HP Omen 35L (2026) review: compact gaming PC with RTX 5070 Ti and Ryzen 7 9800X3D

HP has packaged serious gaming performance into a surprisingly compact case. The Omen 35L really does measure 35 litres, with dimensions of 21 x 41 x 41 cm and a weight of 14.5 kg. It sits somewhere between a standard mid-tower and a true small-form-factor PC, roughly the size of two stacked Fractal Terras or just over three large watermelons squeezed together.

The black case features glass front and side panels that showcase the RGB fans and CPU pump. Build quality is solid throughout, though internal space constraints impose real trade-offs. The mATX motherboard has two RAM slots (both filled with 32 GB DDR5-6000 MT/s), and there's a spare M.2 slot for an additional SSD if you remove the GPU first. The empty PCIe slot sits too close to the graphics card shroud for practical use.

Port selection is adequate rather than generous. The front panel offers four USB2 ports, two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C ports, four USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, 2.5Gb Ethernet, and 3.5mm audio. USB4 is absent, and Type-C maxes out at 10Gbps. The rear has no HDMI for integrated graphics, using USB-C DP mode instead. The graphics card provides three DisplayPort 2.1b outputs and one HDMI 2.1b. This setup prevents accidentally plugging into the iGPU by mistake. Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 are included.

At 1440p, the RTX 5070 Ti and Ryzen 7 9800X3D combo delivers strong frame rates across demanding titles. In Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora at 1440p Ultra, the system averaged 99 FPS with 66 FPS minimum. Cyberpunk 2077 at 1440p RT Medium managed 74 FPS average and 54 FPS minimum. Baldur's Gate 3 at 1440p Ultra hit 132 FPS average with 65 FPS minimum. Black Myth: Wukong at 1440p Very High averaged 58 FPS with 42 FPS minimum, rising to 103 FPS average with upscaling enabled. Metro Exodus: Enhanced Edition at 1440p Ultra achieved 172 FPS average and 49 FPS minimum.

CPU performance benchmarks show the Ryzen 7 9800X3D scoring 129 in Cinebench 2024 single-core and 1,283 in multi-thread testing, comparable to custom builds using the same processor. AMD's AM5 socket should support processors up to Zen 7, offering some upgrade headroom provided you're willing to replace all RAM.

At £2,599.99 or $3,199.99, this is a premium-priced pre-built. It suits people who want to avoid the DIY PC building process and step straight into capable high-end gaming without paying for bleeding-edge components. The compact design comes at a cost to upgradeability, making this more of a finished product than a foundation for future expansion.