Best gaming PC deals in 2021

So you want to play video games on your PC, huh? Well, you essentially have two basic choices. Build it yourself or buy a gaming PC. Personally, I'm in the build-your-own crowd, but it's not always that easy. For one thing, building your own PC takes a lot of research to know what parts go with what and where and how to buy them. Then you have to build the thing, which takes a whole different level of understanding. And this day and age with all the bots snatching up the latest graphics cards and crypto miners buying them in bulk, a lot of prices have been artificially inflated.

The prevailing notion has always been that building your own PC is cheaper than a prebuilt, but that's just not always the case anymore especially since 2020 wreaked havoc on supply lines. Plus sometimes buying a prebuilt is the best way to get access to the graphics cards you can't find in stock, and the convenience of having someone else do the work can justify a few more bucks on occasion. Whatever your reason for needing a prebuilt gaming PC, we've got your back. These are the best deals available right now.

Best gaming PC deals:

Dell Inspiron Desktop | $145 off

While this PC has integrated Intel 630 graphics, it still has plenty of power behind it and can play plenty of games if not at the maximum settings. It's a solid budget recommendation. It has a 10th-gen Intel Core i5 processor, a 128GB M.2 NVMe SSD, 8GB RAM, and Windows 10 Home. It also has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

$485.09 at Dell

Lenovo Legion 5 gaming desktop | $300 off

You'll get a 10th-gen Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB RAM, a 2TB hard drive, and a 512GB solid state drive. It also has the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 graphics card for solid gaming performance. It comes with a wired keyboard and mouse. Other features include Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0, an ARGB cooling fan, and light blue chassis lighting.

$999.99 at Costco

CyberPowerPC Gamer Xtreme gaming desktop

The Intel Core i5-10600KF processor and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti graphics card are worth $650 by themselves. Not to mention it's hard enough even finding those graphics cards in stock. The rest of the build includes 16GB RAM, a 500GB solid state drive, a 1TB hard drive, and Windows 10 Home.

$1,259.99 at Adorama

Alienware Aurora Ryzen Edition R10 gaming desktop | $376 off

The specifications include an AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 4.4GHz processor, a 512GB M.2 NVMe solid state drive, 16GB RAM, and a Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 graphics card. That's a $500 graphics card, which really highlights the value of this deal. The computer includes Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB-C, and customizable AlienFX lighting.

$1,393.99 at Dell

CyberPowerPC Gamer Supreme gaming desktop

The value in this gaming PC has been so prominent that Best Buy actually raised the price by $50. It's still a good bargain though, especially if a local store has one and you can just pick it up and start gaming by the afternoon. This desktop has an AMD Ryzen 7 3700X processor, 16GB RAM, and a 1TB solid state drive. The graphics are powered by the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 graphics card and cooled by a liquid cooling system.

$1,399.99 at Best Buy

If you want to build your own PC, go right ahead. Just be aware of some of the difficulties with the process. If you can't be bothered with all the research and connecting of dots and just want something to game on right away, then maybe a prebuilt is more your style. Heck, if you want to play with the latest graphics you almost have to go prebuilt just to avoid how expensive modern cards are getting.