Black Friday 2020: the best PC gaming deals you can pick up today
Black Friday 2020 is very nearly upon us, in fact Amazon Prime Day arguably kicked it all off with some Black Friday deals already live. Right at the start of November. What a time to be alive. With the alluring promise of the ultimate deals on the finest of PC gaming gear, the annual consumer shopping frenzy represents a tempting time to either pick up a bargain to round off your perfect PC setup, or else get ahead of the Christmas gifting rush.
The Best Black Friday deals
Jump straight to the deals you want...
1. Gaming PC deals
2. Gaming Laptop deals
3. Gaming Monitor deals
4. TV deals
5. NVMe SSD deals
6. SATA SSD deals
7. External SSD deals
8. Gaming Chair deals
As usual, Black Friday 2020 itself occurs on the last Friday of November, which makes it November 27 this year. But that is, of course, not telling the full story about the true extent of this shopaholism-inducing sales event. Some retailers and manufacturers have already launched their sales, such as Best Buy, Walmart, and Dell, and we're not even out of October yet.
On the plus side it does mean we don't necessarily have to jump into the maelstrom over the main weekend to find the best Black Friday deals on PC gaming goodies. There will be different offers across the month, with a host of different retailers aiming to get the jump on each other with the best offers.
Mostly that means they'll all be trying to beat Amazon. But that is generally an exercise in futility as Jeff knows all, Jeff sees all, and will price match everyone into oblivion. He's probably plugged directly, meatily into a vast datacentre at the start of November, with neurons firing hither and thither, matching or beating the likes of Newegg, Walmart, and the rest in deals... until he's bodily removed by his minions at some point in January to recuperate in a Bacta tank until Prime Day 2021. Probably.
Black Friday deals: quick links
- Amazon - Black Friday deals on anything and everything
- Walmart - Deals on Games, Movies, Budget Laptops
- B&H Photo - Monitors, Laptops, and PCs
- Best Buy - PCs, Laptops, and Accessories
- Target - Games, Accessories, and Laptops
- Staples - Gaming Chairs and assorted office goodies
- Lenovo - Discounts on Legion Laptops and PCs
- Razer - Laptops and Gaming Accessories
- Newegg - Components and Hardware
- Microsoft - PCs, Laptops, and Games
- Dell - Alienware PCs and Laptops
The best early Black Friday deals
Yes, you can already make some savings on techie goodies right now, with a number of different early Black Friday deals on offer. Sure, we've still got a long time to wait until Black Friday itself, and with a load more deals set to drop too, but if you need something right now there are discounts to be had.
Black Friday Gaming PC deals
Origin PC deals | Pick up to 3 free gifts on select systems
Origin hasn't yet listed any specific system deals, but it has launched its Black Friday bundles. The bonuses take the form of either a $50 VISA card, a 500GB Seagate SSD, a Corsiar Void Pro wireless headset, a Corsair K55 and Harpoon keyboard/mouse setup, a Corsair Dark Core Pro mouse, or an Elgato Mini Dock.View Deal
Omen Obelisk PC | Intel i5 | GTX 1660 | $965 at Amazon
While not sporting the most powerful components by any means, the Omen Obelisk is a reliable workhorse of a gaming PC, and comes from the also-reliable HP stable. The GTX 1660 is a solid 1080p gaming card, and the i5 is a speedy 6-core last-gen processor. There will be better deals, but this is a solid starter rig.View Deal
CyperPowerPC Gamer Master | Ryzen 7 3700X| RTX 2060 | $999 at Walmart
Walmart focuses on the Ryzen 7 3700X in this machine, and forgets to mention the RTX 2060 powering the graphics side of things. That aside, this is a pretty sweet deal, with those two components providing some excellent raw grunt for 1080p/1440p gaming. You can even hit some ray tracing goodness as well. 16GB of RAM, a 240GB SSD and 1TB HDD round things off nicely.View Deal
HP Pavilion TP01-0145m | Ryzen 3 3200G | Radeon RTX 550| $549.99 $449.99 at Walmart
