Best Prime Day October 2024 Deals You Can Still Get
The deal holiday is officially over but savings continue on Amazon and its competitors.
The best flash drive we've tested drops to its lowest price ever
If you've been using the same flash drive for the last decade and are looking for something a lot faster and roomier, now's an excellent time to upgrade to SSD speeds. Our favorite "flash drive," the SK Hynix Tube T31, is down to its lowest-ever price of $61 for October Prime Day.
While it's shaped like a somewhat bulky flash drive, the Tube T31 actually houses an M.2 SSD inside its plastic shell, connected to its USB Type-A port via a small PCB. The result is one of the fastest stick-type storage drives you can buy, delivering chart-topping performance in our benchmark testing.
As a 10Gbps drive, the Tube T31 isn't the fastest external storage option available, but 20Gbps USB ports are still quite rare, and the SK hynix drive is able to read and write at more than 1000 MB/s, which is going to blow away any flash drive you've been carrying around in your pocket or bag for the last few years.
As we noted in our review of the SK hynix Tube T31, the drive is the fastest external storage option available without having to fuss with a cable, and sports a simple, solid-feeling plastic shell. The primary downsides are that the company doesn't make a roomier 2TB model and that it's a little bulky, so it may block nearby ports.
If you're ready to ditch your old flash drive for a device that delivers true SSD speeds and a roomy 1TB capacity, the SK hynix Tube T31 is one of the best drives you can buy. And at its new low price for October Prime Day, now is the best time to pick one up.
Save 41% on this 49-inch curved Samsung G9 Series OLED gaming monitor, now $949 at Amazon
It’s clearly not a “budget” monitor, but if you have the cash and the desk space for this monster 49-inch gaming monitor, then this is a great deal. We’ve reviewed a model in this range, and it earned a Tom’s Hardware Editor’s Choice Award. We found the image quality to be stunning, with deep contrast and saturated colors. There was no need for calibration and it had great audio from the integrated speakers. The build also felt premium, which is to be expected for the original list price of $1,600.
Offering an expansive 49-inch, 32:9 display running at a Dual QHD ultra wide (5120 x 1440 pixels) resolution, this OLED display with 240 Hz refresh rate and 0.03Ms (GTG) response time is ideal for gaming. Being an OLED, you get deep, rich colors and the display offers HDR true Black 400 for deep blacks and dark color reproduction without light bleed.
There are two micro HDMI 2.1 connections, DisplayPort, and a USB hub for the many USB devices that we own. The display can also be used with multiple devices via a picture-in-picture and picture-by-picture sub-screen feature for connecting your desktop and laptop to a single screen. With picture-in-picture, the second display appears like a pop up in the main window. With picture-by-picture, the expansive display is split into two sections, enabling two people to work from one display.
This is a gorgeous premium gaming monitor for those lucky few who are not on a budget and have a desk large enough to accommodate.
The HOTO Electric Screwdriver, yes, that one, is back on sale with 33% off the list price at Amazon
Another Prime Day rolls around, and the HOTO electric screwdriver is once again hitting the deal headlines. Let's cut to the chase. This is a great screwdriver. I own one and so does Managing Editor Matt Safford. It feels great in the hand, takes standard bits available from every hardware store, and it has enough power to drive a screw deep into wood. So IKEA furniture and PC cases are no match for its power!
The outer casing is rubberized plastic, so it won’t slip from your hand. The bits are held in magnetically, and there are 12 included in the kit. There are three torque options, with the highest offering 4NM, enough to drive a screw into hardwood. Torque selection is made by twisting a dial and the end of the screwdriver.
The motor turns the bit at a maximum of 220 RPM and the 1500 mah battery is good for around 1,000 screws. I’ve had mine for a year and charged it once, despite using it to drive screws into IKEA furniture and to rebuild part of my 3D printer.
There is a reason that we cover this gadget every single Amazon Prime day. It is a damn good screwdriver and for PC building – you won’t find a better option for less than $40.
Les Pounder
Crucial's Excellent X10 Pro 2TB External SSD is down to its lowest price since January
One of the best external SSDs we've tested, Crucial's X10 Pro has dropped to just $146 for the 2TB capacity at Amazon for October's Prime Day event. That's the lowest price it's been at Amazon since early January on the best 20Gbps SSD we've tested to date. And performance aside, this is one of the smaller, slimmer, and more rugged-feeling drives, with its black metal shell.
Of course, be sure your system supports 20Gbps (USB 3.2 Gen2 2x2) speeds if you want to get the most from this drive, as many USB-C ports do not. But if you have the requisite connection, the X10 Pro is one of the fastest drives, especially when it comes to sustained write speeds.
While other drives can meet or slightly beat the X10 Pro in bursty performance, as you can see from the sustained write test chart above, the X10 Pro is able to maintain its peak write range for over 10 minutes, while most other 20Gbps drives we've tested slow down after just a few minutes or less.
Not everyone needs the kind of professional performance that the X10 Pro delivers. But for those who do, there is no better drive in this 20Gbps class – and at the moment, this drive is more affordable than it's been in nearly a year.
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X drops to $214 on Newegg (All-Time Low)
It may be a couple of generations old, but the AM4 based Ryzen 9 5900X is still a great CPU for those of us using AM4 motherboards. The 5900X has 12-cores, 24-threads, a base frequency of 3.7 GHz and boost to 4.8 GHz with a TDP of 105W.
Ideal for multitasking, the chip is now just $214 on Newegg (after you apply the promo code FTT353), matching its all-time low price. This chip makes a great drop-in upgrade for anyone who already has another AM4 CPU (Ryzen 1000, 2000, 3000 or 5000 series CPU) and the latest BIOS for their motherboard. It also is a great choice for building an affordable PC for work or play.
In our review, we noted that the 5900X can hold its own against the more powerful and expensive 5950X.
“But the Ryzen 9 5950X is just the tip of the Zen 3 spear. We also have the more amenable $549 Ryzen 9 5900X that comes with 12 cores and 24 threads. Aside from its bruising performance in applications, it’s even faster than the 5950X in gaming, even beating out Intel's overclocked flagships at 1080p, too.”
If you need more cores for your work, then the 5900X is a better choice than the 5800X3D which is better suited to gaming than productivity. In our comparison between the AMD Ryzen 9 5900X and Intel’s 11900K, we found that “The Ryzen 9 5900X ultimately wins on the strength of its better blend of gaming and application performance, not to mention that it comes with much lower power consumption that ultimately results in a cooler and quieter system.”
Note that the prices in the chart above are launch prices so all of the chips mentioned are cheaper right now. Perhaps the most important cost savings here is on the motherboard and RAM. If you don't already have a motherboard with an AM4 socket, you can get one for as little as $74 and 32GB of compatible DDR4 RAM will run you around $50.
-- Les Pounder
RTX What? 3-Fan AMD XFX RX 7800 XT drops to just $427, 18% off at Amazon
Sure, Nvidia has the vast majority of the dedicated GPU market, as well as an edge in ray tracing performance. But the Radeon RX is still a viable alternative to mid-range cards like the RTX 4070. And that's especially true for the XFX Speedster Qick319 RX 7800 XT Core model that's currently on sale at Amazon for just $427. That's $23 cheaper than the same card at Newegg, and currently less than any RTX 7800 XT we can find on sale anywhere.
Our GPU Benchmark hierarchy has the 7800 XT solidly ahead of the RTX 4070, which is selling for around $500 on sale right now, and beating the once-mighty RTX 3090 at resolutions lower than 4K.
You may be reluctant to buy a graphics card right now with the rumors surrounding the RTX 5090 and 5080, which may arrive at CES early next year. But those cards are easily going to cost more than twice that of this RTX 7800 XT. So if you're after a capable graphics card for high frame rates at sub-4K resolutions and want to spend considerably less than $500, this XFX 7800 XT is one of the best deals we've seen this shopping season.
Dell S3222DGM, Our Favorite Gaming Monitor, is $249
The Dell S3222DGM is the top choice on our list of best gaming monitors and has been there for over a year, because it's just such a great balance or price, build quality and performance. It has an epic contrast ratio of 3718:1, sharp 2560 x 1440 resolution and smooth 165 Hz refresh rate.
Normally, it goes for $329, but for Prime Day October, you can get the S3222DGM for just $249 at Best Buy or Dell, an $80 savings and just a little bit more than its all time low of $229, which it reached this past July.
When we reviewed the Dell S3222DGM in 2022, we were really impressed with its combination of vibrant images and tear-free gaming. "There is nothing better than a high-contrast VA panel, and the Dell S3222DGM is one of the best I’ve seen," Contributing Editor Christian Eberle wrote. "It strikes a rare balance between gaming performance and image quality."
According to our colorimeter, the Dell S3222DGM reproduces 122.6 percent of the sRGB gamut and 85.9 percent of the DCI-P3 gamut.
