If you’re thinking of upgrading your PC, should you wait until Black Friday? In this guide we’ll look at the pros and cons of holding off on upgrading your PC until Black Friday.
There are bound to be plenty of deals on Black Friday, just check out our Black Friday PC components deals: what to expect this year article to find out what we think will be getting price cuts on the day.
But even thought Black Friday is not too far away (November 23, to be exact), you may not want to wait that long. Plus, if you’re after the very latest components to upgrade your PC, there may not be any reason to hang around.
Why you should wait for Black Friday to upgrade your PC
First of all, let’s look at the reasons why you should wait until Black Friday to upgrade your PC. In previous years, there have been some excellent component deals on Black Friday, which means if you hold off until those deals start rolling in, you could save yourself a pretty decent amount of money.
If you’re looking for a number of components to upgrade your PC with, or you’re building a PC from scratch, then these savings can add up to quite a lot.
Plus, if you’re careful about what you buy, you can put the money you saved towards more expensive (and exciting) upgrades. For example, by saving cash on Black Friday by getting some good cheap deals on hard drives and RAM, you can put the money you saved towards a more powerful graphics card.
Another thing to consider is that Black Friday 2018 is on November 23, which really isn’t that far away, so if you can hold on another few weeks, you might as well. Plus, Cyber Monday is only a few days after that, and we sometimes see even more component deals go live then.
Why you shouldn’t wait for Black Friday to upgrade your PC
While there are several reasons to wait until Black Friday to upgrade your PC, there are also reasons why you shouldn’t.
First of all, if you're desperate to upgrade your PC (perhaps its stopped working altogether, for example) than you may not find it worthwhile to wait for Black Friday. While we’ve seen a number of great component deals in the past, there’s no guarantee that we’ll see them this year.
If you’re after a specific component, it also means you may not find any decent deals on the day, so that wait will have been for nothing.
Many online retailers see huge volumes of orders placed on Black Friday, and this can sometimes lead to delays in shipments. That causes an even longer delay to your upgrade, so if you’re worried about time, it’s best not to wait until Black Friday, and buy the components you need now.
The flurry of purchases on Black Friday also means some components may go out of stock. So, if you’re desperate for a certain component to upgrade your PC with, you may want to get it early to make sure you’re not left without it, though that does mean missing out on any potential deals.
Also, if you’re looking for recent components to upgrade your PC with, such as the new Nvidia RTX 2080 Ti graphics card or AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X, then it’s unlikely these new components will see any significant Black Friday deals, so you should go ahead and order them now.
Another thing to consider is that Black Friday is a fast-paced day where deals pop up and disappear at an incredible rate. This means you need to act fast to get on the deals. However, buying components for upgrading your PC shouldn’t be rushed, so you may be better off taking your time and researching your upgrade, rather than making rash decisions on the day.
We have a number of buying guides to help you, such as our best processors, best graphics cards and best hard drive and SSD guides. These list the very best components for upgrading your PC with, and they include our very own price comparison guides which can get you some brilliant deals without having to wait for Black Friday.
Finally, as retailers get ever more competitive over Black Friday every year, many start cutting their prices well in advance of the actual day. We’ll likely see prices beginning to drop from the start of November, so even if you’re after a real bargain, you may not need to wait for Black Friday to upgrade your PC after all. Make sure you keep checking TechRadar to make sure you don’t miss out on any deals in the run up to Black Friday.
- Looking for a laptop? Check out our Black Friday laptop deals: how to get the best model for the best price guide