This unassuming box is a bit of an oddity for an office machine in that it pairs the Ryzen 3 3200G's integrated graphics with a Radeon RTX 550 graphics card. Beyond that you get 8GB of RAM, a 128GB boot SSD for the bundled copy of Windows 10 Home, and a 1TB HDD. A decent work system that could play the odd game at a push.View Deal
Black Friday Gaming Laptop deals
Dell G3 15 | Intel i5 | GTX 1650 | $809.99 $659.59 at Dell (save $150)
The GTX 1650 GPU is never going to set any gaming benchmark records, but will still deliver you decent 1080p gaming performance, and for just $660 that's a great effort from this stylish Dell machine. The 4-core, 8-thread Core i5 is a decent CPU, you get 2x 4GB RAM for proper dual-channel support and a 256GB SSD.View Deal
Gateway Creator Series 15.6-Inch | i5 10300H | RTX 2060 | $999 $849 at Walmart
Don't adjust your calendar, it's still 2020. However, this Gateway (yes, GATEWAY) deal is really good. It's tough to get an RTX 2060 at this price, paired with a Comet Lake CPU and a display with a 120Hz refresh rate. The 8GB of RAM and 256GB SSD may be a little miserly, but upgrades are reportedly straightforward.
View Deal
Acer Nitro 5 | Intel i3 | RTX 2060 | $999.99 $899 at B&H
Nvidia promised us sub-$1,000 RTX 2060 laptops, and now even those are getting discounted with new cards coming in 2021. This Acer machine sports a low-end 4-core/8-thread CPU, but the RTX 2060 is a great mainstream mobile chip. The 144Hz display, 16GB RAM, and 512GB SSD ain't bad either.View Deal
Lenovo IdeaPad Slim | Intel i5 | Nvidia MX350 | $879.99 $649.99 at Staples
The MX350 is never going to win any awards as a gaming GPU, but it is still a discrete graphics card that's going to deliver higher gaming performance than the integrated GPU of Intel's 10th Gen chips. You can squeeze 720p gaming out of this office machine, with a 512GB SSD and 8GB RAM.View Deal
MSI GL75 | 17.3-Inch |Intel i7 | RTX 2070 | 16GB RAM | 512GB SSD + 1TB HDD | $1,499 $1,199 after rebate
This is a strong configuration from top to bottom for playing games at high framerates. With a 6-core, 12-thread Intel CPU, a powerful mobile Nvidia GPU, 16GB RAM, and a 512GB SSD paired with a 1TB HDD, this is a lot of laptop. Discounted price requires code 4STUDENT (save $100) and cashing in the $100 mail-in-rebate.View Deal
Acer Swift 3 | 14-inch | Ryzen 7 4700U | $679.99 at Amazon
If you're just after a basic office laptop, that will deliver on battery life and general system performance, the Swift 3 is a great shout. It's small, comes with a 512GB NVMe SSD, and 8GB or RAM. It's no gaming machine, but the 8-core AMD APU is a quality bit of kit, and you could get some very light gaming going on it.View Deal
Microsoft Surface Pro 7 | Intel i3 | $959 $599 at Best Buy
It's no gaming laptop, but the Pro 7 is a solid tablet with PC pretensions thanks to its connected keyboard and Intel Core i3 processor. The 4GB of RAM and 128GB SSD capacity would be a bit miserly on a fully fledged laptop, but in this 12.3-inch tablet form it will absolutely do the job you need of it.View Deal
Black Friday Gaming Monitor deals
Acer Predator XB271HU | 27-inch | 1440p | 165Hz | $699.99 $508 at Amazon
The XB271 is one of my favourite displays of all time, it uses the exact same panel as the Asus ROG PG279Q, which currently sits atop our best gaming monitors list. And with a $300 discount it's a great price for a high refresh 1440p panel. There's no HDR involved, but that's almost a moot point on PC these days.View Deal
Alienware AW3420DW | 34-inch | 3440x1440 | 120Hz | $1,199.99 $999 at Amazon
This Alienware panel is one of the best ultrawide screens around, though has always been at a rather unpalatable price. Still, at over a grand it's a lot to spend on a screen, but with an IPS panel capable of running at 120Hz, a curve that will wrap your games around you, and a 1440p high res it's got the goods for sure.View Deal
Black Friday TV deals
LG CX 55-Inch OLED TV | $1,799 $1,399.99 at Amazon
We found the 48-inch model to be the best TV for gaming, and this one is both bigger and cheaper right now. If you've been waiting to make the plunge into OLED territory, now is the time to jump.