The Dell S3222DGM also has excellent screen uniformity, lacking noticeable glow and bleed.
For more savings, check out our Best October Prime Day Monitor deals page.
— Avram Piltch
Crucial's Steam Deck-friendly 2TB P310 2230 SSD drops to a new low price of $176
If your Steam Deck or other gaming handheld doesn't have enough storage space for all the games you're playing and you're down for upgrading your drive, one of the best SSDs for the Steam Deck is on sale for a new low price. Crucial's short P310 2TB drive is down $29 from its previous low price, and now just $176.
This is a tiny 2230-length drive, which you'll need for the Steam Deck and some similar gaming handhelds (as well as a few laptops), as opposed to the far more common (and far longer) 2280 SSDs. The size constraints mean that 2TB drives are currently the most spacious option available and there aren't many options that are even that spacious, apart from Crucial's SSD.
When we tested the Crucial P310, we touted it as a strong performer overall. And it did particularly well in our 50GB file transfer, where it surpassed 2GB/second. It was also one of the most efficient 2230 drives we've tested – an important factor when you're trying to get as many gaming minutes as possible out of your handheld.
The PCIe 4.0 drive uses Phison's new-sh E27T controller and Micron's 232-layer QLC flash. Crucial rates the P310 to 7,100 MB/s reads and 6,000 MB/s writes, and the drive comes with a solid five-year warranty.
Add the Fnirsi HS-01 soldering iron to your maker EDC for less!
Hands down, the Fnirsi HS-01 is a great soldering iron for the money, and I can say that because I bought one! It heats up fast, easy to control and comfortable to hold. This kit offers a great soldering iron, a selection of tips, power supply and stand.
The selection of tips provided in the kit provide us with general purpose tips for most jobs, some precision tips for surface mount components and larger tips for those heavy solder joints. I personally own this soldering iron, paid for with my own money. It has been a solid performer and never let me down. I’ve soldered hundreds of solder joints and it has performed well on both small and large joints.
The Fnirsi HS-01 makes short work of getting up to temp. From my review “Connecting the USB-C power supply to the soldering iron, the OLED screen sprang to life. We connected the tip, screwed down the collet and started to heat up the tip to 350°C. To get to a working temperature it took a measly nine seconds. Shaving one second off the Pinecil v2’s ten seconds. Sure a second isn’t a lot, but we do love a speedy startup.”
This is the ideal traveling soldering iron. The Fnirsi HS-01 has an aluminum cap which keeps the tip away from fingers, just don’t put it on right after soldering as it does get hot. All you need is a USB C PD power supply, supplied in the kit, and you can get soldering. If you have a compatible USB C PD power bank, then you can take the soldering iron on the road.
The Fnirsi HS-01 is a fantastic soldering iron for beginners and working makers. It just works and provides a consistent soldering experience.
This $16 gadget saved my weekend PC build. Every PC builder should have one.
This past weekend, I was working on a PC build with my son and, as always happens at the worst possible time, I dropped a screw into the case. It was a black screw in a black case and, even with overhead lights on in the room, It was difficult to find. Fortunately, I borrowed my wife's EastPin neck light, which she uses for knitting, and it helped me locate and pull out the screw.
For the remainder of the build, I wore the neck light, which is bendable and has two LED lights on it, one that casts a wide field of view and another that has a shallower beam. The lights also can change color to white or yellowish light. There are many neck lights on Amazon, but the one I tried and can vouch for is the EastPin Neck Light, which is now on sale for $16, reduced from $19.
If you build PCs at all, you need one of these neck lights. Forget the fact that it's marketed as a reading or knitting light. It's unbelievably helpful for seeing tiny screw holes or pin headers inside of a PC case while you're working on a build or an upgrade.
For example, the case I was working with -- a DeepCool Morpheus -- has a little screen built-in that shows the current CPU and GPU temperature. To connect that screen to the motherboard, I had to attach its internal USB cable to the motherboard's USB 2.0 header. The only way I could see those tiny pins was with the help of the wide light.
The EastPin neck light has a 2,000 mAh battery built-in and charges via its microUSB port. In my experience, it lasts for hours without needing more juice. Before using this neck light, I'd have to hold a flash light with one hand while tightening screws or connecting cables with another. This truly is a game-changer.
Get long, 240W USB Type-C cables on the cheap
You surely have a bunch of USB Type-C devices in your life. Your laptop, phone, external batteries, handheld gaming systems, and wireless chargers likely all use it. Heck, my baby monitor uses USB-C. So it's always good to have a few extra cables and in my eyes, the longer the better. Over at Amazon, Anker's 240W cables are on sale in both 10-foot and 6-foot lengths.
The cables are braided and sturdy. I own a two-pack of the 6-foot cables, and they've shown no signs of wear despite my messiest attempts to roll them up and jam them into backpacks.
At 240W, this is enough to power most laptops, as well as tablets, phones, and just about anything else with a USB-C port. But these aren't ideal for large data transfers, as Anker only offers USB 2.0 speeds.
The 6-foot cables come as single cables or in two-packs. Getting the second cable only costs you $2 during the sale, so it makes sense to get the pack. Unfortunately, there't no bundle deal for the longer 10-foot option.
— Andrew E. Freedman
Samsung’s Odyssey G9 falls to its lowest price ever at $759.99
If you’ve been waiting for a large-format, ultrawide gaming monitor, now’s the perfect time to score a deal at Amazon during Prime Day. They’re currently offering a sale on the 49-inch Samsung Odyssey G9. It usually sells for around $1,299, but today it's marked down to $759. That’s $50 less than the previous low on this monitor.
The Samsung Odyssey G9 boasts a 49-inch VA panel with a DQHD resolution of 5120 x 1440. It has a subtle curve throughout, graded at 1000R, providing an immersive viewing experience. Additionally, it can reach a maximum refresh rate of 240Hz and has a remarkably low response time of just 1ms.
To ensure smooth performance, the Odyssey G9 is certified with AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, but is also Nvidia G-Sync compatible. It offers a range of input options, including two HDMI ports and one DisplayPort input. Two USB 3.0 ports are also conveniently available for connecting external peripherals.
For more savings, check out our Best October Prime Day Monitor deals page.
Grab a Windows 11 Pro key for $11. Don't let MS rip you off.
The regular retail cost of a Microsoft Windows key is, perhaps, the biggest ripoff in all of tech. If you're building a PC from scratch, you need a Windows product key to install the popular desktop OS. Sure, you could go with Linux, but not every game runs under Linux nor do some professional apps many people require.
Microsoft would like you to buy a Windows 11 key at retail where it charges a whipping $139 for Windows 11 Home and $199 for Windows 11 Pro! I promise you that's not what Dell, Lenovo and HP are paying to install Windows on a laptop at the factory, but since you're a lone PC builder, the world's wealthiest software company would like to bilk you out of money you could be using to buy a power supply or an SSD.
As I've outlined in my story on how to get Windows 11 for free or cheap, you have some options to avoid paying a hefty Windows tax. One choice is to not activate Windows at all and deal with annoying watermarks on your screen and losing some customization options. A better choice is to buy an inexpensive product key from a marketplace.
I have good news. Today, you can get a Windows 11 Pro key from Groupon for just $11.34 . You can get a Windows 11 Home key for the same price, but why would you buy Home if you can get Pro?
You might be wondering: is this deal legit? Will Groupon seller Microtechkey take my money and send me back a non-working key?
I personally bought a Windows 11 Pro key using this store and seller just a few weeks ago and it worked. After I paid Groupon, I received a redemption code. I then had to submit that code via an online form to Microtechkey. A couple of hours later, I got an email with a Windows 11 Pro key which I used during installation. Everything worked flawlessly.
This key is normally available for less than $15, but today's $11.34 price is the lowest I've seen it for. If you're building a new PC or just want to upgrade from Windows 11 Home to Pro, this is a great deal. Keep in mind that this is an OEM key so you can only use it on one PC and can't transfer it to a different computer after you've used it.
Put 1.5TB of storage in your pocket with this microSD card's all-time low price
Whether you're carrying a phone, a camera, or one of the best PC gaming handhelds it's always useful to have more storage space. At Amazon, there's a Prime Exclusive deal that brings a SanDisk Ultra 1.5TB card down to $89.29, its lowest-ever price. It has a list price of $149.99, though is often on sale.
SanDisk is promising up to 150 MB/s read speeds, as well as A1 performance with 1,500 read IOPS and 500 write IOPS.
If you're downloading big games on your Steam Deck, Asus ROG Ally, or other gaming handheld, this should let you go longer without uninstalling a favorite.
— Andrew E. Freedman
My favorite keyboard, the Cooler Master MK770, drops to $92
As I type this, my fingers are hitting the keys on my favorite keyboard of all-time, the Cooler Master MK770. I absolutely love the feel on this thing; it's my daily driver at home and, if I had a second one, it would be my daily driver at work too. Normally, this keyboard goes for a very-reasonable $114, but right now, by clicking a coupon code, you can get it for $99 in pastel colors or $92 in gray.
