HP OMEN 30L review: A sexy looking beast of a gaming desktop

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Techaeris Rated 9.4/10

While gaming laptops are on the rise, gaming desktops are still a staple for many hardcore gamers. These systems range from entry-level to maxed out beasts, depending on the games you play and your budget.

Our HP OMEN 30L review looks at a maxed out beast of a gaming desktop which is available in a few different configurations. Read on to see how it performs!

Specifications

The HP OMEN 30L gaming desktop sent to us has the following features and specifications (configurable when ordering):

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ProcessorIntel(R) Core(TM) i9-10900K CPU @ 3.70GHz 3.70 GHz
GraphicsNVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 with 10GB GDDR6X memory (up to NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3090 graphics with 24 GB of GDDR6X memory available)
Memory32 GB HyperX® DDR4-3200 XMP RGB SDRAM memory (4x8GB) (up to 64 GB available)
StorageWD Black 2 TB PCIe® NVMe™ TLC M.2 SSD + 2TB Seagate Barracude ST2000DM008 HDD
WirelessIntel® Wi-Fi 6 AX 201 (2×2) and Bluetooth® 5 combo
Slots1x PCI-e Gen 3 x 16, 2x M.2
I/O PortsFront: 2x SuperSpeed USB Type-A 5Gbps,
Headphone/Microphone Combo, Microphone Jack
Rear: 2x SuperSpeed USB Type-A 10Gbps, 2x USB Type-A 5Gbps, 2x USB Type-A, 1x SuperSpeed USB Type-C® 10Gbps, Ethernet, 3.5mm microphone, 2x 3.5mm audio out, 1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort
Power SupplyCooler Master 750 W 80 Plus Platinum efficiency power supply
Dimensions (W x H x D)6.5 x 17.75 x 16.75″
Weightapprox. 26 lb

What’s in the box

  • HP OMEN 30L gaming desktop
  • Power cable

Design

External design

The HP OMEN 30L gaming desktop is a pretty standard size. It sits at 6 1/2-inches wide, 16 3/4 inches deep, and about 17 3/4-inches in height. The height has increased slightly due to HP increasing the size of the feet from 4mm to 15mm. This allows for improved GFX thermal efficiency. The extra depth comes from the extra 2 1/2-inch front thermal panel.

The right side of the HP OMEN 30L gaming desktop
The right side of the HP OMEN 30L gaming desktop.

While it may look non-descript, once powered on, the OMEN 30L is nothing but. The entire front panel is glass, with the bottom half transparent and the upper half blacked out. The front fan is visible in the lower half and has RGB LED lights. The OMEN wordmark is printed in silver about one-quarter of the way down from the top. Above this is a clear diamond, which happens to be the OMEN logo’s shape and is a second RGB LED zone. The front section is about 2 1/2-inches deep, with a triangle motif vent on either side. This allows for extra ventilation and adds some depth when the computer is turned on with the LEDs active.

The left panel of the OMEN 30L is tempered glass as well. A simple press of a button on the back near the top allows you to remove this panel and access the inside easily. On the bottom left, in black, are the numbers and letter 30L with “DESIGNED AND ENGINEERED BY HP” beneath it. The tempered glass allows the RGB LEDs on the inside to shine through. The right panel is black metal and can be removed by unscrewing a single screw if you wish to access behind the motherboard.

The system’s back has a lock slot near the top, beside the previously mentioned panel release button. Below this is the top fan on the right and the port array. There are a microphone and two 3.5mm audio jacks for ports, two USB-A ports beside an Ethernet port, two SuperSpeed USB-A 5Gbps ports, two SuperSpeed USB-A 10Gbps ports, and a single USB Type-C 10Gbps port.

Just below the halfway point is where you’ll find the video ports from the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080. This consists of a single HDMI port and three DisplayPort ports. Finally, under this is the power supply fan and plug receptacle, which sits near the bottom of the desktop.

The back three-quarters of the top of the system has the same triangle vent design as the front. This is for airflow and the internal top fan. Just in front of this is a recessed cavity. Within this cavity are two more SuperSpeed USB-A 5Gbps ports, a 3.5mm combo headphone jack, a 3.5mm microphone jack, and the power button.

The bottom is also vented. Towards the back and front are two rubber strips that run the system’s width. These are attached to triangular strips, which elevate the system up over half-an-inch from your desk. Not only does this offer up extra airflow, but it also makes it easier to grab the system and lift it.

The front ports on the top of the HP OMEN 30L gaming desktop
The front ports on the top of the HP OMEN 30L gaming desktop.

Internal components

The inside of the system is where you’ll find all the components. Everything is black, which gives it a nice look. There is an LED strip along the top of the system. When enabled, it creates a nice glow inside the system. As mentioned before, there is a top fan, a rear fan near the top, and a front fan near the bottom. The CPU is placed between the top and rear fan. A glossy black cover with the OMEN wordmark in silver covers the processor, finishing the inside nicely.

To the right of the processor, towards the front, are the four DIMM slots for RAM. These were all filled with 8GB HyperX® DDR4-3200 XMP RGB SDRAM memory in our review unit. Further right, just in front of the thicker front panel, is the HDD slot, with a second below it for future expansion.

Nearly spanning the entire length of the OMEN 30L is the video card, in our case, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 with 10GB GDDR6X memory. The GEFORCE RTX word on the video card’s side is LED-lit, but only in white and cannot be modified. The bottom of the video card sports three cooling fans.

