With AMD’s Ryzen processors just days away, Intel chips have appeared with tantalising discounts in the US.
With discounts of up to $100 on some retailer sites across the pond, things are looking very good if you’re in the market for a new processor for your gaming PC.
Spotted by HotHardware, Micro Center is the main site showing hefty discounts, with the likes of Amazon, Best Buy and Newegg showing little to no shift in price. The Intel Core i7-7700k seems to be the one processor that has been moderately discounted at a number of retailers. Is Intel trying to start a price war or is this simply a case of a single retailer slashing prices? We haven’t had confirmation of either, yet. 
So far we’ve not seen much action in the UK as far as discounts go, but it’s by no means unusual for hardware companies to cut prices ahead of a rival’s big launch. Indeed, just a few months ago, AMD attempted to rain on Nvidia’s parade on the launch day of the GTX 1060 graphics card, laying on some hefty discounts on its RX 480 graphics card at some retailers in the UK just as reviews were going live.
This isn’t to say that Intel is making money on these discounts – they’re often only limited-number deals funded by a company’s marketing budget. It’s a case if saturating the market to limit AMD’s momentum as its ultra-competitive Ryzen chips launch this week.
Related: Everything you need to know about Ryzen
Intel has substantial marketing clout here in the UK, many of the ads you’ll see for laptops and desktops will have a big fat Intel logo on them.
But will the discounts flow? We’d imagine so. A prime discount would be on the gamer-friendly Intel Core i5-7600K, which is arguably the best-value chip in Intel current desktop range.
The firm might wait to do this until AMD launches is cheaper R5 and R3 processors, but at this point we’re into speculation territory.
Related: Intel Kaby Lake review
What will be interesting is if Intel chooses to put on some discounts on its ultra high-end eight-core processors that sell for over a grand. AMD’s new chips have a real opportunity to steal a march in this premium workstation end of the market, and there are big bucks to be made from companies refitting their entire roster of PCs with new processors.
Whatever Intel chooses to do, consumers are about to get a whole lot more choice, and any discounts are a handy bonus.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
