KITGURU SHORTLISTS: THE BEST DESKTOP PC OF 2024

I have to say I was intrigued by the spec of the Topaz Spark when PCSpecialist got in touch about a review, and after testing it for the last week, I have to say it is one of the best prebuilt systems we have reviewed over the last few years. Not because it is ridiculously fast or an all-singing all-dancing machine, but because it offers a very sensible spec at an achievable price point, while also leaving plenty of room for upgrades down the line.

After looking at the Cyberpower Ultra 79 XTX in detail and putting it through its paces with our benchmark suite, it’s undeniably a bit of a beast, but that’s no less than you would expect for the £3249 price tag. It will handle anything you throw at it with ease, but its gaming performance is where this machine shines. Frame rates were respectable in all of the titles I benchmarked and the scores in tests like PCMark show that it’s no slouch with general work applications too.

We have seen examples of PCs from the EK Fluid Gaming range at shows such as CES, however this is the first time we have been sent one of their PCs for review. The EK-Fluid Gaming Digital Reef PC has a slightly peculiar name and a specification that promises a huge amount, combining an Intel Core i9-14900K with RTX 4090 graphics that is cooled, naturally, by a full system of EK Quantum custom loop hardware.

Here at KitGuru we love high end gaming hardware, however we also appreciate that some people don't want to spend £1800 on a mighty graphics card such as a Gigabyte RTX 4090 Gaming OC, and you can include your reviewer in that group. It is a similar story with fabulous and expensive CPUs such as the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D... so how would you feel if we told you the PCSpecialist Tempest Nova gaming PC is available for £1099 inc VAT? Admit it, that sounds good.

The Quantum Pro S offers great 1440p gaming performance, utilising some of Nvidia's latest hardware. 4K gaming and high quality streaming/content creation is more than possible and the whole package is well priced when factoring in OS costs and warranty peace of mind.