I review DDR5 RAM and these are the Black Friday deals I would use to upgrade my rig

Crucial Pro DDR5 RAM 32GB | $104.99 $67.99 at Amazon
Save $37 - As soon as Black Friday's up, we'll be testing this RAM for review. Given Crucial's excellent track record, especially with SSDs, there's no doubt in my mind this will be a really solid way of boosting your gaming PC's CPU. I haven't seen 32GB (2x16GB) of DDR5 RAM cheaper than this in all my searching during Black Friday so far.

Buy it if: 

✅ You want cheap and easy DDR5
✅ You trust Crucial like we do

Don't buy it if: 

❌ You want RGB RAM

Price check: Best Buy $72.24 | Newegg $67.99

TEAMGROUP T-Create Expert Overclocking DDR5 32GB + Free 64GB USB flash drive | $96.99 $79.99 at Newegg
Save $17 - TEAMGROUP is one of the best brands out there when it comes to trying to find affordable memory. You don't get fancy RGB lighting here, but you do get a really clean design and two 16GB sticks that can run at 6000MHz. $80 is a great price for two 16GB sticks that have an on-the-box speed of 6000MHz.

Buy it if:

✅ You want fast DDR5 RAM under $100
✅ You aren't fussed about RGB

Don't buy it if:

❌ You're only looking for 16GB

Price Check: Amazon $89.99

Corsair Vengeance DDR5 32GB | $99.99 $89.99 at Best Buy
Save $10 - It isn't a massive saving here either, but it makes a premium memory kit a bit more affordable, and that's exactly what you want for Black Friday. The quoted speed here is 5200MHz, so this would pair better with an i5 or Ryzen 5 processor.

Buy it if:

✅ You a premium brand
✅ You don't care about RGB

Don't buy it if:

❌ You want the fastest clock speeds.

Price Check: Newegg $99.99

Klevv Cras XR5 RGB DDR5 32GB | $99.99 at Amazon
Technically, this isn't actually on offer for Black Friday, but it speaks volumes for why this is our top DDR5 RAM recommendation - it's constantly sitting at a reasonable price and gets you such solid performance for that money. It's also available at higher clock speeds but this is the kit we think offers the best value. 

Buy it if:

✅ You want the best RAM for gaming
✅ You want beautiful RGB lighting

Don't buy it if:

❌ You want something that's actually discounted

Price Check: Only at Amazon

Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB DDR5 64GB | $199.99 $189.99 at Amazon
Save $10 - Arguably, there are very few people that need 64GB of DDR5, but if you're one of those people that needs the extra headroom, and you want to go with a premium brand, Corsair has some stunning RGB kits that are worthy of your attention. It is worth mentioning that the quoted speed here is the slowest of any deal we've recommended in this roundup - so we'll let you weigh up the pros and cons of slower speeds and more memory.

Buy it if:

✅ You want 64GB
✅ You want a premium brand

Don't buy it if:

❌ You want faster speeds

Price Check: Best Buy $189.99

Gigabyte A620M Gaming X motherboard | $109.99 $86.99 at Amazon
Save $23 - For a DDR5-compatible motherboard this is stupidly cheap. There doesn't seem to be any Gen 5 capability when it comes to SSDs, but regardless, you're getting a very capable AMD motherboard here that will fit inside a smaller ATX chassis.

Buy it if: 

✅ You need a board for an AMD processor
✅ You need DDR5 RAM
✅ You don't need extra fancy features

Don't buy it if: 

❌ You need something more substantial

Price Check: Walmart | Best Buy | Newegg

MSI Pro Z790-S ATX Motherboard | $189.99 $159.99 at Newegg
Save $30 - This is extraordinarily cheap for a Z790 motherboard from a top brand. You get some great futureproofing here too with Wi-Fi 6E support and a socket that will fit 12th, 13th, and 14th gen Intel CPUs.

Buy it if:

✅ You want a futureproofed motherboard
✅ You have an Intel CPU

Don't buy it if:

❌ You have an AMD processor

Price Check:  Best Buy $219.99

Intel Core i5-12600K | $299 $189.99 at Newegg
Save $110 - In our opinion, this is still one of the best value CPUs money can buy. It may be an i5 from two years ago, but it can still work great with a high-end graphics card. It's half the price of the previous high-end Intel processors too.

Buy it if:

✅ You want a cheap, efficient chip
✅ You're looking to spend under $300

Don't buy it if: 

❌ You're working on a 4090, fully built-out PC
❌ You're planning on playing RTS games at 4K max settings

Price check: Best Buy $299.99 | Amazon $243

AMD Ryzen 5 7600X | $299 $219 at Amazon
Save $80 - If it's a current-gen mid-ranger from AMD you're wanting, seriously consider this. This is under the price of a 13600K, and you'll get similar performance. We have seen this as low as $199.99, but its average price on Amazon is around $250, so you still make a saving.

Buy it if:

✅ You want a cheap, efficient processor
✅ You're looking to spend under $250

Don't buy it if: 

❌ You're planning on playing RTS games at 4K max settings

Price check: Best Buy $219 

Intel Core i5-13600K | $329 $270 at Amazon
Save $59 - This is our current favorite CPU recommendation for most PC gamers at the moment, and at this price (it's cheapest ever) you're getting incredible power for the money.

Buy it if:

✅ You want a maximum power under $300
✅ You're even the slightest bit skeptical it won't be powerful enough - I would bet money that it is.

Don't buy it if: 

❌ You're a full-time content creator playing games at 4K max settings
❌ You're planning on playing RTS games at 4K max settings

Price check: Best Buy $299.99 | Walmart $289.99

Intel i7-13700K CPU | $419 $345 at Amazon
Save $74 - This is the CPU we use in our testing rig just now, so we can speak to its quality and consistency. Arguably, all you really need is a 13600K if you aren't actually in need of extra headroom for content creation, but at this price, it's hard to turn down the extra power.

Buy it if: 

✅ You're upgrading a 12th-generation CPU
✅ You play demanding games
✅ You want support for DDR5 RAM

Don't buy it if: 

❌ You're already happy with an i7-12700K

Price Check: Walmart $393.99 | Best Buy $364.99 | Newegg $345

AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D | $449 $369 at Newegg
Save $64 - From what I've heard, these AMD-X3D CPUs are the holy grail of gaming CPUs at the moment. Unfortunately, we haven't been hands-on with them yet, but if you want the best bang for your buck on the AMD side, these are worth considering.

Buy it if:
✅ You want a top-drawer gaming CPU
✅ You need something for content creation too

Don't buy it if: 
❌ You won't use its extra headroom

Price check: Best Buy: $369 | Newegg: $369 | B&H Photo Video: $369