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Eragorn | Staff 22.4K Views
Oct 2, 2026 3:40 PM

Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus + 32GB G.Skill Ripjaws S5 + Gigabyte B860 DS3H WiFi6E

$500

$850

41% off
(Select Stores) + Free Pickupat Micro Center
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Deal Details
Select Micro Center Locations have Bundle: Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus CPU, Gigabyte B860 DS3H WiFi6E 1851 MB, 32GB G.Skill Ripjaws S5 DDR5-6000 RAM for $499.99. Choose free store pickup where available.

Thanks to Deal Hunter Eragorn for posting this deal.
  • Note: Visit your Micro Center store and feel free to browse/shop. When ready to checkout, please proceed to pickup area for your order. Just make sure to bring your preferred payment method with you and pay the pickup counter register. Please note – Your order will be held for a maximum of 3 days. Availability for pickup may vary by location.
Includes:
  • Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus Arrow Lake 4.2GHz Eighteen-Core LGA 1851 Boxed Processor - Heatsink Not Included (BX80768250K)
  • 32GB (2 x 16GB) G.Skill Ripjaws S5 DDR5-6000 PC5-48000 CL36 Dual Channel Desktop Memory Kit (F5-6000J3636F16GX2-RS5K, Black)
  • Gigabyte B860 DS3H WIFI6E Intel LGA 1851 ATX Motherboard

Editor's Notes

Written by SubZero5 | Staff
  • About this deal:
    • Please see the original post for additional details & give the WIKI and additional forum comments a read for helpful discussion.
  • About this store:
    • Details of Micro Center's return policy (here)

Original Post

Written by Eragorn | Staff
Community Notes
About the Poster
Deal Details
Community Notes
About the Poster
Select Micro Center Locations have Bundle: Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus CPU, Gigabyte B860 DS3H WiFi6E 1851 MB, 32GB G.Skill Ripjaws S5 DDR5-6000 RAM for $499.99. Choose free store pickup where available.

Thanks to Deal Hunter Eragorn for posting this deal.
  • Note: Visit your Micro Center store and feel free to browse/shop. When ready to checkout, please proceed to pickup area for your order. Just make sure to bring your preferred payment method with you and pay the pickup counter register. Please note – Your order will be held for a maximum of 3 days. Availability for pickup may vary by location.
Includes:
  • Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus Arrow Lake 4.2GHz Eighteen-Core LGA 1851 Boxed Processor - Heatsink Not Included (BX80768250K)
  • 32GB (2 x 16GB) G.Skill Ripjaws S5 DDR5-6000 PC5-48000 CL36 Dual Channel Desktop Memory Kit (F5-6000J3636F16GX2-RS5K, Black)
  • Gigabyte B860 DS3H WIFI6E Intel LGA 1851 ATX Motherboard

Editor's Notes

Written by SubZero5 | Staff
  • About this deal:
    • Please see the original post for additional details & give the WIKI and additional forum comments a read for helpful discussion.
  • About this store:
    • Details of Micro Center's return policy (here)

Original Post

Written by Eragorn | Staff

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Top Comments

Community Reviews

This Micro Center bundle stands out as a very strong value for a modern productivity and gaming build, especially because it includes 32GB of DDR5 and a motherboard at a price that is hard to match separately. The Core Ultra 5 250K and 270K are described as fast, smooth in games, and excellent for productivity, with the integrated graphics adding useful backup, troubleshooting, and home server flexibility. Intel Quick Sync is also praised for transcoding. The main caveat is that AM5 offers a better upgrade path and some gaming-focused alternatives may be stronger, but they cost more. A solid pick if you want a well-rounded platform now.

Common Questions (6)

  • Yes. The CPU has an iGPU, which is useful for video output if a discrete GPU fails, for troubleshooting, or for repurposing the system as a home server without keeping a graphics card installed. That makes it more flexible than F-series chips that lack onboard video.

