We’re often asked: When is the best time to build or upgrade your PC?

In the U.S., the best time to buy new PC parts is Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Outside the U.S., you may do better with the next best: holiday season sales.

And while some might find excitement in the classic Black Friday imagery of shoppers camping out and then making a mad scramble for the electronics department, we at Logical Increments prefer to stay at home and capitalize on mega discounts the more civilized way: Glued to the internet, mashing F5 on our browsers and searching for the best deals.

Just like in previous years of Black Friday/Cyber Monday madness, we’ll continually keep our blog updated to track the best deals online. In the meantime, we offer this guide with 5 tips for anyone planning to upgrade or build a new PC on Black Friday.

1. Decide what you want beforehand

Make a list of parts you want. I find it helpful to list the part’s normal price, and the price I’d be willing to pay on sale. Choosing what I’m willing to pay beforehand lets me instantly choose whether I want to buy a part when I see it on sale.

If you need any insight on what parts to upgrade, consider comparing your current components to the latest recommendations on the Logical Increments parts guide (wink wink).

2. Be flexible on brand and model

Notice that I didn’t list specific models or brands for the graphics card and motherboard on my list?

Sometimes you can find an incredibly good deal on a component, if you’re willing to go with a less well-known brand, or go with a different model than you had planned on. In the past, I bought a Sapphire R9 290 when I wanted a fancier ASUS R9 290, because there was a much better deal on the Sapphire model. Last year I wanted an i5 CPU, but was able to get a better i7 for nearly the same price because it had a much bigger sale.

3. Find some reliable recommendations

Like I said, we’ll be tracking our favorite deals on the Logical Increments blog. For other resources, we also really like the Black Friday forums at Fatwallet and Slickdeals.

4. Follow Black Friday pages for your favorite store (and subscribe to emails!)

Newegg and Amazon both have pages dedicate to PC components for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Newegg usually has many of the best Black Friday deals.

Stores often limit the best deals to their email subscribers, so this is one time when it’s definitely worth signing up for an email list.

Newegg’s e-blast newsletter is probably the single best daily email for deals leading up to Black Friday. They’re already sending out emails with pre-Black Friday deals. You can always unsubscribe after Cyber Monday!

5. Stay vigilant

Quantities are often limited and the best deals sell out within hours — or even minutes — of being posted online. Stay on top of developments and try to be quick!

Different stores reveal their best deals at different times, often at midnight at the start of Black Friday (the official start of Black Friday), or a few hours later sometime in the early morning of Black Friday.

What about rebates? Are they worth it?

The best savings are almost always dependent on rebates, because sellers know they can offer bigger discounts without actually having to pay the full amount (because so many of us are lazy and don’t send them in).

Despite their bad reputation, rebates are reliable as long as you follow the instructions exactly and complete the requirements on time. I have mailed in dozens of rebate forms, and have always received my rebates. If you ever have a problem where you believe you did everything correctly but haven’t received your rebate, call the company and let them know. Mistakes happen — and believe me — they would much rather pay out a little rebate than risk getting sued for fraud!

Now is the perfect time to start planning to catch the best deals of the year!