When is Black Friday 2026?
Mark your calendar. Thanksgiving lands on Thursday, November 26, 2026, which makes:
- Black Friday: Friday, November 27, 2026
- Cyber Monday: Monday, November 30, 2026
The elephant in the room: the 2026 memory crisis
You cannot talk about this year's deals without talking about DRAM. Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron make well over 90% of the world's memory, and through 2025 and 2026 they have redirected huge amounts of manufacturing capacity toward high-bandwidth memory (HBM) for AI accelerators. That left consumer DDR5 starved.
The numbers are ugly. A 32GB DDR5-6000 CL30 kit that sold for under $90 in early 2025 has been fetching well over $400 in 2026. Gartner has forecast a roughly 130% combined surge in DRAM and SSD prices by the end of 2026, enough to lift average PC prices around 17% and drive the steepest drop in global PC shipments in over a decade. CyberPowerPC has said outright that its RAM costs jumped roughly 500% and SSD costs doubled, and it began raising prices on new systems in December.
Two things follow from this. First, RAM and storage, the parts that are usually throwaway-cheap and easy to discount, are now the single biggest reason a build costs more than it did two years ago. Second, most analysts do not expect meaningful relief until late 2027 at the earliest, though the rate of increase is finally cooling in the second half of 2026 as buyers hit the ceiling of what they will pay.
What discounts to realistically expect
Set your expectations correctly and you will not be disappointed. In a normal year, a prebuilt might drop 15-25% and components 20-40%. This year, discounts on memory-heavy items will be thinner because retailers simply cannot mark down a part whose wholesale cost tripled. GPUs and CPUs, which are less affected by the DRAM crunch, are where the better percentage cuts will live.
Here is a realistic range for Black Friday 2026 based on current US pricing and last year's patterns:
| Category | Typical BF discount (normal year) | Realistic 2026 expectation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mid-range prebuilt desktop | 15-25% off | 10-18% off | Best value is in bundled labor, not parts |
| High-end prebuilt desktop | 10-20% off | 8-15% off | RTX 5080/5090 rigs move least |
| Graphics cards (GPU) | 10-20% off MSRP | $30-100 off street price | Rarely at true MSRP; watch AMD |
| CPUs | 15-30% off | 15-25% off | Least memory-exposed, real cuts here |
| DDR5 RAM kits | 30-50% off | 0-10% off, if any | The crisis category; may not discount at all |
| SSDs (NVMe) | 30-50% off | 5-15% off | Prices roughly doubled year-over-year |
| Monitors, peripherals | 25-40% off | 25-40% off | Largely unaffected, real bargains |
The takeaway: the deals are still real, but they are concentrated in GPUs, CPUs, monitors, and peripherals. If you were hoping Black Friday would rescue you from $400 RAM kits, it will not.
GPUs: don't expect miracles
Graphics cards have their own story in 2026, and it is not a happy one for bargain hunters. Because GPUs carry their own memory (GDDR7), they have been dragged upward by the same shortage. Most cards are selling comfortably above their launch MSRP.
As of July 2026, here is roughly where the market sits:
| GPU | Launch MSRP | Typical July 2026 street price |
|---|---|---|
| RTX 5060 Ti (8GB) | $379 | $360-530 |
| RTX 5070 | $549 | $600-680 |
| Radeon RX 9070 | $549 | $600-650 |
| Radeon RX 9070 XT | $599 | $670-740 |
| RTX 5070 Ti | $749 | $880-1,200 |
| RTX 5080 | $999 | $1,250-1,450 |
The RTX 5070 Ti is the poster child for the mess: it has spent much of 2026 selling close to what the RTX 5080 was supposed to cost, while the 5080 itself only pulls roughly 17% more performance. A "Black Friday deal" on a GPU this year likely means a card lands back near MSRP or shaves $30-100 off inflated street pricing, not the deep cuts of years past. AMD's Radeon RX 9070 and 9070 XT are worth watching closely, since AMD has historically been more willing to discount to gain share. Before you commit, sanity-check where a card actually lands in real games with our FPS Estimator and see how it stacks up on the GPU Tier List.
Prebuilts vs building your own this year
In most years, a savvy DIY builder beats prebuilt pricing. In 2026, that gap has narrowed and sometimes flipped. Big system integrators like iBUYPOWER, CyberPowerPC, Skytech, and NZXT buy memory and storage on long-term contracts, so they are somewhat insulated from the spot-price spikes that hammer individual shoppers at retail. A prebuilt that includes 32GB of DDR5 and a 1TB or 2TB SSD may effectively be handing you those parts at below what you would pay buying them loose today.
That does not mean prebuilts are automatically the answer. It means the calculation changed, and you should actually run the numbers rather than assuming DIY wins. Price a full parts list, then compare against Black Friday prebuilt bundles. Our PC Value calculator is built for exactly this kind of apples-to-apples check.
