We built a 1440p gaming PC for less than $1,500 with Cyber Monday deals — your last chance to defeat the RAM apocalypse

Cyber Monday is upon us, and there are still PC hardware bargains aplenty. You might have noticed that there is something of a RAM apocalypse going on, with prices of DDR5 tracking upwards of 400% higher than they were just a few months ago. Building a PC in this economy is not for the faint-hearted.

Luckily for you, Tom's Hardware eats PC hardware deals for breakfast. We're hooked up to a drip of discounts astride a database of hot hardware you wouldn't believe.

To that end, we've scoured the internet, wringing every last possible dime out of a set of PC parts capable of 1440p performance on PC, without breaking the $1,500 mark. It wasn't easy (I'm looking at you, $274 of 32GB DDR5 RAM), but we did, in part thanks to the excellent value of Intel's LGA 1851 platform and a stonking set of deals on the Intel Core Ultra 7 series.

Of course, you can't please everyone with a PC build, so take this as a handy starter guide to building your very own 1440p PC. We focused on a balanced config that's got plenty of cores and threads for productivity work, plus a 16GB Radeon RX 9070 that's a value champ at 1440p gaming (and even beyond if you don't mind upscaling).

You can, of course, chop and change parts, add a bit more storage, use a different case, or add more power supply for futureproofing, but this is a pretty good start, and for 1440p gaming, it could be the best it gets for a long time. Thanks to some great bundles, if you buy this build, you'll get two free games, including Star Wars Outlaws and a choice of Intel holiday offerings, including Battlefield 6.

$1,500 Cyber Monday gaming PC: Quick list

• Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF + MONTECH HyperFlow ARGB 240: was $379 now $239.99 at Newegg
• MSI MAG B860 Tomahawk: was $229.99 now $149.99 at Newegg
• PowerColor Reaper AMD Radeon RX 9070 16GB: was $579.99 now $519 at Amazon
• Crucial Pro Overclocking 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR5 6000: $274 at Best Buy
• Crucial P310 2TB: was $200.99 now $134.99 at Amazon
• Corsair Frame 4000D: was $104 now $79.99 at Amazon
• Montech Century II 850W fully modular PSU: was $89 now $82 at Amazon

$1,500 1440p Cyber Monday PC

$60 off w/ promo code BFE933

Save 37% ($140)

Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF: was $379.99 now $239.99 at Newegg

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At the heart of our build is the Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF. With 8 performance cores and 12 efficiency cores at just $239 (use the discount code), this is a productivity powerhouse. Crucially, Newegg is bundling it with a 240mm AIO cooler from Montech. An air cooler would do just fine, so this is a massive bonus and saves us vital dollars on the build. Also comes with a free game, choices include Battlefield 6.

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Save 35% ($80)

MSI MSI Mag B860 Tomahawk Wi-Fi: was $229.99 now $149.99 at Newegg

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This B860 motherboard from MSI will seat our processor and comes with a ton of features, including Wi-Fi 7, all the slots you would need for a build of this caliber, and a striking aesthetic. This one from Newegg also comes with a free copy of Star Wars Outlaws Gold Edition, your second of two free games for this build.

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Save 22% ($150)

PowerColor Reaper Radeon RX 9070 16GB: was $669.99 now $519.99 at Amazon

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The Radeon RX 9070 comes with a hallowed 16GB of VRAM, and will easily power us through 1440p titles. If performance ever does become an issue, you can always crank up the frame rates with AMD's FSR 4 upscaler.

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Crucial Pro Overclocking 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR5 6000: $273.99 at Best Buy

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Times are hard when it comes to RAM. A build of this caliber would have easily shipped with 64GB of RAM a few months ago; this is now sadly not an option. This is the cheapest reputable 32GB kit of RAM you can buy right now.

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Save 33% ($66)

Crucial Crucial - P310 2TB: was $200.99 now $134.99 at Best Buy

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A very handy 2TB of storage for just $139. Like RAM, SSDs are not immune to the AI demand squeeze that is driving up the price of PC parts; as such, storage is another sore point. 4TB will cost you $239 with this drive if you want more space.

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Save 30%

Corsair Frame 4000D: was $114.99 now $79.99 at Amazon

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The Corsair Frame 4000D is a case with some great new design characteristics. An emphasis on modularity lets you swap out parts of the case and choose different fan sizes to suit your preferences, thanks to Corsair's InfiniRail system.

Mesh panels and three included 120mm fans allow high airflow for cooling, and inside the case, there are cutouts for motherboards with backside cabling and a built-in GPU support bracket.

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Save 9%

Montech Century II 850W fully modular PSU: was $89.99 now $81.90 at Amazon

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Montech's Century II PSU provides us with more than enough power at 850W capacity to power everything onboard here. You can always bump up to the 1050W model, but there's really no need to.

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Our mid-range 1440p build has, in the past, run us $1,600, so we are pretty proud of a $1,500 alternative given the pricing landscape of vital components like RAM and SSDs. Obviously, we've made some compromises, but this is a PC that will handily see you through 1440p gaming for the foreseeable future.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, or CPU Deals pages.