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With Black Friday in full swing, 'tis the season to be merrily hitting "purchase" on deals left, right, and center. But let's not be selfish about it, shall we? There's plenty for us to get our own grubby mitts on, but what about that special someone in our lives who's also into PC gaming? Or perhaps someone you wish was into PC gaming, who might be tempted once they receive a thoughtful gift.
There's almost too much to choose from when it comes to PC gaming tech gifts, not least because PC gaming is such a diverse hobby with tons of ability customise almost all parts of your gaming setup. Whether it's a cheap keychain or a premium handheld gaming PC, there's something for pretty much anyone.
As someone who knows his PC gaming tech, but more importantly, someone who knows how and where to spend a pretty penny, I decided to put my shameless consumerist skills to good use and put this list together.
I've not limited myself to any particular category or retailer, either so you're getting the full breadth of Black Friday deals here, big or small, from Newegg, Amazon, Best Buy, and everywhere in between.
👉We're curating all the best Black Friday PC gaming deals right now👈
Below, you'll find all the great deals I've found for different price ranges—under $50, under $100, under $150, and more than $150. I'll be keeping the list updated, too, and going over some of my personal favorites as well as why I picked them, so be sure to keep your eye on it for any updates. You can check out live updates at the bottom. Happy shopping!
I've been testing all kinds of PC gaming-related gear for donkey's years now (a very technical time measurement). Sometimes I wonder whether the reason I got into PC gaming tech is because if I can't stop myself from hitting that purchase button, I can at least make sure whatever I'm buying is worth the money. So heck, why not turn that knowledge into useful gift purchasing advice?
Black Friday PC gaming holiday gifts — Quick links
- Amazon: All Amazon's Black Friday gaming deals
- Best Buy: All Best Buy Black Friday PC gaming deals
- Newegg: All Newegg Black Friday deals
- Drop: All Drop Black Friday deals
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Top deals
- 8BitDo Ultimate 2C controller: $25 @ Amazon
- TeamGroup PD20 external SSD: $83 @ Newegg
- Asus ROG Strix Scope II 96 gaming keyboard: $147 at Amazon
- Lenovo Legion Go 1 TB handheld: $550 at Best Buy
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Heyoo, Jacob Fox here—avid hardware tester and even more avid purchase button masher. Let's have a look at what I'd personally consider mashing the heck out of this holiday season.
The Lenovo Legion Go has had some cracking deals on for a while now—even well before Black Friday. And the 512 GB version is currently on sale right this moment for $500 at Amazon.
But hold up, before you hit that purchase button, consider the one with double the storage.
Although I'm sure some would disagree, I'd say the 1 TB version is what you really want, provided it doesn't cost too much more. And Lenovo's now been gracious enough to drop the price on the 1 TB one down to $550 at Best Buy—that's just $50 more for double the storage.
Even if you're handy with a screwdriver and wouldn't mind upgrading the 512 GB version's storage manually, it'd still make more sense to just spend the extra $50 and go for the 1 TB off-the-shelf version. That's especially true for the Legion Go, given it only houses SSDs with an unusual form factor.
And yes, handhelds generally require less storage than a gaming PC because the titles you'll be playing generally won't be the latest and greatest AAA ones that require 150 GB of storage. But double the storage for just $50 extra? Count me in. We at PC Gamer always recommend 2 TB storage for a full-fledged gaming PC, so just 500 GB in a handheld is a little difficult to justify when the 1 TB version's going for so cheap.
As for why you should opt for a Legion Go at all, I'll let you check out my recent article regarding that. I'll simply say that I fell in love with it from the moment I started using it.
Since when were did decent controllers get so cheap?
At least, that's what I've been thinking ever since I got my mitts on the 8BitDo Ultimate 2C. We're talking just $30 at full price, and right now it's just $25.49 at Amazon. That's for the Mint version that I have, by the way, although the other versions were on sale just yesterday so I'd keep checking back if you want a different colour.
Anyway, the Ultimate 2C Wireless has everything you might want, feature-wise: Hall effect sticks that prevent stick drift, 2.4 G and Bluetooth connections with 1,000 Hz on polling on the former, USB-C charging, and even extra buttons—although some might not like the placement near the R1/R2 buttons.
That you can get all this for less than $30 these days is great, but the main thing that surprised me was the build quality and feel. To put it bluntly, for the price it's amazing.
I've spent a lot of time swapping between the Ultimate 2C and a standard Xbox controller (which is much more expensive), and yes, the Xbox one feels a little more premium, but there really isn't much in it. In fact, there are some things I prefer about the 2C, such as the tactile feel of the ABYX and L1 and R1 buttons.
