Intel's 12th Gen Alder Lake CPUs might be two years old but they still offer some insane value to performance and with the recent price discounts at various US retailers, they are an even better deal for budget and high-end PC builders.
Intel's 12th Gen Alder Lake CPU Discounts Get You 12 Cores For Just $126 US, 16 Core Starting At $329, i5-12600KF For $155
The Intel 12th Gen Alder Lake CPUs launched at the end of 2021 and were replaced by the 13th Gen Raptor Lake lineup last year. While Raptor Lake CPUs offer increased performance, mainly in the multi-threaded department thanks to increased threads, clocks, and cache, the 12th Gen CPU lineup still offers tremendous value for money which is made even better with the current prices.
Starting with the Intel Core i7-12700KF, the CPU can currently be bought for an insanely low price of just $126.32 US at Microcenter.
That's a savings of $303.67 US over its original MSRP of $429.99 US. For anyone building a new PC and having a Microcenter nearby, the 12700KF not only offers great performance but packs 12 cores and 20 threads while running at up to 5.0 GHz. At this price point, there's no reason to get any other sub-$200 US or even $250 US 6-core/8-core processors. Plus, the chip is compatible with any LGA 1700 socketed motherboard so you can go the DDR4 route to save some additional money or go the DDR5 route for slightly better performance.
Other retailers are also offering the chip at discounted prices of $219 US but that's nowhere close to what Microcenter has on offer. Next up, we have the Core i5-12600KF which can now be bought for $155 US at leading retailers such as Amazon and Newegg. If that Microcenter 12700KF runs out of stock, then the 12600KF is another chip that offers great value with its 10 cores & 16 threads that run at up to 4.9 GHz and offer 20 MB of L3 cache. This chip also supports overclocking and can be tuned to operate at above 5 GHz with ease while offering some great gaming capabilities in a very efficient design as we tested here.
Lastly, we have the Intel Core i9-12900K with its 16 cores and 24 threads retailing currently for a price of just $329 US at Newegg and Amazon. Once again, this is a great deal since it brings the pricing closer to the 5800X3D which is selling around $280 US nowadays. The 5800X3D CPU does match the 12900K in a few gaming instances but the 12900K offers vastly superior multi-threaded capabilities and at this price, I think new PC builders can consider the 12900K as an option. The AM4 platform still offers better cost-savings but you will end up with inferior I/O when compared to the newer LGA 1700 socketed boards.
Following is the full list of CPU deals found across major US retailers at the moment:
- Core i9-12900K 16 Core CPU - $341.98 (Newegg US)
- Core i9-12900KF 16 Core CPU - $329.99 (Amazon US)
- Core i9-12900KF 16 Core CPU - $329.99 (Newegg US)
- Core i7-12700K 12 Core CPU - $244.99 (Newegg US)
- Core i7-12700KF 12 Core CPU - $219.99 (Amazon US)
- Core i7-12700KF 12 Core CPU - $219.99 (Newegg US)
- Core i5-12600K 10 Core CPU - $189.99 (Newegg US)
- Core i5-12600K 10 Core CPU - $179,99 (Microcenter)
- Core i5-12600KF 10 Core CPU - $155.99 (Amazon US)
- Core i5-12600KF 10 Core CPU - $155.99 (Newegg US)
- Core i5-12700KF 12 Core CPU - $126,32 (Microcenter)
Overall, these new Intel 12th Gen Alder Lake CPU deals should provide users with even more options for their PC builds under the sub $200 and sub $300 US range.