The MK770 is a wireless keyboard that comes with all the trimmings we've come to expect, including the ability to connect to up to three different Bluetooth-enabled devices, a 2.4-GHz dongle for a fourth wireless connection and the ability to use the keyboard wired. But honestly, I use mine wired because it's all about the typing experience.
This keyboard comes with Kailh Box White V2 switches, the best clicky switches on the market, even better than -- dare I say it -- IBM's vaunted Lexmark Buckling Spring switches. These things have just the right amount of resistance, make a perfect clicking noise and they have 3.6mm of travel with a 1.8mm actuation point, which is just a little less than the typical 4mm / 2mm that most mechanical keyboards have.
The switches are mounted on a gasket mount, which means that you're pressing against a surface that has a little bit of a bouncy feeling, but does not at all feel mushy. With this thing, I can easily get to 110 wpm but, better still, I just feel like I'm at one with my computer when I'm using it because this thing feels like an extension of my fingers.
The keyboard is also hot-swappable so you can try different switches. But, if you like clicky switches, it's hard to beat these.
I also love the 96-percent layout. It is tight and maximizes desk space but still gives me a number pad, arrow keys, special keys like Pg Up / Pg Dn and a volume dial. If you don't like number pads, you can do what I do and remap your numpad into media controls or something else.
My SKU is in pastel colors, but you can also get it in gray and that model is actually about $7 cheaper too. Either way, this is a great keyboard for typists.
Portable 15.6-inch 1080p IPS monitor falls to lowest price ever at $59.98
Amazon’s second Prime Day extravaganza for 2024 is underway, and we have a great deal here for folks looking to boost mobile productivity with a portable monitor. The deal today is on the Arzopa S1 Table, which has an MSRP of $129.99 but is currently on sale for just $59.98. This is an excellent price for any portable monitor, let alone one with a relatively large 15.6-inch panel.
While we haven’t yet reviewed the S1 Table, we did review Arzopa’s 15.6-inch G1 144Hz gaming monitor, and were impressed with its overall quality and features for less than $150. The S1 Table has a more pedestrian refresh rate of 60Hz and replaces the premium aluminum chassis with plastic. However, those are fair compromises to reach sub-$60 pricing.
Despite the bargain basement price, the S1 Table offers some nice added touches, like integrated speakers and an included smart cover that doubles as a stand.
The S1 Table weighs just 1.7 pounds and is 0.3 inches thin, allowing it to easily slip into a laptop bag. Included in the box are a USB-C to USB-C cable, a mini-HDMI to HDMI cable, and the smart cover. This low pricing for the Arzopa S1 Table is currently listed as an Amazon Lightning Deal, you had better strike fast!
For more savings, check out our Best October Prime Day Monitor deals page.
RTX 4060 gaming laptop falls to $879.99
Decent gaming laptops below $1,000 have been getting less common, but on Prime Day, there are a handful lying about. The Acer Nitro V 16 with an AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU is $879.99 specifically for Prime members. The price appears to be an all-time low on Amazon.
In addition to the CPU and GPU, you get 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, Wi-Fi 6E support, and a 165 Hz, 1920 x 1200 display.
There's a USB Type-C 4 port on the rear, along with an HDMI 2.1 output. Both sides of the laptops boast a single USB-A 3.2 port. There's also a headphone jack and Ethernet for wired gameplay.
Despite the price, this isn't that old a laptop. It's got a last-gen AMD CPU, and it's new enough to feature a dedicated Copilot key on the keyboard to use Microsoft's AI assistant.
The top graphics card deals we've seen so far
Quite a few graphics cards are discounted for October Prime Day 2024, mostly from AMD though there are at least one Intel and one Nvidia GPU worth considering. For AMD, nearly every 7000-series GPU is at or very close to an all-time lowest price. We already mentioned the RX 7800 XT earlier, but here are our top three picks from AMD, Intel, and Nvidia.
These three GPUs offer different levels of performance and features. The fastest, in general, will be the RX 7700 XT. It beats the 4060 Ti 16GB by up to 20% on average at 1440p and 4K in our testing, at least in rasterization games — Nvidia still has the lead in ray tracing performance.
Nvidia also has better AI support overall, and DLSS remains the most widely used and best image quality upscaling solution. If you value those things, the extra $70 for the 4060 Ti 16GB makes sense. It's a relatively steep price hike over the 8GB variant, but we've seen an increasing number of games where 8GB just isn't sufficient these days. 16GB means you won't have to worry about VRAM for a while.
As for Intel, the Arc A750 lands between the RTX 3060 12GB and RTX 3050 8GB in performance, or between the RX 6600 and RX 7600 from AMD. Currently sitting at $180, it's as close as we get these days to a true budget GPU that doesn't completely choke when running more demanding games.
HyperX's Cloud III gaming headset is under $70
You can't really go wrong with HyperX's Cloud III gaming headset, especially not when it's on sale for $69.95 at Amazon (was $99.99). The Cloud III is the company's most recent gaming headset, and it was already a great buy at full price. It's a lightweight, wired, over-ear headset with a steel headband, aluminum forks, and plush, leatherette-covered earpads. It's one of the most comfortable gaming headsets I've ever worn (it definitely earns that "Cloud" moniker — you won't even remember you're wearing a headset), yet it's impressively sturdy and well-built — it certainly doesn't feel anywhere near as budget-friendly as it is.
The Cloud III has a four-foot (1.2m) non-detachable analog cable with a 4-pole 3.5mm headset jack, and it comes with a 4.27-foot (1.3m) USB-C dongle cable that plugs into your PC. So even though it's wired, it comes with plenty of cable (that shortens into a manageable length for when you're not tethered to your PC). It features the same 53mm dynamic drivers as the Cloud II, but they've been re-engineered and angled for a better audio experience. The drivers have a frequency response range of 10 - 21,000 Hz, which is slightly wider than most gaming headsets, and have a decently balanced sound profile with powerful lows (but slightly inconsistent highs).
Read my full review of the HyperX Cloud III here.
— Sarah
A gasket mount mechanical keyboard for $25
Our favorite ultra-budget-friendly Keychron keyboard, the Keychron C3 Pro, is yet again on sale at its all-time lowest price of $24.78 at Amazon (was $36.99)! This wired mechanical keyboard features a convenient TKL layout with a gasket mount design, case-dampening foam, and your choice of either red (linear) or brown (tactile) switches. And yes, it does go on sale basically every other week, but just under $25 is the lowest it ever dips — so this is a good time to grab it.
The C3 Pro has a plastic case with shine-through double-shot ABS keycaps in black with red accents and features bright red backlighting with 14 different lighting effects. It connects to your PC via USB (it comes with a detachable USB-C cable), and while it's not necessarily made for gaming, it does feature a solid 1,000 Hz polling rate and NKRO — so you can definitely use it for gaming.
The $25 C3 Pro isn't hot-swappable, but Keychron does sell a hot-swappable version, which is currently $37.59 on Amazon (was $46.99).
— Sarah
Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro is the cheapest it's ever been
This isn't the first time we've seen the Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro for $120, but $120 is the lowest price we've seen it at — and that's how much it is right now, over at Amazon (was $149). The DeathAdder V3 Pro is one of the best mice we've ever used: it's a lightweight, ergonomic dream of a mouse that's perfect for first-person shooters and competitive gaming.
The DeathAdder V3 Pro might look like your standard five-button gaming mouse with a slightly contoured, ergonomic design, but it's not. This lightweight (64g) gaming mouse is so incredibly comfortable that it feels like a natural extension of your hand — despite being on the larger side, as far as mice go. This wireless mouse connects via 2.4GHz wireless (or wired via USB-C) and features Razer's Focus Pro 30K optical sensor (30,000 DPI, 750 IPS, 70 G's) and Razer's Gen-3 optical switches. It's configurable via Razer Synapse 3, but it doesn't have any of the unnecessary, battery-wasting extras such as Bluetooth connectivity or RGB lighting (it gets about 90 hours of battery life, by the way).
Read my full review of the DeathAdder V3 Pro here.
— Sarah
This open-back Turtle Beach gaming headset feels like air (but sounds better)
There aren't too many open-back gaming headsets, let alone wireless open-back gaming headsets — in fact, Turtle Beach claims the Atlas Air is the first wireless open-back gaming headset on the market. This ultra-lightweight gaming headset lives up to its name, in that it feels like... practically nothing. It has a flexible plastic frame with a mesh suspension headband and "floating" earcups for an overall airy feel, and an open-back design that allows sound to seep in (and out) for a wide, airy soundstage.
The Atlas Air is currently on sale for $159 at Amazon (was $179), which isn't the biggest discount around but is pretty good considering this headset is less than 6 months old.
