HP Omen 35L Desktop Overview: A Correct Little Challenger to Lenovo’s Greatest

HP has a curious beast on its arms with the HP Omen 35L. It is a trendy machine with a compact chassis packing in any variety of parts and dousing all of them in RGB lighting. HP has executed sensible work with the case, with efficient airflow and helpful filtration. The highest configuration examined right here proved a robust performer general, however its CPU leaves a number of efficiency on the desk. HP additionally costs fairly a bit above the market fee for storage and reminiscence, pushing this machine to $3,314 as configured. 

Nevertheless, there’s the potential of excellent worth available right here, notably if you happen to decide out of additional storage and reminiscence and as a substitute maybe purchase them as aftermarket upgrades. The Omen 35L even proves aggressive with the wonderful Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 8 34IRZ8 at its increased configurations and the value-friendly Lenovo Legion Tower 5i Gen 8 at its decrease configurations. That is a commendable place to be in, as Lenovo’s techniques are usually appreciable threats for his or her efficiency and worth. HP has type and efficiency on lock, however selecting a wise configuration is vital to getting worth right here.   

Word: The 2TB SATA laborious drive in our check PC does not seem in HP’s configuration device.

The HP Omen 35L is a extremely configurable machine. It begins out at a modest $1,299, and that may get you a Ryzen 5 8500G, 16GB of DDR5-5200 reminiscence, 512GB PCIe NVMe SSE, Radeon RX 7600 graphics card, 120mm CPU air cooler and a 500-watt 80 Plus Bronze energy provide. That configuration additionally comes with a steel entrance panel. 

HP provides upgrades to the CPU, reminiscence, storage, graphics card, energy provide, cooling, networking card and an optionally available glass entrance panel. The mannequin examined right here is actually the highest configuration at $3,314. It features a Ryzen 7 8700G processor, 64GB of reminiscence, RTX 4080 Tremendous, 1,000-watt 80 Plus Gold energy provide, 240mm liquid cooler and an upgraded Wi-Fi 7 networking card. There are additionally main storage upgrades in contrast with the bottom mannequin: two 2TB NVMe SSDs and a 2TB laborious drive. Nevertheless, as of this writing, we did not see that tough drive as an choice from HP, so we’re unsure what impact it has on the value. 

For essentially the most half, the configuration as examined is sweet. It is largely aggressive with the Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 8, so there’s worth right here with the HP. The place HP’s check configuration goes awry is its reminiscence and storage upgrades. The reminiscence improve from 16GB to 32GB is $90 and an expensive $260 to go as much as a reduced-speed 64GB. To place that in perspective, you may get 64GB of RGB-lit, higher-speed DDR5 reminiscence for $200. HP additionally desires $368 for a 2TB PCIe 4.0 SSD, which is greater than double what yow will discover a comparable drive for on-line. Dropping the storage and reminiscence upgrades and opting as a substitute for a 512GB boot drive and 16GB of reminiscence, the system comes right down to a way more aggressive $2,407.

Graphical may is chained to an underperformer

The HP Omen 35L, as examined, has a number of efficiency to supply in its compact chassis. The RTX 4080 Tremendous tucked inside takes up each inch accessible to it, and it is able to pump out high-end graphics at quick body charges. The catch is, HP has made the confounding option to pair it with a CPU that is not prepared to totally unleash it. The Ryzen 7 8700G is just not on the extent of the RTX 4080 Tremendous and readily turns into a bottleneck at 1080p. 

Not solely does the Ryzen 7 8700G have its personal, enhanced built-in graphics sitting idle on the chip, nevertheless it additionally provides restricted PCIe bandwidth to the graphics card. Finally, this hasn’t confirmed to be a substantial concern proper now, nevertheless it may very well be as bandwidth necessities to the GPU increase sooner or later. 

