Black Friday gaming PC deals LIVE: All the best deals and stock updates as I find your next desktop

Although, this RTX 5060 Ti build gets you more VRAM

Having just swapped out an RTX 5060 Ti deal for another, this is also an option to consider.

For those who don't know, there are variants of the RTX 5060 Ti that pack 16GB of VRAM, giving you more headroom for higher resolution gameplay. This configuration from (in fairness, a builder I haven't come across before) uses one, and although it's a bit pricier than PC's that house the regular variant of this GPU, it may be worth knowing about for some of you who have more budget to play with.

Specs: Intel Core i7-14700F, RTX 5060 Ti 16GB, 32GB of DDR5, 2TB SSD

Xidax Gaming Desktop | $1,799.99 $1,249.99 at Newegg

A quick update to the best US deals

To kick things off for US readers, here's the list of what I'd argue are the best all-rounders for each GPU.

The only real change is the RTX 5060 Ti build, which has been swapped out for another really great configuration from Ipason, which actually gets you a more up-to-date processor anyway.

• RTX 5060: $799 at Walmart
• RTX 5060 Ti: $1,199 at Newegg
• RTX 5070: $1,299 at Newegg
• RX 9070 XT: $1,899 at Newegg
• RTX 5070 Ti: $1,664 at Dell
• RTX 5080: $2,299.99 at Newegg

It's almost time to shift to US deal hunting

As we get into the afternoon here in the UK, I'm aware more US readers are going to be waking up, so I'll probably start shifting focus to the US retailers now. If you're in the UK, stick around though, I'll keep an eye out for more discounts for you too.

The Radeon RX 9070 finally makes an appearance

I've seen a few RX 9070 XT gaming PCs this Black Friday, but I think this might be the first RX 9070 build I've come across. It's an interesting deal too, because while its central CPU and GPU components are predetermined, the retail page at Overclockers lets you customize the other aspects of the build.

For the standard deal price listed below, these are the specs you get:

Specs: Intel Core i7-14700F, Radeon RX 9070, 32GB DDR5, 1TB SSD, MSI AIO

OcUK Gaming Buzzard | £1,799.99 £1,699.99 at OverclockersUK

If you want a cheap way into the RTX 5070, this could be one

Okay, so this deal is flying by the seat of its pants a little. I really don't like the lack of transparency from Very on this one, because it doesn't tell you what motherboard this PC uses.

It has a DDR5 compatible CPU, but uses DDR4 out of the box, which is why it's more affordable. If the motherboard has a chipset that allows DDR5, I'd recommend this deal for sure because it gives you the gaming power of an RTX 5070 and a platform you can upgrade over time.

If the motherboard is locked to DDR4 and they're not telling people, this is pretty shady, whether that's Stormforce or Very's fault.

I'm going to tentatively recommend you this deal, but if you're interested, I'd be doing everything possible to contact Very and see precisely what motherboard will be used before heading to checkout.

Specs: Intel Core i5-12400F, RTX 5070, 16GB of DDR4, 1TB SSD

Stormforce FV150 | £1,299 £1,099 at Very

This is a powerful combo for under £2,000

For those looking for a slightly beefier combination of CPU and GPU might, LaptopsDirect also has a CyberPowerPC build that I'm slightly surprised to see under £1,900, based on other builds and what other retailers are offering.

The Ryzen 7 9800X3D is a very powerful gaming processor, and probably the best one for most gamers who want the best without overspending. Combine that with an RTX 5070 Ti, and you're going to have a lot of headroom for 4K performance.

Specs: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D, RTX 5070 Ti, 32GB of DDR5, 2TB SSD

CyberPowerPC + 1 Year of Norton 360 | £1,999 £1,799 at Laptops Direct

And if you want a desktop processor...

But if you'd rather keep things simple and get a desktop processor, this last-gen rig from Lenovo at LaptopsDirect is actually pretty well balanced.

You get a 14th gen processor, 16GB of DDR5, and an RTX 4060 - pretty good for a budget buy if you're not bothered about the latest generation of Nvidia DLSS wizardry.

Specs: Intel Core i5-14400F, RTX 4060, 16GB of DDR5, 1TB SSD

Lenovo Legion T5 | £1,199 £849 at LaptopsDirect

Lenovo has some good deals, but there's a catch

Lenovo's gaming PC deals are tempting to recommend because they do give you modern components for a pretty reasonable price.

