Hardware Bargains

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PS4 controller at Loot daily dealt for R750 if anyone looking for one.

loot PS4 controller.JPG
 
Nice upgrade to latest intel 8th Gen platform

I started doing some research the weekend for doing an upgrade on my 3rd Gen intel system that is now 6 years old and considered intel 7th and 8th gen configurations but seeing that similar performance configs on 7th gen was only few hundred cheaper and wasn't future proof (like you probably know socket 1151 7th gen boards cannot take the new 8th gen cpus) I decided going with 8th gen.

Evetech has the ASUS TUF H370-PRO GAMING (WI-FI) motherboard for R1499 today only.

This board has the h370 chipset which is just one notch below the top of the range Z370 boards (basically cannot be overclocked and some other minor differences) and seeing that I am not a gamer but a power user (I run stuff like VMs etc on my pc) this is the ideal board for me. Specifications highlights:

  • 4 dimm (64 GB max RAM)
  • HDMI, D-sub and DP out
  • 2 x M.2 Socket
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (support HT20/HT40/HT80/HT160 channel bandwidth)
  • Bluetooth 5.0
  • 6 x USB 2.0, 5 x USB 3.1 Gen 1, 2 x USB 3.1 Gen 2
Full specs is here

For RAM evetech has Kingston HyperX FURY 8GB DDR4 2666MHz for R1299

Looking at CPU options I think the I5-8400 offers good bang for your buck on the intel platform. Evetech has the I5-8400 for R2899 but you can probably find it about R100 cheaper if you shop around. For some reason I see the evetech system allows free delivery if you add the cpu alone to your basket.

So ordering the mb, cpu and 16GB 2666 ram comes to R6995 which I think is a great deal for my current requirements seeing that I don't use my system for gaming.

Another requirement on my list was HDMI out @ 60Hz. All 8th gen CPUs are only rated at 4k @ 30hz but another great thing you can add to this board is a DP to HDMI 2.0 converter like this one for around R300 which will give you 4k @ 60Hz from the onboard graphics without needing a GPU.
Your only other option being buying one of only 2 or 3 high end mbs which has the converter built on the motherboard like mentioned here
This is great to watch the latest 4K movies you download on a big screen TV seeing that UHD tvs is much more affordable now.

Lastly I have read some horrid experiences people had getting support (or returning faulty items) to evetech but I guess I will give them the benefit of the doubt and go for this upgrade. Luckily I live close to their office in case I need to sort out issues.
 
^^ but is it worthwhile dealing with Evetech for the savings if you have any warranty or support issues, that is the true question.
 
Wasabee! said:
^^ but is it worthwhile dealing with Evetech for the savings if you have any warranty or support issues, that is the true question.
Click to expand...

Yip took the plunge and took delivery today. I also read people's rants that they got '2nd hand' parts but all the stuff I got was sealed and after inspection could not find any traces of it being 'used'.

Assembled my new pc and it is running like a dream!
 
enerdude said:
Yip took the plunge and took delivery today. I also read people's rants that they got '2nd hand' parts but all the stuff I got was sealed and after inspection could not find any traces of it being 'used'.

Assembled my new pc and it is running like a dream!
Click to expand...
Looks great. I'm tempted.
What graphics card?
 
enerdude said:
Like I mentioned above I don't use it for gaming so I'm using the onboard intel 630 UHD graphics with a DP to HDMI converter to output 4K 60Hz to my UHD tv.
Click to expand...
Apologies. Yes, after I posted I looked online and noticed the onboard graphics and reread your post.
Perhaps the onboard graphics can run the odd game vs a dedicated card that costs a ton.

I suppose for a true cost comparison I would need to add a graphics card to that equation. My 14 year old computer is so long in the tooth now ..... story for another day.
 
BTTB said:
Apologies. Yes, after I posted I looked online and noticed the onboard graphics and reread your post.
Perhaps the onboard graphics can run the odd game vs a dedicated card that costs a ton.

I suppose for a true cost comparison I would need to add a graphics card to that equation. My 14 year old computer is so long in the tooth now ..... story for another day.
Click to expand...

I guess some real world game testing is the best but according to www.videocardbenchmark.net you can get a rough idea.
Interesting enough the UHD 630 comes in at the top of the mid range GPUs chart at 1125 points.

To put this in perspective, looking below on the chart, a Nvidia Geforce GT730 comes in at 925 points. Looking above, on the high end GPUs chart, a Nvidia GeForce GTX 260 comes in at 1132 only a few points above the UHD 630.

Further, a Nvidia GeForce GT 1030 comes in at 2267 points, roughly twice as fast as the intel UHD 630.
 
Anyone know where i can get a cheap action camera for snorkelling/swimming, i'm probably just gonna use it once so dont need anything expensive.

requirements are: cheap with decent video/pics - i dont expect 4k but maybe HD would be good and ofcourse waterproof maybe with a remote for pics ?
 
ryu said:
Anyone know where i can get a cheap action camera for snorkelling/swimming, i'm probably just gonna use it once so dont need anything expensive.

requirements are: cheap with decent video/pics - i dont expect 4k but maybe HD would be good and ofcourse waterproof maybe with a remote for pics ?
Click to expand...

From what I've seen is the cheap ones are horse sh... Maybe buy a second hand Gopro or the 2018 GoPro Hero (the cheap one, not the 6) and sell it after you use it? Sony also have a good action cam but it is pricey as well.

I did this a few years ago and barely lost anything.
 
ryu said:
Anyone know where i can get a cheap action camera for snorkelling/swimming, i'm probably just gonna use it once so dont need anything expensive.

requirements are: cheap with decent video/pics - i dont expect 4k but maybe HD would be good and ofcourse waterproof maybe with a remote for pics ?
Click to expand...

I got the SJCAM m10 HD, and when I bought it, it compared well with the older cheaper go pros.
As I suspected, I ended up never using it.
 
chickenbeef said:
Cheaper at Raru
https://raru.co.za/electronics/6092...rial-ata-iii-120gb-internal-solid-state-drive
Click to expand...

Even cheaper at takealot if you use the R150 off coupon
https://www.takealot.com/adata-120gb-su650-2-5-ssd/PLID48227580

edit:

even cheaper at pc link computers provided you can collect. Think their gauteng shipping is around R99 and rest of country like R151. Might still be worth you while when ordering multiple items thats cheaper than elsewhere.

Must say these guys have very good pricing on a lot of items, this is where I bought by DP to HDMI 2.0 adapter, cheaper than anywhere else. I always collect from them because they are like 2 km from where I stay

They are on the JHB west rand, just off Gordon Road offramp on N1
You can also collect from their warehouse in Midrand.
 
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