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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/desktops/pc-building/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/desktops/pc-building/we-built-a-1440p-gaming-pc-for-less-than-usd1-500-with-cyber-monday-deals-your-last-chance-to-defeat-the-ram-apocalypse#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com
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Informational only. No financial advice. Do your own research.