HP OMEN 45L Gaming Review

The HP OMEN 45L has a beastly CPU and RAM, but its listed graphics are a contradictory mess. It scores a terrible 15/100 for gaming. Unless you can confirm it has the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER, it's not worth buying at over $2,200.

The HP OMEN 45L is a tower that looks the part of a high-end gaming rig, with its 14th Gen Intel i7-14700K CPU and 32GB of DDR5 RAM. It's built for heavy workloads, and our data shows it scores well for developers and office tasks. But there's a big catch right out of the gate, and it's a weird one for a 'gaming desktop.'

The CPU and RAM are the stars here, landing in the 89th and 90th percentiles respectively. That means serious multi-tasking and processing power. The 1TB NVMe SSD is fast, too. The glaring weakness is the graphics. Our database shows its GPU performance is only in the 24th percentile, which is shockingly low for a machine at this price. That's because the listed specs are contradictory—it mentions an RTX 4070 Ti SUPER in the highlights, but the detailed spec sheet says it only has integrated Intel UHD Graphics. That's a massive red flag and explains the abysmal 15/100 gaming score.

At over $2,200, this is a tough sell. You're paying for a top-tier CPU and plenty of RAM, which is great for rendering, coding, or data analysis. But if the GPU is truly just integrated graphics, you're getting ripped off for a 'gaming' PC. Even if it does have the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER as advertised elsewhere, you can likely build or buy a comparable system for less. The value hinges entirely on clarifying that GPU spec, and right now, it's not looking good.

Compared to something like the Dell Alienware Aurora or Lenovo Legion Tower, this OMEN 45L's core specs are competitive. The CPU might even have an edge. But those competitors are clear about their dedicated GPUs. The MSI MEG Vision X and Corsair VENGEANCE a7400 also offer clearer, high-end graphics configurations at similar price points. This HP's confusing listing puts it at a massive disadvantage; you can't compare what you aren't sure you're getting.

Gamers should skip this immediately unless the GPU is confirmed. Also, if you need to move your PC often, the nearly 50-pound weight is a backbreaker. Anyone on a tight budget should look at pre-builts with clearer, more balanced specs for less money.

Only consider this if you are 100% certain it includes the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER and you need that specific Intel CPU power for non-gaming work. Even then, shop around. For anyone else, especially gamers, this listing's inconsistency makes it impossible to recommend. It's a spec sheet puzzle you shouldn't have to solve for this much money.