The latest all-white board to land on our test bench is from ASRock. But this time, it’s more affordable than the updated X870E Taichi White we recently covered. The $230 X870E Challenger Wifi White offers a surprising number of features for the price.

Specs-wise, the Challenger comes handsomely equipped for almost any price point. Features include a flagship audio codec, robust VRMs, and ample (and fast!) USB connectivity (including USB4 ports). You also get plenty of internal storage options, with four M.2 sockets (one PCIe 5.0) and two SATA ports, and fast networking with 5 GbE and Wi-Fi 7 (160MHz). Looking at other boards at this price, some don’t include USB4, offer slower 2.5 GbE, or provide weaker audio solutions. For $230, the Challenger is a great deal for an X870E-based board, though, like everything, it has drawbacks that we’ll cover below.

On the performance front, the X870E Challenger delivered average-to-below-average results across most tests, as we again had to use our secondary DDR5-6000 kit (the Kingston kit isn’t officially supported and didn’t work after enabling the XMP/DOCP profile). Still, we’re confident it would perform a bit better if you snag some RAM on the board’s QVL list that has tighter secondary and tertiary timings.Below, we’ll examine the X870E Challenger White’s performance and other features, and see if it earns a spot on our list of the best motherboards. But before we share test results and discuss details, here are the specifications from the ASRock website:

Specifications of the ASRock X870E Challenger Wifi White

Inside the Box

The retail packaging includes a few accessories to help you get up and running. You get the standard Wi-Fi antennas, two white SATA cables (one with a 90-degree connector), an installation guide, and some stickers. It’s not a lot, but par for the course in this price bracket.

Design and Features of the ASRock X870E Challenger Wifi White

The X870E Challenger Wifi White is, as the name describes, all white. In fact, everything save for two light-gray fan headers is white, along with the onboard chips and screws that secure the M.2 heatsinks to the 8-layer, server-grade PCB. Oversized VRM heatsinks cover the top-left part of the board, with Challenger written across them.

The bottom part of the board has a DIY-friendly, toolless multi-layer heatsink for the primary M.2 socket, plus basic plate-style heatsinks with screws for the M.2 sockets and dual promontory chipset. Overall, it’s a no-frills board (no integrated RGB lighting, even), so it lacks some of the larger plate-style heatsinks and ‘EZ latch features found on more expensive boards. You’ll need an all-white build to take advantage of the all-white look, but it’s still one of the better-looking white boards, especially for its price.

Starting in the top left corner, we see two “high-density” 8-pin EPS connectors (one required) to power the processor. Surrounding those are the two “XL” heatsinks to cool the flagship-class power delivery below. To the right of the socket are four DRAM slots with locking mechanisms on both sides. ASRock lists support up to DDR5-8200, which is plenty for the platform. Our Kingston kit didn’t want to play nice with this board, which makes this the third ASRock board that doesn’t support our base test kit. As always, stick to the memory QVL list for assured support.

Above the DRAM slots are the first three (of seven) 4-pin fan headers. Each header supports PWM- or DC-controlled devices and can be tweaked through the BIOS or ASRock’s Windows-based software. The CPU_FAN1 header supports up to 1A/12W output, while the rest support up to 3A/36W each. You should have plenty of headers and enough power.

Shifting focust to the right corner and moving down, the next feature is the 4-LED POST Status Checker. There are LEDs for the CPU, Boot, VGA, and RAM. During the POST process, these light up and, if there is a problem, the offending area’s LED stays lit, giving you a general idea of where the issue is. It’s not quite as helpful as the 2-character debug display on higher-end boards, but is a lot better than nothing and typical on a lower-priced motherboard.

Continuing down the edge, we spy two (of three) 3-pin ARGB headers, just above the main 24-pin ATX power connector. ASRock’s Polychrome Sync application controls the attached RGBs, offering several canned light patterns and adjustments. Last but not least is the front panel USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20 Gbps) Type-C connector. If there’s one thing that stands out on this board, it’s the number and speed of the USB ports — there are a lot, and ASRock didn’t skimp on speed.

Power delivery on the X870E Challenger is one of the most robust we’ve seen, especially for a $230 budget-class motherboard. It comes with 23 total phases, 20 dedicated to Vcore. Power flows from the 8-pin EPS connectors to the Renesas RAA229628 20-phase PWM controller. From there, power heads to the more Renesas bits, this time the R2209004 110A SPS MOSFETs — a surprise to see on a board of this class. The 2,200A available will most certainly handle anything you throw at it. Flagship processors like the Ryzen 9 9950X or Ryzen 9 9950X3D2, overclocked even with extreme cooling methods, are also no problem.ALBM - board6 (bottom half):

On the bottom half of the board, we’ll start on the left where there’s a fully exposed audio solution that shows off the flagship Realtek ALC4082 codec, along with a couple of dedicated audio capacitors. While you won’t find a fancy integrated amplifier or DAC, this is the best codec for the platform and another pleasant surprise on such an inexpensive offering.

