Deals, Discounts, and Best PC Component Buys & Builds

David Sanders4 said:Well, you've gone and swapped in a weaker CPU that runs hotter—plus, if you buy from a major retailer like Best Buy where you get that full 24-month warranty, you're covered. Besides, the motherboard pictured is actually inferior; it has significantly fewer power phases compared to the Z97 Extreme 3, and the lane configuration is much worse at 16/x4 versus the x8/x8 setup...
It really depends on where you pick it up—if it's from a secondary seller or an auction site, the value drops, though I'd say a fair price would be around $2200--$767

Look, all I'm saying is that "new" means "new." You have to consider what you're actually running on, and if you're truly that focused on getting a processor for $567 an i5-4690k from Best Buy

and this motherboard

$67 they might cost more, but they're brand new from a reputable retailer, so you aren't taking any unnecessary risks.

Timothy Kim60 said:This seems a bit of a stretch

I’m certainly no expert here, but an i5 is definitely going to be the sweet spot. I’ve actually been eyeing the Core i5-4460; it feels like the most sensible choice... 🤷

Last year, you could pick up a Core i5-4440 at Best Buy for around $417 during one of those sales—if I recall correctly. Places like Micro Center had them sitting between $1 and $3, and they were seeing similar prices earlier this year, but now things have jumped quite a bit. I’m just waiting for a price drop of about $100-$67 before I commit to the expense...
Regarding the motherboard, it absolutely needs SLI x8/x8 support, and having 8 power phases wouldn't hurt either, just to leave the door open for a future upgrade...

My goal is to spread the cost out as much as possible over time, so I was considering picking up another GTX 660 for $267. That strikes me as the most budget-friendly way to get decent longevity...

Or, I might even hunt down a used Core i5-2500k; I’ve seen them going for as low as $850-$317... those processors aren't exactly hard to come by on the used market...

Dennis Carter3 said:Look, new is new. You know what you have on hand, and if you're really that set on getting an $567 Core i5-4690k from Best Buy

http://www.bestbuy.com/processors/intel-core-i5-4690k/html

I’m a bit nervous about ordering from them; if I pull the trigger today, I feel like it won't even arrive until next year.🤣

Dennis Carter3 said:and this motherboard too
http://www.newegg.com/motherboard/details/14792

The board is x16/x4, which doesn't really work for my setup.
What I actually want is the Z97 Extreme 3.

It seems the cheapest one is in the link, which feels somewhat absurd.😵

Why even bother with SLI? I guess you're better off just putting that money toward a single, beefier GPU.

Let's be realistic here—you'll probably burn out that GTX 660 and upgrade to something beefier long before you bother hunting down a second card for SLI.

In my view, pairing an entry level i5 + a budget motherboard is the smartest bang-for-your-buck move when looking at Intel. These "K" series chips are a luxury, and honestly, with Intel's Haswell architecture, you don't see much of a payoff from overclocking unless you're playing multiplayer titles paired with a high-end GPU. In a lot of games today, an extra 1GHz is practically meaningless, let alone just a few hundred MHz. It might matter down the road, but it all really boils down to what you plan on playing and which graphics card you eventually decide to pair it with.

Well, there’s currently a GTX 660 (Gigabyte's OC version) available for $267. It’s essentially identical to the one I have... personally, I doubt I could get more than $300 for mine, and at the $567 mark, there really isn't a viable Nvidia alternative. I saw a few used GTX 770s going for $500 recently, but they seem to be gone now. Besides, from what I can tell, a GTX 660 SLI setup actually outperforms the GTX 770

What about the power supply?

Most people steer clear of CrossFire/SLI—especially since so many games don't even support it, not to mention the power draw and heat issues...
Here is a recent experience of mine

I generally wouldn't recommend CrossFire. I ran two R9 280 cards once, and it was nothing but a headache.
Sometimes it runs smooth as silk, but other times it stutters, glitches, or flickers. Plus, plenty of AAA titles nowadays don't support CrossFire at all, so you either get zero performance or you have to mess around with driver profiles just to make it work.

And don't even get me started on that bug where the secondary GPU gets stuck at 99% utilization after switching 3D/2D profiles (which I think still plagues users today).

There is also the nightmare of overclocking if you actually want to fine-tune the setup.

Bottom line: it's a big no-no.

On top of that, I won't even bother listing the obvious generic headaches like excessive heat and noise...

Granted, the post above discusses CrossFire rather than SLI, but the point remains exactly the same.

Forget about running SLI or Crossfire. Honestly, just grabbing one beefier card is a much better way to go—it saves so many headaches. If you're really eyeing something like a GTX 970, you might just need to save up a little more cash first.

Timothy Kim60 said:The power supply?

550W

Timothy Kim60 said:Most people steer clear of CrossFire or SLI—mostly because so many modern games don't even support it, not to mention the power draw and the heat...
Here is a recent experience of mine.
Technically, what I did above was CrossFire rather than SLI, but the principle remains the same.

I’m well aware of the risks. Personally, I've always been skeptical of SLI/CrossFire, but I feel like I need to try it.
Far Cry 4 gameplay GTX 660 discard

It actually runs quite decently for me in this case: FC4.
It's interesting to see how much better it performs on an AMD setup, and just how much it struggles on certain AMD CPUs...

