Customer Ratings & Reviews

Prebuilt gaming desktops exist in a lucrative space. The allure of limitless PC gaming comes with many advantages and pitfalls against console gaming, the most prominent of which is the DIY nature of assembling, maintaining, and repairing your own gaming rig. Not everyone is up to task, and such desktops present a great all-in-one, ready-to-run solution for those with limited time or who want the peace of mind of a warranty and support network. HP’s Omen line of gaming computers and peripherals take the opposite approach to other OEM’s gaming lines, foregoing extravagant aesthetics and aggressive “gamer” design choices for a much more understated look. I was hopeful this would leave a competent machine in its stead, and while I commend HP for its commitment to using standardized parts, the Omen 25L leaves so much more to be desired. - Unboxing & Setup The first thing I noticed about the HP Omen 25L was just how refreshingly simple it looked. The simple black box eschews all flair except for a tempered glass side panel and two RGB lighting effects - the diamond on the front of the case, and the RAM sticks. I did notice that the case’s corners are very squared off bordering on sharp; trying to lift the case with my palm touching a corner of the plastic front panel gave me a painful poke. All the case’s corners are things I would prefer not to handle. Initial setup is a breeze as there are no display ports on the mainboard to confuse first-time system buyers. Once powered up, Windows 11 installation is straightforward with only a few HP-specific additions for support and warranty. Preinstalled programs are limited to the Omen Hub and a McAffee trial, with the remaining trials limited to Windows-specific promotions that come with any new Windows 11 install. - Performance, Thermals, Noise The combination of a Ryzen 5 CPU and a Radeon 7600 GPU indicates this machine is aimed squarely at a 1080p gaming experience. It can certainly handle 1440p and higher at reduced graphical settings, but I didn’t find this worthwhile except for older titles or eSports-caliber games. At 1080p, performance is quite good. Rarely did I encounter a game that couldn’t hold 60fps at maximum graphics settings, with some modern AAA exceptions (Starfield). Fortunately AMD’s latest cards and drivers provide a multitude of features that boost performance, ranging from FidelityFX Super Resolution to reduce effective render resolution with little loss in detail at higher quality settings, to automatic overclocking of the GPU to squeeze every last bit of power out of the GPU. These often get games struggling to maintain a consistent framerate up above the 60FPS hurdle, and those who don’t want to spend a lot of time tweaking can enable everything with one click in the Radeon Adrenalin software. Though performance beyond 1080p is limited due to the CPU & GPU combination, the tradeoff is that these components are easier to cool from their lower power draw. Indeed, even with the Omen 25L’s limited ventilation and few fans to draw cool air and exhaust hot air, system temperatures remained plenty acceptable. A small tower-style CPU cooler with what appears to be a 92mm fan is plenty for the AMD 5600G’s miserly power demands, and an intake fan at the front bottom of the case gives the GPU plenty of cool air. Maxing out both the CPU and GPU yielded a maximum temperatures of 72 C and 78 C, respectively. These are well within specified limits for both, and the fan profile in use here is very quiet. Even at full bore the system doesn’t emit much fan noise. The GPU fans do become audible after about five minutes of intense gaming, but they are still significantly quieter than other AMD graphics cards I’ve used recently. - Part List, Upgradeability & Serviceability The list of included components (at least for my unit, there may be variances from batch to batch) is as follows: -AMD Ryzen 5 5600G Processor (6 cores with 12 threads, 3.9GHz base, 4.4GHz boost, integrated Radeon Vega graphics with 7 cores) -HP “Fuzzy Slipper” microATX motherboard (AMD B550 chipset) -2x8GB Kingston HyperX DDR4-3733 (timing: 21-23-23-55) XMP RGB memory* -OEM HP Radeon RX7600 Graphics Card with 8GB video memory -Western Digital SN560 1TB NVMe SSD -Cooler Master 500W ATX power supply -Realtek 8852BE WiFi 6 + Bluetooth -HP Omen 25L microATX case with tempered glass side panel (*set to 3200MHz, 22-22-22-52 timing in BIOS by default) Pairing a dedicated GPU with a Ryzen 5600G is a peculiar choice - the chip has integrated graphics but they are effectively disabled. There are several other AMD CPUs available in the same lineage, without integrated graphics (for example, the Ryzen 5 5600), at similar OEM pricing that would have yielded better performance overall due to some changes in specifications. I was also surprised by the choice to artificially limit memory performance when the included RAM is more capable than the system configuration is set to perform. This gave me the opportunity to poke into the BIOS where I found more adjustments available than on typical OEM mainboards, including a one-click overclock setting of the RAM using the “AMP” profile to raise the speed to 3433 MHz. Odd that HP wouldn’t leave this on by default. - Serviceability, Upgradeability, and Software I give major kudos to HP for using no major proprietary components within the system. Every part uses standard form factors and connectors, allowing easy servicing after the warranty of the system, and appropriate recycling options as well. This is an area many OEMs are content to ignore in the pursuit of low costs at the expense of generating more e-waste, and HP deserves the accolade here for selling a modular system. That said, HP’s in-house motherboard is as barebones as it gets and severely limits your upgrade options. While two additional DIMM slots allow for memory expansion, there are no additional M.2 slots, there’s only one SATA header for adding in extra storage down the line, and the PCI Express X16 slot, populated by the graphics card, is the lone PCIe slot on the system. In addition, the mainboard’s voltage regulator modules (VRMs) and overall power delivery system are barely passable for entry-level AMD CPUs, so upgrades to more powerful Ryzen processors - if supported by the BIOS - are going to be severely limited. Further, the power supply is a very basic unit offering little in terms of expansion options. A 4-pin CPU power connector is all that it provides, and a SATA power connector is the lone spare cable. This artificially limits many expansion options, as any mainboard and graphics card upgrades will almost assuredly require a new PSU, despite the fact a 500 watt unit can handle more than what this system is currently drawing. What really held this system back for me was a spate of software issues. In my first day of testing I encountered several crashes to blue screens, most of which were caused by the Omen Gaming Hub when attempting to control the system’s lighting. Although settings hold once set, further changes result in freezes and system instability, almost always leading to a crash before I have the chance to shut down. Updating all available software and drivers did not resolve the issue. - Bottom Line HP’s Omen 25L is a decent midrange PC in a vacuum. As a whole, the system is a decent performer when the software isn’t getting in the way, it runs fairly quiet even when the system is fully taxed, and it’s eminently serviceable thanks to the use of standard form factors and connectors. But the bugs in the software, physical design choices, and the so-so selection of parts coupled with very limited upgradeability detract massively from the experience. Ultimately, the value proposition just isn’t there at its MSRP of over $1,000. Those who enjoy HP’s support and warranty will certainly put a value on it, and those who aren’t ready to build or support a PC from scratch will enjoy the pick-up-and-play nature of this desktop. But I’m hard-pressed to recommend this machine when other options within the price category get stronger performance for the money. Not recommended.