In the middle of the board are three PCIe slots. Two are full-length, and one is an open-ended x1-size slot. The top slot uses ASRock’s Reinforced Steel Slot, connects through the CPU, and is your PCIe 5.0 x16 slot (no bifurcation) for video cards. The second full-length slot at the bottom connects through the chipset and runs up to PCIe 3.0 x2, while the tiny x1 slot runs at PCIe 3.0 x1 speeds and also sources its bandwidth from the chipset. I’d like to see a PCIe 4.0 slot for extra bandwidth, but as-is it will easily support lower-bandwidth expansion needs.

Mixed among the PCIe slots, to the right of the chipset heatsink, sit four M.2 sockets. The top socket, under the large, tiered, DIY-friendly heatsink, is the one and only PCIe 5.0 x4 (128 Gbps) “Blazing” M.2 socket (M.2_1). M.2_2/3, which both run at PCIe 4.0 x4 (64 Gbps), are under the plate-style heatsink that’s secured with three captive screws. M.2_4 runs vertically along the right edge of the board and also supports PCIe 4.0 x4 drives. The good news is that the M.2 drives don't share lanes. You can pack the motherboard full of them, and each will run at full bandwidth without degrading or disabling another part. If your system needs a RAID setup on M.2, the board supports RAID0/1/10 modes. I wish there were more DIY-friendly features, but at this price, something has to give to keep prices low.

Hidden under the M.2 heatsink, along the right edge, is a 19-pin USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) header and the two SATA ports (supports RAID0/1 modes). Finally, we've included a few images of the board's active ICs. ASRock uses a mix of ASMedia (USB4), Realtek (audio, networking), and Renesas for the power bits.

At the bottom are several headers, including front-panel audio and USB ports. A complete list of connectivity is listed below (from L to R):

• Front panel audio
• 4-pin RGB
• 3-pin ARGB
• (2) USB 2.0 headers
• (4) 4-pin fan headers
• 19-pin USB 3.2 Gen 1 header
• 2-pin Clear CMOS jumper
• Power LED and Speaker
• Front panel

Flipping the board around to the rear IO, you can see it’s chock-full of colorful USB and other ports. On the left are Clear CMOS and BIOS Flashback buttons. Next to those are the Wi-Fi 7 (remember, it’s ‘only’ 160 MHz) antenna connections and the HDMI (v2.1) port. Next to that are stacks of colored USB ports. In total, there are 12: two USB 4 (40 Gbps) Type-C ports that double as video outputs; five USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps), two of which are the Lightning USB ports (yellow, and designed to reduce latency by using different controllers). Three USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) ports (purple) support USB PD 3.0 charging up to 5V@3A (15W). Lastly, the two USB 2.0 ports are black. Above one of the Type-C ports is the Realtek 5 GbE, and finally, on the right end, is the audio stack with two 3.5mm analog jacks and SPDIF outputs.

If you’re an esports gamer where every millisecond counts, the lighting gaming ports could come in handy. Otherwise, the feature adds little value for the average user.

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Firmware

Like other X870E ASRock boards, the X870E Challenger starts in the informative Easy Mode, but it also lets you adjust several options (XMP, profiles, boot order, access to Fan-Tastic Tuning, etc.). The Challenger White uses a grey background and black characters, closely matching the new Taichi’s theme. The high contrast also makes it easy to read. The standard BIOS displays headings across the top, with subheadings and details below.

You can tweak anything here, as ASRock includes every option you can think of. Overclocking is straightforward, with most options readily available. The layout is logical, and the mouse movement is smooth. We have no significant complaints about the ASRock firmware, but it could certainly use a facelift if it wants to keep up with recent Asus, Gigabyte, and MSI updates.

Software

ASRock offers several different software options. These include the App Shop, which lets users install drivers and software; the Nahimic 3 audio control panel; the A-Tuning application that lets you overclock and control fans; the Polychrome RGB software; and more. There’s also a Blazing OC Tuner, Motherboard Utility, and a convenient pop-up to install drivers when the system first boots. ASRock’s software gives users everything they need to manage and tweak their systems.

Test System / Comparison Products

We’ve updated our test system to Windows 11 (23H2) 64-bit OS with all updates applied as of late September 2024 (this includes the Branch Prediction Optimizations for AMD). Hardware-wise, we’ve updated the RAM kits (matching our Intel test system), cooling, storage, and video card. Unless otherwise noted, we use the latest publicly available non-beta motherboard BIOS. The hardware we used is as follows:

TEST SYSTEM COMPONENTS

• CPU - AMD Ryzen 9 9900X
• Cooling - Arctic Liquid Freezer II 420
• Storage - Crucial 2TB T705 M.2 PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSD
• RAM - Kingston Fury Beast DDR5-6000 CL36 (KF560C36BBEAK2-32)
  Teamgroup T-Force Delta DDR5-7200 CL34 (FF3D518G7200HC34ABK)
  Klevv Cras XR5 RGB DDR5-8000 (KD5AGUA80-80R380S)
• GPU - Asus TUF RTX 4080 16G
• PSU - EVGA Supernova 850W P6
• Windows 11 64-bit (23H2 - 22631.4169)NVIDIA Driver 561.09

Benchmark Settings

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Benchmark Results

We run our standard benchmarks and power tests using the CPU’s stock frequencies (including any default boost/turbo) with all power-saving features enabled. We set optimized defaults in the BIOS and the memory by enabling the XMP profile. We set the Windows power scheme to Balanced (default) for this baseline testing, so the PC idles appropriately.

