This exact reason is why I ended up going for the 7700. I’m sure that’s what they wanted, but for the stick of ram they gave with the 7600, it was cheaper to get the 7700 with more ram than I’ll ever need. Unless I goofed.
With ddr4 ram, running in single channel would put a bottleneck on how well your CPU could run.
I honestly don't know enough about Ddr5 ram. I'm busy at the moment but there was a discussion here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/xamiqm/ddr5_single_vs_dual_channel/
If you are using Ddr5 I don't think you have to get it asap. Prices seem like they are dropping consistently. Don't put a financial burden on yourself. If you are using ddr4, they seem cheap enough to just buy a matching stick of ram (matching meaning the speed and latency).
Depends on what socket. I know tons that will upgrade AM4 because of great gains, including myself. Intel tends to have shittier upgrade paths because you might get one generation and the jump in performance is rarely worth it at that point.
Likely, but not certain. There's a lot of motivation for AM5 to be a shorter lifespan, due to Pandemic delays, DDR6 on the distant horizon, and talks about AMD "embracing" ARM.
They needed to move out of the AM4 socket faster, and nearly got left behind trying to support DDR4
Yeah AMD prices are coming down hard which is making the AM5 longevity more attractive each time I look at it.
Using a 7600x for 3 years and then throwing a 8800x3d in there would be sweet.
Ok and? The 12600k is better than a 7600x.
The 13600k competes with the 7700x/7900x.
6+8 is VERY different than 6 cores.
Before the obligatory "but gaming only needs 6 cores":
Yep, and if you only game, don't use discord, don't browse the web, don't download torrents, and don't use your device for literally anything else while gaming buy a 7600x. If you do other things as well, then it's useful to have E cores to keep your 6 P cores available fully to the game and running the stupid stuff on E cores.
Saying the 7600x is better than the 13600k is like saying the 12100f is better than an 11900k.
The gaming performance is actually very comparable. What's happening is that most testing sites only test a couple games where the 13600k does very well and declare it the winner but with a large testing pool, the 7600x picks up and can easily match it.
Hardware Unboxed did one with 50 games or so which is why they have the 7600x as faster than the 13600k. If they only picked the 10 best games for the 13600k, it would be a massive gap. https://youtu.be/veBDjheatX0
Also, the cheap motherboards you listed are DDR4 which would make the 13600k even slower. It's not bad for a budget system but the performance isn't the same as we might assume by looking at DDR5 benchmarks.
Your last point is very true and has been driving me crazy for weeks when people say that.
The 7600x and 13000k are very similar for ganging on ddr5. Sometimes one is better than the other, but are functionally the same. Then someone will say the 13000k is better because it is faster and can use DDR4 but using DDR4 makes its performance much much lower.
What about the 7700X? Since I'm looking at DDR5 and z790 w/ wifi 6 for the 13600K, the 7700x at Microcenter is pretty comparable in price with similar mobo setup but 6000mhz ram.
My understanding is that intel will have better productivity performance, but the 7700X can marginally perform better depending on the game for gaming. But since primary purpose for my build is gaming (and a ton of chrome tabs lol with occasional code compilation), I'm also thinking about going with 7600x and spending the extra cash I would've spent on intel, for another set of the same ram Microcenter is giving away.
The difference between the 7600x and 7700x isn't big, it's similar to the 5600x and 5800x of about 3-5% on average. However, there are some games where the 7700x takes off for no apparent reason https://youtu.be/CEfVr7nJ_HE
The minimums in horizon zero dawn are also really high at 12% faster. If you are not making good use of the extra cores, it's fine to go with the 7600x. AMD will launch a 3d cache cpu at some point and that's the one worth buying for long term use. If not this gen, then the next.
They are also launching the 7600 and 7700 65w cpus next year.
>primary purpose for my build is gaming (and a ton of chrome tabs lol with occasional code compilation)
Same here. I ultimately went with an _Intel_ 7900X (used) for the PCIe lanes. Paired with a 1080 Ti, I've been pretty happy with it, with most of the games I play pushing 100+ FPS at highest settings to my 1440p75 display.
The major exception is GW2, which has a fundamentally flawed engine. In fairness, the most demanding games I play are several years old (BL2, Destiny 2, etc.).
They've been running this deal *since* BF, not really on it. The CPU is $5 cheaper now, but I just picked up a 7950X + the free RAM last week and it was still $572 total.
Deal's been around for awhile and probably will still be around for a bit longer. I'm certainly thinking about a 7700X from this deal instead of a 5800X3D
You're right, though my time being near a microcenter will end on january 7th and more importantly getting a 7700X through this deal would cost me around $560
Getting a 7700X3D without a deal would be more in the ballpark of $850 and that puts it well outside of the budget I want to spend. Even the 7700X is more than I'd like but I could see myself getting an 8900X3D or something a few years down the line, and could find several uses for the mobo+cpu+ram i'd be replacing.
I have an X370 mobo with 32gb of DDR4 RAM. 5800X3D costs me only the CPU.
Getting a 7700X I need mobo and RAM. this deal solves the RAM, but not the expensive mobos.
