacentre Y900 review

Lenovo’s mid-tower gaming desktop isn’t flashy, and many aspects of its design follow conventional rules. But the system’s attention to detail, and awesome performance, put it a cut above most.
Cybertron CLX RA

Cybertron CLX Ra review

Cybertron PC’s new CLX Ra gaming desktop can’t escape some notable missteps that are strong points for its competitors. Can it compensate by saving you some cash?
Digital Storm Velox (Kaby Lake) 2016

Digital Storm Velox (Kaby Lake) review

Digital Storm’s Velox is the first desktop to reach us with Intel’s Core i7-7700K processor, the latest in enthusiast-grade computing. Better still, Digital Storm has overclocked the snot out of it, hitting a stable 5GHz in the configuration we received. That’s the highest clock speed of any PC we’ve ever reviewed. It’s easy to fixate […]
Dell XPS Tower 2017

Dell XPS Tower Special Edition 8910 SE review

Dell’s pint-sized XPS Tower Special Edition provides plenty of power for the masses, though not every configuration is a great value, and a hard drive upgrade is sorely needed.
MSI Trident 9S6-B90611-02S review

MSI Trident 3 review

With fast components and compact design, the Trident 3 has a lot to offer, but it’s MSI’s system to screw up. Can the popular system builder avoid its previous pitfalls?
avadirect avant mid size gaming desktop review ava direct midsize 1

AVADirect Avant Midsize Gaming Desktop review

The AVADirect Avant promises high-end power on a mid-range budget, but does its off-the-peg pedigree hold it back against more carefully crafted machines?
Microsoft Surface Studio

Microsoft Surface Studio review

Microsoft’s first all-in-one is extravagantly expensive, immensely capable, and beautiful to look at. Does that make it a stand-out all-in-one, or is its price too much to tolerate?
alienware area 51 2017 review hands on 5

Alienware Area 51 (2017): Our first take

Alienware will soon release an update to its veteran Area 51 desktop that adds support for AMD Threadripper and Intel Core X processors. Don’t let the looks fool you. Practical, clever design hides beneath the boisterous case.
origin neuron 2017 review gaming desktop lights

Origin Neuron review

As our Origin Neuron review shows, the right builder and the right case can elevate off-the-shelf parts into an amazing gaming desktop.
Velocity Micro Raptor M60 hero

Velocity Micro Raptor M60 Gaming Desktop Review

With off-the-shelf components, and a mid-range price tag, the Velocity Micro M60 faces stiff competition from both ends of the price spectrum.
Acer ROG Strix Review left side

Asus ROG Strix GD30CI gaming desktop review

Our Asus ROG Strix GD30CI review reveals a PC with plenty of performance, but there’s more to it than the right GPU. The Asus GD30CI falls behind on details
Dell Inspiron 27 7000 All-in-one (2017) Review

Dell Inspiron 27 7000 (2017) review

Our Dell Inspiron 27 7000 review unit, powered by AMD’s new Ryzen processor, should interest you.
Asus G11DF review hero

Asus G11DF gaming desktop review

Inexpensive PC gaming used to mean bad PC gaming, but not anymore. Our Asus G11DF review shows just how far you can get on a shoestring budget.
origin millenium desktop review dp front

Origin Millennium gaming desktop review

Origin has made some of our favorite high-end gaming rigs in the past. Let’s find out if the 2018 Origin Millennium puts another feather in its cap.
Intel Hades Canyon NUC

Intel ‘Hades Canyon’ NUC hands-on review

The first version, Skull Canyon, faltered at the starting line, but this year Intel is back with AMD Radeon RX Vega M graphics. Find out more in our hands-on.
Maingear F131 review

Maingear F131 hands-on review

If you want a custom gaming rig, you probably want it to look special – and Maingear’s F131 might catch your eye. We went hands-on.
Senior Editor, Computing

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

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

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

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

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