Welcome to another edition of our weekly hardware sales round-up, affectionately called "Mik's Piks." Now that we are in a new year, it's time to look at some new components for your PCs. Like the old saying goes, out with the old, in with the new. I found some pretty good deals on some video cards, a case, and a power supply.
Antec GX 700 case ($35): Once again, Antec is offering a great deal on their GX 700 case. We recently did a review on this case, and we really have to admire what it provides at the price. The military-inspired look is a nice change from the usual black or white colored cases and the materials are surprisingly good for the sub-$50 budget. The GX700 comes with 3 fans, so you get good basic air flow for most systems. Has just about everything you would expect in a budget case, including a simple fan controller.
Thermaltake TR2 600W PSU ($25): Once again, Thermaltake is offering a great sale on one of their TR2 entry-level power supplies. Since they came out, the TR2 PSU family has become our go-to budget power supply model. Even though it is neither modular nor 80 plus certified, it gets great reviews and does what is needed for any cheap/budget PC build. For only $25, it's hard to beat this deal.
Dual Pick of the Week
MSI R9 270 GPU ($180): The second deal of the dual pick of the week is on an R9 270 from MSI. The R9 270 has quickly become a leader in the sub-$200 budget video card market, given its performance for the relatively low price. With 2GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit interface and 1280 stream processors you should be able to play most games out at highest settings, and few games like Crysis 3 and Battlefield 4 on medium to high settings. This card comes with dual 100mm fans to keep temps down and also comes with MSI's video software to fine tune your gaming experience.
MSI N760 HAWK GTX 760 GPU ($250): The last of the deals is on a GTX 760 from MSI. For those of you who prefer Nvidia over AMD, the GTX 760 is a great mid-range video card before hitting the high-end market. You get 2GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit interface with 1152 CUDA cores. Just as with the R9 270, you should be able to play nearly all games out at highest settings @ 1080p. Using the MSI afterburner software will enable you to overclock this GPU with ease.
Well, that's all for this week. There are many more deals out there to find, so until next time.
Michael "Mikagmann2" Mann