Black Friday/Cyber Monday purchases! (2023)

[DXCHASE]

Only making this thread because im getting a gaming pc for my better half. Currently, shes using a 1080ti/4790k. Yes, we build/have build/know how to build, but we purchased a pre-built about a year ago for our son and its worked flawlessly ever since, so heres to hoping. Probably going with one of the 4070 builds for her. So, for the first time in almost a decade, shell have a better pc than me, at least on the gpu side. (3070ti here and no im not allowed to swap it )

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

The sales here in Finland arent as good as I imagine they are in the US, but I grabbed a Gigabyte 4070 Gaming OC for 15% off when the sale went up last night. There was a really good deal on an Asus ProArt 4070 at 25% off on another site but they sold out at the exact moment they went on sale, I was literally watching the clock as it changed and refreshed and they were all gone.

Theres much better deals on monitors this year. Decent 27" 144hz+ 1440p are available for less than €200, shame I dont need one.

 

[Pifanjr]

Just stay away from the SanDisk portable SSD deals:

SanDisk Portable SSDs Are Failing So Frequently, We Can No Longer Recommend Them

We can no longer SanDisk portable SSDs amid widespread drive failures and data loss.

petapixel.com

 

[Colif]

I can't think of anything I would want to buy. Which makes Xmas fun for rest of my family.

Buy a Samsung one instead

Samsung's capacious 8TB T5 Evo breaks the external SSD capacity barrier but maybe not the bank, debuting well below its eye-watering launch MSRP in China

Currently looking at around $150 cheaper than the MRSP.

www.tomshardware.com

realises could back up entire PC to that one drive and have space free... mainly as I haven't used all my 8tb I have now.

Guess I got this on BF but it was just a coincidence

Won't have any excuses to not play any games soon.Apart from choice.

 

[Brian Boru]

Only hardware we got was that mouse I mentioned elsewhere, the one top of PCG's list for BF deals.

Other than that, a few small cheap games mentioned in Zed's thread.

 

[Colif]

omg, thats a big mouse...

made it smaller as it was just.... tooo... big

One thing about that Samsung drive

Based on USB 3.2 Gen 1, the T5 EVO transfers data up to 3.8 times faster than external HDDs and delivers maximum performance through sequential read and write speeds of up to 460 megabytes per second (MB/s), making it easier to transfer large files.

Samsung Unveils New Portable SSD T5 EVO That Offers 8TB Capacity in a Compact Design

Delivers up to 3.8 times the transfer speeds of external HDD, and protects data from drops of up to two meters

news.samsung.com

Its not that fast really, My 256gb Samsung USB drive can do 400mb/s.
USB 3.2 slows it down a lot. So transferring 8tb would take a while. Still nice to carry around in pocket.

Wonder how long before I see fakes of that design.

 

[Frag Maniac]

I've been tempted to get a 4TB 4x, gen 4 NVMe drive, as the Nextorage ones are on sale for $200 with heatsink. The specs are same as the WD one I was previously considering on read at 7300 MB/s, but better on write at 6900 Mb/s vs 6600.

This drive's HS is also easy to take off and put back on (can be a real pain on some NVMe drives), and costs only $5 more than the non HS version, so I felt it would be worth it to compare load temps to the MB HS.

What's holding me back are two things, not wanting to hassle with formatting and reinstalling the OS and C: drive programs, and the thought that since the gen 5 drives are out now, these will no doubt continue to drop in price.

I have to say though, the one thing that bothers me even more than my aging GTX 1080 not being able to handle some of the games out now, is the very cramped space for games on my 500GB NVMe. So I'm still compelled to pull the trigger.

I am also now considering getting a hold me over GPU, vs doing an entire build, since my truck needs further repair (main seal dripping), and I don't like the high heat output of the 13700K. I must say, adding an RTX 4070 or 4070 Ti to my 8700K rig is tempting.

This site makes me think a mere 4070 would be a very viable upgrade to my rig. The only caveat shown is the sub 45 FPS performance of Starfield at 1080p Ultra Quality, but I'm guessing that bench was taken prior to the huge patch just released that added DLSS support.