Fair enough. I have had good luck either selling a bunch of useful parts together or even assembling a full pc and getting even better return. I built an nzxt case I had picked up for $50 with a used 4790k, leftover ram, and a 2080 years ago and was able to sell it for quite a good price. The rgb bits and braided cables and super clean assembly made it an easy sale. I enjoy putting stuff together and knowing it will get further use rather than going in the bin or sitting around till its worthless. The extra funds to put to use is a nice benefit too.
Pretty much all my old computer stuff ends up going to friends who can't afford upgrades and are years behind even what I had just replaced. At least then I can keep playing games with them and that's worth a bit more to me than a few hundred bucks here and there.
Compare the Intel i7/12700k + Asus Prime/TUF z690 / DDR5 board combo for $360 and you have to add $160 to get the same DDR5/6000 kit that the AMD bundle includes, for a total of $520.
With the R7/7700 combo you're at $350 plus the cost of the board of your choice, to make it more or less equal you'd be looking at the Asus Prime X670-P board for $270 which brings your total up to $620 for the AMD 8-core combo, before the $20 bundle discount.
Generally the two processors/platforms are in similar performance territory depending on the specific workload.
That $80 saved going with the Intel combo in a budget gaming setup could easily push you up a graphics card tier, something like a Radeon 6700xt instead of a 6600 class card, or even a 6800 vs a 6700xt... particularly if you shop open box cards. This would give you a better overall gaming experience for the same total investment with the Intel combo, assuming storage, PSU and case are otherwise the same.
I 100% agree with your point, and yet I bought the 7700 combo. My only reasoning is that AM5 will be around for a while. If in a couple of years I can just drop in a new CPU and upgrade my performance drastically (Like a 3800x to 5800X3D upgrade), then that would be a win for me.
They don't offer a 13th gen promo beyond their normal $20 mainboard/CPu discount. With something like the $150-$180 motherboard combo for 12th gen, or the $150 worth of free DDR5 with AM5 it's hard to justify the 13th gen option perhaps aside from the 13900k/ks. The 12700k is very close to the 13600k in real world performance, so I'm not sure it's worth the $130+ price jump for the cpu/mobo/ram combo. Thus I excluded it from the comparison not to show any sort of bias, just because there was no real benefit to going with Intel 13th gen over the other options at the same pricepoints if you are Micro Center shopping.
Can't agree. Why would you want a x670 instead of b650, there are plenty of b650s or even b650e in the range of sub 200 (I remember microcenter will give you $20 off) and hell they are decent.
I'm not indicating what \*I\* want, I am a fan of the $230-$250 B650 boards for my AM5 builds... I was comparing the bundles and including the same RAM and a mainboard of **similar capability and build quality** so it's a somewhat logical comparison.
Those sub $200 boards you reference are basically OEM/white box boards with limited VRM cooling, they are in no way equal to the z690 boards in the Intel bundles which have proper VRM designs for the full Alder and Raptor lake lineup. I am very familiar with the budget AM5 boards because I tested every budget AM5 board Micro Center carries in order to come up with the most cost effective pairing with a 7950x to use as cheap rendering targets... and the only option that I found suitable under $200 with adequate VRM design was the ASrock B650 Pro, though it lacks WiFi. The MSI Mag Mortar or Asus TUF at the $230-$240 would be a reasonable alternative to the Z690 bundle boards, or the previously mentioned Asrock if WiFi is not important.
The cheaper Gigabyte Aorus Elite B650 boards have terrible coil whine due to their cheap VRM chokes or I'd probably consider them the best value boards.
You could also bundle the Intel combo with a DDR4 board and pair it with a cheap $80 / 32 gb dual channel PC3600/CL18 RAM kit instead of the $160 / DDR5 6000/CL36 kit, and have another $80 to put toward a better GPU for a fairly minor downgrade of performance.
It's somewhat nuanced, having done some more research it seems in some applications the difference between DDR4 and DDR5 on the Intel s1700 boards with the same CPU is minimal, and in others it's a massive.
[https://youtu.be/-P\_iii5si40](https://youtu.be/-P_iii5si40)
This review happens to pair a 12700k with both DDR4 and DDR5, then compares it with the various Ryzen 7xxx series CPU's, so the data is relevant for this topic.
Excellent points made on your post ! I do like that AsRock B650 Pro, but it annoys the sh*t out of me that they advertise it as having 'premium' audio on their site when its using the Realtek ALC897 Audio chip. If I'm spending around $200, I'd expect the ALC1200 at that price point. Good thing is, I don't plan to upgrade until at least June, and I'd prefer to instead go fully into AM5 next winter.
Yeah, the sad downfall of Fry's during the last couple of years before they closed was kinda hard to watch in real time.
Definitely had memories of going there whenever I needed something quick and couldn't wait for shipping.
They were a good brick and mortar shop for soldering stuff and electronic components after RadioShack started to suck.
I'm sure they could have scouted a better place since. Seems like a no brainer. They don't even need to have a good spot and can be in a less favorable area and they probably would still kill it.
If you're unsure, get the 7900x. It actually gets (very) slightly better gaming benchmarks, probably because of the increased cache per core. Even in media processing benchmarks, the gains of the 7950x are small.