  • Yes. The bundle is described as heavily discounted, with the CPU alone reportedly sold by Micro Center for $200 and the motherboard plus CPU nearly matching the cost of the RAM by itself at current prices. That makes the full $499.99 combo unusually strong value for a 32GB DDR5 build.

  • If you care more about productivity or want extra headroom for the next 5+ years, the 270K is the safer pick and is often framed as worth about $100 more. The 250K is still considered enough for many builds, but the 270K is the stronger long-term option.

  • For pure gaming, an AM5 X3D bundle can be the better choice if Micro Center discounts one with 32GB RAM. The Intel bundle is still considered a killer deal, but the AMD option offers stronger gaming performance and AM5 platform longevity.

  • Yes for many users. It is described as a major upgrade from older CPUs, with strong real-world gaming smoothness and very good productivity performance, and the 32GB RAM plus open memory slots leave room to grow later.

  • It depends on the exact motherboard features. DisplayPort 2.1 and USB-C 3.1/4 can support multiple displays, and if the onboard outputs are not enough, a cheap low-end GPU can be added to handle extra monitors.

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52 Comments

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Oct 2, 2026 4:09 PM
84 Comments
Joined Aug 2007
mystwuOct 2, 2026 4:09 PM
84 Comments
ha
This deal is like paying $500 for RAM and get CPU and board for free.
By the way, MC starts forcing people to show photo ID and sign no-export paper when buying high end PC and PC parts. I dont know how MC defines the high end parts.
1
1
Oct 2, 2026 4:31 PM
6.9K Comments
Joined Dec 2004
CaleoOct 2, 2026 4:31 PM
6.9K Comments
Quote from mystwu View quoted comment :
ha
This deal is like paying $500 for RAM and get CPU and board for free.
By the way, MC starts forcing people to show photo ID and sign no-export paper when buying high end PC and PC parts. I dont know how MC defines the high end parts.
Yep. Got the $599 270K+ bundle myself recently and it's basically the same story. Would've been more expensive buying just the CPU & RAM elsewhere.

Finally got it built earlier this week, very pleased with the 270K+ - good upgrade from my aging (albeit still capable) Ryzen 5900X which was starting to hitch/stutter in games. Everything's buttery smooth again with the 270K+ and it's got performance headroom for days. Multithreaded perf is over 2x what it was before, and single threaded perf is over 1.5x.
Oct 2, 2026 4:40 PM
2.6K Comments
Joined Mar 2008

This comment has been rated as unhelpful by Slickdeals users.

Oct 2, 2026 5:03 PM
736 Comments
Joined May 2010
Kaveman42Oct 2, 2026 5:03 PM
736 Comments
Quote from isekii View quoted comment :

Why did you choose this vs AM5 which has an upgrade path ?
The 270k+ combo is so competitively priced at MC that a comparable performing combo for the 9800x3D is $900. You can always buy a new motherboard if you decide to go back to AM5 down the road with the $300 savings. Typically the 9800x3D combo was around $600-700 before that RAM price gouging.
Oct 2, 2026 5:09 PM
736 Comments
Joined May 2010
Kaveman42Oct 2, 2026 5:09 PM
736 Comments
If you can swing an additional $100, go with the 270k+combo. That price to performance makes it the #1 CPU for budget builds these days breathing down the neck of AMD's 9800x3d and 9950x3d.
Oct 2, 2026 5:24 PM
6.9K Comments
Joined Dec 2004
CaleoOct 2, 2026 5:24 PM
6.9K Comments
Quote from isekii View quoted comment :

Why did you choose this vs AM5 which has an upgrade path ?
Because there wasn't an attractive Ryzen bundle available at or near a comparable price, and by the time I want to upgrade my CPU anyway, there's usually aspects of whatever motherboard I bought at the time that I want to upgrade too..

