Should you buy a graphics card before Black Friday?

Should you wait for Black Friday to buy a graphics card? Logically, you'd think the big sale event would be an opportune time to invest in a shiny new GPU. However, I've been browsing for component deals consistently for years now, and if I'm being frank, it sometimes feels like Nvidia and AMD products are allergic to reductions.

The good news is that, compared to previous years, Black Friday graphics card deals feel more promising this year. Some of the old RTX 30-series inflated models are now out of the picture, and since last-gen RTX 40 and RX 7000 GPUs largely stuck to reasonable prices, we're now seeing some actual discounts bring things below MSRP. That said, I'm actually finding that current-gen models within the RTX 50-series and RX 9000 ranges are ending up at the same price, so don't just assume that older is cheaper.

To help guide you through Black Friday this year, I'm here to help you figure out whether you should grab a graphics card this Black Friday. You'll want to keep an eye on discounts regardless, but deciding ahead of time whether you want or need an upgrade will simplify the whole process.

Price history 

Typically, we’ll judge current graphics card deals based on price history, as it helps determine whether better GPU discounts are a possibility. While inflated pricing is something we’re contending less and less with these days, checking both a card’s MSRP against its current and previous price points is also vital, as no one wants to be paying more than the original going rate. 

Applying the above habits when shopping for GPUs will ultimately help answer whether you should wait for Black Friday or not. For example, if you’re eyeing up an RTX 4080 Super right now, you’ll be able to use tools like Camelcamelcamel to see its lowest price at Amazon. At the moment, that specific GeForce card is a chunk more expensive than it was during the retailer’s Prime Big Deal Days sale, which suggests it may end up that price or lower this November again. It’s not a guarantee, but more often than not, sale events follow a predictable back-and-forth pattern.

If a graphics card is already down to its lowest price, or marked with a “clearance” badge of any sorts, you might want to pounce on the offer sooner than later. Doing so is fully dependent on if you’d rather not risk availability and/or higher pricing come Black Friday, as many of these deals will be instigated by the product's age and retailers wanting to clear out stock before November.

Availability

Following on from the point above, graphics card availability plays a huge role when it comes to deciding when to buy. That's particularly true when it comes to older models, as retailers won't want to hang onto old stock forever. So far, we haven't really spotted any "reduce to clear" discounts ahead of Black Friday 2025, and some aging models out there still have inappropriate, inflated price tags attached.

Ideally, we'd love to see last-gen RTX 40-series and Radeon RX 9000 cards far more of a chop. AMD RDNA 3 discounts are pretty common right now on the likes of Amazon, with a nice variety of cards available for a chunk less. Nvidia Ampere deals are sadly less common, as the company seems to be happy with two generations of GPU existing at the same time for now. 

New gen pricing

When eyeing up older cards, we'd heavily advise checking any deals you find against the price of new-gen equivalents. For example, if you can grab an RTX 5060 for $299, you won't want to necessarily pick up an RTX 4060 Ti for $294, as the performance difference is not remotely worth the $10 saving. This applies to various models across the board, but we're noticing it more and more with entry-level options.

So long as you take extra time to double-check specs, prices, and availability, you should be able to snag the perfect GPU deal. Most of the time, the answer to whether you should buy a graphics card before Black Friday is going to be no, but there's always a chance you'll stumble across a rare situational deal ahead of time that November will struggle to beat.

Go for power and portability in your gaming setup for less with the Black Friday gaming laptop deals. Alternatively, browse Black Friday SSD deals and boost your rig's storage.