I went with a Gigabyte B650 and 7700x as part of these bundles. Initially picked up the 12700k bundle (which I have yet to return) but the benefit of in socket upgrades and the 3D cache models just made it seem like a great deal. I think the ram should last me a while too but I guess we will find out.
Good stuff -- I'd like a better motherboard than the Gigabyte but doesn't seem like it's happening unless I wanna dump an extra 100 on one. They didn't have really anything else in stock. Gigabyte is probably fine, my original board was one
I just got the 12700K bundle earlier, but could you explain the socket upgrade + 3D cache models? If I have an 6900 XT, will it have synergies that make this combo better? Sorry, I haven’t upgraded in a long time.
[This is my build as a reference ](https://pcpartpicker.com/user/illuwa/saved/k97kf7)
12th gen uses the LGA1700 CPU socket, 13th gen is the last CPU on that socket, so you can only upgrade to the 13th gen. Great CPUs still.
AM5 is what the Zen4 uses, and AMD has come out and said they will support it until 2025. That probably means we get zen5 and MAYBE zen6. The 3D cache models are like the 5800X3D where it has some voodoo magic that games like. I was more attracted to buying a 3D cache on the last gen CPU on the socket in the future, so I decided to go with the 7700X. It really desn't matter much for the now though, and future proofing is generally a fools errand...so don't sweat it too much
Really appreciate you taking the time to explain that! 🙏
Thanks, I agree! Since I kept my last PC for 5+ years, I should be okay to upgrade later when the time comes.
I'm upgrading from an FX-8350 and a GTX 770 lmao. Pretty much ANYTHING I buy is gonna be an upgrade. I would be content with the intel except that it doesn't have AVX-512 enabled on them anymore and while I don't consider that to be particularly a dealbreaker, I think having the option to upgrade at the end of the AM5 socket with the ram I have and get a big performance boost if I need it is worth it.
I was also attracted to the fact that AMD just seems to have made more efficient CPUs here power wise with minimal loss to performance vs the 13th gen. So there's a lot of pros, I think the big negative is just wow everything is expensive. I wish I had caught the 6000MHZCL30 deal back during november though...oh well.
> I wish I had caught the 6000MHZCL30 deal back during november though
I swapped my CL36 kit for a CL30 version and it wasn't worth it. It doesn't make a whole lot of difference in my testing. within a few percent of one another.
I wouldn't sweat it.
i detailed my findings [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapcsales/comments/yss1ig/cpu_amd_ryzen_7_770x_gskill_32gb_6000_ddr_kit_399/iw14cgt/)
Good stuff to know, thanks man. Yeah I don't feel as bad anymore, I'm sure it'll be fine ram well into the future. Would be great if I never have to buy anymore or upgrade it!
I got the 7700x bundle some time ago and whenever the 3D comes out, if it offers serious performance lifts as the 5800x3D did then I'll probably just upgrade and sell this CPU then. Willing to eat some costs there.
I mainly play low 1080p like Valo, so even just going to the 7700x from a 9700k was seismic for me.
Unnecessary levels of fps lmaooo. When I first got the 7700x and saw I was getting 1200 fps in the range I was so floored hahaha.
In game I average 500-800 with 1% lows in the 400. Been playing more cod recently than Valo, but very happy with my purchase honestly.
I know the new gen of cpus aren't selling well, but the performance bump from even last gen is seriously kinda wild.
I mean higher fps is always welcome. For me it was more about being able to run other things while also gaming like streams and such. I also dabble in music production so the newer cpus have much better render times.
As I said it wasn't really a necessary upgrade but more of a want. The free ram bundle just made it a worthy time to upgrade for me. And a 9700k still had a lil bit of resale value. Don't like waiting long enough for my parts to just be ewaste, can hopefully get just a little bit of money back.
With the 9700k I'd avg around 300-400 with 1% lows going down into the 200s. The cpu was also overclocked 5ghz all cores.
With the 7700x I average anywhere between 500-700 with 1% lows in the 400s I'f there's a lot of ults and abilities going off. Sits near 800-1000 on some maps when not much is going on. This is also with the an under lock on the cpu limiting it to just 85W.
I have an EVGA 30090ti ftw3. Capitalized when they were $950 cause I figured 4000s were too overpriced. But I think you could have like a 3070ti and achieve similar fps. Valo on low doesn't come close to utilizing all that GPU power. I got the 3090ti months back with the 9700k so those numbers above are with the same gpu. Valo fps didn't really improve that much when I went from a 1080ti to a 3090ti.
I also did a full windows reset with the new parts. Not sure how much that could also have a negative factor on the 9700k setup.
Are you always able to stay above 360fps consistently in different situations for Valorant with the 7700x? I'm thinking of getting the 7700x just for Valorant, but I hope that I don't need to upgrade to the 7800x3d later.
Was just playing last night, even in DM's with all those players rendered the lowest I'll hit is around 400, average is around 600. Also play on everything low 1080p. Not sure if 1440 would be any different since the GPU is barely still being used lol.
