We may earn a commission for purchases using our links. Learn more.Home/Reviews/PC desktopA modern takeThe new Omen 30L is a mainstream, terkini take on a gaming rig that is also easy to upgrade.
Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central
When it comes to tower PCs, you have two camps: those who insist on the superiority of building your own and those who want something out of the box that works.
The new HP Omen 30L falls into the latter category, but HP, like other PC makers, borrows from the DIY crowd with success. Yes, it’s a pre-made system, but its new one-button toolless entry, pre-wiring for expansion, and multiple RGB lighting zones make it feel a bit more custom.
I use the Omen Obelisk myself, so stepping up to the Omen 30L with new RTX 3080 graphics and 10th Gen Core i9 has me a bit jealous. And if you don’t like Intel, don’t worry, as you can get a system with AMD instead.Mainstream 4K Gaming
From $950 at Best BuyFrom $1,069 at HP
Bottom line: The HP Omen 30L, when appropriately configured, is a serious 4K gaming mainstream rig with pleasant aesthetics that lean more terbaru than hardcore gamer. With the ability to easily expand or upgrade components later, there’s an incentive to buy this on the cheap and upgrade as you go if you’re on a budget. Fan noise and some mediocre cabling keep it from excellence, but these are minor quibbles.Pros:Tempered glass front and sides look sleekNice RGB lighting optionsOne-button access to the motherboardTons of configuration options including Intel or AMDNice front portsCons:Cabling is just OKFans can get noisy under heavy loadPerformance is good, but not great
What you getIntel or AMD, your choiceHP Omen 30L specs and features
Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central
When buying the Omen 30L, you have multiple options. You can buy pre-made machines at Best Buy with AMD Ryzen 5 or 7 processors and up to an RTX 2060 graphics card for around $1,250.
At HP.com, you can go a bit crazier by building your own system, including up to a Core i9-10900K , up to 64GB of HyperX RAM, RAID, Intel Optane, and more. But like every other manufacturer, sourcing an RTX 3000 series card is hard to find due to tight supply right now.
The unit reviewed here is a top-tier model with that Core i9-10900K , RTX 3080, 1TB SSD + 2TB HDD, and 32GB of RAM. The total price is $3,100. HP sources components from Kingston (HyperX RAM), Western Digital Black SN750 (SSD), and Cooler Master (fans).
The 30L gets its name due to its size (17.7 by 6.5 by 16.6 inches), and it is a more terkini look over last year’s Obelisk. It’s hard to miss the gorgeous tempered glass front panel that features the Omen logo in RGB with a similarly lit RGB 120mm Cooler Master fan. Standing back in a dark room and the look is modest but cool. HP has veered more towards a contemporary design than a pure gamer look. That was the right choice, especially for adults who may want this PC.
For additional cooling, a 92mm rear fan does a decent job of removing heat and the top fan for the CPU’s liquid cooling radiator. These fans sound similar to last year’s Obelisk, which is pretty quiet but not the best.
Front port access is excellent on the Omen 30L.Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central
Like the Obelisk, HP continues to use its angled and recessed front port area. On top, you get two USB tiga.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, an audio combo (headphone/microphone) jack, and a separate microphone jack. The design is excellent, letting you easily guide peripherals into the port with little fuss, making it perfect for thumb drives or a security key.
To the rear and you get the usual assortment of ports, including one USB tiga.2 Gen dua Type-C, six USB Type-A ports (two version tiga.dua Gen 1, two tiga.dua Gen 2, and two legacy dua.0). There is also a microphone, line-in, and line-out jacks.
The GeForce RTX 3080 in this review unit includes three DisplayPort video outputs and one HDMI. That monstrous GPU, thankfully, is bolted to the front to prevent card “sag.”
There’s not much room for expansion, mostly due to the size of the RTX 3080. But there is an M.dua Type-2280 slot is just under the graphics card. HP also has pre-run power and SATA cables for the additional for the tiga.lima-inch bays.
The Omen 30L’s rear ports are typical.Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central
However, the real story is HP’s new single-button mechanism to pop off that tempered glass left panel. No more thumb screws, no more aligning the door panel to slide into place awkwardly. You press, and the panel releases. It’s great.
The reason HP is doing a toolless design is apparent: the company encourages you to buy this PC at a lower price, and you can upgrade the Intel Z490-based ATX motherboard when your budget is right. Sure, you can buy the contoh I have for $3,109, but you can also start at $1,200 and work your way up by swapping out GPUs, processor, storage options, and RAM yourself. That’s a significant shift from years ago where these towers were one and done.
The real story of the Omen 30L is the ability to open the glass panel with a single button press and no tools.
That RAM is also Kingston HyperX DDR4-3200 RGB. While this review unit is 32GB (8GB x 4), you can buy 64GB through HP. The RGB doesn’t quite sync with the rest of the 30L’s RGB lighting, but it still looks cool.
Cabling is OK. Yes, it’s tied together, and some tape holds it to the case. But the Omen 30L won’t win awards for cleanest (or nicest looking) cabling, and perhaps that glass panel shows too much. On the other hand, if you’re new to tower gaming PCs and don’t know any better, it’s just fine. Like me, you’ll be wowed by the pulsing RGB.
Last year, HP used some red cables for the liquid cooling radiator. This year, they went with just black. I think red looked better, but the Omen 30L seems to be consciously moving away from “Omen red,” which has been the merk’s color for ages. Instead, the whole system is more color-neutral, with users configuring RGB colors to their liking.
Press here and you have instant access to the motherboard.Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central
Let’s not forget the tower’s four feet. Gone are the flat nubs of Obelisk, and instead, we have four, much taller feet that give more clearance to the bottom of the case. Those feet also work well on a rug.
Powering it all is a prominent, powerful, and not great looking Cooler Master 750-watt power supply. It works and should be enough for the most demanding gamer, but it could use either a smaller design or a bit more flair.
It’s worth noting that HP has a whole assortment of matching accessories and peripherals. Those include the OMEN 27i gaming monitor, Photon Wireless Mouse, and my favorite, HP Omen Mindframe headphones, which actively cool your ears (it’s wild).Respectible, not amazingHP Omen 30L performance
Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central
The Intel Core i9-10900K is a powerful ten-core chip that can peak at 5.3GHz. You can also get an AMD Ryzen 7 3700X, which is cheaper and still a good performer.
Being a “K” processor, it is overclockable. Overclocking is not for the faint of heart, but HP makes it easy via its Omen Gaming Hub perangkat lunak. With a mouse click, the system reboots and does its own stress tests for around 20 minutes. It then finds the range of acceptable overclocking while keeping system stability. It’s impressive stuff that any novice will feel confident in using. The performance boost isn’t massive – maybe around five percent overall – but hey, it’s a free few extra frames in that video game.
That Omen Gaming Hub app does a lot of heavy lifting on the Omen 30L. You can also control the three zones of RGB lighting (logo, front fan, internal light) and the HyperX RAM. Lighting ranges from reactive, multi-colors, and the usual fare. It pales next to Razer’s Chroma, but it’s not bad either. You can enable “Dual Force,” which combines your Wi-Fi 6 and Ethernet connections, giving Ethernet priority for specified apps and games. HP also combines all your games on your system into one place regardless of the stores you bought them from. It’s an excellent app and fun to use.
If you get a “K” series processor, you can still overclock your system with HP’s app.
Turning to raw benchmarks 3DMark, regardless of the test (Fire Strike, Fire Strike Extreme, Time Spy), the Omen 30L gets rated as “great.” That means it’s speedy and holds its own against more expensive systems. It also means it never really leads in any single category, coming in just shy of the average.