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PC manufacturers are fully embracing massive cases for the flagship gaming desktops. HP is clearly no exception with the Omen Max 45L. This is a machine that brashly makes its presence known and looks good while doing it.
With three 120mm fans up front, a honking 1,200-watt power supply in the bottom of the chassis, room for a flagship graphics card from AMD or Nvidia, and HP's dedicated Cryo Chamber that sits atop the chassis, it's no wonder the Omen Max 45L is so large and in charge.
The Omen Max 45L aims to dance with the best gaming PCs , so it should come as no surprise that our review unit packs an AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D processor, 64GB of DDR5-6000, and a GeForce RTX 5090. But that will cost you — our review unit has a $6,499.99 price tag.
Design of the HP Omen Max 45L
The 45-liter Omen Max measures 8.03 x 18.50 x 21.85 inches and weighs 49.82 pounds. Still, removing the sample unit from the box was a relatively simple affair, as HP ships the Omen Max 45L in a "lift-off top" shipping box held in place by four black plastic retaining clips along the sides (near the base of the box).
The chassis is a matte-black aluminum affair with a glass front and a glass side panel, providing an uninterrupted view inside the chassis. The glass front panel is adorned with a large "OMEN" logo printed in white, along with a view of the three vertically stacked 120 mm RGB intake fans that sit behind a large dust filter. There is a narrow gap along the sides between the front panel and the chassis where air comes in to feed the fans. There's also a tiny AMD Ryzen sticker in the bottom right corner of the front glass panel, which mars an otherwise classy design.
(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)
Looking inside the case, you'll find tidy cable management and plenty of RGB lighting to dazzle the eye. The liquid cooler features a circular LCD with an RGB ring around its perimeter. Inside that ring, you'll find CPU and GPU temperatures. A single 120 mm RGB exhaust fan matches the color schemes of the three front intake fans, and the two 32GB Fury DDR5-6000 sticks have their own RGB effects, topping each module.
The CPU radiator is mounted in a dedicated housing at the top of the chassis, leaving an air gap between it and the rest of the case. HP calls this the "Cryo Chamber" because it is isolated from the interior of the chassis and has access to fresh outside air. According to HP, this setup results in up to a 7-degree Celsius reduction in CPU temperature versus competing solutions under similar loads. There are three additional 120 mm fans mounted at the bottom of the Cryo Chamber that push air upward over the radiator.
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