Intel’s latest 6th generation Skylake processor became available for purchase earlier September, which we wrote about briefly here — but the desktops were taken off HP’s web store within a week after its initial “release.” This changed earlier today as Skylake processors and the specific HP desktops they’re paired with, made a return on HP.com.
Unfortunately for gamers, a few graphics card swap occurred and the more “reasonable” option is now no longer available. Here’s what happened: HP removed the GeForce GTX 970 $280 upgrade option for the HP Envy 750se and the Envy Phoenix 860st.
[aditude-amp id="flyingcarpet" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":1814007,"post_type":"sponsored","post_chan":"sponsored","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"games,","session":"A"}']In place, both desktop receives the slightly less powerful GeForce GTX 960, while the Envy Phoenix 860st receives an option of a beefy GeForce GTX 980Ti (for a pricey $680 before discount).
Having said this, as with new product introduction, there is a limited time 15% and 30% coupon available for the new desktop machines as of writing. Here’s the deal breakdown below:
Skylake HP Desktop Deals (October 2015)
- Use coupon code: HPPC15 (15% off)
- Recommended upgrade:
- GeForce GTX 970 4GB (+$85 after coupon)
- 500W Power Supply (+$25 after coupon)
- Total is $875.49 after upgrades
- Use coupon code: SEPTEMBER30 (30% off)
- Recommended upgrade:
- Core i7-6700k 4.0 Ghz Skylake CPU (+$34 after coupon)
- GeForce GTX 960 4GB (+$85 after coupon)
If you’re a serious gamer, the upgrade to the GTX 960 is a must (or swap out the included GTX 745 as soon as you get a chance to). This is especially true if you’ll be playing any modern games given the GTX 960 will be able to support most new titles at medium/high settings at a respectable frame rate – particularly paired with the new Skylake CPU.
The good thing in this GPU swap is that the more premium Envy Phoenix 860st is at a significantly more reasonable price tag. If you check out our previous post linked above, a very similar setup with a stronger GPU was priced at a very expensive $1,484. Even with the recommended upgrades above, you’ll still be well under $1,300.
Shipping lead time is also better at October 22nd for the custom built machines (vs. 4 weeks lead time from last September). Curious about the performance of the GTX 745? Check out this video here. For the GTX 960, there’s a good video comparison between its 4GB and 2GB model here (the HP desktops come with the 4GB model).