EVGA GTX 1080 SC vs RTX 4070 Game Performance Benchmarks (i7-8700K vs i7-8700K)

EVGA GTX 1080 SC versus RTX 4070 performance benchmarks comparison. Compare graphics card gaming performance in 86 games and in 1080p, 1440p, and 4K at Ultra, High, Medium, and Low quality settings. Compare specifications, price, power, temperature, and CPU bottlenecks.

www.gpucheck.com

 

[Johnway]

As previously mentioned i upgraded my monitor to the G2724D monitor from dell and paid £104 for it.

Away from that i bought some training material for cloud engineering. from $600+ to $150 seemed like a good deal for me.

Apart from that? nothing else really. i would like to buy some games, but with a massive backlog, i can probably afford to wait. That said getting Assassins creed Valhalla complete edition for $20 sounds like a steal, but i suspect in a few years time when i'm ready it will be at a much cheaper price or it will hold at $20 or less.

 

[Zloth]

I got a burrito bowl from Chipotle's, does that count?

I can't think of anything I would want to buy. Which makes Xmas fun for rest of my family.

Yeah, I hear that. I just spent half an hour cruising Amazon and found exactly nothing. No movies. No books. No household appliances.

 

[Frindis]

@Colif @Zloth Maybe a gift card of sorts? I'm most likely getting one myself this Christmas because I was asked what I wanted. Then I can buy whatever I want, everybody wins. I'm thinking of buying some joke gifts myself, like the book from Britney Spears called "The Woman in Me" and giving it to one of my nephews. I'll hide a ticket to the cinema inside, stuff like that.

 

[Sarafan]

I did my PC upgrade earlier this year, so no hardware purchases on Black Friday. Besides that offers on electronics in my country on this day are not great. It's -10% or -20% at most. So I only bought a few games that I mentioned in appropriate thread.

 

[Zloth]

Maybe a gift card of sorts? I'm most likely getting one myself this Christmas because I was asked what I wanted. Then I can buy whatever I want, everybody wins. I'm thinking of buying some joke gifts myself, like the book from Britney Spears called "The Woman in Me" and giving it to one of my nephews. I'll hide a ticket to the cinema inside, stuff like that.

Yeah, that's what it ends up being, and works out pretty well. I have some fantastic sloth stuff - including an awesome pizza sloth sweatshirt. It sure puts a lot of burden on the shopper, though.

Gift cards seem like such a racket. Yeah, you can get anything you want - at that store. Why not pop over to the bank or an ATM and get them some cash that they can use at ANY store, with no expiration limit? But then, if they get you cash, and you get them cash, there's suddenly pressure to give the same amount of cash. And, if you do give the same amount, you're both wondering why you're even doing this! So, gift cards it is. Because: psychology.

 

[Pifanjr]

No PC related purchases, but my wife did buy a new raclette grill today that was 50% off and insisted we use it today. Our kid loved the idea of preparing her own food, but didn't really care for eating it. She's very picky.

Gift cards seem like such a racket. Yeah, you can get anything you want - at that store. Why not pop over to the bank or an ATM and get them some cash that they can use at ANY store, with no expiration limit? But then, if they get you cash, and you get them cash, there's suddenly pressure to give the same amount of cash. And, if you do give the same amount, you're both wondering why you're even doing this! So, gift cards it is. Because: psychology.

I have a friend whose birthday is 5 days after mine and we developed a tradition where he would give me €10 on my birthday and I would give him €10 on his.

 

[Frindis]

I have a friend whose birthday is 5 days after mine and we developed a tradition where he would give me €10 on my birthday and I would give him €10 on his.

Oh man, imagine if you gave him €5 instead and then when you call him to wish him happy birthday, you don't say anything until the very end of the call. If he brings it up first, you could be like "Ohhhh, €10? Are you sure, I would swear it was only €5 man"

 

[Brian Boru]

Or show off your marketing nous and make it $9.99

 

[ZedClampet]

Next year, I'm going to check the prices of things I want a couple of weeks in advance. You know on Amazon nothing ever sells for the supposed list price. I think Logitech just went around and plastered "Cyber Monday" on everything and didn't lower the prices.

 

[ZedClampet]

I frequently shop laptops, and this is just a remarkable deal. 4070 laptop for under $1000? That's crazy.

