Deals, Discounts, and Best PC Component Buys & Builds

MSI MPG X370 Gaming Edge - $365

MSI X370 SLI PLUS - $333

Here is the B350-f (likely the best B350 out there). Finally, a retailer offering a full 3-year warranty, and it happens to be the most budget-friendly option too.

click here

Just keep in mind that $41 the X370 prime is still a step up...

Amazon has the R5 1600 back in stock for under $533 if you grab that PCE discount. I guess it might actually be the right time to snag that Asus on sale along with the processor over there... especially since the dollar has climbed about 20 cents over the last ~3 weeks 😁

Which Asus motherboard are you talking about?

Regardless of the dollar exchange rate, I think the only way those components go is down—meaning they’re bound to start getting cheaper on their own.

X370-PRO 😁

I mean, the B350-F Strix is basically the same thing without the full CF/SLI support, and I think they even share the same PCB.

I haven't been able to find much information regarding this specific model—I actually tried looking for some user reviews over on overclock.net—especially concerning VRM thermal performance. As for CF/SLI, that's just noise to me; I couldn't care less about it.

The B350 plus isn't a bad choice at all; it’s actually quite a solid board with its 4-phase power delivery. My only gripe is that it lacks some of the bells and whistles you'd find on higher-end models—it feels a bit dated compared to other B350 options, mostly because it has fewer connectors and similar legacy features. If you're looking at the X370, the main draw would be getting a faster, more updated BIOS and better chipset support. Either way, I'm definitely picking one of those three.

I was planning to hold off until Coffee Lake—specifically that i5 8400—finally hit the shelves here in the States, and maybe wait for an AMD response or the wider availability of the B350-F Strix. But honestly, who knows when that would actually happen? It might never even occur, and besides, things just shifted anyway. At any rate, the earliest I can place my order is Monday once my funds clear through my bank, and there's no way they’re shipping anything out before then regardless.

Timothy Kim60 said:Sapphire RADEON RX 580 nitro + Radeon RX 580 8GB

$300 including standard shipping

What were you shipping back in the States then?

There it is. It’s actually a pretty old link, though. Most of the items from the US Amazon sites ship directly to the States anyway.

Timothy Kim60 said:That's it. It's an old link, though. Most stuff from the European Amazons ships straight to the US anyway.

I'm waiting for the RX 580 8GB to hit $667 before I grab one.

I mean, honestly, I doubt we'll see anything meaningful from AMD before the Nvidia 11 XX series hits the scene. It probably won't even be a rebrand this time; they'll likely just drop another RX series instead, so... yeah, it's looking pretty unlikely before then.

Zachary Nguyen2 said:I'm holding out for an RX 580 8GB to hit about $667 before I pull the trigger.

At this rate, you might actually be waiting for the Vega 11 (the mainstream successor to Polaris 10) instead.
You really should have grabbed that one for $800 when it popped up at Best Buy. Honestly, I don't see prices dropping much lower than that point; there's a real chance they'll be phased out and replaced by the V11 before we ever see a better deal.

I find myself weighing my options quite carefully at the moment; I am currently aiming for a Sapphire RADEON RX 580 nitro + Radeon RX 580 with 8GB of VRAM, hopefully securing it for around $200, though I have also considered the 4GB variant if it falls within the $160-$170 range. Alternatively, I might look into a Zotac GTX 1060 6GB AMP edition priced between $180 and $190, or perhaps even an RX 480 if I can find one for $100 slightly less than the RX 580.

I’m honestly just aiming for a G4560 and an RX 560 setup, I guess. It’s about 20% weaker than an R9 280, which is basically on par with that i3-3350P I was supposed to pick up ages ago, so maybe this could actually turn into a pretty killer budget gaming rig if I play my cards right. 🙂

I need an AMD card because of my FreeSync monitor.
It was a steal at $2400, but I was broke. 😁

I find myself somewhat perplexed by the sudden, widespread necessity for FreeSync and G-Sync monitors among the gaming community. Is it not more efficient to simply manually cap the frame rate within the driver settings to match the monitor's refresh rate? In my estimation, doing so would render V-Sync and similar technologies entirely redundant.

@Keith Anderson3/">@@Keith Anderson3, please, let us be cautious here. I wonder if such a setup would truly suffice for your specific requirements—do you intend to play at 1080p with High settings? Furthermore, it might be prudent to opt for the 4GB version of the graphics card.

I’m just pulling 720p at 30 fps on max settings, which is honestly plenty for me since I don't touch any AAA titles anyway. My current setup handles maybe 95% of what I actually do, but I feel like I'm totally screwed if my motherboard or GPU decides to kick the bucket. There's really no point sticking around this platform, especially since I have the kind of luck where something always breaks. xD It feels pointless to try and revive this old rig when motherboards for this socket are basically extinct now. 😉I went through the exact same thing back when I was running an old LGA 775 build, so I just sold everything—no regrets there. I'll probably do the same this time around. We'll see how things look... in six months or a year, everything changes. But I'll likely end up grabbing some Core i7 chips with IBM tech and maybe a GTX 1060 tier card, so I'll just aim for stuff like that.

But yeah, that Core i7 is basically a steal right now for like $500-$183. That RX 560 looks pretty decent, plus it's too weak for crypto miners to care about. 😁So, I don't think I'll run into any issues there. 😁

Samuel Castillo49 said:I honestly don't get why everyone is suddenly obsessed with FreeSync and G-Sync monitors. Isn't it much better to just manually cap your FPS to match your monitor's refresh rate directly in the drivers? If you do that, you shouldn't even need to touch V-Sync or any of that other stuff.

Keith Anderson3, listen, don't screw this up. Will that setup actually meet your requirements? Are you planning to run games at 1080p on High settings? If so, you really ought to grab the 4GB version of the graphics card.

It’s not exactly the same thing. You really need to maintain that consistent FPS, and when you're using monitors with sync technology, you don't have to deal with screen tearing or micro-stuttering—even if your frame rate dips below the refresh rate. Besides, if someone is already shopping for a new monitor, why wouldn't they just get one with FreeSync? It doesn't even cost much more; it's not like it drives the price up significantly.

Aha, perhaps he isn't quite aware. I find myself wondering, though—how exactly does one achieve a complete absence of screen tearing and stuttering when using a sync-enabled monitor? Is the underlying mechanism such that the monitor's refresh rate actively tracks the frame rate in real-time? Specifically, does the monitor constantly adjust its own refresh rate to match the output? For instance, if the frame rate were to drop to a mere 37 FPS, would the monitor automatically recalibrate itself to 37 or 38Hz? If that is indeed how the technology operates, then we are truly looking at a revolutionary advancement.

hey,

anyone know which stores around here have the best deals and actually take Diners if I want to split a PC purchase into 24 interest-free installments?

thanks

AMD and its future prospects