Thumbs up for the post!
I'd like to add a few words if i may.
I've been quite active in computer builds over the past few years and I have to say it was easier to put the parts together than to pick the out the parts. When it comes to buying/building a PC, I have to say it really comes down to a two main factors.
- How much are you willing to spend?
- What will you be using the computer for and what are your expectations?
Balancing these two can be tough, but knowing what you need and what you want is key to a budget build.
I personally wouldn't consider Coffee Lake (Intel's 8th gen cpu). As Trave160 mentioned, the starting price for these motherboards can be shocking and even more so when you don't plan on getting an unlocked cpu for overclocking.
But that's just me because I know what I need and I would be putting more money into my monitor and GPU if I could find room.
Just the other day I saw i7 6700k/7700k selling for $330-370CAD on craigslist. A lot better than spending $450+ for CPU and $150+ plus tax for a slight performance improvement.
In General, a PC build should be balanced performance wise and this is where product research and reviews come in. Quick example: Don't expect a $1300 4K monitor to run the way it is designed without upgrading your GPU. 4K gaming at lowest quality isn't exactly 4K =P.
Indeed, I don't understand the ball game Intel is playing with their products but it's not going so well. Especially with a great product like Coffee Lake which brought significant changes to their Core series CPUs since well...2008. Maybe Intel wants mindshare, people to think twice about not getting AMD's products. That's not how competition works and it just shows they're back to their schemes once more.
Yeah I hear you on that. I don't know the whole history of Intel or how they decide when to release new chips, I could say the same about Nvidea.
To be honest it's a bit frustrating because for example in my case, when I put my Skylake (6th gen) together I figured there's no way they would release a new chip. But they did, 2 cpu's that do not have motherboard compatibility. I sure as hell would be mad If i actually waited out for Kaby Lake then another same socket but different chipset comes out in less than a year. This is where I'll bring in Nvidia.
The 10 series, 1060 1070 1080. I don't remember the details but people who bought the Titan X pretty much got a good smack in the face when the 1080ti was released for substantially less (40% or so). I think it was released 6 months after. Then a Titan XP was released with 7-8% improved performance over the 1080ti the next month.. lol I have no clue..
This is why AMD's presence within the market matters, it keeps Monopolies like Nvidia in check. Honestly I don't know whose worse at times; Intel or Nvidia?