Cyber Monday Tech Deals Live: Latest PC Hardware, CPU, GPU … – Tom's Hardware

Screaming-fast 500 Hz Alienware gaming monitor at all-time low pricing

Feel the need for extreme speed? Well, if you have a powerful enough system to push one of the fastest gaming monitors on the planet, the 500 Hz Alienware AW2524H is the monitor for you. Today, it’s priced at a mere $496 at Amazon for Cyber Monday 2023, an all-time low price that’s 39% below its $830 MSRP.

This ultra-fast monitor runs at 480 Hz at stock settings but, when overclocked, runs at 500 Hz on the 25-inch FHD IPS panel. It also sports a 0.03ms response time and supports G-Sync and HDR400. In fact, this monitor is now even $150 cheaper than the more economical cut-down “F” model that Dell released to bring 500 Hz to a lower price point.

Sure, normally, we would recommend the AW252HF if you were looking to score a 500 Hz panel at a lower price point, but the current deal finds the Dell flagship at even lower pricing than its more value-oriented counterpart. Also, you don’t have to accept the AW252HF’s compromises, like the step back to AMD FreeSync Pro instead of G-Sync, the lack of HDR400, and the removal of the AlienFX lighting on the back panel. 

Instead, you can now score the AW2524H for only $496 and get the whole enchilada with no compromises.

Crucial’s tiny X9 Pro and X10 Pro Portable SSDs get big discounts

Crucial has solid Cyber Monday deals on its latest portable, rugged external drives for Cyber Monday 2023, with the X9 Pro and X10 Pro models selling at all-time low prices that span up to a 33% discount. 

If you’re in the market for a dust and waterproof portable SSD, the Crucial X9 Pro might be worth your attention. Coming in 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB capacity options with USB 3.2 Gen 2 speeds via the Type-C connector, this family of drives is on sale for Cyber Monday at $59, $87, and $182, respectively, which is up to 32% off the normal selling price.

These drives are pocket-friendly 65 x 50mm-sized devices with read/ write speeds up to 1,050 MB/s and 256-bit AES hardware encryption, plus the assurance of dust and water resistance. The casing is anodized aluminum with a rubberized soft touch base. Crucial also gives you one month of complimentary access to Adobe Create Cloud and Mylio Photos+ with product purchases made before December 31st, 2024.

Crucial X10 Pro is even faster

If you demand more speed from your portable storage, the Crucial X10 Pro series gives you up to 2,100 MB/s of sequential read/write throughput. These models are a bit pricier than the X9 Pro drives, but you’ll still get a good discount with 1TB for $92, 2TB for $129, and 4TB for $209.

This drive has the USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 interface device, and the 2TB variant sold for $170 at the time of review. While the X9 Pro is a great, nifty little portable device, the X10 takes advantage of the speed of the USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 interface, which can be a time saver, especially when you need to transfer large files.

Whether you choose the X9 Pro or the X10 Pro, Crucial backs its products with a five-year warranty.

 Shed some light on your PC life with this $51 monitor lamp 

Lamps that hang over your monitors have become increasingly popular in recent years, as they’re a good and attractive way to shine some light on your desk, without having to light up the entire room. I bought this very KableRika lamp during Black Friday 2021, and it’s been the perfect companion for these overnight deals-slinging shifts. It gives me some extra, adjustable light for working, without broadcasting to my neighbors that I’m blogging about anti-sag GPU support rods at 4 a.m.

The KableRika is a whole lot cheaper than competing models from the likes of BenQ, and it’s performed flawlessly for me over the past two years. Its mounting system is designed to clamp on the back of a desk. But I have it clamped to the wall mount that holds the OLED TV that I use as my monitor. It gets bright enough that at night, I mostly keep it on the lowest two settings.

— Matt Safford

Minisforum Venus and Neptune Series Mini PCs get big Cyber Monday discounts

Minisforum is well known for making handsome and feature-packed mini PCs that cater to a wide variety of use cases. While the company has multiple deals for Cyber Monday, the best deals are for the Minisforum Venus NPB7 at $616, which is 22% off its original price, and the Neptune HN2673 at $623, which is 26% off the retail price.