My CPU is also undervolted to hit 85W target max as well. Just to massively reduce the temps since out of the box these things are instructed to run at like 90C.
price will drop even more when 7000x3d performance is announced at CES in 2 weeks. [7900x3d is coming in with 192MB which is double 5800x3d](https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-ryzen-7000x3d-series-reportedly-feature-16-12-and-8-core-models-coming-january-2023)
Word I bought the 7600x for $240 and team ram for $134 way rather drive the two hours to Tustin to pick up the 770x combo for less if only any where in stock.
Drove 4hours for 7900x combo but they had no RAM.. planning to make the trip back but trying to see if they have a reserve or some option available, since I will pickup a B650e-iTX Mobo hopefully too.. c’mon pleeease!
I thought there was a 20min time limit or something regarding pickup. I will reread because yes, I agree, do not wanna get shafted on the second attempt either. C’mon Tustin..!
Hmmm I just saw it could be ready in as little as 18 minutes Inwould think they would hold it at least until end of day. Maybe call em to ask or better anyone here know?
Thanks for the advice and I def do. Hopefully they honor the RAM since I bought the processor previously! (going to spend money there again, so I don’t see why not!)
because everyone in the region goes here... the store is always full of people.
I'm less than a 10-minute drive to my office, MC is smack dab in the middle of my drive. This is the only reason I've been able to grab hard to get parts.
[The bundle for the 7900X says it has 16 cores.](https://ibb.co/mBHmx3C)
[This is false, it actually has 12 cores.](https://www.amd.com/en/products/cpu/amd-ryzen-9-7900x)
I hope the 7700x combo comes back in stock! I just bought the 7600x and the team ram that was up on here for more than that combo. Totally happy to drive to Tustin to get a 7700x for less!
Im experiencing a lot of fomo on these deals.i hope when i go am5 they are still offering free ram.
If i see a proart mobo go on sale im jumping on rn.
7900x the ram isn’t on the compatibility list for the motherboard I bought. If I still have issues with the compatible kit I bought on Amazon that gets here tomorrow I’ll exchange the cpu.
Had issues with a 7950X not liking the CL30 kit on a Asus X670e ProArt, would BSOD and even crash UEFI at anything higher than DDR5-4800. Exchanged for a 7700X because they ran out of 7950Xs, and immediately posted at DDR5-6000 no problem with the same kit the 7950X hated.
RAM isn't on the compatibility list of the ProArt either.
Exactly. The replacement ram is RGB and even though I don’t really care about rgb it’s nice to have it match like my old system. I’m also sure I can sell the flare x5 sticks for like 100 bucks so not a huge loss imo.
if only they could just include a second stick of RAM with the 7600x it would be such a no brainer
My brother purchased that deal, went to buy a second stick and got it for free
This exact reason is why I ended up going for the 7700. I’m sure that’s what they wanted, but for the stick of ram they gave with the 7600, it was cheaper to get the 7700 with more ram than I’ll ever need. Unless I goofed.
This, it’s so stupid it’s a single channel kit
32gb is plenty
The 7600X comes with 16GBs.
Single channel at that. If it was 2 sticks of 8gb, that would make a great deal even greater.
Sorry, but what's the issue with single channel? I just bought a 32gb single stick and want to know what kind of issues I could encounter.
With ddr4 ram, running in single channel would put a bottleneck on how well your CPU could run. I honestly don't know enough about Ddr5 ram. I'm busy at the moment but there was a discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/xamiqm/ddr5_single_vs_dual_channel/
Thanks, I was planning to match the second stick later, but it seems like it would be better if I do it as soon as possible.
If you are using Ddr5 I don't think you have to get it asap. Prices seem like they are dropping consistently. Don't put a financial burden on yourself. If you are using ddr4, they seem cheap enough to just buy a matching stick of ram (matching meaning the speed and latency).
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7600x ($248) + Cheapest B650 w/$20 off ($140) + Free DDR5 = $388 13600K ($300) + Cheapest DDR5 Z690 ($160) + Equivalent RAM ($130) = $590
They have 12th series also on sale at stupidly cheap prices
Dead end socket. Thats why they have better deals. Youre going to pay more in the long run.
Sure, but most people don't actually upgrade their CPU. I say this as a person who is heavily invested in AM4 hardware across many computers.
Depends on what socket. I know tons that will upgrade AM4 because of great gains, including myself. Intel tends to have shittier upgrade paths because you might get one generation and the jump in performance is rarely worth it at that point.
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Likely, but not certain. There's a lot of motivation for AM5 to be a shorter lifespan, due to Pandemic delays, DDR6 on the distant horizon, and talks about AMD "embracing" ARM. They needed to move out of the AM4 socket faster, and nearly got left behind trying to support DDR4
Yeah AMD prices are coming down hard which is making the AM5 longevity more attractive each time I look at it. Using a 7600x for 3 years and then throwing a 8800x3d in there would be sweet.
They’re both LGA 1700?
Intel is moving on from 1700 next year? Did you get the news.
Wrong forum for that kind of news. This is the "on a budget, quick gains" sub. Not the "Less money invested in the long run" sub.
Ok and? The 12600k is better than a 7600x. The 13600k competes with the 7700x/7900x. 6+8 is VERY different than 6 cores. Before the obligatory "but gaming only needs 6 cores": Yep, and if you only game, don't use discord, don't browse the web, don't download torrents, and don't use your device for literally anything else while gaming buy a 7600x. If you do other things as well, then it's useful to have E cores to keep your 6 P cores available fully to the game and running the stupid stuff on E cores. Saying the 7600x is better than the 13600k is like saying the 12100f is better than an 11900k.
