This weekend sales round-up lands on the anniversary of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. For those who don't know (and those who don't care but can't force themselves to stop reading), this is the volcano that destroyed Pompeii. Instead of celebrating by trying to set off more volcanic eruptions around the world, I suggest you look into these hot deals -- including a Volcanic Isles GPU -- while they last. We found a CPU cooler at $75, 8GB of low-profile RAM for $73, a 3TB HDD for only $100, and an optical gaming mouse at $30.
HIS iPower IceQ 290X ($485): As long as we're talking about the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, we might as well look at some other destructive volcanic islands... and what better way than looking at the Hawaii architecture of this R9 290X. This high-end, non-reference card features 4GB of VRAM, an interesting cooler design, and has dual BIOS (redundancy) and multiple other features to ensure the longevity of the card. This card will play any current games on high-ultra at 1080p and should remain stable at 1440p. Currently, there is an instant savings of $50, a rebate of $15, and the card comes with an additional $50 promotional gift card and 3 free games you get to choose.
Cooler Master V8 GTS ($75): If you're looking for a CPU cooler that looks like an ancient volcanic god who's pissed, this is a great choice. The V8 GTS boasts 2x140mm fans sandwiched between 3 aluminum radiators for a push-pull setup. The addition of the red LEDs helps to give this large cooler a cutting edge look, though non-LED fans can be installed if preferred. The V8 has an instant savings of $5 and a $20 rebate for a total price of $75.
Curcial Ballistix 1600 8GB ($73): A few months ago, we reported on the increased price of RAM and our expectations that it was going to continue going up. So far, prices have been around $85+, not counting sales, so we have been on the lookout for anything that drops the price a significant amount. This memory is currently on sale for $73. It features the standard 1600MHz frequency with a CAS latency of 9.
Toshiba 3TB HDD ($100): For extra storage without having to pay extra for it, we look to high-capacity HDDs in the 7200RPM range. Toshiba's 3TB option should easily hold most of your content for even the most extreme video streaming / editing tasks. It currently has an instant discount of $40, bringing the final price to only $100.
Pick of the Week
GAMDIAS HADES ($30): This optical mouse features 7 programmable buttons, 6 sets of LED ambient lighting effects, interchangeable side panels for ambidextrous use, and multiple DPI settings for extreme control. It is currently selling for close to 1/3 the normal price at only $30. For a cheap introduction to gaming mice, this is worth looking into. We haven't had the chance to bench this yet, so if you get it, let us know how you like it.
Keep your eyes glued to our Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and YouTube feeds for new articles, great savings, and how-to videos as they happen. Also, join us next weekend for National Trail Mix Day!
(And yes, it is byotm. Leeches).
- Scott "Abibiliboop" Griffin.