Live: The best Prime Early Access PC upgrade deals so far
We're searching for the best Prime Early Access deals on CPUs, graphics cards, RAM and more, and will update this story as we find them.
Buying advice: graphics cards
Graphics cards might be the hottest ticket in town right now, and we're actually looking at the possibility of some great graphics cards deals as we head into the buying bonanza season. There's a glut of graphics cards with retailers and distributors, and this is stock that Nvidia and AMD will want to shift as best it can.
The big question is: What's a great price for a graphics card nowadays? For most of today's graphics cards, the manufacturer recommended price went up in smoke in a matter of days, perhaps even hours, after their release. So while I am optimistic about deals, I'm also going to stay sceptical of these so-called 'deals' at times. You shouldn't be paying over MSRP for a card that's nearing the end of its life, and the RTX 30-series and RX 6000-series are on their way out. That's truer of the high-end graphics cards today—the low-end from Nvidia and AMD are both going to be sticking around until at least some point early next year, if not much later than that.
Still, you shouldn't pay top dollar for even a budget GPU. Here are some resources we've put together to help you know whether a graphics card deal is really as good as it seems.
GPU performance
Here's a list of the manufacturer set retail prices (MSRP), or recommended retail price (RRP), for most the latest graphics cards. For the most part, these are the set prices for the stock or reference versions of these cards, if applicable, and not representative of overclocked or third-party graphics cards, which may well be priced higher.
Good morning, Jacob reporting for duty.
Gigabyte Eagle Radeon RX 6650 XT | $264.99
Let's start off with this $265 RX 6650 XT that's currently live over at Newegg. That's a huge saving from the original price of this card, which wouldn't have been out of place around the $400 mark earlier in the year. Granted, this live isn't special to Prime Early Access (it's on Newegg, for starters), but hey a good deal is a good deal.
WD_Black SN850 1TB | $148
WD has a habit of making SSDs that we absolutely love. That's not just for performance reasons—though note that this SN850 is no slouch at up to 7,000MB/s and 5,300MB/s read and write, respectively—but for the price you'll often find them going for. This 1TB SN850 is a rapid PCIe 4.0 drive with a heatsink (important if you want to use it in a PS5 though also handy if your motherboard has none) for under $150.
I'll let you in on a little secret: I'm checking Amazon's best prices for a product using a tool called CamelCamelCamel. It essentially shows you a handy graph for a product's historical pricing, like so.
I highly recommend, for any deals you come across, you do the same. That way you can be sure you're not being messed around by 'deals' that aren't what they seem. CamelCamelCamel is both a Chrome plugin and a free-to-use website.
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X | $164.99
AMD has some extremely fast CPUs going for a lot less money than you'd expect right now. That's probably because it just released its even quicker Zen 4 processors, including the Ryzen 5 7600X, but that chip will cost nearly $300. Instead, how about the last-gen Ryzen 5 5600X for just $164.99? It's still plenty quick, has lots of cores (six-cores, 12-threads), and will fit neatly into cheap AM4 motherboards today.
It's a great basis for a budget gaming PC, especially at this price, which is actually the lowest priced we have recorded over at Amazon.
Intel Core i7 12700KF | $302.38
This processor forms the basis of what could be an excellent gaming PC with plenty of power for video editing and more. It's actually the cheapest we've ever seen this 12th Gen chip go for on Amazon, which is perhaps not that surprising considering these Alder Lake chips are just a year old.
Intel's about to release its 13th Gen processors, codename Raptor Lake, so you'd only be on the bleeding-edge for a moment. Also something to consider is whether you'd prefer to wait a little longer and buy the Core i5 13600K, which should come with similar specs to this chip at around this price.
Still, if you need your processor imminently, perhaps to replace a b0rked one, this is a great price.
Corsair RM750x 750W PSU | $98.60
If you're building a PC, you need a solid, trustworthy power supply. That's a must. Lucky for you, I've spotted this Corsair 750W PSU going for under $100, and it's literally the best.
We tap in the incredible knowledgeable PSU tester Aristeidis Bitziopoulos for all of our PSU reviews, and he ranks Corsair's RM750x as the best of the bunch for this wattage and price. Rest assured, he's done all the testing imaginable to come to that conclusion, too.
Teamgroup 16GB DDR4 kit | $48.99
If you're still rocking an admirable 8GB of RAM in your machine, now is the time to upgrade. We're in a transitional period in PC gaming: DDR4 is on the way out, to be replaced by much quicker DDR5 kits. What that means is, right now, DDR4 RAM is awfully cheap by the chip load, but at some point it'll become sparser as we move to the next best thing.
Who knows when that'll happen. It'll probably be a while longer yet. But prices are so low for DDR4, even for 16GB and 32GB kits, that it's tough not to take them up on the offer. I recently upgraded my personal PC's slow RAM kit to a fast, low-latency kit with RGB lights all over it, in fact.