Synthetic Benchmarks

Synthetics offer a valuable way to evaluate a board's performance, as identical settings should yield similar results. Turbo boost wattage and advanced memory timings are areas where motherboard manufacturers can still optimize for stability or performance, though, and these settings can impact specific testing scenarios.

Starting with our synthetic benchmarks, the Challenger was average to below average in our tests, mostly due to the different timings in our secondary RAM kit. If we could run our primary kit, I’m confident performance would be closer to average across the board.

Timed Applications

Our timed applications told the same story. The board hit the slower of the two times in LAME and Corona, and was on the slower side of average in the Handbrake tests.

3D Games and 3DMark

Starting with the launch of Zen 5, we’ve updated our game tests. We’re keeping the F1 racing game but have upgraded to F1 24. We also dropped Far Cry 6 in favor of an even more popular game in Cyberpunk 2077. We run both games at 1920x1080 resolution using the Ultra preset (details listed above). Cyberpunk 2077 uses DLSS, while we left F1 24 on native resolution scaling.

The goal of these settings is to determine whether performance differs at the most commonly used (and CPU/system-bound) resolution, with settings most people use or strive for (Ultra). We expect the difference between boards in these tests to be minor, with most falling within the margin of error. We’ve also added a minimum FPS setting, which can affect your gameplay and immersion.

The Challenger did well in the synthetic 3DMark benchmarks, but was slower in games. Here again, we’re confident that if the secondary/tertiary memory timings were the same, results would be closer to average for Cyberpunk 2077 and perhaps higher for F1 24.

In short, there’s nothing to worry about regarding performance on this board.

Overclocking

Over the past few CPU generations, overclocking headroom has shrunk on both sides of the fence, while out-of-the-box potential has increased. For overclockers, that means less fun. For the average consumer, you’re getting the most out of the processor without manual tweaking. Today’s motherboards are more robust than ever and easily support power-hungry, flagship-class processors, so we know the hardware can handle them. There are multiple ways to extract even more performance from these processors: enabling a canned PBO setting, manually tweaking the PBO settings, or just going for an all-core overclock. Results will vary and depend on the cooling as well. In other words, your mileage may vary. Given all of the above, we will not overclock the CPU. However, we will test different memory kits to ensure they meet the specifications.

For memory testing, we start with our fastest non-clock driver kit: Klevv 32GB (2x16) DDR5-8000. Per usual on this platform, it booted to Windows but wouldn’t pass a stress test with our 9900X. The Team Group DDR5-7200 kit worked without issue. After dropping in the 8600G APU, that DDR5-8000 Klev kit worked just fine. These speeds are well past the ‘sweet spot’ for the AM5 platform, and with today’s RAM prices, few are buying such fast kits anyway. But it’s good to know the board can handle it.

Power Consumption / VRM Temperatures

We used AIDA64’s System Stability Test with Stress CPU, FPU, cache, and Memory enabled for power testing, using the processor's peak power consumption value. We obtained the wattage reading from the wall using a Kill-A-Watt meter, which captures the entire PC (excluding the monitor). The only variable that changes is the motherboard; all other parts remain the same. Please note that we now use only the stock power-use/VRM temperature charts, as this section aims to ensure the power delivery can handle flagship-class processors.

Stress testing this board with our DDR5-7200 kit showed it using less power than most. At idle, it sat around 78W, below average, and it peaked at 265W, slightly above average. This averages out to 162W, about 10W better than the running 172W average among our tested boards.

VRM temperatures were quite good during our testing, peaking at just over 47 degrees Celsius on our sensor and 53 degrees on the hottest internal sensor. With 110A MOSFETs pushing ~150W loads, it’s a solid result with plenty of headroom left for a more powerful processor and/or overclocking.

Bottom Line

Overall, the ASRock X870E Challenger Wifi White ($229.99) is an excellent and well-rounded budget X870E board. From the overbuilt power delivery and flagship audio codec to the copious number and speed of the USB ports, there’s a lot to like here, including the all-white aesthetic that’s sure to look good in a white build. Just add RGBs for additional bling, if that’s your thing.

