For all of you who have been wanting to upgrade your PC or build a new one this year, I truly sympathize. I, too, had some plans for my rig, but they're all on the back burner, as we're all trying to shield our wallets from the effects of the RAMpocalypse. Thanks, AI.Nearly all components are affected by this point, but DDR5 RAM itself is through the roof. Unless you enjoy paying an extra $300-$500 for RAM compared to this time last year, it's just not a great time to build a new rig.Against all odds, our team here at PC Gamer has been hard at work digging up some of the best Prime Day PC gaming deals for you over these past couple of days, and bar the occasional glimmer of hope here and there, it's pretty grim out there. So much so that I decided to check out the DDR4 situation instead.And guess what, it's actually ... not terrible?Have a look at all the best Prime Day PC gaming deals here.Scaling back down to DDR4 is not the worst thing that can happen to a PC gamer. If you put the savings into a better GPU, you'll be far better off as long as gaming is your main goal. And anyway, capacity is king; fast DDR4 RAM is really nothing to turn your nose up at. You may not find these DDR4-powered rigs in our best gaming PC builds roundup, but they're still valid, and they still show a lot of promise.The long and short of it is that choosing DDR4 in 2026 is a good way to build a budget-friendly gaming PC that'll still last you for years. More importantly, it can still be upgraded over time, but you'll probably have to choose Intel for substantial upgrades and savings.The reason is simple: Intel's LGA 1700 socket still supports DDR4. For AMD, you'd have to go all the way back to the AM4 socket, with the only upgrade path being the iconic Ryzen 7 5800X3D or perhaps the Ryzen 7 5700X3D. That's all well and good, but you can get a better PC right now by sticking to Intel.With Intel's LGA 1700 combined with DDR4 RAM, the savings are in the hundreds of dollars. Buy a cheaper CPU today and upgrade it to the 14700K or even the 14900K one day, which will still be a much more powerful chip than the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, even though the Ryzen chip certainly ranks among the best CPUs for gaming.The deals Intel Core i5 14400F desktop processor PNY DDR4 16 GB (2x8 GB) Asus B760M-AYW Wi-Fi D4 II motherboard PCIe 4.0 Biwin Black Opal NV7400 | 2280 NVMe | 1 TB XFX RX 9070 GRE | 12 GB RTX 5050 MSRP: $249 Gigabyte RTX 5050 | 8 GB B580 MSRP: $249 ASRock Arc B580 | 12 GB The informationCore i5 14400F desktop processor: was $180.38 now $161.10Intel may not be your first choice when building a gaming PC these days; that crown belongs to AMD. But in a budget build, a CPU like this one makes a lot of sense. You're getting 10 cores, up to 4.7GHz clock speeds, and support for both DDR4 and DDR5 RAM.Key specs: 10 cores (six P-cores, four E-cores) | Up to 4.7 GHz | 20 MB cache | LGA 1700 socket | No iGPU |View DealDDR4 16 GB (2x8 GB): was $149.99 now $93.49Saving over $55 on RAM in 2026 simply feels good. Not only is this DDR4 kit cheaper than DDR5 equivalents by default, but it's also heavily discounted. You're getting top DDR4 frequencies, tight timings, and the sweet knowledge that you've just saved hundreds of dollars. You can also splurge on 2x16 GB for more capacity.Key specs: 2x8 GB | 3200 MHz | CL22 | DDR4 | 1.2V | 288-pinView DealB760M-AYW Wi-Fi D4 II motherboard: was $99.99 now $89.99This Asus motherboard is the budget-friendly cherry on top of this Intel-flavored sundae. It's cheap, which is what you want in a budget build, but it gives you the basics you need to use your PC.Key specs: LGA 1700 | microATX | PCIe 5.0 x16 support | Two M.2 slots | DDR4 | 2.5GbE | Wi-Fi 6 | View DealBlack Opal NV7400 | 2280 NVMe | 1 TB: was $184.99 now $174.99Finding a cheap SSD in 2026 is next to impossible, and this is just about as good as it gets. Our tests show that it's not the fastest SSD in the world, but it's more than fast enough to handle whatever gaming shenanigans you're going to get up to, and it lets you leave some money in your wallet for other components instead.Key specs: NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,400 MB/s read | 6,500 MB/s writeView DealRX 9070 GRE | 12 GB: $549.99Now, in a budget-friendly PC build, this AMD RX 9070 GRE GPU might feel overkill, and it is. But the whole point of saving on less impactful components is to make room for a solid GPU. The RX 9070 GRE is pretty much the only GPU with decent deals this Prime Day, so take advantage of it while you can. With that said, you can definitely scale back and go with a cheaper GPU in a build such as this.Key specs: 3072 shaders | 2920 MHz boost | 12 GB GDDR6RX 9070 GRE price check: Amazon $569.99 | Walmart $599.99 (OOS) | Newegg $569.99View DealRTX 5050 | 8 GB: was $399.99 now $309.99This GPU isn't going to floor you with its performance, but being part of the RTX 50-series family, it can sort of cheat its way through gaming with DLSS. While you're getting slower GDDR6 memory, you're unlikely to feel it if you're not angling for max settings in resource-heavy games. With GPU prices as wild as they've been, this is actually the best budget graphics card around.Key specs: 2560 shaders | 2587 MHz boost | 8 GB GDDR6RTX 5050 price check: Walmart $399 | Amazon $369.99 | Newegg $399.99View DealArc B580 | 12 GB: was $349.99 now $329.99Intel's Arc B580 might be a better use of your money if you're looking for more VRAM. It's not the fastest GPU in the world, but it's plenty good enough for 1080p gameplay, and the extra VRAM means it'll stay decent for longer than some of the 8GB alternatives available right now.Key specs: 2560 shaders | 2670 MHz boost | 12 GB GDDR6Arc B580 price check: Amazon $369.99 | Walmart $329.99 | Best Buy $349.99View DealThe alternativesOf course, there are alternatives. You can pick up an AMD Ryzen 5 5600X during Prime Day deals, which is now down to $147.99, and build a new PC around the AM4 platform with DDR4 RAM. You'll still save money, but you'll have a less impressive and promising upgrade path. There's even the humble Ryzen 5 5500, now just $87.95 with a 45% discount.Ultimately, with either rig, you'll be locked to a specific motherboard and will need to make big moves to upgrade to a current-gen CPU.Newegg has something fun going on now, too: You can build your own PC bundle with savings all around. Click around and see if you can't find a better deal than what I managed to dig up from the depths of the RAMpocalypse for you here.The bottom line is that when times are tough and everything is overpriced, getting creative is the way to go. DDR4 RAM might be the key to getting you a great gaming PC, and even if it's not the top option right now, it's more than good enough when paired with the right GPU. Shop now while Prime Day deals last, because after that, the prices will get even worse.👉Shop all of Amazon's CPU deals here👈