Minisforum Venus NPB7 is 22% Off on Cyber Monday 

The NPB7 comes packing a tremendous amount of connectivity for a mini PC. The foundation starts with a 14-core / 20-thread Intel Core i7-13700H CPU with integrated Intel Xe graphics. The system sports 32 GB of DDR5 memory and a 1TB NVMe SSD in an M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0  slot and an additional SATA slot for a 2.5-inch SSD. 

For display outputs, Minisforum provides two HDMI ports supporting 4K @ 60Hz and two USB4 ports supporting up to 8k @ 60Hz. There’s also one audio jack. You also get two 2.5GbE ethernet ports, two USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A, two USB 4, two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type A, and a data-only USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port. The system includes an Intel 802.11 AX WiFI 6E+ BT 5.2 chip for wireless connectivity. 

Minisforum provides an active cooling option for the PCIe 4.0 drive, with a much larger fan for the Intel CPU on the other side of the PCB facing downwards. The compact chassis has aluminum sides, but the top and bottom cover are plastic.

Minisforum Neptune Series HN2673 is 26% Off on Cyber Monday 

The Minisforum Neptune HN2673 uses a last-gen 10-core / 16-thread Core i7-12650H Alder Lake CPU, clocked up to 4.7 GHz. However, this device offers the additional charms of the Intel Arc A730M GPU with 6GB of GDDR5 memory. 

While this mobile discrete card won’t replace your primary gaming setup, it can definitely power some light gaming fun. Intel Arc drivers have improved lately with regular WHQL driver releases and optimized game-specific BETA drivers. This is a very different situation from the state of Intel Arc series driver support when it was launched.

Other specs of note are the system’s two HDMI ports and two USB-C ports that support up to 4K @ 60Hz displays. There is 32 GB DDR4 memory on board and a 1 TB SSD with expansion options via two SATA III ports for 2.5-inch SSD drives. 

The HN2673 looks well-ventilated and has a stand to place it in the upright position. However, for a mini-PC, this is a larger unit due to its powerful quad-fan active cooling. 

Both systems come bundled with Windows 11 Home by default.

Intel’s Overclockable 13th Gen CPUs Are 18% Off, Much Better Value Than 14th Gen

Intel’s overclockable 13th-Gen lineup is up to 18% off, including chips like the Core i5-13600K, 13600KF, i7-13700K, 13700KF, and i9-13900K. Intel’s 13th-Gen chips might not be the new anymore, but they are still very fast and offer performance nearly identical to Intel’s newest 14th-Gen models. 

When they came out a few weeks ago, we noted that the 14th gen “Raptor Lake Refresh” chips were basically the same as their immediate predecessors, but with slightly higher clock speeds and, in the case of the Core i9-14700K, a few more efficiency cores. Now that we’re seeing the 13th gen models on sale, it’s even harder to justify paying more for little-to-no added speed.

The Core i5-13600KF is arguably the best deal of the bunch, being 18% off at just $249.99. In our review of its twin brother, the 13600K, we found its performance to be excellent for a mid-range chip offering gaming performance close to AMD’s Ryzen 5 5800X3D, Intel’s i7-13700K, and even Intel’s latest i5-14600K at a much lower price.

Alternatively, if you need a CPU with integrated graphics, Intel’s Core i5-13600K is also 18% off, priced at $270.

For those looking for a bit more multi-core grunt, Intel’s Core i7-13700K is also 18% off ($345). In our review of the 13700K, we found it excels as both a gaming and content-creation chip, offering gaming performance similar to its Core i9 counterpart. 

The 13700K is actually a more attractive buy for gaming than its 14th-Gen counterpart — we found in our Core i7-14700K review that the 13700K offers nearly identical gaming performance to the i7-14700K, but at a much lower price point. If you don’t need integrated graphics, Intel offers its Core i7-13700KF for $10 less ($335).

If you’re after a higher-end CPU, Intel’s i9-13900KF is on sale for a 16% discount (now just $501). In testing with its twin brother, the 13900K, we found its performance to be basically identical to the much more expensive i9-14900K, both in gaming and content creation tasks. 

This is because both chips feature the same core configuration, with the only difference being a minute 200MHz higher turbo clock for the 14th-Gen parts. If you really need integrated graphics, Intel’s Core i9-13900K is also on sale but is only discounted by 13% for $546. But, if you’re spending $500+ on the CPU, chances are that you also have a discrete GPU. 

