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I love Black Friday component deals. You can combo-chain them to build yourself a gaming PC much cheaper than usual—no matter what resolution you’re playing at. During the rest of the year, you can find bargains, but it’s harder to pull together a full system (much less a kickass one) at the same prices.
In 2024, it turns out that despite rising SSD costs and slowed graphics card releases, you can still put together an upgradable gaming PC capable of 1080p High or Ultra at 60fps for just $550. And as a bonus for this year, this build packs a powerful CPU and lots of memory. All without any hijinx: The parts are new and sold by major retailers.
More interested in 1440p gaming, or scaling down to a more modest gaming build? I’ve got suggested builds for those scenarios, too—and they may surprise you.
Let’s dive in.
This article is part of a series about the cheapest Black Friday (and Cyber Monday) gaming PC you can build. For fun, you can compare this year’s results to 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, and 2016. Thanks to everyone who tunes in for this annual exercise!
The $550 1080p Black Friday gaming PC build
We live in an unusual period for PC components. Intel’s 13th and 14th-gen woes make those chips more difficult to recommend; little movement in graphics card releases has resulted in stagnant prices. AMD also has split its offerings between older generations as the “budget” options, and its newer generations as more performant alternatives. Add in the looming threat of tariffs, and building a gaming PC now can feel like a pressured decision during an awkward time.
But you can still set yourself up for current and future success with this 1080p build. It’s solidly capable of playing at 60fps on High, and even Ultra in some games. You’ll have to forgo ray-tracing, but that shouldn’t lessen the enjoyment of excellent games.
As typical for suggested gaming PC builds, a mouse and keyboard aren’t included in the parts list. However, for the sticklers out there, feel free to add at least another $17 for a basic mouse and gaming keyboard to the total.
Build notes
- This motherboard will likely require flashing to a newer UEFI version to work with the Ryzen 5700X. If you don’t already own a compatible older processor that will let you enter the motherboard’s UEFI to perform this update, a local computer shop may be able to perform this service for a fee. You can also try a B550 chipset motherboard, which may have a lesser chance of needing flashing to a new UEFI version, if the mobo unit you receive was manufactured recently.
- This case has been going in and out of stock. If you can’t get one, you can swap in this DIYPC case instead. It costs more, but it also comes with more fans and accommodates more motherboard sizes, in case you want to use an ATX mobo for your build.
AMD’s older AM4 CPUs march on like champions, with the architecture still plenty capable of strong performance for gaming. Despite a launch in 2020, Ryzen 5000 kicks so much butt that it hangs in strong even four years later. And thanks to Newegg’s killer bundle discounts, we’re seeing a notable upgrade on our similar 2023 Black Friday build.
You now get a 8-core, 16-thread processor (!) and 32GB of DDR4 memory—setting you up for the future. Despite its relative age, the Ryzen 7 5700X should keep trucking on when you decide to upgrade your graphics card. Similarly, the bountiful amount of Corsair RAM should hold up as apps get greedier about memory use.
Overall, this 1080p build has plush touches, since unlike previous years, I no longer try to cut things as close to the bone as possible. Though you certainly can choose to—for example, swapping for a cheaper motherboard without on-board Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The Windows 11 license is included in the overall price, too, with a key that’s above board; the license comes from PCWorld’s affiliated shop.
Amd
Still, this build shows the still-slowed pace of PC component releases. Compared to last year, this 1080p gaming PC features a more modest motherboard option (mATX instead of full ATX, which means fewer PCIe expansion slots for streaming or audio cards); slower memory (not quite the sweet spot for maximum performance with Ryzen 5000); and a non-airflow case.
And of course, with SSD prices having risen over the past year, the storage drive is a more budget option. Without companies furiously pushing the envelope, the deal offerings aren’t as juicy across the board as in the past. It would have been nicer to see newer CPU generations like Ryzen 7000 at lower prices, for example.
Nevertheless, this affordable $550 DIY build is more than capable of 1080p gaming with few compromises!
Areas for improvement
- Storage: A 500GB SSD often fills up quickly, so if you can afford it, buy the 1TB version of the Inland TN450 ($55) instead.
- Additional fans: The Thermaltake case I chose has only one included fan, so you can buy more fans yourself for more optimal airflow (especially with that closed front). It’s best to have at least one intake fan, and one outtake fan.
Suggested upgrades
- Power supply: I usually choose more affordable power supplies for these articles, but usually, you want the nicest power supply you can afford. You can look through this PSU tier list if you prefer a higher-rated one. (For example, this Thermaltake Toughpower GX2 600W power supply is considered by power supply enthusiasts to be more reliable than the one I recommended above, and at $50, it costs just $10 more.)
