HP G3 Full Dark Gaming PC Desktop Computer Phoenix 2025, AMD Pro A10-9700, 16GB, 1TB SSD, GT 1030

The HP Phoenix G3 is a renewed desktop bundle with a 32-inch curved monitor, RGB peripherals, and a wood edition case for around $800 USD. The 1TB SSD and 16GB of RAM are fine, but the A10-9700 CPU and GT 1030 GPU rank near the bottom of our database. It'll handle basic productivity and old games at low settings, but the 'gaming' label is misleading. Buy it for a complete home office setup, not for gaming.

Let's talk about that A10-9700 processor first. It's a 4-core chip running at 3.5GHz, which sounds fine until you realize it's based on AMD's old Excavator architecture. This was a budget APU from nearly a decade ago, and it shows. In our database, it ranks in the 6th percentile for CPUs, which means 94% of desktops we've tracked have a faster processor. For everyday tasks like web browsing, email, and document editing, it'll get the job done. But throw anything demanding at it and you'll feel the age immediately. Video editing, modern gaming, even heavy multitasking with lots of browser tabs will make this thing sweat.

The GT 1030 with 2GB of VRAM is another head-scratcher. It's a discrete GPU, which is technically better than integrated graphics, but it's one of the weakest discrete cards Nvidia ever made. At the 17th percentile for GPUs, it's fine for older games at low settings, esports titles like League of Legends or CS:GO at reduced resolutions, and HD video playback. But don't expect to run anything from the last five years at playable frame rates. The 16GB of RAM is actually decent for multitasking, though it ranks in the 32nd percentile, which tells you how much RAM modern desktops ship with these days. The 1TB SSD is the bright spot here, sitting right around the middle of the pack. Boot times will be snappy and apps will load quickly, which makes the system feel more responsive than the CPU would suggest.

Stacked against the competition, the Phoenix G3 struggles to justify its existence. The Lenovo Legion 90YA003GUS and MSI Aegis ZS2 are actual gaming desktops with modern CPUs and GPUs that can handle current titles. They cost more, but they deliver what they promise. The iBUYPOWER Element EBI7N5701 is another budget gaming option that typically ships with far better graphics hardware than a GT 1030. Even the Dell Desktop ECT1250, which is more of a business machine, will outperform this HP in CPU-bound tasks thanks to newer silicon.

The Apple Mac Studio M3 Ultra is in a completely different universe, both in price and performance. It's not a fair comparison, but it shows up in our database as a top competitor because it dominates the desktop category. The point is, if you're shopping for a gaming PC, there are better options at every price point. If you're shopping for a productivity machine, there are cheaper options that are faster. The Phoenix G3 occupies an awkward middle ground where the only real selling point is the all-in-one bundle.

At $800 USD, this bundle is tricky to evaluate. You're getting a tower, a 32-inch curved monitor, an RGB keyboard with AI Copilot support, a mouse, headphones, and a webcam. If you priced out all those accessories separately, the monitor alone could run you $200 to $300. So the actual PC portion is maybe $500 to $600 of the total. For that money, you're getting a 1TB SSD, 16GB of RAM, and a CPU and GPU that were entry-level years ago.

The problem is that $800 can buy you a lot more raw performance if you're willing to skip the bundled peripherals. A renewed office PC with a newer Ryzen or Intel chip and integrated graphics would run circles around this thing for productivity. And if you're actually trying to game, you'd be better off with a used system sporting something like a GTX 1660 or RTX 3050, even if it means buying a monitor separately. The value here is in the convenience of a one-box setup, not in the components themselves.

HP's Phoenix G3 Full Dark Gaming PC is one of those listings that makes you squint at the specs and wonder who exactly it's for. On paper, it's a gaming desktop with 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, and a dedicated GT 1030 graphics card. But the heart of this thing is an AMD Pro A10-9700, a processor that was already showing its age when it launched back in 2016. This is a renewed unit, so someone refurbished it, slapped Windows 11 on there, and bundled it with a 32-inch curved monitor, RGB keyboard, mouse, and headphones. The whole package runs about $800 USD.

The pitch is pretty clear: a complete gaming setup in one box. You get the tower, a big curved display, and all the peripherals you need to start playing. For someone who doesn't want to piece together a setup from scratch, that's genuinely convenient. And the wood edition finish on the case is a nice touch if you care about how your desk looks. But calling this a gaming PC in 2025 is a stretch, and we'll get into why.

We ran this through our database and the scores tell a story. Total score lands at 30.6 out of 100. Business use scores 35.7, home office gets 33.2, and AI workloads bottom out at 13.3. The CPU sits in the 6th percentile of all desktops we've tested, which is rough. The GPU isn't much better at the 17th percentile. But the storage is solid, and reliability is actually above average. So it's not all bad news, just mostly bad news if you're expecting modern gaming performance.

Anyone buying this specifically for gaming should look elsewhere. The GT 1030 and A10-9700 simply can't deliver a modern gaming experience, and no amount of RGB lighting will change that. If you want to play current titles, save up for something with a GTX 1660, RTX 3050, or better. The Lenovo Legion and MSI Aegis lines are solid places to start, and even a used gaming PC from a few years ago will outperform this HP by a wide margin.

You should also skip this if you do any kind of content creation, video editing, or AI work. The AI score of 13.3 out of 100 is one of the worst in our database, and the CPU will choke on rendering tasks. For those workloads, look at renewed business desktops with newer Ryzen or Intel chips, or consider a Mac Mini if you're open to macOS. The Phoenix G3 is a basic home office machine wearing a gaming costume, and it's best treated as such.

If you need a basic home office setup and you like the idea of getting everything in one shot, the Phoenix G3 could work. The 1TB SSD and 16GB of RAM mean it'll handle email, web browsing, streaming, and light productivity without much fuss. The included 32-inch curved monitor is a genuine perk, and the wood edition case looks nicer than your average black tower. For a student or someone setting up a first desk, this bundle covers all the bases.

But if you're buying this because it says 'gaming' on the box, you're going to be disappointed. The A10-9700 and GT 1030 were entry-level parts when they were new, and they're ancient by today's standards. You won't be playing modern games at anything resembling acceptable performance. For actual gaming, save your money for something with a current-gen GPU. For productivity, look for a renewed office PC with a newer processor. This HP is a bundle of compromises wrapped in a pretty case.