Overall, Intel’s 14th-Gen chips might look cool with their shiny new model names, but they don’t really perform any better than their 13th-Gen predecessors (with the exception of the 14700K and its four extra E-cores). As a result, if you are looking for a CPU upgrade or a new CPU for your shiny new gaming/productivity machine, Intel’s 13th-Gen K-series CPUs are the better choice, offering killer bang-for-buck performance this holiday season.

— Aaron Klotz

AMD’s potent 12-core Ryzen 9 5900X CPU Falls to $289, an All-Time Low

AMD’s Ryzen 9 5900X might be a last-gen chip, but its 12 cores and 24 threads still deliver potent performance in a range of workloads, particularly in productivity applications, and its 50% discount for Cyber Monday makes it even more appealing, bringing this powerful chip down to a mere $289.

The Ryzen 9 5900X is a great upgrade for an AM4 system, providing a huge jump over many of the prior-gen Ryzen 1000, 2000, and 3000 models. You can drop this chip in any AM4 motherboard, even those stretching back to 2017, that has a newer BIOS that will support the chip. You’ll want to make sure that the board has the requisite power delivery for this class of chip, though.

Sure, the Ryzen 9 5900X isn’t as fast in gaming as the Ryzen 7 5800X3D model, but it has four more cores for the same price as the X3D model and offers a more balanced profile — the X3D chips offer elite-class gaming performance but suffer from lower performance in productivity work.

— Paul Alcorn

This Cyber Monday Gaming Laptop Has Long Battery Life, a New Low Price

When I reviewed the HP Victus 16 earlier this year, I raved about the gaming laptop’s design, its excellent battery life, and its bright display. The biggest downer with the laptop was its price, which was hundreds more than similarly-performing competitors. Well, that big flaw has now been rectified for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The same Victus 16 configuration we reviewed at $1,449 is now just $979 direct from HP. 

The Victus 16, as its name implies, features a 16-inch IPS display with a Full HD resolution (1920 x 1080) 144Hz panel. An Intel Core i7-13700H processor powers the laptop, while a discrete GeForce RTX 4050 GPU with 6GB of RAM handles gaming duties. You’ll find 16GB of DDR5-5600 memory (two 8GB sticks) and a 1TB SSD.

You’ll find a mix of USB-A and USB-C ports for connectivity along with GbE. Wireless connectivity is handled by Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 radios. And in an excellent addition for a laptop at this price point, HP configures the Victus 16 with a 1080p webcam and a physical privacy shutter.

But perhaps the biggest surprise with the Victus 16 was its 83 WHr battery, which was a real endurance champion in our tests. The Victus 16 lasted for just over seven hours in our battery test. The next closest competitor was the Acer Nitro 5, which gave up the ghost after five and a half hours. 

I concluded my review by writing that the Victus 16, “is right in line regarding gaming performance relative to the competition. It has a bright display, good build quality and a business-like exterior. In addition, its battery life blows away the competition at just over seven hours. If you can find the laptop on sale, it’s worth considering for those seeking a budget 1080p gaming rig.”

With a new low price of $979, we can honestly say that now is the time to buy this stellar budget gaming laptop. 

–Brandon Hill

Give your graphics card the support it desperately needs, for less than $5 

Your high-end, heavy graphics card does a lot for you: delivering triple-digit frame rates so you can stomp your opponents in Counter-Strike 2; rendering Cyberpunk 2077 in all its glorious path-traced glory; maybe it even made you some money during the heyday of cryptomining. But now it needs a little support from you (and Joyjom). And that support can cost as little as $4.79. 

Sure, you could spend $30 or more and get something with pretty RGB and glass, like Cooler Master’s ARGB GPU Support Bracket. But for less than $5, you can give your graphics-rendering friend all the help it needs to stay perfectly horizontal (while also taking the stress off your precious x16 slot). 

I ordered one to support my elderly GTX 1080 Ti – won’t you? If this isn’t worth a bit less than you probably spent on your coffee yesterday, you don’t deserve to call yourself a PC enthusiast. 

— Matt Safford