The best sub-$1,000 Cyber Monday RTX 4070 gaming laptop deal is inexplicably even cheaper than it was on Black Friday

The TUF laptops may be Asus' more affordable systems, but there are few compromises here to explain that low price.

www.pcgamer.com

 

[Brian Boru]

Next year, I'm going to check the prices of things I want a couple of weeks in advance

Use CamelX3, either site or browser extension.

4070 laptop for under $1000?

That is a wonder price, but isn't ASUS to laptop maker whose laptops like to catch fire? I could be misremembering, or it may have been sorted since—but I'd grab whatever warranty is available if I'm right.

 

[ZedClampet]

Use CamelX3, either site or browser extension.



That is a wonder price, but isn't ASUS to laptop maker whose laptops like to catch fire? I could be misremembering, or it may have been sorted since—but I'd grab whatever warranty is available if I'm right.

That was actually an MSI. Guido had an ASUS. Other than the fan rattling, it was okay. But I'm not buying it. Just wanted to point it out.

 

[Frag Maniac]

Good Gawd yahl, been on a shoppin BOnanza today! Feels like I spent awl DAY at Best Buy, Newegg, and Amazon!

What can I say fellers, it's a record breakin Cyber Monday, with prices ta match. OK, cept for them dang GPU prices, but I reckon I did OK there too, as well as posserbul anywho.

Will update when I git the guds!

PS, if you git on a shoppin frenzy like I did and have a mind ta stop at a Chipolte, DO NOT order the Carne Asada. I mean it's not a bad meal, but $18 frickin bucks?! I gotta think they feel a bit guilty when you look at em gob smacked when they tell ya the price, especially since it's not listed on the menu board!

 

[Frag Maniac]

A bit of an update guys. I've bin ponderin whether ta take home the GPU I bought last night at BB, which will be available for pickup Dec 2nd, or refund it in hopes they'll get the better version of the same within a few months. Clue, the one I bought has an 8 in the model number, the one I want has a 9.

I just spoke to a nice guy at BB via phone who's in their online sales dept and seemed to be a hardcore gamer and knew a lot about how the higher ups at BB do procurement. He said they should have the better models for at least another year. They are sold out right now, but still show at base price, whereas PNY and BHPhoto are showing it at $244 over base price.

He explained that since BB is so huge, they procure things as far in advance as possible, and why they can still show those base prices. I had asked him if there's any chance they might get those better models in stock by my max return date of Jan 13th, and since I also told him I can get by at least a few months more with my GTX 1080, he advised refunding the lesser model I bought when I go to pickup.

He ended by saying he wished he would've done like I did and wait instead of buying his 3090 Ti for $930. I know they went for a LOT higher, but that was with his BB discount, and shortly after they dropped considerably. So lesson learned, I didn't get round to tellin him this feller can't afford to learn the hard way on my budget, but no one wants to believe that when you're runnin round like Wiley Coyote buyin up ever thin you can!

So here's hopin Nvidia gets PNY those chips soon so I don't have ta wait sevral more months! I try to do my biz in a way that everone wins, meaning no one's stuck tryin ta sell a used GPU, and they at the same time have a pretty good one in stock that's gaining in popularity. I also feel I've earned the right ta get straight answers on the likelihood of continued stock, and this gentleman appeased!

 

[Brian Boru]

better version of the same within a few months … I can get by at least a few months more with my GTX 1080

Looks like a refund and keep powder dry over winter

 

[Frag Maniac]

...and keep powder dry over winter

That's never an easy thing where I live. Closest to it is hittin a powder day on the slopes, and I'm no good at and can't afford skiin or snowboardin. Closest Mt that gits powder often is WAY up yonder too.

 

[Frag Maniac]

OK, I looked this phrase up and it appears it means be ready to act with no advance notice, derived from the days of hand loading firearms. Why am I always the last to know these things? Never did like metaphors much.

But yes, I plan to check GPU prices and availability daily.

 

[Brian Boru]

Why am I always the last to know these things?

A sheltered upbringing, perhaps?

My understanding of the saying is to not commit resources and keep options open—eg don't spend now, wait to see what the situation is in a few months. So it looks to have somewhat different meanings depending on location.