The 1980s saw the start of a PC gaming revolution, thanks to hardware developed by companies like Apple, Atari, Commodore, and IBM. With improved graphics, sound effects, and gameplay mechanics, PC games spread beyond the confines of hobbyists and arcades, as gamers were able to immerse themselves in new worlds and assume new characters from the comfort of their own home.
As PC parts became more interchangeable and commoditized, enthusiasts began building customized machines to suit their tastes, often with the goal of maximizing performance to improve their gaming experience.
Top Gaming PC Companies
Acer Alienware Asus Corsair iBUYPOWER Maingear MSI NZXT Origin PC
The PC gaming industry, which is predicted to reach a market value of $189 billion by the end of 2036, is driven in large part by rapidly evolving hardware. While many gamers still prefer to buy pre-built gaming computers directly from PC companies, many more are taking a DIY approach and handpicking their own parts.
It’s not surprising that today there are a number of companies servicing this fast-growing market.
Gaming PC companies you should know about
Location: Sunnyvale, California
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has been manufacturing computer processors and related products for over half a century. A publicly traded company, AMD is one of the most popular CPU manufacturers, alongside big names like Intel and Qualcomm. AMD sells gaming products such as Ryzen processors and Radeon graphics cards directly to consumers.
Location: Taipei, Taiwan
ASUS is a global manufacturer of consumer electronics and computer hardware. One of the world’s leading manufacturers of motherboards, ASUS also produces gaming-specific desktops, laptops, graphics cards, and monitors under the brand name Republic of Gamers.
Location: Palo Alto, California
HP is a huge information technology company that was spun off from Hewlett-Packard, which was founded in 1939. It focuses on manufacturing PCs for both businesses and consumers. HP manufactures gaming laptops, desktops, displays, and accessories under the OMEN brand.
Location: Santa Clara, California
A mainstay of Silicon Valley for over half a century, Intel manufactures and supplies processors to many of the world’s largest computer companies. The processor, or CPU, is the heart of a gaming PC. If you own a computer, there’s a good chance it has an Intel CPU.
Location: Santa Clara, California
NVIDIA’s main business is making graphics processing units (GPUs) for gaming companies. It has previously supplied chips for some of Microsoft and Sony’s gaming consoles. The company is also focusing on artificial intelligence and has its own cloud-based gaming platform called GeForce NOW.
Location: City of Industry, California
Founded in 2004, NZXT is a computer hardware company that manufactures gaming PCs, components, peripherals, and monitors. They also offer gaming PC cases, the product that started the business.
Location: Chicago, Illinois
SteelSeries manufactures professional gear and software for gaming. Their gear line includes headsets, speakers, mice, mouse pads, controllers, and keyboards. They also offer software to record and share gameplay, optimize game sound, customize in-game features like lighting and audio, and share sound between multiple players’ headsets.
Location: San Jose, California
Supermicro is known for its computing server and storage technology, but has expanded into manufacturing PC hardware components, including for gaming. The company offers a range of high-end desktop workstation systems as well as motherboards specifically for gaming.
Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan
Acer has been around since the 1970s when it started manufacturing microelectronics. Today, it is a publicly traded company and a global manufacturer of computer hardware and software for a variety of sectors, from business to education. Among pre-built gaming PCs, Acer’s Predator series is very popular.
Location: Miami, Florida
Alienware, a subsidiary of computer giant Dell, has been a mainstay in the gaming PC world since the mid-1990s. The company specializes in high-performance laptops and desktops for gaming. Alienware computers are renowned for their distinctive, stylish designs that reflect the company’s extraordinary name.
Location: Taipei, Taiwan
Owned by Pegatron Corporation, ASRock is one of the largest motherboard manufacturers in the world. Since 2002, the company has offered a wide range of motherboards for gamers who want to customize their own PCs by choosing their own parts. The company also manufactures mini PCs.
Location: Taipei, Taiwan
Founded in 2001, BenQ specializes in high-quality gaming monitors and eSports gear. The electronics manufacturer offers a range of products with specifications to cater to unique gaming preferences, including high refresh rates, improved resolutions and larger screen sizes.
Location: Fremont, California
Corsair manufactures a range of pre-assembled gaming PCs, as well as computer peripherals and components that gamers use to build their own PCs. The California-based company is also known for offering high-performance memory. In 2019, Corsair acquired Origin PC, which specializes in manufacturing gaming computer systems.
Location: City of Industry, California
Founded in 1998 and headquartered outside Los Angeles, CyberPowerPC manufactures and sells computer hardware, primarily for gaming. CyberPowerPC offers customization and personalization for gamers who prefer building their own PCs.
