The Best Gaming Desktops of 2018

Get a Desktop for the Most Gaming Power

Despite the enticing lure of game consoles and handheld devices, PC gaming is still alive and kicking. Enthusiasts know that nothing beats the quality of gameplay you can get with a desktop built for gaming. But what kind of PC can make major 3D games look and run better than they do on the Sony PS4 Pro or the Microsoft Xbox One S? If you have deep pockets, your answer could be a custom-built hot rod from an elite boutique PC manufacturer such as Alienware, Falcon Northwest, Maingear, or MSI. But a couple of well-informed choices will go a long way toward helping you get the right gaming desktop from a standard PC manufacturer, even if you're not made of money. Here's how to buy your best gaming desktop, regardless of your budget, and our top 10 picks in the category.

This is admittedly simplifying a complex argument, but high-powered graphics, processors, and memory improve the graphics detail (cloth, reflections, hair), physical interactions (smoke, thousands of particles colliding), and the general animation of scenes in your favorite games. Throwing more resources, like a more powerful graphics cards or a faster CPU, at the problem will help, to an extent.