Intel re-enters Amazon's top-10 best-selling CPUs after over a year, but AMD still dominates

[DragonSlayer101]

The takeaway: AMD's domination in the desktop CPU market has been so remarkable that all 10 top-selling processors on Amazon throughout 2025 were from Team Red. Now, though, two Intel processors have secured a spot on the top-10 list for the first time in over a year.

Intel's Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and Core i7-14700K rank #6 and #9, respectively, surrounded by an array of Ryzen chips spanning multiple generations. Both are mid-range parts, priced at $255 and $312, respectively. The 270K Plus belongs to Intel's Arrow Lake Refresh series, while the 14700K comes from the Raptor Lake Refresh lineup.

The rest of the CPUs on the list are from Ryzen 9000, 7000, and 5000 series, with the Ryzen 7 9800X3D leading the pack.

The Ryzen 5 5500 is the top pick for budget-minded builders, landing at #2 ahead of pricier options like the Ryzen 5 9600X, Ryzen 7 5800X3D, and Ryzen 7 7800X3D, which came in at #3, #4, and #5, respectively.

The Ryzen 9 9950X3D and Ryzen 5 7600X took #7 and #8, with the Ryzen 5 5600X rounding out the top 10. The next ten spots are also mostly AMD's, with just two entries from Team Blue against eight from Team Red. Still, 20% representation in the top-20 list marks a notable improvement for a company that's been struggling to match its former glory.

AMD pushed Intel out of Amazon's best-selling CPU list back in November 2024, after Team Blue's Arrow Lake "Core Ultra 200" desktop launch fumbled spectacularly. The Ryzen 7 5700X was that month's best-seller, while the highest-ranking Intel chip, the Core i5-13600KF, sat at #12.

The main reason the two Intel chips have clawed their way back into the top-10 this month is insane DDR5 memory prices that are pushing more buyers to upgrade their existing DDR4 systems rather than splurge on a new platform. That dynamic is boosting Intel's Core i9-14900K and Core i7-14700K, both of which support DDR4, while AMD's 9850X3D, 9950X, and 9900X have slipped down the list because they're DDR5-only.

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Intel re-enters Amazon's top-10 best-selling CPUs after over a year, but AMD still dominates

 

[Megalomaniac]

My last computer is a 5960x Core i7 with 32GB DDR4, 3090 and 10 TB SSD.

It’s just sitting there collecting dust.

 

[toooooot]

270k plus is a great CPU. I could notice the difference even though I upgraded from his very predecessor, 265k.

And it often goes on sail. If you decide to get it, watch for a price a bit. 260 was the lowest it sold but often it gets below 300.

 

[yRaz]

270k plus is a great CPU. I could notice the difference even though I upgraded from his very predecessor, 265k.

And it often goes on sail. If you decide to get it, watch for a price a bit. 260 was the lowest it sold but often it gets below 300.

I love sailing. Jokes aside, Intel's new products are really compelling, I don't care what people say about the ecores.

 

[Mr Majestyk]

270K is crazy good value, if it had of been released as the 265K from the outset I would have jumped ship as it.

Why are people still stupid enough to buy cRaptor Lake 14700K though?

 

[MiqWalsh]

My last computer is a 5960x Core i7 with 32GB DDR4, 3090 and 10 TB SSD.

It’s just sitting there collecting dust.

Yawn..... Oh, fer Chrissakes.

Still bragging. *Zzzzzz...*

Many people would give their right arm for a rig like that, given the current ridiculous state of affairs. Why don'tcha donate it to someone more deserving? Clearly, it's SO "yesterday's news" where you're concerned....

 

[maxxcool7421]

Im still surprised Intel even exists ... 10 months ago they were all but written off.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Im still surprised Intel even exists ... 10 months ago they were all but written off.

Intel is far more then Amazon CPU sales. Even now they still make up a majority of x86 CPU sales and have enormous revenue.

270K is crazy good value, if it had of been released as the 265K from the outset I would have jumped ship as it.

Why are people still stupid enough to buy cRaptor Lake 14700K though?

The same reason people buy 5800x3ds in 2026. People upgrading older builds using i3s or i5s, or building using leftover DDR4 memory.

 

[loki1944]

You guys sure like to ignore Intel's dominance in the DoD. In 28 years of military and contract military work from tactical to strategic; I have never seen an AMD CPU in use. My inventories for and/or ues of computers at the National/Corps/Brigade/BN/Co I never once saw a property book listing anything other than Intel CPUs.

 

[Rudyduu]

You guys sure like to ignore Intel's dominance in the DoD. In 28 years of military and contract military work from tactical to strategic; I have never seen an AMD CPU in use. My inventories for and/or ues of computers at the National/Corps/Brigade/BN/Co I never once saw a property book listing anything other than Intel CPUs.

I work for the DoD and I'm logged into a device that's hosted on a server with an AMD CPU.

 

[Axeia]

Im still surprised Intel even exists ... 10 months ago they were all but written off.

