Pre-Black Friday Sales: Heavily Discounted Intel CPUs, GTX 960s for $170, & 4K

Winter is coming – and so is Black Friday, as “Black November” before it. And “Black February” (anyone remember that?). Look, the point is that this holiday – Black Friday, that is, not Thanksgiving – has expanded without hesitance. Current sales include Intel CPUs (like the 4790K), GTX 960 discounts to below $200, an NZXT Phantom, and a Samsung display.

Intel Core i7-4790K ($300): Intel is having an impressive pre-Black Friday sale on CPUs right now, either in an attempt to clear-out Haswell stock or because they want to make me question my judgment for buying a full-price i5 a month ago. This particular i7 has the biggest discount (in dollars) at $80 off, but we all know that the usual price is closer to $340. Still, forty bucks isn't bad. The full list of CPUs affected can be found on this handy Newegg list. Some also come with the "3 free games Intel bundle," which includes Just Cause 3, CS:GO, and World of Warships. Others come with "Free Intel Gift – OEM w/ purchase," which, after some sleuthing, apparently means this $10 pack of playing cards. Uh. Enjoy!

EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB ($170): with the release of AMD's competitively priced R9 380X, many GTX 960s have dropped under $200. EVGA's 2GB 960 is a strong card for the price, and yet again, it comes with the "Heroes of the Storm Kaijo Diablo bundle."

NZXT Phantom 410 ($90): We've reviewed the 530, the 630, and the 820, but never the 410. NZXT's Phantom cases have performed well in each of tear-downs, and the 410 is well loved by the community for its aesthetic. If that fits your needs, it's not a bad price.

Samsung 4K Display ($400): Not many cards can push 4K gaming right now – at least, not at high settings – but that doesn't make 4K displays less desirable. They're good for production, work, and when the GPU config fits, gaming. Samsung's U28E590D is currently priced at nearly half-off, running $400.

Check back shortly for a monitor buyer's guide through Black Friday.

- Patrick Lathan.