A powerful AMD gaming desktop is hundreds off at Costco
Given that RAM has become so expensive to buy recently, you might have considered buying a prebuilt desktop computer. If so, and you’re leaning toward a high-end gaming model, Costco has a model that’s an impressive value at $1,999.99 ($300 off) for members through February 8th. It’s an all-AMD, liquid-cooled machine built into Asus’ ROG GM700 case, and includes the Ryzen 9 9950X3D — the best desktop processor of 2025 — along with AMD’s Radeon 9070 XT graphics card (also very good!), 32GB of DDR5 RAM and a 2TB SSD, plus a wired keyboard and mouse. Buying each of these components piecemeal would likely send you sailing over the $2,000 mark, with the CPU and GPU accounting for well over half the cost.
Obviously, two grand is still a lot of money, but I’ve compared prices for other configurations and it seems like the best value by a long shot. For example, B&H Photo has a model for $1,899 with half the RAM and storage amounts, not to mention a step down to Intel’s Ultra 7 265F processor and Nvidia’s RTX 5070 GPU. Best Buy’s $1,699.99 model offers 32GB DDR5 RAM with 1TB of storage along with AMD’s Ryzen 7 8700F and Nvidia’s RTX 5060 Ti. Costco’s model is vastly superior, especially in the processor department.
Other Verge-approved deals
- Elgato’s Stream Deck Mk.2 includes 15 customizable buttons and currently costs $130 on sale. If you already know that’s not nearly enough buttons for your needs, the company’s biggest XL model with a whopping 32 buttons is discounted to $199.99 ($50 off) at Amazon. The Stream Deck XL works like the rest of Elgato’s models, letting you customize each button with its app however you please with plugins downloaded through its PC and macOS app.
- Best Buy has started its pre-Super Bowl discounts on LG OLED TVs, and the company’s offering free basic mounting and TV haul-away with select models. The most affordable is the 77-inch LG B5 that’s $1,499.99, though LG’s C5, the M5 and the stunning G5 are also available at higher costs. The fine print states that Best Buy will install the TV onto a customer-provided mount (I really like this EchoGear model for TVs between 42 and 90 inches that’s $103 at Amazon), and it’ll charge extra for installing the mount onto any wall type other than drywall. If you were already planning to buy a TV, at least this will save you some money on paying for mounting through Taskrabbit.
- If you’ve felt a sting of envy from everyone jumping back into the wondrous, stress-free world of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, you can grab the game at a discount at Woot. The game costs $44.99 (usually $59.99), and if you have a Switch 2 and want the system-exclusive features that boost performance and add Joy-Con mouse controls for home decorating, that upgrade will cost you just $4.99 extra via the eShop. Woot will ship the international version and it might have Spanish on the packaging. But don’t fret as the Switch is region-free, so cartridges made for any region will work just fine in your console.