View Deal
Sony Bravia A9G | OLED| 55-inch | $2,499.99 $1,899.99 at Best Buy
Unless you have a vast lounge a 55-inch 4K TV is the sweet spot for big-screen televisions, and OLED is the perfect panel technology for such a beast. It's also a great technology for gaming, delivering impeccable contrast and HDR. And with $600 off this Sony OLED it's below $2,000 right now.View Deal
Black Friday NVMe SSD deals
Adata XPG SX8200 Pro | 512GB | PCIe 3.0 | $129.99 $62.99 at Amazon (save $67)
Adata might not be a fashionable name in solid state storage but the XPG SX8200 Pro is a quality NVMe SSD, with impressive read/write performance not far off the big bois. And it manages to offer that performance with an impressively svelte pricetag too, especially when on offer at under half price.View Deal
Western Digital WD_Black SN750 | 500GB | PCIe 3.0 | $62.99 at Amazon
Western Digital came late to the SSD game, despite being a huge name in the hard drive market, but the SN750 appeared with its own controller and performance to match the might of Samsung's NVMe SSDs. It's still up there, and this 500GB version is a great little drive for this price.View Deal
Samsung 970 EVO SSD | 500GB | PCIe 3.0 | $99.99 $69 at Amazon (31% off)
You'd probably want a 1TB drive, but if you can't stretch that far a 500GB NVMe drive is still absolutely better than not having one. Especially when it's a speedy Samsung offering. This is a decent price for a half terabyte drive and it's not really that much slower than the slightly update EVO Plus version.View Deal
Samsung 970 EVO Plus | 500GB| PCIe 3.0 | $129.99 $79.99 at Amazon (save $50)
We may be getting near the point where we regularly recommend a 1TB NVMe SSD as the baseline for what you should be having as a boot drive in your gaming rig, but for right now, having a speedy 500GB 970 EVO Plus on your side will do just fine. That will make Windows feel zippy, as well as your most oft-played games.View Deal
Crucial P1 | 1TB | PCIe 3.0 | $104.99 $93.99 at Amazon (10% off)
Let's be clear, while it is an NVMe SSD, the Crucial P1 is not in the same league as a Samsung version, but that said it's still hugely quicker than any SATA drive any manufacturer can offer. And at under $100 it's a whole lot of speedy storage for not a whole lot of actual cash.View Deal
WD Black SN750 SSD | 1TB | PCIe 3.0 | $249.99 $134.99 at Amazon (save $115)
This 1TB PCIe SSD will deliver high-end storage performance, with a serious gobbet of game storing capacity. It's not going to hit the heights of PCIe 4.0 drives, but you'll struggle to find a comparative option with the space on offer to this WD SSD.View Deal
Samsung 970 EVO Plus | 1TB | PCIe 3.0 | $249.99 $142.72 at Amazon (save $107)
While we're still waiting for the newer PCIe 4.0 interface to become ubiquitous speedy PCIe 3.0 SSDs, such as this excellent Samsung 970 EVO Plus, are still absolutely worth your money. For under $150 this is a good price for a 1TB NVMe SSD, though you may find lesser-known brands hitting $120-odd around Black Friday.View Deal
Corsair MP400 | 1TB | PCIe 3.0 | $136.99 $119.99 at Newegg (save $17)
As a member of the QLC brigade this Corsair PCIe 3.0 drive can't quite muster the write performance of something like Samsung or WD's finest, but this is still decent value for 1TB of SSD storage with performance way ahead of an equivalent SATA drive.View Deal
Mushkin Enhanced Pilot-E | 2TB | PCIe 3.0 | $309.99 $219.99 at Newegg (save $90)
The price of NVMe drives is at a spectacularly low level right now, to the point where a seriously quick 2TB drive like this is only a shade over $200. That, together with its competitive read/write speed, makes this a rather desirable little slice of silicon to house your precious game data.View Deal
Black Friday SATA SSD deals
Samsung SSD 860 EVO | 500GB | $89.99 $53.99 at Amazon (save $36)
This 500GB version of the mighty Samsung 860 EVO will still deliver plenty of PC storage capacity for the discerning gamer, with performance ahead of anything your ol' spinner platter hard drive could dream of hitting. Though it is worth noting that you will find NVMe options for not a whole lot more if your system is compatible.