Compared to others around this price point, like the Gigabyte X870E Eagle Wifi7 ($239.99), MSI’s Pro X870E-S Evo Wifi ($219.99), and the Asus TUF Gaming X870E-Plus Wifi7 ($289.99 (Asus’ least expensive X870E), the Challenger Wifi offers a better audio codec, a more robust VRM solution, more USB ports, and all M.2 sockets have a heatsink, whereas the competitors do not. You can step down to X870, but you lose bandwidth and bring the potential for lane sharing among USB, PCIe, and M.2 sockets.

In the end, the ASRock X870E Challenger Wifi is one of the best-equipped AMD boards around its $230 price point. If you’re sad because it’s white, don’t fret, as the black X870E Challenger Wifi is the same price. If you’re in the market for a new motherboard or want to jump into the AM5 platform with lots of features but don't have the budget for a more mid-range board, the X870E Challenger Wifi fits the bill and is one of the best X870E motherboards around.

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With the RAMpocalypse in full swing and little relief in sight, we need to look for combo deals to get the best prices on items like RAM (and even those are fleeting today). This 3-item combo from Newegg is one of the better ones lately, offering the wicked-fast gaming processor Ryzen 7 9800X3D, 32GB of Corsair Vengeance DDR5-6000 RAM, and a quality motherboard in the Asus TUF Gaming X870E-Plus Wifi for only $1,050. A savings of $149. And if you apply the discount to the RAM, it’s only $351, which many would consider reasonable (for the times).

• Check out this deal at Newegg

First is one of the most popular and fastest current-generation CPUs for gaming: the Ryzen 7 9800X3D. This 8-core/16-thread Zen5-based processor has a base clock of 4.6 GHz and a max boost of 5.2 GHz, which is plenty of speed for any task. The X3D variant's 96MB of L3 cache helps with gaming (among other things), making it one of the fastest gaming CPUs available. It is also a well-rounded performer that excels in games and suits most applications. This combo also includes a free Rosewill FrostMax 240mm AIO with digital display (a $70 value), which easily handles the 120W processor.

The RAM portion of the bundle, Corsair’s Vengeance RGB 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-6000 CL36 RAM kit, is currently available on Newegg for a wallet-emptying $499.99 (the price keeps going up) when bought separately. The good news is that the discount brings this RAM down to $351. This black kit matches the Asus TUF Gaming X870E-Plus Wifi board in this combo and features a frosted RGB light bar that runs the length of the sticks. If RGB lighting isn’t your thing and you prefer a stealthy, unassuming look, you can turn it off. The DDR5-6000 speed lands in the sweet spot for the AM5 platform and is a worthwhile, good-looking option. The SK Hynix ICs under the heatsink pair nicely with the board and offer plenty of overclocking headroom.

Last, the Asus TUF Gaming X870E-Plus Wifi 7 is a solid all-around motherboard for the AM5 platform. It delivers sufficient power to support flagship-class processors and easily handles the 9800X3D in the combo, even with some overclocking. It comes with four M.2 sockets (one PCIe 5.0), two SATA ports for storage, fast networking with integrated Wi-Fi 7 and 2,5 GbE, ample USB ports on the rear IO (13, including two USB4 40 Gbps Type-C), and a quality audio solution based on the last-gen Realtek flagship (ALC1220P). Asus’ AI solutions (AI Cache Boost, Overclocking, Cooling II, and Networking II) and the DIY-friendly design make it easy to build and get the most out of your system.

Newegg used to offer several Combo deals with RAM. Still, over the past few weeks, as stock continues to dwindle, we’ve seen them whittle down to only a couple that are worthwhile, so when you see something like this and are ready to pull the trigger, do it, as you never know how long it will last. If you’re in the market to buy a new AM5-based system, this 3-item $1,050 combo from Newegg, sporting 32GB of RAM, the venerable Ryzen 5 9800X3D, and a quality motherboard (don’t forget the free 240mm AIO and AMD game bundle!), is currently one of the least expensive ways into the platform.

If you’re one of the many consumers who are still struggling to find ways to spend your hard-earned money in the PC space, we found a deal that has nothing to do with ridiculously priced components like RAM, video cards, and storage, but still makes a difference in your computing experience. Newegg recently dropped the price of the MSI MAG 272QP QD-OLED X24 monitor to a palatable $359.99 (from its $499.99 MSRP) when using promo code SSF73849, just $10 away from its all-time low ($349.99), according to Camelcamelcamel. It's currently one of the best deals around on a high-quality 27-inch 4K QD-OLED with a high refresh rate.

Check out this deal on Newegg

This monitor is ready for any type of gaming you can throw at it, from MMOs that don’t need the high refresh rate but lean into the wide color gamut (98% RGB/99% DCI-P3/138% SRGB, Delta E≤2), to first-person shooters (FPS) where the blazing-fast 240Hz refresh rate and the highest VESA ClearMR rating (13000) make a difference. Even if you’re not a gamer, productivity activities also look good, and the long 3-year burn-in warranty, along with MSI’s OLED Care 2.0 technology (with Pixel Shift, Panel Protect, and other features), should move burn-in worries to the back burner.

