It’s expensive and hard to build a gaming PC right now because many of the key components needed are sold out everywhere you look. If you come across a quality desktop prebuilt, it may be worth grabbing just to get the components you want. The Skytech Archangel 3.0 ((ST-Arch3.0-0296-AM) delivers good value with AMD’s Ryzen 5 5600X, RTX 3060 Ti (8GB), 16GB system memory, and 1TB SSD storage at a very reasonable price. If those are the parts you desire in your ultimate rig, this PC should be in your consideration.
Skytech isn’t using any weird, proprietary chassis that’s hard to open or upgrade; this is made of standardized parts which are easily available. That does mean that when parts are easier to buy, this is a PC you’ll be able to upgrade and grow with.
The Skytech Archangel’s Ryzen 5 performance is strong, which makes it one of the best entry-level gaming PCs, and its generous core count makes it excellent for productivity workloads.
Design and Features
How much you like the design on this machine will rely heavily on how much you like RGBs on your ideal gaming machine, but it sports the same clean aesthetic as the Skytech Archangel we reviewed last year. But the mid-tower chassis with both tempered glass and white aluminum looks more beautiful than most black machines out there. The front is plain white, it looks unique for a computer case since we’re used to black or grey metal cases for pre-built gaming PCs. There’s a vertical strip on the front panel with vents and RGBs that break the monotony of a plain front panel.
The rest of it, however, is far more conservative. The left side panel is tempered glass, which lets you see internal components, while the right side is opaque and covers up cable management. There’s a magnetic dust filter on the top of the case, next to the easy-access ports. There are two 120mm intake fans on the front, and there’s also another on the rear, as exhaust, but it also cools the radiator on the CPU liquid cooler.
At 17.9 x 8.3 x 16.4 inches, the Skytech Archangel 3.0 is smaller than the Alienware Aurora R11 (18.9 x 17 x 8.8), but slightly bigger than the HP Omen 30L at 17.7 x 16.8 x 6.6 inches. For connectivity, it lacks a USB Type-C port, but the rest of the ports are present – USB 2.0, 3.0, and 3.2 Gen 1 as well as HDMI and DisplayPort for multi-monitor setup.
Also bundled into the package are a free RGB keyboard and mouse. A monitor is not included, but you can always buy it separately, something like the Sceptre C305B-200UN1 is a perfect choice.
Skytech Archangel 3.0 Review: Performance
As you’d expect from an RTX 3060 Ti-powered machine, the Skytech Archangel 3.0’s 1080p gaming performance is impressive, with many recent titles hitting and maintaining 60fps at high settings. Loading up Forza Horizon 5 (certainly not because of the high anticipation we have for the sequel), a graphically demanding and process-heavy game and we’re happy to report barely a hitch in performance at Ultra settings.
Similarly, intense AAA games like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Cyberpunk 2077 also play on the RTX 3060 Ti GPU at an average of 81 fps and 73 fps, respectively; all played at 1080p resolution highest settings. However, expect some occasional frame drops with the latter, largely due to Cyberpunk’s busy open-world setting as well as its infamously rocky optimization thus far.
Still, the Archangel 3.0 is capable of running some of the most visually stunning games out there at 1080p, while keeping a consistently high frame rate, thanks in small part to the RTX 3060 Ti GPU in the machine.
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But if you’re fused about 4K performance, you’ll need to look elsewhere, maybe at a machine with an RTX 3080 GPU, like the Alienware Aurora R14 but you’ll spend a little more for the enhanced gaming chops.
Lastly, the Skytech Archangel is VR-ready, and its performance when testing with the Valve Index VR headset was nothing short of stellar. If you own a VR device like that or the Oculus Quest 2, you can be sure that graphically demanding VR titles like Half-Life: Alyx will superbly run on the machine.
Gaming performance isn’t the only thing the Skytech Archangel is good for, though, as its processing is similarly great. The Ryzen 5 5600X keeps processes and effect-heavy tasks under control, alongside the 16GB of RAM and fast 1TB SSD storage. As such, you can use this machine for productivity tasks like media creation and editing tasks, provided you don’t mind the gaming aesthetic on the chassis.
Should you buy the Skytech Archangel 3.0?
Yes, if you’re just getting into PC gaming or looking for the latest and greatest on a budget, the Skytech archangel delivers you some decent parts from AMD and Nvidia. Unlike some other prebuilt, there’s nothing proprietary here. It’s mostly standardized parts, that you can upgrade down the line.
AMD’s Ryzen 5 and the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti in our review configuration work potently together, but they’re not the latest in the market. Machines like the MSI Aegis RS (12TG-285US) boast the latest components – 12th Gen intel core i7-12700KF and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti – and even has a USB Type-C port for around the same price. If it were my money being spent, I’d seriously give the Aegis RS a longer look.
Some minor hitches aside, the Skytech Archangel 3.0 is a superbly built PC. It’s beautiful, easy to move, and features incredibly tidy cable management, and the RGB effects are just out of this world. Add top-notch gaming performance and you’ve got a winning combination for 1080p gaming.
The Review
Skytech Archangel 3.0
The Skytech Archangel 3.0 (ST-Arch3.0-0296-AM) is an affordable gaming desktop that packs powerful 1080p gaming performance and comes with capable parts from AMD and Nvidia and off-the-shelf components that allow for easy upgrades.
Recommended Configuration
Skytech Gaming Archangel Gaming Computer PC Desktop – Ryzen 5 5600X 3.7GHz, RTX 3060 TI 8G, 1TB NVMe SSD, 16GB DDR4 3200MHz, RGB Fans, Windows 10 Home 64-bit, 802.11AC Wi-Fi, White
PROS
- Smart build with lovely RGB
- Powerful gaming performance
- Decent pack-in peripherals
- Reasonably priced
CONS
- No USB-C port
- Lacks a card reader
Review Breakdown
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EDITORS RATING
Last update on 2024-11-19 at 00:37 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