View Deal
Samsung SSD 860 EVO | 1TB | $199.99 $99.99 at Amazon (save $100)
If you are after some solid solid state storage options then the classic 860 EVO is one of the best SATA drives you can buy. Samsung is always reliable in the SSD world now, and at half price this 1TB SATA drive is outstanding value as either the base for your whole rig or just some speedy secondary Steam library storage.
View Deal
WD Green | 1TB | $105.99 $89.99 at Amazon (save $16)
The WD Green is from Western Digital's less performant range of SSDs, which is why the initial price tag isn't as high as the quicker Samsung SATA drives. But still, you are getting a full terabyte of SSD storage for under $90, and if you were after speed you'd have already decided on an NVMe drive instead...View Deal
Black Friday External SSD deals
Samsung X5 | 2TB | Thunderbolt 3 | $699.99 $549.99 at Amazon (save $150)
Yeah, that is a lot of money to drop on some external SSD storage, but look, that's 2TB of NVMe-class data space. For any professional working on large data sets out in the field, who needs to transfer that stuff around, then spending big on a high-capacity SSD makes a lot of sense. And with $150 off the X5 is great on those counts.View Deal
SanDisk Extreme | 500GB | $97.38 $94.99 at Amazon (save 2%)
This isn't one of those products we're highlighting because it's an incredible saving, but the SanDisk Extreme portable SSD is a rugged, reliable drive that we're happy to recommend because it's a quality product. $95 isn't a stellar discount, but it's still absolutely a fair price for this SSD.View Deal
Black Friday Gaming Chair deals
Emerge Vartan | $229.99 $149.99 at Staples (34% off)
This affordable gaming chair sports the now-classic racing aesthetic, and comes with removable and adjustable neck and lumbar support. The arm rests are also height adjustable, and with a 7-year limited warranty it should last you too.View Deal
Respawn 200 Series Mesh | $299.99 $229.99 at Staples (23% off)
There's no getting away from it, if you're in place for a long gaming session, then your average faux leather-backed chair is going to give you sweaty back syndrome. But, with a breathable mesh back behind the lumbar cushion, the Respawn 200 aims to make that a thing of the past.View Deal
AKRacing Core Series EX| $349 $249 at Amazon ($100 off)
If you really want a lie-flat gaming chair, then AKRacing is going to be your jam, with its 180 degree recline. Unnecessary, I'll grant you, but the steel frame, adjustable armrests, lumbar support, and build quality mean the Core Series EX has other things to recommend it too.View Deal
AKRacing Masters Series | $529 $421 at Amazon (save $108)
The more premium AKRacing seat has had a hefty price cut on Amazon which brings it down to the previous price of the chair tiers below it. That makes this a pretty impressive price for such a well-padded and well-specced gaming chair.View Deal
DXRacer Racing Series | $369.99 $299.99 at Walmart (save $70)
DXRacer chairs don't often come cheap, and still at $300 this is no cheap gaming chair, but with $70 off you're getting a quality racing-style seat with a healthy discount on the standard listing price. View Deal
When is Black Friday 2020?