That said, you need to be careful because some of them use laptop processors. While these aren't bad, I think the biggest appeal of desktop PC gaming is that you have a platform you can upgrade, and it's going to be much, much more difficult to upgrade a motherboard with a laptop processor installed onto it. Even if the CPU isn't soldered down, you're going to have trouble buying a new laptop processor to fit on your motherboard socket separately.

If that isn't an issue for you, then check out the deal below, but I'd recommend looking for desktop chips instead. In my experience, they also age a lot better.

Specs: Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX, RTX 5060, 16GB DDR5, 1TB SSD

Lenovo Legion T5i | £1,399 £1,099 at Lenovo

You don't have to spend big on your processor

If you haven't upgraded your PC in a while, or you're just getting to grips with all of the CPU naming conventions and whatnot, it can be tempting to think you need to spend big on one.

The CPU is a really pivotal part of your computer, so it's understandable to want a good one, but I'm going to tell you a secret. Most modern CPUs are so efficient that you can still opt for an i5 or Ryzen 5 and still get excellent performance in gaming and content creation, even in 4K. Especially if you have a GPU to lean on as well, the CPU is an area you shouldn't feel the need to spend big on.

Okay, please don't shop at Amazon for a PC if you're in the UK

Amazon is basically never my first choice for PC shopping in the UK or US, but I thought I'd take a look just in case. Unless you're buying a super cheap secondary streaming PC or something, those deals just aren't worth it. A lot of them don't even have graphics cards, or use older components so you won't be able to upgrade them.

If all you plan to play on a PC is platformers and very undemanding older games, go ahead, but a lot of the PCs on offer at Amazon won't help the majority of gamers who want more than that.

Ah well, it was worth a look.

MSI is offering some great value too

MSI offers some really strong deals in the US, and it's doing the same with its prebuilds in the UK. If you're looking for a cheaper RTX 5060 rig than HP is offering, and you want to ensure you get DDR5 out of the box, give this one a look.

Specs: Intel Core i5-14400, RTX 5060, 16GB of DDR5, 1TB SSD

MSI Mag Infinite S3 | £999 £899 at Currys

Prices are all over the place in the UK

Alright, so one thing I'm noticing is that in the UK, prices really aren't as consistent as they are in the US. Across the pond, it seems like every retailer is trying to outdo one another and prices for specific specs are matched to the cheapest ones at other stores.

In the UK it's a bit more of a case by case basis, so finding truly good deals takes a bit more digging and spec-checking. A lot of the most affordable rigs are using DDR4 RAM, or older motherboards in order to provide that lower cost, but to be honest, I don't really want to recommend too many of those deals because I'm a big believer in futureproofing if you're going to spend this much.

One deal I do like, since HP's Omen PCs come with premium, up-to-date parts, is this Omen 35L at Currys.

Specs: Intel Core i5-14400, RTX 5060, 16GB of DDR5, 1TB SSD

HP Omen 35L | £1,399 £1,099 at Currys

If you don't mind DDR4, this is a great budget option

It's very difficult to find any RTX 4060 gaming PCs this year - harder than I thought it'd be.

If you're on a really tight budget, this last-gen rig won't drop too much in the way of performance from an RTC 5060 rig, but it does drop the price a fair chunk.

The only problem? You're getting DDR4 RAM on a DDR5-compatible motherboard, and given that prices for memory are still climbing, that means you'll likely need to spend big to get the full power out of this machine. That said, you're getting a much more capable gaming machine than the PS5 Pro, and you're paying the same sort of money.

Specs: Intel Core i5-13400F, RTX 4060, 16GB of DDR4, 1TB SSD

Lenovo LOQ 17IRB8 | £849 £699 at BOX

Morning folks!

Well hello again, I'm back for round two of reviewing Black Friday's gaming PC deals live.

The US readers will still be in their beds, so I'm going to focus my search on UK offers for the next little while. Bear with me as I get set up and ready.

I'm clocking off, but I'll be back tomorrow

And we've reached the end of the working day here in the UK, which means I'll be heading off now. I'll be back tomorrow for more deals hunting to try and help you grab the gaming PC you've been saving for. Until then, hopefully the discounts and buying advice I've highlighted today will be of use - feel free to go for a scroll through today's coverage to see for yourself.

Ciao for now!

