Welcome to another edition of Mik's picks. For this weekend's hardware sales, I found great deals on a GPU, HDMI cable, monitor, PSU, and an SSD.
6' HDMI Cable ($3): First up, I found a good deal on 6' HDMI cable for only $3 after an instant coupon. This isn't the usual deal I like to list here -- but everyone needs cables, even if a bit boring. It's a wild card for sure. I realize many of you out there are buying OEM HDMI monitors or TVs, but it never hurts to have an extra cable around. For only $3 after using the promo code, it's an easy deal for your PC build.
Thermaltake 500W TR2 PSU ($30): The pick we found is Thermaltake's TR2 500W power supply for only $30 after rebate. Thermaltake has taken the lead with their budget-class, quality power supplies for those of us optimizing for the cost. 500W is more than enough for your basic gaming rig, but if you need to be certain about power consumption and think you might be borderline, you can use this power supply calculator from Thermaltake to double-check. Feel free to ask in the comments or forums if you'd like our help on this calculation.
Sapphire HD 7850 ($150): Next up, I found a good deal on the Sapphire HD 7850 for only $149.99. AMD once again gives us a solid GPU for a great price -- with the 7850 taking our recommendation for budget machines -- and to top it all off, 3 free games ship with it. This version of the 7850 has 1GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit interface that should play many of the games out at medium to highest settings, but if you're looking to mod-out Skyrim (or other games) with high-resolution texture packs, consider the 2GB version instead. This GPU has a nice heatsink on it as well, a dual fan setup to help keep temps down when you need it to.
23" 1080p Acer Monitor ($110): Lastly, before we get to the pick of the week, I found a good deal on a 23'' 1080p Acer Monitor. For only $110, you get a fairly standard monitor that supports up to 1920 x 1080 resolution, is HDMI-ready, and operates on a 5ms GTG response time. For those of you out there who are unhappy with your current monitor but don't want to drop $150 on a new unit, this is a great mid-range option to consider.
Pick of the Week!
Samsung 250GB 840 SSD ($180): This week's pick-of-the-week aims to offer a fairly sizeable storage capacity on a relatively high-speed SSD. Samsung's 250GB 840 SSD is on sale right now for $180, marked a bit below $1/GB, and makes for a great starter SSD for gaming machines. We've had the opportunity to test this SSD (articles impending) and found it performed well in gaming applications -- we even gave one away to one of our regular readers (you're welcome, Hello Operator). Short of waiting out more deals on Intel's 330 SSD (180GB edition) orKingston's 240GB HyperX SSD, Samsung's TLC 250GB model makes for a fairly reliable starter unit.
Well, that's all for this week. There are always more deals out there to find, so until next time.
- Michael "Mikagmann2" Mann