Intel CPU prices are nosediving right now – here’s why

Right now there’s a curious phenomenon in which the prices for Intel processors have been steadily declining – with some at their cheapest prices ever. Three of the best processors are enjoying some stellar price drops: the Intel Core i9 14900K, Core i7 14700K, and Core i5 14600K.

The Intel Core i9 14900K is on sale for $527.69, the Intel Core i7 14700K is selling for $369.99, and the Intel Core i5 14600K is priced at $288.99. The first and last two are at their lowest prices ever, and the second one is close to it. 

The 14900K offers an impressive 24-cores (eight P-cores and 16 E-cores) that greatly boost performance though you’ll need to invest in a high-quality CPU cooler. The 14700K features a still excellent 20 cores (eight P-cores and 12 E-cores), making for a great mid-range option. Finally, we have the far more budget-minded 14600K with 16 cores (six P-cores and eight E-cores), a solid choice for gaming and content creation.

Why is this happening? 

There are several possible reasons for this huge price drop, with one major factor being the ongoing stability issues with Intel’s 13th and 14th-gen processors. 

Though the tech giant is currently pushing down a microcode update for the problem – more of a preventive measure than an actual fix — those whose cards have been permanently damaged have no recourse. This could naturally make buyers hesitant to invest in these chips, slowing sales.

There’s also some serious competition from AMD’s Zen 5 launch, as these chips are quite powerful and have significantly closed the performance gap – even surpassing it in some cases. And even in the current gen, the Core i9-14900K is crushed by the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D in terms of gaming. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chips, as seen in recent AI PCs like the Dell XPS 13 or the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7, have also been met with great success in terms of both performance and efficiency.

Third, Intel will be releasing its new product lineups, with the Intel Arrow Lake desktop processors possibly launching as early as October 17, 2024, and the Lunar Lake series with enhanced AI processors coming to laptops sometime in 2024. So retailers like Amazon could be dropping prices to clear up stock in preparation for the new chips.

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