Intel's Raptor Lake processors may be a bit more expensive than current-gen Alder Lake chips, at least according to some leaked prices that have surfaced on Amazon, but as always, there are some important caveats.
The usual Twitter-based leaker @momomo_us saw Intel's Core i9-13900KF listed on Amazon UK, alongside the 13700K and 13700KF, in addition to the 13600KF.
The product listings have since been removed, but not before the backer took screenshots giving us proof of those chips' price tags, with the 13900KF fetching €750 in the UK (around €800). 1,230, AU$XNUMX).
The 13700K weighed in at €547 (around €585, AU$900) and the 13600KF came in at €349 (around €370, AU$570), so it all looks distinctly expensive. As Tech Powerup (opens in a new tab), which spotted the tweet, points out, this is a substantial margin on Alder Lake processors, but before we get carried away with that notion, let's discuss the aforementioned caveats.
Analysis: prices of reserved spaces, but it is still a worrying index
For some time now, the vine has been the talk of the town around Intel, driving prices up for Raptor Lake. Team Blue itself has said that the prices of some of its chips will increase in the near future, and that will do nothing to allay those fears.
Generally speaking, though, leaks like these early product listings use placeholder pricing, so they don't reflect the actual MSRPs (Recommended Prices) that Intel will set on Raptor Lake processors. That said, it could be a decent estimate and indicative of where a major retailer expects prices to go, so it's a worrying sign in that regard.
If Intel is going to raise prices, it's likely to be on the high-end processors, because that's where the enthusiasts, the target audience, are probably willing to shell out more, of course. And since the 12900K still sells for around €620 (about $660, AU$1,020), it's possible that the 13900K could end up topping $700 (about $750, AU$1,150). We certainly don't rule it out, though if Intel raises prices with its 13th gen, we expect it to leave mid-range (and low-end) processors alone, and they'll have a similar impact on wallets as their Alder Lake counterparts. .
So when we're looking at the Core i5-13600KF at $349 (about $370, AU$570), that's a 28% increase from what you can currently buy the 12600KF. Obviously, that's not a huge jump from the price the latter originally came in at, but still, fingers crossed, we won't see such a big spike with prices at the mid-range level.
Remember that Intel has to compete with AMD's incoming Ryzen 7000 CPUs and in particular Team Red has kept their prices in line with current generation CPUs so Intel will compete against Ryzen 5 7600X in the mid range with a price of €299 (about €280, AU$460).
AMD even dropped the price of the flagship Ryzen 9 7950X from the 5950X, and that could arguably stop Intel from pushing too hard with its Raptor Lake flagship. But who knows how that will play out, as a lot will depend on how these processors perform against each other, although the battle looks pretty even based on rumors so far.
Perhaps one of the biggest takeaways from this Amazon price leak is that it's more fuel for the fire than Raptor Lake coming out sooner than we expected. Speculation has clearly indicated that the 13th generation processors will launch tomorrow at Intel's innovation event, but rumor has it that the chips won't hit stores until the second half of October.
However, we've seen a marked increase in the number of leaks lately, including multiple leaked references for the flagship Raptor Lake CPU and a sighting of the alleged 13900K package (which changes things a bit). And if Amazon is now preparing product listings, that suggests we could see Raptor Lake on sale in early October, hot on the heels of the Ryzen 7000, something Intel should definitely be looking at. In fact, pre-orders could even start after tomorrow's big reveal, and at least we'll know how high the prices are on sale.
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