The panel itself is a 26.5-inch 10-bit, QD-OLED sporting 4K UHD resolution (3,840 x 2,160). It has a typical contrast ratio of 1,500,000:1, a 0.03ms (GTG) response time, and a 172 pixels per inch density. It’s also VESA-certified DisplayHDR 400 True Black. This means you're getting a display that looks incredible and is a significant improvement over older monitors that can’t display the same colors or have as fast response times.

While a 4K QD-OLED for under $360 is an incredible deal right now, other features make it really useful for gaming. Functions like crosshair mode, which displays one of several crosshair styles on the screen regardless of background color, help with your aim/centering. A really useful feature for FPS games in particular, where point-and-click in the center is key.

It’s also AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync compatible (officially on Nvidia’s list!), which eliminates screen tearing by syncing your GPU's output with the monitor’s refresh rate. As far as connectivity goes, it has the usual suspects: two HDMI (2.1) ports, one DisplayPort (1.4a), and a USB Type-C (DP alt.), so you can connect this monitor to other items outside of your PC, including your laptop, handheld, a console (it even has a Console Mode that optimizes for gaming consoles such as the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S).

If you’re in the market for a new 4K OLED monitor, you won’t find any with these specifications for less right now. I can tell you from personal experience (I own the 32” 4K version of this monitor) that the colors are awesome, blacks are true black, and ghosting in high-action games is non-existent. Priced at $359.99 with promo code SSF73849, the 272QP QD-OLED X24 deal won’t be around for long. So if you’re thinking about moving up to 1440P OLED monitor, you’ll want to jump on this deal while you can.

While RAM, video cards, and storage have become the most expensive parts of a PC build or upgrade, monitors haven’t really flinched price-wise. They can still offer a tangible upgrade, whether for gaming or productivity, for your PC. After all, you are staring at it the entire time you use your PC. Acer is currently offering an incredible deal on the Nitro (XV270U). Just $179 (a whopping 45%/$150 off the $239.99 MSRP) buys a 27-inch 2560x1440 IPS panel with a wicked-fast 270 Hz refresh rate without breaking the bank.

• Check out this deal at Newegg

This IPS panel uses a matte anti-glare surface and supports up to 99% sRGB, making it suitable for a wide range of tasks, specifically gaming, entertainment, and basic creative work. It also supports brightness up to 250 cd/m², a 1ms (MPRT) response time, wide 178-degree viewing angles, and Acer VisionCare, a suite of technologies to reduce eye strain, headaches, and fatigue, including BlueLightShield, flicker-less technology, and a low-dimming feature for a more comfortable viewing experience during prolonged use. It also supports AMD FreeSync Premium technology to help prevent screen tearing and stuttering for a better visual experience.

The monitor features a thin bezel on three edges for a cleaner look; however, it's not an ultra-thin bezel, so it may not be ideal for a surround setup. It comes with a stand that offers tilt adjustment from +25 degrees to -5 degrees, plus ~30mm of vertical height adjustment, and you can mount it on the wall using the standard 100x100mm VESA mounting holes on the back. As for I/O, the XV270U offers the standard fare of two HDMI (v2.0) and one DisplayPort (v1.4), which supports the panel’s specifications. It also has a single 3.5mm headphone out and two integrated speakers (2W x2).

If you’re in the market for a new gaming monitor, or even a secondary monitor, and just don’t have the cash for a much more expensive 4K OLED (which, chances are, also requires a potentially prohibitively expensive video card upgrade), you can still reap the benefits of a more pixel-dense, high-refresh-rate display. Acer’s XV270U is only $179, an incredible 45% off, and while it’s not at an all-time low, it is the cheapest it’s been in several months. It's a great deal for a 27-inch, 1440p, 270 Hz, FreeSync Premium-capable IPS panel.

RAM prices are still out of whack and will be for the foreseeable future. Combo deals certainly help to bring this outlandish pricing down to something reasonable for the time being. This gray Corsair Vengeance DDR5-6000 kit is now $439 with promo code SSF73844 and is the cheapest standalone kit we could find right now matching our white 32GB V-Color Manta XSky kit we found earlier this week for less, but that’s now the same price.

• Check out this deal at Newegg

Deals like this, and the combos when active, are by far the best way to buy new RAM in the ongoing RAMpocalypse. Sadly, the days when you can get 64GB of DDR5-6400 RAM for around $225 (what I paid for a G.Skill Trident Z Royale kit in April 2025) are over, and you’re left with what we have now…the best prices in an extremely expensive market.

As for this specific Corsair Vengeance kit, it’s a great option for any build, performance-wise. The DDR5-6000 speed sits squarely in AMD’s sweet spot for price-to-performance and is much faster than older DDR4 modules. Sadly, we didn’t review this specific kit, but below are performance numbers from a similar DDR5-6000 CL38 kit from Team Group (Vulcan CL38 kit) that show how well it performs in our CPU test suite.

