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HP OMEN 40L and 45L Gaming Desktops: A Complete Review
Anna-Marie Brittain
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April 4, 2024
HP’s 2023 CES announcements have the gaming community paying close attention thanks to the new OMEN 40L and 45L gaming PCs. These OMEN PCs are built for gamers and capable of delivering impressive graphics and spectacular performance.
To get a better idea of these newest OMEN computers, here’s a detailed review of the HP OMEN 40L and 45L desktops.
Top-performance gaming desktops
When it comes to gaming PCs, OMEN desktops have earned their reputation as a trusted option for serious gamers.
Designed for smooth streaming and creativity, OMEN gaming desktops are made to be fully immersive. Whether you are an intense gamer or a busy content creator, these OMEN computers will pique your interest.
Immersive graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™
The HP OMEN 40L and 45L are some leading desktops for gamers and creators. The 40L is powered by the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 and the 45L is powered by the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 Series.
Users get realistic, fully immersive graphics with dedicated ray-tracing cores. The cutting-edge GPUs and NVIDIA Ada Lovelace architecture deliver dramatically better performance with AI-based neural graphics, rendering, and compute workloads.
These HP OMEN desktops are built for live streaming with the NVIDIA encoder, a section of the GPU completely dedicated to encoding. You can use the broadcast app to transform any workspace into a studio. It provides AI-enhanced voice and video for professional-grade streaming and recording.
NVIDIA studio makes these gaming desktops a top choice for enhancing your creative process. Whether you’re an aspiring artist, serious content creator, or avid or professional gamer, the high-performance studio drivers and game-ready reliability will fast-track your creativity.
Tool-Less build: expand and upgrade
The HP OMEN 40L and 45L desktops not only meet the needs of today’s gamers, but they keep up with future updates as well. Toolless upgradeability is possible with the Z690 motherboard. It includes a visible area for the secondary NVMe SSD and SATA ports. Upgrading and expanding memory, storage drives, and interior expansion slots became easier.
The 12th and 13th Gen Intel® Core™ dynamic processors are built for superior multi-tasking. Combined with the high-end Z690 chipset, gamers will not be disappointed. The expandable chipsets offer compatibility with the recent DDR4 standard memory used in the OMEN 40L, and the DDR5 memory option used in the OMEN 45L.
You can upgrade your gaming system without worrying about swapping out the motherboard. The toolless design allows you access to components, multiple system fans, storage upgrade ports, and industry-standard upgrades throughout.
HP OMEN 40L review
For a high-performance gaming PC, the HP OMEN 40L Gaming Desktop delivers. The jet-black, sleek, and slim housing unit features a tempered glass panel on the left side. It’s equipped with LED illumination so you can get a perfect interior view.
The CPU cooler and LED bar remain a single low-glow colour, while the memory module is ARGB-type, capable of issuing multiple colours. The RGB illumination can be customized using the OMEN Gaming Hub, and the front-end OMEN emblem and air cooling fan emit light. If you want to change the colour and light emission pattern to liven up your gaming and recording sessions, you can swap out hues with ease.
Strategically placed fans prevent overheating and keep this gaming rig cool no matter how intense the game gets - great for professional gamers who like to work for several hours straight. The 5.1 surround sound and OMEN audio control support DTS:X® Ultra delivers crisp, clear audio. The expansion slots include one PCIe x 16 and one PCIe x 4. The two M.2 expansion slots offer two for SSD and one for WLAN.
HP OMEN 40L specs
The OMEN 40L desktop is built with a Windows 11 Pro operating system. The CPU is an Intel Core i9 processor that is a master water cooler type. It offers up to Kingston FURY 64GB DDR5-5200 MHz XMP RGB Heatsink RAM with additional memory slots. The storage can be customized to up to two 1TB PCIe® NVMe™ TLC M.2 SSD, up to two WD Black 2TB PCIe SSD, and up to four 2TB 7200 rpm SATA HDD.
The eye-catching graphics are thanks to the power from up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 (24GB GDDR6X dedicated) with NVIDIA DLSS 3. It includes Intel WiFi 6 AX201 wireless technology and a Bluetooth 5.2 wireless card. The power supply can be upgraded to up to Up to 1200W 80 Plus Gold-certified ATX, which means you won’t stress over fluctuating power issues impacting long-term, daily use.