The Atlas Air is wireless, with both 2.4GHz wireless and Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity (not simultaneous, but quick-switch), as well as wired (analog) connectivity. The headset features 40mm "high-precision" dynamic drivers that support 24-bit / 96 kHz audio (in PC mode) and have a frequency response rate of 20 - 40,000 Hz. It's a great-sounding headset, for both music and gaming — though the open-back design means that you won't get the same kind of pin-point audio accuracy in games with audio cues like footsteps or gunshots as you will in a closed-back headset with solid virtual surround sound.
A note: the Atlas Air also has a detachable boom mic that implements Turtle Beach's flip-to-mute functionality — and while I love the idea, here, the implementation is a little clunky, at best.
Read my full review of the Turtle Beach Atlas Air here.
— Sarah
Whoa! Our Favorite Gaming Monitor Drops to $199, a New All-Time Low
Stop the presses! Reset the servers! Our favorite gaming monitor, the Dell S3222DGM, has now fallen to its lowest price of all-time by a full $30! This 32-inch, curved display has long occupied the top slot on our list of the best gaming monitors because, even at its regular price of $329, it provides the best balance of performance, image quality and value.
But now that the S3222DGM is just $199 at Dell.com, it's a steal.
We've talked about this at length elsewhere. However, the key facts are that this monitor's imagery is bright, colorful and smooth. Just check out this 3,718:1 contrast ratio which is way better than the 1000:1 or so you get on most panels which are IPS rather than VA.
The monitor is also really colorful, reproducing 85 percent of the DCI-P3 color gamut and 122 percent of the sRGB gamut.
The monitor also offers a wonderful, tear-free gaming experience. Overall, this is a hard deal to beat.
The perfect plug-and-play gaming mic for under $50
Gaming headsets have decent microphones, but if you really want to impress your friends, colleagues, and streaming audience, you're going to need a standalone USB gaming mic.
Logitech's Yeti Orb is the company's impressive successor to the iconic Blue Snowball mic — it has the same round ball shape as its predecessor (but a bit more streamlined and simple), and it's a great intro mic for someone who's not quite ready to drop $100+ on a standalone mic. The Yeti Orb normally retails for the budget-friendly price of $60, but it's currently 26% off at Amazon — or just $44.65 (was $59.99).
The Yeti Orb is a condenser mic with a single-direction (cardioid) polar pattern, best for recording one person. It records audio at 24-bit / 48 kHz and has a frequency response range of 70 - 20,000 Hz, which is wider than the Blue Snowball Ice but not quite as wide as you'll find on most gaming mics. Still, it performs impressively well for its price range, especially as a plug-and-play mic — the Yeti Orb made my voice sound full, warm, and inviting without any software adjustments.
The Yeti Orb has a simple design, with two quarter-inch 20 threaded mounting points that you can attach to a standard boom arm or to the included desktop tripod stand. It has no on-mic controls, just a USB-C connection port, but it comes with Logitech's Blue Vo!ce software that lets you adjust the mic's gain, EQ, and noise cancellation (and has a handful of vocal presets to get you started). The mic also has RGB lighting that's configured to change color so you know the mic's recording status, and can be synced with the rest of your Logitech devices if you're going for a cohesive theme.
You can read my full review of the Yeti Orb here.
— Sarah
SteelSeries' Arena 9 5.1 surround sound gaming speaker system is under $400
Get true surround sound with SteelSeries' Arena 9 5.1 surround sound gaming speakers, which is currently at its lowest price ever: $395 at Amazon (was $549). The system comes with a large, 6.5-inch down-firing subwoofer and five satellites — center, front left/right, and rear left/right. The rear satellites are wired to each other but connect to the system via Bluetooth. It also features a handy weighted desktop control pod that lets you control volume, switch inputs, and adjust EQ.
The Arena 9 is an excellent choice for those who will take advantage of the surround sound — either via movies and shows or immersive games, but it also features 5.1 upmix for when you just want to have sound playing from every satellite. It's a powerful system that delivers impressive audio quality, and it benefits from SteelSeries' Sonar app, which offers detailed audio tweaking via its 10-band parametric EQ.
The system is designed for PCs with USB-C input, but it also has several other input options: Bluetooth, optical-in, optical passthrough, and 3.5mm analog. The Arena 9's two front satellites also have RGB lighting — diffused, rear-facing mood lighting, as well as a strip around the base.
The Arena 9 is a great upgrade from your dual-channel or 2.1 system, but it does take up a decent amount of space.
Read my more in-depth review of the Arena 9 here.
— Sarah
Asus TUF Gaming A16 laptop now only $699
We might be smack-dab in the middle of Amazon Prime Day, but that doesn’t mean that other retailers aren’t also jumping in on the sales action. Best Buy is currently offering a pretty compelling discount on the Asus TUF Gaming A16 laptop, dropping it to one of its lowest prices to date. It usually goes for around $1,099 but right now it is available for just $699. That price gets you a large 16-inch IPS panel and an AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS processor. a big, 16-inch screen and is powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS processor.
While most budget gaming laptops give you a 1920 x 1080 panel, you get a little bit more vertical resolution here with a 1920 x 1200 panel (16:10 aspect ratio). You’ll also be pleased to know that the refresh rate tops out at 165 Hz, rather than the 144 Hz (or lower) that we often see at this price point. The display is paired with a discrete AMD Radeon RX 7700S GPU for graphics, which uses a Navi 33 XT GPU and 8GB of GDDR6 memory.
The AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS processor teams up with 16GB of DDR5-4800 memory, while storage duties are handled by a 512GB PCIe SSD. The port allotment is pretty robust, with an HDMI 2.0 port, two USB Type-A ports, and two USB Type-C ports. A 3.5mm audio jack is included for external audio devices alongside both a web camera and microphone. You won’t find the latest wireless standard at this price point; instead you’ll have to settle for Wi-Fi 6 (rather than Wi-Fi 7 or even Wi-Fi 6E).
Overall, this is a solid price for an entry-level gaming laptop, but also be sure to check out but if you want to see what else is on the market, we recommend checking out our list of the best October Prime Day PC and laptop deals.
Asus' ROG Strix Scope II 96 wireless gaming keyboard is now $142
Asus' ROG Strix Scope II 96 Wireless is one of my favorite gaming keyboards, because it has everything: a fantastic typing experience, a hot-swappable PCB, a compact-yet-nearly-full-size layout, and excellent battery life. It's cheaper than Asus' fancy ROG Azoth and feels and sounds nearly as good, and now it's even cheaper than it normally is — $142.49 at Amazon with Asus' ROG NX Snow ("refined linear") switches (was $179.99).
The ROG Strix Scope II 96 Wireless has a 96-percent layout — which is a layout we don't often see in gaming keyboards (or, well, any keyboards), but is perfect for anyone who's looking for something relatively compact but who can't bear to part with the 10-key numberpad. The 96-percent layout is basically a very cramped but practically full-size layout, with all alphanumeric keys, function keys, a 10-key numberpad, arrow keys, and a couple of navigation keys (who uses the navigation cluster, anyway). The Strix Scope II 96 Wireless also has a multi-function wheel/button for media controls and lighting adjustments.
The keyboard comes with Asus' ROG NX Snow linear switches, but it's hot-swappable so you can swap in whatever mechanical switches you like. It comes with double-shot PBT keycaps and offers a great typing experience out of the box, thanks to sound-dampening foam in the case and switch-dampening pads. It's also great for gaming, with bright RGB backlighting, pre-programmed hotkeys for the Xbox Game Bar and speedy 2.4GHz wireless connectivity (along with Bluetooth and wired connectivity).
Oh, and it gets fantastic battery life — 1,500 hours over 2.4GHz wireless with the lighting turned off, and it comes with a nice wrist rest in the box. It is, of course, supported by my least-favorite peripheral software, Armoury Crate, but it offers such a good experience out of the box that you can probably get away with skipping that.
You can read my full review of the Asus ROG Strix Scope II 96 Wireless here.
— Sarah
(It does have a ridiculous name, though.)
You can buy this Asus TUF 27-inch QHD 165Hz IPS gaming monitor for just $209
We've come across a great deal on a mid-level gaming monitor is definitely up to the task of handling your more modest gaming needs. Not everyone needs or wants to game at 4K with a 240Hz refresh rate, nor do they often have hardware necessary to fully leverage such performance. With that in mind, Amazon is offering up the Asus TUF VG27AQ gaming monitor for its lowest price ever at $209.
Spanning 27 inches across, it won’t take up as much desk real estate as the popular 32-inch 4K or 34-inch UWQHD monitors. This 27-inch monitor gets you a QHD (2560 x 1440) resolution IPS panel with a maximum 165 Hz refresh rate and a 1ms response time. And as you’d expect from most modern IPS panels, the contrast ratio is listed at 1,000:1, which is about average in this category.
