HP OMEN HP OMEN 16L Gaming Desktop, AMD Ryzen 7 8700F Review

Think of this as a multitasking muscle car with a sensible engine. The 64GB of RAM is glorious overkill for power users, but the RTX 5060 GPU keeps it from being a true gaming champion. A solid buy for creators who game on the side.

The HP Omen 16L is a workstation that's trying to be everything to everyone, and it mostly succeeds. The one thing you need to know is that this machine is built for heavy multitasking, not cutting-edge gaming. With 64GB of RAM landing in the 97th percentile, it's a memory monster that laughs at browser tabs and demanding applications. But that RTX 5060 GPU? It's solid, but it's not the star of the show here.

What surprised us was the CPU's strong showing. The AMD Ryzen 7 8700F sits in the 79th percentile, and in our database, it genuinely holds its own against the Intel i7-14700F as the listing claims. The real story, though, is that 64GB of DDR5 RAM. It's overkill for most people, but if you're running virtual machines, massive audio projects, or just hate ever closing a program, this thing is a dream. The GPU performance is good, not great, landing in the 67th percentile. It'll handle 1440p gaming just fine, but don't expect to max out every new AAA title at 4K.

Worth it, but only for the right person at the right price. With a spread from $1110 to $1899 across vendors, your wallet's fate depends entirely on which configuration you find. The sweet spot seems to be the models with 32GB or 64GB of RAM around the lower end of that range. Paying close to two grand for this spec, especially with that GPU, is a harder sell.

Compared to the more expensive HP Omen 45L, you're trading some premium build and potentially better cooling for a more straightforward, value-focused tower. The Dell Alienware Aurora often competes on style and brand cachet, but you'll typically pay more for similar specs. If pure gaming is your goal, a Lenovo Legion Tower with a stronger GPU and less RAM might be a smarter buy. This Omen 16L's real advantage is for the user who needs a workhorse for video editing, music production, or development alongside their gaming.

If you're a competitive esports player or a 4K gaming enthusiast who wants every frame, this isn't it. The GPU is the bottleneck here. Go get a system with an RTX 5070 or 5080 instead, even if it has less RAM. Also, if you need a small PC, look at mini-ITX builds; this Omen is a chonky tower.

We recommend the HP Omen 16L, but with a big caveat: buy it as a powerhouse workstation that can also game, not as a dedicated gaming rig. If your workflow involves dozens of Chrome tabs, Photoshop, a DAW, and a game launcher all running at once, this machine's massive RAM will feel like a superpower. If you just want to play the latest games at the highest settings, your money is better spent on a system with a more powerful graphics card and less extravagant memory.