Ah, the joy of deals. Hopefully, we've all experienced the exciting frisson of finding something we actually want in the sales. After all, there are plenty of Prime Day PC gaming deals out there right now. And if you haven't yet partaken of some retail therapy, don't worry, there's plenty of time left to secure a decent deal—whether you're looking at a new graphics card, a whole PC, or a new gaming monitor to show off what your machine is really capable of.
You need to be careful though because there are plenty of 'deals' out there that are anything but. In fact, there are some absolute howlers, occupying the same spaces as those actual deals. Graphics cards for instance are a bit of a minefield for anyone looking to get an up-to-date polygon pusher. On the one hand, you have genuine deals like this Zotac RTX 3060 almost approaching the MSRP:
And then you have this. The opposite of a good deal. What you'd be fine calling a bloody awful deal in fact. The RTX 2060, even with 12GB of RAM, is still a last-generation entry-level RTX graphics card at next-gen pricing. Do not fall for this nonsense. Begone foul deal.
It's a similar story if you're in the market for a new PC. Look around and there are plenty of great machines out there. Systems that will last you for years, even if they may need a little love somewhere down the line to upgrade the memory and storage. This RTX 3060-powered machine from HP for instance is hard to beat if you're looking to enjoy 1080p gaming, or even some 1440p action without completely destroying your bank account.
You can spend more and get a better machine, but just proving that there are some really great deals out there. Deals that don't have to cost you a fortune. And then there are machines like this. A truly ugly machine that is using all its wily RGB lighting ways to try and baffle your eye from actually looking at the parts list.
You're looking at a machine that apparently normally costs $1,500. Sure it does. But not in 2022, or in fact 2021 for that matter. But hey, you get to enjoy a 7% saving right now so this pile of old hardware can be yours for double that of the HP rig that is far more up-to-date. You're looking at an AMD Ryzen 7 2700X, yup a chip that was released in 2018, and an RTX 2070. A great graphics card for its time, but not one you should spend real money on in 2022. Avoid machines like this.
It isn't just desktop PCs that are home to some shocking time-bending configurations either. There are plenty of laptops out there that will have you looking at the calendar to see if you've somehow mastered time travel in your sleep.
For reference, you're generally looking at an up-to-date configuration built around an RTX 3060 for just over $1,000. As an example, this Gigabyte A5 K1 is a solid gaming machine for the money.
Which is about as far from the following machine as you can manage while still calling them modern gaming laptops. I'm actually a big fan of the Acer Nitro range of laptops, as they tend to offer decent value for money by focusing on what matters most for gamers, namely performance, and leaving super-svelte chassis to the bigger boys. This machine is just massively out of date though, with a 9th Gen Intel CPU (we're up to 12th Gen CPUs now thanks) and a mobile RTX 2060. No. Just no.
Obviously, as a PC Gamer, you can spot the flaws in the so-called deals. You know what you're looking for, and what you should avoid. Plus you know that we're here digging up only the best deals, so you don't make a mistake. But spare a thought for the poor suckers that are dropping serious cash on out-of-date hardware this Prime Day.