Should you wait until Black Friday officially starts?

In short, no.

One of the reasons I started this live blog today is that it's highly likely that PCs will drop in and out of stock as more people shop for them, and new deals usually come to replace ones that go out of stock. But in terms of price levels, it's very unlikely that discounts drop any lower than they are now (with a few exceptions). For the most part, the prices you're seeing me point at today are the ones you'll be seeing tomorrow and Friday, and in fact, through until Cyber Monday as well.

Take it from a guy who's been covering gaming PC deals for four years on the trot; Black Friday isn't just one day anymore, and Cyber Monday is essentially the scraps of what's still left after Thanksgiving weekend.

There are a fair few RTX 5070 gaming PC deals at Amazon

The sweet spot on price for an RTX 5070 gaming PC is around the $1,450 mark, with a few Black Friday offers dipping below that.

I wouldn't usually recommend Amazon as the first port of call for full PC shopping on Black Friday, but there are a surprising number of decent RTX 5070 builds going for discounted prices over there. Take a look at a few below. A lot of these are very similar, and a few you can find cheaper elsewhere, but it's always good to have a range of spec variations to choose from, and some different designs so you can get the PC you really like.

If stock shortages become an issue, it can be good to have these in the back pocket too.

• Alienware Aurora RTX 5070: $1,845 $1,499 at Amazon
• MSI Codex Z2: $1,699.99 $1,444.95 at Amazon
• iBUYPOWER Slate Mesh: $1,799 $1,419 at Amazon
• Acer Nitro 60: $1,899.99 $1,498 at Amazon

My PC case is beautiful, and it's on offer

This is the PC I work and play on on a daily basis, and although beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I think it's pretty darn good-looking. If you're building a PC of your own this year, I can definitely recommend the NZXT H3 Flow. I really love it for the fact that it's a micro-ATX case, which means it's slightly smaller than your average PC case.

You know, it's called a desktop PC for a reason, and I feel that too many PC cases are hulking great masses these days that you can't actually sit on top of your desk without taking up all your surface space.

NZXT H3 Flow | $79.99 $59.99 at Amazon

In fact, this year has been a great one for cases of this size. I haven't tested out the Fractal Epoch, but it's a similar design, which is a bit more expensive, but is also discounted from $120.99 to $90.99 at Amazon.

AMD or Intel? Here's why most prebuilt PCs are using AMD chips this year

In the past few years, it's actually been quite difficult to find a lot of prebuilt gaming PCs that use AMD CPUs and motherboards. Intel has always been the most popular choice for building manufacturers, probably because Intel has always been the more popular CPU brand.

This year, it feels like that's properly shifted in AMD's favour, and now, it's harder to find prebuilt machines with Intel CPUs in them across the whole range of Black Friday gaming PC deals. To be honest, I think that's actually a really good thing, because AMD's futureproofing and support for its sockets is so much better than Intel's.

For reference, Intel is still supporting its 2016 motherboard socket, whereas Intel's LGA 1700 motherboard socket is practically dead in the water in terms of new releases you could potentially upgrade to.

AMD's AM5 platform is still alive and well, servicing the Ryzen 7000, 8000G, and 9000 series processors, with even more processors planned for it for the next few years at least. Intel's current gen socket has one family of Core Ultra processors available for it, with a refreshed generation rumoured for it, but also a new motherboard socket in the works again which signals to me nothing is changing about this brand's futureproofing.

If I were you, I'd go for AMD right now. I'm not alone there either. Not that it's a definite marker of things, but the Steam Hardware survey has consistently shown growth for the use of AMD processors this year, so that domination from Intel for sure seems to be slipping toward the Red Team.

If you've got the budget, one of my favorite PCs of 2025 is on offer

I'm super happy with the improvements to cooling and noise levels that Acer made this year with the latest iteration of the Acer Predator Orion 7000 (2025), but unfortunately, this brand's PC's can still be ludicrously expensive. If you've had your eye on the RTX 5080 configuration that I reviewed but wanted to wait until the price was a bit more reasonable, you can get it for £500 cheaper at the moment.

Annoyingly, these new-gen versions of the Orion haven't made their way to the US yet, so this is just a deal for UK readers.

For reference, I do think this is a particularly pricey build, but there are a fair few cheaper configurations (dubbed Orion 5000) at Currys, I think are worth your time if you're shopping for a new PC in the UK.