Given that this is a gaming monitor, you won’t be surprised to learn that it supports AMD FreeSync and is Nvidia G-Sync compatible. In addition, you can enable Extreme Low Motion Blur (ELMB) and G-Sync simultaneously with ELMB Sync. The monitor covers 100 percent of sRGB, has a maximum brightness of 350 nits, and includes HDR10 support.
There are two integrated 2W speakers for audio output, and you can also connect to a 3.5mm audio jack for external audio peripherals. The are also two HDMI 2.0 ports and a single DisplayPort 1.4 port available.
For more savings, check out our Best October Prime Day Monitor deals page.
Grab the Amazon Eero Max 7 Wi-Fi 7 mesh router for 25% off
Wi-Fi 7 devices are becoming more commonplace in the market, and mesh systems, in particular, are popular with consumers. One of the first high-end Wi-Fi 7 mesh routers to hit the market was Amazon's Eero Max 7, and it's now available with a steep discount for Prime Day. All three SKUs for the Eero Max 7 are now 25 percent off, significantly lowering the entry price.
With these new discounts, one-, two- and three-pack Eero Max 7 SKUs are priced at $449.99, $849.99, and $1,299, respectively. The system can wirelessly deliver up to 4.3 Gbps of throughput or up to 9.4 Gbps via its wired ports. Speaking of wired connectivity, each node includes two 2.5 Gbps WAN/LAN ports and two 10 Gbps WAN/LAN ports. So, when opting for a two- or three-pack, you have more options to hook up wired network devices around your home.
We saw upwards of 2,200 Mbps testing the Eero Max 7 with early firmware and first-generation Wi-Fi clients. However, we're confident that performance has improved in the last year since we first tested the three-node system.
While we were impressed with the system's easy setup, there are a couple of things to consider before purchasing. The Eero Max 7 is only accessible through the Eero smartphone app; you cannot use a traditional web interface. Also, some features that are standard on other routers are locked behind Amazon's Eero Plus subscription service, which costs $9.99/month or $99.99/year. However, if you're looking for a high-end Wi-Fi 7 mesh router with excellent performance, an easy-to-use interface, and high-speed wired connectivity, it's a great option to expand your network.
A $50 wireless 75% mechanical keyboard with a screen, swappable switches, and sound-dampening foam?
Yes, I know it's green. But at 50% off, you get a whole lot of keyboard with this deal on the Epomaker TH80-X. And if you are OK with saving a little less, there's a white model (with green key accents) available for $10 more. The TH80-X sports a compact 75% layout, a 4000mAH battery for its 2.4 GHz or Bluetooth modes, swappable RGB switches (of which there are three options at this price), plus a screen and a big push-button control knob.
Also on board are PBT keycaps, and multiple layers of foam. Just don't be fooled by the word "gasket" in the Amazon description. The feature description points out the layers of Poron foam and other padding as giving this keeb a "gasket-like structure."
The large knob on the upper-right rounded corner can be used to control RGB settings and other features, as well as volume. By default, the small LCD screen under the knob shows the settings as you change them with the knob and lets you know handy things like battery status. With software, you can also add your own images and gifs to the display, though that will take away the info status panel.
Switch options are a mix of Gateron and Epomaker (likely customized Gateron) switches. Some of them are pre-lubed, which is a nice touch at this price, but they are all linear. That's fine for gaming but not my first choice for typing. Then again, at this price and with the wireless and wired connectivity options, there's little reason not to have one keyboard for game time and another for work.
If you're after a gaming keyboard with solid features on a tight budget, this is the best deal we've seen so fair in this latest round of Prime Day deals.
We gave the Elegoo Neptune 4 Pro an Editor’s Choice Award, now it has 25% off at Amazon
Getting started with 3D printing is now so much easier than previous years, and printers such as the Elegoo Neptune 4 Pro are a great place to start. Why? Because you get great quality, ease of use and now an even better price.
In our review we loved the Elegoo Neptune 4 Pro’s textured PEI build platform. Prints stuck firmly to the build platform and the powerful direct drive extruder enabled us to print with a variety of filaments, including the super-flexible TPU. Assembly is really easy, and takes only a few minutes. The segmented heated print bed means that we only heat the part of the build platform that is in use.
By using Klipper firmware, the Elegoo Neptune 4 Pro can print much faster than previous models based on Marlin firmware. This also means that the Neptune 4 Pro needs better cooling and linear rods. The part cooling fan is impressive, and comes with a “Sport” mode that is used to rapidly cool the molten plastic as each layer is put down. The linear rods provide stability while printing at high speed, unlike typical V-slot wheels which wear down over time.
Why do we need all of these improvements? Speed! The Elegoo Neptune 4 Pro can print a “benchy” (a small boat used to test printer tolerances and performance) in 18 minutes! This is the 3D printing equivalent of drag racing, with various models professing that they are the fastest. We can be fast, but we also need a usable print at the end, and the Elegoo Neptune 4 Pro can deliver both speed and accuracy.
The $269 price tag is exceptional, and well worth the investment. But if that is a little too much for your budget, the older Elegoo Neptune 3 Pro is on offer for $198, and while it may not be as fast, it is a great printer for all levels of 3D printer enthusiasts. It is the printer that I personally own, and it has produced many great prints.
1.5TB of storage in a card no bigger than a fingernail, and now it has 40% off the list price on Amazon
I remember filling a 1.44MB floppy disk to the brim with my college coursework (Adobe Illustrator, Aldus PageMaker and some Pascal programming) back in the 1990s and thinking that it couldn’t get any better. I was wrong. Since those days we have seen a plethora of storage options, but micro SD is the current way that we store all of our digital lives.
This Sandisk Ultra 1.5TB micro SD card is a class 10, A1 rated and performs up to 150MB/s. That is more than enough for our digital cameras, phones and it could be a good way to add a little extra storage to your Steam Deck or other gaming handheld.
This would be a great card for your smartphone, offering good performance while providing plenty of storage for not much cash. Heck, you could even use it with a Raspberry Pi 5. But I feel that this would be a great option for a Steam Deck, perhaps somewhere to store games off the higher performance NVMe SSD, or to store many indie games which do not need a high performance drive. I have a 512GB version of this card for my Emudeck Steam Deck installation, enabling me to use the full 1TB NVMe SSD to try and carve away at my Steam Library backlog.
--Les Pounder
Another HOTO Electronic Screwdriver, but this one is made for precision when taking your delicate electronics apart. It also has 42% off the list price and comes in an awesome case!
Every single Amazon Prime Day, Black Friday, Cyber Monday we see the same HOTO screwdriver on sale! It's a great screwdriver that many of our team actually own, but it is made for building PCs and IKEA furniture. What if we need something a little more, precise?
The HOTO Precision Screwdriver kit is well designed, packing so much into the striking packaging. We get spudgers, hooks, pry tools, magnetizer / demagnetizer, bits and the spine of the case is where the screwdriver resides.
The kit also includes a magnetic pad to keep your loose screws safe from scattering across the workbench. There is also a bonus anti-static wrist strap to protect ESD sensitive components from harm.
The precision screwdriver has two levels of torque, 0.05Nm and 0.2Nm, and can operate in clockwise and counterclockwise directions. The extra torque will be useful for removing stubborn screws in many electronic devices. An integrated circular LED light provides illumination to the head of the screw, keeping you on target.
If you need the larger version, say for PC building or to make light work of the six Billy book cases that you bought from IKEA, then at $39, the larger HOTO electronic screwdriver is a steal.
--Les Pounder
4TB SSDs keep getting cheaper, down to as little as 5 cents per GB as Samsung's 990 Pro hits a new low price
It feels like everything is getting more expensive these days. That's why, as a storage enthusiast (OK, also a data hoarder), it's nice to see that roomy 4TB SSDs have been getting more affordable lately. Just in the last day or so, Samsung's 4TB 990 Pro with Heatsink ($265) and Crucial's 4TB P3 Plus ($199) have both dropped further from their already low prices for October Prime Day.
The Crucial drive has been cheaper before, but this is a new low price for Samsung's excellent 990 Pro, which we've found to be the best SSD overall – especially for PCIe 4.0 applications. Both drives have their merits, but as you might imagine by the price difference, the 990 Pro is much faster and better suited as a fast boot drive or PS5 SSD (thanks to its included heatsink).
The Crucial P3 Plus is a QLC drive that's better suited as a speedy secondary drive for games and programs. It still performs well enough overall; just don't keep it full or expect it to stay fast during large extended write tasks. Both drives have five-year warranties, and either option is a great deal at these price points.
You can check out more roomy SSD deals in our 4TB drive deal roundup.
8Bitdo's NES-inspired keyboard returns to its all-time low of $59 at Woot
I've been using 8Bitdo's Retro Keybaord for more than a year now, and I'm here to tell you it's more than just NES nostalgia. Now you can experience this keyboard yourself for a record-low price of just $59 at Woot.
