Score 20TB of storage on the cheap — Western Digital Red Pro 20TB is only $319

As always, Black Friday brings plenty of deals for storage devices, and today, you can score a 20TB WD Red Pro NAS hard drive for only $319, an all-time low for this drive. While the drive is labeled as a NAS drive, it is also designed to offer top-tier performance in desktop PCs, too. 

Hard drives aren’t as popular for speedy data access as they used to be — you’ll want one of the best SSDs for that task — but they’re still great for cheap and deep storage for data that doesn’t need lightning-fast access, like pictures, videos, and backups. The WD Red Pro fits the bill, and it doesn’t use slow SMR technology for data storage; instead, it uses faster CMR recording to ensure consistent, fast performance. 

The drive weighs in at 20TB, driven by a 7,200-RPM motor that delivers up to 272 MB/s of performance in sequential workloads. It connects over a standard SATA 6 Gb/s connection and has a 300 TB/year workload rating. The drive also uses WD’s OptiNAND tech to employ flash storage to offload metadata storage, thus delivering better performance in some types of workloads. 

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As you can see above, the drive performs right on the level of other top-tier offerings in heavy sustained workloads. The drive also has a 512MB DRAM cache and delivers great 4KB latency, which helps when accessing the small file types that HDDs tend to struggle with. Our only complaints about this drive in our review were pricing, which is addressed by today’s sale, and the comparatively lower workload rating. However, this drive is more than enough for even demanding NAS works and far exceeds the needs of the majority of PC users. 

You can snag an RTX 4060 gaming laptop for just $699 ($300 off) at Best Buy if you act fast

Normally, the best gaming laptops under $1,000 stick pretty close to that price point, and many are outfitted with a low-end RTX 4050. But Best Buy is currently selling a 15-inch Lenovo LOQ laptop with an RTX 4060 for a shockingly low $699. Act fast if you’re interested, because this is one of the lowest prices we’ve ever seen on an RTX 4060 laptop.

We’ve reviewed what seems to be the same configuration of this laptop, (it’s hard to say for sure because Best Buy doesn’t list the model name). And while we didn’t love it for its shot battery life and SSD that was slow in testing, we were comparing it at the time to other laptops around $1,000. At $699, this laptop’s shortcomings are a lot easier to live with, and we loved its IPS screen and gaming performance.

As you can see in our gaming chart above, the Loq performed well against similarly priced competing laptops but was not as fast as the higher-end Legion Pro 5i. The 5i also has an RTX 4060, but it’s a higher-end laptop ($1,300 when we tested it) with better cooling than the Loq, which limits its 4060 to a 115W TDP.

The primary downsides of this laptop are its cramped SSD, older AMD CPU, and the resulting short battery life. It ran for just 3 hours and 24 minutes in our testing. But if you’re looking to game on a budget and don’t need great battery life, this RTX 4060-equipped Lenovo Loq just might be the best laptop deal we’ve seen yet this Black Friday season.

Apple’s 13.6-inch M3 MacBook Air with 16GB RAM falls to record low $844

Apple revamped its MacBook Ai lineup earlier this year by adding new M3 processors. However, at the time, base 13.6-inch systems still came with a piddly 8GB of RAM and featured a base price of $1,099. Since then, Apple has upped the standard memory to 16GB (mainly to address the needs of Apple Intelligence) while holding the line on pricing.

To further sweeten the deal, Amazon has instituted a massive price cut that brings the base 13.6-inch MacBook Air down to just $844. That’s a 23 percent discount, which isn’t that common for a relatively new Apple laptop. That price includes an M3 processor (8-core CPU, 8-core GPU), 16GB of unified memory, and a 256GB SSD. We still wish that Apple would boost base storage to at least 512GB, but maybe there’s hope for next year.

You still get the excellent 13.6-inch IPS display with a 2560 x 1664 resolution and a rated 500-nits maximum brightness. Each MacBook Air includes two Thunderbolt 3 (USB 4) ports and a 3.5mm headphone jack. While you can use either Thunderbolt 3 port for charging, there’s also a dedicated MagSafe 3 charging port.

When we reviewed the 13.6-inch MacBook Air earlier this year, we were impressed with its overall performance and fanless design. In addition, the system lasted an impressive 15 hours on a charge, putting it at the top of its class.

Apple’s recent change to make 16GB standard across the board (along with this Amazon price cut) addresses at least some of our complaints about our review unit (the other outstanding issues being the base SSD storage and display note). But at $844, it’s hard to argue with the solid overall package and value of the 13-inch MacBook Air.

We should also note that Amazon’s new low pricing applies to all MacBook Air colors: Midnight, Silver, Starlight, and Space Gray.