And with its pastel paint job looking gorgeous, too? Yeah, colour me impressed.
Amazon's tiny writing almost got me. Almost, but not quite. I thought for a moment that they'd discounted the Logitech G Pro X Superlight even lower than it was two days ago, after my very stern warning not to do so—because I'm damn fed up of having to write about how great it is, but I can't not do so when they keep reducing its price.
Alas, I missed that tiny phrase: "Buy used". Now, the best place to pick up a new Superlight is over at Best Buy for $95. It's still a great purchase at that price, but I notice the Superlight 2 is only $25 more for $120 at Amazon. Hmm.
For that price difference, I'd be tempted to opt for the latter, despite how much I love the OG one. It's a tough call, though. The first Superlight is still a great pick for under $100. I've been using it for over two years and it's still going just as strong as when I first bought it.
I'll keep my eye out for it hopefully coming back in stock at a lower price at Amazon and keep you posted.
Okay, maybe the 512 GB version is worth it...
Yes, yes, I know, yesterday I said you'd be better off getting the 1 TB version of the Lenovo Legion Go for $550 at Best Buy. But that was before the 512 GB version dropped down to $473 at Amazon.
Now we're talking about a price difference of over $75, which is money that could be put to other lovely Black Friday uses—the now-$60 HyperX Cloud Alpha gaming headset, perhaps.
512 GB should be plenty for most people, despite how much I like to wax lyrical about the benefits of 1 TB, which is great in an ideal scenario but now looks to come with a rather sizable surcharge. Anyway, the choice is yours. I suppose you can always upgrade your storage down the line, too, but just remember the Legion Go houses 2242 form factor SSDs and no other.
How's about I explain why something as seemingly *yawn* boring as an external SSD can actually make for a pretty cool holiday gift. Well, for the right kind of person, that is.
If you're considering it for someone who isn't very techy then you'd be better going for something else—maybe this stainless steel Egg Pricker my colleague and hardware buddy Andy Edser for some reason suggested to me yesterday.
But if that special someone is into their tech, then they could probably do with an external SSD. It's one of those things that you don't need too often, but when you do you wish you already had one. For instance, when you want to make some backups before a reinstall, or when you want to port your game library over to a new machine.
Now, for someone who knows exactly what they want, there might be better options than the TeamGroup PD20 (currently $83 at Newegg). If they want loads of reliable storage they can go for a SanDisk Desk Drive, for instance, or if they need something blisteringly fast for whatever reason, they can go for an Adata SE920.
However, for someone who's just a generally techy person and a PC gamer, I reckon the PD20 is your best bet. It's genuinely small and portable, plenty snappy for your average file transfer, and it looks good and has a dust cover to boot. Boom. That's a review in one sentence—but if you want the full shabang, check out the full review here.
The CRKD Atom is a recent favorite here at PC Gamer. From the game guide team all across the narrow river to the hardware team, folks can't seem to get enough of it. I don't have one myself, but enough people here have banged on about it that I'm starting to think maybe I should... it's only $16 at Amazon, after all.
I must admit, it's tempting. And I'm not someone who usually goes for the small, souvenir-like doodads. But it's not just a keychain, it's a functional controller that has actual practical use.
In fact, come to think of it, am I not the one who's always banging on about using the Lenovo Legion Go from afar, without it in my hands, while using a separate controller? Yes, it has detachable controllers for that, but imagine if I didn't have to spend the time and energy detaching them, if I could instead just whap out the CRKD from my pocket.
Huh. You know, I might have just talked myself into it.
In defense of the humble mouse bungee
Please, stop the snickering at the back.
Many years ago (like, five? and prior to that, of course) I was a mouse bungie bloke, and most people I knew thought it was silly. "A mouse bungee? That's ridiculous." Now, these same people are cutting cords left right and centre.
So you're telling me that something designed to make a wired mouse feel wireless was stupid, but going wireless isn't? Well, okay, maybe today it makes sense to just go wireless, but back then wireless wasn't so cheap and so good.
Even today, though, wireless mice tend to be a fair bop more expensive than wired ones, plus they still have to be charged. So while I advocate for going wireless when you can, there are plenty of people who aren't willing to do so—I know some myself. And that's fine.
But wouldn't it be nice if they could have just a taste of what it might feel like to not have their mouse cord dragging against the table? That's why I reckon it's a great gift for some people.
If I had to go back to wired today, I wouldn't do without a mouse bungee. Laugh all you want. Didn't they laugh at Copernicus when he said we orbit the sun? Just sayin'.
