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Both the 7700x and 9700x are 8-core 16-thread processors on the am5 platform. The 7700x is a last generation zen4 cpu, while the 9700x is current gen zen5. Zen5 was a fairly tame iterative upgrade over zen4 for most consumer use cases, though it makes significant improvements in avx-512 performance. Having 8 hyperthreaded cores is sufficient for basically all modern games, though over the next few years we'll probably start seeing games that will meaningfully take advantage of additional cores. Unless you already have a very powerful gpu, or plan to upgrade in the short term, paying the premium for an x3d cpu (the 7800x3d bundle with the same motherboard and ram is $100 more than the 9700x bundle) is likely unnecessary. Multithreaded performance is a weak point for single ccd (8-core or fewer) amd cpus, if your use cases include heavily multithreaded productivity workloads I recommend going for the 9900x or 9950x bundles instead. If gaming is your only concern and you have a high budget, go for the $500 7800x3d bundle.
The Gigabyte B650 Gaming X AX V2 specs page can be found here: https://www.gigabyte.co
The motherboard in this bundle is a lower midrange (leaning more towards midrange) full size atx b650 chipset am5 motherboard. This board has: the low (but not lowest) end b650 chipset (last gen, but b850 is functionally b650 with guaranteed gen5 m.2 support), a 8+2+2 (60A) vrm, three pcie x16 slots (1x gen4 x16 primary slot, 2x gen3 x1), three m.2 slots (1x gen5 x4, 2x gen 4 x4), 4 sata ports, Realtek® 2.5GbE LAN, wifi 6e + bluetooth 5.2 or 5.3 (depending on board revision either Realtek® Wi-Fi 6E RTL8852CE or AMD Wi-Fi 6E RZ616 (MT7922A22M)), an acceptable assortment of usb including usb-c 3.2 gen2, and bios flashback.
While it has many of the compromises you'd expect from cheaper boards (6 layer pcb, cheap realtek audio chip, no pcie gen 5 x16 slot, somewhat limited io, somewhat middling vrm, etc), it's overall fairly competent and should be more than sufficient for the vast majority of users. The lack of a pcie gen 5 x16 slot will be meaningless (excluding a few very niche applications) for awhile still. While not a great board for extreme overclocking (and a 16-core chip will likely strain it if overclocked), it's still more than good enough for a pure gaming rig. One of the primary advantage of building a computer on the am5 platform is that it should have an upgrade path. Amd has guaranteed platform support through 2027, and zen 6 (which is projected to be a major leap over zen5 based off of current leaks) should be compatible with the am5 platform.
As mentioned in my deal post, if your sole goal is getting on the am5 platform as cheaply as possible the $280 7600x bundle is viable, but the garbage motherboard with vrms so poor it cuts off your upgrade path and the single 16gb dimm stick of memory instead of 32gb make it a much poorer value considering the 7700x bundle is only $90 more expensive.
The 9900x bundle at $500 is an interesting middle ground, since for $100 more (than the 9700x bundle) you get a higher end x670e motherboard and 50% more cpu cores (12 rather than 8). The 9900x is a 12-core 24-thread current gen zen5 cpu. Compared to the 9700x, it has more cache per core, and is clocked moderately higher. It's worth noting the 9900x performs similarly in gaming to the 9700x, since cross ccd latency reduces gaming performance and therefore offsets most of the advantages (and if one ccd is parked for gaming, it's functionally a 6-core cpu), but for multithreaded workloads the 9900x utterly demolishes the 9700x.
The MSI X670E MAG Tomahawk WiFi specs page can be found here: https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/M...cification
Compared to the gigabyte b650 board in the 7700x and 9700x bundles, the MSI X670E MAG Tomahawk WiFi motherboard in the 9900x bundle: has a much higher end chipset (x670e instead of b650), supports pcie gen5 on both a m.2 slot and the x16 slot, has superior vrms (14 (80a) phase vs 8 (60a) phase), has more pcie and m.2 slots, has a higher quality 8-layer pcb (vs 6-layer), has more higher speed usb ports, has a higher end integrated audio cip, etc. If you plan to upgrade to a 16 core or higher cpu in the future (zen 6 will have 12 core ccds, meaning the top end chip may be 24 core), this motherboard should handle it meaningfully better than the board in the cheaper bundles.