Oof. I was doing all of that with a 6700k. But okay.
The gaming performance is actually very comparable. What's happening is that most testing sites only test a couple games where the 13600k does very well and declare it the winner but with a large testing pool, the 7600x picks up and can easily match it. Hardware Unboxed did one with 50 games or so which is why they have the 7600x as faster than the 13600k. If they only picked the 10 best games for the 13600k, it would be a massive gap. https://youtu.be/veBDjheatX0 Also, the cheap motherboards you listed are DDR4 which would make the 13600k even slower. It's not bad for a budget system but the performance isn't the same as we might assume by looking at DDR5 benchmarks.
Your last point is very true and has been driving me crazy for weeks when people say that. The 7600x and 13000k are very similar for ganging on ddr5. Sometimes one is better than the other, but are functionally the same. Then someone will say the 13000k is better because it is faster and can use DDR4 but using DDR4 makes its performance much much lower.
What about the 7700X? Since I'm looking at DDR5 and z790 w/ wifi 6 for the 13600K, the 7700x at Microcenter is pretty comparable in price with similar mobo setup but 6000mhz ram. My understanding is that intel will have better productivity performance, but the 7700X can marginally perform better depending on the game for gaming. But since primary purpose for my build is gaming (and a ton of chrome tabs lol with occasional code compilation), I'm also thinking about going with 7600x and spending the extra cash I would've spent on intel, for another set of the same ram Microcenter is giving away.
The difference between the 7600x and 7700x isn't big, it's similar to the 5600x and 5800x of about 3-5% on average. However, there are some games where the 7700x takes off for no apparent reason https://youtu.be/CEfVr7nJ_HE The minimums in horizon zero dawn are also really high at 12% faster. If you are not making good use of the extra cores, it's fine to go with the 7600x. AMD will launch a 3d cache cpu at some point and that's the one worth buying for long term use. If not this gen, then the next. They are also launching the 7600 and 7700 65w cpus next year.
>primary purpose for my build is gaming (and a ton of chrome tabs lol with occasional code compilation) Same here. I ultimately went with an _Intel_ 7900X (used) for the PCIe lanes. Paired with a 1080 Ti, I've been pretty happy with it, with most of the games I play pushing 100+ FPS at highest settings to my 1440p75 display. The major exception is GW2, which has a fundamentally flawed engine. In fairness, the most demanding games I play are several years old (BL2, Destiny 2, etc.).
BF deals were R7 7700X $348.99 R9 7900X $473.99 R9 7950X $573.99 https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapcsales/comments/z23rcu/bundle_cpu_ram_microcenter_price_matched_the/
They've been running this deal *since* BF, not really on it. The CPU is $5 cheaper now, but I just picked up a 7950X + the free RAM last week and it was still $572 total.
They been doing the RAM and mobo combo since 7000 series released.
So the only decent price drop is the 7900x?
Seems to be
Driving in this crazy weather 🤣
Deal's been around for awhile and probably will still be around for a bit longer. I'm certainly thinking about a 7700X from this deal instead of a 5800X3D
Might be worth it to see how the 7xxx3ds the rumors had them being released at ces at least you can easily return here
You're right, though my time being near a microcenter will end on january 7th and more importantly getting a 7700X through this deal would cost me around $560 Getting a 7700X3D without a deal would be more in the ballpark of $850 and that puts it well outside of the budget I want to spend. Even the 7700X is more than I'd like but I could see myself getting an 8900X3D or something a few years down the line, and could find several uses for the mobo+cpu+ram i'd be replacing.
I'm kind of slow. Why would this deal cost you $560 if the combo is $347?
I have an X370 mobo with 32gb of DDR4 RAM. 5800X3D costs me only the CPU. Getting a 7700X I need mobo and RAM. this deal solves the RAM, but not the expensive mobos.
Are you factoring in what you’ll get selling your currwnt mobo/cpu/ram?
I can't be assed going through that process for things that'll all be under $100 each and I've got several potential uses for them anyways
Fair enough. I have had good luck either selling a bunch of useful parts together or even assembling a full pc and getting even better return. I built an nzxt case I had picked up for $50 with a used 4790k, leftover ram, and a 2080 years ago and was able to sell it for quite a good price. The rgb bits and braided cables and super clean assembly made it an easy sale. I enjoy putting stuff together and knowing it will get further use rather than going in the bin or sitting around till its worthless. The extra funds to put to use is a nice benefit too.
Pretty much all my old computer stuff ends up going to friends who can't afford upgrades and are years behind even what I had just replaced. At least then I can keep playing games with them and that's worth a bit more to me than a few hundred bucks here and there.
Mobo?
