Would you rent a gaming PC? You can now with NZXT’s Flex program

Rental services are everywhere now. If you can’t outright afford something pricey, you can usually find someone who will lend it to you for a monthly fee, whether it’s a home, a car, a couch, or a DVD.

So, maybe it’s not all that surprising that someone is now renting out full-fat gaming desktop PCs, but it is surprising to hear that that “someone” is case and accessory maker NZXT.

The NZXT Flex program at a glance

The NZXT Flex program is essentially a monthly subscription for a beefy gaming PC. Prices range from $59 to $169 per month based on hardware configurations. The plans have no contracts so you can cancel at any time, and return shipping is free with a prepaid label.

The company is offering three different pre-built models headlined by Nvidia RTX 3050, 4070 Super, and 4070 Ti Super graphics cards in order of ascending price. (The promo page says the Player One package uses an RTX 4060, but the RTX 3050 is currently live on the order page.) Each pre-built package comes in an NZXT-branded case: the H5 Flow, H5 Elite, and H7 Flow, respectively.

But a gaming PC isn’t a couch—it will need periodic refreshes to stay relevant. According to the Flex program’s FAQ section, each PC package gets a free upgrade after you’ve stayed subscribed for two years. (The exact details of the upgrade aren’t spelled out, but presumably NZXT will bump the tiered packages up at some point.) To swap out your current subscription PC for a more powerful one before then, it’ll be a flat $100 charge plus the increased cost of the higher tier.

To be clear, this is not a financing plan or a rent-to-own setup. If you rent an NZXT PC for ten years and then cancel, you’ll still have to send the PC back despite having paid far more than what it’s worth.

Is the Flex program worth it?

A little napkin math (and the aid of PCPartPicker) shows that over the course of two years, you’ll be paying significantly more than each PC is worth in terms of hardware at all three tiers. Granted, that napkin math doesn’t account for the markup of a pre-built PC, the shipping costs, or the hassle-free service.

But even so, renting a gaming PC is indeed a “bad deal” in purely financial terms. (And you don’t need to do much research to determine that because NZXT is outright selling near-identical packages on the same page.) But that’s also true of pretty much any rental service.

The value proposition here is two-fold: you don’t have to front all the cash of a big-ticket purchase, and you have the flexibility to cancel or upgrade on a whim. Plus, NZXT is offering a “lifetime warranty” with these Flex PCs, with free swap-outs for any serious issues except theft.

So, the NZXT Flex program seems like a decent option if you just can’t cobble together the four figures needed for a top-notch gaming PC. Combine it with an Xbox Game Pass subscription for immediate access to lots of high-quality games. It’s also a low-hassle option if you’re new to PC gaming and want to try it with low commitment. (That’s especially useful if you’re a console gamer who’s intimidated by the platform.)

Some caveats to keep in mind

There are two provisos that give me pause.

The NZXT Flex program doesn’t include a mouse, keyboard, monitor, headset, or speakers with the PC. If NZXT wants this to be a one-stop shop for prospective PC gamers, it’s a hard ask if the prospective buyer also needs to buy hundreds of dollars worth of accessories.

NZXT’s FAQ also says that when you subscribe you’ll get a “new or like-new Gaming PC.” That sounds like NZXT will be refurbishing units after they’re returned and shipping them out to new subscribers. It makes sense from a business standpoint—the overhead would be massive if they built new PCs for every customer and sold the returned ones—but I can’t help but feel like a lot of players wouldn’t feel great about paying a premium for what’s essentially used hardware.