Multiple external I/O ports give you more choices in device connectivity. The front has two USB Type-A ports with a 5Gbps signalling rate and battery charging 1.2. Use HP Sleep and Charge to charge your smartphone and other portable devices. It has one headphone and microphone combo jack and an additional microphone jack. The rear end features three USB Type-C ports and six USB Type-A ports with varying signalling rates. It also has an audio-in, audio-out, and one microphone jack.
Elevate your gaming
The HP OMEN 40L features the OMEN Gaming Hub, where creators and gamers can elevate their overall experience. The hub software gives users the freedom to optimize and customize their gaming unit.
HP OMEN Gaming Hub also includes a list of benefits to further enhance the quality of your session. For instance, the cloud gaming integration with NVIDIA GeForce NOW delivers games that are always up to date. The hub includes challenges and rewards to incentivize gamers' personal growth. It also has game coaching for people looking to improve their skills.
Use Oasis Live to share gaming sessions with your friends. As an invite-only streaming service, you can hold social watch parties. The hub allows users to connect their social media platforms, and provides easy access to Discord, Spotify, Reddit, or Twitter to expand your reach and meet other gamers.
With this software, you can customize lights, optimize performance, and access the network booster for more options to enhance your play style. It also has in-app purchases and services to help boost the user experience.
HP OMEN 45L review
The HP OMEN 45L is the ultimate gaming desktop built with the latest in gaming technology to keep up with current and future trends. It’s a one-stop gamer shop for DIY performance and customization. Like the OMEN 40L version, the 45L also comes with all the benefits of the OMEN Gaming Hub.
Its powerful hardware, software, and immersive graphics fit any hobbyist, videographer, serious gamer, and industry professional. For instance, the NVIDIA DLSS 3 delivers AI-accelerated performance, while the reflex low-latency platform provides game-winning responsiveness.
System performance is enhanced with dual-channel technology; you get two channels that work in tandem, increasing the communication speeds between the memory controls and RAM.
It features both an SSD drive for the operating system and a traditional hard drive. The dual storage configurations give you fast boot-up, response times, and larger storage capacity.
HP OMEN 45L specs
Get impressive memory options with the Kingston FURY 32GB DDR5-5200 MHz XMP RGB Heatsink RAM. It supports up to 128GB of maximum system memory and includes four DIMM memory slots. The storage capacity can be geared up to two 2TB WD Black PCIe NVMe TLC M.2 SSD, up to two 1TB PCLe NVMe M.2 SSD, and up to four 2TB 7200 rpm SATA HDD. The OMEN 45L gaming desktop is made with a 1200W 80 Plus Gold-certified ATX power supply.
It features 5.1 surround sound using OMEN audio control support DTS:X Ultra, designed to give you clear audio immersion. The front end has two USB Type-A ports with a 5 Gbps signalling rate that doubles as HP Sleep and Charge stations. The backend includes one USB Type-C and USB Type-A port with a 10 Gbps signalling rate, and one USB Type-C and Type-A port with a 5 Gbps signalling rate. There are two USB 2.0 Type-A ports and one video connector display port. It has an audio-in, audio-out, and microphone jack.
What’s new?
The HP OMEN 45L features Intel Cryo Cooling Gen2 Technology and the OMEN Cryo Chamber™ patented cooling system. The chamber sits separately at the top of the housing unit containing the 360 mm AIO liquid cooler radiator.
It circulates the ambient air to create a constant airflow that keeps the CPU cooler during heavy operation. It pulls in cool air from outside the housing unit and expels it from the top, keeping the interior as cool as possible.
Safety and sustainability
Protecting your PC's operating system is a priority for content creators and gamers. No one wants to risk losing memory and data or getting corrupted files. The HP OMEN 40L and 45L include software like the McAfee LiveSafe™ 1 month trial for new Microsoft 365 users.
HP continues to be sustainability-minded, using water-based paint for the OMEN desktops. The high-performance gaming desktops are also built with energy efficiency. They are both EPEAT® registered and ENERGY STAR® certified. Enjoy hours of use without worrying about consuming too much power.
Gaming accessories and news
The HP OMEN 40L or 45L delivers the ultimate graphics with top-notch handling. Once you upgrade your gaming experience with a new desktop, it may be time to consider other essentials.
Enhance your user experience by investing in gaming accessories like headsets, keyboards, and auxiliary speakers. The HyperX Gamer Bundle includes everything a competitive gamer would need for their setup.