First one delivered to home did not power on. Store exchanged and shipped second one to home. That one worked fine. Had to update amd driver software but after that works great.

Computer began to crash shortly after setup. The BSOD. Omen Game Hub did not work properly and clicking on certain things would automatically prop the BSOD and the computer would restart. Will be returning. Extremely disappointed!

Love it. Love playing my PC games. For the price though, I would probably get a better one next time.

I wish I could give lowed than 1 star. I got this PC and was met with BSOD errors right out of the box. I tried a few solutions and nothing worked. For three days I used this PC and every single day, at least 3 times a day, it would crash with BSOD. So I took this back to Best Buy and got a new one, exact same PC. And I was met with the exact same errors after running it for about 2 hours, just more BSOD. I will be returning this for a refund, this is absolutely ridiculous. Don't waster your money. Yes it's cheap but you will absolutely regret it.

Best omen pc out, I definitely recommend this to anybody just starting

The product I purchased was awesome,the Internet security was a joke absolute lie,I don't appreciate that.

Overall, this is a mediocre beginner gaming machine. It lacks the ability to upgrade much. The power supply is undersized. Despite the video card supposedly recommending a minimum of a 750 watt supply, the computer only comes with a 500 watt supply. Straight out of the box, the computer was shutting down when the video card was drawing maximum power. Thankfully I found that the video card software was out of date. Once updated, the crashes temporarily stopped occurring. Despite a large case, the motherboard is small. There is only one M.2 socket which is used for the main system drive. There are no PCIe expansion slots on the board even though the case has them. Ironically, the solder points exist for a socket, but they never soldered a socket to the motherboard. I was hoping to upgrade the network card, but it’s not possible. There is one open drive bay in the case. Using it was the most challenging I have ever seen. The cables are very short and have to run through a channel in the tray, then the drive can be awkwardly screwed into place. Once that slot is taken, there is no more room for storage. After the drive was installed, the computer started unexpectedly shutting down again. Based on the errors and the pattern, I believe that the power supply is absolutely overwhelmed. With such an undersized power supply, I wouldn’t recommend a third drive even if there was space. I don’t know a gamer who only uses one storage drive, so I think it is a reasonable expectation that a second drive should be able to work without the system being overloaded. Games nowadays fill up 1 TB pretty fast. The only two positives are the looks and most of the performance benchmarks. The only component not making reasonable scores was the memory. I tried making recommended changes in the bios, but it did not seem to make a major difference. I would also avoid upgrading the memory because the machine is so short on power. Even though the performance benchmarks are good and the GPU is high quality, most games are unable to run with anything better than medium performance. It is disappointing. It makes me wonder if this too is related to a lack of power. The machine might be throttling the resources to avoid crashing/shutting down. To be blunt, this machine is disappointing. I cannot imagine purchasing a gaming machine that is barely capable of running in the present day. Very little can be upgraded by gaming standards. Without upgrading the motherboard and power supply, it won’t last very long in the gaming world.

