Deals, Discounts, and Best PC Component Buys & Builds

crimsonstag84 said:There's another huge sale on processors over at Best Buy 😁

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/processors

The 10850K is going for $883 😲

The 10900KF isn't bad either at $933

I'm actually trying to grab two of these on Links:

But the site is being stubborn and only letting me add one to my cart at a time, even though it clearly says there are 37 units left in stock. Is there some kind of weird glitch happening here, or am I just missing something?

And you're still stuck buying it twice or trying to use two different names to get around it.

wiredotter14 said:Why not just buy two separately or under two different names?

I actually tried that. When you're logged in and try to add a second one to your cart, it just won't let you. You end up having to log out, add the item, and then log back in again. I mean, why should they care how many I want to purchase? It's the first time I've run into this kind of thing... it's almost as if they assume things are so cheap that people will just hoard them all to flip for a profit, so they limit you to a maximum of two units to ensure everyone can get a pair for dual channel setup.

Yeah, there's zero point in capping RAM at one stick per person, but I guess it's typical for them to set limits like this. Maybe they put a "one per customer" rule on the whole sale and just didn't realize they were doing it for RAM...

Intel Core i7 10700 f - $0.51
Intel Core i3 10105 f - $332

It's a decent setup, I guess, if you already happen to own a 1151v2 motherboard...

Intel Core i7 10700k - $586

crimsonstag84 said:Intel Core i7 10700K - $586

We’ve finally hit the point where an Intel chip isn't just cheaper or running cooler—it's actually more future-proof than AMD.
The 10700K is a legitimate rival to the 5600X. Sure, maybe Ryzen takes a tiny lead in gaming, but the 10700K brings more cores to the table.
Obviously, you'll need to shell out for a better motherboard, an extra cooler, and all that.

The whole landscape has flipped, but honestly? Both paths are pretty solid right now.

Is this one running any warmer?

Regarding the 3700x, my personal take is that a 65w 7nm 8/16 chip with PCIe 4.0 support offers better futureproofing. It might be slightly weaker for gaming, but it runs much cooler!!!

Alexander Moore67 said:So running hotter is a "plus" now???

I wasn't listing those as pros and cons, just general specs. Before the Ryzen era, AMD was always the hotter, cheaper option.

Alexander Moore67 said:My take on the 3700x: 65w, 7nm, 8 cores/16 threads, supports PCIe 4.0—better futureproofing, slightly weaker for gaming, but runs cooler!!!

The 3700X is priced over $733, so the 10700K is the better move.

Based on price-to-performance, IMO:

i3 10100F $233
i5 10400F $400
i7 10700K $587
5600X $750
5900X $1400

Other options don't really make sense. The 10700K and 5600X just crush everything sitting between the 10400F and the 5900X.

I'm thinking about putting together a new PC without a dedicated graphics card, specifically aiming to pull the trigger during Black Friday. My main uncertainty is what kind of discounts I should actually be looking for. Here’s the rough build I have in mind:

ASRock B550M Pro4 motherboard, Socket 1200/Socket AM4, 4x DDR4, up to 128 GB, mATX - $177

AMD Ryzen 5 Pro 4650G 3.7Ghz Socket AM4 processor - $500

G.SKILL Ripjaws V F4-3600C18D-16GVK, 16GB DDR4 3600MHz, CL18, (2x8GB) - $213

Crucial P1 CT500P1SSD8 SSD 500GB, M.2, NVMe - $133

Fortron 650 W power supply, 120mm fan, active PFC - $117

Cooler Master MasterBox NR200P case - $217

Total $1357

What do you all think—roughly how much of a price drop could I expect on these parts for Black Friday?

By the time Black Friday rolls around, everything's going to be so volatile you can't make any solid predictions.

Planning on upgrading the GPU later? I'm guessing so, especially since you're picking up a beefier PSU (which one, though?).
The components you listed probably won't have much voltage ripple. If I were you, I'd wait until closer to the sale and see if that 5600G drops below $667. It's a much stronger CPU for when you eventually swap out the graphics card.

Yeah, I’m planning on grabbing a GPU too, but definitely not at these current prices. Once things settle down to a "realistic" level, I'll add one to the build. As for which specific card? Who knows. There'll be some kind of best buy out there eventually. I actually wasn't even aware of this 5600g. I assume it's a newer model... I'll probably need to dig up some benchmarks to see if upgrading to a pricier processor is even worth the jump.
I wouldn't say I'm a particularly demanding user. I just need a new rig because my current laptop is about 8 or 9 years old; it still runs surprisingly well, it's just falling apart. The hinges are shot, the speakers are gone, and given its age, I'm half-expecting it to kick the bucket any second. I would like to be able to play some modern games, though realistically I don't think I'll be gaming that much, so I'm mostly looking to put together a solid "best buy" type of setup without obsessing over every single dollar. I could probably drop maybe $1,500 total, maybe adding another $200 later for a graphics card once prices return to normal. This case is a bit of an outlier, though—normally I'd just pick up something for a couple hundred bucks, but since I move around quite often, I need something compact and high-quality. This one feels like it's built entirely out of steel and looks genuinely premium, so I figured I'd just buy it once and be done with it for good. 😁

Look, it’s a mini ITX case. Standard motherboards won't fit. You need that specific ITX format—which costs way more—plus an SFX power supply
Like this:
https://www.cnn.com/asrock-b550m-itxa...m_medium=click
https://www.cnn.com/bequiet...m_medium=click
Total money pit.

Otherwise, if you actually want to game, just grab the 4650G for $500. I doubt the price will drop any lower. It's basically only available at Newegg anyway. For a GPU like the $667, you won't hit a bottleneck. It's slightly weaker than a Ryzen 3600. The 5600G is a bit slower than the 5600X

So, looks like this case is out of the question 😁

I was under the impression that prices were going to drop significantly for Black Friday. I’d seen posts on the forums where people were snagging components at basically half off, so I figured a solid discount across the board was the norm. Apparently, those deals are only hitting specific items...

Last Black Friday was solid for certain parts, but then we hit those supply shortages right after. What this next one looks like depends on how things shake out—if the stock isn't there, there’s no point in talking about clearance sales. 😁

Never had any luck 😁