Arrow Lake hasn’t exactly been a runaway success. Indeed, at launch, while application performance was satisfactory, gaming performance was disappointing. At the same time, where improvements were expected, Core Ultra 200s underperformed Raptor Lake. This has created a rather strange situation where consumers continue to buy older-generation Raptor Lake processors more than the new series. And now we learn that Intel is increasing the price of its Raptor Lake CPUs by 10%.
Raptor Lake, towards a 10% price increase!
The big question in all this is why Intel is increasing its prices in this way. Is it because Intel wants to promote its Arrow Lake processors? Or is it because demand for 13th and 14th generation Core i processors is so strong?
Whatever the case, the price increase will be felt mainly in the $150 to $160 price range, with processors sold in this bracket seeing a $20 price hike. All in all, this would concern Core i5 13400(F)/14400(F) processors, a strategic price segment since they represent a major sales volume for assemblers, OEMs and even private customers.
It has to be said that they are advantageously positioned and still offer interesting performance, even in the field of video games. In contrast, there is no Core Ultra 200 on offer at these prices. What’s more, this price hike could drive customers to AMD, which has a serious AM4 offering with Ryzen 7 5700X and even AM5 APUs such as Ryzen 5 8500G.