If you’re looking for a discounted gaming graphics card, you’re out of luck this year. If you’re in the market for any number of other PC gaming accessories or even a prebuilt gaming desktop, though, there are plenty of high-quality products currently offered at significant discounts. No matter what you need to complete your gaming setup, there’s very likely a Black Friday deal out there that can help you.
While video cards seem rarer than diamonds right now, you can actually find some pre-built PCs that are good for gaming. Some of these are flashy-looking PCs that will appeal to lovers of RGB lights, while others are more understated and wouldn’t stand out in an office but are still equipped with impressively powerful hardware.
Of course, PC gaming involves more equipment than just the computer. When looking for the right accessories, it’s important to stick with relatively well-known manufacturers. You’ll find a flood of PC gaming products from no-name manufacturers at rock-bottom prices, but they rarely have the quality control or feature set of accessories from reputable brands.
Whether you’re looking for a headset, mechanical keyboard, desktop speakers or even a mouse pad, there are several must-have accessories that would make great holiday gifts. To keep up with deals in and out of the holiday season, sign up for the BestReviews newsletter, where you can find great deals on all kinds of products.
Alienware Aurora R12 Gaming Desktop
The hardware inside this iconic gaming PC is about as new and powerful as it gets. The Intel Core i7 CPU can reach nearly 5GHz and the dual-channel RAM supports the Intel Extreme Memory Profile at a speed of 3,200MHz. It packs a powerful Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 GPU and there’s a slightly more expensive version with an RTX 3080. All in all, there are few games that this machine can’t play at high frame rates and ultra graphics settings.
Sold by Dell
Dell XPS Desktop Special Edition
Since it’s not technically marketed as a gaming PC, this one looks like a regular computer instead of a fighter jet with RGB lights attached. Aside from its spartan appearance, it sports a GeForce GTX 1660 Ti GPU that, while part of the previous-generation lineup, is reasonably capable of playing modern AA titles. For a little more firepower, consider upgrading to the same PC but with the significantly more powerful AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT video card.
Sold by Dell
HP Pavilion Gaming Desktop TG01-2260xt
It’s extremely hard to find a reasonably priced GPU these days, so consider this clean-looking pre-built desktop as a stopgap between now and when prices descend from the stratosphere. Its GeForce GTX 1650 graphics card isn’t exactly the Ferrari of GPUs, but the graphics card, the 8GB of system memory and 256GB should be able to run a good number of titles at 1080p with moderate quality settings. Of course, you can always upgrade those components in the future when the microchip shortage has settled down a bit.
Sold by HP
To be clear, this is an almost-complete gaming PC that will still require a discrete GPU for any serious gaming. If you happen to have a decent video card sitting around, though, this pre-built model is a great choice. It has a whopping 32GB of high-speed RAM, over 2TB of storage space and it even comes with a backlit keyboard and gaming mouse.
Sold by Amazon
Punkston TK87 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard
If you’ve never played PC games on a mechanical keyboard, now is the time to make the switch. This one uses Cherry MX-style Red switches, which don’t make much noise and have a linear action for quick reaction times. There are several RGB modes and you can use the included software to remap nearly any keys on the keyboard. Overall, it’s an incredibly durable piece of equipment and the tenkeyless design is great for ergonomics.
Sold by Amazon
A wrist rest isn’t high on most people’s lists of gaming accessories — in fact, most people don’t even consider getting one. You really should, though, as supporting your wrist while using a keyboard will make your experience more pleasant and help promote long-term joint health, especially if you have a lot of all-night gaming sessions. This one’s not discounted for the holidays, but it’s made from durable, gel-infused memory foam and should last for years without issue.
Sold by Amazon
Logitech G903 Wireless Gaming Mouse
Equipped with a proprietary 2.4GHz wireless system that communicates with a USB dongle and introduces no noticeable lag, this is consistently considered one of the best wireless mice on the planet. It offers a total of 11 customizable buttons and is packed with some of the best mouse hardware out there, including the advanced Hero 25K sensor that’s as precise and reliable as they come. The rechargeable battery inside claims a lifespan of 140 hours and considering how heavily the mouse is discounted, it’s hard for dedicated gamers to pass up.
Sold by Amazon
Razer DeathAdder Essential Gaming Mouse
Not all gaming mice have to look flashy and have a ton of buttons. This straightforward and well-made option comes from a renowned manufacturer, offers a great fit and finish and doesn’t weigh very much. It’s not a particularly expensive mouse in the first place and it’s that much better of a deal thanks to its pre-Black Friday discount.
Sold by Amazon
It’s worth getting a gaming-focused mousepad largely because that way, you know you can trust the materials to last a long time without going threadbare or rubbing off on your desk or the bottom of your mouse. The SteelSeries QcK family comes in simple cloth versions as well as extra-large desk mats complete with RGB accents. The model with the stitched edge is the perfect choice for most people, as it offers medium smoothness and is designed to last for years.
Sold by Amazon
HyperX Cloud Flight S Wireless Gaming Headset
For years, wireless gaming headsets tended to be problematic in terms of reliability and build quality. Like all of their products, HyperX’s entry in the wireless headset field is of great quality, with high-resolution audio and dependable connectivity. The microphone boom is both flexible and detachable, the battery lasts for up to 30 hours of gameplay and it supports Qi wireless charging.
Sold by Amazon
Wide, comfortable ear cups and a relatively light weight make this an especially comfortable headset, even for long gaming sessions. It’s been around for a while and has quite a few pleased owners, and you don’t actually see a ton of big-name manufacturers with such steep holiday discounts. It also offers novel features that are nice to have such as a convenient flip-to-mute mic boom.
Sold by Amazon
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Chris Thomas writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
