‘Unbeatable hardware heist’: Free Asus motherboard with 32GB RAM

It’s a rare deal from Newegg: buy two 16GB memory modules (V-COLOR Manta XSky DDR5 6400MHz, 32GB in all) for $449.89 and get a free Asus TUF GAMING X870E-Plus AMD AM5 motherboard.

Even more incredible is the fact that buying the Manta on its own costs $500 (more than the price of the bundle) and the motherboard, a staggering $329.89.

Overall save a massive $379.99 or 45% off the suggested retail price. When I ran it through Gemini to gauge how good the deal was, it called it an “unbeatable hardware heist”.

There’s even an external Wi-Fi antenna to augment the performance of onboard Wi-Fi 7 module (Realtek RTL8922AE). This is clearly a premium AMD motherboard that still commands north of $300 across all main US retailers. We haven’t reviewed it but TechPowerUp and FPSreview have, with the latter dolling an 8.7 score.

Unsurprisingly, AI is also touted as a key feature of the TUF Gaming X870E. Asus developed an AI Cache Boost with AMD that it claims can turbocharge local LLM performance by up to almost 30%. This together with a so-called TG (Turbo Game) Mode can lift performance in AI enabled applications as well.

As for V-Sky, it is not a household brand like Crucial (RIP) or Kingston but this Taiwanese brand has been in the business for almost two decades. The RAM on sale is a DDR-6400 and various iterations have been tested by trusted reviewers over the years by the likes of Overclockers.com, thinkcomputers, PCPerspective and Guru3D.

The TMXSAL1664832KWK uses premium SK Hynix memory chips, a heatsink, customizable RGB lights and a lifetime warranty. It does carry a premium compared to a comparable memory module from Crucial with the same CL rating. However Micron is sunsetting the brand and the low price may reflect this.

Just remember that to be eligible for a refund, the entire combo must be returned. Individual items cannot be returned separately. Confusingly, Newegg also notes that it cannot guarantee the compatibility of combo items (even if it lists them together)