Allied Gaming PC Patriot review: Borne and bred for brilliance

The longer I've been a PC gamer, the more I've been drawn to the idea that less can be more.

In recent years, the world of lean laptops, handhelds like the Steam Deck and miniature PCs like Intel's NUC line has become much more compelling than the alternative. However, that's not to say that my appreciation for an old-school gaming tower PC like the Allied Patriot has withered on the vine or that those kinds of PCs don't have a place in today's hybrid work-friendly home offices. Brands like Allied occupy the middle ground between global giants like ASUS and Alienware and your local computer shop. You're getting a much better price than you would from the former plus hardware that's a little well-rounded than the latter.

In my experience, building a gaming PC is usually more painful than you'd expect but ultimately worth it in the long run. By comparison, the Allied Patriot's greatest strength isn't necessarily its pricing or performance but its painlessness. If the limits of gaming laptops rub you the wrong way but you don't want to part ways with the idea of a pick-up-and-play experience, this might be exactly what you're after.

In Australia, pricing for the Allied Patriot gaming PC starts at $2599. There are a lot of different variants on offer though, with more powerful spec configurations coming in at well above that.

The model we reviewed usually retails for around $3299. You can check out the table below for a sense of where it sits broadly and how each version of this particular Allied Gaming PC varies when it comes to price.

No matter the spec configuration you settle on, there's one part of the Allied Patriot that's going to be the same for everyone: the case. While the power supply and other parts vary based on how much you're paying, the finished product is always going to arrive clad in Allied's own Patriot MKII 7-Fan RGB case.

This exterior is simple but easy to like. It's not a stunning feat in minimalism on par with something from Teenage Engineering but nor is the kind of RGB-laden monstrosity available from the likes of Alienware. It's the kind of PC case you'd probably buy if you were looking for something that sat at the intersection of thrifty and trendy. It's got a polar white aesthetic and plenty of ports.

The front of the Allied Patriot is where you'll find your usual power button, a headphone jack, a USB-C port and a USB-A port. If you're the kind of person who likes their gaming desktop to sit on the floor rather than a desk, the placement here isn't going to be ideal but it isn't likely to be a dealbreaker either.

In addition, there's a button that toggles the RGB lighting on the fans attached to the case between fifteen or so presents. I mostly just left it set to blue as it made for a natural complement to the white case, but it's good to have options.

The other side of the unit is more of a heavy hitter on this front. There are a solid seven USB-A ports, an extra USB-C port, HDMI and DisplayPort video outputs (with more on the GPU) plus an ethernet jack and a few additional audio ports. There's even a dedicated button for booting the PC into its BIOS, which is great to have on hand should anything go wrong. I've yet to encounter any situation where I needed to make use of this functionality. Still, it's nice to know it's there.

Honestly, the Allied Patriot is kitted out with exactly the kind of case I'd probably look for if I was building a gaming PC nowadays. Of course, the fact that you're getting a pseudo-DIY deal here is very much part of the appeal.

The Allied Patriot arrives pre-assembled right out of the box and aside from removing a few packaging elements and running through the usual Windows set-up process, you are only a power source and a monitor away from being able to get stuck into using this to play whatever game strikes your fancy.

It's worth mentioning here that I did encounter one issue where the graphics card for my review sample had come loose during shipping and wouldn't play nice with my monitor. A short call with a customer support representative later, the issue was resolved and the fun could begin.

Ordinarily, this kind of troubleshooting isn't the kind of thing I'd call out in a review. However, the reality of shipping pre-assembled desktop PC like this one around is that those situations can happen and being able to just call someone up and take steps to get the issue resolved ASAP was a definite upgrade on my usual process of trawling Reddit until I manage to find someone with the solution to a problem that sounds suspiciously familiar.

As mentioned above, the Allied Patriot comes in a variety of different spec configurations. The model I reviewed came with an AMD Ryzen 5 7500F processor, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super GPU, 16GB of 5200MHz memory 1 TB of NVMe M.2 SSD storage. That specific model sits on the cheaper side, though it is about $700 more than the absolute minimum you could conceivably spend on this particular PC.

The table stakes are a little different when it comes to gaming desktops like this one and laptops. However, in a world where you stuck these parts inside a laptop, what's here would firmly sit in what we'd Extreme performance.

The Allied Patriot is more than capable enough for everyday tasks. Even power users may struggle to push it to its limits, with the inclusion of both a dedicated GPU and a half-decent cooling system. While the marketing is very much positioning this thing as a gaming machine, I didn't hesitate to use it for work as well.

The story told by the benchmarking scores that the Allied Patriot gaming desktop produced wasn't a surprising one. With access to more thermal headroom and more formidable components, it's little surprise that it outpaced the likes of the Legion Pro 5i and Acer Predator Helios 3D when it came to GPU performance. On other fronts, it fared well but not exceptionally so. This is likely because this particular model has a more modest amount of RAM and processor inside it.

While modern laptops have closed much of the performance gap that once existed between them and their desktop-bound cousins, the Allied Patriot was a friendly reminder that a smaller gap is not the same thing as a closed one. When it comes to gaming performance, I was left with little to complain about. Demanding titles like Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, Helldivers and Cyberpunk 2077 ran smoothly and without issues even during intense firefights.

Your mileage replicating this is going to vary based on how much money you're looking to spend and what specs you ultimately end up with. However, as far as this version of the Allied Patriot goes, I found it very much delivered on the promises it made when it came to making the desktop PC experience as painless as possible. Given the price, it's hard not to wish for a bit more RAM. Still, that's likely the only part of the package that most are likely to gripe about.

If you know where to look, you can probably find a similar DIY build with comparable specs. Nevertheless, the Allied Patriot's raison d'etre lies in its ability to deliver a painless PC gaming experience, which it does so in spades.

The low-friction thrills that the Allied Patriot delivers make it a very likable platform for PC gaming. If you're someone who wants to squeeze out the absolute maximum when it comes to bang for your buck, there are other options out there. However, if you have a fondness for gaming desktops like the Acer Predator or Alienware and fancy throwing your lot in with a local brand rather than a global one, this PC is a refreshing riff on that familiar formula.

With the Patriot, Allied is looking to carve out something of a niche for itself and while it'll likely have to fight to hold onto the fruits of that land-grab, the initial rush it provides is easy to like and even easier to recommend.