If the 9950x bundle remained $650 or higher, I would have generally recommended the 9900x bundle for most users with moderately intense multithreaded productivity workloads, however if your workloads would benefit from a dual ccd cpu in the first place, the 9950x bundle at $600 is probably a better value all around.
The 9950x bundles previous lowest price was $650, this deal is $50 cheaper. The 9950x alone went frontpage at $520 a month and a half ago. The only difference between the 9950x bundle and the 9900x bundle is the cpu, the mobo and ram are the same. The 9950x is a 16-core 32-thread current gen zen5 cpu, the second highest end mainstream consumer cpu currently offered by amd (only technically lower end than the much more expensive 9950x3d, which has slightly worse productivity performance but much better gaming performance). It's worth noting that in addition to having significantly better multithreaded performance compared to the 9900x (having 33% more cores), it also has somewhat better gaming performance. This is due to the fact that it not only has higher clock speeds, but it has two 8-core ccds (as opposed to two 6-core ccds) which reduces the impact of cross ccd latency (and means if you park one ccd for gaming it's functionally an 8-core cpu rather than 6-core). The top end chip also tends to hold it's value for resale significantly better, if you plan on selling your old cpu when you upgrade.
Overall, if you have the extra budget and regularly use your computer for extremely heavily multithreaded workloads, I'd say the 9950x bundle at $600 beats the 9900x bundle in value.
With regards to the ram included in these bundles, it's ddr5 6000 cl36 using samsung memory chips. This is rather disappointing, since compared to hynix memory the overclocking/tuning potential is substantially worse. That being said, if you'd just be leaving your ram timings at base expo settings anyways, the difference compared to even ddr5 6000 cl30 is quite minimal. Ddr5 6000 remains the mainstream sweetspot for zen5, since the memory controller hasn't been meaningfully improved from zen4. If you're willing to sell the ram, you recoup most of the cost of separately purchasing a higher end kit, 32gb ddr5 6000 cl30/cl32 can generally be found around $90 on sale (rarely $80).
I don't recommend "upgrading" to the 32gb corsair vengeance rgb kit unless you greatly prefer the aesthetics, you won't get any improvement in performance (in fact the primary timings are worse).
The 64gb kit you can "upgrade" to for $130 is dual rank ddr5 6000 cl30 using hynix memory, it'll have significantly better overclocking/tuning potential. That being said, with zen4/zen5, dual rank overclocking is more difficult than with single rank. If you need 64gb of ram anyways it might be worthwhile, but keep in mind there have been previously been sales of 64gb hynix kits for around $130, such as the $134 patriot venom 64gb ddr5 6400 cl32. You might theoretically get a better deal by selling the 32gb kit that comes with the base bundle and purchasing a higher end kit separately, but keep in mind prices have been volatile/rising.
All listed bundles, except for the 7600x bundle, should come with a free copy of Monster Hunter Wilds: https://www.microcenter
No mention of this is made on the bundle pages themselves, but if you scroll down on the cpu product pages the following information is provided:
"Get Monster Hunter Wilds™ when you buy select AMD Ryzen™ processors, AMD Radeon™ RX Series graphics cards or AMD configured systems.*
* Offer available through participating retailers only. 18+ only. Following purchase, product must be installed on system where coupon code will be redeemed. Void where prohibited. Residency and additional limitations apply. Full offer terms at www.amdrewards.
To Redeem your Game Key from AMDREWARDS.COM please follow the steps below:
Step 1: Go to www.amdrewards.
Step 2: Create an Account and Sign-in
Step 3: Enter your coupon code. Then follow the steps-by-step process to redeem your reward(s).
Step 4: Check the MY REWARDS page to view or activate your Game Keys.
*Offer available through participating retailers only. 18+ only. Following purchase, product must be installed on system where coupon code will be redeemed. Void where prohibited. Residency and additional limitations apply. Full offer terms at www.amdrewards.com/terms"
It's also worth keeping in mind that the pc component market is highly volatile currently, particularly with all the market uncertainty around tariffs. If you'll need to upgrade in the near future, it may be better not to wait.
