This isn’t the best Cyber Monday we’ve seen for GPU and CPU deals, but still, if you know what to buy, you can put together a powerful gaming PC for cheap. Based on our knowledge and testing of GPUs and CPUs, I’ve put together a parts list for a PC that could comfortably play games at 4K ultra settings for just $1,285 (this price is a moving target as parts sell out and was as low as $1,231 on Friday).
If you take the GPU down a level, you can get this rig down to just over $1,000. That less-expensive build can still play games at 2K resolution (2560 x 1440) and ultra settings really well. Here’s our parts list.
So at the heart of our configuration is a solid bundle deal from Newegg that combines the Ryzen 7 5700X3D and 32GB of Corsair DDR4-3200 RAMfor $229. The 5700X3D is an excellent CPU for gaming, because it has 96MB of L3 cache, which means that, for games where the CPU might be the bottleneck, it won’t be.
AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D + 32GB Corsair RAM:was $302, now $229 at NeweggThis bundle includes an AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D CPU, an MSI MPG B550 motherboard and 32GB of Corsair Vengeance DDR4 RAM.
Our GPU of choice is the XFX Speedster RX 7900 XT with 20GB of VRAM. According to our tests, the 7900 XT can exceed 60 fps at 4K ultra on most titles.
XFX Speedster Radeon RX 7900 XT 20GB:now $659 at Best Buy(was $749)For 4K gaming, the RX 7900 XT packs 20GB of VRAM with a no-frills design that can easily break 60 FPS in most games at native resolution — with upscaling and frame gen as potential performance boosters if needed.
If we wanted to save about $200 and settle for gaming at 2K, we’d go with a Radeon RX 7800XT which can crack the 60 fps mark at 2K ultra.
ASRock Radeon RX 7800 XT 16GB OC:now $449 at Newegg(was $469)ASRock gets our second pick as well, with an excellent value for 1440p gaming leveraging AMD’s Navi 32 RX 7800 XT GPU. It delivers solid performance at native 2560x1440.
We didn’t skimp on the SSD here. It’s a WD Black SN850X at 2TB capacity. With 7,300 MB/s reads, this is very fast.
WD Black SN850X (2TB) SSD:now $132 at Best Buy(was $199)2TB of fast storage for $124 represents the best of both worlds. Low price and high capacity storage. The SN850X is a speedy PCIe 4.0 SSD for PCs, laptops, and the PlayStation 5. The drive boasts a sequential performance that peaks at 7,300 MB/s reads and 6,600 MB/s writes. See our review of theWD Black SN850Xfor more information.
Our case is aPhanteks XT Pro Ultra, which is one of thebest PC casesyou can buy and now available for just $69. This case comes with four RGB fans and has plenty of room for our motherboard, GPU, 240mm AIO and other goodies.
Phanteks XT Pro Ultra Case:was $79, now $69 at NeweggThis case comes with four RGB fans, supports up to a 360mm radiator, has a tempered glass die panel and a USB-C port on the front panel.
Our power supply and cooler are nothing to type home about, but they are cheap. We went with an ID-Cooling Frostflow 240mm to keep the CPU cool and a Raidmax Cobra 750W Gold PSU.
ID-Cooling Frostflow X 240:was $54, now $46 at AmazonThis highly-capable AIO cooler has 2 x 120mm fans. Instead of RGB, it has white lighting.
Raidmax Cobra 750W:was $69, now $54 at NeweggThis 750W PSU is 80_ Gold certified and has ATX 3.1 PCIe Gen 5 support.
We are working hard to find the best computer deals for you this Cyber Monday . If you’re looking for more savings, check out our Cyber MondayComputer Hardware Deals Live blogfor a range of products, or dive deeper into our specializedSSD and Storage Deals Live blog,Monitor Deals Live,Graphics Card Deals, orCPU Dealspages.
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Avram Piltch is Managing Editor: Special Projects. When he’s not playing with the latest gadgets at work or putting on VR helmets at trade shows, you’ll find him rooting his phone, taking apart his PC, or coding plugins. With his technical knowledge and passion for testing, Avram developed many real-world benchmarks, including our laptop battery test.