Just below the video card is the SSD slot. It is covered by a black box, which can be removed with a single screw to access the drive itself. Finally, at the bottom near the back is the 750W Cooler Master 80 Plus Platinum power supply.

As far as upgrading is concerned, the inside is easy to access. The memory, drives, video card, and power supply are easily accessible and upgrading any of these components down the road should be easy enough.

The upper half of the inside of the HP OMEN 30L gaming desktop
The upper half of the inside of the HP OMEN 30L gaming desktop.

Software

Our review unit shipped with Windows 10 Home, Windows 10 Pro is also available. There are few additional apps installed. These apps include:

  • Dropbox Promo
  • ExpressVPN
  • HP Audio Switch
  • HP JumpStarts
  • HP PC Hardware Diagnostics Windows
  • HP Privacy Settings
  • HP Smart
  • HP Support Assistant
  • HP System Event Utility
  • LastPass
  • McAfee Personal Security
  • Netflix
  • NVIDIA Control Panel
  • OMEN Audio Control
  • OMEN Gaming Hub

As you can see, there are quite a few additional apps. Fortunately, they can be uninstalled for a cleaner system if you desire.

OMEN Gaming Hub is the app you’ll use the most. You’ll want to install OMEN Light Studio BETA if you have multiple OMEN devices.

OMEN Gaming Hub

Before I get into what you can do with OMEN Gaming Hub, perhaps my favourite part of the app is the startup. While loading, the app runs through several different game-related phrases. These include everything from “Finishing raid…” to “Carrying but not complaining…” and “Dreading escort mission…” and everything in between. It does put a bit of a grin on my face when I read them, as almost all of them bring back memories of a specific game or instance.

The OMEN Gaming Hub screenshot
The OMEN Gaming Hub screenshot.

Anyways… the OMEN Gaming Hub is just that — your gaming hub. With it, you can access your games easily, customize the system lighting, change your background from a curated collection, partake in coaching for League of Legends, and even remote play games from your HP OMEN system.

When selecting the OMEN 30L in the app, you can check the system vitals, including GPU, CPU, and Memory Utilization, as well as Download and Upload Speed. The next tab allows you to overclock your system. Network Booster lets you choose priority levels for specific apps. Lighting is where the fun is, as you can customize the RGB lighting for the three zones. Fan Control lets you choose between Quiet, Normal, and Turbo. Finally, if you have HyperX FURY RAM installed, you can adjust the lighting for this in the last tab. Unfortunately, it doesn’t quite sync up to the rest of the LEDs on the system.

OMEN Light Studio BETA

OMEN Light Studio BETA lets you sync all your OMEN gear together. You can drag your detected devices on a grid to simulate your real-life desktop placement. Then select various colours or even an animation, and it will sync across all the devices for a nice cohesive lighting look.

The HP OMEN 30L with OMEN 27i monitor and OMEN peripherals
The HP OMEN 30L with OMEN 27i monitor and OMEN peripherals synced using OMEN Light Studio Beta.

Performance

With an Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-10900K CPU @ 3.70GHz 3.70 GHz, 2TB PCIe NVMe SSD, 32GB HyperX® DDR4-3200 XMP RGB SDRAM memory, and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 with 10GB GDDR6X memory, this system is no slouch.

While many sites will run through performance benchmarks first, we prefer to dive in and focus on real-world testing. We do this by firing up various games, running them through the in-game benchmark tests, and playing them to get a feel for true gaming performance.

We achieved the avg/min/max framerates listed in the games below running on three different monitors during testing. On the HP OMEN 27i, we were running at 2560 x 1440 resolution at 165Hz, while on the Samsung Odyssey G9, we were running at 5120 x 1440 resolution at 240Hz. Finally, the Monoprice 27772 4K monitor runs at a resolution of 3840 x 2160p at 60Hz. In all three cases, the games were set to their highest settings.

GameSettings2560×14405120×14403840×2160
Heroes of the StormExtreme200-245185-230178-249
Forza Horizon 4Ultra217.8/184.1/268.792.7/77.9/115.995.2/79.4/119.5
Forza Motorsport 7Ultra172.1/132.4/183.4137.7/109.2/154.5142.7/121.5/165.2
Wolfenstein: Youngblood RiversideRTX on, Mein leben!168/83/238174/53/258183/89/267
Wolfenstein: Youngblood LabRTX on, Mein leben!147/87/205126/41/191137/60/198
Gears 5Ultra w/ Ultra textures installed126.2 avg71.3 avg65.0 avg
Middle Earth: Shadow of WarMaximum141/50/241113/45/256109/59/164
Gears TacticsUltra117.2 avg74.3 avg74.5 avg

Price/Value

As tested, our configuration comes in around US$3200. Given the specifications, components, and performance, it does seem to be pretty fairly valued.

The HP OMEN 30L can be configured starting from $949 with 16xx cards. Outfitting with 20xx cards jumps the price to around $1799. While you can configure your system, not all configurations are currently available due to some components’ shortage.

Wrap-up

The HP OMEN 30L can be configured for any price point but is expensive maxed out. Sleek, sexy, RGB-friendly, this system is a serious performer if you max it out. Given these features, the HP OMEN 30L is an easy choice for a Top Pick of 2021 Award here at Techaeris.

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Last Updated on February 3, 2021.

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