PC Components
It’s that time of year for you starting buying tech and hardware for you… I mean your friends and family.
It's that time of year again – buying PC hardware for you or your loved ones to celebrate the holidays! We have compiled a list of components, accessories, and individual picks from our staff to help you find the perfect gift for your tech fiend. And of course, if you feel the desire, its always good to get a little something for yourself.
Also, if you want to search for some stuff on Amazon.com for the holidays, tech or otherwise, feel free to click on this link right here to do so!! 😀
Processors
AMD Ryzen Threaderipper 1950X – Amazon.com – $799
This is still one of the most impressive performing processors on the market and it is currently selling for $200 less than the launch price! Check out our full review if you need some justification, but AMD has done a great job pitting itself against the high-end of Intel's processor market.
Intel Core i7-7700K – Amazon.com – $287
I would have liked to recommend the Core i7-8700K with its additional core count and clock speed, but the truth is, you just can't find it for a reasonable price. It's out of stock at Amazon and Newegg is selling it for over $400. On the other hand, this 7700K has come down in price by $40-70 depending on sales and still offers a great experience for gamers and enthusiasts. In fact, it is again listed as the "#1 selling" processor on Amazon – kind of a surprise!
AMD Ryzen 7 1700 – Amazon.com – $269
Priced similarly to the 7700K, the Ryzen 7 1700 will be slower in single threaded taskes but has 8-cores (versus 4-cores for the 7700K) and thus will outperform in multi-threaded workloads.
Intel Motherboards
Intel Z270 Enthusiast Desktop board
ASUS ROG Strix Z270E Gaming motherboard: $206.00 @ Amazon.com
Courtesy of ASUS
This year has been a whirlwind of new board releases, making it one of the most jammed pack in quite a while starting with the Intel Z270-based boards. Out of all the boards we've seen, the ASUS ROG Strix Z270E Gaming board offers among the best in class for its mix of aesthetics and features. For more detailed information, please see our review of the board here.
Intel X299 Workstation board
MSI X299 Gaming M7 ACK motherboard: $329.60 @ Amazon.com after $40 MIR
Courtesy of MSI
If your looking for a bit more power in your Intel build, look no further than the MSI X299 Gaming M7 ACK motherboard. It features stellar performance, killer looks, and even armored coolers for both of its M.2 slots. For more detailed information, please see our review of the board here.
AMD Motherboards
AMD X370 Enthusiast Desktop board
GIGABYTE AORUS AX370-Gaming 5 motherboard: $169.99 @ Amazon.com
Courtesy of GIGABYTE
On the AMD side of things, the GIGABYTE AORUS AX370-Gaming 5 motherboard is among the top performers we've tested. Sure, its white and black aesthetic may seem a been "bright", but its feature set and plethora of RGB LEDs more than makes up for that. For more detailed information, please see our review of the board here.
AMD X399 Workstation board
ASUS ROG Zenith Extreme motherboard: $499.99 @ Amazon.com
Courtesy of ASUS
For top of the line AMD-base peformance, look no further than the ASUS ROG series. Its ROG Zenith Extreme motherboard contains all the high-end features you find on an Intel X299-based board. And it even has a built in speedometer integrated into the rear panel cover. It is a bit pricey, but your pay a premium for quality and power.
Graphics Cards
I was honestly tempted to just leave this section with a blank and include a middle finger to cryptocurrency miners, but there are at least a couple of deals worth noting.
ASUS GeForce GTX 1070 Ti Turbo – Amazon.com – $449
This is about as stock as you can get, with a blower cooler and no flashy accessories or lights (actually, one light), but you can get the GTX 1070 Ti performance for the MSRP with this one model. HURRY!
Zotac GeForce GTX 1080 AMP! Edition – Amazon.com – $549
This is the only GTX 1080 I can find that is even close to the correct price, and even then, it's not a great deal in comparison to the ASUS 1070 Ti above. It has a much better cooler, of course, so that might warrant the price difference to some users.
XFX RX 580 GTR 8GB – Amazon.com – $279
It was a struggle to find any kind of deal on Radeon graphics cards worth mentioning, but this RX 580 from XFX with 8GB of memory is selling for $279. That's still a bit over MSRP but, again, those damn miners.
Storage
Samsung 850 EVO 500GB – Amazon.com – $140
The 850 EVO has been at the top of our SATA performance charts for years now, and they typically run at or near the lowest cost per GB. This particular model has been around for so long that Samsung quietly updated its NAND flash from 32 to 48 layers. If you're the family IT guy and will be migrating your elders off of their spinning rust this holiday season, the 850 EVO is the way to go.
I really like the streaming
I really like the streaming devices like the roku that Jeremy listed. HOWEVER, ATT blatantly throttles video streams and I have to use vpn.
Any recommendations for a
Any recommendations for a wireless headset? Wired ones haven’t been surviving my kids lately.
I use these wire pair and
I use these wire pair and they are built like a tank. (metal construction) and if they do break out side of the warranty, they will give you %50 of the value of the headphone as a discount if you buy another.
V-Moda Lp Crossfade with boom mic add on.
I am pleased with the JBL
I am pleased with the JBL E-Series. Not too expensive, quality sound, easy setup.
On the other hand, I’m on the fence to jump on to the AirPods bandwagon.
I wish that CyberPower
I wish that CyberPower Sinewave UPS 1500VA/900W UPS was 119 and not actually 214 🙁
No love for the low end
No love for the low end gamers?
I think it is strange for
I think it is strange for anyone to recommend the ROG Zenith Extreme. Other options may not be as flashy, but greatly better value.
It’s probably the best board
It’s probably the best board available for X399, with a lot of value add. It was available for $379 on Black Friday. Too bad that price wasn’t extended through the end of November.
have u guys tried idrive?
have u guys tried idrive?
I’ve used them before, it’s
I've used them before, it's pretty good.
Hmm I was just looking at
Hmm I was just looking at iDrive's pricing and it seems they don't offer a 10TB tier anymore? Maybe that was a special thing for Crashplan converters, not sure but it is what i had for a year. I did see that they have a 50% off discount for students though and if you need less than 5TB of data it actually comes out cheaper than Backblaze, if you need more than 5TB of data Backblaze would be cheaper. One neat thing about IDrive is that it is almost one click easy to backup your social media stuff like Facebook.
Are they having production
Are they having production issues with the 8700k, or did they just rush it out without stockpiling enough before release. It was a relatively quick response to Ryzen. I would be curious as to whether it is a separate die or a repurposed Xeon of some kind. Are the six core Xeons a separate die or salvaged from production of an 8 or more core die?
i think it was a rush to
i think it was a rush to compete. AMD has outsold them since the release of the ryzen.
I use the MS ergonomic
I use the MS ergonomic keyboard at work and it’s hysterical when someone asks if they can drive at my desk. The look on their faces when they see the keyboard!
I had a secretary who has been typing for more years than I’ve been alive look lost as she tried typing on the keyboard. She reverted to hunting & pecking.
Couple that with an ergonomic mouse and co-workers think I’m from the future. Yeah, like 2005!
I had the predecessor at home and used it until I started gaming more. There were just a few too many keys on the right side of the keyboard for me to make the reach.