OK, a lot of this keyboard's appeal has to do with its Nintendo-themed looks. But I also like its boxy, wedge-shaped design that gives the keys a nice incline without having to flip up any feet (feet that I often find either break or go missing). And the Kailh Box White V2 switches are a dream for clicky key lovers like me. The dials for the different connectivity modes and volume are also pleasing, although I do wish the volume knob was on the other side of the keyboard (and larger).
The other big differentiating feature of the 8Bitdo Retro keyboard is that it ships with two big red "Super Buttons" (also mimicked on the keyboard itself) that you can program to launch programs or perform macros. It's a fun idea, and you might find it useful, but I can't say I used this feature much after trying it out soon after I bought the keyboard. That's partly because I mostly use the keyboard wirelessly, and the Super Buttons pad needs to be plugged into the keyboard to work.
All that said, if you like its NES stylings and clicky switches more than the linear or magnetic models that are all the rage for gamers, this is a great keyboard – especially at its current all-time low price of $59.
Red hot deal: My favorite portable soldering iron hits all-time low price
The Fnirsi HS-01 soldering iron is always on my desk. It has been since I reviewed it last summer. I’ve got a Yihua 938BD+ soldering station ready to go, but for small fixes, the Fnirsi is always ready for action. Powered by USB C, of which this kit includes a wall wart, the Fnirsi takes nine seconds to heat up to 350 degrees Celsius! My Yihua soldering station takes a full minute to stabilize at this temperature!
The included tips cover precision soldering tasks with ease. You’ll be able to easily solder through hole components, and many surface mount too. If you need thermal mass, then the larger tips, including chisel tips provide the best means to get the heat into the largest of joints. Best of all: the HS-01 is now on sale for $51, even less than the $56 it cost in July. and way less its $69 regular price.
The kit comes with a stand to securely rest the soldering iron, and when you are done you can contain the warm soldering iron tip in the aluminum cap. As I said at the start, this iron has been on my desk for a year. It has soldered hundreds of LEDs into a blinking LED “supercomputer” and was there when I broke a solder connection on a board.
This is a great soldering iron and challenges the Miniware TS-101 for the best soldering iron title. I class the Fnirsi HS-01 as the best traveling soldering iron, the iron that you want in your EDC / bug out kit. The price of the kit is a little more than buying just the soldering iron, like I did, but you get the power supply, bits, stand and USB C cable, which all add up!
-- Les Pounder
This 200W charging station would change how I use my couch
One item I'd really like to buy this October Prime Day is a new charging station for the living room. Right now, I have a great 6-port Anker charger that sits on a table next to my couch. Everyone from my kids to my mom to any guests we have over immediately comes and plugs their phone or tablet or smart watch in to charge.
However, the charging station I have, which itself is on sale for $19.99, only has USB Type-A ports and can only output 60W in total. That's fine most of the time, but what if I want to use my laptop while I'm sitting on the couch?
To charge most laptops, you need a USB-C port that can deliver at least 45W, preferably more. Anker's Prime charger fits the bill, providing four US Type-C ports, two of which can deliver a total of 100W together; the company claims that it can charge two 15-inch MacBook Pros to 50 percent at once in just 28 minutes. There are also two USB Type-A ports, allowing you to charge up to six devices simultaneously.
Right now at Amazon, it's $55, reduced from $79.
There are cheaper alternatives from other brands on the market, but Anker is a highly-trusted brand and that makes me feel more confident about the product's longevity.
Upgrade your audio for less with $50 off Fluance's attractive, solid-sounding Ai41 powered bookshelf speakers
I recently tested Fluance's Ai41 speakers, and in fact they're still hooked up to the projector in my bedroom, where I found they sound and look much better than the Yamaha YAS-108 soundbar that I paid about $200 for four years ago. Now with the current Amazon Prime Day sale, the Fluance speakers (which support wired or Bluetooth connectivity) are also down to just $199, making them a great deal for those who want better speakers for their stereo, PC, or home theater setup.
You'll need a fair amount of desk space if you want to use these speakers with your PC, as they're nearly 11 inches tall and 7.6 inches deep. But they're also loud enough that you could place them a few feet behind you and still get better and louder sound than you'll get with the vast majority of (comparatively small) traditional desktop speakers.
Sound aside, these are also attractive speakers (at least in my opinion), and are available with either black or white faces, and wood veneer in bamboo, walnut, or ash (black) to fit your tastes or decor. In my testing, I found these speakers sounded nearly as good as my Audioengine A5+ speakers, which typically sell for closer to $400. So for $199, they're a great audio deal.
Just note that if you have small children or rowdy pets, these speakers don't have a protective front grille. So you'll want to keep them out of reach or consider another audio option.
Alienware m16 R2 is up to $500 off
Over at Dell, Alienware is cleaning out stock of its Meteor Lake-based Alienware m16 R2, which we lauded earlier this year for its crossover appeal for gaming and productivity.
There are three different configurations, each boasting an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H and 2560 x 1600 screens, and that are between $300 and $500 off.
To our eyes, the best deal is on the $1,699.99 configuration, which is $400 off. That gets you a setup that comes with an RTX 4070 Laptop GPU, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. It's cheaper than when we reviewed one with a Core Ultra 7 155H, 16GB, and an RTX 4070 earlier this year.
The cheapest option is the $1,399.99 model ($300 off) with an RTX 4060, 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. On the high end, there's the Ultra 9, RTX 4070, 2TB SSD and 64GB of RAM for $2,099.99 ($500 off), but you could also get there by adding storage and RAM to our choice config.
In our review, we highlighted the fact that you could easily upgrade RAM or storage later. We also appreciated its solid build quality, plentiful ports, strong performance, and a "Stealth mode" that sets RGB to plain white lighting and puts fans in quiet mode.
We tested an Alienware M16 R@ with a Core Ultra 7 155H, 16GB of RAM, and an RTX 4070, which beat out the 14-inch competitors that also went with plain looks this year, though other 16-inch laptops were up to par.
One option you can't get from this sale is the excellent CherryMX mechanical keyboard, so you'll have to go with a standard membrane option.
— Andrew E. Freedman
Keep your Raspberry Pi 5 cool and make it look like an early 2000s Power Mac for $26!
For those of us who are old enough to remember the early 2000s aesthetic, we moved from brightly colored translucent plastics into aluminum unibody machines. To some it was a relief, others, a travesty (honestly, I am on both sides of the argument) but there is no denying that the early 2000s Apple aesthetic was the turning point, and now the Raspberry Pi 5 gets the same treatment with the ElectroCookie Aluminum Mini Tower Case which includes a color-changing fan.
The aluminum case protects the Raspberry Pi 5 from the outside world, but it is the heatsink that keeps the Pi 5 cool. The heatsink covers the SoC, PMIC and the RP1 “southbridge” chip, basically all of the chips that get hot. A fan connects to the fan header, and blows cool air through the heatsink and out of the case. GPIO access is via an interposer that breaks out the GPIO through the acrylic case side. Port access for the USB, Ethernet, micro HDMI and power is via cut outs in the case. For camera access, there is a cut out on the external radius of the case. Lastly, there is a power button which presses the onboard power button of the Pi 5.
Knobs, touch strip, and buttons — all on sale with the Elgato Stream Deck+
Look, you can only do so much with a keyboard and mouse. While Elgato's Stream Deck (and similar options from other brands, like Loupedeck) have added lots of options for streamers and PC customizers with these decks, they can be pricey. For October Prime Day, Elgato has the Stream Deck+, which adds knobs and a touch strip, on sale for $169.99.
This price matches Amazon's all-time low of $169.99, which we haven't seen since last year, but you have to get it in white.
We reviewed the Stream Deck+ and appreciated the LCD touch strip's navigation functionality and the premium dials, though we did find the whole thing a little bulky.
— Andrew E. Freedman
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX hits another all-time low of $788
Just yesterday the RX 7900 XTX hit a new all-time low of $829. Today, while supplies last, Amazon has the same GPU discounted another $41. It's a great price for what still ranks as the second fastest graphics card for rasterization games — though it's in tenth place when it comes to ray tracing performance, according to our GPU benchmarks hierarchy.
The fastest and most expensive cards rarely deliver the value, but at this price the RX 7900 XTX moves ahead of several other GPUs, including the RTX 4070 Ti Super. For rasterization games, only the 4090 can consistently beat the 7900 XTX, and it basically trades blows with the 4080 Super. If you're still feeling underwhelmed by the promise of ray tracing and just want fast rasterization performance, AMD's fastest current generation GPU remains an excellent choice.
Besides the 24GB of VRAM on a 384-bit memory interface, you get 96 of AMD's RDNA 3 Compute Units, with double the FP32 throughput compared to RDNA 2. The resulting 6,144 GPU shader cores provide an impressive 61.4 teraflops of FP32 compute, with the AI-focused WMMA instructions offering 123 teraflops of FP16 compute. You also get DisplayPort 2.1 UHBR13.5 video outputs, something we don't expect Nvidia to match until Blackwell arrives early next year.
