Why will the website NOT let me upgrade processor from i5 to i7, and does it matter?

[tomhosker]

As per the attached screenshot, when I try to upgrade my current PC from using an i5 processor to i7, but no such option exists in the dropdown menu, although I notice the i7 is sold elsewhere on the site. Why is this? Is it a bug? Is there something in my current setup which is compatible with the i5 processor, but not the i7?

I can think of two situations in which none of this matters:

1. I can just order an i7 processor more directly and install it; if the i5 processor worked, the i7 should work without incident.
2. The difference in performance between an i5 and an i7 processor is negligible for most purposes.

But are either of the above true?

 

[Martinr36]

Maybe that they don't have any to fit your socket

 

[tomhosker]

Maybe that they don't have any to fit your socket

So you think it might be that they only have, for the sake of argument, i7 processors which connect via HDMI, but I don't have any such port on my motherboard?

 

[TonyCarter]

So you think it might be that they only have, for the sake of argument, i7 processors which connect via HDMI, but I don't have any such port on my motherboard?

No.

You have a 9th Gen i5 (LGA1151 socket), so would need an i7 for that socket...and as the 9th gen was the last to use that socket, you're limited to 9th Gen i7s.

If PCS don't stock them anymore, then they can't sell you one.

HDMI will purely be if the CPU has an iGPU or not - so a 9700K and others will have an iGPU (Intel UHD Graphics 630), but anything with an 'F' such as the 9700F will not.