The Corsair Vengeance kit comes in gray without RGB lighting and includes two DDR5-6000 modules with CL38-48-48-96 timings at 1.35V. Though the timings are a bit higher than we’d like to see, they'll work well for any use case, from gaming to workstation productivity, and you’ll get the most out of your system at these speeds, especially on the AM5 platform. If you were considering this kit for an Intel system, it will also work well, but is a bit on the slower side for the platform.

While $439 for 32GB of Corsair Vengeance DDR5-6000 RAM (read: any RAM) makes most of us shudder in disappointment these days, considering what RAM prices were in early 2025, it is one of the best deals available for 32GB DDR5-6000 in gray/black. If you’re in the market to start a DDR5-based build or upgrade what you have and need it soon, I wouldn’t pass up this Newegg deal.

Bundle deals are often the best way to sidestep today's inflated pricing of memory, SSDs, and GPUs. However, a well-configured prebuilt can be even more compelling, offering compatible components and the convenience of a fully assembled system out-of-the-box. One such prebuilt is the ABS Cyclone Aqua that is currently listed on Newegg for $1,299.99, down from its original price of $1,699.99, resulting in savings of $400. Customers can get an additional $100 discount using the promo code SSF73826 during checkout, bringing the final cost down to $1,199.99 for the Cyclone Aqua and an overall saving of $500.

• Check out this deal on Newegg

The ABS Cyclone Aqua gaming PC features hardware suitable for modern AAA gaming at 1080p. It is powered by an Intel Core i7-14700F, which is a solid 20-core (8 P-cores + 12 E-cores) processor with 28 threads and boost clock speeds of up to 5.4 GHz. The CPU is paired with an ASRock B760M-C/D4 motherboard with 32GB (2 x 16GB) of DDR4 3200 MT/s memory from G.Skill (Ripjaws V). The motherboard also comes with onboard Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth. For storage, the system includes a 1TB Patriot P410 M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0 SSD offering read speeds of up to 5,000 MB/s and write speeds of up to 4,500 MB/s.

Graphics duties are handled by the Zotac Gaming RTX 5060 Solo with 8GB VRAM, which is essentially Nvidia’s latest entry-level 1080p card. While it may not be ideal for high-end AAA gaming, it's good enough for less demanding titles, especially if you are into competitive FPS shooters. The rest of the features include a Cooler Master Hyper 212 CPU air cooler, a 650W 80+ Gold power supply unit, and a decent ABS Cyclone Micro ATX mid-tower case with a glass side panel, as well as two 120mm ARGB fans at the front and one at the rear.

If you've been holding off on a new gaming PC due to high component prices, this deal at $1,199.99 is definitely worth your attention. Considering that sourcing comparable components individually would likely push the total cost beyond $1,500, this prebuilt offers excellent value for the money.

Component prices have been through the roof for far too long because of the AI apocalypse, with RAM, video cards, and storage among the biggest increases. And while the prices are nowhere near what they were just a scant year and a half ago, we are seeing some deals that are good for the times. For example, Newegg has a great price on the budget-friendly MSI Spatium M461 2TB PCIe 4.0 SSD for only $299.99, or 10 cents per GB, after the promo code (SSD73852). This mid-range SSD is one of the least expensive name-brand drives available.

• Check out this deal at Newegg

While this isn’t the fastest PCIe 4.0 SSD, it’s exponentially faster than your average HDD and SATA-based SSD, with solid all-around performance for random and sequential reads and writes. The M461 uses a PCIe Gen 4x4 (64 Gbps) backbone, the NVMe 1.4 standard interface, and a Phison E21T controller with 3D NAND flash. This lets the 2TB MSI Spatium reach speeds of 5,000/4,200 MBps reads/writes, which is plenty fast for game storage or even an OS drive, and a notable upgrade over old storage technology and PCIe 3.0 drives.

MSI backs the M461 with a long five-year warranty and 900 TBW, which should be plenty of write cycles for the average user. You’ll likely reach the five-year time limit before you blow through 900 TB of writes. The Spatium also includes built-in data security and error correction capabilities, standard for this type of drive.

If you’re in the market for more NVMe-based storage, the 2TB MSI Spatium M461 for only $199 (with promo code SSF73852) is an excellent deal, since it’s one of the least expensive name-brand Gen 4x4 drives available on the market at only 10 cents per GB.

RAM prices have been out of this world for nearly a year, with some 32GB kits frequently breaking $500. The only real relief we had came from RAM combo deals, where you get a motherboard, processor, and RAM at a discount. While that well has seemingly run dry, at least for the moment, we did find a solid deal for the times on a 32GB V-Color Manta XSky DDR5-6000 kit for $429 when using promo code TEF366 at Newegg, making it the least expensive DDR5-6000 CL30 kit around (by ~$70) at Newegg.

• Check out this deal at Newegg

Deals like this, and the combos when active, are by far the best way to buy new RAM in the ongoing RAMpocalypse. Gone are the days when you can get 64GB of DDR5-6400 RAM for $225 (what I paid for a G.Skill Trident Z Royale kit in April 2025), and you’re left with what we have now…the best prices in an extremely difficult market.