With 16GB of capacity across two 8GB sticks (maxing out both channels), this Teamgroup kit should make for a mighty upgrade from 8GB. At 3,200MHz, it's a great speed for AMD and Intel CPUs, and it's also only CL16 latency, which is right where you want it.
WD_Black SN770 1TB SSD | $79.99
Much like the aforementioned RAM, SSD prices have come crashing down in recent years. Mature processes, denser technologies have resulted in cheaper chips all-round, and that means you can pick up a 1TB drive for as little as $80 right now.
This is a quick SSD, too. It's PCIe 4.0 compatible, which means higher bandwidth than older PCIe 3.0 drives on supported systems, and hits up to 5,150MB/s read performance.
If you've just woken up to the smell of fresh deals, good morning. I'm Jacob Ridley, senior hardware editor here at PC Gamer, and I'm looking for the best PC component deals this Amazon Prime Early Access. I'll be updating this article as and when I find them. No need to refresh, either, the page will do that automatically.
If you're looking for something more specific, or a whole system, we have heaps of handy hubs you can look through for the best Prime Early Access deals today:
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X | $334.99
The Ryzen 9 5900X was the chip to beat for the Zen 3 generation. It offers 12 cores, 24 threads, and runs at an impressive 4.8GHz Max Boost. For its $549 launch price, it was excellent.
Today, it's been replaced by AMD's Ryzen 9 7900X, which also demands $549. So apples to apples, yeah, the newer AM5 processor is the one to get. However, this isn't an apples to apples comparison. The Ryzen 9 5900X will set you back just $334.99 today, and that price really changes things.
This is still a super competitive chip while stocks last.
Corsair 5000D PC case | $109.99
What good are all these PC components if you have nowhere to store 'em? The Corsair 5000D is a PC case near and dear to us at PC Gamer. It's the home of our high-end test system. Not only that, it's the PC case we recommend in our monthly build guide in the PC Gamer magazine, available in all good stores—I have to say that.
I also use the Corsair 5000T for my own personal PC, though admittedly that is quite a bit different to look at. It's functionally similar on the inside though, and the 5000D is a very easy chassis to build into. There are tons of straps and cable management runs to make life easier, and lots of cooling options available.
AMD Radeon RX 6600 | $240.97/249.99
I'm going to throw two AMD Radeon graphics cards at you now, either of which would be great for a budget 1080p PC build.
But before I do, I must remind you that below I posted an RX 6650 XT that is going for just $264.99 right now. That's ultimately a much better deal if you can stretch your budget that little bit further.
If you're already pushing the budget, let's talk about the RX 6600. This is one of AMD's more entry-level GPUs but it's made itself quite competitive since its launch. Originally, its $329 price tag wasn't enough to compete with the equally priced RTX 3060 from Nvidia. However, the RX 6600 is now often found going for under $250, and Nvidia's RTX 3060 isn't anywhere close.
For 1080p gaming, you can expect some excellent performance out of the 8GB RX 6600, and it doesn't require a massive PSU either, requiring just 450W, so you can save on that too.
I am once again reminding you all of the following steal deal, and, no, I won't shut up about it.
An RX 6650 XT for $264.99 with an automatically added coupon code at Newegg. This is not a drill.
Asus ROG Thor 1200W PSU | $279.99
What's that coming over the hill? Is it a monster?
No, it's an RTX 4090 and it yearns to gobble up your precious power. Oh no.
For anyone that's not familiar with Welsh rock band The Automatic and their 2006 hit Monster, or just done with my ****, I'll get straight to the point. You might find that your current PSU is a little lacking in wattage for the top-end of the next generation. Nvidia's RTX 4090 asks for, at a minimum, an 850W power supply. And there I was thinking 750W was just fine. To be honest, if you're considering that GPU, you're probably planning to pair it with a mighty system indeed. But in case you hadn't already secured a high power PSU, here's one from Asus that packs a 1200W punch.
It's also received a solid review from our trusted PSU reviewer for our sister site Tom's Hardware.
Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Ultra motherboard | $199.99
Planning an Intel 12th Gen or even 13th Gen PC build? You'll need a solid motherboard to plug everything into. The Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Ultra is just that, and it's actually going for the cheapest we've ever seen it on Amazon right now.
This is an LGA 1700 compatible motherboard, so as I mentioned you can plug both Intel's current Alder Lake CPUs and next-gen Raptor Lake CPUs into it. Raptor Lake CPUs will arrive later this month alongside newer Z790 motherboards, but you should expect to pay a little more for one of those at first.