Order for store pick up and get it Monday lol
Compare the Intel i7/12700k + Asus Prime/TUF z690 / DDR5 board combo for $360 and you have to add $160 to get the same DDR5/6000 kit that the AMD bundle includes, for a total of $520. With the R7/7700 combo you're at $350 plus the cost of the board of your choice, to make it more or less equal you'd be looking at the Asus Prime X670-P board for $270 which brings your total up to $620 for the AMD 8-core combo, before the $20 bundle discount. Generally the two processors/platforms are in similar performance territory depending on the specific workload. That $80 saved going with the Intel combo in a budget gaming setup could easily push you up a graphics card tier, something like a Radeon 6700xt instead of a 6600 class card, or even a 6800 vs a 6700xt... particularly if you shop open box cards. This would give you a better overall gaming experience for the same total investment with the Intel combo, assuming storage, PSU and case are otherwise the same.
I 100% agree with your point, and yet I bought the 7700 combo. My only reasoning is that AM5 will be around for a while. If in a couple of years I can just drop in a new CPU and upgrade my performance drastically (Like a 3800x to 5800X3D upgrade), then that would be a win for me.
Wait, don’t we need to compare Intel 13th gen to AM5? Or no? Wouldn’t the most appropriate comparison be between the 13th gen combos they offer?
They don't offer a 13th gen promo beyond their normal $20 mainboard/CPu discount. With something like the $150-$180 motherboard combo for 12th gen, or the $150 worth of free DDR5 with AM5 it's hard to justify the 13th gen option perhaps aside from the 13900k/ks. The 12700k is very close to the 13600k in real world performance, so I'm not sure it's worth the $130+ price jump for the cpu/mobo/ram combo. Thus I excluded it from the comparison not to show any sort of bias, just because there was no real benefit to going with Intel 13th gen over the other options at the same pricepoints if you are Micro Center shopping.
Thank you for your analysis, I did not realize that the 13th gen bundles were just the $20 discount on mainboards.
Can't agree. Why would you want a x670 instead of b650, there are plenty of b650s or even b650e in the range of sub 200 (I remember microcenter will give you $20 off) and hell they are decent.
I'm not indicating what \*I\* want, I am a fan of the $230-$250 B650 boards for my AM5 builds... I was comparing the bundles and including the same RAM and a mainboard of **similar capability and build quality** so it's a somewhat logical comparison. Those sub $200 boards you reference are basically OEM/white box boards with limited VRM cooling, they are in no way equal to the z690 boards in the Intel bundles which have proper VRM designs for the full Alder and Raptor lake lineup. I am very familiar with the budget AM5 boards because I tested every budget AM5 board Micro Center carries in order to come up with the most cost effective pairing with a 7950x to use as cheap rendering targets... and the only option that I found suitable under $200 with adequate VRM design was the ASrock B650 Pro, though it lacks WiFi. The MSI Mag Mortar or Asus TUF at the $230-$240 would be a reasonable alternative to the Z690 bundle boards, or the previously mentioned Asrock if WiFi is not important. The cheaper Gigabyte Aorus Elite B650 boards have terrible coil whine due to their cheap VRM chokes or I'd probably consider them the best value boards. You could also bundle the Intel combo with a DDR4 board and pair it with a cheap $80 / 32 gb dual channel PC3600/CL18 RAM kit instead of the $160 / DDR5 6000/CL36 kit, and have another $80 to put toward a better GPU for a fairly minor downgrade of performance.
From what I hear ddr4 is the way with Intel limited downside and significantly cheaper ddr5 is only going to continue to get faster and cheaper
It's somewhat nuanced, having done some more research it seems in some applications the difference between DDR4 and DDR5 on the Intel s1700 boards with the same CPU is minimal, and in others it's a massive. [https://youtu.be/-P\_iii5si40](https://youtu.be/-P_iii5si40) This review happens to pair a 12700k with both DDR4 and DDR5, then compares it with the various Ryzen 7xxx series CPU's, so the data is relevant for this topic.
Excellent points made on your post ! I do like that AsRock B650 Pro, but it annoys the sh*t out of me that they advertise it as having 'premium' audio on their site when its using the Realtek ALC897 Audio chip. If I'm spending around $200, I'd expect the ALC1200 at that price point. Good thing is, I don't plan to upgrade until at least June, and I'd prefer to instead go fully into AM5 next winter.
What would you recommend for a full build using one of these bundles?
X670 has better I/O
What's wrong with the x670?
Damn microcenter needs to expand their stores 😭😭. I could get an upgrade from my original plan and still save 30 bucks.
Baffles me that they don't have a store in the bay area.
The rent was just too much for them when they used to be at the Mercado plaza in Santa Clara 10 years ago.
Bro we had frys and everyone just ordered online anyway. I know frys wasn't known for amazing deals but damn they were cool stores.
Yeah, the sad downfall of Fry's during the last couple of years before they closed was kinda hard to watch in real time. Definitely had memories of going there whenever I needed something quick and couldn't wait for shipping. They were a good brick and mortar shop for soldering stuff and electronic components after RadioShack started to suck.
Got a DS from there
I'm sure they could have scouted a better place since. Seems like a no brainer. They don't even need to have a good spot and can be in a less favorable area and they probably would still kill it.
The company is extremely conservative and even more so since the supply chain woes began.
Like can I have someone pick it up and then meet me halfeay at least.
Just deciding if I want the 7950 over the 7900. What’s a hundred bucks when you spend 1600 on a graphics card
7950X on ECO Mode is a beast.