Specs: Intel Core Ultra 7-256, RTX 5080, 32GB of DDR5, 2TB SSD

Acer Predator Orion 7000 | £3,299 £2,799 at Currys

Want an RTX 5070 Ti build but not from Alienware?

If so, I understand your reasoning. There aren't many RTX 5070 Ti builds under $1,700 at the moment, but this one from MSI just about manages it (by a penny).

It combines the 5070 Ti with the AMD Ryzen 7 8700F, and having reviewed the AMD Ryzen 7 8700G, I can tell you there's a lot of unexpected oomph in that processor. It's a real shame that you don't get liquid cooling for it at this sort of price. Still, you'll probably find it easier to add one in than you would if you had to do a small upgrade to an Alienware machine.

Specs: AMD Ryzen 7 8700F, RTX 5070 Ti, 32GB of DDR5, 2TB SSD

MSI Aegis Z2 | $1,899 $1,699.99 at Newegg

iBUYPOWER finally delivers the goods

I'm a big admirer of iBUYPOWER, because traditionally, they've always been a go-to brand like CyberPowerPC and ABS for providing budget systems at this time of year. This year, I've seen very few of their gaming PCs on shelves at Best Buy and Walmart, and their discounts at iBUYPOWER's own store have been a lot pricier than the competition.

I've just spotted this entry-level iBUYPOWER Element at Best Buy though, which rivals some of the best 5060 PC prices I'm seeing elsewhere this Black Friday. Having reviewed the iBUYPOWER Slate 8MP around this time last year, I can attest to this brand's build quality.

Specs: Intel Core i5-14400F, RTX 5060, 16GB DDR5, 1TB SSD

iBUYPOWER Element SE | $1,039.99 $779 at Best Buy

To Alienware, or not to Alienware?

I have to say, for how much I usually steer people away from Alienware if they're looking to keep to a strict budget, this brand's Black Friday deals aren't too shabby. Don't get me wrong, they're still pricey compared to most options, but Dell's doing a much better job of making these PCs more affordable.

But what's the deal with Alienware? Well, this brand has always made stylish and premium PCs, but it's fallen out of favor with a lot of folks thanks to its use of proprietary motherboards that you can't swap parts on and off of.

Thankfully, Alienware has taken a turn in recent years with a step towards more "normal" builds and a more consumer-friendly approach to parts swapping.

If I had to recommend one build in particular, it'd be this RTX 5070 Ti one:

Specs: Intel Core Ultra 7 265F | RTX 5070 Ti | 16GB RAM | 1TB SSD

Alienware Aurora RTX 5070 Ti gaming PC | $2,129.99 $1,664.99 at Dell

A $420 discount on one of my top picks? Nice

The HP Omen 35L is a frequent flyer during Black Friday gaming PC deals, and 2025 is no different. This RTX 5060 configuration has sailed down from its $1,299.99 MSRP to hit an $879.99 sales price at Best Buy this week. That's an excellent result for anyone after a solid mid-ranger with plenty of room to upgrade further down the line. You're dropping the AIO cooler of more expensive options but this is still a solid three-figure pick.

HP Omen 35L RTX 5060 gaming PC | $1,299.99 $879.99 at Best Buy

Read more: HP Omen 35L review

Grabbing a quick bite, I'll be back shortly

I just need to step away briefly to grab some lunch, but I'll be back shortly with more deals and buying advice. Brb!

And for UK shoppers, here's an equivalent...

If you're on the UK side of the pond and you're hunting for a similar build, I'd recommend this PCSpecialist Fusion 50 over at Very. You don't get the same ultra-powerful combination of CPU and GPU, but you do get a very solid RX 9070 XT build for $1,399 - which is actually cheaper than most RTX 5070 PCs in the UK right now.

Specs: AMD Ryzen 7 7700, AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT, 16GB of DDR5, 1TB SSD

PCSpecialist Fusion 50 | $1,699 $1,399 at Very

My favorite deal so far today?

If I had to pick one favorite deal that I've seen so far today, which I think stands above the others, it'd probably have to be this CyberPowerPC build at Newegg. The reason being, it combines two of the most highly coveted gaming components of 2025 into one excellent package, and its price is pretty darn good compared to other builds in this spec range.

The Radeon RX 9070 XT has been a popular choice, not just because of its price, but because it chooses to prioritize native 4K graphical power over a reliance on AI upscaling.