DeepCool AK400 CPU cooler | $31.99
Keeping your CPU cool is crucial for a long, happy PC gaming life. That's true of a budget processor or a premium chip. For a simple replacement for the stock cooler included with your CPU, you can go for an air cooler like the AK400. It'll perform much better and should be a fair bit quieter under load, too.
Cooler Master fans | $17.99
At some point during a gaming PC build, each of us has to ask ourselves: 'Am I an RGB fan kinda person?'
I tend to fall on the side of no, I'm not. I'm a very bland, Noctua NF-S12 kinda person. I like function over form, and that's that. But I do also admit that I'm occasionally impressed with an RGB everywhere, all at once, in your face style build.
For the people that swing towards bright rainbow lights everywhere, this one's for you.
Hey there Prime Day people! It's Tyler C, and I'm taking over for Jacob. It already looks like there's a lot of good deals on hardware to throw into your PC. I'll keep an eye out for sales that are an easy recommend if you've been looking to upgrade your rig. As usual, keep an eye on the feed as it refreshes with deals—there should be many as we get deeper into Prime Day.
AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT | $379.99
Jacob already dropped some deals on AMD's RX 6600, but this 6700 XT is also on sale. RDNA 3 is on its way, but this card is still a solid choice for 1080p and 1440p gaming. We reviewed it and thought it was solid, but overpriced for what it was. Now, that's not as much of a problem with the price below MSRP.
As someone that prefers high refresh rates over resolution, this is the kind of card I'd aim for. If you're into 4K, this will fall short compared to the competition, namely Nvidia's offerings. But if you want to play on a 144Hz monitor, this is worth looking at.
WD_Black SN850X 1TB | $109.99
WD has a new successor to one of our favorite SSDs for gaming. The SN850X touts 7,300 MB/s of read speed, which puts it above the SN850—an SSD we reviewed. The SN850X has small optimizations to help make load times in games blazingly fast, including minimized latency, predictive loading, and adaptive thermal management.
I've been using this drive and it's been excellent. There's nothing like loading into an open world game and not having to wait long before you're fully in it and moving around. This deal chops off enough of the MSRP to put it in direct competition with the SN850. If you can afford to spend a little more, this is a fantastic SSD to pick up.
DeepCool Gammaxx L240 CPU cooler | $91.44
I don't currently run a liquid cooler, but this deal on the DeepCool Gammaxx CPU cooler is making me think that I should have one. This is in the second place spot for our favorite CPU coolers and it's $45 off the usual price. If you like having a quiet PC even while gaming, a cooler like this is what you need. It keeps your CPU frosty and does it with very little noise output.
This CPU cooler is also RGB-equipped, so you can toss it into your rig and have it match your color scheme. I'd seriously consider this sort of thing if you currently run air cooling with fans at the moment. I always tell myself I'll make the swap when the price is right, and... well, the price is right.
G.Skill Trident DDR5 RAM | $219.99
This is our favorite DDR5 RAM and it's $70 off for Prime Day. I don't have a rig that can run DDR5 RAM yet, but this is the sort of deal I'd look for to finally make the upgrade. It's a little overkill, but it's a worthy 32GB kit to beef up your gaming PC.
If you have a CPU from a recent generation, this RAM will fit along with it nicely. It's future-proofing at a reasonable price. And with prices pretty normalized at the moment, this is the time to jump on it if you need it. It's RGB too, if that's important for your build.
WD_Black 1TB SSD | $128.49
Another day of Early Access deals, another SSD. This time we're talking about the WD_Black SN850 which is actually cheaper with a heatsink than it's heatsink-free sibling. Only a small price difference in it, but if you're lacking a heatsink on your motherboard it will come in handy for prolonged transfers. Similarly, the heatsink will make this SSD a better fit for a PS5, if you're looking for an SSD to expand that console's storage.
RTX 3060 Ti | $399.99
If you really must ignore the absolutely stellar deal of an RX 6650 XT for $264.99, then you might just be a really big fan of the green team. Or perhaps you really want to use DLSS or one of Nvidia's proprietary features. Don't worry, we've got you covered. This RTX 3060 Ti is actually at its MSRP, which is a rare thing indeed.
Okay, it's .99 cents over the MSRP, but near enough.
Intel 670p 2TB SSD | $125.99
Here's an interesting pick. If you're not quite convinced to spend nearly $200 on your next SSD, but you still want plenty of storage space, you're probably leaning towards an older SATA based drive. They're still pretty quick, and good for a big games library, but you could probably do one better with a spare M.2 slot in your machine.
Enter: Intel's 670p 2TB SSD.
This is a QLC drive, so it won't be super quick, and if you want to know how Intel's SSD business is doing nowadays, well, it's in the process of selling the whole lot off. But this is a surprisingly cheap way to get 2TB of SSD storage in your system, and not the slowest kind, either.
