Intel 12th Gen Alder Lake-S Preliminary Prices Leak Out – Flagship Core i9-12900K Starts at 540 Euros, Core i7-12700K For 394 Euros, Core i5-12600K For 287 Euros

Intel's 12th Gen Alder Lake-S Desktop CPUs preliminary prices for Core i9-12900K, Core i7-12700K, & Core i5-12600K have leaked out by various European retailers. The retail listings were spotted by Momomo_US (via Overclocking.com) and are around as much where you'd expect.

Before I start, the prices you are seeing here are not official prices but rather preliminary listings that retailers put up prior to launch. These prices are inflated compared to the official MSRPs but show that Intel has directed its retail partners to start preparing for an upcoming CPU launch. The official MSRPs will obviously be much lower but we can compare these preliminary prices with the current 10th & 11th Gen chips and see how they were priced in early listings compared to Intel's 12th Gen family.

あまり意味がないのだけど。 pic.twitter.com/d0yskzcfbl

— 188号 (@momomo_us) September 2, 2021

So starting with the flagship, we have the Intel Core i9-12900K which will feature 16 cores and 24 threads. This chip is currently listed for a starting price of 540 Euros & goes as high as 612 Euros. The KF variant features a 30-40 Euro price difference which is expected since these chips feature a disabled iGPU.

The Intel Core i7-12700K is going to be a 12 cores and 20 thread Alder Lake-S Desktop CPU. The chip ranges from 394-433 Euros for the standard and 372-406 Euros for the KF variant. Then we have the Core i5-12600K which ranges from 287-302 Euros for the standard and 266-275 Euros for the KF variant. Following are the retail box codes:

If we compare the existing retail price of the Core i9-11900K with that of the Core i9-12900K, then you see a difference of just 8 Euros between the two CPUs. This is from the third retailer. Now EU retailers also charge VAT so the prices end up being much higher but non-VAT rates show similar prices for Intel's Alder Lake-S Desktop CPUs to the existing Rocket Lake-S CPUs in retail. Now this shows that Intel is going for some aggressive pricing on its next-gen parts.

For example, the Intel Core i9-11900K has an official retail listing of 532 Euros (without VAT) and 643 Euros (with VAT). The Core i9-12900K has a preliminary retail listing of 540 Euros (without VAT) and 653 Euros (with VAT). This means that at launch, we can expect the prices to fall further down. Now certain retailers have listed the CPU for much higher prices and that's the case even with an official product launch.

Intel Core i9-12900K 16 Core / 24 Thread Desktop CPU

The Intel Core i9-12900K will be the flagship chip in the 12th Gen Alder Lake Desktop CPU lineup. It will feature 8 Golden Cove cores and 8 Gracemont cores for a total of 16 cores (8+8) and 24 threads (16+8). The P-cores (Golden Cove) will operate at a maximum boost frequency of up to 5.3 GHz with 1-2 active cores and 5.0 GHz with all-cores active while the E-cores (Gracemont) will operate at 3.90 GHz across 1-4 cores and up to 3.7 GHz when all cores are loaded. The CPU will feature 30 MB of L3 cache and TDP values are maintained at 125W (PL1) and 228W (PL2).

Intel Core i7-12700K 12 Core / 20 Thread Desktop CPU

Moving over to the Core i7, Intel will offer 8 Golden Cove cores but cut down the Gracemont cores to 4. This will result in a total of 12 cores (8+4) and 20 threads (16+4). The P-cores (Golden Cove) will operate at a maximum boost frequency of up to 5.0 GHz with 1-2 active cores and 4.7 GHz with all-cores active while the E-cores (Gracemont) will operate at 3.8 GHz across 1-4 cores & up to 3.6 GHz when all cores are loaded. The CPU will feature 25 MB of L3 cache and TDP values are maintained at 125W (PL1) and 228W (PL2).

Intel Core i5-12600K 10 Core / 16 Thread Desktop CPU

Lastly, we have the Intel Core i5-12600K which will be the entry-level unlocked chip within the line. The CPU will carry 6 Golden Cove and 4 Gracemont cores for a total of 10 cores (6+4) & 16 threads (12+4). The P-cores (Golden Cove) will operate at a maximum boost frequency of up to 4.9 GHz with 1-2 active cores and 4.5 GHz with all-cores active while the E-cores (Gracemont) will operate at 3.6 GHz across 1-4 cores & up to 3.4 GHz when all cores are loaded. The CPU will feature 20 MB of L3 cache and TDP values are maintained at 125W (PL1) and 228W (PL2).

Again, these are all preliminary listings but it does give us hope that Intel might go the competitive route with prices, Recent leaked benchmarks and reports indicated that the Alder Lake-S family will deliver a huge increase in multi-threaded performance and the Core i5-12600K is going to be one of the most competitive CPUs in the lineup, tackling both AMD Ryzen 5 5600X and Ryzen 7 5800X at a lower price point.