Our picks run the gamut of many different brands, though we do often see the same names rate highly in our lists. Some of these are gaming specialists, and others are not. At any given time, you should expect to see some systems from the biggest manufacturers, which always sell multiple models and configurations at various price points. These primarily include Acer, Asus, Dell, and Lenovo. The last, in particular, has been serving up impressive value in the gaming category recently.

Some of the more specialist brands that consistently produce great gaming rigs are Alienware (a Dell subsidiary), Gigabyte, MSI, and Razer. Some of these, particularly Razer machines, come with hefty price premiums but emphasize superior build quality.