Traditional desktop towers don’t come with a display, unlike all-in-one computers. In addition to buying the desktop, you need at least a monitor to go with your computer, and you might also need a keyboard, a mouse, and a webcam. Most prebuilt PCs come with bundled accessories, but you’re typically better off buying them separately.
A cheap desktop works well for browsing the web, editing documents and spreadsheets, and playing basic games like Minecraft. If you want to play popular games such as Apex Legends, Fortnite, or Valorant, you need to spend a bit more for a budget gaming desktop. And if you want to play the newest, fanciest-looking games at higher settings, resolutions, and refresh rates, you need a more expensive gaming PC. We’ll tell you what specs to look for depending on what you need.
We’re planning to test prebuilt desktop PCs in the coming months to find the best options. But many desktops—especially the cheap ones—perform similarly. Here are the specs that we recommend you pay attention to when you’re shopping.