As for this specific kit, it’s a great option for any build, performance-wise. The DDR5-6000 speed isn’t the fastest kit out there, but it does sit squarely in AMD’s sweet spot for price-to-performance and is much faster than older DDR4 modules. Sadly, we didn’t review this specific kit, but below are performance numbers from a similar DDR5-6000 CL30 kit from Team Group that show how well that speed and timings perform in our CPU test suite.

The Manta XSky kit includes two white DDR5-6000 modules with CL30-38-38-96 timings at 1.35V. These speeds and timings work well for any use case, from gaming to workstation productivity, and you’ll get the most out of your system at these speeds, especially on the AM5 platform. If you were considering this kit for an Intel system, it will also work well. A frosted RGB light bar across the top of the sticks adds some bling to your chassis. If you need a black kit, V-Color has its Manta XFinity DDR5-6000 CL30 kit for only $439 using promo code TEF364.

While $429 with promo code TEF366 for a 32GB set of RAM makes me want to cry (considering I bought 64GB for about half of this price in early 2025), it’s one of the best deals available. As a matter of fact, it is the least expensive DDR5-6000 CL30 available at Newegg or Amazon, and it doesn’t force you to choose between reasonable timings/speeds and price/performance. If you’re in the market to start a DDR5-based build or upgrade what you have, I wouldn’t pass this Newegg deal up.

The RAMapocalypse, which has been in effect for almost a year now, has sadly cleared out most of the RAM, storage, and video card deals we’ve clung to in hopes of finding some sanity amid these outlandish prices. And while we wait for prices on those components to come back down to earth, you can still find good deals on other items. For example, this ASRock Phantom Gaming (PG27FFT1B) 27-inch 1920x1080 180Hz gaming monitor, on sale for only $96, is a worthwhile upgrade for anyone still using a smaller or lower-refresh-rate monitor and who wants to jump into high-refresh-rate gaming, or maybe even go surround, without breaking the bank.

• Check out this deal at Newegg

The IPS panel uses an anti-glare surface and supports up to 94% DCI-P3 or 123% sRGB, making it suitable for a wide range of tasks, including gaming, entertainment, and standard creative work. It also supports brightness up to 450 cd/m² and the VESA DisplayHDR 400 standard, a 1ms (MPRT) response time, wide 178-degree viewing angles, and multiple technologies to reduce eye strain, including flicker-free and low blue light, for a more comfortable viewing experience. It also supports AMD FreeSync technology to help prevent screen tearing and stuttering for a better visual experience.

The monitor features an ultra-thin bezel on three edges for a cleaner look, or, if you’re using multiple monitors, reduces the visual gaps between them for a seamless surround gaming experience. It comes with a stand that offers tilt adjustment from +23 degrees to -5 degrees so you can angle it just right on your desk (no vertical height adjustment), and you can mount it on the wall with the standard VESA mounting holes on the back. As for I/O, the PG27FF1T1B offers the standard fare of two HDMI (v2.0) and one DisplayPort (v1.2), which easily support the panel’s specifications. It also has a single 3.5mm headphone out and two integrated speakers (2W x2).

If you’re in the market for a new gaming monitor, or even a secondary monitor, and just don’t have the cash for a much more expensive 4K OLED (which, chances are, also requires a potentially prohibitively expensive video card upgrade), you can still reap the benefits of a high-refresh-rate display. ASRock’s Phantom Gaming PG27FFT1B is just $96, an incredible 40% off and at an all-time low, and is one of the best deals going on for a 27-inch, 1080p, 180 Hz IPS panel.

If you’re in the market for an AM5 CPU and motherboard, Newegg has a solid 2-item combo to help. For just $578, you get the Ryzen 5 9800X3D, one of the fastest CPUs for gaming, and a quality MSI X870E Gaming Max Wifi motherboard. The $149 savings, when applied to the processor, make it the least expensive way, by far, to buy the popular CPU and jump into (or upgrade) the AM5 platform.

• Check out this deal at Newegg

First, and the star of the show, is one of the most popular and fastest current-generation CPUs for gaming, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D. This 8-core/16-thread Zen5-based processor has a base clock of 4.6 GHz and a max boost of 5.2 GHz, which is plenty of speed for any task. The X3D variant's 96MB of L3 cache helps with gaming (among other things), making it one of the fastest gaming CPUs available. It is also a well-rounded performer that excels in games and suits most applications. This combo also includes a free Cooler Master Elite Liquid 240 AIO (a $80 value), which easily handles the 120W processor.

