I'm visiting a Micro Center in Orange County tomorrow and want to upgrade my PC. I currently have a stock-speed Intel Core i9-9900K, 32GB of DDR4-2666 memory, and an RX 9700 XT. The system is usable at 1440p, but I'm getting stuttering in Cyberpunk and want better performance in modern AAA games. I'd also like to use the computer for photo and video editing for my church. My budget is about $500 for a processor, motherboard, RAM, and CPU cooler. The power supply and case are already good, so I don't need to replace them. Would Intel or AMD be the better choice for this mix of gaming and editing?
2 Answers
If you can stretch the budget by roughly $100, consider the Core Ultra 7 270K bundle with a compatible motherboard and 32GB of DDR5-6000 memory. The extra cores should be helpful for video editing, while the newer platform and faster RAM should also improve gaming performance.
One option is an Intel Core Ultra 5 250K bundle, paired with a Thermalright Phantom Spirit cooler. It should provide a substantial platform upgrade while keeping the cost close to your budget. If available, spending about $50 more for the 265 may be worthwhile.
The bundle was sold out at the Tustin location, but I’ll check whether they have a similar option in stock.