In the event you’ve been holding out for an Intel Core i7 CPU, however by no means thought you’d be capable of afford one, then now’s your probability. This newest Intel CPU deal on Amazon lets you scoop up a Core i7-12700KF for the worth you’d normally affiliate with a low-end Core i5 chip, with a large 22% off the same old value, bringing it proper all the way down to $209.98.
To place that value into perspective, that’s solely $6 greater than the worth of the Intel Core i5-13400, which is on our greatest gaming CPU information as the most effective worth possibility, however the Core i7-12700KF is a a lot better chip. It has eight of Intel’s mighty P-Cores, somewhat than the six within the 13400, and it additionally has 4 E-Cores, giving it a complete of 12 cores. What’s extra, the 12700KF can enhance all the best way to five.00GHz, whereas the 13400 is caught at 4.60GHz, and that additional clock pace is what you need for gaming.
What’s extra, in contrast to the 13400, the Core i7-12700K has an unlocked multiplier (as denoted by the ‘Ok’ on the tip of its mannequin quantity), which suggests there’s potential to overclock it even additional when you have a Z-series motherboard, utilizing the Z690 or Z790 chipset. This CPU can even fortunately plug into any LGA1700 motherboard based mostly on the B660 or B760 chipsets too, in addition to cheaper chipsets akin to H670.
Whereas the Core i7-12700KF is ostensibly a twelfth gen chip, based mostly on Intel’s older Alder Lake structure, there’s really little or no distinction between Intel’s twelfth gen and thirteenth gen CPU architectures, and there’s a virtually negligible distinction between thirteenth gen and 14th gen. You’ll get extra E-Cores and better clock speeds on one of many newer Core i7 CPUs, however you’ll pay much more cash for it, and the core spec of the 12700KF, with eight P-Cores and a 5GHz enhance clock pace, is right for gaming, particularly at this value.
In case you’re less than pace in your Intel alphabet lingo, the ‘F’ on the tip of the mannequin quantity means there’s no built-in GPU on this CPU, however that gained’t be a difficulty if you happen to’re utilizing among the finest graphics card choices for gaming. Amazon says it is a “restricted time deal”, although, so that you’ll have to get in fast.
In the event you’re trying to assemble a brand new rig with this cut-price CPU, then be sure you additionally take a look at our full information on construct a gaming PC, the place we run you thru each step of the method.
