Intel Alder Lake CPU prices could fall by up to 20%

[midian182]

Why it matters: Thinking about buying an Alder Lake PC? If a new report turns out to be accurate, you might find one cheaper than expected. PC partners look set to benefit from an Intel reduction on the 12th-generation desktop and laptop processors, which would see the higher-end chips' prices slashed by over $100.

Citing industry sources, the report from Taiwanese publication DigiTimes (via Tom's Hardware) claims that Intel is in talks with specific PC vendors to cut Alder Lake prices by up to 20%, a move that comes after Intel increased the CPU prices in Q4 2022.

Like most tech companies, Intel is feeling the effects of a turbulent economy that has seen consumer demand for expansive products crash. The firm recently posted massive quarterly losses, cut employee wages and bonuses, and canceled expansion plans at R&D sites.

On top of all this, Intel is struggling to move high levels of inventory at a time when customers are cutting their stock levels as consumer demand wanes. Slashing the price of Alder Lake, which uses a hybrid core design, could be an effective way of selling off excess stock. DigiTimes does note, however, that customers who bought stock of the chips before the new year are furious about the price drop. But then don't we all feel that way when something we've just bought gets reduced.

[DigiTimes] Intel will cut 12th Gen CPU price as much as 20%https://t.co/FcZpu5JdjF

Here is price chart. I cut from new price. pic.twitter.com/sDt6Mf9dTj

— 포시포시 (@harukaze5719) February 1, 2023

Twitter user Harukaze5719 has put together a table showing the Alder Lake chips' launch prices, their prices after the Q4 2022 increase, and how much they will be following the 20% reduction. Some of the higher-end models, like the excellent Core i9-12900 series and the Core i7-12700K (which this writer loves), will see their prices fall by more than $100.

A big caveat in all this is that these cuts will be for tray processors that are sold in bulk to high-volume manufacturers like Acer, ASUS, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, MSI, Lenovo, etc., who might not pass the full saving onto the consumer. Still, we can expect to see at least some reduction in Alder Lake system prices.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/97459-intel-alder-lake-cpu-prices-look-set-fall.html

 

[Theinsanegamer]

What a surprise, adding more e cores onto alder lake does not make a convincing argument.

Maybe if they provided that 10 P core 10900k successor instead of shoving 16 e cores that nobody needs (really how many do you need? They're power saving cores, 4 is plenty) and made 2.5gbe standard on their chipsets they may get some sales....

Oh wait, thats broken too, forgot.

the 10nm ghost is never going to leave them alone, is it?

 

[yRaz]

What a surprise, adding more e cores onto alder lake does not make a convincing argument.

Maybe if they provided that 10 P core 10900k successor instead of shoving 16 e cores that nobody needs (really how many do you need? They're power saving cores, 4 is plenty) and made 2.5gbe standard on their chipsets they may get some sales....

Oh wait, thats broken too, forgot.

the 10nm ghost is never going to leave them alone, is it?

I'd argue that 8e cores is the max because they lack hyper threading. IIRC, and correct me if I wrong, 8e cores take up about as much space as a single P core anyway. But you're right about 16e cores being way too much, it's silly at that point.

As a side note, I'd like to point out that "node size" is not directly linked to gate size anymore, atleast not directly with TSMC being the largest offender but thankfully they're abandoning "nano-meter" naming and just calling them N5, N3, N2. In reality Intel 7nm is almost identical to TSMC's 5NM. I'd also like to point out the medias role in perpetuating the nano-meter lie.

And going back to Intel, they had no incentive from AMD for basically a decade to innovate. AMD finally put pressure on Intel and they very quickly became competitive again.

 

[PaladinNH]

Alder Lake was actually a decent chip, the first that actually made me look at Intel since Zen's release. Just built a system based around a 12400F I got for $133 with the Asus ProArt B660 for $100 and 32GB DDR4 for $67. Build me a system that's going to perform better (or anywhere close) for $300. Ryzen 5600 the only alternative, and that platform's dead.

Limiting the boost clock on lower end processors is a PITA though, but this has been standard practice for years. I honestly don't need more than the 4GHz all-core I get (for now), but the only reason it's limited is $$.

 

[Skjorn]

These are already cheaper at microcenter than this speculation cut. They were giving free mobos with them too. Now the promo boards are $70.

 

[Nobina]

If they drop it by 20%, ask for 30%.

 

[wiyosaya]

I think Intel's rudder is stuck in such a way as to make them go in circles. Sorry, Intel. No one is buying into the marketing spiel of "Intel" anymore.

 

[Watzupken]

I don't know if dropping prices is going to save Intel though. Their problem statement was that the margin was lower than they would like. So while they increased about 10% previously, cutting it by 20% is going to leave them worst off. Furthermore, Raptor Lake chips are said to be selling very poorly as buyers favor Zen 3 or Alder Lake as both are more affordable. For example, while the 12400 is slower than 13400, particularly in multithreaded performance as it is missing the E-cores, there is very little impact in games. And the former is quite a fair bit cheaper than the 13400 on Amazon. So any price cut with Alder Lake is going to see similar price cuts with Raptor Lake. Alder Lake chips will eventually deplete, but if cheaper Alder Lake chips are selling well because of their value, the same limitation will apply to Raptor Lake in my opinion. Furthermore, AMD is already starting to cut prices of their Zen 4 chips. So even more downward pressure on price.