Rumors also suggest AMD won't be chasing the performance crown with RDNA 4. We still think AMD will offer something faster than the 7900 XTX once the next-gen GPUs launch, but the XTX should remain relevant and viable for several more years the way things are shaping up.
And the cheapest RTX 4090 is . . .
We hate to say it, but there aren't any really good deals on Nvidia's top-of-the-line graphics card, the RTX 4090. In fact, prices have actually gone up in recent weeks. On Amazon, the cheapest RTX 4090 is the Asus TUF Gaming 4090 OG OC for $1,929 while, on Newegg, the best price belongs to Gigabytes RTX 4090 Gaming OC at $1,799.
That's the best RTX 4090 price we found anywhere, but still way above the $1,599 regular price from the summer.
In many cases, RTX 4090 cards are out of stock. For example B&H has 13 RTX 4090 cards listed and every single one of them is unavailable.
So what's going on here? GPU Editor Jarred Walton believes that Nvidia is winding down or possibly even ending production on the RTX 4090 in preparation for the expected release of the RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 in January. He's written an analysis of why RTX 4090 stock is dwindling . Whatever the reason, $1,799 is now the lowest price and, if you want an RTX 4090, the price may only be going up.
RTX 4090-Powered Alienware Desktop comes fully loaded for under $3K
Sure, we love to build our own desktops here at Tom's Hardware, but sometimes the easiest (or maybe even the cheapest) way to get a dream machine is to buy one that's already put together by an OEM. Also, some people just love the look and feel of a name-brand system from a company like Alienware, which has top-level build quality and a beautiful UFO-aesthetic.
Right now, you can get a fully-loaded Alienware Aurora R16 desktop with an RTX 4090 GPU, Intel Core i9-14900KF CPU, a 2TB SSD and 64GB of DDR5 RAM for just $2,999. I checked and that's the cheapest RTX 4090-powered prebuilt I could find at any store, from any brand.
This desktop normally goes for $1,000 more and, honestly, it's no more expensive than buying an equivalent set of parts. The cheapest RTX 4090 right now is $1,799. A Core i9-14900KF goes for $442, 64GB of DDR5 RAM is at least $150, a motherboard for this CPU would be around $150, a 240mm AIO cooler like the one in here is usually a minimum of $50, but often closer to $100. Then 2TB of fast SSD is likely at least $140. Add in a 1,000-watt PSU ($150 to $200) and a fancy case ($80 - $100) and we're up to around $3,000 before you pay for Windows.
We reviewed a similar configuration of the Alienware Aurora R16, which had the same CPU and RTX 4090 graphics but had 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD instead of 64GB and 2TB. As you can see, it performed really well on our gaming tests, even when running games at 4K.
We also really appreciated the Aurora R16's plethora of front-facing ports, its attractive RGB light show and its helpful Alienware Command Center software. If you want a prebuilt desktop with as much performance as possible, this is an incredible deal.
Grab a Ryzen 5 5600X + Motherboard, RAM and SSD for $194!
This is just a wild combo here. Right now, Newegg has a low-end bundle that would allow you to build an RTX 3060-powered desktop for $540 or RTX 4060-powered system for $600 or so.
For $194 (after you enter the coupon code FTT355, you get a Ryzen 5 5600X CPU, 16GB (2 x 8GB) of TeamGroup T-Force DDR4-3200 RAM, a Gigabyte B550M motherboard and a 500GB TeamGroup MP33 PCIe SSD. The CPU comes with a stock cooler in the box so that's another expense you are spared.
To turn this combo into a full system, you need to bring your own PSU (like this MSI MAG 650W for $47), a case (such as this Cooler Master MasterBox Q300L for $37) and a GPU. If it were me, I'd spend the most money on the GPU. Right now, Newegg has an RTX 3060 card for as little as $264, an Intel Arc A770 for $289 or an RTX 4060 card for $299. The most expensive of these gets you to $577 while the cheapest would be $541.
Of course, the SSD and RAM are a bit stark. You could buy another 2 x 8GB DIMM set for an additional $33 or jump up to a 1TB SSD for $53.
180 Hz gaming monitor now goes for under $100
Monitors keep getting cheaper. This Prime Day October, we were excited to see our favorite monitor, the Dell S3222DGM, go on sale for a mere $199 (an all-time low). But what if even $100 puts too big a dent in your wallet?
Normally, you can find monitors for less than $100, but a high-refresh-rate gaming monitor in that price range is truly rare. Today, Acer's Nitro UM.QX1AA.303 is on sale for $94, reduced from $109.
We haven't tested this screen so can't comment on the image quality, but it promises to cover 99 percent of the sRGB color gamut so, if it does, should be reasonably colorful. It operates at the relatively low resolution of 1920 x 1080, but that's good enough for budget gaming and video viewing.
Most importantly, Acer's monitor can run at up to 180 Hz, which means that you can play games at up to 180 fps without screen tearing. The monitor is listed as supporting AMD FreeSync premium but will almost certainly work fine with Nvidia G-Sync if you have an Nvidia GPU.
The biggest downside we can see is that this monitor is just 23.8 inches. That's pretty small these days, when 27 and 32-inch screens are usually on the low end. However, if you're looking to save money and / or you have a small desk, this is a great deal.
TP-Link Deco XE75 Wi-Fi 6E mesh router system falls to an all-time low of $169.99
With Wi-Fi 7 routers and client devices ramping up in availability, now is a great time to score a deal on previous-generation technology. More specifically, there are deals on Wi-Fi 6E routers for people who don’t need to live on the bleeding edge in the network space. Amazon is currently offering the TP-Link Deco XE75 Wi-Fi 6E mesh system for an all-time low of $169.99 during the closing hours of Prime Day.
According to Amazon, the Deco XE75 typically retails for $219.99, making the new $169.99 price a 23 percent discount. A quick trip over to Camel Camel Camel shows that the previous low for the system was $179.99 back in early September. You can save even more money if you have a Prime Visa credit card, as Amazon says you’ll earn 15 percent cash back on the purchase instead of the usual 5 percent.
With that said, the Deco XE75 includes the main router and one satellite/extender. Together, they cover a home up to 5,500 square feet in size. The system offers up to 5,400 Mbps of available bandwidth: 574 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band, 2,402 Mbps on the 5 GHz band, and 2,402 Mbps on the 6 GHz band. Each unit also includes three 1 Gbps Ethernet ports to connect your wired devices around the house. Unfortunately, there are no USB ports for adding an external storage device.
The Deco XE75 is configured using TP-Link’s Deco app, which makes setup relatively painless. However, be aware that you’ll need to rely on the app to configure the most commonly used setting of the Deco XE75. In addition, Amazon Alexa integration is supported, meaning you can give voice commands, like “Alexa, Turn on Guest Wi-Fi,” instead of using the Deco app.
Be sure to check out our best Amazon October Prime Day 2024 deals page for even more savings on your favorite tech gear.
It's a great time to grab a tiny keyboard
One of our favorite 65-percent keyboards is on sale for just $59.95, matching the lowest price we've seen it at. The HyperX Alloy Origins 65 is a surprisingly well-built compact wired mechanical gaming keyboard with an aluminum body and a simple, stripped-down design. It normally retails for $99.99 and it goes on sale fairly frequently, but it normally hovers around ~$70. However, right now you can grab it for just under $60 at Amazon.
The Alloy Origins 65 is a solid little keyboard, weighing 1.82 pounds (827.7g) despite its diminutive size of 12.4 x 4.15 x 1.45 inches (315 x 105.5 x 36.9mm). It doesn't have a numberpad, function row, or most of the navigation cluster, but it does have arrow keys (unlike the Alloy Origins 60, which is also on sale for $47.49 at Amazon — was $99.99). Like most mini keyboards, the Origins 65 comes with much of its second layer pre-programmed, and secondary key binds are etched on the sides of the double-shot PBT keycaps. Keys are also remappable vis HyperX's NGENUITY software.
You can check out our full review of the HyperX Alloy Origins 65 here.
— Sarah
This sub-$1,800 ThinkPad X1 Carbon deal is the laptop I'd buy for myself
My daily driver laptop -- the one I carry to the Tom's Hardware office in New York -- is a ThinkPad X1 Carbon that I bought all the way back in 2018. It has been a great tool for me, thanks to its awesome keyboard, strong battery life, light weight and bright screen. I know not everyone agrees with me, but I love the red TrackPoint pointing stick which allows me to move the pointer without ever lifting my hands off of the home row.
However, my six year old laptop is showing its age. The battery life is much shorter than it used to be, I have some strange problems with Thunderbolt docking and Windows 11 isn't as snappy as I'd like. With just 16GB of RAM on board and a Core i7-8650U CPU, I can't run virtual machines so I can test out new operating systems by running them in their own windows.