The combo includes the MSI MAG X870E Gaming Max Wifi motherboard, a solid mid-range refresh board with all the platform's latest features. You get fast networking with integrated Wi-Fi 7 (160MHz) and 5 GbE, DDR5 support up to 8200 MT/s, ample storage options with three M.2 sockets (one PCIe 5.0) and four SATA ports, and 10 USB ports on the rear I/O, including a fast 40 Gbps Type-C port. Plenty of connectivity. It also looks good with the black PCB and silver heatsinks and can blend into most build themes, as long as you don’t want a solid black or solid white aesthetic. I didn’t review this specific motherboard, but I do like most of MSI’s X870E offerings.

Newegg combos are getting scarcer lately. Where there were a few gems per week, there are now maybe one or two that are truly worthwhile, and this is one of them. For just $578, this combo nets you one of the best gaming processors around for only $320 (as cheap as we’ve seen it by far), a solid MSI X870E-based motherboard, and a couple of freebies with the Cooler Master AIO and AMD game bundle. If you're thinking about updating or buying a new AM5 rig and need the processor, I'd jump on this deal before it expires.

It’s not often we find deals on video cards, but Walmart has a whopper for any gamer who needs a boost. Get your hands on the MSI GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16G Shadow 2X OC Plus for only $569.99. While this card certainly isn’t at its lowest price ever, it is the lowest-priced RTX 5060 Ti 16GB we could find on Amazon ($759.99), Newegg ($799.99 - also an MSI Shadow), or Best Buy (also a $779.99 MSI Shadow), and by an incredible $200. As you may have noticed, the median price for an RTX 5060 Ti 16GB in early August was just over $800, a 39% jump from June, when you could find it for $570 at Walmart right now.

• Check out this deal at Walmart

The Shadow 2X OC Plus version sports an all-black, performance-focused design with two large fans to keep the card running cool during long gaming sessions. The shadowy appearance is sure to blend in with a black-themed build (sorry, no integrated RGBs). It’s one of the smaller 5060 Ti’s out there (8.8 x 4.9 x 1.6-inches - a 1.5-slot card) compared to the triple-fan options, which means it can fit inside many small form-factor chassis for a small but still powerful system.

The card uses a full-length PCIe slot (runs at x8 speeds) and is powered by a single 6+2 PCIe connector—plenty for its 180W power envelope. Video outputs consist of three DisplayPort (v2.1b) and one HDMI (v.2.1b) ports - standard fare. Base core clocks start at 2,407 MHz and boost to at least 2,646 MHz, while the ample 16GB of GDDR7 RAM runs at 28 Gbps across a 128-bit bus. The 5060 Ti 16GB is a decidedly mid-range part that plays well at 1080p and 1440p resolutions, offering an average of over 105 frames per second across 11 rasterized games at 1080p and 73 frames per second at the more intensive 1440p, which is plenty for today’s games (don’t forget about DLSS and MFG!). That said, we are aware that the AMD Radeon 9070 GRE exists, and if you can find it for less, it's faster all around, even with ray tracing. Choose your poison, as each has its positives and negatives.

You know we’re not in a good market when $570 for an MSI RTX 5060 Ti 16G Shadow 2x OC Plus is a great deal, but here we are, and this is a great deal considering it’s the lowest-priced RTX 5060 Ti and by an incredible $200 (~25% off).

Over the past several months, combo deals, especially those at Newegg, have been one of the only ways to upgrade your system during the RAMpocalypse. The number of combo deals seems to be declining recently, making it a little harder to get a ‘deal’ on the latest hardware. That doesn’t mean you’re out of luck. If you’re in the market to upgrade your RAM or start building a new system, Newegg has a 32GB TeamGroup T-Force Vulcan Eco DDR5-6400 CL38 kit for only $405 with promo code LDSF243. The price tag makes this kit the least expensive DDR5-6400 kit available, even cheaper than most DDR-6000 kits at the ‘egg, too.

• Check out this deal at Newegg

The T-Force Vulcan Eco kit uses a cool-looking silver heatspreader that blends in seamlessly with white/light colorways and offers a nice point of contrast for anyone building in the familiar black. For those looking for some RGB bling, you’ll have to rely on your chassis or case fans, as the Vulcan Eco kit is plain jane. The Eco in the name comes from the recycled materials used to fabricate around 80% of the aluminum heat spreader, promoting environmental sustainability and responsibility while curbing carbon emissions.

We reviewed the DDR5-6000 CL30 kit and loved its tight timings, excellent performance on Intel platforms, and, of course, the recycled aluminum heat spreader. We didn’t review this exact kit, but the charts below give you a general idea of performance. No matter if you plan to use these in an Intel build or in an AMD system, it’s not going to hold you back. If you’re into overclocking, there’s a bit of headroom left in the SK Hynix A-die IC’s they use to improve performance even more if you choose.

While $405 using promo code LDSF243 for a 32GB RAM kit still makes the world cringe, considering we could all get 64GB just over half that price in mid-2025, it’s one of the best deals out there. In fact, it’s one of the least expensive options with reasonable timings and speeds, so you won’t have to choose between a good price and good performance. If you’re in the market to upgrade your RAM or start a DDR5-based PC build, you don’t want to pass this Newegg deal up.