The best cheap desktop computer deals for June 2020

Windows laptops and MacBooks are more common in today’s mobile world, but the classic desktop PC isn’t going anywhere. Gamers, video editors, graphic designers, and many others still prefer the comfort and customizability of a full-sized desktop computer setup (perhaps even one with multiple monitors) for serious work and entertainment.

You can always built your own PC, but if you understandably don’t want to deal with that hassle, then there are plenty of great pre-build desktops out there. There are almost always good bargains to be found on them too, and we’ve got them right here, where we’ve combed the big online retailers to bring you this updated list of the best cheap desktop computer deals you can score online right now.

Today’s best cheap desktop computer deals

Lenovo IdeaCentre 510A Desktop PC — $420, was $500
HP EliteDesk 705 G4 Mini PC — $520, was $740
HP 24 All-in-One PC — $700, was $800
HP Pavilion GTX 1650 Gaming Desktop PC — $700, was $800
Apple Mac Mini — $765, was $799
Dell XPS Special Edition GTX 1660 Ti Gaming Desktop PC — $920, was $1,210

Lenovo IdeaCentre 510A Desktop PC

You no longer have to pay out the nose for a desktop PC that can also handle a little light gaming thanks to AMD’s accelerated processor units which combine a CPU and a GPU in a single chip. If you’re looking for a cheap one, the Lenovo IdeaCentre 510A is your best bet for less than 500 bucks: An AMD Ryzen 5 3400G APU features built-in Radeon Vega 11 graphics processing power which, while not as beefy as a dedicated GPU, will still offering some surprisingly impressive gaming capabilities for such a cheap desktop computer.

Its 8GB of DDR4 RAM is also nice to see instead of the 4GB you often find at this price point (and you can upgrade it to up to 16GB if you like), and the 1TB 7,200rpm HDD offers a nice amount of storage at a reasonable speed. A wired mouse and keyboard are included, as well. An $80 savings means you can score the Lenovo IdeaCentre 510A desktop for a super affordable $420 at the moment. If you’re willing to pay more for boosted gaming specs, however, then be sure to check out our last two picks.

HP EliteDesk 705 G4 Mini PC

Moving down in size a bit (but not too far up in price) from standard desktop towers, the HP EliteDesk 705 G4 Mini PC is a great cheap desktop computer with a small footprint. It packs an AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 2400GE CPU with Radeon Vega 11 graphics and 8GB of RAM — the minimum specs we typically recommend if you’re spending more than $300 — along with a nice fast 256GB SSD and built-in Wi-Fi connectivity.

Unlike our other cheap desktop computer picks, this HP Mini PC doesn’t come with a wired keyboard and mouse — you’ll still have to get those separately. However, a very nice $220 discount means you can grab this cheap desktop for a very affordable $520 right now.

HP 24 All-in-One PC

Along with a PC tower, you typically need a minimum of three peripherals to complete your desktop computer setup: a monitor, a keyboard, and a mouse. These are additional costs, but if you want everything in a single package – and one that won’t take up much space on your desk – then an all-in-one system like this HP 24 desktop is a great option for a super-sleek workstation fit for the 2020s.

The HP 24 all-in-one comes equipped with a 10th-gen Intel Core i5 CPU plus 8GB of DDR4 RAM and a 256GB solid-state system drive plus a 1TB HDD — all of which sits right inside the 24-inch 1080p monitor housing (that means there’s no PC tower to fuss with). That design, plus the included mouse and keyboard, gives you everything you need right out of the box, and for a great price of just $700 right now after a $100 discount.

HP Pavilion GTX 1650 Gaming Desktop PC

While gaming laptops have narrowed the gap in recent years, desktop PCs like the HP Pavilion lineup are still the best way to enjoy some impressive gaming capabilities on a budget. This desktop tower packs an AMD Ryzen 5 3500 CPU, 8GB of RAM, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 graphics card, and a 1TB SSD, which is impressive power for 1080p/60fps gaming at this price point.

The hardware alone is pretty great, but to sweeten this cheap desktop deal even further, the HP Omen Obelisk also comes with a wired keyboard and optical mouse (all you need is a monitor and audio output and you’re ready to rock). This great gaming PC is on sale right now for $700, giving you a nice $100 discount.

