Blackbird's on sale for Black Friday weekend!

We've just bought one of the Basic Blackbird Bundles (BK1B01, 90W 4-core POWER9 CPU, mATX mainboard, I/O plate and recovery DVD). Yes, they're on sale for $999.99, but only until 11:59:59pm Central Standard Time on Monday, the 26th! That's a $175 savings over buying the motherboard and 4-core CPU on sale separately, which is also on sale now too over the same period for $799.99 for the board (BK1MB1) plus $375 for the CPU.

There is of course some fine print: besides the fact the bundle does not include RAM, storage or a case, the most curious omission is that there is no heat sink-fan assembly in the pack-in deal. The 4-core should do fine with the 2U HSF, which is an extra $75 (and is what we ordered), but the 8-core will require the 3U HSF (160W max supported on the Blackbird).

We'll be reviewing it when it arrives. Get it while it's hot. Note that this is a pre-order, and Raptor hasn't given any more specific date for arrival than Q1 2019.

Update: Raptor is now also offering an 8-core Blackbird bundle (BK1B02) using the 160W part for $1329, and does include a 3U HSF with that SKU.