NZXT will rent you an RTX 4070 Ti Super system for $169 a month or $2,028 a year but we can find deals a lot better than that

NZXT BLD kit gaming PC on a red background — (Image credit: Future)

It seems like everything these days is moving towards a subscriber model, rather than owning outright. From endless streaming subscriptions to coffee, printer ink, and perhaps even a gaming mouse, it seems like it's in a company's best interests to nickel and dime your bank account—rather than gobbling big chunks of it when you make a substantial purchase.

NZXT's Flex subscription program allows you to rent that most hallowed of objects, a decently-well-specced gaming pc, in exchange for delicious monthly instalments (via The Verge). According to NZXT's newly-announced specs, for $59 a month (plus a $50 setup and shipping fee), you can be the proud not-really owner of a Player: One Core i5 14400F equipped gaming PC with an RTX 4060 handling the graphics duties.

That equates to $708 a year (minus extra fee) for a system that should actually handle modern games pretty well, although crucial specs like the RAM size and speed, along with the SSD, are missing from the new specs sheet.

Sitting at the top of the tree is the Player: Three, a system featuring an Intel Core i7 13700KF and an RTX 4070 Ti Super, again, with RAM specs and SSD specs missing. This one'll cost you $169 a month, or $2,028, and I'll be honest here, you really shouldn't be paying that much for this sort of spec in a gaming machine.

It's not that those components are bad. Far from it, as they're actually solid picks for a great gaming PC. But when we often find machines featuring the much more powerful RTX 4080 Super for less, it does strike as a bit of a bum deal.

ABS Vortex-X Ruby | Ryzen 7 7700X | RTX 4080 Super | 32 GB DDR5-6000 | 1 TB SSD | $2,399.99 $1,999.99 at Newegg (save $400)
It's been a little while since we've seen an RTX 4080 Super-equipped machine at $2,000, but this system strikes as a very well-balanced and powerful set of components. The 7700X is a very speedy gaming CPU, and combined with 32 GB of fast DDR5 and that beastly GPU, this PC should fly through even the most demanding of games. As is often the case, however, you'll probably want to add in some sizeable storage when you get the chance.

There's an obvious counter argument here: this subscription system is for people that struggle to save the large amount of cash you'll need for a good machine, and NZXT are of course expecting to make some money out of the arrangement. Plus, NZXT only expect month-to-month payments that are free to cancel anytime, along with 24/7 customer support, free replacements should something go wrong with your machine, and guaranteed hardware upgrades every two years.

Your next machine

Gaming PC group shot — (Image credit: Future)

Best gaming PC: The top pre-built machines.
Best gaming laptop: Great devices for mobile gaming.

Looking at that RTX 4070 Ti Super machine above, however, that'd mean that if you hung on to the PC for two years in the hope of an upgrade, you'll have spent $4,056. And that's around $1,000 more than you'd pay for a discounted RTX 4090 rig if you paid up front. And trust me, not only is that system much, much more powerful than the Player: Three, it'll also be more than two years before it starts getting close to anything you could call "slow".

Ultimately, I'd advise against going for a rental option over saving your cash and buying something from our cheap gaming PC guide. There, you're going to find equivalent machines for less than you'd pay over a year under these plans, or more powerful machines for the same money, and you won't be draining your bank account each month. One large purchase, done and dusted.

Plus, if you pick well, you've now got a platform that should be upgradeable for some time to come, for much less money than you'd pay over the coming years on a subscription model like this.

Andy built his first gaming PC at the tender age of 12, when IDE cables were a thing and high resolution wasn't—and he hasn't stopped since. Now working as a hardware writer for PC Gamer, Andy spends his time jumping around the world attending product launches and trade shows, all the while reviewing every bit of PC gaming hardware he can get his hands on. You name it, if it's interesting hardware he'll write words about it, with opinions and everything.