The $800 1440p Black Friday gaming PC build
For 2024, this suggested 1440p gaming PC makes use of an extremely sweet CPU bundle deal. Could this be a $700 build by leaning on the same parts as the 1080p build? Sure, but that’s no fun.
- This motherboard may require a newer BIOS to work with the Ryzen 5700X3D. (It will depend on how recently the board was manufactured—if its BIOS version is new enough, you won’t need to.) If you don’t already own a compatible older processor that will let you enter the motherboard’s UEFI to perform this update, a local computer shop may be able to perform this service for a fee.
- This case has been going in and out of stock. If you can’t get one, you can swap in this DIYPC case instead. It costs more, but it also comes with more fans and accommodates more motherboard sizes, in case you want to use an ATX mobo for your build.
Our $800 1440p gaming PC bumps up to the Ryzen 7 5700X3D—an absolutely monster of a chip for gaming, even today. When pitted against Intel’s newly released flagship processor, the Core 9 Ultra 285K, the 5700X3D is less 10 percent behind in gaming performance, when you look at the average across multiple games. And it costs just one third of the 285K’s price.
Given Newegg’s bundle deal for the 5700X3D, it was too hard to pass up in favor of the 5700X from the 1080p build. For $305, you get the processor, 32GB of DDR4-3600 memory (that perfect sweet spot of speed for Ryzen 5000!), and a motherboard discount. Yeah, your graphics card is generally the more important factor in gaming performance, but this chip is a smart move if you love higher-performance gaming and plan to upgrade your GPU to something more powerful later on.
That said, you can save $100 by using the same CPU, motherboard, and RAM bundle as in the 1080p build above. You’ll lose framerates, but depending on the games you play, you may not notice as much. And instead, you can put the extra cash elsewhere.
It was also hard to pass up a couple of other upgrades, given this level of build. (If you’re looking to game at 1440p, you’re not exactly trying to scrape by on pennies.) I chose to go with a higher capacity storage drive and a better-regarded power supply, but again, you can downgrade those if you wish.
Suggested upgrades
- Graphics card: The Radeon 6750 XT is more budget 1440p gaming—to truly let your PC stretch its legs at this resolution, you can try for a $420 PowerColor Fighter 7800 XT, which has been coming in and out of stock on Amazon. As proof of stagnant GPU pricing, this price is an incredibly modest discount…and it’s the best you’ll find right now.
- Storage: You can find solid prices on 2TB SSDs right now. Filling a 1TB drive doesn’t take as long these days, so expanding your storage pays off down the road.
- Monitor: Swanky monitors that used to cost a pretty penny have dropped dramatically in price right now. If you’re building a new PC and have extra cash, a monitor upgrade during Black Friday may be worth consideration.
Possible swap
- Motherboard bundle: Need a motherboard with more PCIe slots? If you can get by without on-board Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, you can opt for this 5700X3D bundle instead. (It’ll save you $5, too.)
The $475 AM5 Black Friday gaming PC build
- This motherboard may require a newer BIOS to work with the Ryzen 8600G. (It will depend on how recently the board was manufactured—if its BIOS version is new enough, you won’t need to.) If you don’t already own a compatible older processor that will let you enter the motherboard’s UEFI to perform this update, a local computer shop may be able to perform this service for a fee.
- Price after using promo code BFDD335.
- Price after using BFDDY2A438.
- This case has been going in and out of stock. If you can’t get one, you can swap in this DIYPC case instead. It costs more, but it also comes with more fans and accommodates more motherboard sizes, in case you want to use an ATX mobo for your build.
For years now, my cheapest Black Friday gaming PC builds have relied on APUs (CPUs with more powerful integrated graphics). You don’t need a separate graphics card to play games.
This year’s is a little unique in that it leans on AMD’s newer mid-tier APU, the Ryzen 5 8600G, which is a chip that requires a newer AM5 motherboard.
On the one hand, the specs may feel overpriced for a cheap gaming PC meant to handle lightweight games. On the other, there are no Ryzen 5 5600G deals this year, which would fit that bill. So think of this as a snapshot of the current climate—as I said above, awkward.
But this build can still be a good fit for a less demanding gamer who still needs or wants flexibility to upgrade later on, like when dedicated graphic cards become more appealing to buy. AM5 may still see further compatible processors released, too, meaning you may be able to squeeze long-term value from the CPU and memory. Speaking of, I popped in a generous 32GB due to how relatively cheap memory still is right now—and the fact that APUs rely on system memory when running games. More never hurts. Similar for the power supply; may as well upgrade that as well for a more robust system.
Could you trim down further? Absolutely. But this system is really best treated as one meant to stretch further down the road, so no need to limit yourself with a lower wattage power supply, less memory, or a motherboard without Wi-Fi.
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