Adding my two cents here. Before you pull the trigger, what kind of cooling setup are you planning to use? If youre doing heavy 4K renders for hours, heat is gonna be your biggest enemy and I always prioritize long-term stability over a tiny speed boost. In my experience, Intel usually offers a more stable platform for video suites, though AMD has caught up a lot lately. Here are a couple of options that should be hitting that 350 to 400 dollar range during the sales:

• Intel Core i7-15700K 20-Core 5.5GHz
• AMD Ryzen 7 9700X 8-Core 5.5GHz I lean toward the i7 for editing builds personally because QuickSync is a lifesaver for timeline fluidity. Are you mostly working in Premiere or DaVinci Resolve? That really changes which architecture I would recommend for your specific workflow.

Regarding what #2 said about "Adding my two cents here. Before you pull..." heat is definitely the silent killer. I remember building a rig back in the day where I spent my whole budget on the CPU and the thing would shut down halfway through a 4K export... super frustrating. For that 350 to 400 range, I think the Intel Core i7-16700K 16-Core 5.8GHz is probably your best bet for the editing side of things. QuickSync is basically magic for scrubbing through timelines in Premiere. Ngl though, the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D 8-Core 5.2GHz is a total beast for gaming and its been seeing some deep discounts lately. I put one in my personal rig last year and the frame times are just rock solid. Just dont forget to factor in the motherboard cost since those newer sockets can be pricey.

Saw this earlier but just now getting a chance to respond. I agree with #3 about the QuickSync benefit, but honestly, the newest Intel stuff has been pretty disappointing for me. Ive had issues with stability on those 16th gen chips that just shouldnt be happening at this price point. It feels like we are paying more for less reliability lately.

• Intel Core i7-16700K 16-Core 5.8GHz: The speed is there for editing but its basically a space heater. I dont trust it for long renders without a massive cooling setup.
• AMD Ryzen 9 9900X 12-Core 5.6GHz: Its okay, but definitely not as good as expected compared to the old 5000 series legends. Feels a bit mid for the price.
• AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D 8-Core 5.2GHz: Awesome for gaming but itll probably let you down on the 4K editing side since it lacks the raw core count. Honestly, if you want something that wont crash when youre halfway through a project, id skip the bleeding edge and look for a discounted AMD Ryzen 9 7950X 16-Core 5.7GHz. Its older but way more rock solid than these newer releases... things just arent built like they used to be.

Since youre near a Micro Center, I would suggest looking at their bundle deals before they get picked over. For a 4K editing rig, you might want to consider the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X 12-Core 5.6GHz as it sits right in that $350 to $400 range during these sales. Be careful with the newest Intel architecture though. Even if the chip price is low, the motherboard costs for the new sockets can be pretty steep. I would suggest checking the power draw too, because those high-end chips can get expensive to cool during long video renders. Make sure to look at the Intel Core i7-14700K 20-Core 5.6GHz if the price drops below $300, but the AMD platform usually offers better value for mixed workloads right now. Just get to the store early and dont wait for the online stock to update.