Buying one of the best graphics cards is already an expensive endeavor, but thanks to Moore's Law having one foot in the grave, there are a lot of hidden costs to upgrading your gaming PC, thankfully Black Friday GPU deals are right around the corner.
While you're probably not going to see any super-flashy 50% off deals for a graphics card like the RTX 4080, you'll be able to find offers that cut a good $100-$200 off of its steep asking price, especially if you know where to look.
And even if you don't feel comfortable digging around the guts of your computer to make the upgrade, you should be able to find plenty of Black Friday gaming PC deals that also use these shiny new GPUs.
Black Friday 2023 arrives November 24, though a lot of retailers have either already started their sales, or will long before the 24th. For instance, Amazon's Black Friday extravaganza officially kicks off on November 17th, so you should be able to find some time to snag a great deal on GPUs sometime during the week. There are even some early GPU deals already available thanks to other retailer sales.
Black Friday isn't quite here yet, but if you just need a graphics card right now, you can find several on sale. Again, don't expect to slash any prices in half, but these deals will make your graphics card a bit more affordable. Both Newegg and Amazon have discounts right now:
Cyber Monday typically falls on the Monday after Black Friday, which is November 27 in 2023. In years past, this second sales holiday stood on its own, but it's been increasingly absorbed into Black Friday over the last several years. Cyber Monday is as good as Black Friday when it comes to GPU deals, and you should have no problem finding a sale.
As Black Friday approaches, we're going to see a ton of graphics cards go on sale. However, while TVs and other gadgets will usually get huge doorbuster discounts, we usually don't see that happen with graphics cards, and they usually sell out anyways.
That doesn't mean we won't see any deals at all, though. You can expect to find graphics cards at every price point with a decent discount on Black Friday, likely around 10-20% at most. That doesn't seem like a lot, but when it comes to something like the RTX 4080, which costs a good $1,200, that's $120 that stays in your wallet.
We'll also likely see a lot of graphics cards from older generations go on sale. And just because the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 and AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT have newer versions on the market, it doesn't mean they're magically not good graphics cards anymore. A 1-generation-old graphics card is a great value, especially if you can find it listed at a significantly lower price than its current-generation counterpart. After all, both Nvidia and AMD have been in hot water for not improving enough on last-generation's performance. You should absolutely take advantage of that on Black Friday.
Buying a graphics card is almost as complicated as the GPU itself. There are so many numbers and teraflops flopping around that it can be hard to focus on what you actually need to look out for. Here's some Black Friday shopping tips so you can be prepared ahead of the sales event.
Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. You can follow her @Jackiecobra
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While you're probably not going to see any super-flashy 50% off deals for a graphics card like the RTX 4080, you'll be able to find offers that cut a good $100-$200 off of its steep asking price, especially if you know where to look.
And even if you don't feel comfortable digging around the guts of your computer to make the upgrade, you should be able to find plenty of Black Friday gaming PC deals that also use these shiny new GPUs.
When Do Black Friday GPU Deals Start?
Black Friday 2023 arrives November 24, though a lot of retailers have either already started their sales, or will long before the 24th. For instance, Amazon's Black Friday extravaganza officially kicks off on November 17th, so you should be able to find some time to snag a great deal on GPUs sometime during the week. There are even some early GPU deals already available thanks to other retailer sales.
Early Black Friday GPU Deals
Black Friday isn't quite here yet, but if you just need a graphics card right now, you can find several on sale. Again, don't expect to slash any prices in half, but these deals will make your graphics card a bit more affordable. Both Newegg and Amazon have discounts right now:
What About Cyber Monday?
Cyber Monday typically falls on the Monday after Black Friday, which is November 27 in 2023. In years past, this second sales holiday stood on its own, but it's been increasingly absorbed into Black Friday over the last several years. Cyber Monday is as good as Black Friday when it comes to GPU deals, and you should have no problem finding a sale.
The Best Black Friday GPU Deals - What to Expect in 2023
As Black Friday approaches, we're going to see a ton of graphics cards go on sale. However, while TVs and other gadgets will usually get huge doorbuster discounts, we usually don't see that happen with graphics cards, and they usually sell out anyways.
That doesn't mean we won't see any deals at all, though. You can expect to find graphics cards at every price point with a decent discount on Black Friday, likely around 10-20% at most. That doesn't seem like a lot, but when it comes to something like the RTX 4080, which costs a good $1,200, that's $120 that stays in your wallet.
We'll also likely see a lot of graphics cards from older generations go on sale. And just because the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 and AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT have newer versions on the market, it doesn't mean they're magically not good graphics cards anymore. A 1-generation-old graphics card is a great value, especially if you can find it listed at a significantly lower price than its current-generation counterpart. After all, both Nvidia and AMD have been in hot water for not improving enough on last-generation's performance. You should absolutely take advantage of that on Black Friday.
Tips for Shopping Black Friday GPU Deals
Buying a graphics card is almost as complicated as the GPU itself. There are so many numbers and teraflops flopping around that it can be hard to focus on what you actually need to look out for. Here's some Black Friday shopping tips so you can be prepared ahead of the sales event.
- Set a budget: Just because the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 is the best card around, you don't need to drop $1,600 to have a good time. Even if you just have a couple hundred bucks, you can get a great graphics card, especially if you're content with 1080p gaming. Setting a budget before you set out to buy a card will help you focus and cut through the temptation of more expensive cards.
- VRAM matters: One of my biggest pet peeves about graphics cards marketing is sometimes two graphics cards will share the same name but will have less VRAM (video memory). The best PC games are eating up more memory every single year, so you want to make sure you have enough for the games you want to play.
- Be honest to yourself: It can be easy to tell yourself that once you have a fancy new graphics card that you're going to play all the biggest AAA games with all the eye candy cranked up to 11. If you really think you're going to do that, great! But don't let yourself get sucked into that hype if you know the games you enjoy are esports games that generally take less horsepower to run. The RTX 4060 isn't exactly sexy, but it makes much more sense for most people than a Radeon RX 7800 XTX.
Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. You can follow her @Jackiecobra
Continue reading...
