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Opinions on the 12900k $400 microcenter deal? (alien.top)

submitted 10 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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So, it's time to upgrade the 7700k and I'm looking at microcenter deals.

I did consider the 7700x initially, but given there are a lot of reported problems with RAM and stuff like that, I'm looking into the intel builds. The 12900k bundle is the same price, and to my surprise, has close to the same gaming performance of the 7700x.

https://www.microcenter.com/product/5006547/intel-core-i9-12900k,-msi-z690-a-pro-wifi-ddr5,-gskill-ripjaws-s5-32gb-kit-ddr5-6000,-computer-build-bundle

So, I just have some questions, has anyone tried this bundle, do you like it, is it a good experience for gaming?

Is it worth spending $50 more for a 13700k bundle instead? Kinda leery of that one because it seems to have potential motherboard issues, but it is tempting.

Link to that one.

https://www.microcenter.com/product/5006461/intel-core-i7-13700k,-asus-z790-p-prime-wifi-ddr5,-gskill-32gb-ddr5-6000-kit,-computer-build-combo

And for comparison's sake here's the 7700x one I'm also kinda sorta considering:

https://www.microcenter.com/product/5006269/amd-ryzen-7-7700x,-msi-b650-p-pro-wifi,-gskill-flare-x5-series-32gb-ddr5-6000-kit,-computer-build-bundle

A few other questions I have:

Should I swap out my PSU? I'm using a 7 year old thermaltake toughpower 750w gold. I heard you should replace PSUs after your warranty expires, but i have had zero issues with my PSU. I would be swapping it out as a precaution if I did as a PSU failure can be catastrophic to the rest of my system. I'd prefer to avoid upgrading my PSU if I dont have to as this stuff is kinda expensive, ya know? But if it's for the best...

And if you're wondering about what wattage I'd need my GPU is a 6650 XT. I may upgrade to something else during the projected life of this next build (5-8 years) but I doubt it would be SIGNIFICANTLY more power hungry than that. Like I'm not ever going to be throwing in a 4090 or something with this.

Would a thermaltake peerless assassin or phantom spirit be a decent air cooler for it? I know the 12900k is a very hot CPU, but some benchmarks did suggest that that's the best bang for your buck air cooler available.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

The bundle is a dead link for me.

I have found that the motherboards on these combo deals can be the weakest point lacking.

Never been happy with my ASUS I got with my 12700k. Double check the reviews on the mother board. It's really a component you don't want to get wrong.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

I've used numerous Microcenter 7700x/MSI pro b650/32 gb g.skill flare combos, they work great without RAM issues (assuming you update the BIOs at build time, which you should with all main boards) and can be cooled with a cheap Peerless Assassin, etc.

The RAM kits in the Intel bundle are the same Samsung/cl36 modules as the AMD kit, just with an XMP vs EXPO profile. I've used dozens in both flavors without issue.

The 12900k bundle isn't bad, it's a less power efficient architecture that runs hotter and games slower.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

A lot of 12th gen won't post above 5600mhz either. DDR5 is finicky and most people don't know how to deal with them. Also it's much less of a problem after Agesa 1007b for AMD.

Worst case you buy a new set of RAM but if you have a bad IMC you are really done.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

I have a 12900k, a 13900k and a 14900k. Definitely get the 12900k, it's the one I'm using on the daily. Way more manageable, with a little bit of undervolting you'll be impressed at how efficient and fast it is... Sadly you can't do the same on 13th gen cpus cause their clockspeeds are too high, they don't take the same amount of uv.

A well tuned 12900k outperforms a 7800x 3d in games and does so with very low power draw. It's a thing of beauty.