MSI Aegis ZS2 | R7 9700X | Review

The RTX 5080 GPU is one of the best on the market. This desktop scores 85.2/100 for gaming. Watch out for wild price variations, stick to the ~$3900 MSRP.

The MSI Aegis ZS2 is a gaming desktop that puts its GPU front and center. With an RTX 5080 sitting in the 89th percentile, this thing is built for high-fidelity gaming, scoring a 85.2 out of 100 in our gaming benchmark. It's paired with a solid AMD 9700X CPU and 32GB of RAM, making it a well-rounded machine that can handle creative work too, though it's clearly optimized for play.

Let's talk about the star of the show: the RTX 5080. This GPU is one of the best on the market, landing in the 89th percentile. That means you're getting top-tier frame rates and ray tracing performance for the latest games. The AMD 9700X CPU is also strong, scoring well above average, and it's backed by 32GB of RAM which is about average for this class. The 2TB SSD is impressive, sitting in the 82nd percentile for storage speed and capacity. The 850W PSU gives you plenty of headroom for future upgrades. It's not the most compact system, but that's a trade-off for the performance inside.

The value proposition here is tricky because the price varies wildly. At its reasonable starting point of around $3899, you're getting a great GPU and solid overall specs. That's a competitive price for this level of performance. But if you see a listing for $981,552, run. That's not a real deal, it's a data error or a scam. Always shop around, because the MSI direct price is likely the best one.

Compared to the HP OMEN 45L, the Aegis ZS2 likely trades some boutique case design for raw GPU power. Against the Lenovo Legion Tower 5a, you're looking at a similar AMD CPU matchup but the RTX 5080 should give the MSI a clear gaming edge. The Dell Tower Plus and MSI EdgeXpert are more workstation-focused, so the Aegis is the better pick for pure gaming. And compared to an Apple Mac Studio? That's a different universe for creative workflows, but the Aegis will crush it in gaming performance.

Skip this if you need a compact or super portable desktop. It scored only 35.8/100 for compactness. Also, if reliability is your top concern, look elsewhere; its 46th percentile score there is mediocre. And obviously, if you see it listed for hundreds of thousands of dollars, you should skip that listing entirely.

If you're a gamer who wants one of the best GPUs available right now and don't mind a standard mid-tower form factor, this is a strong data-backed choice. The CPU and storage are excellent supporting actors. Just make sure you buy it from a reputable seller at the normal price point, not the fantasy million-dollar listing.