Retailers are beginning to reveal their street prices and availability for Intel’s new 12th-gen Core “Alder Lake” processors, and while they’re not outlandish, they’re not especially pretty either. Intel’s next-gen CPUs are slated to officially hit the streets on November 4, though several sites already have them available for preorder.
Intel unveiled the speeds, feeds and prices of its Alder Lake 12th-gen Core processors last week, alongside the “KF” models. Reviews of Intel’s Core i9-12900K are out now, too — here’s PCWorld’s Core i9-12900K review, as well as an abridged Alder Lake summary for those who want the highlights.
While the standard versions of Alder Lake include an integrated GPU, the KF versions do not, as they’re designed for PC users who already have a discrete graphics card. Using PCWorld’s automated tool to determine Alder Lake’s retail price and availability, it appears that a few days before launch those “KF” versions are nowhere to be found.
As expected, you’ll pay a premium over Intel’s list price to buy the new 12th-gen Core chips. Remember, Intel releases its pricing in what are known as “tray prices,” or lots of 1,000 units. Traditionally, that’s because Intel typically announces prices with retailers in mind, who buy up the chips in lots of 1,000 CPUs or so to pass along to end customers. Those retailers then mark up the prices of the CPUs to eke out a profit.
With the supply chain stretched thin, it was unclear whether or not end users would be able to find Intel’s Alder Lake CPUs at anything close to the manufacturer’s suggested retailer price, or MSRP. That chips are available and priced reasonably close to the tray prices is good news — though reviews of the new processor have yet to be released. (It’s worth noting that retailers have shipped a few individual units early, though there have also been anecdotal reports that those retailers have asked end users not to post benchmarks yet.)
Since our tool will constantly scan retailers for the best prices, you can use this page to check back for the best prices on Alder Lake, and to see if Intel’s 12th-gen Core chips are in stock. Good luck!
Author: Mark Hachman, Senior Editor
As PCWorld's senior editor, Mark focuses on Microsoft news and chip technology, among other beats. He has formerly written for PCMag, BYTE, Slashdot, eWEEK, and ReadWrite.