HP Pavilion Gaming Desktop TG01-1161 2021, Core i5-10400F, 8GB, 512GB SSD, RTX 3060, Shadow Black

The HP Pavilion Gaming Desktop TG01-1161 pairs a capable RTX 3060 with a criminally low 8GB of RAM. At $1,600 USD, it's overpriced for what you get, especially since you'll need to upgrade the memory immediately. The 512GB SSD and 9 USB ports are nice, but the aging 10th gen CPU and WiFi 5 hold it back. Buy it only if you find it heavily discounted and don't mind tinkering.

The RTX 3060 is the reason to buy this machine. It ranks in the 69th percentile for GPU performance among towers in our database, which puts it solidly in the middle of the pack. That means it handles 1080p gaming at high settings without breaking a sweat, and it can even stretch to 1440p if you're willing to dial back some settings. The 8GB of VRAM is enough for most current titles, though some newer games are starting to push past that at higher resolutions.

The i5-10400F is a different story. At the 28th percentile for CPU performance, it's well below average for a gaming tower. Six cores at 2.9GHz base clock is fine for gaming, since most games are GPU-bound anyway. But if you're streaming, editing video, or running anything CPU-heavy, you'll feel the age. The 8GB of DDR4 RAM is the real bottleneck. It's in the 3rd percentile, which means almost every other tower we've tested has more memory. Modern games like Starfield or Hogwarts Legacy recommend 16GB minimum, and Windows 11 alone eats up a chunk of that 8GB. Expect stuttering in open-world games and long load times when multitasking.

Stacked against the Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 10, the HP falls behind in almost every category. The Legion offers newer CPUs, more RAM, and better build quality for a similar price. The Dell Aurora Gaming line also gives you more balanced configurations, though Dell's proprietary parts can make upgrades a headache. The ASUS ROG GM700 is another strong alternative, especially if you want a machine that's easier to upgrade down the line.

The Apple Mac Studio M5 Max is a different beast entirely. It's not a gaming machine in the traditional sense, but it absolutely crushes the HP in CPU performance and efficiency. If you're doing creative work or software development, the Mac Studio is the better buy. For pure gaming, though, the RTX 3060 in the HP gives it an edge in GPU-bound titles. The Horizon Pcs Autherium Dragon is a wildcard, with more exotic specs but questionable reliability and support.

At $1,600 USD, this is a tough sell. That's a lot of money for a machine with 8GB of RAM and a 10th gen CPU. The RTX 3060 is a good card, but you can find prebuilts with 16GB of RAM and newer CPUs for similar money. The Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 10, for example, offers a much more balanced spec sheet if you're willing to shop around.

The problem is that you're paying for the HP name and the convenience of a prebuilt, but you're not getting the specs to match the price. Add in the cost of a RAM upgrade, which you'll absolutely need, and you're looking at $1,700 or more. At that point, you're in territory where you could build your own system with a better CPU and more memory. The value just isn't there unless you find this on a deep discount.

The HP Pavilion Gaming Desktop TG01-1161 is one of those machines that looks great on paper until you squint at the fine print. You get an RTX 3060 with 8GB of VRAM, a 6-core i5-10400F, and a 512GB SSD. That's a genuinely capable 1080p gaming setup. But then you notice the 8GB of RAM and realize HP built a sports car with bicycle tires.

This is a tower aimed at first-time gaming PC buyers and people who want a prebuilt that can handle modern titles without melting their credit card. The RTX 3060 is the star here. It's a solid mid-range card that handles ray tracing and DLSS, which means you can play Cyberpunk 2077 or Hogwarts Legacy at respectable settings. The CPU is older, a 10th gen Intel part, but it's still fine for gaming and everyday multitasking.

The catch is that 8GB of RAM. In our database, this config lands in the 3rd percentile for memory among similar towers. That's not just low, it's one of the worst we've seen. For a gaming PC in 2025, 16GB is the floor. You'll want to budget for an upgrade immediately, which eats into the value proposition. The 512GB SSD is also on the smaller side, sitting in the 31st percentile for storage. Fine for a few games, but you'll be uninstalling things sooner than you'd like.

If you're a serious gamer who plays demanding AAA titles, streams on Twitch, or does any video editing, skip this machine. The 8GB of RAM will choke on modern open-world games, and the 10th gen CPU will struggle with multitasking. You'd be better off with a Lenovo Legion Tower or a custom build with 16GB of RAM and a newer processor.

Also skip it if you're buying at full price. At $1,600 USD, you're paying a premium for a machine that needs an immediate RAM upgrade to be truly usable. If you can find it for $1,200 or less, it becomes a more reasonable entry-level option. Otherwise, your money goes further elsewhere.

If you're a casual gamer who plays esports titles like Fortnite, Valorant, or Rocket League, this machine will do the job. The RTX 3060 handles those games at high frame rates without issue, and the 512GB SSD means fast load times. Just be prepared to add another 8GB of RAM as soon as you unbox it. That's a $30 fix that transforms the experience.

For anyone who wants to play AAA open-world games, stream, or do any content creation, look elsewhere. The 8GB of RAM and aging CPU will frustrate you within months. You'd be better off spending the same money on a machine with 16GB of RAM and a newer processor, even if it means sacrificing a bit of GPU performance. The HP Pavilion TG01-1161 is a decent starter PC, but it's not a smart long-term investment at this price.