A common misconception about me is that, as someone who loves games, I must love all the cables and shiny bits of hardware needed to play them. Truth is, if you need someone to weigh in on which Baldur’s Gate 3 romance is the most narratively satisfying, help you create a solid Diablo 4 build, or walk you through how to get the Master Sword in literally any Zelda game, I’m your girl. However, if your mic mysteriously stopped working mid-match or the PC you built won’t turn on, I’d encourage you to ask literally anyone else to help you troubleshoot. Yes, I can navigate my way around a PC just fine and can install mods like the best of ’em, but by and large, I don’t want to have to put too much thought or effort into whatever processes it takes to actually play my games.
Fortunately for me, companies like Quoted Tech are eager to pick up my slack. A couple weeks ago, the Canadian-based company generously sent me a custom-made gaming PC–the Horizon Professional–to help remedy my gaming woes, which have grown numerous in recent years. While my PC was great back when my partner first built it, time and increasingly demanding games with better graphics have taken their toll. The thought of upgrading my existing computer–or worse, rebuilding the entire thing–seemed daunting, and rising RAM and SSD costs left me feeling a bit resigned to my dated rig. With all that said, I was shocked by how much the Horizon PC improved my gaming experience with essentially zero setup or friction on my part, and at a reasonable price.
Upon opening the box, I was impressed by how carefully packed the unit was. On top of having thick styrofoam surrounding the entire PC, the interior of the case was filled with packaging moulded to its shape, preventing anything from shifting around. Assembly was just as easy, which is to say, required next to nothing from me. After pulling the PC out, I popped off the case’s glass side panel, removed the packaging, closed it, then plugged it in. Done. So, let’s move on to the specs.
Though the closest comparison to my build is Quoted Tech’s Horizon Professional, the PC I received has a few modifications, the most notable being the processor. Whereas the Horizon Professional comes with an AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D, I was upgraded to the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D, which has the advantage of running a fair bit cooler than its predecessor. Fortunately, the price difference between the two is minimal, as upgrading the 7800 to the 9800 only costs $70 USD.
Apart from that, the builds are nearly identical, and come with an AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT graphics card, 32GB of 6400MHz DDR5 memory, a 1TB SSD, and an 850W power supply (80+ Gold). The entire rig is liquid-cooled and has seven fans to assist with ventilation, and features eight USB Type-A and three USB Type-C ports, as well as the capacity for up to four displays (including support for HDMI, DisplayPort, and 1080p, 1440p, and 4K). The case itself comes is largely glass, and a visual treat. The second it booted up and the RGB lights kicked on, I was almost giddy. While I received the black case, the white version appears is just as striking. The 7800X3D-equipped model comes in at around $2,700 USD, though that price can be adjusted depending upon your customizations.
On that note, it’s worth mentioning that Quoted Tech’s building process is incredibly customizable. You’ll get the chance to choose from between 10-15 parts each step of the way; if you opt for all the baseline components, the price drops substantially, coming in at around $1,100. However, you’re obviously sacrificing a lot of performance at that point, and considering the rising costs around PCs–and the fact that opting for an upgraded CPU and GPU helps future-proof your investment–I’d encourage those who can financially to stick with a recommended build.
Jumping back to that $2,700 price tag, there was a large part of me that feared that, once I calculated the price of all the PC’s individual parts, I’d realize that there was a big difference between the actual value of the computer and its cost. I expected some discrepancy–you generally do pay a price for both assembly and convenience–but it would be impossible for me to recommend anyone spend their hard-earned money on something that isn’t actually a good value, even if I was enjoying my time with it.
With all that in mind, I was a bit shocked to discover that there was little difference between buying all these parts separately and buying the entire, pre-assembled rig through Quoted Tech. After adding everything on the Horizon Professional’s official listing to my Amazon cart, my total was around $2,600 USD–$100 less than the unit’s current price. When you consider that the Horizon also comes with a three-year warranty, five years of labor and support, and a copy of Crimson Desert, I’d argue Quoted Tech comes out ahead. Even if it didn’t come with all these bells and whistles, for me, it’s worth it to pay an extra $100 to ensure that someone who knows what they’re doing is working on my PC.
Now let’s get to the fun part: performance. I opted to test four games on my new PC: Baldur’s Gate 3, The Sims 4, Cyberpunk 2077, and the copy of Crimson Desert that is currently included with all Quoted Tech purchases.
Despite sinking 400 hours in Baldur’s Gate 3, my previous PC always ran into an issue during the game’s third act, which takes place in the densely populated city of Baldur’s Gate. Despite being able to run the rest of the game on Ultra settings, I’d inevitably have to bump it down to Medium as soon as I reached the oceanside city. And even then, I don’t think I was hitting a consistent 60fps while playing.
Imagine my delight, then, when I was able to traipse around Baldur’s Gate at 1920×1080 on the highest settings at a stable 60-65fps. I didn’t even realize the game could be that smooth. The Sims 4–another game I have sunk a frankly gross amount of time into–also saw a substantial boost. Even with all my mods and shaders installed, it ran smooth as butter.
Next, I tried Crimson Desert, which is known for its staggeringly large map that comes in bigger than The Witcher 3’s and at about twice the size of Skyrim’s. Once again, I was able to maintain 60-62fps, this time at 2560×1440, on the highest settings. Once again, I ran into zero issues. As it’s currently considered one of the most graphically demanding games–especially with path-tracing enabled–I also was eager to test out Cyberpunk 2077. Even on the game’s “Ray-Tracing: Overdrive” setting, I maintained between 65-75fps at 1920×1080.
It bears repeating one last time that I truly am not trying to present this review as coming from someone with the utmost knowledge of PCs; I have a basic understanding and can “speak the language,” but I am far from an expert. However, I do think I am part of a vast number of folks who love playing games and whose main goal is to experience them as seamlessly as possible. So far, I am incredibly satisfied with the Horizon and would likely encourage those in the market for a new PC–and who are willing to spend the funds it necessitates to enter the world of high-end gaming–to go through Quoted Tech.