Black Friday itself falls on November 27, 2020, and effectively carries through the weekend into Cyber Monday on November 30, 2020. We expect the likes of Amazon will hold back certain key deal until this final weekend, though, as I pointed out earlier, you will find the whole dealsgasm going on throughout the month.
There is, however, the issue of shipping. With so much pressure on the delivery infrastructure a lot of retailers are looking to spread things out far more than even we expected, hence the early deals already on the books. If you want to guarantee your Christmas presents arrive before the holidays, then doing your shopping in November makes a lot of sense.
And that makes for a lot of shopping time.
What can I expect discounts on this Black Friday 2020?
When it comes to PC gaming we're expecting you'll be able to find discounts on pretty much every facet of your rig this year. Traditionally it's a great time to keep an eye out for gaming laptop deals, with companies keen to clear older, but still high-quality, stock before the end of the year and new generations are released.
There may also be some deals on the best gaming PCs over the month too, for the same reason. A new generation of Nvidia Ampere and AMD RDNA 2 graphics cards, as well as AMD Zen 3 processors, will be shipping before the year end, and that means last-gen machines might get their final hurrah.
It also means the best graphics cards of the existing GeForce and Radeon generations, which are mostly still available in the shops, could see some meaty discounts too. I would expect that, most especially, AMD Ryzen 3000 CPUs will be the key components to receive stellar deals throughout November.
The price of memory, and therefore the best SSDs, is in a bit of a freefall state right now, and that bodes well for some tasty deals this Black Friday. Again, we're expecting the PCIe 4.0 generation of solid state drives to really push on going into 2021, with new memory controllers and the first next-gen Samsung drive dropping soon, so we expect to see existing PCIe 3.0 SSDs getting their own suite of discounts too.
The gaming monitor market has been mildly stagnant over the last year, but traditionally you'll find Black Friday a good time to be looking for either a straight monitor or for a big-screen 4K TV for gaming.
The PC peripheral market too goes into overdrive around Black Friday, and so the likes of Logitech and Razer are bound to be slashing prices on their existing stock of gaming keyboards, gaming headsets, and the not-so humble gaming mouse.
What should I avoid buying on Black Friday 2020?
Basically anything you don't need. It's distressingly easy to be duped into dropping cash on something just because there's a hefty discount attached to it… even though you have absolutely no use for it.
If you're considering making a purchase around Black Friday we would absolutely recommend going into November with a plan of attack. That probably sounds needlessly aggressive, but you need to know what you actually want to buy first or you'll end up with no end of crap.
Cheap crap, maybe, but crap nonetheless.
Do some research on the products you'd like to pick up in the sales, and maybe some alternatives in case those don't pop up, and set yourself a strict budget too.
Products like graphics cards and processors have obvious tiers (though the different companies work damned hard to make product names as confusing as possible), and SSDs have rated speeds, but for peripherals it's tougher to tell from the specs whether they're worth the money. Checking for reviews, from such luminaries as ourselves, should guide you on your way, and also checking price trackers such as CamelCamelCamel will let you know if a deal's more than just skin deep.
Any other Black Friday 2020 tips and tricks?
If you haven't already used it up during a credit card splurge around Amazon Prime Day, then you ought to take the opportunity to sign up for a free 30-day trial of Amazon Prime. That will get you early access to the Lightning Deals, and help you grab some of Jeff's best deals of the day. It will also net you free shipping on a host of products and speedy delivery too, and at the very worst it'll be handy when it comes to bagging some last-minute Christmas gifts for that aunt you always forget about.
It also might be worth keeping an eye out for Walmart Plus, or Walmart+, depending on how it eventually gets branded. At the moment Walmart's upcoming service is still behind closed doors, but it could be launched in time for Black Friday and may see some of the company's best offers reserved for its release.
But whatever happens around Black Friday 2020, we'll be on hand throughout November to make sure that you're told about the best PC gaming deals going down around the event, and hopefully put a stop to any potential buyer's remorse.
Post a Comment