$1,099 gets you a feature-packed this 16-inch, RTX 4060 gaming laptop with 32GB of RAM

If you’re looking to score a new gaming laptop without going overboard on pricing, B&H Photo is currently running a deal on a full-featured Lenovo rig that should be right up your alley. The Legion 5i gaming laptop is currently on sale for $1,099, which Is $500 off its usual asking price.

While we usually expect to see Core i7 processors at this price point, the Legion 5i comes with a potent Core i9-14900HX processor (8 performance cores, 16 efficiency cores, 5.8GHz max boost frequency). In addition, that processor is paired with a generous 32GB of DDR5 memory.

On the graphics front, you’re looking at an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 discrete GPU with 8GB of GDDR6 memory. The GPU powers a 16-inch 2560 x 1600 IPS display with a generous 240Hz maximum refresh rate and a matte finish. Lenovo rates maximum brightness at 500 nits, and the panel covers 100 percent of sRGB.

Other features include a 1TB SSD, a four-zone RGB keyboard, a 1080p webcam, Wi-Fi 6E/Bluetooth 5.2 support, and dual 2-watt speakers. You also get many ports, including two USB-C (USB 3.2 Gen 2), three USB-A (USB 3.2 Gen 1), Gigabit Ethernet, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a microSD reader, and one HDMI 2.1 port.

Even with all this hardware goodness under the hood, the Legion 5i won’t punish your back. It weighs just 5.07 pounds and measures 14.16 x 10.33 x 0.99 inches.

Given its specs and features, you can’t go wrong with this fantastic deal on the Legion 5i.

Turtle Beach Atlas Air super comfy open-back wireless headset is 25% off 

I love open-back headsets, but they’re difficult to find — especially for gaming. Turtle Beach’s Atlas Air is the world’s first wireless open-back gaming headset, and it’s fantastic (if you can look past the somewhat frustrating software). And you can pick it up for 25% off over at Amazon, where it’s now $135 (down from $179).

The Atlas Air is a wireless, over-ear open-back gaming headset with a detachable, flip-to-mute boom microphone and up to 50 hours of battery life. It connects wirelessly via both low-latency 2.4GHz wireless and Bluetooth 5.2; it doesn’t offer simultaneous wireless connections but features a quick-switch button that works fairly well.

The headset features 40mm dynamic drivers with a frequency response range of 20 – 40,000 Hz, which is an impressive range for a gaming headset. The drivers support 24-bit (hi-fi) / 96 kHz audio in PC mode, and sound very good — though it is an open-back design, so you will have sound leak. The open-back design is nice and airy, though, and the result is a more open and natural-sounding soundstage than you’ll find in a lot of closed-back headsets.

Also, did I mention that this headset is incredibly comfortable? It weighs just 10.61 ounces (301g) and features a flexible lightweight plastic headband with a mesh suspension strap that makes it feel like you’re wearing basically nothing on your head. My only real issue with this headset was the frustrating software — but that’s something you’ll find in most gaming headsets — and the price: it’s a little cheap-feeling for its retail price of $179.99. But for $135, it’s absolutely worth it.

Read my full review here: Turtle Beach Atlas Air

— Sarah

HyperX QuadCast at (basically) its lowest price ever

HyperX’s QuadCast microphone may be several years old, but it’s still one of our faves — and it’s currently on sale at HyperX’s website for just $71.39 if you use the code FLASH15 for an extra 15% off. The lowest we’ve seen this mic on sale before was at $69.99 earlier this year, so this is within a dollar or so of that price.

The QuadCast is a standalone USB gaming microphone with four selectable polar patterns (hence “quad” cast). It comes with a built-in shock mount and a detachable desktop stand, features an easy-to-use tap-to-mute function, and has a built-in pop filter with bright red lighting.

If the black-and-red gamer look isn’t for you, the HyperX QuadCast S comes in both black and white colorways and features bright RGB lighting for an impressive lightshow — and it’s also on sale at HyperX’s website, for just $85 if you use the code FLASH15.

Both mics record audio at 48 kHz / 16-bit and feature headphone jacks for direct, zero-latency monitoring.

Read our full reviews here: HyperX QuadCast Review / HyperX QuadCast S Review

— Sarah

Grab the Razer Basilisk V3 Pro for just $99

As expected, Razer’s Basilisk V3 Pro has dropped to just $99 — 38% off — at Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart. This ergonomically-contoured all-purpose gaming mouse features Razer’s Focus Pro 30K optical sensor, Gen-3 optical mouse switches, and a dual-mode tilt wheel, as well as 13 zones of bright RGB underglow lighting. It’s almost identical to Razer’s latest Basilisk V3 Pro 35K, which sports the brand’s latest Focus Pro + 35K optical sensor.

