If you’ve been holding out for an Intel Core i7 CPU, but never thought you’d be able to afford one, then now’s your chance. This latest Intel CPU deal on Amazon enables you to scoop up a Core i7-12700KF for the price you’d usually associate with a low-end Core i5 chip, with a massive 22% off the usual price, bringing it right down to $209.98.
To put that price into perspective, that’s only $6 more than the price of the Intel Core i5-13400, which is on our best gaming CPU guide as the best value option, but the Core i7-12700KF is a much better chip. It has eight of Intel’s mighty P-Cores, rather than the six in the 13400, and it also has four E-Cores, giving it a total of 12 cores. What’s more, the 12700KF can boost all the way to 5.00GHz, while the 13400 is stuck at 4.60GHz, and that extra clock speed is what you want for gaming.
What’s more, unlike the 13400, the Core i7-12700K has an unlocked multiplier (as denoted by the ‘K’ on the end of its model number), which means there’s potential to overclock it even further if you have a Z-series motherboard, using the Z690 or Z790 chipset. This CPU will also happily plug into any LGA1700 motherboard based on the B660 or B760 chipsets too, as well as cheaper chipsets such as H670.
While the Core i7-12700KF is ostensibly a 12th gen chip, based on Intel’s older Alder Lake architecture, there’s actually very little difference between Intel’s 12th gen and 13th gen CPU architectures, and there’s a practically negligible difference between 13th gen and 14th gen. You’ll get more E-Cores and higher clock speeds on one of the newer Core i7 CPUs, but you’ll pay a lot more money for it, and the core spec of the 12700KF, with eight P-Cores and a 5GHz boost clock speed, is ideal for gaming, especially at this price.
In case you’re not up to speed on your Intel alphabet lingo, the ‘F’ on the end of the model number means there’s no integrated GPU on this CPU, but that won’t be an issue if you’re using one of the best graphics card options for gaming. Amazon says this is a “limited time deal”, though, so you’ll need to get in quick.
If you’re looking to construct a new rig with this cut-price CPU, then make sure you also check out our full guide on how to build a gaming PC, where we run you through every step of the process.