The 270K+ is a pretty good chip from a 'real world idle' efficiency standpoint as well as being a highly performant chip overall. It will likely eventually upgrade my old i5-8600K+ server setup and a CPU/mobo that sip power @ idle/near-idle loads is important for that use case, as is having integrated graphics onboard, which many AMD chips do not (or did not) typically come with.
Oct 2, 2026 6:01 PM
49 Comments
Joined Sep 2026
dave.basicOct 2, 2026 6:01 PM
49 Comments
Fuel cost for me to drive to my nearest MC kills this deal for me. Great deal otherwise!
1

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Oct 2, 2026 6:05 PM
3K Comments
Joined Dec 2007
nycdudeOct 2, 2026 6:05 PM
3K Comments
I would have thought long and hard about this great priced setup if I didn't have my current AM5 setup.
1
Oct 2, 2026 6:12 PM
4.6K Comments
Joined Mar 2006
tqlla3kOct 2, 2026 6:12 PM
4.6K Comments
Quote from mystwu View quoted comment :
ha
This deal is like paying $500 for RAM and get CPU and board for free.
By the way, MC starts forcing people to show photo ID and sign no-export paper when buying high end PC and PC parts. I dont know how MC defines the high end parts.
High end is probably a 5090, or something thats on the export control list.
Oct 2, 2026 6:13 PM
4.6K Comments
Joined Mar 2006
tqlla3kOct 2, 2026 6:13 PM
4.6K Comments
Quote from Kaveman42 View quoted comment :
If you can swing an additional $100, go with the 270k+combo. That price to performance makes it the #1 CPU for budget builds these days breathing down the neck of AMD's 9800x3d and 9950x3d.
What about the Ultra7 265KF for $550. It doesnt have built in video out, but is that necessary anyways?
Oct 2, 2026 6:14 PM
1.5K Comments
Joined Dec 2003
GolgathaOct 2, 2026 6:14 PM
1.5K Comments
Quote from Kaveman42 View quoted comment :
The 270k+ combo is so competitively priced at MC that a comparable performing combo for the 9800x3D is $900. You can always buy a new motherboard if you decide to go back to AM5 down the road with the $300 savings. Typically the 9800x3D combo was around $600-700 before that RAM price gouging.
The sad thing is you can just about pitch the motherboard and CPU in this combo, and still not be out too much versus buying the RAM by itself with current prices.
Oct 2, 2026 6:20 PM
736 Comments
Joined May 2010
Kaveman42Oct 2, 2026 6:20 PM
736 Comments
Quote from tqlla3k View quoted comment :
What about the Ultra7 265KF for $550. It doesnt have built in video out, but is that necessary anyways?
Here's my take on having an iGPU. If you have any interest in eventually repurposing your PC as a standalone home server after you retire it from daily use, the iGPU is the way to go. There's no need to keep a dedicated GPU installed and drawing unnecessary power just to get video output.
Another good reason to have an iGPU is for troubleshooting or as a backup. If your dedicated GPU fails and you need to RMA it or you're waiting to buy a replacement, you can still use your PC in the meantime. Sure, you won't be gaming, but at least you'll have a fully usable computer for everything else.

The F series CPU's make sense when your building out 100's of computers where the savings can add up. For consumers that will only buy one, the savings is not worth the benefit of the iGPU.
Oct 2, 2026 6:21 PM
9.5K Comments
Joined Jul 2006
NattefrostOct 2, 2026 6:21 PM
9.5K Comments
lets see what nova lake brings- this platform is dead
2
Oct 2, 2026 6:22 PM
123 Comments
Joined Jan 2018
CyborgTOct 2, 2026 6:22 PM
123 Comments
just upgraded from my i7 9700 with 64gb memory..... finally after hours of deep thinking.... got myself 5600x3d, 64GB ddr4 is more important than am5 or new gen intels..... memory..... can't believe memory is the most important and expensive thing(other than graphic card) nowadays.

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Oct 2, 2026 6:23 PM
13.9K Comments
Joined Oct 2007
godfather927Oct 2, 2026 6:23 PM
13.9K Comments
I also decided to go with the 270k bundle. Waiting on my cooler and psu to ship before starting to assemble it

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