Valve's "Steam Machine"-certified line of gaming computers ranges from affordable to astronomically priced, but while we haven't gone hands-on with most of them, we feel like its lower-end machines at the $500 level offer too low a price-to-power ratio. $300, on the other hand, seems like a fine price for an entry-level gaming PC, with 4GB RAM, an i3 processor, an entry-level Nvidia video card, and a bundled Steam Controller, which is why our eyes lit up at computer maker Syber's one-day, pre-Thanksgiving sale.

While all of Syber's Steam Machine systems have gotten a $200 mark down for this limited-time sale, we're most intrigued by the discount on its entry-level offering. Pricing out each of its individual components (Intel i3-4160 processor clocked at 3.6 GHz, 4GB DDR3 RAM, 1GB Nvidia GTX 750 video card, etc.) at a parts shop like Newegg totals over $300—which doesn't account for the effort necessary to put your own system together, of course.

Even better, Syber's online store offers some cheap ways to pump the specs; we heartily recommend clicking through menus, at the very least to get a free 1TB hard drive upgrade and a free gaming mouse. It'll only cost an extra $8 for double the DDR3 1600 RAM, along with a measly $10 to bump the graphics card up to a more future-proofed 2GB GTX 950. (Should you already have a favorite PC-compatible gaming controller, you can also reduce the total cost by $45 by removing the Steam Controller from the package, which we quite honestly recommend doing.)

Some caveats: this is a one-day sale, so if supply runs out, it might not even last that long, and part of the discount comes in the form of a $100 mail-in rebate. No monitors or keyboards are included. Also, like other Steam Machines, Syber's option comes with the Linux-based SteamOS, and you can't pay to have Windows pre-installed instead. Still, this is exactly the price point we were hoping for with a system that doesn't charge users for a Windows license, so if Linux is your jam or you have a spare Windows license handy, we think this is among the best early options for an affordable living-room PC that won't make little Timmy frown on Christmas day.

Update: Annnnnd the $300 model is sold out! Syber's i5-equipped mid-range machine, on sale for $689 + $100 rebate until the end of Monday, is still a decent option, especially with its share of free customization tweaks.