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General use and midrange gaming, no productivity/multithreaded workloads, no plan to upgrade to a 16+ core cpu in the future, and no need for higher end motherboard features: $370 7700x bundle if budget is tight, $400 9700x bundle otherwise
High end gaming, no productivity/multithreaded workloads, no plan to upgrade to a 16+ core cpu in the future, and no need for higher end motherboard features: $500 7800x3d bundle
Moderate productivity workloads (with or without midrange gaming as well): $500 9900x bundle
Intense productivity workloads (with or without upper-midrange gaming as well, slightly better gaming performance than the 9900x): $600 9950x bundle
I go into more detail in my previous large post.
According to the faq: "What if I bought my components from somewhere else?
A:We can assemble any computer that has the necessary parts. However, we do run into compatibility issues when components are bought from several different sources. Prices may change if components weren't purchased from Micro Center."
That being said, I would strongly advise against purchasing the custom build services, they're generally a massive waste of money. There are plenty of guides on how to assemble a computer, and nowadays it's pretty easy. This ltt video provides a decent overview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1fxZ-VWs2U
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Yes, you can bring from various sources. I brought a combo of Microcenter, Amazon and Newegg parts. That said, they will only cover what you bought from Microcenter. Pretty straight forward. I came in early around when they opened (~10am) and they had it done by the end of the day. Obviously depends on if they are backed up but the experience was overall pretty simple. They were also pretty helpful, giving insight on some potentially RAM compatibility issues.
Not sure what it is about the PC community that gatekeeps this. Car forums don't go "just do it yourself" anytime someone asks for a shop recommendation lol. I've built my own in the past and it just isn't my thing. Like getting an oil change - sure I could do it myself, but I'd rather spend my Saturday morning enjoying doing something else.
You just said that CPUs have never used more than 200 watts. You should delete your post and go learn something about what youre talking about. Even some recent CPUs use over 200.
Both the 7700x and 9700x are 8-core 16-thread processors on the am5 platform. The 7700x is a last generation zen4 cpu, while the 9700x is current gen zen5. Zen5 was a fairly tame iterative upgrade over zen4 for most consumer use cases, though it makes significant improvements in avx-512 performance. Having 8 hyperthreaded cores is sufficient for basically all modern games, though over the next few years we'll probably start seeing games that will meaningfully take advantage of additional cores. Unless you already have a very powerful gpu, or plan to upgrade in the short term, paying the premium for an x3d cpu (the 7800x3d bundle with the same motherboard and ram is $100 more than the 9700x bundle) is likely unnecessary. Multithreaded performance is a weak point for single ccd (8-core or fewer) amd cpus, if your use cases include heavily multithreaded productivity workloads I recommend going for the 9900x or 9950x bundles instead. If gaming is your only concern and you have a high budget, go for the $500 7800x3d bundle.
The Gigabyte B650 Gaming X AX V2 specs page can be found here: https://www.gigabyte.co
The motherboard in this bundle is a lower midrange (leaning more towards midrange) full size atx b650 chipset am5 motherboard. This board has: the low (but not lowest) end b650 chipset (last gen, but b850 is functionally b650 with guaranteed gen5 m.2 support), a 8+2+2 (60A) vrm, three pcie x16 slots (1x gen4 x16 primary slot, 2x gen3 x1), three m.2 slots (1x gen5 x4, 2x gen 4 x4), 4 sata ports, Realtek® 2.5GbE LAN, wifi 6e + bluetooth 5.2 or 5.3 (depending on board revision either Realtek® Wi-Fi 6E RTL8852CE or AMD Wi-Fi 6E RZ616 (MT7922A22M)), an acceptable assortment of usb including usb-c 3.2 gen2, and bios flashback.
While it has many of the compromises you'd expect from cheaper boards (6 layer pcb, cheap realtek audio chip, no pcie gen 5 x16 slot, somewhat limited io, somewhat middling vrm, etc), it's overall fairly competent and should be more than sufficient for the vast majority of users. The lack of a pcie gen 5 x16 slot will be meaningless (excluding a few very niche applications) for awhile still. While not a great board for extreme overclocking (and a 16-core chip will likely strain it if overclocked), it's still more than good enough for a pure gaming rig. One of the primary advantage of building a computer on the am5 platform is that it should have an upgrade path. Amd has guaranteed platform support through 2027, and zen 6 (which is projected to be a major leap over zen5 based off of current leaks) should be compatible with the am5 platform.
