We hate it when good value gaming PCs are ruined with meagre RAM offererings like 8GB. It happens more than we would like, for sure. Generally a decent 16GB dual-channel setup is perfectly adequate for all your PC gaming needs and is thankfully now pretty common. But what isn't is something like this ABS Stratos Aqua coming packed with a full 32GB of DDR5 memory in its simple chassis for just $1,199 at Newegg. That's a $200 saving on its list price, and I reckon you can possibly thank the release of the new RTX 4070 Super for some of that discount.
For this is a gaming PC sporting the original non-Super RTX 4070, which was still one of my favorite GPUs from the Ada generation. It offers RTX 3080-beating gaming performance for a good chunk less cash, and when dropped into an affordable gaming PC—such as this one from ABS—it forms the basis for an excellent 1440p machine.
The RTX 4070 Super is moderately faster, and has come in at the same original price as the old RTX 4070, but that has in turn seen a drop in price. It is that which is likely contributing to system builders wanting to get shot of their older machines with a bit of a discount to entice people.
But it's not just the GPU that stands out here, because that 32GB of DDR5 is pretty unprecedented at this price point, and really makes this a welcome sight. It's not some entry level memory, either, this is speedy TeamGroup RGB DDR5-6000 RAM and our only real issue with it when we reviewed the DDR-6400 kit was the then prohibitive price and lack of supply when DDR5 first launched.
ABS isn't skimping on the SSD storage, either, which is another spec we often despair at when checking out otherwise reasonably priced gaming PC deals. Right now prices are starting to creep up for SSDs, but it's still unreasonable to have less than a 1TB drive in anything but the most budget of sub-$1,000 systems.
The final part of the component picture is the CPU and, while it is now technically last-gen, the excellent Core i5 13400F is a dead-ringer for the Core i5 14400F of the latest generation bar a teeny weeny clock speed bump. They're both Raptor Lake chips, though, and that means great gaming performance when sat alongside a quality GPU like the RTX 4070.
In all, then, this is a very well-specced gaming PC for not a ludicrous amount of money.
