Recently, a user wrote to us: “Would you recommend waiting until after the holidays to buy PC parts? A friend of mine told me that was the best time to buy PC parts, because that’s when hardware goes on sale.”

Generally speaking, there’s no “optimal” time to buy PC parts. And if you’re looking to capitalize on sales, it’s probably better to buy during the holidays around Black Friday/Cyber Monday, as opposed to waiting for the holidays to blow over. However, even if you wait for the ultimate sale, you can’t guarantee that the exact things you want will get discounts.

Personally, we have never noticed a deep discount on PC products immediately following the holidays. We occasionally see that claim thrown around, but we cannot confirm its veracity.

Our general advice is to buy parts as soon as you’re ready, instead of waiting for an optimal time. The only exception to this is when you’re waiting for a specific component to come out.

NVIDIA recently released the GTX 1060, 1070 and 1080 graphics cards, and AMD has released the RX 460, 470 and 480. So, right now is actually a great time to build a new PC based around the new graphics cards, assuming you can find one available.

Another good strategy: If you’re not in a rush, spend a few weeks watching the Newegg Shellshocker sales. You can probably snag a few key components that way.

So in summary, unless Black Friday/Cyber Monday is right around the corner, don’t wait for an opportune time. If you want to buy PC components, “right now” is probably the best time to do it.