Intel Alder Lake-S Specifications & Pricing Appear at MicroCenter, Core i9-12900K Listed For $669.99 US & Core i7-12700K For $469.99 US

MicroCenter has listed down the final specifications and supposed retail prices of Intel's Alder Lake CPUs including the Core i9-12900K & Core i7-12700K.

The prices and specs were spotted by VampsLeaks over at Twitter. This was followed up by user @momomo_us on the same social media platform:

Hmm… https://t.co/Kcz3cvJsjf pic.twitter.com/TLLegmSaQf

— Vamps (@Vamps8645) October 22, 2021

???? pic.twitter.com/xvS7YA6Mbs

— 188号 (@momomo_us) October 22, 2021

We can't say for sure whether these are final retail prices as another user had reportedly got his hands on the Core i9-12900K at a much lower price point just a few days ago. The Core i7-12700K is going to retail for $469.99 while the Core i9-12900K CPU for $669.99.

What is interesting is that both series of new Intel CPUs are more expensive than the Rocket Lake series when it initially launched. The i7-12700K is $130 more expensive than previous models and the i9-12900K is $170 higher. In fact, it is much more expensive than Intel's predecessor.

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).

We are still five days out from the preorder date of October 27, 2021, for the newest Intel Alder Lake chips. However, this pricing is also subject to change, possibly for the worse due to Pat Gelsinger's recent interview with CNBC about his current thoughts on the chip shortage. Originally, Gelsinger was planning on the shortage to end as soon as the second half of 2022. Now, the Intel CEO is stating that the chip shortage will not see an end until 2023.

With this confirmation from Gelsinger on his thoughts of the future of the chipset market, it is possible that we may see a rise in cost on CPUs to hopefully fund the future manufacturing costs so that at some point the prices would decrease.

Another issue of note is that the release dates confirm the listed release for the CPUs to be on November 4, 2021. This new date does coincide with the current official embargo date for the newest Intel 12th Gen CPUs. We will have to wait to see if Intel eventually will raise the cost or lower the cost upon release.