Best Gaming PC Builds 2025 Prime Day & Black Friday

As major sales events like Amazon Prime Day and Black Friday approach, this video offers guidance on building powerful gaming PCs that maximize value. It outlines three distinct builds: an $800 1440p gaming PC, a $1,200 mid-range PC suitable for 1440p or 4K, and a $2,000 high-end 4K gaming rig. The speaker emphasizes purchasing components during these sales to secure the best prices, noting that GPU availability can be an issue by Black Friday.

The guide breaks down each build, detailing component choices and expected performance. The $800 build focuses on delivering strong 1440p performance with options like the RX 9600 XT, while the $1,200 build steps up to handle 1440p or 4K with components such as the RX 970 or RTX 5070. The top-tier $2,000 build is designed for high-frame-rate 4K gaming, featuring a powerful GPU like the RTX 5080 and the sought-after 7800X3D CPU.

Throughout the video, the presenter highlights the importance of future upgradability, particularly with the AM5 platform, and suggests specific components that offer the best price-to-performance ratio during sale periods. Recommendations include considerations for RAM prices, storage solutions, and power supply units, all aimed at helping viewers build their ideal gaming PC at a considerable saving.

• Three PC builds are recommended for sale events: an $800 1440p gaming PC, a $1,200 1440p/4K mid-range PC, and a $2,000 4K gaming PC.
• The $800 1440p build can be achieved for around $750 with good deals, featuring an RX 9600 XT or Intel RB580 GPU.
• The $1,200 build targets 1440p/4K with GPUs like the RX 970 (16GB) or RTX 5070 (12GB) and an AM5 platform for upgradability.
• The $2,000 4K build features a powerful RTX 5080 GPU and the 7800X3D CPU for high frame rates and liquid cooling.
• The speaker advises purchasing PC parts during sales events like Amazon Prime Day and early Black Friday due to potential stock issues, especially for GPUs.

Related Video Summary

• Early Black Friday PC Sales — Buy Now Before Prices Spike

Sales Events and Recommendations [0:00]

• Major sales events like Amazon Prime Day (October 7th-8th) and Black Friday (November 28th) offer significant savings on PC parts.
• Competing sales include Fantastic (Newegg, October 6th-12th), Techtober (Best Buy, October 6th-12th), and Walmart sales.
• It is strongly recommended to buy PC components, especially GPUs, now before Black Friday as they often sell out.
• The speaker mentions having covered expected GPU and CPU sales and combo deals in previous videos.

My strong recommendation if you're going to build a gaming PC this year, buy your stuff right now.

$800 1440p Gaming PC Build [2:17]

• The target price is $800, with the build costing $793.84 before sales discounts, potentially coming in around $750.
• The GPU recommendation for high frame rates at 1440p is the RX 9600 XT 16 GB, costing around $349, which outperforms the RTX 5600 Ti.
• The RTX 5600 Ti 16 GB is a viable alternative if priced around $379 due to DLSS 4 having wider game adoption than FSR 4.
• The Intel Arc A770 12 GB GPU is an option for a cheaper build in the $700 range, costing around $249.
• For the CPU, options include the Intel LGA 700 platform (12th, 13th, 14th gen) with DDR4 RAM, or an AM4 CPU like the Ryzen 5600. The LGA 700 platform offers future upgradability.
• The i5-12400F CPU comes with a stock cooler, but an upgrade to a 13400 or 14400 may require a budget tower air cooler.
• A cheap B-series motherboard like the ASUS B760M-YW Wi-Fi D4 for $89 is recommended, with VRMs capable of supporting a 14600K in the future.
• For Ryzen builds, a cheap B550 motherboard is suggested.
• The RAM recommendation is 2x16 GB DDR4 3200 CL16, totaling 32 GB, with 3600 CL18 also acceptable, priced at $71. DDR4 prices have increased significantly.
• Storage: A 1 TB NVMe SSD budget drive is sufficient, costing $50-$60.
• Case: The Bitfenix Nova Mesh microATX case with three ARGB fans is recommended for about $60.
• Power Supply: A Prestige 600-watt PSU is chosen to keep costs down, despite being C-tier rated.
• The total cost before discounts is $793.84, with expectations of building it cheaper during sales.