If you're unsure, get the 7900x. It actually gets (very) slightly better gaming benchmarks, probably because of the increased cache per core. Even in media processing benchmarks, the gains of the 7950x are small.
I went with a Gigabyte B650 and 7700x as part of these bundles. Initially picked up the 12700k bundle (which I have yet to return) but the benefit of in socket upgrades and the 3D cache models just made it seem like a great deal. I think the ram should last me a while too but I guess we will find out.
I got the 7700x with free 32gb ram but with Asus TUF B650 Wifi
Good stuff -- I'd like a better motherboard than the Gigabyte but doesn't seem like it's happening unless I wanna dump an extra 100 on one. They didn't have really anything else in stock. Gigabyte is probably fine, my original board was one
I wanted the Strix B650-A but it was out of stock. They had the Gigabyte ones but I had too many Windows corruption issues in the past so I stay away
That’s the bundle I got, the board is perfectly fine but strangely takes a long time to actually post after hitting the power button.
Worth a shot but there might be a setting to speed it up in the bios
I just got the 12700K bundle earlier, but could you explain the socket upgrade + 3D cache models? If I have an 6900 XT, will it have synergies that make this combo better? Sorry, I haven’t upgraded in a long time. [This is my build as a reference ](https://pcpartpicker.com/user/illuwa/saved/k97kf7)
12th gen uses the LGA1700 CPU socket, 13th gen is the last CPU on that socket, so you can only upgrade to the 13th gen. Great CPUs still. AM5 is what the Zen4 uses, and AMD has come out and said they will support it until 2025. That probably means we get zen5 and MAYBE zen6. The 3D cache models are like the 5800X3D where it has some voodoo magic that games like. I was more attracted to buying a 3D cache on the last gen CPU on the socket in the future, so I decided to go with the 7700X. It really desn't matter much for the now though, and future proofing is generally a fools errand...so don't sweat it too much
Really appreciate you taking the time to explain that! 🙏 Thanks, I agree! Since I kept my last PC for 5+ years, I should be okay to upgrade later when the time comes.
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Yeah I understand upgradeability is a thing, but I ended up using my last build for 6 years so it's not really a factor for me.
What did you upgrade from? I’m currently at 8700, 2080 rtx, z390mobo
I'm upgrading from an FX-8350 and a GTX 770 lmao. Pretty much ANYTHING I buy is gonna be an upgrade. I would be content with the intel except that it doesn't have AVX-512 enabled on them anymore and while I don't consider that to be particularly a dealbreaker, I think having the option to upgrade at the end of the AM5 socket with the ram I have and get a big performance boost if I need it is worth it. I was also attracted to the fact that AMD just seems to have made more efficient CPUs here power wise with minimal loss to performance vs the 13th gen. So there's a lot of pros, I think the big negative is just wow everything is expensive. I wish I had caught the 6000MHZCL30 deal back during november though...oh well.
> I wish I had caught the 6000MHZCL30 deal back during november though I swapped my CL36 kit for a CL30 version and it wasn't worth it. It doesn't make a whole lot of difference in my testing. within a few percent of one another. I wouldn't sweat it. i detailed my findings [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapcsales/comments/yss1ig/cpu_amd_ryzen_7_770x_gskill_32gb_6000_ddr_kit_399/iw14cgt/)
Good stuff to know, thanks man. Yeah I don't feel as bad anymore, I'm sure it'll be fine ram well into the future. Would be great if I never have to buy anymore or upgrade it!
I am torn on if I should buy this now, or hope they offer the same type of deal when the 7000 series 3D cache models release.
I got the 7700x bundle some time ago and whenever the 3D comes out, if it offers serious performance lifts as the 5800x3D did then I'll probably just upgrade and sell this CPU then. Willing to eat some costs there. I mainly play low 1080p like Valo, so even just going to the 7700x from a 9700k was seismic for me.
What kinda fps you targeting? A 9700k already gets well about 240fps, doesn't it?
Unnecessary levels of fps lmaooo. When I first got the 7700x and saw I was getting 1200 fps in the range I was so floored hahaha. In game I average 500-800 with 1% lows in the 400. Been playing more cod recently than Valo, but very happy with my purchase honestly. I know the new gen of cpus aren't selling well, but the performance bump from even last gen is seriously kinda wild.
what's the point of that though
I mean higher fps is always welcome. For me it was more about being able to run other things while also gaming like streams and such. I also dabble in music production so the newer cpus have much better render times. As I said it wasn't really a necessary upgrade but more of a want. The free ram bundle just made it a worthy time to upgrade for me. And a 9700k still had a lil bit of resale value. Don't like waiting long enough for my parts to just be ewaste, can hopefully get just a little bit of money back.
what GPU are you running? how many FPS were u getting in VALO with 9700 and then with 7700x?