Larry Ortiz5 said:You're messing around with SLI/CrossFire. One powerful card is almost always the better move. If you really want something like a GTX 970, you should probably just save up more cash.

It’s a bit pricey for me... but I feel like I need to experience SLI firsthand at least once. You only live once, right? I have to see what happens when I push two cards together. 😵

I'd probably just hold out until the end of January when the GTX 960 arrives 😉

I’m going to hold off; there's no rush. That GTX 660 can still pull its weight on its own for a while longer. My current plan is to upgrade to a Core i5, though I'm trying to find a way to snag a deal and keep the total cost under a few hundred bucks. 🤣

It looks like Broadwell is going to be a letdown too—honestly, if you spend all your time staring at tech news, you could wait forever.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/26833...o-skylake.html
http://www.techradar.com/news/comput...evant--1265595

I suspect Broadwell won't really move the needle, but this Skylake architecture might actually be something worthwhile from Intel. They'll likely support both DDR4 and DDR3 memory, which would be a smart move.

David Sanders4 said:well, there’s a GTX 660 (Gigabyte's OC version) available right now for $267—it's basically identical to mine... honestly, I'd struggle to get more than $300 for it, and for $567, there aren't really any decent NVIDIA alternatives left; I saw a few used GTX 770s going for $500, but they're gone now... besides, from what I can tell, a GTX 660 SLI setup actually outperforms the GTX 770 anyway.

If you're looking at $267, personally, I'd rather put that money toward a used i5 than sink it into yet another GTX 660.

Or, if you're looking at that same price point for the 4690K and motherboard combo in the ad, you could probably grab an FX 8320E paired with an Asus M5A97 evo R2 and a really solid cooler, which might let you overclock things quite a bit.

I have two i7 2600k processors available, along with two Asus P8Z77-V LX motherboards—feel free to look into the boards yourself if you need more specifics. Just a heads-up regarding the coverage: the motherboards don't come with a warranty, and as for the CPUs, one carries a three-month guarantee through late 2015, while the other is good until about October 2015.

I actually scored the exact same motherboard, the same CPU, plus Mushkin Blackline 12GB of RAM for $667 even—and all three were still under warranty. Honestly, you won't find a better deal than that. 😉

I was actually about to pull the trigger on that setup, but I hesitated at the last second. It's been a while since I saw that listing, though.

Anyway—right now, the R9 280 is an absolute beast. Everyone is grabbing one. You really need to snag it while they're still in stock.

Since there isn't really a reliable site out there dedicated solely to tracking CPU trends, I have to point out that prices for processors have spiked aggressively over the last month or two—especially since yesterday. Some have jumped by more than $67. You would logically expect prices to be trending downward, but this sudden surge is honestly a bit jarring. Does anyone have a theory on why this is happening? Did some massive cargo ship sink or something? It’s absurd. An i5 3570k or an i5 4670k are selling for about 200-$$100 more on average than they were when they first launched, and I even saw an i5 2550k listed for over $633... You can hardly believe it.

The dollar is strengthening, which is driving up production costs... seeing prices jump from $1.75 to $2.00 in just the last few months. On top of that, certain GPUs, motherboards, RAM, and power supplies seem to be ticking up by a couple of bucks every single week at most shops.

I managed to snag a 2500K during that last big sale for $343 😬 ...and I guess tomorrow marks exactly one year since I bought it.

Everything’s gone up, honestly. It looks like RAM and maybe SSDs are the only things holding steady. Over at Future, you're looking at $150-$67 for motherboards, CPUs are pushing past $67, HDDs are sitting at 20-$10, plus some small bumps on power supplies and coolers hitting 30-$13. Even cases are around $33 and GPUs are climbing to $33 compared to what they used to be. There are just so few deals left, $6.75. JBTE, I was building a rig just a year ago and I definitely got a better deal then than if I tried to put together a whole new build today.

crimsonstag84 said:The Dollar is strengthening, which is driving up production costs... we've seen jumps from $1.75 to $2.00 in just the last few months. On top of that, some GPUs, motherboards, RAM, and power supplies are creeping up by a few bucks every single week in most stores.

I managed to snag a 2500K during the last big sale for $343 😬 ...tomorrow marks exactly one year since I bought it.

Did you pick that up at Best Buy or futur? I was hoping there would be a sale combined with an IBO deal so I could grab a 3570k, but now that same CPU is going for about $667 somewhere... it's brutal...

Sean Garcia3 said:Everything seems to have gone up as far as I can tell, except maybe RAM and occasionally SSDs. At Micro Center, for instance, motherboards are around 150-$67, processors are over $67, HDDs are 20-$10, power supplies have bumped up a little, coolers are around 30-$13, printers are $6.75, cases are about $33, even GPUs are up by $33 compared to previous prices. jbte, I was buying stuff a year ago and I got a better deal than if I were trying to build a whole new rig today.

Exactly. The M597 is sitting at 850-$300 now, when it used to be at most $233. Basically, every option I waited for failed me. There was all this talk that FX prices would drop, so I held out thinking I might get an FX 8320 for $333, but man, they're averaging about $400 now...

It is certainly not the time to be buying hardware...
Besides, I'll just wait; I have a massive backlog of games to get through on both PC and PlayStation 3 anyway. I'll wait for better times... maybe the dollar will weaken once the summer travel season hits... fingers crossed.🙄