In case you haven't noticed, RAM prices have been rising faster than most of us can think of appropriate metaphors other than space . It's causing PC builders and upgraders a lot of consternation and financial pain during this Black Friday deals season, as capable and speedy DDR5 kits now cost as much (or more) than a current-gen gaming console . But just because modern RAM now resembles gold-pressed latinum in both form and value, doesn't mean you have to haggle with a Ferengi at a Micro Center to improve your PC gaming experience. We're here to help, with five smart ways to improve your gaming experience without paying full price for RAM this Black Friday deals season.
1. Get a better gaming monitor to make your games look better
First up, and perhaps the best bang for your upgrade buck, would be to pick up a new monitor – especially if you're still gaming at 1080p. Our recent RTX 5050 testing shows that anything at or above an RTX 5060 or RX 9060 XT is overkill for a 60 Hz 1080p display with modern games. Upping your resolution will both make your games look better and take a lot of the weight off your CPU and RAM. Monitor tech has advanced a lot in recent years, with OLED and QD-OLED models offering the best color and black levels, but IPS panels are still a good option if you're prioritizing value.
All-time low price Save 19% ($150) Dell Alienware AW3425DW Curved QD-OLED (240 Hz): was $799.99 now $649.99 at Dell The Alienware AW3425DW is a 34-inch curved QD-OLED gaming monitor that offers excellent visuals with high-end performance. The panel offers a 3440×1440 resolution, 240 Hz refresh rate, 0.03ms response time, and support for both AMD FreeSync Premium Pro and G-Sync. The display also covers 99.3% DCI-P3 and hits 1000 nits peak brightness with VESA DisplayHDR True Black 400 certification.
Want more advice about display upgrades and monitor deal options that will make your existing gaming frames look better? Our monitor editor, Brandon Hill, has hand-picked a few of the best gaming monitor deal options he's seen so far for Black Friday, including a 49-inch monster at its lowest-ever price. Just don't complain to us if you also have to upgrade your desk.
2. Grab a new GPU while some are still selling below MSRP
Of course, buying a GPU is typically a sure-fire way to increase gaming performance. And there are currently some deals that take current-gen gaming cards down to new low prices. And if you are in the market for one, you probably don't want to wait, as memory demand is expected to hit graphics cards as well .
Save 10% ($70) PowerColor Reaper AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT: was $669.99 now $599.99 at Amazon The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT is a value-for-money GPU offering with excellent performance while maintaining power efficiency. Based on the RDNA 4 architecture, it provides almost the exact numbers as the Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti at a much lower price.
But how do you make sure your new graphics card isn't bottlenecked by your older CPU and RAM? Our resident GPU expert, Jeffrey Kampman, just tested a half-decade-old AMD Ryzen CPU with a Radeon RX 9070 XT to figure out the best performance settings for maximizing image settings and GPU utilization, while keeping your older CPU from being the true bottleneck. That doesn't mean just turning on upscaling, but instead, involves a mix of higher resolutions, higher-quality upscaling settings, and framegen. You can find out more by checking out his test results and settings advice here.
3. What about a CPU upgrade in your existing rig?
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