I Review Gaming PCs for a Living: These Are the 3 Best Prime Day Deals I Found

I’m one of PCMag’s Lead Hardware Analysts, which means I’ve tested and reviewed hundreds of PCs for our publication over the years. With a particular personal and professional interest in gaming and gaming hardware, I enjoy picking out the best values and finding the correct screen resolution, processor, and GPU combinations for different shoppers’ budgets.

Having scoured the Prime Big Deal Days listings, I’ve collected my three favorite gaming PC deals below. These picks—two gaming laptops and one gaming desktop, for variety—comprise PCs from Acer, Alienware, and MSI. By nature of being gaming PCs, these products all include a powerful gaming-ready graphics chip and fast modern processors that will run any games you or the person you’re shopping for want to play.

MSI Katana 15

The best gaming laptop value going

$1,124.00
at Amazon

$1,399.99
Save $275.99

Looking through all the gaming laptop deals, this is simply one of the best at any price point. Past Katana models we’ve reviewed were overall decent values, but the sale price on this unit is the real deal. A little over $1,100 for a 13th Gen Core i7 H-series processor, a 1TB SSD, and especially a GeForce RTX 4070 GPU is a fantastic proposition, even if the laptop’s build isn’t its strongest suit.

Most gaming laptops with this GPU cost closer to $2,000; it’s one of the higher-tier chips in Nvidia’s GeForce RTX stack. You’ll usually find only RTX 4060 chips (or even lesser ones) at this price, while this laptop can push high refresh rates in modern games with visual details active in 1080p. You can even play games smoothly at its native QHD resolution. This is an uncommonly compelling value if your budget exceeds $1,000 by a smidge. If you have more to spend, or if this unit sells out, the Asus TUF Gaming A16 is a similar (but pricier) Prime deal.

Acer Nitro V

A true budget gaming bargain

$649.99
at Amazon


$753.00
Save $103.01

While the Katana is an ideal midrange laptop at a sweet price, I’d be remiss not to include a genuine budget bargain. Prime Day shoppers have likely been waiting for a real deal and a meaningful price drop, and this Ryzen-based Acer Nitro V is about as cheap as gaming laptops get. It already starts at a low $769.99 list price, but $699.99 on sale is too fine of a deal to pass up. Its Ryzen 5 7535HS processor, 8GB of memory, and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU won’t top any charts, but these components are capable of entry-level 1080p gaming.

You’ll find many non-gaming machines that cost hundreds more than this without the advantage of a discrete GPU, so at this price, playing games at smooth frame rates at 1080p is a win. A 512GB SSD can be a little restrictive, size-wise, for gaming, but you can’t expect more at this price; you’ll have to uninstall big games to make room for new ones. My caveats here would be that if you know you want to play cutting-edge games, or are a competitive multiplayer type of gamer to whom frame rate matters, consider the MSI Katana instead. (The jump in cost is worth it in terms of performance.) But if you want to spend as little as possible, or simply can’t justify exceeding $1,000, this Nitro V is a big bargain.

Alienware Aurora R16

A sweet discount on a sleek prebuilt gaming desktop

$1,229.99
at Amazon


$1,449.99
Save $220.00

Last, I’ve picked out a slick gaming desktop for you. Yes, the DIY crowd will always support building a PC yourself over buying one, but many shoppers don’t have the know-how or the patience. Big manufacturers like Dell (through its gaming-centric Alienware brand) produce accessible, cost-effective options compared with specialty PC makers, and the Aurora R16 is a serious deal.

Already a decent value at its list price, $1,229.99 for a 14th Gen Core i7, 16GB of memory, a GeForce RTX 4060, and 1.5TB of storage is a good loadout for the money, and it all comes in a nicer-than-average case. The futuristic-looking chassis with a honeycombed side and RGB loop lighting may not be to everyone’s liking. Still, the R16 provides a way into these flashier designs at a much more affordable cost. Look no further if you want a midrange system at an attractive price in a distinct case.

What to Expect During Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days Event

About Matthew Buzzi

Lead Analyst, Hardware

I’m one of the consumer PC experts at PCMag, with a particular love for PC gaming. I’ve played games on my computer for as long as I can remember, which eventually (as it does for many) led me to building and upgrading my own desktop. Through my years here, I’ve tested and reviewed many, many dozens of laptops and desktops, and I am always happy to recommend a PC for your needs and budget.

Read Matthew’s full bio

Read the latest from Matthew Buzzi