You should be able to do this. I'd say probably around $750 if you do get some good deals out there, maybe even a little bit cheaper.

$1,200 1440p/4K Gaming PC Build [8:27]

• This build is capable of 1440p gaming with strong frame rates and can also handle 4K gaming.
• The estimated cost before sales is $1,175.81, with potential for significant savings during sales events.
• The recommended GPU is the RX 970 non-XT 16 GB version for $549, which has finally hit its MSRP. The RTX 5070 12 GB is an Nvidia alternative at the same price, but with less VRAM, which can be a limitation for 1440p with ray tracing.
• The RX 970 XT is also an option, with price drops to $639-$649 due to promo codes, offering considerably faster performance.
• The build uses the AM5 platform for future upgradability, with CPUs like the Ryzen 7600X ($180) or 7600 ($156) being good choices. The 7500F is another alternative.
• A budget tower air cooler like the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Pro for $18 is sufficient.
• Motherboard: The ASRock B850M Pro A Wi-Fi for $119 is a strong value, with Gigabyte Eagle at $149 as an alternative.
• RAM: 32 GB of DDR5 6000 CL30 RAM is recommended, priced at $99, with an RGB option for $10 more. DDR5 RAM prices are rising due to AI data center demand.
• Storage: A 1 TB NVMe SSD, like the Clevcrass C910, is a good budget choice at $57.
• Case: The Thermaltake V1 170 TG microATX case is recommended for $69, offering good fan placement options.
• Power Supply: A 750-watt, B-tier rated PSU is preferred, but currently, a Montego Century 2 850-watt unit is available for $85 and is C-tier rated.
• This build offers an amazingly performative 1440p or 4K gaming experience with future upgradability on the AM5 platform.

Honestly, we are likely to see major price discounts. AMD loves to make it rain on the Ryzen 5 CPUs in terms of the discounts out there.

$2,000 4K Destroyer Build [15:31]

• This high-end build is designed for 4K gaming with liquid cooling and premium components.
• The GPU option is the MSRP RTX 5080 for $999.
• Alternatives include the RTX 5070 Ti 16 GB for $749, or the RX 970 XT 16 GB for $650-$700, with the latter expected to see the biggest discounts.
• The RTX 5080 delivers approximately 141 average FPS at 1440p and 86 average FPS at 4K, performing well with high-end ray tracing.
• The CPU recommendation is the 7800X3D, a phenomenal gaming CPU for $359, with potential for small discounts or bundles.
• Cooling: A 360mm all-in-one liquid cooler, like the ID Cooling FX 360 Infinity Mirror, is used.
• Motherboard: The ASUS Tough Gaming B650E-Plus Wi-Fi is highlighted as the best value premium Ryzen motherboard, featuring PCIe Gen 5 for the GPU slot, upgraded audio, and extensive USB connectivity for $199.
• RAM: 32 GB of DDR5 6000 CL30 with RGB is recommended, costing $105.
• Storage: A 2 TB NVMe SSD, such as the Silicon Power UD90, is chosen for $130, noting that storage prices often drop during sales.
• Case: The Lian Li V100 case for $82 is praised for its premium quality, airflow, and included ARGB fans, with options for an all-white build.
• Power Supply: An 850-watt ATX 3.1, PCIe 5.1 PSU like the Montech is recommended for $104, providing ample power for high-end components.
• The total cost is around $2,000 before deals. Opting for the RX 970 XT would reduce the price by approximately $350.

Basically, what they did is they took their older B650 motherboard and they upgraded it. They gave it better styling. They gave it uh upgraded ALC 1220 audio on it and they upgraded the main GPU slot to PCIe Gen 5.