Best desktop PC computer deals for October 2025

There are a lot of sites selling computers, and browsing through them all will take you a lot of time – so we do it for you here and highlight the best deals we find. However, to save time and avoid disappointment, you need to be smart about where you look at any time of year.

If you're looking for a new computer during the holidays or during popular sales periods like Black Friday or back-to-school, you'll likely find great deals directly on vendors' websites. These include retail stores of popular computer manufacturers such as HP, Dell and Lenovo.

However, if you are looking between sales periods, it is generally recommended to look at large third party retailers such as Amazon, Adorama, Walmart, BestBuyAnd Newegg. Often these websites offer limited-time “Deal of the Day” sales in hopes of clearing out excess inventory. On the other hand, you can get still decent PCs at a huge discount.

Typically, you prefer to time your PC purchase to coincide with a sales period. The biggest sales periods are Black Friday/Cyber ​​Monday in late November and Amazon Prime Day in early to mid-July. The best sales often occur before and during these two events, making them a great time to buy a new computer cheap. Other holiday shopping periods, such as New Year's sales in January, President's Day sales in April, and back-to-school sales in August, are also good times to look for discounts on computers.

When searching for a desktop computer, you'll see a ton of options, but they all generally fall into four main categories: tower PCs, gaming PCs, mini PCs, and all-in-one PCs (AiOs). What you should ultimately buy depends entirely on your needs and what you want to do with your computer. If you're looking for something that will work in your home office or family room, then you'll probably want a powerful PC or all-in-one PC with a reliable processor, plenty of RAM and storage. If gaming is your main concern, a gaming PC can offer much more bang for your buck than a laptop, and you should focus on getting the best GPU possible. Or, if you just need something that can be placed anywhere and provide basic computing, then a mini PC is a good choice.

When choosing your new computer's processor, invest in at least an Intel Core i5 or AMD Ryzen 5, both of which will provide enough processing power for everyday computing tasks. If you don't plan to play PC games, feel free to save some money by choosing integrated graphics. However, if you want to continue gaming, we recommend at least an Nvidia GeForce 3060 or AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT, as these are the cheapest discrete graphics cards that support ray tracing well. However, if you're not interested in those advanced lighting effects, the RTX 3050 and Radeon RX 6600 also deliver good 1080p gaming performance at even lower prices.

When it comes to RAM, we think a minimum of 16GB is best for productivity and gaming, but for family computing and internet browsing, 8GB should be sufficient.

The size of the storage depends on your personal needs, but it is generally better to choose an SSD over a standard hard drive as they are much faster and do not have a significant impact on the price of the desktop computer. Before you make a decision, it's best to think about how you're going to use the computer. Are you just working or browsing the web? Then something like 512 GB will be enough. If you want to upload a lot of large files, such as games or content creation projects, you'll need at least 1 or 2 TB or storage. However, remember that even if your computer does not have enough internal memory, you can always upgrade your SSD or go with external drive to increase available storage options.

Refurbished computers are used machines that have been repaired, upgraded and cleaned for resale. These are typically open box returns, surplus models, or models with minor cosmetic damage (scratches, scuffs, etc.). Refurbished computers can be a bargain hunter's dream since they're likely still in good (or excellent) condition and you can save a lot of money. However, refurbished computers may also have their drawbacks. In addition to cosmetic blemishes, some internal components may be slightly dated or outdated and may not be in perfect condition due to previous use.

If you do consider purchasing a refurbished computer, I recommend checking out eBay as they offer a one-year warranty. You can also check the manufacturer's retail store displays, e.g. Dell Outlet Store And Updated Apple Store– just be sure to read the terms of the offered warranty before purchasing.