Intel’s Raptor Lake processors have already been spotted online at a retailer over in Canada, and if the prices provided are anything to go by, we can expect a bit of a step up compared to current Alder Lake CPUs.
VideoCardz spotted that well-known leaker @momomo_us posted the prices on Twitter, though obviously these are price tags in Canadian dollars, and we must further bear in mind that at this early stage, before release, this pricing is just a placeholder.
In other words, it’s just a ballpark idea of where Intel might be pitching Raptor Lake chips (indeed, Team Blue itself likely hasn’t finalized MSRPs at this point – not if the release date rumors are right, anyway, as that could still be some way off).
🇨🇦🤔 pic.twitter.com/DlUa2vCS4wAugust 24, 2022
Performing a quick currency conversion to US dollars for the flagship Core i9-13900K shows that it’s roughly $730 (around £620, AU$1,050), although that doesn’t really mean much, as the reality of pricing is that such conversions are never a direct affair (on top of the fact that this isn’t official pricing anyway, of course).
What’s more instructive is to look at relative pricing compared to current-gen Alder Lake products on sale at this Canadian outlet. So, in the case of the flagship, the 12900K weighs in at about $630 in US currency (around £530, AU$900) – which gives us a rough estimate of the 13900K being about a hundred bucks extra, or 15% more expensive. Take that ballpark with a whole heap of caution, naturally.
Doing the same thing with the other Raptor Lake CPUs listed, the 13700K is around 17% dearer than the 12700K, and the 13600K is 15% pricier than its Alder Lake counterpart. So roughly we’re looking at about a 15% price hike versus 12th-gen products for Intel’s mid-to-high range 13th-gen processors.
Analysis: A worrying potential glimpse of prices? Well, we wouldn’t panic just yet
Assuming such a price bump of this kind of order comes to fruition – with all the caveats mentioned already – this wouldn’t be entirely unexpected. Why? Because Intel has already made it known that pricing for most of its processors (and other chips) could be bumped by 10% to 20%, which falls pretty much in line with the 15% hike for Raptor Lake which is pointed to by this Canadian retailer.
Before we go running to the hills in a panic about costly next-gen CPUs from Intel, though, we’d temper these expectations somewhat. It seems unlikely, at least to us, that Team Blue would implement such a uniform price hike throughout the Raptor Lake range.
Top-end processors like the 13900K can certainly command more of a premium – especially as this flagship CPU supposedly offers an ‘extreme performance’ mode, and could be aimed even more firmly at enthusiasts as a result – but to see the same uptick in pricing on a 13600K? It could happen, but we’d imagine that increases further down the Raptor Lake range would be more modest.
Furthermore, Intel really needs to consider how its incoming 13th-gen line-up will stack up compared to AMD’s Ryzen 7000 chips. And the rumors thus far suggest that Team Red won’t be cranking up price tags for these Zen 4 CPUs – at least not with the mainstream offerings (meaning high-end chips could still have an extra premium on top). We’ve heard that twice on the grapevine, now – apply plentiful skepticism here, still – but Intel will have, too, and surely must take relative competitiveness into account when pricing Raptor Lake away from the higher-end CPUs.
On a final note, these placeholder prices turning up now does also suggest that maybe Intel’s Raptor Lake processors may be closer to release than we think. Previous rumors have indicated an October on-sale date, following a late September reveal, so it seems like this might be on track. However, AMD could still pip Intel to the post with a swifter next-gen launch, as Ryzen 7000 chips are expected to hit shelves at some point in September (with an imminent reveal), and have already appeared in leaked product listings at retailers (in Canada, again) the best part of a fortnight ago.
Moreover, AMD is rumored to have plentiful stock ready for when Ryzen 7000 CPUs debut, and that could be a massive boon in terms of pricing, too – ensuring scalpers don’t get their nefarious oars in, upping price tags from MSRP levels, as happens all too often these days with hardware launches.