If you're choosing holiday gaming gifts for gamers, start shopping early. Console games, PC games, and peripherals generally tend to be more expensive, so Black Friday and Cyber Monday are great times to pick up a bargain.

That said, it is obviously more difficult to find gifts for PC gamers than console gamers if you don't know their preferences. If your friend needs a PS4 controller, just buy them a Sony controller, but if they need a gaming mouse or keyboard, dozens of manufacturers are in the fray trying to convince you that their products are the best, and even the most tech-savvy will be overwhelmed. Even the most tech-savvy would be overwhelmed.

Tom's Guide allows you to check out a best-of list by category of PC games and peripherals that your PC gamer friends need or want. But if you're looking for inspiration, this guide will show you some of the best gaming gifts on sale this holiday season at discounted prices ranging from tens to hundreds of dollars. Give your thrifty loved one a top-brand or luxury toy that they wouldn't think of buying for themselves.

If you're looking for a name-brand mouse that your picky gamer will love, consider a brand that has sold over 10 million units. The Deathadder Elite, which is currently more than half the price on various sites, comes with a comfortable grip that accommodates most hand sizes and performed well in our reviewers' various game types. Unless you specifically know that your friend only plays one type of game, don't give him or her a mouse that specializes in only one type of game, but rather a popular mouse with excellent all-around performance.

Consider another mouse: If you prefer a wireless mouse, consider the Logitech G903 with its ambidextrous design, superior performance, and long battery life. Logitech is one of our favorite gaming mouse brands, and we've already seen plenty of great deals on various models.

If you're a respectable PC gamer, you probably already have a decent headset, so try to pick the newest model on the market to impress them and give your new setup a comfort and sound upgrade. Our reviewer was impressed with the Razer Kraken Tournament Edition, with THX Spatial Audio improving surround sound and allowing him to hear the direction of enemy footsteps in Overwatch. Regardless of the game being played, the recipient will be pleased to have an audio edge over the competition.

The Kraken Tournament Edition is expected to drop in price by nearly 50% off this holiday season, making it a great deal for a great headset.

Alternative headsets to consider: SteelSeries' Arctis headset consistently impresses us with its comfortable design and sound quality.

With so many great mouse pads on the market, you can find pads made for speedy specs, specific wireless mouse charging, or fancy RGB patterns. But for the discerning PC gamer, versatility and ergonomics will be valued above all else.

Razer's Firefly mouse mats are available in both cloth and hard editions. The cloth material is designed for slower, precise movements while the hard polycarbonate microfiber provides faster gliding. Additionally, if you purchase the Razer DeathAdder Elite for your gamer, you can program its internal software to match the movement speed to either surface.

Best Mousepad Alternative: If you want something more flashy and responsible, try the Razer Goliathus Extended Chroma mouse mat. This oversized mousemat features Razer Chroma lighting and plenty of room for your mouse and keyboard. For a smaller mouse mat, we recommend the Drift microfiber pad from Turtle Beach.

Not all keyboards are created equal. Certain types of gamers need keys with fast-rotating speed switches. So, as fast as your fingers move, the keys click and return to their default position ready to be tapped again.The Corsair K95 Platinum has excellent Cherry MX keys.

One of our favorite keyboards is Corsair's lower-end model, which also comes with a set of programmable macro keys that allow gamers to perform certain in-game tasks that more compact keyboards cannot. Furthermore, at the time of publication of this article, this expensive keyboard is $70 off on Amazon.

Another keyboard to consider: the Razer Blackwidow Elite is a beautiful, ergonomic keyboard that performed well in our gaming tests. Wireless is good. It is currently over half price at Newegg.

You may be looking for something under $50 to give to a friend, or you may finally be able to buy your kids that gaming laptop they've been begging for months. Black Friday is certainly the best time to buy a great gaming laptop, but it is not just a matter of going for the biggest discount. A laptop is a big investment, and you need to make sure it has the specs you need for both gaming and schoolwork.

With its powerful GPU and CPU, the Razer Blade Pro 17 is one of our favorite laptops available today, gaming or otherwise. With a 9th generation Intel i7, up to NVIDIA RTX 2080 Max-Q graphics, up to 64GB of RAM, and up to 2TB of storage, this high-powered machine provides everything you need to run the latest games and demanding apps.

Consider other gaming laptops: you see them on PC keyboards, but not (until now) when the keyboard is built into the device. Using infrared sensors to recognize key presses of 1 mm much faster than mechanical devices, the Blade 15 allows your child to enjoy any game and type essays faster.

Or, for a more budget-minded entry-level laptop, consider the Lenovo Legion Y7000.

Unless you know your friend's gaming preferences and what games they already have in their various game libraries, such as Steam, it's hard to give them any of the great PC games that are out now. Especially if the game they really want is on sale, they will probably buy it themselves. So instead, give away subscriptions to various games and let them choose.

Humble Choice subscriptions allow the gift recipient to choose from a variety of PC games, from old favorites to recently released titles, and each month they can pick their favorites to own forever. Even if they end their subscription after a few months, you can still give them several gifts without the stress of choosing the wrong one. We recommend giving them the "Classic" plan, a special subscription plan that gives them 10 games each month.

Best alternative to a subscription: Microsoft Game Pass for PC gives you access to dozens, if not hundreds, of PC titles. Unfortunately, you won't be able to keep any of those titles once your subscription ends, but if you have a lot of free time to spend on games, it's a great value. Of course, you can also give a gift card to your favorite online store.