I mean they were dropping off but aside from power draw they did stay pretty relevant performance wise.
The majority of CPU sales was and still is in their hands.
The laptop market is still rather firmly in their hands (AMD has always struggled creating enough mobile chips for the laptop makers to massively jump on board).

I've always thought they were one great architecture away from a comeback, or one decent one from staying relevant enough. AMD before Zen was written off by basically everyone.
Intel was mostly just written off by gamers because they lost the gaming (and efficiency) throne. Performance in non gaming task was still good.
Their chips killing them did do great harm though, they lost some big customers there that won't come back any time soon unless AMD makes the same mistake.

The 'cove' architecture was decent enough, it brought power usage back under control and with some iterating the performance is alright. They're not really behind AMD aside from gaming and they seem to be cooking up some stuff to tackle that.

Don't think their fabs are ever at risk of going under, much like Boeing the US government will come to the aid if needed because the US being able to produce its own chips/planes is way too important of a capability to lose.
As mismanaged as Intel has been, it doesn't hold a candle against the incompetence at Boeing.

 

[Loadedaxe]

The memory crisis has finally made Intel's cheaper and DDR4 compatible options attractive enough to interrupt AMD's Amazon sweep.

And there's another little dagger buried in this story...AMD should pay attention. Intel doesn't necessarily need the world's fastest gaming processor to claw DIY share back. If AMD keeps premium pricing X3D while Intel starts throwing strong $200-$300 CPUs onto the market, the value equation gets much less one sided.

The 270K Plus is the one I'd watch. That CPU getting to #6 interests me considerably more than the 14700K getting to #9. The 14700K is largely the old platform/value story. The 270K Plus suggests Intel may finally have figured out that competitive pricing is considerably more effective than telling everyone how revolutionary its naming scheme is.

 

[Puiu]

The memory crisis has finally made Intel's cheaper and DDR4 compatible options attractive enough to interrupt AMD's Amazon sweep.

And there's another little dagger buried in this story...AMD should pay attention. Intel doesn't necessarily need the world's fastest gaming processor to claw DIY share back. If AMD keeps premium pricing X3D while Intel starts throwing strong $200-$300 CPUs onto the market, the value equation gets much less one sided.

The 270K Plus is the one I'd watch. That CPU getting to #6 interests me considerably more than the 14700K getting to #9. The 14700K is largely the old platform/value story. The 270K Plus suggests Intel may finally have figured out that competitive pricing is considerably more effective than telling everyone how revolutionary its naming scheme is.

I doubt Intel can keep such low prices forever. The 270K is awesome, but it's just the dying "scream" of the platform it is on. Intel needed a win regardless of profit.

 

[Loadedaxe]

I doubt Intel can keep such low prices forever. The 270K is awesome, but it's just the dying "scream" of the platform it is on. Intel needed a win regardless of profit.

Maybe, but calling it the platform’s “dying scream” is a little dramatic.

We don’t actually know Intel is losing money at these prices. It may simply be where the 270K Plus needed to be priced from the beginning.

And a platform reaching the end of its upgrade path doesn’t make the CPU suddenly useless. Most buyers care about the performance and total platform cost they’re getting today, not whether they can drop a hypothetical 2029 CPU into the same socket.

If Intel is accepting lower margins to regain some DIY market share, that isn’t desperation either. That’s called competing...something Intel probably should have tried a little harder at a few years ago.

 

[Loadedaxe]

You guys sure like to ignore Intel's dominance in the DoD. In 28 years of military and contract military work from tactical to strategic; I have never seen an AMD CPU in use. My inventories for and/or ues of computers at the National/Corps/Brigade/BN/Co I never once saw a property book listing anything other than Intel CPUs.

That proves Intel has been deeply embedded in DoD procurement, not that Intel has held some mystical 28 year technical superiority over AMD.

Government and military IT is built around approved configurations, long refresh cycles, OEM contracts, certification, logistics, and standardization. Once Dell,HP, Lenovo Intel systems are baked into those procurement channels, they can remain there for years regardless of what is happening in the enthusiast CPU market.

And “I personally never saw an AMD CPU” is still an anecdote, not a DoD wide inventory report.

Otherwise I could inspect every government Ford fleet I’ve ever seen and conclude General Motors apparently ceased to exist.

 

[jdrch]

9950 X3D2 or death.

 

[Vanderkaum037]

I've never purchased a CPU from Amazon. I'm a Micro Center guy.

 

[loki1944]

That proves Intel has been deeply embedded in DoD procurement, not that Intel has held some mystical 28 year technical superiority over AMD.

Government and military IT is built around approved configurations, long refresh cycles, OEM contracts, certification, logistics, and standardization. Once Dell,HP, Lenovo Intel systems are baked into those procurement channels, they can remain there for years regardless of what is happening in the enthusiast CPU market.

And “I personally never saw an AMD CPU” is still an anecdote, not a DoD wide inventory report.

Otherwise I could inspect every government Ford fleet I’ve ever seen and conclude General Motors apparently ceased to exist.

25 years working in multiple installations is a better sample than most. I am certain AMD was butted out for the obvious reason; national security at least until recently.