Which HP OMEN 35L Gaming PC?

drsmithy on 23/11/2024 - 09:51
Last edited 23/11/2024 - 16:40 by 1 other user

Looking to replace my old Alienware Aurora R7.

Sadly I don't work at Dell anymore so can't get the massive employee discount for another Alienware.

Current specs are i5-8400 & RTX 3070.

These OMEN 35L deals on ebay look pretty good to my out-of-touch eye:

$2,175. HP OMEN 35L Gaming Tower RYZEN 5-8500G 16GB 1TB HDD +1TB SSD RTX 4070 Super 12GB
$2,799. HP OMEN 35L Gaming Tower Ryzen 7-8700G 32GB 2TB HDD+1TB SSD RTX 4070 Ti Super
$3,996. HP OMEN 35L Gaming Tower 7-14700F 32GB 1TB HDD + 2TB SSD RTX 4080 Super 16GB
$4,624. HP OMEN 35L Gaming Tower i7-14700F 32GB 1TB HDD+2TB SSD RTX 4090 24GB

I'm interested to hear from people who do keep up to date with modern CPU/GPU performance how you think they stack up on a bang-for-buck basis.

I'll be gaming at 1440p (unlikely to go up to 4k any time soon) and typically not current games (ie: I'm happy to wait a year or two to play them if my current PC performance isn't enough to play them well). Only exception to that at the moment is MW5: Clans, for which my current system seems to be mostly CPU-bound.

I'm tossing up between the two cheaper options with a view to using the $$$ saved over the more expensive ones to upgrade the GPU in a year or two. That said I do wonder if the 600W PSU in the cheapest one might limit options there (plus I'd need to upgrade the RAM to 32GB as well).

Not really interested in DIYing anymore. Did plenty of that 10-20 years ago, just can't be faffed anymore - too busy with children.

PS> What would the old 3070 be worth these days ?

Cheers,

• 

  CrispyChrispy on 23/11/2024 - 09:56

  +1

  Those definitely do not look good value lol

  I don't know if they've gotten better or not but those pre-builts from HP and Dell are almost always bad bang for buck, using the cheapest components possible too.

  Go for one of the gaming PC deals commonly listed here on OzB, eg. Techfast, Nebula, etc.:

  https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/876360

  • 

    drsmithy on 23/11/2024 - 10:36

    Thanks.

    Any of these kinds of gaming-specific builders in Brisbane you know of ? Not a fan of an RTB warranty if there's nowhere local.

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  FireRunner on 23/11/2024 - 10:01

  +1

  Any reason why it has to be the 35L model? The 25L are much better value:
  HP OMEN 25L Gaming Tower i7-14700F 16GB 1TB SSD +1TB HDD RTX4070 12GB ~$1750
  HP OMEN 25L Gaming Tower i7-14700F 16GB 1TB SSD +1TB HDD RTX4070 Super 12GB ~$1800
  HP OMEN 25L Gaming Tower i7-14700F 32GB 1TB SSD +1TB HDD RTX4070 Ti Super 16GB ~$2000

  • 

    drsmithy on 23/11/2024 - 10:23

    I'm a bit concerned about heat (when the fans crank up in my R7 it's quite intrusive) and future GPU upgradeability (R7 has a max card length that was a bit of a struggle to work around) in the smaller case.

    • 

      FireRunner on 23/11/2024 - 10:26

      +2

      I think you're better off with a custom build PC like CrispyChrispy suggests in that case

      • 

        drsmithy on 23/11/2024 - 10:35

        Ugh. I had been assuming all the 35Ls had liquid cooling but now I look closer at the specs these are air cooled. Guess I'll look elsewhere.

        Thanks.

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  LVlahov on 23/11/2024 - 20:50

  +1

  5000 series will be out early next year - I'd suggest waiting for those because the 5070 will theoretically be close to where the 4080 is today, but at a cheaper price, and I don't think the 4070 is enough of a jump in performance from what you have to make going that way worth it. A bit like buying a new iPhone model every year vs skipping a gen, you end up with a much more notable jump if you go every other year.

  • 

    drsmithy on 26/11/2024 - 11:14

    Yeah, spent a bit of time reading and it became clear my current system is completely CPU-limited and a 3070 can still do OK for 1440p with more CPU grunt behind it (old proc was an i5-8400).

    So I've ended up DIYing a PC w/i5-13600 (and remembering all the reasons I said I wouldn't do it again) and carrying over the RAM & 3070 from my old Alienware.

    Sadly haven't had a chance to actually try running some games on it yet, but maybe later this week.

    Half the $$$ compared to a complete new PC though. Will look at upgrading the GPU in 12mo if it's struggling a bit. CPU should carry me through at least a few years.