Black Friday desktop computer deals: What to expect, early sales

It might be early, but Black Friday PC deals have already begun. Retailers have started offering early deals on everything from home-office computers to gaming PCs and all-in-ones. What’s more, many retailers are offering price protection so you can make your purchase now and rest assured you’ll end up with the best price.

We’re already seeing some great discounts on gaming PCs and all-in-ones from the likes of BestBuy, Dell, HP, Newegg, and more. We will continue to track down and highlight the best PC computer deals on offer leading up to and during Black Friday 2023.

Best early Black Friday desktop PC deals

HP Omen 25L, Ryzen 7/RTX 3060 Ti/16GB RAM/512GB SSD/1TB HDD, $969.99 (35% off on HP)HP Omen 25L, Core i5/RTX 3060/16GB RAM/1TB SSD, $799.99 (38% off on BestBuy)Alienware Aurora R15, Core i7/RTX 4080/16GB RAM/1TB SSD, $2,199.99 (15% off on Dell)Alienware Aurora R16, Core i7/RTX 4070 Ti/16GB RAM/1TB SSD, $1,749.99 (10% off on Dell)MSI Codex R, Core i5/RTX 4060/32GB RAM/2TB SSD, $1,082.42 (17% off on Amazon)MSI Aegis R, Core i7/RTX 4060 Ti/32GB RAM/2TB SSD, $1,199.00 (25% off on Newegg)

For a budget gaming rig, the HP Omen 25L is a really solid deal. For $450 off on BestBuy’s website, this is the cheapest you’re likely to find a desktop gaming PC with an RTX 3060 graphics card.

Or, if you want something with more next-gen power, the two Alienware models from Dell will certainly provide it. Personally, I’d save some money and go with the Alienware Aurora R16 for $200 off on Dell’s website. There isn’t a drastic performance difference between the RTX 4070 Ti and 4080 and since the Aurora R16 is the newer-model Alienware chassis, you’ll get vastly improved airflow.

Best early Black Friday mainstream desktop PC deals

HP Elite Mini 600 G9, Core i3/16GB RAM/256GB SSD, $469.99 (48% off on BestBuy)Lenovo IdeaCentre Mini, Core i5/12GB RAM/256GB SSD, $549.99 (13% off on BestBuy)HP Pavilion Desktop, Ryzen 7/16GB RAM/1TB SSD, $599.99 (30% off on BestBuy)Apple Mac Mini, Core i5/8GB RAM/512GB SSD, $499.00 (55% off on Adorama)

There are some great deals right now on HP’s line of mainstream desktop computers. The HP Elite Mini 600 G9 for $429 off on BestBuy is a great pick for those who need to save space with a mini-desktop. It has decent performance features including 16GB of RAM—more than most other mini-desktops at this price point. Alternatively, the HP Pavilion Desktop for $260 off on HP is a full-size desktop, but you’ll get an all-around performance boost and a lot more SSD storage—which is probably worth it if you have the physical desktop space.

Best early Black Friday all-in-one computer deals

Inspiron 27 AiO, Core i7/MX550/32GB RAM/1TB SSD/27-inch 1080p touch display, $1,249.99 (18% off on Dell)IdeaCentre AiO 5i, Core i7/Intel Iris Xe integrated graphics/16GB RAM/512GB SSD/24-inch 1080p touch display, $919.99 (18% off on Lenovo)Yoga AiO 9i, Core i9/Intel Iris Xe integrated graphics/16GB RAM/1TB SSD/31.5-inch 4K display, $1,599.99 (14% off on Lenovo)Apple iMac, Core i5/Radeon Pro 5300/8GB RAM/512GB SSD/27-inch 5K display, $1,149.00 (43% off on Adorama)

This week Dell has a nice deal on its 27-inch all-in-one model. For $250 off from Dell, you’ll get a solid Core i7 CPU and it even comes with a MX550 discrete graphics card. It would make a great basic family or office computer, and comes with a convenient touch display for the kids.

Lenovo continues its great deals for this week with further discounts on both the IdeaCentre AiO 5i for $210 off and the flagship Yoga AiO 9i for $280 off on the Lenovo website. Both are loaded with great components and the reliability that comes with any Lenovo computer. The recently redesigned Yoga AiO 9i takes the cake with a very powerful CPU and a gorgeous 4K display.

FAQ

When is Black Friday?

Black Friday 2023 will fall on Friday, Nov 24. However, many retailers have already started to offer great discounts on desktop computers. Keep your eyes tuned to PCWorld for the best deal alerts. We’ll be covering discounts now through Nov, and on to Cyber Monday, Nov 27.

2.

What should I look for in a Black Friday computer deal?

You’ll see a dizzying array of deals when searching for a desktop computer on Black Friday, but they won’t all be good values. When looking at your new computer’s CPU, get at least an Intel Core i5 or AMD Ryzen 5. Either will provide plenty of processing power for everyday computing tasks.

If you don’t intend to do any PC gaming, then feel free to save some money by going with integrated graphics. However, if you are looking to get your game on, we recommend a minimum of an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 or AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT, as these are the least expensive discrete graphics cards that can handle ray-tracing well. If you want the latest and greatest, then you should opt for one of Nvidia’s new line of GPUs (RTX 4060, 4070, 4080, or 4090). These will be more expensive, but they will give you top of the line performance—particularly the RTX 4080 and 4090 cards.

As for RAM, shoot for a minimum of 16GB for gaming and ideally 32GB for content creation if you plan to do things such as video editing and rendering tasks. But for general-purpose internet browsing and mundane office tasks, 8GB of RAM should suffice.

Storage size is dependent upon your personal needs, but it’s generally a good idea to opt for an SSD over a standard HDD as they are much faster and don’t significantly affect the price of a desktop PC. A good starting place for most desktop PCs will be 512GB of storage, but for those who have large files to store (such as videos or games) then you should go for something over 1TB.

Additionally, if you intend to go for an all-in-one with an integrated display, look for a screen with a minimum resolution of 1080p.

3.

What are good websites to find Black Friday computer deals?

There are a ton of sites that sell computers on Black Friday, and scouring through all of them would take you a lot of time—that’s why we do it for you here and highlight the best deals we find. However, to save you some time and frustration, you need to be smart about where you look at any given time of the year.

During holiday shopping times like Black Friday, you’re best bet is to check first-party vendor websites. These include the retail storefronts of popular computer manufacturers such as HP, Dell, and Lenovo.

However, if you can’t find anything you like there, then you can expand your search to large third-party retailers such as Amazon, Adorama, Walmart, BestBuy, and Newegg. Oftentimes these websites will offer limited Deals of the Day of Flash Deal type sales in hopes of getting rid of excess stock. On the upside, you can score still-decent PCs at a steep discount if you time it right.

Author: Sam Singleton, Assistant Editor

Sam Singleton is a tech editor and PCWorld’s jack of all trades. When he’s not on the hunt for the best computer deals he’s covering VPNs, productivity software, laptops, and a wide gamut of consumer-grade hardware and software.

Recent stories by Sam Singleton:

Best PC computer deals: Top picks from desktops to all-in-onesBest Cyber Monday desktop computer dealsBest October Prime Day computer deals