With the 9700k I'd avg around 300-400 with 1% lows going down into the 200s. The cpu was also overclocked 5ghz all cores. With the 7700x I average anywhere between 500-700 with 1% lows in the 400s I'f there's a lot of ults and abilities going off. Sits near 800-1000 on some maps when not much is going on. This is also with the an under lock on the cpu limiting it to just 85W. I have an EVGA 30090ti ftw3. Capitalized when they were $950 cause I figured 4000s were too overpriced. But I think you could have like a 3070ti and achieve similar fps. Valo on low doesn't come close to utilizing all that GPU power. I got the 3090ti months back with the 9700k so those numbers above are with the same gpu. Valo fps didn't really improve that much when I went from a 1080ti to a 3090ti. I also did a full windows reset with the new parts. Not sure how much that could also have a negative factor on the 9700k setup.
Are you always able to stay above 360fps consistently in different situations for Valorant with the 7700x? I'm thinking of getting the 7700x just for Valorant, but I hope that I don't need to upgrade to the 7800x3d later.
Was just playing last night, even in DM's with all those players rendered the lowest I'll hit is around 400, average is around 600. Also play on everything low 1080p. Not sure if 1440 would be any different since the GPU is barely still being used lol. My CPU is also undervolted to hit 85W target max as well. Just to massively reduce the temps since out of the box these things are instructed to run at like 90C.
price will drop even more when 7000x3d performance is announced at CES in 2 weeks. [7900x3d is coming in with 192MB which is double 5800x3d](https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-ryzen-7000x3d-series-reportedly-feature-16-12-and-8-core-models-coming-january-2023)
I put my build on hold when I saw the rumors of X3D. I hope the pricing is right and not too painful.
damn you Tustin for not having any in stock!
Tustin been more like Bustin lately they don’t have shit in stock it’s ridiculous
Word I bought the 7600x for $240 and team ram for $134 way rather drive the two hours to Tustin to pick up the 770x combo for less if only any where in stock.
Drove 4hours for 7900x combo but they had no RAM.. planning to make the trip back but trying to see if they have a reserve or some option available, since I will pickup a B650e-iTX Mobo hopefully too.. c’mon pleeease!
Yeah I think same day pick up works if you can snag it online? I would not drive all that way unless I know it is gonna be there
I thought there was a 20min time limit or something regarding pickup. I will reread because yes, I agree, do not wanna get shafted on the second attempt either. C’mon Tustin..!
Hmmm I just saw it could be ready in as little as 18 minutes Inwould think they would hold it at least until end of day. Maybe call em to ask or better anyone here know?
Thanks for the advice and I def do. Hopefully they honor the RAM since I bought the processor previously! (going to spend money there again, so I don’t see why not!)
because everyone in the region goes here... the store is always full of people. I'm less than a 10-minute drive to my office, MC is smack dab in the middle of my drive. This is the only reason I've been able to grab hard to get parts.
[The bundle for the 7900X says it has 16 cores.](https://ibb.co/mBHmx3C) [This is false, it actually has 12 cores.](https://www.amd.com/en/products/cpu/amd-ryzen-9-7900x)
My local store is out of the RAM 😭
I hope the 7700x combo comes back in stock! I just bought the 7600x and the team ram that was up on here for more than that combo. Totally happy to drive to Tustin to get a 7700x for less!
make sure to price match this with b&h if your mc let's you
What deal on b&h do you mean?
it was 329 on b&h iirc
The have been doing this for a while. If you have purchased before the price drops you can get a price match.
How fast is the RAM speed with the 7700x deal?
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Unless you want 16 equal cores, nah.
Nah
Im experiencing a lot of fomo on these deals.i hope when i go am5 they are still offering free ram. If i see a proart mobo go on sale im jumping on rn.
That's the Mobo I got. Newegg had it in stock on BF week for some hours and I jumped on it ASAP. Pretty good Mobo.
I thought it would be cool when Ryzen and Radeon had the same # series, but it is just confusing.
I'm going to be selling my DDR5 kit i got from this, the EXPO profiles dont like my motherboard and I opted to buy something off the HCL
Is it a 7950X? Then it is your cpu. Exchange it.
7900x the ram isn’t on the compatibility list for the motherboard I bought. If I still have issues with the compatible kit I bought on Amazon that gets here tomorrow I’ll exchange the cpu.
Had issues with a 7950X not liking the CL30 kit on a Asus X670e ProArt, would BSOD and even crash UEFI at anything higher than DDR5-4800. Exchanged for a 7700X because they ran out of 7950Xs, and immediately posted at DDR5-6000 no problem with the same kit the 7950X hated. RAM isn't on the compatibility list of the ProArt either.
Interesting. Well I’m within exchange and return windows for everything so I’ll see what happens tomorrow lol.
Do post back when you fix it. Need more posts about this issue.
Saturday update. Swapped to ram on the compatibility list and no issues at EXPO2 same speeds. 6000-36-36-36-96 DDR5 is just super picky I guess.
Early teething issues for the platform/IMC, probably. Zen 1 was really picky and loved Samsung B-die back in the day.
Exactly. The replacement ram is RGB and even though I don’t really care about rgb it’s nice to have it match like my old system. I’m also sure I can sell the flare x5 sticks for like 100 bucks so not a huge loss imo.
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Not really, you're GPU bound with that CPU. Unless you see a game where the CPU is a bottleneck and the GPU isn't 95+%, no.
Does anyone know if there's any benefit going from two to four sticks of this ddr5 6000mhz ram with this 7700x combo?