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Best desktop computer for 2024

3 days ago

0 42 4 minutes read

Price

You can find a good PC tower from brands like Acer, Asus, Dell, or HP for between $500 and $600 that will last for years of general use. The specs we recommend for a standard Windows 11 machine:

Intel Core i5 (13th or 14th generation) or AMD Ryzen 5 (6000, 7000 or 8000 series)
Standard integrated graphics (such as Intel UHD or Iris or baseline AMD Radeon)
16 GB RAM or more
NVMe SSD drive of 512 GB or larger
Four or more USB 3.1 or 3.2 ports with USB-C and USB-A formats (at least one or two on the front)
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless
At least one PCI-E (x16) expansion slot (for adding a video card)

Do you like PC gaming or spend time editing photos or videos? You want to take the configuration to the next level with more RAM and better graphics options. Expect prices to be between $800 and $1,200 (or even higher) if you go for a more advanced video card.

Nvidia RTX or AMD Radeon RX graphics card (GPU)
16 GB RAM or more
Power supply of 450 watts (or more).

Operating system

Microsoft Windows and Apple’s MacOS basically do the same things, but they do them differently. Unless you need an OS-specific application, use the application you are most comfortable using. Most desktops run Microsoft Windows, while Apple’s iMac, Mac Mini, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro desktops run Apple’s MacOS. There’s also a strange Chromebox offering based on Google’s ChromeOS. A Chromebox is easier to use and usually cheaper than a Windows PC or Mac, but it can’t run Windows or Mac software.

Processor

The processor, also called the CPU, is the brain of a desktop. Intel and AMD are the main CPU makers for Windows desktops. Both offer a dizzying selection of processors. You can go to Intels or AMDs sites for explanations so you get the performance you want. Intel’s current lineup consists of 13th generation Core chips, with 14th generation processors expected in early 2024. AMD’s current desktop processor is the Ryzen 7000 series. In general, however, the higher the processor speed and the more cores it has, the better the performance will be.

Apple makes its own chips for Macs, which makes things a little easier. The iMac and Mac Mini are equipped with Apple’s latest M4 processor. The Mac Studio features an M2 Max or M2 Ultra, while the Mac Pro is based on the M2 Ultra. Again, in general, the more cores it has, the better the performance.

Graphic

The graphics processor (GPU) does all the work of driving the screen and generating what is displayed, as well as speeding up many graphics (and increasingly AI-related) operations. For Macs, Apple’s M-series processors integrate the GPU. For Windows desktops, there are two types of GPUs: integrated (iGPU) or discrete (dGPU). As the names imply, an iGPU is part of the CPU package, while a dGPU is a separate chip with dedicated memory (VRAM) that it communicates with directly, making it faster than sharing memory with the CPU.

Because the iGPU shares space, memory, and power with the CPU, it is limited by its limits. It enables smaller desktops, such as an all-in-one or SFF PC, but doesn’t perform nearly as well as a dGPU. There are even some games and creative software that won’t work unless they detect a dGPU or enough VRAM. Most productivity software, video streaming, web browsing, and other non-specialized apps work fine on an iGPU.

For power-hungry graphics needs like video editing, gaming and streaming, design, etc., you need a dGPU. Only two real companies make them: Nvidia and AMD, although Intel offers some based on the Xe-branded (or the older UHD Graphics branding) iGPU technology in its CPUs.

Memory

For memory, we recommend at least 16 GB of RAM. RAM is where the operating system stores all the data for currently running applications, and it can fill up quickly. Then it starts switching between RAM and SSD, which is slower. Some cheaper models only offer 8GB, which combined with a slower drive can make for a frustratingly slow Windows experience.

Tower PCs usually have free internal slots for adding more RAM, but all-in-ones and SFF PCs may not. Even if they do, these DIMM slots can be difficult to access.

Storage

You may still find a cheaper hard drive in a budget desktop and larger hard drives in gaming PCs, but faster solid-state drives (SSDs) have all but replaced hard drives. They can make a big difference in performance. Not all SSDs are equally fast, and cheaper desktops tend to have slower drives. If your PC only has 8 GB of RAM, it may switch to that drive and quickly slow down the system while you work.

Get what you can afford, but we recommend at least 512 GB for a desktop for most users. For storing large media or game libraries, we recommend 1TB or more. If you need a smaller drive, you can usually add a second internal drive to a tower PC. For all-in-ones and SFF PCs, an external drive or cloud storage is usually the easier choice to boost a small internal drive.

Display

An all-in-one integrates the display with the computer’s components that are not housed in a tower or small form factor case, but behind the display or in the base. The trade-off for this space-saving, streamlined design is fewer options for upgrades. For the screen, you want a large screen with a good resolution. The sweet spots we propose are: