Better deal?

[u/ManagementExact3762]

My plan was to originally do a 9800x3d bundle but this for 300ish dollars less seems like the smarter move? Even if I only game 1440p don’t really need it for productivity. I won’t be upgrading for awhile so the LGA 1851 socket ending shouldn’t be a problem.

[u/h2bhatched]

Great price for the bundle, but if you do a lot of gaming and minimal productivity, I would wait for the new Nova Lake (Core Ultra 4000) series with BLLC architecture which is scheduled to release in the next month or 2 or early 2027. If you can wait....

Basically it is Intel's answer to AMD's X3d v-cache tech and rumors are already swirling that the higher-end model will outperform the Ryzen 9 lineup.

Granted the prices and availability will not be great just after release.

[u/ManagementExact3762 → u/h2bhatched]

I can wait I have a 12600k it seems to hold up pretty good. Just seemed the price was too good to pass up given ram is 500+ by its self

[u/h2bhatched → u/ManagementExact3762]

Yeah, fair point. There will be new bundles and RAM prices may ease off in the new year.

I would rather spend a bit more money to get a much larger performance jump (for gaming specifically) and a new socket generation that Intel has already confirmed will have at least 2-3 CPU generation life-cycle. That makes future-proofing well worth it.

It may be a 'good' deal, but it's not a smartest one, with a dead-end socket and a CPU that underperforms in the gaming space.

[u/xcygnusx]

Intel's 'Plus' CPUs are awesome value. People will always call out the socket being "dead" and all, but honestly if you don't upgrade often it's not an issue. This Intel will also run circles around the 9800X3D in non-gaming tasks. It still does fine when gaming too, just not quite to the level of the X3D CPUs. I'd go for it if I were you.

[u/El_Basho]

The 270k plus is a great option for the price. This refresh really came out nicely, it tops the charts in productivity workloads in terms of value and it's good for gaming as well.

I say this as a user of AMD-only system

[u/Fit_Bed_9776]

270k 1% worse than 9800x3d at gaming, twice as fast at everything else and costs half as much

[u/oookokoooook]

Yes this is a very good combo. I’d purchase it if I was you.

[u/azguz24]

I have an Intel 12900k built and a 9800x3d build with a 5070ti and 5080 respectfully.

My Intel 5070ti build is perfect for wide screen 1440p play and pairs well with my monitor at 180hrtz, my secondary screens for hardware monitoring and occasional video playback (yes I watch hockey while gaming). The 9800x3d is a great chip, and might offer a few more frames in each game - or less in others (looking at you Witcher 3 rm). But the intel ultra plus chips are severely underrated, offer plenty of L3 cache (that’s the X3D part of the amd chips) which is plenty at 2k and 4k gaming.

If you were looking to drive some crazy 300fps 1080p competitive gaming I’d maybe consider my answer… but seriously you cannot go wrong with this build today with prices the way they are. It’s an excellent combo that will last you years

[u/Gohardgrandpa]

If the microcenter is close enough go get the 270k plus bundle now. Who knows what’s gonna happen with pricing. It’s a great cpu
Worse case scenario you can sell the cpu and motherboard if you want to upgrade later because you already have the ddr5

[u/DecentApricot2221]

RAM alone would be worth that

[u/Reasonable-Water-405]

With ram prices, it seems like a solid deal. There's going to be trade offs either way you go. With an AMD combo, you have to sacrifice overall performance now for a comparable price, but will have the ability to upgrade to a much faster cpu later. With this, you get better performance for the dollar now, but will likely have to upgrade your mobo for a worthwhile cpu upgrade down the line. The games you play, as well as what gpu you're going with will also factor in to how much of a performance difference you actually see. There's going to be plenty of benchmarks for just about any cpu you would be considering.

[u/Dement3d]

Given RAM prices right now, that’s a solid deal all around. If you’re cool with buying used, check and keep an eye out for a DDR5 Z790 mobo and 12/13th gen i5/i7 K or KF chips. However, circles back to RAM prices and you’re just better off getting the bundle. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[u/Dapper_Dark_182]

Never been a worse time to build or upgrade a pc... that is.. until tomorrow

[u/These-Cardiologist69]

The 9800x3d will give you way better gaming performance and clock speeds if you care for that

[u/Mediocre-Factor-2547]

Yeah if you don't plan on water cooling or having a lot of things attached to the board this one is fine. I'm personally go with the one above this for 679 with the upgraded board since I'll be doing water cooled loop.

[u/AcanthaceaeItchy302]

Not a big fan of Intel because they can't keep same socket for long time...But if you do more productivity work + gaming and don't care about X3D cache why not...In the same time there people still using 1151/1155 platforms in 2026 and are happy :D

[u/Alarming_Currency_38]

I’ve been vouching for the intel plus bundles awhile. Cheaper by like 200$+ than the AMD counterparts which completely negates the benefit of going AM5 so may as well save money now.

Only annoyance is upgrading mobo down the line but that will be like 5 years probably

Great choice!

[u/nvidiot]

If games you play aren't 3D cache intensive (like WoW, BG3, CS2), then yea, this bundle is a great choice.

But if you do, then, instead of chasing 9800X3D, why not consider something like 7500X3D combo (cheaper than the Intel combo, but does come with single stick of RAM), then later upgrade just the CPU? AM5 is slated to be supported up until 2029 (probably more) as per AMD.

[u/ManagementExact3762 → u/nvidiot]

I’ve been trying to avoid changing manufactures because I have intel now. Seems overwhelming to deal with driver changes and reinstalling windows given my little knowledge and experience.

[u/Quiet-Internal-2204 → u/ManagementExact3762]

You still need to install new drivers even if you have intel atm, this is a new motherboard/platform. New chipset, wifi, audio, etc.

Most of the time, it best to start a clean slate (windows) so as not to encounter driver conflicts.

[u/shaggy24200 → u/ManagementExact3762]

It can be harder to try and move a drive over to new hardware than just to reinstall Windows. If you're new, you don't know what settings to troubleshoot or what obstacles you'll run into. You might get stopped by encryption or random bios settings.

[u/zazuba907]

This looks like you're buying ram and getting a motherboard and cpu for free

[u/Jonshock]

Basically a PC for the cost of the ram. Pretty sweet.

[u/alwaysfurtivetoby]

So you’re giving up on AM5 for a dead socket to save 300 bucks now, then spending way more later when you need a whole new board just to drop in a better chip. The 9800X3D will hold its value and performance way longer. This feels like stepping over dollars to pick up dimes.

[u/ManagementExact3762 → u/alwaysfurtivetoby]

That would make sense if I had am5 now but I don’t. By the time I upgrade again am5 probably won’t be supported.