Xbox is dead – here’s why I want to buy this compact gaming PC on Black Friday instead

Well, the humble Xbox may not be long for this world. Microsoft has effectively confirmed that we’ll likely only see one more console generation after the current-gen (and terribly-named) Xbox Series X, with the company’s gaming strategy shifting to supporting its games across other platforms, including PlayStation and PC.

The good news is that with Black Friday closing in fast – and Sony also taking steps to make its first-party titles available on PC – there’s never been a better time to make the shift to PC gaming. I took the leap more than a decade ago, leaving my tired old Xbox 360 in the dust to buy a pre-built gaming PC, and I couldn’t be happier about it – while the upfront cost might be greater, it’s definitely saved me money in the long run.

Aside from the initial price, the big problem is that many of the best gaming PCs can’t seamlessly replace a console. They’re usually just too big; my first gaming PC was a real chunky boy, sucking up dust underneath the desk in my tiny student accommodation bedroom. But if you want something powerful, future-proof, and compact enough to fit inside your TV stand, I’ve got the answer: the 2025 Asus ROG NUC.

Now, this thing is practically a new release, so you can’t expect to see massive deals on it yet, but I’m personally hoping the discount below gets a little deeper as we edge closer to Black Friday. Right now, the RTX 5070 Asus ROG NUC is down to $2,349 (was $2,499) at Amazon, while the RTX 5060 model is $1,964.99 (was $2,099).

Today’s best Asus ROG NUC (2025) deal

The new Asus ROG NUC with RTX 5070 might not be heavily discounted for Black Friday just yet, but with $150 off already with the big sales day still weeks away, I’m watching this one very closely. It’s simply one of the best compact gaming PCs I’ve ever had the pleasure to review, and I want one all for myself.View Deal

Don’t get me wrong; a 6% discount is fairly meager even if a $150 saving is nothing to sniff at, but as I said above, I suspect we’ll see that discount get a bit more appealing once Black Friday and Cyber Monday actually arrive – after all, we’re still three weeks out from the mega-sale event itself. I’ll be watching this one like a hawk (mainly because I’m tempted to buy one myself), so feel free to bookmark this page and check back closer to the big day, as I’ll update it with any price changes.

I really can’t understate how great the new ROG NUC is. I gave it a near-perfect score in my review last month, citing the unarguably high retail price as my main criticism against this powerful yet sleek and compact PC. Quite frankly, any sort of discount pushes it closer to that coveted 5-star rating in my mind.

For what it’s worth, I’d advise springing for the RTX 5070 model. If you’re already dropping upwards of a cool thousand bucks on a PC for gaming, opting for the 5070 over the 5060 will ensure your system is more future-proofed for handling more demanding games as time goes on – though of course, both models have access to Nvidia’s fancy new DLSS 4 and Multi Frame Generation tech for boosting your gaming performance.

Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!

And of course you can also follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp too.

Read more @ TechRadar

Latest posts

UCI World Tour 2026 live streams: How to watch cycling online from anywhere

Stream select UCI World Tour 2026 events for FREE on France TV (FRA), Rai (ITA), RTVE (SPA) and SBS On Demand (AUS)Use...

There’s a sneaky way to watch A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms for FREE

HBO’s A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms – the Game of Thrones spin-off based on George R.R. Martin’s beloved Tales of Dunk and Egg...

Better than Black Friday: the Apple Watch SE 3 at its lowest Aussie price of just AU$337 is fantastic value for a smartwatch

If you've been waiting for an attractive Apple Watch SE 3 discount to kick off 2026, then you’re in luck as we've finally found...

You need to listen to the cosmic horror-comedy podcast Welcome to Night Vale

It's relatively rare for a podcast to last 14 years, especially a fiction one. In fact, as far as I can tell, Welcome to...

NYT Connections hints and answers for Monday, January 19 (game #953)

Looking for a different day?A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people...

NYT Strands hints and answers for Monday, January 19 (game #687)

Looking for a different day?A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people...

Quordle hints and answers for Monday, January 19 (game #1456)

Looking for a different day?A new Quordle puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are...

The outstanding Roborock Saros 10R just got even better — here are 3 ways the Saros 20 improves on its predecessor

Roborock announced a few new robot vacuums at CES 2026, including one that has leggy stilts that mean it can just lift itself up...

The memory shortage reaches a ridiculous new high – thieves hit South Korean design office, apparently just to steal DDR5 memory

High-capacity DDR5 memory prices surged sharply, creating new theft targetsThieves in South Korea only stoles DDR5 modules, ignoring all other office hardware32GB DDR5-5600 kits...

World internet speed record of 430,000Gbps achieved using bog-standard optic fiber cables, fast enough to download Battlefield 6 in one millisecond — new tech...

NICT researchers achieved 430Tbps over conventional optical fiberNew approach used nearly 20% less overall transmission bandwidthMultiple modes transmitted simultaneously in the O-band and ESCL...