As mentioned in my deal post, if your sole goal is getting on the am5 platform as cheaply as possible the $280 7600x bundle is viable, but the garbage motherboard with vrms so poor it cuts off your upgrade path and the single 16gb dimm stick of memory instead of 32gb make it a much poorer value considering the 7700x bundle is only $90 more expensive.
The 9900x bundle at $500 is an interesting middle ground, since for $100 more (than the 9700x bundle) you get a higher end x670e motherboard and 50% more cpu cores (12 rather than 8). The 9900x is a 12-core 24-thread current gen zen5 cpu. Compared to the 9700x, it has more cache per core, and is clocked moderately higher. It's worth noting the 9900x performs similarly in gaming to the 9700x, since cross ccd latency reduces gaming performance and therefore offsets most of the advantages (and if one ccd is parked for gaming, it's functionally a 6-core cpu), but for multithreaded workloads the 9900x utterly demolishes the 9700x.
The MSI X670E MAG Tomahawk WiFi specs page can be found here: https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/M...cification
Compared to the gigabyte b650 board in the 7700x and 9700x bundles, the MSI X670E MAG Tomahawk WiFi motherboard in the 9900x bundle: has a much higher end chipset (x670e instead of b650), supports pcie gen5 on both a m.2 slot and the x16 slot, has superior vrms (14 (80a) phase vs 8 (60a) phase), has more pcie and m.2 slots, has a higher quality 8-layer pcb (vs 6-layer), has more higher speed usb ports, has a higher end integrated audio cip, etc. If you plan to upgrade to a 16 core or higher cpu in the future (zen 6 will have 12 core ccds, meaning the top end chip may be 24 core), this motherboard should handle it meaningfully better than the board in the cheaper bundles.
If the 9950x bundle remained $650 or higher, I would have generally recommended the 9900x bundle for most users with moderately intense multithreaded productivity workloads, however if your workloads would benefit from a dual ccd cpu in the first place, the 9950x bundle at $600 is probably a better value all around.
The 9950x bundles previous lowest price was $650, this deal is $50 cheaper. The 9950x alone went frontpage at $520 a month and a half ago. The only difference between the 9950x bundle and the 9900x bundle is the cpu, the mobo and ram are the same. The 9950x is a 16-core 32-thread current gen zen5 cpu, the second highest end mainstream consumer cpu currently offered by amd (only technically lower end than the much more expensive 9950x3d, which has slightly worse productivity performance but much better gaming performance). It's worth noting that in addition to having significantly better multithreaded performance compared to the 9900x (having 33% more cores), it also has somewhat better gaming performance. This is due to the fact that it not only has higher clock speeds, but it has two 8-core ccds (as opposed to two 6-core ccds) which reduces the impact of cross ccd latency (and means if you park one ccd for gaming it's functionally an 8-core cpu rather than 6-core). The top end chip also tends to hold it's value for resale significantly better, if you plan on selling your old cpu when you upgrade.
Overall, if you have the extra budget and regularly use your computer for extremely heavily multithreaded workloads, I'd say the 9950x bundle at $600 beats the 9900x bundle in value.
With regards to the ram included in these bundles, it's ddr5 6000 cl36 using samsung memory chips. This is rather disappointing, since compared to hynix memory the overclocking/tuning potential is substantially worse. That being said, if you'd just be leaving your ram timings at base expo settings anyways, the difference compared to even ddr5 6000 cl30 is quite minimal. Ddr5 6000 remains the mainstream sweetspot for zen5, since the memory controller hasn't been meaningfully improved from zen4. If you're willing to sell the ram, you recoup most of the cost of separately purchasing a higher end kit, 32gb ddr5 6000 cl30/cl32 can generally be found around $90 on sale (rarely $80).
I don't recommend "upgrading" to the 32gb corsair vengeance rgb kit unless you greatly prefer the aesthetics, you won't get any improvement in performance (in fact the primary timings are worse).
