What just happened? Best Buy has revealed, presumably by accident, the prices of several non-K Alder Lake CPUs ahead of Intel's official unveiling at CES. They range from the low-end Pentium G6900 and reach the Core i9-12900.
Regular leaker @momomo_us tweeted Best Buy's listings, which have now been removed from the retailer's website. While it appears not every SKU in the upcoming non-K Alder Lake series is included, there are still 12 processors ranging from $59.99 to $529.99.
At the bottom of the price scale are the Pentium G7400 and the Pentium G6900, priced at $59.99 and $79.99, respectively. The other chips include i3, i5, i7, and i9 models, with the Core i9-12900 the priciest offering at $529.99---$60 cheaper than the unlocked 12900K's $589 MSRP. Buyers could save more by opting for the F version (no integrated GPU) of the flagship, which is $509.99.
Best Buy's full price list:
- Core i9-12900 - $529.99
- Core i9-12900F - $509.99
- Core i7-12700 - $359.99
- Core i7-12700F - $329.99
- Core i5-12600 - $239.99
- Core i5-12500 - $219.99
- Core i5-12400 - $209.99
- Core i5-12400F - $179.99
- Core i3-12100 - $139.99
- Core i3-12100F - $109.99
- Pentium G7400 - $79.99
- Pentium G6900 - $59.99
As previously reported, these locked, 65W versions of Alder Lake have lower clock speeds compared to their K-version counterparts, but the 12900 (8-P/8-E) and 12700 (8-P/4-E) have the same number of Performance and Efficiency cores.
The rest of the lineup lacks Alder Lake's efficiency cores, with the Core i5-12600 down to the Core i5-12400F all featuring 6 performance cores/12 threads. The two i3 models have four performance cores/eight threads, while the Pentiums have two P-cores/four threads.
Thanks to someone buying one in Peru, we recently saw the RM1 stock cooler (above) Intel is bundling with these chips. But those purchasing an i9 CPU will get the larger RH1 cooler (below).
Intel is expected to announce the non-K Alder Lake CPUs during its CES press conference taking place at 10 am PST on January 5. The processors look set to launch alongside the budget-orientated B660 and H610 motherboards soon after the event finishes.