HP’S LATEST OMEN is a desktop tower that contains some serious power, yet unlike many other powerful gaming PCs, it doesn’t take up too much space. It’s not exactly compact—we’re not talking Micro ITX levels of miniaturization here—but it doesn’t feel large, even when it’s on your desk. Add to this its remarkably quiet AIO loop cooler and GPU fans, and HP has delivered a powerful PC that’s particularly easy to live with.
The RTX 4080 Super that sits in the Omen 35L’s PCIe x16 slot is not known for being quiet, though it does depend on the manufacturer. The card is enclosed in a metal cage that matches the white coloration of the casing—and everything else apart from the motherboard—so it’s hard to tell who made it, but it appears in CPUs as one of HP’s own design. If that’s true, the venerable PC maker has done a good job on the cooling system, as while it’s certainly not silent, it produces a gentle rushing sound even when under load that’s won’t take your attention away from what’s happening on the screen.
There’s more subtlety on display elsewhere on the Omen. While the front fans are RGB, they’re kept behind a screen so that their colors show through in a diffuse way. There are Omen logos, but they’re kept to wordmarks, apart from the diamond logo on the CPU cooler. It’s a classy way to brand your gaming PC, and the colored lighting from all angles lights up the white case and components of our review model in a really classy way. The lights go out when the PC has been idle for a while, too, popping back into life when you resume work in a pleasing way.