That's fuzzy math man. Other peripherals do not mitigate the cost of the processor. If the processor is expensive, then it is expensive no matter what you put it with. You're only fooling yourself if you think otherwise.
I sure hope you are not suggesting AMDs are not expensive?
I am not fooling myself and it is not fuzzy math. It is "strategic" planning, or even "strategic math", if you wish. You look only at the cost today. I look at the cost over the life of the computer.
You also put the cost as your top priority - or at least right up there near the top. Believe it or not, I totally respect that. Many of my clients feel the same way which makes it difficult when I try to talk them into a quality power supply and case instead of looking to cut corners in the budget with an inexpensive supply and case.
With you putting a top priority on the cost the CPU, then it seems only logical you would pick the Intel when looking at the
i7-7700K vs Ryzen 7 1700X or the MUCH more expensive
1800X. Right?
At the same time, Intel is barely a player in any of the emerging and growth markets where they could make use of their products
That's crazy. They are HUGE in cloud and IoT, memory, communications (including 5G) technologies, robotics/automation and autonomous driving/automotive safety and much more. Intel is looking way beyond the CPU for personal computers.