The 64gb kit you can "upgrade" to for $130 is dual rank ddr5 6000 cl30 using hynix memory, it'll have significantly better overclocking/tuning potential. That being said, with zen4/zen5, dual rank overclocking is more difficult than with single rank. If you need 64gb of ram anyways it might be worthwhile, but keep in mind there have been previously been sales of 64gb hynix kits for around $130, such as the $134 patriot venom 64gb ddr5 6400 cl32. You might theoretically get a better deal by selling the 32gb kit that comes with the base bundle and purchasing a higher end kit separately, but keep in mind prices have been volatile/rising.
All listed bundles, except for the 7600x bundle, should come with a free copy of Monster Hunter Wilds: https://www.microcenter
No mention of this is made on the bundle pages themselves, but if you scroll down on the cpu product pages the following information is provided:
"Get Monster Hunter Wilds™ when you buy select AMD Ryzen™ processors, AMD Radeon™ RX Series graphics cards or AMD configured systems.*
* Offer available through participating retailers only. 18+ only. Following purchase, product must be installed on system where coupon code will be redeemed. Void where prohibited. Residency and additional limitations apply. Full offer terms at www.amdrewards.
To Redeem your Game Key from AMDREWARDS.COM please follow the steps below:
- Step 1: Go to www.amdrewards.
- Step 2: Create an Account and Sign-in
- Step 3: Enter your coupon code. Then follow the steps-by-step process to redeem your reward(s).
- Step 4: Check the MY REWARDS page to view or activate your Game Keys.
*Offer available through participating retailers only. 18+ only. Following purchase, product must be installed on system where coupon code will be redeemed. Void where prohibited. Residency and additional limitations apply. Full offer terms at www.amdrewards.com/terms"It's also worth keeping in mind that the pc component market is highly volatile currently, particularly with all the market uncertainty around tariffs. If you'll need to upgrade in the near future, it may be better not to wait.
Doesn't help that Microcenter screwed up my build badly, and it has been nothing but problems since I brought it home.
I believe the CPU was not installed correctly by Microcenter because the red CPU fault light of the x670e MB is always on when the PC doesn't output on a display. I have to do a BIOS reset, and then it may or may not work for some time.
It's the least reliable yet most expensive PC I have ever owned. Would have been better off with a prebuilt, or at least having the build completed elsewhere.
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Upgrade to Corsair Vengeance RGB 32GB for $15.
Upgrade to Corsair Vengeance RGB 64GB for $130.
Also, the Thermalright coolers are a good value, but be sure to have them pricematch Amazon, where they are cheaper. Microcenter also doesn't seem to have the blackout ones, so maybe just buy the cooler from Amazon. They perform close (not exactly) to the Noctua's but MUCH cheaper.
Thermalright Phantom EVO (Blackout RGB, cover on heatpipes) [amazon.com]
Thermalright Phantom (Blackout) [amazon.com]
If you're going to go waaay overboard (don't). The Corsair iCue Link RGB Titan [microcenter.com] does pair exceptionally well with the Vengeance memory, but it's stupid expensive.
The MSI X670E Tomahawk is very stable, the X870E Tomahawk is NOT and it seems like a lot of the X870E boards have problems. I have had Asus only for decades, I am satisfied with the MSI X670E Tomahawk. I briefly had the X870E Tomahawk and had a lot of problems with it.
Also keep in mind Microcenter currently has the Intel 265K / Asus Z890 AYW / 32GB [microcenter.com] bundle available for $500. It is a very good power efficient combo. It just can't keep up with the X3D in games. This chip roughly matches a 9900X in games, often beating it and is much stronger in productivity stuff because it has 20 cores...but there's no upgrade path.
AMD will have an upgrade path, Intel just recently announced the next desktop chips will have a different socket, so if you ever want to upgrade with the Intel combo, you'll need a new motherboard too. It depends how often you upgrade and what that normally looks like. If there is any chance you'd swap out a 9700X/9900X for a 9950X3D or 9800X3D or whatever, then definitely go AMD this time.
I ended up with a 265K/Z890 and a 9800X3D/X670E system. One for media, one for games.
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