Even Though It’s Not Prime Day, Amazon Has Big Desktop PC Deals

We’re getting closer and closer to July 8, the launch of Amazon Prime Day. The massive online superstore’s annual sales event always delivers massive discounts on tens of thousands of products relevant to PCMag readers. But the big scoop is that Amazon has impressive price drops already, before the big sale even starts. If you’re hunting for a new desktop PC, here’s a selection of discounted prebuilts that are fast, cheap, and ready to go (with more to come).

HP Desktop Deals

I’ll be straight with you: I don’t think that the suggested retail price of $2,399 for this tower on Amazon is honest. But here’s the deal: the discounted price is extremely good for the components you get. This workhorse tower comes with a very capable Intel Core i7-11700F processor paired with 32GB of RAM (note that it’s DDR4, so not the latest, but still very impressive for the price). It even has a dedicated graphics card, plus a keyboard and mouse included. While this obviously isn’t a high-end machine that’s worthy of a sticker price over 2K, it’s most definitely a solid workhorse for family use.

Dell Desktop Deals

Dell is known for their no-frills desktops that can be found in homes and offices around the world, using economies of scale to deliver reliable midrange quality in completely unobtrusive cases. The OptiPlex 7020 is one in their nearly endless line of business towers, and this one has a surprisingly adroit loadout in terms of components. 32GB of RAM is way more than you’d expect in a desktop at this price, so if you do music production or other memory-intensive creative work it might hit the sweet spot. The Intel i5 processor is only 6 cores, but it’s capable. One note: this unit doesn’t have an internal Wi-Fi antenna, but it comes with a USB dongle for Internet access.

Apple Mac Mini Deal

If you’re an Apple aficionado, we gave an Editors’ Choice award to the 2024 Mac Mini in our review. Deploying the latest M4 processor, it’s an absolute speed demon in a pint-sized package, with tons of RAM for high-end creative programs, robust cooling and perfectly-placed USB-C ports. The biggest downside to this unit is the skimpy onboard storage, but it’s simple to either hook up an external drive or just keep all your files in your iCloud account. We feel that this is far and away the best mini desktop on the market, and Amazon has a pre-Prime Day discount of 9% to make it even cuter.

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Gaming Desktop Deals

The MSI Codex Z2 is a great way to get into gaming with the visual power of Nvidia’s new 50-series graphics cards. The 5070 is a potent midrange unit that is specially tuned to enable onboard AI processing as well, and snagging a 9% discount on a solid system built around it feels pretty good. The Ryzen 7 processor is speedy and stable, and the RAM loadout and storage meet expectations. The MSI case is well-built, with a tempered glass side panel, mesh front and multiple RGB fans that keep the whole thing running frosty. A custom hardware button lets you cycle through LED programs with ease.

One of the biggest pre-Prime Day desktop discounts we’ve seen is this 25% price cut on the quite able Skytech Azure. This company makes a bunch of gaming prebuilts with solid silicon loadouts and attractive cases, and the tempered glass side and front panels let you show off the complement of RGB-lit fans that keep the whole thing running cool no matter how hard you’re gaming. The 12th-generation Intel i7 is a little dated, but it still performs well, and the RTX 4070 Ti is one of the better last-generation graphics cards. You won’t be pushing 4K with high framerates, but for stable HD performance on all the best modern titles, this machine will have you sitting pretty.

Want more savings before Prime Day? Our deals page is overflowing with offers.

About K. Thor Jensen

Contributing Writer

K. Thor Jensen is a writer and cartoonist living in the Pacific Northwest. He has contributed to dozens of prestigious outlets, including PCMag, Tested, Clickhole, and Newsweek. His second graphic novel, Cloud Stories, was released in 2017.

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