Great deal on X299...but is it worth it?

I was at my local Micro Center today and was checking out their open box motherboards. They had a clearanced, open box ASUS Prime X299-A motherboard, selling in-store for $309, down to $109. I picked it up, knowing it was a heck of a deal (it's in mint condition; looks like never taken out of anti-static bag), and knowing I could always return it within 15 days.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132993

I got home, looked online, and see it selling for about $100 used on ebay, and around $160-$180 new on ebay. I guess I didn't get quite the deal I was thinking, but whatever. I was thinking I could probably find a decent deal on an X299 CPU...nope, not even close. Can't even touch one for under $300.

I currently have a Ryzen 2600 paired with a 1080 Ti for my VR rig in the basement. My family room/gaming PC (27" 1440p) needs upgraded, and currently has a 2500k @ 4.4ghz paired with a STRIX RX 580. I was thinking this could be the answer, but needing to drop another $300+ into this, I'm sitting at over $400 for just CPU+MOBO. I can grab an R5 1600 with mobo for $130 at Micro Center, then upgrade the CPU in 6-12 months, if needed.

Thoughts? I'm thinking of just returning it to Micro Center, as the deal isn't nearly as good as I thought.

Thanks for any input.

Is this mostly a gaming rig? I think it would make more sense going the i9 9900K or i9 9700K route, IF you want to go Intel.

As for X299, while it may make sense for some use cases I think it's a poor value relative to Threadripper. I've seen 1950X's go on sale for around $500 these days.

Yeah, Intel has better single thread performance, but it's not going to make much of a difference if you are gaming at 1440p+. From what I have seen Skylake-X doesn't perform as well as Coffee Lake either in games. I think you'll have the option of upgrading to TR3 on X399 as well.

I think your idea of going with an R5 1600 and waiting for the third gen Ryzen chips to drop also sounds good.

evga x299 dark, best oc board

profiled said:

evga x299 dark, best oc board

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Did you even read the OP? Obviously not.

To the OP:
Realistically, I would just return the board unless you really have a need for the features of X299 (unlikely based on what you're saying). Essentially, you're looking at a 75% of the performance of a 7800X for $130 compared to $400+.

Return it.

Especially considering a secondary use PC is the potential target and you already have a nice 2600 chip.

It's going back. I checked the other Micro Center X299 motherboards, and about half of them are on clearance for around 50% off. It looks like Intel may be killing them off soon. I'm going to pick up the R5 1600 and ASUS Tuf mATX combo for $125 and call it a day. It should last me a few years.

Thanks.

The 1600 makes more sense for your use case.

x299 is dead for sure. Intel is not going to do crap with it anymore.

I say walk away from it. I did. 7820x was a fine CPU but the platform was a literal joke because it was a knee jerk reaction to AMD.

She's in my car, ready to go back on my lunch break. Thanks for all the input.