Intel Core i7-11700K, ASUS Z590-PLUS TUF Gaming WiFi, CPU / Motherboard Combo - $289.99

I just bought this, can't seem to find a better combo deal that ships before Christmas. Should be good for a mid level gaming rig…I hope.
Need to travel an hour away, and pay tax. But still seems like the best combo available that I can get my hands quickly.

I think the combo linked below (if it's available) is considered a better deal (even if it's ~$10 more) since it's a newer gen. I think the I7-1100K may have been the subject of Gamer's Nexus "Waste of Silicon" review.

https://slickdeals.net/f/16319710-intel-core-i5-12600k-asus-z690-plus-tuf-gaming-wifi-ddr4-cpu-motherboard-combo-298-99?src=jfy&prop=rcmid-3ff0e80099080b3df3a455fe1f9465e3

I just bought this, can't seem to find a better combo deal that ships before Christmas. Should be good for a mid level gaming rig…I hope.
Need to travel an hour away, and pay tax. But still seems like the best combo available that I can get my hands quickly.

If you can get it, I'd go for the 12600K combo for $10 more... same/similar performance but at least there you have somewhat of an upgrade path (13700K) if you ever need it. If not, this is still a solid deal.

When looking back at launch reviews of older products, keep in mind that their opinions are in the context of the market, pricing, and (with GPUs, at least) driver quality at that point in time... in this case, that context was a $400 MSRP along with expensive launch-day Z590 motherboards and also getting lumped in, to a certain degree, with the 11900K which had its own baggage (lower core count than the 10900K, nearly identical performance, higher price/power-draw/thermals). Put into the context of being ~$170 (valuing the board at ~$120), offering similar performance, and having wider availability (at the sale price, at least) to the well-received 12600K the context is notably different.

Similarly, the bulk of the higher-end of the Radeon 6000 series (6800 and up) was not very well at launch compared to aggressively priced RTX 3000 cards... but with over a year of driver optimization, the release of FSR 2.0/2.1, and current pricing they are now the darlings of those seeking to maximize price/performance. Context is king, but it's also ever-changing.

The 3600 combo is a really great deal but, for gaming, the single-core performance is a bit lacking (roughly the same as an i3-10100, a great budget banger in its own right). As mentioned, it would be well paired with a 6750XT IFF you're gaming at 1440p... but, while on the surface paradoxical, at 1080p you become very likely to hit a CPU bottleneck (especially in CPU-dependant eSports titles). Even at 1440p, eSports titles are fairly likely to see a mild but notable CPU bottleneck. For 1080p and/or eSports titles, I'd be looking at a used 5700XT in the ~$150-170 range or 6600 under $200 for a very well-balanced budget system. For 1440p and/or mainly AAA titles you could step on up as high as the 6750XT without issue.

One other combo worth considering is the Ryzen 5600 + B450M Tuf for $199... it's been as low as $180, but that was several months ago. This would be in the performance range of an 11600KF or 12400F, but all you'd need to pair with up to an RX 6800 (or 6800 XT for 1440p/4K). Stock is on the low side in my area (one store has a couple, one store is out) but they've been restocking these regularly since late summer... if the price holds until they restock in your area, it's a very solid deal. It doesn't include the AMD stock cooler (it's a tray CPU pre-socketed into the motherboard), but I wouldn't want to use the stock cooler anyway when coolers like the Thermalright AX120/AK120/BA120 and ID-Cooling SE-214-XT are available for $20-25.

https://www.microcenter.com/produ...oard-combo [microcenter.com]

Only ok upgrade of you already have an old ddr4 system to drop in.

I'd bite on any of them if I was near a MicroCenter, but 2 hours away so I'll wait until my next trip to Detroit. Need to replace my 4.6Ghz clocked 4790k, but she's still hanging in there with a 6900. Thanks for info!

If you can get it, I'd go for the 12600K combo for $10 more... same/similar performance but at least there you have somewhat of an upgrade path (13700K) if you ever need it. If not, this is still a solid deal.

When looking back at launch reviews of older products, keep in mind that their opinions are in the context of the market, pricing, and (with GPUs, at least) driver quality at that point in time... in this case, that context was a $400 MSRP along with expensive launch-day Z590 motherboards and also getting lumped in, to a certain degree, with the 11900K which had its own baggage (lower core count than the 10900K, nearly identical performance, higher price/power-draw/thermals). Put into the context of being ~$170 (valuing the board at ~$120), offering similar performance, and having wider availability (at the sale price, at least) to the well-received 12600K the context is notably different.

Similarly, the bulk of the higher-end of the Radeon 6000 series (6800 and up) was not very well at launch compared to aggressively priced RTX 3000 cards... but with over a year of driver optimization, the release of FSR 2.0/2.1, and current pricing they are now the darlings of those seeking to maximize price/performance. Context is king, but it's also ever-changing.

The 3600 combo is a really great deal but, for gaming, the single-core performance is a bit lacking (roughly the same as an i3-10100, a great budget banger in its own right). As mentioned, it would be well paired with a 6750XT IFF you're gaming at 1440p... but, while on the surface paradoxical, at 1080p you become very likely to hit a CPU bottleneck (especially in CPU-dependant eSports titles). Even at 1440p, eSports titles are fairly likely to see a mild but notable CPU bottleneck. For 1080p and/or eSports titles, I'd be looking at a used 5700XT in the ~$150-170 range or 6600 under $200 for a very well-balanced budget system. For 1440p and/or mainly AAA titles you could step on up as high as the 6750XT without issue.

One other combo worth considering is the Ryzen 5600 + B450M Tuf for $199... it's been as low as $180, but that was several months ago. This would be in the performance range of an 11600KF or 12400F, but all you'd need to pair with up to an RX 6800 (or 6800 XT for 1440p/4K). Stock is on the low side in my area (one store has a couple, one store is out) but they've been restocking these regularly since late summer... if the price holds until they restock in your area, it's a very solid deal. It doesn't include the AMD stock cooler (it's a tray CPU pre-socketed into the motherboard), but I wouldn't want to use the stock cooler anyway when coolers like the Thermalright AX120/AK120/BA120 and ID-Cooling SE-214-XT are available for $20-25.

https://www.microcenter.com/produ...oard-combo [microcenter.com]

DDR5 is more compelling with the free DD5 w/ AM5 CPU deal at Micro Center than buying separately anywhere else... at that point, a 7600X + 16gb RAM + B650M DS3H is about the same price as the 12700K combo + a decent 16gb 3200 kit. You're getting about 70% of the raw compute of the 12700K but equivalent gaming performance along with more of an upgrade path... so it really depends on your use case and how much you value upgrade path vs. raw compute.

If you're playing AAA titles at 4K, that 4790K probably isn't holding your 6900 XT back all that much... otherwise, I'd probably go ahead and grab the 12700K combo when you get a chance and give the 6900 XT room to breathe.