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3XD is a sequel to what I'd call the best pound-for-pound CPU for gaming on the market, and from my time with it in the NZXT Player Three I reviewed, it's just excellent for gaming.

Combine these two components, and you've got one seriously powerful PC - and a rare configuration in a prebuild because both parts are in such high demand. If you've got the budget, this is the PC I'd aim for.

Specs: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D, Radeon RX 9070 XT, 32GB of DDR5, 2TB SSD, AIO cooler

CyberPowerPC Gaming Desktop | $1,879.99 $1,674.99 at Newegg

Looking to build your own PC this Black Friday?

I totally understand the appeal of building your own system using Black Friday gaming PC deals. In fact, I put together a handy guide yesterday to show what savings you can make on brand new components. If you're thinking of building instead of buying, maybe give it a look.

Read more: I used these Black Friday deals to assemble a 1440p gaming PC with all-modern components, and it costs a lot less than I thought it would

A quick cheat sheet for GPU tiers

If you're only just shopping for a gaming PC for the first time, it can be really tricky to know what parts you're actually looking at. Personally, I think they're intentionally confusing, but that's a whole other conversation.

Here's a quick guide as to what the various GPU rankings mean, using Nvidia as an example.

We're currently on the Nvidia 50 Series of graphics cards, so if you see "50" after RTX, that means it's a GPU from this most recent generation.

Then, it goes in ascending order, the higher the number after 50, the more graphical power you get. If you see a "Ti" in there, that means it's a half step more powerful.

So it goes, RTX 5060, 5060 Ti, 5070, 5070 Ti, 5080, 5090, with 5090 being the most powerful.

On the AMD side, we're on the Radeon RX 9000 Series, and it works in the same way.

The 9060 is the entry level option, and the 9070 and 9070 XT are the high-end cards.

Here's a great RTX 5070 build from Lenovo

If you'd feel more secure buying from a well-known brand, ones like Lenovo and HP can be go-to sources for Black Friday deals.

Lenovo has a really great offer here at Best Buy, which combines an RTX 5070 and one of the best gaming CPUs money can buy, the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D.

I like this deal because I've been watching RTX 5070 PCs sit at $1,449 at the very lowest all year, and this comfortably falls under that. But you are also getting a really excellent gaming processor, which isn't always the case with Black Friday prebuilds. You also get 32GB of DDR5 RAM.

Specs: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D, RTX 5070, 32GB of DDR5, 1TB SSD

Lenovo Legion Tower5 | $1,879.99 $1,399.99 at Best Buy

Some deals are sneaky like this...

Okay, so if you haven't heard, RAM is seeing a massive price spike at the moment, and it's all AI's fault. RAM, both DDR4 and DDR5, is extortionate right now compared to even a few months ago, and one of the few ways to get it slightly cheaper is to grab it as part of a prebuilt PC.

This first deal is a lesson to be wary of. A lot of retailers might want to cut costs and put DDR4 RAM in their machines, but they won't directly highlight that in the title of the product. Like here, in this AOCE gaming PC, which houses an RTX 5060 and "32GB of RAM".

How helpfully vague.

When you dig deeper, it has 32GB of DDR4, and what's maybe worse is that it's touting a current-gen RTX 5060 GPU on an older AMD motherboard that actually isn't going to be DDR5 compatible. That means this build isn't very futureproofed, but it does have an up-to-date graphics card. I'd recommend this build due to its low price, but when there are futureproofed builds going for similar prices, that's hard to ignore. Still, I'll let you be the judge.

Specs: AMD Ryzen 7 5700X, RTX 5060, 32GB of DDR4, 1TB SSD

AOCE Gaming PC | $1,799.99 $889 at Newegg + $60 promotional gift card

Hello there!

Well hey! I think it's just about time we get rolling with some live updates.

I'm going to hit the shelves now, and see what offers may be hiding that I haven't seen already. Until then, take a look at the highlighted deals above.

For context, I'm going to be mainly pulling offers from the tried and tested retailers I used year-round for PC deals. That list almost always begins with Newegg, but includes Best Buy, Walmart, and then Amazon (probably in that order).

I may pull a few deals from first-party stores like Maingear, NZXT, or Alienware too, it just depends on what offers they have compared to the larger pools at the bigger retailers.

Let's make a start.