HP OMEN 35L Gaming Desktop – Review

There are two types of PC gamers in the world. There are those that delight in building their own custom rigs, hunting part-by-part until they create a magnificent tower of carefully-placed pieces. They’re driven by the desire to create their own works, and perhaps to save some money while doing so. Then, there are those that prefer the simpler, more streamlined option: a fully-featured pre-built PC with all the bells and whistles, and none of the stress. For those particular PC gamers, the HP Omen 35L is a wonderful machine.

Thanks to the folks at HP, I’ve been using this desktop as my go-to gaming companion for three weeks – and in that time, it’s proved to be a mighty aid. Throughout the review period for Avowed, it performed admirably with all settings on max. Playing through a range of demos ahead of Steam Next Fest, it also chomped through other games easily.

What typified my experience was smooth, clean performance (even with the reportedly rocky Sims Legacy Collections), and perhaps most impressively of all – absolute silence. No matter which game I threw at it, it maintained a low, confident hum that made it a genuine pleasure to use.

Here are all the reasons I liked it, and what you can expect if you’re eyeing off this particular gaming desktop.

HP OMEN 35L: Specifications

The HP OMEN 35L is available in a range of specifications, with each offering a leap in power. Here’s the exact specifications of the review unit delivered to GamesHub for the purposes of this article:

• Processor: Intel Core i7 (14th Gen)
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090
• RAM: Kingston Fury 32GB DD25-5200

Per the HP website, any configuration of the 35L will cost you between AUD $3,499 to AUD $7,499, although with current deals running (as of writing), prices start from AUD $2,449. With each increment, you’ll gain access to a slightly more powerful GPU, more RAM, or a better processor.

While there are more expensive configurations than the one tested by GamesHub (it’s around AUD $4,198, although the exact configuration is not currently available online), it proved more than adequate, and managed to handle everything we threw at it.

At a glance, it’s a big investment, but the reality is if you’re looking for best-in-class PC performance, and for your PC to remain future-proofed, it’s the sort of money you’ll need to consider spending. You can, of course, get a much cheaper desktop that will still play games well, but your personal satisfaction will depend on what sort of performance you’re looking for.

HP OMEN 35L – Performance

With a modern gen NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 GPU on board, the performance of the HP OMEN 35L was never really in question – but paired with an enthusiastic and well-designed fan (and of course, a sturdy i7 and 32GB RAM) you get solid, consistent performance across a range of games, including new releases. The machine is never too loud or too warm, making it very pleasant to play.

I mentioned playing Avowed for review. I didn’t only play Avowed – I was able to max out its settings for ultra high-def textures and adventuring, thanks this desktop. And while graphics don’t strictly make a game good, they certainly make it more enticing. For Avowed, using the HP OMEN 35L meant being able to wander beautiful, vivid fields of mushrooms, journeying into deep, dark lakes, discovering all sorts of rainbow-coloured foliage, and being horrified at the pure detail in the alien-like Xaurip enemies.

Read: Avowed review – The Living Lands call your name

It meant having multiple enemies well-rendered on screen at once, with details remaining intact. It meant jumping in water, and being able to watch lovely ripples around you while swimming. It meant being able to see off into the far distance, and marvel at how big the Living Lands are.

Even with those multiple enemies rendered and the Living Lands stretching far ahead, the HP OMEN 35L processed and performed with just a low hum. All the while, the PC’s gorgeous RGB lights – which shine out of the main body and frontage – did their little dance, painting vivid colours across my setup.

Following my 20-hour journey through Avowed, I spent some time testing the HP OMEN 35L with a range of other games, of a variety of performance needs. I played through upcoming indie games, which this desktop chewed through without a peep or protest. I also tested the machine on my personal favourite FPS monitors – Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Far Cry 5.

While both of these games are now a bit older and therefore less demanding on newer hardware, I enjoy using them both, as their particular tests are fun to watch and not too lengthy, and you get a nice, clean number at the end of your tests. I’m also well familiar with how these scenes should look.

Testing a range of laptops and desktops, I’ve seen various stutters, texture clipping, and load-in issues.

In both Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Far Cry 5, the HP OMEN 35L delivered the most crisp FPS tests I’ve seen to date, with zero issues at all. On maximum settings, Shadow of the Tomb Raider tested at a whopping 193.6 FPS, and Far Cry 5 tested at 148.6 FPS. (The added bonus of sticking with these games for performance tests is that as PCs advance, the number gets bigger and more ridiculous.)

It really is smooth sailing on the HP OMEN 35L.

So, what’s not so good about the HP OMEN 35L?

All that said, it’s not quite a perfect machine, and I do have some minor nitpicks. The primary one is the absolute size of this beast. When it comes to gaming desktops, you’re expecting a certain heft. But the HP OMEN 35L went far above my expectations. It’s a very heavy desktop, and it’s also very bulky, making it difficult to fit into an average setup. It’s easy to see why that’s a necessity, as it’s packed with all sorts of high-spec goodies inside – but it did complicate my plans.

As a personal opinion, I’m also not super enamoured by just how much lighting this desktop has installed. Some of that is by nature of the components – but every part of the machine glows radiantly, and when you’re using it at night, it is fairly dazzling. I think it’s spectacular, but in the practical sense, I found it blinding in a darker room, and it felt best-positioned somewhere below deck.

These are minor, minor bugbears in the grand scheme. The lighting issue has a simple fix, and the size and weight of the machine can be justified entirely by its performance. But both are still worth noting, as they will impact the practical experience of using the PC.

Overall verdict

Despite these nitpicks, I greatly enjoyed my time with the HP OMEN 35L – and I think it’s a fantastic pre-built desktop for those who prefer a simpler way to game on PC. Personally, I’ve been around the custom traps before, and after multiple stressful experiences and some pretty poor builds, I’ve become rather fond of the modern PC tower. There’s something so good about having the surety of what’s been built, knowing it comes standard, and knowing you’ll have a reasonable warranty, to boot.

You will pretty much always pay a bit more for purchasing a pre-built desktop, rather than building your own. But I’m at the point now where that extra money for more certainty means a lot. For those in a similar boat, looking for a solid and reliable desktop with blistering performance, the HP OMEN 35L is a great, worthwhile option.

Four-and-a-half stars: ★★★★½

HP OMEN 35L
Year: 2024
Price: Starts from AUD $2,499 on sale

_{A HP OMEN 35L Gaming Desktop was provided on temporary loan to GamesHub for the purposes of this review.}