I noticed body charges that readily surpass the playable mark when benchmarking at 1080p, with Shadow of the Tomb Raider, The Riftbreaker and Guardians of the Galaxy all exceeding 100fps averages by a large margin. Nevertheless, these outcomes lagged effectively behind what the Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 8 can do with its personal RTX 4080 Tremendous. The CPU is plainly the offender since in CPU benchmarks the HP Omen 35L falls significantly behind the Legion system’s Intel Core i9-14900KF. Switching to 4K, nonetheless, the Omen 35L loses little when it comes to body charges since that is extra of a GPU check. Shadow of the Tomb Raider drops from a 173.5fps common at 1080p to 132fps at 4K. Guardians of the Galaxy goes from 146fps common at 1080p to 139 at 4K, each respectable numbers.

There’s some sense in choosing a modest CPU to go along with a robust GPU if you happen to plan to recreation at excessive settings and resolutions, that are extra reliant on GPU energy. Doing so can prevent a bit of cash by choosing a lower-tier part that is hardly ever going to be taxed by video games. However HP ought to supply the choice for a greater CPU pairing for these players who may need to play at 1080p and need ultra-high body charges over decision. 

Exterior of that, the system is kind of constant. Working 3DMark’s Metal Nomad stress check, the Omen 35L managed 98% consistency, seeing scores vary from 6471 to 6342. The CPU’s temperature rose step by step and leveled off slightly below 60 levels Celsius by the tip of the check. The GPU heated up extra quickly however leveled off at about 70 levels Celsius. Even beneath that heavy load, the Omen 35L was surprisingly quiet, although you’ll be able to hear the followers whirring away. 

It is a looker with RGB at each flip

HP has gone all-in with the seems of the Omen 35L. Nearly each side that would have RGB LEDs has RGB LEDs. Two followers pull in contemporary air by means of slits on the entrance and two extra cool a 240mm radiator. Yet one more fan exhausts air out the again and all glow brilliantly with RGB lighting. The pump on the CPU is emblazoned with Omen, glowing within the center with a sq. border. The reminiscence sticks all have RGB lighting. The RTX 4080 Tremendous has a sq. on the again plate glowing with RGB lights of its personal. It is one hell of a lightweight present, and far of it’s readily customizable in HP’s Omen Gaming Hub. That mentioned, the graphics card lighting does not present up in HP’s app, leaving it at odds with any types you may select. The reminiscence’s lighting does present up in a piece separate from the followers and water block, however modifications I made in this system by no means took impact. 

HP packs all of it in tight with a case that truly measures 35 cubic liters, as its title suggests. It manages to suit an mATX motherboard inside and successfully squeezes triple-slot graphics inside with little room to spare. The graphics card barely blocks the decrease consumption fan, nevertheless it creates a chamber for air to circulation into its followers after which vent out into the higher chamber. The highest consumption fan pushes that heated air out the again and up by means of the 2 radiator followers. It is good to see efficient airflow, particularly in a compact machine. Even higher, the consumption followers are coated in a high quality steel mesh to maintain mud and particles out — one thing uncared for in too many desktops I’ve seen not too long ago. 

Past the lighting, the inside of the system can also be decently trendy. HP went with a black PCB for the motherboard that matches the black chassis properly. Cables are largely tucked out of sight. Whereas VRM heatsinks and a shroud for the rear I/O would have been a welcome enchancment, these components aren’t horribly ugly. All of this neatness is on show behind a glass aspect panel. It is a good step up from the slightly ugly inside I noticed in Lenovo’s competing Legion Tower 5i Gen 8, which had naked reminiscence sticks, a lid-less motherboard chipset, and cables all over the place. 

Whereas the HP Omen 35L has an honest variety of ports, I discover they’re hardly a powerful assortment for a desktop that prices over $3,000. It has a smattering of USB-A ports, with none topping 5Gbps. There are solely two USB-C ports, however these high out at 10Gbps. USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 and USB4 are nowhere to be discovered. Oddly, the system additionally lacks a normal HDMI or DisplayPort connection on the motherboard regardless of HP solely choosing CPUs which have extra superior built-in graphics. The USB-C ports each assist DisplayPort output, however extra choices may be useful. The system additionally has simply Gigabit ethernet slightly than 2.5GbE, which is rising in popularity on high-end machines. 

So in all, the Omen 35L is a gorgeous bundle that may be worth, so long as you favor 4K gaming and configure it accurately or a minimum of do not thoughts including aftermarket reminiscence and storage.