Big savings on this Intel 14th Gen, Z790, DDR5 bundle on Micro Center, plus what GPU we'd pick to go with it

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So it looks like Intel is gearing up for its next wave of CPUs, which are rumored to be heading our way towards the end of October. While you may want to wait for these to roll in, we thought this bundle from Micro Center held some serious appeal, thanks to its powerful Intel Core i7-14700K processor, ASUS Z790 motherboard, and 32GB of DDR5 6000 – for under $550.

Let’s take a closer look at each of these components and what they bring to the table. Plus, we’ll give you our recommendation for which GPU we’d say is worth going with it.

Prices and savings subject to change. Click through to get the current deal prices.

Save $119.98

Intel Core i7-14700K, ASUS Z790 Gaming WiFi7, G.Skill Ripjaws S5 32GB Kit DDR5 6000, Computer Build Bundle

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Breaking down the bundle

Intel Core i7-14700K

First up, the Intel Core i7-14700K, which we put through its paces in our in-depth review a while ago and gave 4.5 stars.

This CPU is a powerful mid-range option for gaming and productivity. It boasts 20 cores and 28 threads, but what stood out for many was the inclusion of 8 P-cores and 12 E-cores – which is an increase from the 13700K’s 16 cores (8P and 8E). Again – that’s not exactly the biggest uptick, but it does mean it’s a little faster and offers slightly improved performance.

Many consider this to be one of the best CPUs for gaming, so we put it to the test ourselves, or rather our in-house CPU expert Jack Howarth did…

We found it to be ‘especially capable processor for gaming, especially when paired with one of the best graphics cards’. To give you an idea, we saw FPS on Cyberpunk 2077 reach 225 and CS2 reach a massive 355, when paired with an RTX 4070 Ti.

In Synthetic benchmarks, these were the results:

Cinebench R23 (single)	2,174
Cinebench R23 (multi)	33,914
Geekbench 6 (single)	3,092
Geekbench 6 (multi)	21,046

Impressive to say the least, especially with multi-core tests, making this not only an excellent CPU for gaming but also activities such as rendering or streaming.

This CPU typically hovers around the $400 mark, and the next components in the bundle showcase just how much bang for your buck you’re getting here.

ASUS Z790 Gaming WiFi7 motherboard

Z790 motherboards started hitting the scene around a year ago, and are basically the last of their generation designed specifically to be compatible with 14th Gen Intel CPUs and, more importantly, allow enthusiasts to overclock. They also boast more, and faster, connectivity – which is a solid quality of life improvement.

With this particular motherboard, it ticks more than a few boxes that will improve your experience, and allow you some flexibility in the future.

In terms of PCI lanes, where essentially the more the better, you’re getting 5 in total (3x PCI 4, 1x PCI 5, and 1x PCI Express). That’s good if you want more capacity for faster drives or graphics cards.

USB connectivity is also good here with 1x USB-C 3.2(Gen 2×2), 1x USB 3.2 (Gen 2), and 2x USB 3.2 (Gen 1). You’ve also got Wifi 7, which may not be the most readily available WiFi available at the moment – but will come in handy when it does become more commonplace.

Typically this motherboard goes for around $350…so we’re already into massive savings, but let’s take a quick look at the final component.

G.Skill Ripjaws S5 32GB Kit DDR5 6000

DDR5 RAM can handle around double the frequency as DDR4, which basically means that it can handle heavier workloads. While the effect on gaming isn’t super noticeable, unless you’re playing titles like Minecraft that rely quite heavily on RAM, it’s always better to have DDR5 in our eyes.

You’re getting 32GB of DDR5 RAM here, which usually goes for around $150. Another solid saving if you ask us!

What GPU should you pair with this bundle?

If you’re looking for a strong graphics card to pair with the bundle, then a top choice from Nvidia is where you’re going to want to have a look. That’s where our review of the RTX 4070 Ti Super will help guide you in the choice, as it brings plenty of power and features that will complement the rest of the build quite nicely.

Primed for 1440p gaming but very much capable of 4K performance, it has 16GB of GDDR6X RAM with over 670 GB/s of bandwidth. That lets you load up on plenty of resolutions of workloads that you need. Along with over 8,000 CUDA cores and a 2.6GHz clock rate does runs rather quickly and with plenty of computing power.

Although it might be rather big and still have close to a 300W power requirement, it is a worthy solution, sitting at a bit more worthy value. With an MSRP of $800, it is a bit more expensive choice but it definitely is not as much as the 4080 Super so gives you a solid in-between choice.

Along with that, the addition of DLSS 3 and frame generation, can give it an easy boost to the performance as well with games that support it. As well as having great ray tracing capability makes it the choice if you want both a high framerate and a good-looking quality too.