Location: Round Rock, Texas
Dell has been making hardware and software products for professionals, students and gamers since it was founded during the computer boom in Texas in the 1980s. Dell owns the gaming subsidiary Alienware, but also offers a range of desktops and laptops under its own name that are tailored for modern gamers.
Location: Morgan Hill, California
Digital Storm is an independent company based in Northern California and founded in 2002 that manufactures high-performance pre-built desktops, laptops, and PC workstations for gamers. Their hardware aims to provide a lag-free, high frame rate and graphics experience while gaming.
Location: Brea, California
EVGA was founded in 1999 and manufactures and sells a wide range of gaming hardware products, including motherboards, cooling kits, power supplies, keyboards, graphics cards (in partnership with NVIDIA), and also manufactures its own gaming laptops.
Location: Medford, Oregon
Founded in 1992, Falcon Northwest was an early entrant into the gaming PC space, manufacturing high-performance desktops, laptops and workstations customized for gamers and enthusiasts.
Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan
GIGABYTE is a decades-old global company that manufactures and sells a wide range of computers and computer parts. Their motherboards in particular are popular among gamers and are used by other companies that manufacture gaming PCs.
Location: Industry City, California
For decades, iBUYPOWER has specialized in manufacturing high-performance customized desktops, laptops and peripherals for gamers. Users can purchase pre-assembled gaming computers or buy their own PC parts with the company’s guidance.
Location: Hong Kong
Hong Kong-based Lenovo is one of the world’s largest PC vendors, and in addition to manufacturing the popular ThinkPad business laptops, it also supports gamers with its Legion product line of laptops, desktops, towers and cubes designed for gaming.
Location: Lausanne, Switzerland
Logitech is a Swiss company that makes peripherals (essentially upgraded add-ons that plug into your PC) such as keyboards, mice, controllers, and headsets. With products aimed at the gaming community, Logitech sponsors many game creators and eSports professionals.
Location: Kenilworth, New Jersey
MAINGEAR is a privately held, self-funded boutique PC manufacturer that has specialized in building custom high-performance desktops, laptops and workstations for gamers and PC enthusiasts since 2002.
Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan
Micro-Star International (MSI), a manufacturer and distributor of a wide range of consumer electronics, has long been known for its motherboards and graphics cards. The company offers a wide range of gaming products, including laptops, desktops, computer components, and peripherals.
Location: City of Industry, California
Newegg is an online retailer that specializes in PC hardware and gaming. In addition, its private label company, ABS, manufactures gaming PC workstations with integrated hardware technologies from Intel, NVIDIA, etc. Notably, ABS offers a variety of pre-built PC options that come with keyboard and mouse peripherals.
Location: Miami, Florida
Founded in 2009 by former Alienware employees, Origin PC specializes in high-performance laptops and desktops for gamers who prefer to buy PCs rather than build them themselves. In 2019 the company was acquired by Corsair, but the two brands remain separate and Origin PC continues to operate out of Miami.
Location: San Francisco, California
Gamers turn to Razer’s Blade line of gaming laptops and high-end peripherals like keyboards, mice, displays, etc. The company, which describes itself as a gamer-focused ecosystem and lifestyle brand, also offers software services and sponsors several eSports professionals and events.
Location: Suwon, South Korea
In addition to manufacturing mobile devices and TVs, Samsung Electronics also offers gaming hardware: its gaming monitor options are made specifically for PC desktop setups, and its laptops, such as the Galaxy Book series, have CPU and resolution capabilities suited for PC gaming on the go.
Location: Hong Kong
Founded in 2001, Sapphire Technology is a privately held global company that specializes in gaming graphics cards. Sapphire also manufactures motherboards, mini PCs, and other computer products. The company describes itself as the world’s leading supplier of AMD-based graphics cards.
Location: Bellevue, Washington
Valve Corporation, known for developing the Steam and Half-Life video game series, also develops hardware to enhance the PC gaming experience, including the Steam Deck, a portable gaming computer, and the Steam Controller and Steam Link, which allow users to play PC games with a controller or other device. Valve has also developed the Valve Index, a virtual reality gaming headset to connect to a user’s PC.
Location: Richmond, Virginia
Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, Velocity Micro designs and builds custom computers for gamers and PC enthusiasts. The small business has been around since 1997 and its products have won numerous awards from gaming magazines.
Location: Midvale, Utah
Xidax prides itself on passionately designing and building custom desktops, laptops, and PC workstations for equally avid gamers. Founded in 2013, the company also offers a lifetime warranty on its products.
Location: Hong Kong
Computer hardware manufacturer ZOTAC specializes in manufacturing gaming PCs, mini PCs, motherboards, video cards, and other accessories. Founded in 2006, the company launched its gaming-focused product line, ZOTAC GAMING, in 2017.