Intel has announced new price cuts for its 9th Generation Desktop CPU family as a part of its promotional price drop. The report comes from Tomshardware who has spotted various Intel processors listed with up to 25% discounts over at major retail outlets.
Intel 9th Gen Desktop CPUs Receive Up To 25% Price Cuts - Unlocked 8 Cores Starting at $340 US, Unlocked Core i5 With 6 Cores For $194.0 US
In the official statement forwarded to Tomshardware, Intel says that these price cuts are part of a promotional price drop which is one of the ways they work with their partners to support strong CPU demand of high-performance processors in the DIY segment.
Promotional price drops are one of the ways we work with our partners to continue supporting the strong market demand for high performance processors in the DIY segment.
Intel via Tomshardware
Launched last year, the 9th Generation Core family codenamed Coffee Lake-Refresh brought the first 8 core desktop processor on Intel's mainstream platform. The Intel Core i9-9900K 8 core CPU retained the gaming crown with a clock speed of up to 5 GHz. The CPU also saw a special variant known as the Core i9-9900KS which pushed all cores to 5 GHz for increased performance output.
The Intel Coffee Lake family has since been replaced with the 10th Gen Comet Lake Desktop CPU family but these price cuts do look pretty sweet in terms of performance per dollar compared to the existing 10th Gen lineup. Coming straight to the new prices, the CPUs are listed for:
- Intel Core i9-9900K 8 Core / 16 Thread Desktop CPU ($435.99 US @ Amazon)
- Intel Core i7-9700K 8 Core / 8 Thread Desktop CPU ($340.00 US @ Amazon)
- Intel Core i5-9600K 6 Core / 6 Thread Desktop CPU ($193.95 US @ Amazon)
- Intel Core i9-9900K 8 Core / 16 Thread Desktop CPU ($439.99 US @ Newegg)
- Intel Core i7-9700K 8 Core / 8 Thread Desktop CPU ($340.00 US @ Newegg)
- Intel Core i5-9600K 6 Core / 6 Thread Desktop CPU ($199.99 US @ Newegg)
Intel 9th Gen Desktop CPU Price Cuts
| CPU Name | CPU Family | Cores / Threads | Base Clock | Boost Clock | TDP | Cache | Official MSRPs | Price (Retailer 11/08/20) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intel Core i9-10900K | 14nm Comet Lake | 10/20 | 3.7 GHz | 5.3 GHz | 125W (PL1) | 20 MB | $499.99 US | $825.00 US Amazon |
| Intel Core i9-9900K | 14nm Coffee Lake-R | 8/16 | 3.6 GHz | 5.0 GHz | 95W (PL1) | 16 MB | $499.99 US | $435.99 US Amazon |
| Intel Core i7-10700K | 14nm Comet Lake | 8/16 | 3.8 GHz | 5.1 GHz | 125W (PL1) | 16 MB | $387.00 US | $409.99 US Amazon |
| Intel Core i7-9700K | 14nm Coffee Lake-R | 8/8 | 3.6 GHz | 4.9 GHz | 95W (PL1) | 12 MB | $385.00 US | $340.00 US Amazon |
| Intel Core i5-10600K | 14nm Comet Lake | 6/12 | 4.1 GHz | 4.8 GHz | 125W (PL1) | 12 MB | $263.00 US | $369.95 US Amazon |
| Intel Core i5-9600K | 14nm Coffee Lake-R | 6/6 | 3.7 GHz | 4.6 GHz | 95W (PL1) | 9 MB | $263.00 US | $193.95 US Amazon |
Now the Intel Core i9-9900K, despite the price cut, doesn't seem to offer better value than the Core i7-10700K which offers higher clock speeds at a lower price of $409.99 US (Amazon). The other two chips do look slightly better in terms of performance per dollar considering that the Core i7-9700K has a price of $340 US which is $69.99 US lower than the Core i7-10700K. The Core i7-9700K offers an unlocked design but lacks multi-threading as it has half the threads of the Core i7-10700K. If you aren't planning to overclock your CPU, then the Core i7-10700 (non-K) for $309.99 US (Amazon) has much better value and it retains 8 cores and 16 threads too.
In addition to that, the Core i7-10700 is supported by the LGA 1200 platform with several H470, B460 tier motherboards allowing users to adjust the PL ranges for higher base clocks. The Intel Core i5-9600K also receives a price all the way down to $199.99 US. If you compare the Core i5-10600K, then the chip offers far better value for $169.95 US less (Core i5-10600K costs $369.95 US at Newegg). Even the standard Core i5-10600 retails for $287.99 US (Newegg).
The Core i5-10400 does come with a lower price of $182.00 US (Newegg) but doesn't feature the higher clock speeds and unlocked design which the Core i5-9600K has to offer. Vice versa, the Core i5-9600K lacks the multi-threaded design which the Comet Lake CPUs offer across all Core i5 SKUs.
It's easy to tell that Intel is clearing out inventory of its 14nm 9th Generation Desktop CPUs to make room for the next-generation Rocket Lake lineup which are expected to be introduced at the end of 2020. Intel will also be facing some heated competition versus AMD in the second half of 2020 with the arrival of the next-generation Ryzen Desktop CPUs based on the Zen 3 architecture. Both 9th & 10th Gen family will have to keep up with major discounts that are expected to hit the existing 3rd Generation Ryzen family in the next couple of months.