Got it for my son for Christmas and he absolutely loves it highly recommend.

Omen is made by HP whom I have had hit and miss results over the years. This computer comes with wired keyboard and mouse, both of which have a reasonable feel. I find a wired mouse outdated, although I know my gamer friends swear by them. That cord just gets in my way! The box is plain but nice looking, and most of the ports are on top which is nice. I just wish there were more USB ports. The computer does feel solid, and wifi connection is excellent. For the moment, my monitor is not the best, but will be fixing that in the new year. Computer has no built in sound, so external speakers are necessary. I do find the fan a bit louder than expected. The computer is in my bedroom, and I was surprised to hear the noticable humming. My previous computer did not have that issue. The computer is responsive and acceptably fast. The AMD Ryzen processor surprised me in a good way. For gaming, it was fine so far. Graphics with my 'restrictive' monitor was good, and I can't wait to use a bigger curved screen. I watch a lot of YouTube and that was excellent without any lag. I think I made a good choice, and may see about some tweeks and upgardes along with a bigger monitor.

The computer would not play our games. It kept freezing and shutting down. We returned it for something else. Disappointed in HP

My son absolutely loves it. Couldn't be happier than he is.

Did not work out of the box, so I took it back to the store to be examined by the geek squad team member and he was unable to open the panel to even see if he could diagnose an issue. He recommended returning it or trading for another PC so that’s what I did. I waited days for it to arrive at my store then drove 20 minutes (twice) each way just to open a dud

Great computer! It has held up to my expectations.

To be honest this PC ran alright but for 800 dollars I couldn’t run Fortnite BR at around 120FPS at High Settings since this PC would hiccup. That’s underwhleming so I would say save up a little more for something better. The peformance is lackluster for comparison the PS5 looks and runs better for less. Although it ran thats the BARE minimum this thing should do at this price range.

Imma be honest this pc was giving me to many issues from apps crashing sometimes the pc getting hot. After I asked for an exchange for a new one it still gave me issues.For reference I was getting screen tear on a simple game. Save your money, time, gas and sanity.

There was an issued with this desktop out of the box. I had to bring to the Geek Squad which felt there was a manufacture issue. I returned the device.

Waited a week for it to be shipped to the store brought it home it was broke

Wouldnt power on and was messed up in shipping with a power button that can easily be messed up

This is a very nice compact desktop unit setup designed beginner to mid-level gaming. The case is very sleek and nice looking from the design, cooling, and RGB setups on the RAM, Omen symbol, and other areas of the mini tower. Unboxing is very easy with the pull handle bag to allow you to pull the tower out easily for unpacking. The included keyboard has short throw keys, works for gaming, but recommend a gaming keyboard and mouse upgrade first chance. There are plenty of latest USB and audio ports all around on this unit. The included power supply is good level for everything in this machine, leaving room for various upgrades as seen fit. At low use, the unit is fairly quiet while at higher levels of use there is some fan noise, but not enough to bother you, keeping the unit nice and cool. The preview look case is very easily opened using a massive push button setup, no tools needed. There is additional open space in the case for a liquid cooler upgrade to help keep the system even cooler. It uses a combination SSD and HDD setup for improved data speeds, which has become the industry's standard for today’s systems. The GPU has HDMI and additional display ports readily available. The included tuning software, HP Gaming Hub from HP enables users to fine tune and tweak the power settings of everything for custom gaming. Virtual reality and AI worked very using similar system resources and limits for various games. Very responsive, and smooth. At the highest settings, which you do not see a vast difference, it did run smoothly with a little choppiness at times. Overall gaming with this system met all of the various steam hosted games thrown at it to include: Minecraft, Minecraft Dungeons, Sea of Thieves, Fortnite, Stumble guys, and others. Recommend this for any beginning to mid-level gamer.