Real prebuilt examples on the market right now
To ground expectations, here are actual configurations and US prices circulating in mid-2026 (pre-Black Friday). Use them as your baseline. If a "deal" during the event does not beat these, it is not a deal.
| System (as configured) | Key specs | Price |
|---|---|---|
| CyberPowerPC Gamer Master (Best Buy) | RTX 5060, 16GB, 1TB SSD | ~$1,149 |
| Skytech (RTX 5060 Ti build) | RTX 5060 Ti 8GB, R7 7700, 16GB DDR5, 1TB | ~$1,399 |
| Skytech (RTX 5070 build) | RTX 5070, i7-14700F, 16GB DDR4, 1TB | ~$1,599 |
| Skytech (RTX 5070 build) | RTX 5070, 32GB DDR5-6000, 2TB NVMe | ~$2,049 |
| RTX 5070 Ti prebuilt (Newegg) | RTX 5070 Ti, R7 9800X3D, 32GB DDR5, 1TB | ~$2,299 |
| ASUS ROG G700 (Micro Center 2025) | RTX 5080, R7 9800X3D | ~$2,799 |
If you are eyeing the sweet spot, the RTX 5070 and RX 9070-class builds around $1,600-2,100 are where most 1440p gamers should focus. Check whether the CPU and GPU are balanced for your target resolution using our Bottleneck Calculator before you buy.
Which US retailers to watch
- Best Buy — Strongest for brand-name prebuilts (HP Omen, Lenovo Legion, ASUS ROG) and reliable stock. My Best Buy Plus/Total members often get early access windows.
- Newegg — Deepest catalog of iBUYPOWER, Skytech, and ABS system deals, plus component combos. Historically the best online source for open-box and shell-shocker GPU drops.
- Micro Center — If you have a store within driving distance, this is the DIY winner. Their CPU + motherboard bundles and in-store-only GPU pricing routinely beat everyone, but the best deals are not shippable.
- Amazon — Broadest coverage and easiest returns. Good for GPUs, peripherals, and monitors; prebuilt selection is more limited. For a real product you have settled on, you can Check price on Amazon as one data point among several.
Buy now or wait? The honest answer
This is the rare year where "wait for a better deal later" is the risky move. Multiple PC makers, including Maingear's CEO, have publicly told buyers to consider purchasing now because memory prices are expected to keep climbing into 2027. Vendors have gone as far as framing Black Friday 2026 as a "last chance saloon" before another round of price hikes, since much of the stock selling today was bought before the spike.
Here is the practical guidance:
- If you need a PC now or within six months: Buy during Black Friday 2026. Waiting until spring 2027 most likely means paying more, not less, especially on RAM and storage.
- If you can genuinely wait 12+ months: You are gambling either way. Prices could ease if AI demand cools, but no analyst is confident of that before late 2027.
- If you already have a decent rig: Skip the upgrade unless a specific game demands it. Confirm whether your current machine actually falls short first with Can I Run It.
How to avoid fake Black Friday "deals"
Retailers inflate a "list price" and cross it out every November. Protect yourself: check a price-history tracker before buying, ignore the strikethrough and compare against the mid-2026 baselines above, and never buy a prebuilt without itemizing its parts. A $1,899 system with a last-gen GPU and 16GB of RAM is not a bargain just because a red tag says "save $400."
Is Black Friday or Cyber Monday better for gaming PCs in 2026?
They largely blur together now. Full prebuilt systems and in-store DIY components tend to peak on Black Friday itself (Nov 27), while Cyber Monday (Nov 30) historically skews toward online-only GPU, SSD, and peripheral drops. If you want a complete desktop, shop Friday; if you are picking off individual parts, keep watching through Cyber Week.
Will gaming PC prices drop after Black Friday 2026?
Probably not, and that is the unusual part. In a typical year prices recover slowly after the holidays. In 2026, with DRAM and NAND still climbing into Q3 and contracts resetting higher for the second half of the year, post-holiday prices are more likely to rise than fall. Black Friday pricing may be the floor for a while.
Should I wait for the memory shortage to end before buying?
Only if you can wait until at least late 2027, which is the earliest most analysts expect real relief. That is a long time to go without a PC on the hope of savings that may never materialize. If you need the machine, buy the best value you can find this Black Friday and move on.
Are prebuilts actually cheaper than building in 2026?
Sometimes, yes. System integrators lock in memory and storage on contracts, so their bundled 32GB DDR5 and NVMe SSDs can effectively cost less than buying those parts loose at retail during the crisis. Always price both. Run a full parts list against the prebuilt total using our PC Value calculator before deciding.
What's the best GPU to buy on Black Friday 2026?
For most 1440p gamers, the RTX 5070 and Radeon RX 9070/9070 XT offer the best balance of price and performance, especially if a deal pulls them back toward MSRP. Avoid overpaying for the RTX 5070 Ti, which has spent 2026 priced dangerously close to the far stronger RTX 5080. Compare candidates directly on our Compare GPUs tool before you commit.
