HP Pavilion HPE Phoenix h9z

HP Pavilion HPE Phoenix h9z

The HP HPE Phoenix h9z ($1,049 direct) is HP's (re-) entry into the gaming PC market. While HP's HPE h8 series PCs go after multimedia enthusiasts, the h9 Phoenix goes after the entry level to mainstream gaming enthusiast with similar gusto. What HP brings to the table, in addition to performance, are a lot of standard features that would've been extra-cost options on other entry-level gaming desktop PCs. The HPE Phoenix h9z line extends the usual HP HPE tower chassis' looks by adding a new faceplate and side panels. The HP Pavilion Elite h8-1124 ($899.99 list, 3.5 stars) and its brethren are basic tower desktops, with fairly sedate looks. The HPE Phoenix h9z swaps in a more aggressive front panel with angry red backlighting and a perforated side panel with red internal lighting. It's not quite as outr as the Alienware X51 ($999.99 direct, 4 stars) or Velocity Micro Edge Z40 ($1,199 direct, 4 stars), but it's definitely going for the same slice of the gaming market. The inside of the chassis has the room you'd expect from a tower, with plenty of breathing room for the included Nvidia GeForce GTX 550 graphics card. There's room for two PCIe x1 cards, two more hard drives (or one hard drive and one optical drive), and two more RAM DIMMS.