I'd love to upgrade to the ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 12) and custom configure it with 64GB of RAM so that I have plenty of memory for running VMs and keeping my usual 100 Chrome tabs open. Last week, configuring the X1 Carbon with 64GB of RAM would have cost over $3,000 but with Lenovo's latest sale, I can get one with 64GB of RAM, a Core Ultra 7 165U CPU and a 1920 x 1200 display for just under $1,800.
To get the laptop at this price, go to the configurator page, select a Core Ultra 7 165U CPU, 64GB of RAM and a 1920 x 1200, non-touch screen (the lowest option). Leave it at a 256GB SSD and change the OS to Ubuntu Linux. That brings the total to $1,772. Then you'll need to buy a 1TB or 2TB SSD on your own so you can do an upgrade and install Windows 11 on your own (get Windows 11 for free or cheap).
If you don't want to do your own upgrade, you can configure the X1 Carbon with a 1TB SSD and Windows 11 Home and then the price will be around $2,100. You can also pick a pre-configured X1 Carbon such as this $1,595 SKU with a Core Ultra 7 155U, 32GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD.
As for me, I'll be shaking out my piggy bank to see if I can spare the $1,772 plus tax.
Corsair Xeneon Flex 45-inch 240Hz OLED gaming monitor bends to its lowest price ever for Prime Day
Who says you can’t have it all? Corsair raised many eyebrows when it debuted the 45-inch Xeneon Flex gaming monitor. It’s not often that we see such a large gaming display with a flat panel, but the Flex meets that criteria – and it can also bend to a maximum curve of 800R, which is incredibly tight for a gaming monitor. When it first debuted, the Xeneon Flex was priced at $1,999.99; however, Amazon is now selling the Xeneon Flex for just $1,199.99.
That price gets you a 45-inch OLED panel with a WQHD resolution of 3440 x 1440. The only downside is the decrease in pixel density (83 ppi) compared to the typical 34-inch screen sizes at this resolution (109 ppi). In what is a somewhat odd choice for an OLED panel, the Xeneon Flex also features a matte screen coating. While this coating helps combat unsightly reflections on the screen, colors don’t pop quite as vibrantly as they do with a glossy screen coating found on most OLED monitors.
With that said the Xeneon Flex impresses on so many fronts. Besides its Transformer-like bendable screen antics (which is controlled using two pull-out handles that sprout from the sides of the monitor), it features a 240 Hz refresh rate and a 0.3ms response time. It’s both AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync certified and covers nearly 100 percent of DCI-P3. Also, with some tweaks to its color settings, it’s possible to get reference-level accuracy with the sRGB mode.
In our review, the monitor adeptly produced beautiful colors with excellent contrast due to its infinite black levels. Input lag was also impressively low, with no discernable motion blur.
The Xeneon also has plenty of ports, including two HDMI 2.1, one DisplayPort 1.4 and one USB-C. You won’t find onboard speakers, but a 3.5mm audio jack is available.
One of our biggest knocks against the Xeneon Flex in our review was its $2,000 price tag. However, with its price now down to $1,199, that vice has been eliminated.
For more savings, check out our Best October Prime Day Monitor deals page.
SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 limited edition headset $90 off at Best Buy
Okay, hear me out: my main issue with SteelSeries' Arctis Nova 7 is its performance for its price — it has the same drivers and sound profile as the rest of the Arctis Nova lineup, but is the most expensive with an MSRP of $189.99. But it's a solid gaming headset, performance-wise, if it's significantly discounted — which it is, for Prime Day. And it's an especially good deal if you don't mind the black-and-red color scheme of the FaZe Clan limited edition, which is currently just $99.99 at Best Buy (was $189.99).
The Arctis Nova 7 is a wireless gaming headset with 40mm custom dynamic drivers, a fully retractable bi-directional noise-cancelling boom microphone, and a highly adjustable, comfortable design. It features a steel headband with an adjustable elastic headband strap and plastic earcups with fabric-covered earpads. It weighs just 11.52 ounces (325g), and has light-to-moderate clamping force — it's one of the most comfortable headsets I've used, and its earcups swivel, tilt, and are height-adjustable for a perfect fit.
The Nova 7 is one of those gaming headsets that can pass as a pair of lifestyle headphones, thanks to SteelSeries' unique retractable mic design. The earcups swivel to lie flat, so the headset is pretty easy to pack for travel, though it doesn't come with a carrying case (like the Razer Barracuda Pro).
The headset's 40mm drivers have a frequency response range of 20 - 22,000 Hz, an impedance of 36Ω, and a sensitivity of 93dBSPL. The sound profile is nicely balanced, though I found some distortion in the lower mid-range and it doesn't handle details as well as its pricier sibling, the Arctis Nova Pro. But it's a great headset for gaming, and it comes with SteelSeries Sonar audio software for extra tweaking and virtual surround.
You can read my full review of the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 here.
If you like the black-and-red FaZe Clan aesthetic, you can also pick up the matching SteelSeries Aerox 3 mouse (now $59.99 at Best Buy — was $109.99) and Apex Mini 60% wired keyboard (now $125.99 at Best Buy — was $139.99).
— Sarah
Dell XPS 13 with Snapdragon X Elite and 20-hour battery life dips below $1,000
It’s not often that a new product takes me aback. Most tech devices these days seem like iterative improvements over their predecessors in more ways than one, but the Dell XPS 13 with the Snapdragon X Elite processor changed things for me. The laptop delivered nearly 20 hours of battery life in our testing, smoking the endurance champ Apple MacBook Air. That machine has now slipped below the $1,000 mark at Best Buy and Dell.
The XPS 13 has a lot going for it, thanks to its power-efficient Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-80-100) Arm processor, which has 12 cores and a maximum multi-threaded clock of 3.4 GHz (4.0 GHz when using only two cores). Our review unit, configured identically to the model on sale, came with 16GB of onboard (non-upgradeable) LPDDR5x memory and a 512GB SSD.
The ultraportable laptop aced our productivity tests, coming in first place or the top three in our tests. It was a minute and a half faster than the second-place finisher in the Handbrake video transcoding test. The screen was bright (456 nits) and was plenty colorful for an IPS panel. It’s likely that the lower 1920 x 1200 resolution (FHD+) gave it a battery life advantage over the pricier display options available: a 2560 x 1600 (QHD+) IPS touch panel and a 2880 x 1800 (3K) OLED panel.
I only have two primary gripes with the XPS 13. First, the capacitive touch row above the keyboard offers no feedback for key “presses.” I simply prefer physical keys, as I was not able to confidently hit each key with confidence by feel. The second ding is that there are only two USB-C ports for expansion on the machine. One of those ports must be used for charging, meaning an external multi-function USB-C dock is almost a prerequisite for using this laptop.
Another thing to consider is app compatibility with the Snapdragon X Elite processor. Most compatibility hangups involve games, but the XPS 13 isn’t billed as a gaming machine. For a complete list of compatible apps, check out Qualcomm’s support page, which is continually updated.
HyperX DuoCast gaming mic now just $39 at Best Buy and Walmart
HyperX's middle-range gaming mic, the DuoCast, is a great deal at just $39.99 (was $99.99), and you can grab it for that price now at both Best Buy and Walmart.
The DuoCast has two selectable polar patterns — single-direction (cardioid) and omnidirectional — and supports high-res 24-bit / 96 kHz recording. It features a built-in pop filter and comes with its own low-profile desktop shock mount. It has an understated but pretty customizable RGB lightstrip around its middle and an on-mic multi-function adjustment knob for adjusting mic gain and switching between polar patterns. The top of the mic is a large tappable mute button, and it connects to your PC via detachable USB-C cable.
All in all, the DuoCast is a fantastic microphone if you're the only voice you're recording. It's not quite as flexible (or as bright) as the QuadCast, but for a solo streamer it's a great upgrade from a headset mic (and don't even get me started on built-in webcam or laptop mics), and at the sale price of $39.99, it's one of the cheapest gaming mics you'll find.
You can read my full review of the HyperX DuoCast here.
— Sarah
Razer Huntsman Mini 60% keyboard now $70
If you're looking for a performance-focused mini keyboard, look no further — Razer's Huntsman Mini is currently on sale for $69.99 at Amazon and Best Buy (was $119.99), which is just $6 more than the lowest price we've seen it at. The Huntsman Mini is a 60-percent keyboard (that means no function keys, numberpad, navigation cluster, or... arrow keys) with Razer's optical switches. All variations are on sale at this price: white or black, with clicky or linear switches.
This wired mechanical mini keyboard features an aluminum top plate over a plastic base, premium double-shot PBT keycaps, and Razer's own optical switches in clicky or linear flavors. It has a detachable USB-C cable and measures just 11.6 x 4 x 1.3 inches (295 x 102 x 33mm). It also works with Razer's new Synapse 4 software, which lets you activate the new (slightly controversial) counter-strafing snap tap (turned off by default).
Read our full review of the Huntsman Mini here.
— Sarah
