We have a pretty good idea about what to expect from Alder Lake-S and the motherboards that will be launched at the same time. However, those most important factors to consumers, pricing and availability, are yet to be set in stone. We have previously heard that PC enthusiasts are going to get their treats first, with performance desktop parts rolling out to kick off the Intel 12th Gen Core processor era. Now some pricing lists from Twitter tech leaker momomo_us seem to confirm this, and we get an early look at prices via this source in Euros, and in USD.
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Above, you can see what we might expect to pay for the initial salvo of six high-performance Alder Lake-S CPUs from Intel. I've bullet pointed the SKUs and pricing expectations below, so you don't have to peep at the so-so quality screenshots above. In the Euro lists, you will see mention of 'BTW' – this is Dutch VAT.
- Intel Core i9-12900K (16C/24T): US$706, €736
- Intel Core i9-12900KF (16C/24T, no iGPU): US$675, €704
- Intel Core i7-12700K (12C/20T): US$496, €525
- Intel Core i7-12700KF (12C/20T, no iGPU): US$465, €492
- Intel Core i5-12600K (10C/16T): US$343, €366
- Intel Core i5-12600KF (10C/16T, no iGPU): US$313, €334
Commenting upon the Dutch prices, momomo_us said that "it doesn't make much sense". Perhaps he was talking about the complicated looking series of prices, or the scale of the prices. Luckily, the simpler US price list emerged a few hours later. In my bullet point list, please note the US prices won't include sales tax, which varies state to state, but the Euro list includes VAT.
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So, above are some prices to chew over, while we wait. The most likely release date for the first batch of Intel 12th Gen Core processors as listed above, is on or around 27th October, to coincide with the Intel InnovatiON (Intel ON) three-day event, live-streamed from San Francisco.