The Basilisk V3 Pro is a wireless gaming mouse with 11 programmable buttons and up to 110 hours of battery life over 2.4GHz wireless (1,000 Hz polling rate). It’s compatible with Razer’s HyperPolling Wireless Dongle and Mouse Dock Pro, both of which allow you to up the polling rate to an impressive 8,000 Hz (doing this will cause battery life to suffer, however). It features a top-notch sensor with a maximum sensitivity of 30,000 DPI and a maximum speed of 750 IPS, and that can handle up to 70 G’s of acceleration. The sensor is speedy and accurate, tracking on a variety of surfaces — including glass.

Read our full review here: Razer Basilisk V3 Pro

— Sarah

This $699, RTX 4060-powered desktop is cheaper than building one yourself

Normally at Tom’s Hardware, we prefer building our own PCs from components. And usually, you save a little money by doing the labor yourself. However, right now, Walmart has a fully-loaded, 1080p-gaming rig for just $699 and, if you were to try to build a similarly-configured system yourself, you’d be paying $200 to $300 more.

The system in question is iBuyPower’s SlateMesh l5N4602, which comes packed with an Nvidia RTX 4060 graphics card, an Intel Core i5-13600KF CPU, a 1TB SSD, 16GB of DDR5 RAM, 240mm liquid cooling, four RGB fans and a 750-watt PSU. It even has built-in Wi-Fi 5, which is not the fastest Wi-Fi standard, but is more than adequate for most people.

If you were to buy a similar set of parts, you’d need to spend about $299 on the graphics card alone, $175 or so on the CPU, $60 to $80 on the SSD, $50 to $60 on the RAM, $50 to $80 on the cooler, $60 to $80 on the chassis, $80 to $100 on the PSU and about $150 on the B750 motherboard. You could get Windows 11 for free or cheap, but most people spend $139 for a license. So when you do the math, this $699 system would cost you at least $930, but probably closer to $1,000.

And this is no cheap system. These specs are more than good enough for really good gaming at 1080p with Ultra settings turned on. And, if you want ray tracing enabled, you can play smoothly (in the 40 fps range) at 1080p Ultra with RT enabled.

While we haven’t tested this particular desktop, we have tested the RTX 4060 and compared it against its competition in the GPU benchmark hierarchy. On our 1080p, non-Ray tracing gaming suite, the RTX 4060 averaged 84.9 fps and, with ray tracing enabled, that number dropped to a still-playable 41.7 fps.

Yes, the RTX 4060 Ti outperforms it slightly, but that card also costs at least $80 more. Overall, this is an incredible deal on a system that can play any 1080p game very well.

This 32-inch, Dell gaming monitor is our top pick and now it’s just $199

The Dell S3222DGM tops our list of the best gaming monitors overall, because it offers the best combination of performance, image quality and build quality. This 32-inch, curved display outputs at 165 Hz, and works with FreeSync and G-Sync adaptive sync standards. So, if you’re playing a game at up to 165 fps, you won’t see any tearing or ghosting.

It also has a very immersive, 1800R curve and a sharp, 2560 x 1440 resolution. Sure, you could buy a 4K gaming monitor, but those cost a lot more and most people don’t have graphics cards that can give you high fps and special effects at 4K. Right now, the S3222DGM is just $199 at Best Buy, which is down from its $329 regular price and matches its all-time low.

The Dell S3222DGM isn’t just sharp and smooth, it’s also colorful. Thanks to its VA panel, it delivers a contrast ratio that’s a full 3,718:1 where most monitors, which have IPS panels, are closer to the 1000:1 range. The more contrast, the more colors appear to pop.

The best Black Friday deal on a new Xbox Series X

Cheaper than just the graphics card for a semi-decent gaming rig, you can play the latest AAA games at up to 4K/120FPS in your living room or bedroom on a big-screen television with this powerful games console deal and treat yourself now, or perhaps pick it up while it’s cheap for a present for the Christmas holidays.

Normally retailing for $449, you can save $50 and pick up the Xbox Series X for just $398 in the Walmart Black Friday sales. The Xbox Series X is Microsoft’s top-tier gaming console and is designed purely for gaming. Featuring a custom Zen 2 processor with 8 cores that can run at 3.8GHz and a custom AMD RDNA 2 graphics chip that can put out 4K visuals at 120FPS on a variable refresh rate TV or monitor the Series X is no slouch, and with its 1TB of storage, you can install and have your favorite games ready to play.

This is the digital-only version of the Series X and comes with no disk drive. This model that’s on sale comes in a “Robot-White” color with a matching white controller. The console features Dolby Atmos, HDMI 2.1, and USB 3.1 connectivity for a full gaming experience in your living room. There’s something different about playing games on the couch with a massive screen or getting your friends around for a co-op session.

