Intel Core i9-12900K/KF CPU prices drop close to $400

[midian182]

What just happened? Now that Intel's Raptor Lake processors are here and selling well, we're seeing discounts on the company's previous generation of CPUs, including the excellent Intel Core i9-12900K/KF. The Alder Lake flagship arrived last November with a $650 MSRP. Now, it's available for close to $400.

Amazon is selling the Intel Core i9-12900K for $416.99, which the site lists as a 41% discount over the usual price. They're likely selling out fast, so you could always forgo the integrated graphics and opt for the Intel Core i9-12900KF, currently available for $414.97.

Both deals are also available as bundle packs for those who need a motherboard. The Core i9-12900K with an MSI MEG Z690 Unify-X Gaming is $876.98, while the Core i9-12900KF with an MSI MEG Z690 Unify Gaming is $834. Both motherboards support DDR5 memory.

We love the Core i9-12900K, awarding it a score of 90 in our review. It packs 8 performance cores along with 8 efficient cores for a total of 24 threads. The P-Cores clock up to 5.2 GHz, with the E-Cores limited to 3.9 GHz. There's 30 MB of L3 cache, a total of 14MB of L2 cache, 16 PCIe 5.0 lanes from the CPU, and four PCIe 4.0 lanes. The chip has a default TDP of 125W.

Both CPUs are popular among Amazon customers, too. The Core i9-12900K has a score of 4.8 out of 5 from almost 1,000 reviews, while the i9-12900KF has a score of 4.7 from 349 reviews.

Interestingly, while we've not seen any significant discounts for the latest 13th-gen Raptor Lake CPUs, some of AMD's rival 7000 chips are already cheaper than they were at launch. The 12-Core, 24-Thread Ryzen 9 7900X, which arrived with a $549 MSRP, is available for $449, and the Ryzen 7950X dropped to $554 a few weeks ago. There have been reports of weak sales among Zen 4 processors, but team red did claw a large amount of user share back from Intel in last month's Steam survey.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/97028-intel-core-i9-12900kkf-cpu-prices-drop-close.html

 

[DukeJukem]

Yet for some reason the 12900f if is $480 usd right now and has been over $500 and even nearly $600 for a very long time. Even the KS is only $20 more than the 12900f on amazon right now. Why?! The included puny cooler that doesn't even allow the cpu to run at max performance? I've wanted to build a high end i9 non z series rig for a long time now and when msi released the mortar MAX b660 board I was even more ready to pull the trigger but I'm not giving intel that much for a 12900f...ever. especially if the included cooler wont even handle the processor. literal waste of money putting a cooler in an i9s box. this is just another example of intel being stupid and greedy with their pricing like when threadripper showed up and intel all of a sudden cut their prices of competing chips by an entire $grand. I could have a banger motherboard and an i9 for less than $600 when the board is on sale/if the 12900f were priced right...but nope. intel sucks and decides to put a worthless cooler in the box "justifying" the more expensive cost.

 

[Watzupken]

Yet for some reason the 12900f if is $480 usd right now and has been over $500 and even nearly $600 for a very long time. Even the KS is only $20 more than the 12900f on amazon right now. Why?! The included puny cooler that doesn't even allow the cpu to run at max performance? I've wanted to build a high end i9 non z series rig for a long time now and when msi released the mortar MAX b660 board I was even more ready to pull the trigger but I'm not giving intel that much for a 12900f...ever. especially if the included cooler wont even handle the processor. literal waste of money putting a cooler in an i9s box. this is just another example of intel being stupid and greedy with their pricing like when threadripper showed up and intel all of a sudden cut their prices of competing chips by an entire $grand. I could have a banger motherboard and an i9 for less than $600 when the board is on sale/if the 12900f were priced right...but nope. intel sucks and decides to put a worthless cooler in the box "justifying" the more expensive cost.

If you are planning to get an i9 or even Ryzen 9, there is no stock cooler that can keep up if you allow the CPU to run with no power cap. I would think that Intel should just ditch the stock cooler and transfer that cost savings to a cheaper price tag since even the shipping will be come cheaper.

 

[error1984]

Thats very nice sadly in other countries we pay vat tax so in europe the prices dont look that good.

 

[captaincranky]

Yet for some reason the 12900f if is $480 usd right now and has been over $500 and even nearly $600 for a very long time. Even the KS is only $20 more than the 12900f on amazon right now. Why?! The included puny cooler that doesn't even allow the cpu to run at max performance? I've wanted to build a high end i9 non z series rig for a long time now and when msi released the mortar MAX b660 board I was even more ready to pull the trigger but I'm not giving intel that much for a 12900f...ever. especially if the included cooler wont even handle the processor. literal waste of money putting a cooler in an i9s box. this is just another example of intel being stupid and greedy with their pricing like when threadripper showed up and intel all of a sudden cut their prices of competing chips by an entire $grand. I could have a banger motherboard and an i9 for less than $600 when the board is on sale/if the 12900f were priced right...but nope. intel sucks and decides to put a worthless cooler in the box "justifying" the more expensive cost.

Read this and weep: https://www.newegg.com/intel-core-i...41&cm_sp=Dailydeal_SS-_-19-118-341-_-12212022

You apparently just hate Intel. They never even used to include ANY cooler with the K processors. The weren't that stupid, and it took away any necessity to feel guilty about throwing one away.

The "F" (Not a "K" though), model in the link nets down to $399.98 w/free shipping. I know, I know, it's not a "K" model, it uses too much power, it runs too hot, but it's biggest fault is that it doesn't have "AMD" stamped on it.

BTW, the price is only good until 9:00 PM PST, today.

 

[Mr Majestyk]

Why buy a 12900 when 13700 is improved version and $420?? 12900 is now untenable at anything more than $350 IMO.

 

[captaincranky]

Why buy a 12900 when 13700 is improved version and $420?? 12900 is now untenable at anything more than $350 IMO.

Depending on how much closer to the Windows 11 / TPM.. 2.0 spec the 13xxx series CPUs are tuned, a 12xxx still might be the better choice. Although that's research I'm going to, (remorselessly), leave to a prospective buyer.