Best gaming PC deals ahead of the holidays

ABS Master gaming PC with side off on a blue and white background
(Image credit: ABS)

The low prices of Black Friday and Cyber Monday may be over, but that doesn't mean there's no value in buying a gaming PC this side of New Year's Day. If you're in a pickle trying to pick up a PC for someone special, or just looking to treat yourself (hey, you deserve it), these are the best gaming PC deals I could uncover this December.

It must be said that the top savings of yestermonth are gone, and I'm seeing prices pretty much return to normality (which is to say very expensive). Yet from my perusing of the web and scouring of the servers, I've managed to find a few 'extended' Black Friday deals and savings here or there—if you're really in a pinch then at least there's something in it for you.

Whether you're saving tons of cash on the best gaming PC today or not, a pre-built machine is still something of an olive branch in these silicon starved times. Graphics cards are all too tough to find at reasonable prices, and unfortunately, that doesn't appear to be ending anytime soon. That's a big reason why we're so keen on digging on decent deals on gaming PCs today: it's not impossible to find a graphics card at something near what you'd expect to pay for it—if you want tips on where to buy a graphics card we have those too—though a pre-built machine offers some way of guaranteeing a delivery date at a reasonable price.

There's plenty of variance in when a pre-built PC will arrive at your door after ordering, however. The ABS Master gaming PC I've spotted over at Newegg appears to be ready to go almost immediately, but we've also found plenty with delivery dates into January.

So with all that in mind, let's get into the gaming PCs I've found across the web today that might just be worth your time. Some at a discount, others simply a gaming PC we recommend already with some freebies chucked in.

HP Omen 25L

HP Omen 25L Desktop | Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 | Intel Core i7 10700 | 16GB RAM | 512GB SSD | <a href="https://www.awin1.com/awclick.php?awinmid=7168&awinaffid=103504&clickref=hawk-custom-tracking&p=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hp.com%2Fus-en%2Fshop%2FConfigureView%3FlangId%3D-1%26storeId%3D10151%26catEntryId%3D3074457345619587331%26configId%3D7WM47AV_100028%26intel%3D10gi7" data-link-merchant="hp.com"" target="_blank">$1969.99 $1869.99 at HP (save $100)
You'll have to configure this HP gaming PC, but this is a chassis and OEM we recommend and currently at $100 off. It's not the wildest discount ever, but for an RTX 3070 post-Black Friday it's certainly not too bad. It also comes with a hearty choice of CPU in the 10700K. Importantly, it has free shipping, though may arrive in January, 2022.

ABS Master Gaming PC | Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 | Intel Core i5 11400F | 16GB RAM | 512GB SSD | $1,399.99 $1,299.99 at Newegg (save $100)

ABS Master Gaming PC | Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 | Intel Core i5 11400F | 16GB RAM | 512GB SSD | <a href="https://click.linksynergy.com/deeplink?id=kXQk6%2AivFEQ&mid=44583&u1=hawk-custom-tracking&murl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newegg.com%2Fabs-ali570%2Fp%2FN82E16883360205%3FItem%3DN82E16883360205" data-link-merchant="newegg.com"" target="_blank">$1,399.99 $1,299.99 at Newegg (save $100)
The sale on this PC won't last long, so you will want to move quickly if you're hoping to grab it. For an RTX 3060 this is $100 more than we want to pay during Black Friday, but while the supply has dried up of discount PCs then it's definitely worth considering for its more than capable at 1080p specs list.

Alienware Aurora Ryzen Edition

Alienware Aurora R10 Ryzen Edition | Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 | AMD Ryzen 7 5800 | 16GB RAM | 512GB SSD | <a href="https://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-7706533-12578053?sid=hawk-custom-tracking&url=https://deals.dell.com/en-us/member/productdetail/byh7" data-link-merchant="dell.com"" target="_blank">$1,709.99 $1,399.99 at Dell (save $310)
This Dell machine comes highly recommended by us, and it's currently going for a little under its 'estimated value'. That said, we have seen this one go for less, but with a great GPU and CPU combo, this certainly isn't a bad way to kickstart a PC gaming habit in time for New Years. Just.

As you can see, while a little slim pickings, all hope is not lost for a gaming PC with a moderate discount today. And you don't have to settle for a last-gen graphics card all the time, even though it may seem that way and with some budgets.

If you're not in such a rush to get your machine through the door, you could wait until CES 2022 to see what goodies that has in store for all of us. Usually, this is a more laptop and monitor centric show than desktop for PC gamers, but worth checking out if you're in the market for new technological wares.

Jacob Ridley
Senior Hardware Editor

Jacob earned his first byline writing for his own tech blog. From there, he graduated to professionally breaking things as hardware writer at PCGamesN, and would go on to run the team as hardware editor. Since then he's joined PC Gamer's top staff as senior hardware editor, where he spends his days reporting on the latest developments in the technology and gaming industries and testing the newest PC components.