Apple Mac Mini — $765, was $799

Apple Mac Mini 2018 — Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Desktop computers aren’t exactly known for their small footprints (relative to laptops, anyway), but the pint-sized Mac Mini from Apple can free up some desk space a bit. A quad-core Intel Core i3 CPU and 8GB of DDR4 RAM are very nice specs for work, browsing, and streaming, and you also get a snappy 256GB SSD for storage — not quite as large as a traditional hard drive, but much faster than those HDDs of yesteryear (and you can upgrade this at extra cost, of course).

What sells the Apple Mac Mini desktop computer is not just its small size, but its value: It’s on sale for $765 right now, making it far and away one of the cheapest brand new MacOS computers you can find at the moment. Just plug in your peripherals and you’re ready to roll.

Dell XPS Special Edition GTX 1660 Ti Gaming Desktop PC

Dell XPS Tower 2017 — Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

Tip-toeing up to our $1,000 limit brings us to the beefy Dell XPS gaming tower, which has pretty much everything we want in a desktop at this price. It boasts an Intel i5-9400 six-core processor, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti GPU with 6GB of VRAM (one of our favorite mid-range graphics cards), and 8GB of DDR4 RAM, which work together to deliver excellent gaming performance for playing the latest titles at 1080p and 60 frames per second.

On top of that, you’ve got both a 256GB solid-state system drive and a nicely sized 1TB 7,200rpm hard drive for plenty of storage. This solid gaming desktop is a great value at $920 after a $290 price cut.

How to choose a cheap desktop computer

After setting your budget, it’s time to decide what exactly you’re looking for in a good cheap desktop computer. First, is this PC going to be primarily for work and general daily use, primarily for gaming, or a fairly even split between these? This will naturally determine what sort of specs you’re looking at — such as, for instance, whether you need a discrete graphics card or not — but the good news is that in the sub-$1,000 category, you can find many good desktop PCs packing solid up-to-date hardware that won’t be outdated within two years.

Another important consideration is peripherals. What monitor (or monitors) is your desktop computer going to be connected to? Do you already have a mouse and keyboard; if not, do you want a desktop PC that comes with these included, or do you plan to buy nicer ones separately? Bear in mind that while many desktop towers come with accessories, you’ll still need to decide how much you’re budgeting for things like a monitor, a keyboard, a mouse, mouse pad, speakers, and other peripherals you might need.

The bottom line is this: Don’t merely look at the price and basic hardware specs when shopping for a cheap desktop computer. Set your budget, know exactly what features you want (write this down if you need to) and then work from there.

What makes a good cheap desktop computer?

When shopping for any sort of cheap computer, be it a laptop or desktop PC, the biggest risk you’ll face is ending up with something that is running on outdated hardware (or hardware that will be outdated very soon). This is what happens when you consider only the price and don’t familiarize yourself with the current state of computer hardware. Thankfully, there’s not too much to remember.

More Laptop Deals

First, when looking at CPUs, it’s best to stick with ninth- and 10th-generation Intel Core processors and AMD Ryzen (also known as “Zen”) processors, as these are more recent and will keep your system – even a relatively basic one – reasonably “future-proof.” We also suggest a minimum of 8GB of RAM unless you’re sailing into sub-$300 waters and 16GB is even more strongly recommended for something like a gaming desktop. Finally, solid-state drives (now common even on cheap computers) are generally preferable to traditional hard drives. These SSDs are generally more reliable and considerably faster than old-school HDDs, although they offer less storage space per dollar.

Are cheap desktop computers good for gaming?

Any PC packing an up-to-date CPU, GPU, and SSD (or at least a 7,200rpm HDD) should be good to go for gaming, and there are plenty of good cheap desktop computers that fit this bill nicely. Along with the processors we mentioned, modern graphics card generations include Nvidia’s 16- and 20-series cards, although you’ll be sticking with the 16-series GPUs in the sub-$1,000 price bracket. These replaced Nvidia’s 10-series cards as entry- and mid-level GPUs last year, and while there are still PCs with those older cards floating around, we don’t recommend them in 2020.

AMD’s Radeon family of budget- and mid-tier graphics card includes the RX 500 series, with GPUs like the RX 570, 580, and 590 offering good performance capabilities for 1080p gaming. You’re not likely to achieve 4K or even 1440p gaming with most cheap desktop computers, but that is a sacrifice you make for keeping costs down. Also, remember that an SSD will load games (and everything else) noticeably faster than an HDD.

Looking for more great stuff? Find tech discounts and much more on our curated deals page.

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