Gain access to an instant games library if you combine a Microsoft Game Pass subscription with your Xbox. For a monthly fee, you can get access to 100’s of games and some of the biggest and latest titles on day one. Awesome for getting the most out of your games console from the start.

This MSI Shadow 3X OC Nvidia RTX 4070 Ti Super 16GB has hit a new all-time-low price in Newegg’s Black Friday blowout

Spotted over at Newegg we have another Nvidia RTX 4070 Ti Super GPU hitting an all-time low price in the ongoing Black Friday deals extravaganza. There are new 5000-series graphics cards on the horizon, but we’ve no definitive idea when the “mid-range” 5070-type graphics cards will be released and at what price. So if you’re in need of a GPU right now and waiting isn’t an option, then this is one of the best deals out there on Nvidia’s 4070 Ti Super.

This deal is on one of Nvidia’s high-tier GPUs from MSI – the Shadow 3X OC Nvidia RTX 4070 Ti Super 16GB which is now $739 when you use the rebate offer. Its previous retail MSRP price was $799 so you’re shaving a cool $60 off of that original MSRP. The RTX 4070 Ti Super is high on the list of the most powerful graphics cards and you can see how it compares to the competition if you take a look at our detailed GPU hierarchy.

As you can see from the below chart from our review of the Nvidia RTX 4070 Ti Super, the card is a top performer and ranks highly against the competition in 1440p gaming where the major gaming sweet spot currently sits. This card will of course be highly competent in 4K gaming and for running VR headsets.

For connecting to video displays the MSI Shadow 3X OC Nvidia RTX 4070 Ti Super has ample ports with 3 x 1.4a DisplayPorts and 1 x HDMI 2.1a ports. Couple this with the 4000-series GPUs being able to make use of Nvidia’s DLSS 3 generative frame technology and be useful for light AI models, AV1 encoding, and ray tracing in supported game titles.

AMD’s gaming-specialized Ryzen 7 5700X3D is the best drop-in upgrade for AM4 systems

If you’re looking to upgrade an AM4 system focused on gaming, you won’t find a faster gaming CPU than the Ryzen 7 5700X3D — it’s the fastest gaming chip in the ~$200 price band, bar none. For Black Friday, you can find this surprisingly potent chip for $196, well below its $250 MSRP.

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The Ryzen 7 5700X3D replaces the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, which was slightly faster but no longer available. The 5700X3D has always been the far better deal, though: The 5700X3D has the same number of cores for 35% less cash while delivering 91% of the gaming performance of the more expensive 5800X3D, a win for value gamers that brings AMD’s vaunted game-boosting 3D V-Cache tech to a new lower price point.

As you can see above, this chip handily beats all comers in gaming at its price range, and it drops right into existing socket AM4 motherboards dating back to the 300 series, which debuted in 2017. Thus, it makes a great high-performance drop-in upgrade for Ryzen owners on the AM4 platform. You also won’t have to worry about buying new RAM or other additives, either, if you’re upgrading. Just be aware that the chip doesn’t support the newer PCIe 5.0 or DDR5 interfaces, though.

Like all of AMD’s gaming-optimized X3D chips, the Zen 3-powered 5700X3D doesn’t deliver as much horsepower in heavy productivity applications as standard CPU models. However, with eight cores and 16 threads operating at a 3.0 GHz base and 4.1 GHz boost, there’s plenty of gas in the tank for its price point. In our album above, you can see how it fared in single- and multi-threaded workloads.

Save money (and perhaps your home) by updating your power strips during Black Friday

It’s hard to get excited about surge protectors and power strips, but you should replace them every 3-5 years, because (among other things) the joule protection rating lessens over time. And if you’re anything like I was until a few years ago, there’s a good chance you’re using a few surge protectors that are several years past their prime.

So if you want to make sure your flashy new gadgets, as well as your old ones, are protected from things like sudden power fluctuations and lighting strikes, Black Friday is a good time to update as power strips and surge protectors, like this two-pack from Anker that I’ve used for years, are often on sale.

Of course, there are reasons other than age and safety to replace an ancient surge protector. These models from Anker, apart from having 12 nicely spaced power plugs, also sport three USB charging ports. The center USB-C port maxes out at 20W, while the two USB-A ports are rated for 12W. That’s not enough to keep your laptop happy, but it’s plenty to quickly charge most smartphones.

If you don’t have the budget or the need for two surge protectors, you can pick up one for $19.99, but I always like to have a spare around for my ever-expanding gadget and power needs. As someone who experienced a lightning strike on their home about 20 years ago that fried the TV and a new printer, I always recommend staying up to date on your surge protectors. My PC and other hardware that was plugged into heavy-duty Belkin surge protectors survived unscathed.