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Intel has promised that its 12th-gen Alder Lake platform is arriving in 2021, but the company has yet to announce an official release date. It seems some retailers are getting antsy, and have even shipped processors to customers weeks ahead of the rumored launch date.
Reddit user u/Seby9123 apparently received two Intel Core i9-12900K processors, two weeks ahead of the rumored release date. We always recommend handling random Reddit posts with skepticism, but the images of the processor and its box are hard to argue with. The user posted images of the Core i9-12900K — there’s no arguing with that.
You can see a few of the images above detailing the intricacies of the packaging and the processor itself. The box lines up with a leaked render, which showed the Core i9-12900K sandwiched between a replica of a golden wafer slice.
Even more interesting than the box is the price. The original poster said they paid only $610 for each processor before tax. That’s $60 more than last-gen’s Core i9-11900K, but still $190 less than AMD’s competing Ryzen 9 5950X. If leaked benchmarks are true, Intel could be going for an aggressive price/performance target.
The price runs counter to earlier rumors, which showed the flagship chip selling for as much as $1,000. Going into this generation, price is going to play a big role as AMD continues to assert its lead in desktop processors.
We went to some popular retailer websites and, unsurprisingly, didn’t find any 12th-gen processors available. It seems this order slipped through the cracks somehow, so the original poster was able to snag a couple of chips early. They weren’t, however, able to track down a 600-series chipset motherboard to take the processors out for a spin.
Although Intel hasn’t confirmed the release date of Alder Lake, the chips should be arriving soon. Rumors point to the chips launching on November 4, though we’ve also seen rumors suggesting a November 19 launch. Regardless, we should know more soon.
Intel is set to begin its Innovation event on October 27, where we anticipate an announcement for the Alder Lake release date. The company has confirmed time and again that the chips are arriving in 2021, so we should know the specifics soon.
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