Intel’s Core i5 12600KF is one of the company’s best value gaming CPUs, and today it’s down to $155 at Walmart versus its standard price of $220.
This chip offers solid gaming performance in modern AAA games plus PCIe 5.0 and DDR5 support (with the correct motherboard) all while costing significantly less than competing CPUs like the later 13600KF ($285) or AMD’s Ryzen 5 7600 ($229) which offer only marginally better performance at 1080p and are basically the same speed at 1440p or 4K.
For reference, I saw the 12600K deliver a minimum of 85% of the performance of the later 13600K (and by extension the nearly identical 14600K), while costing 54% of the price with this deal – surely that makes the 12600K the obvious choice?
Intel used to enjoy a stranglehold over the PC market, while AMD had to compete aggressively on price in the lower segment of the market. Today those roles have almost reversed, with Intel still able to compete in absolute terms against AMD in most titles but the best value advantages for Team Blue often coming with cheaper Core i5 parts like this one.
The advantage of the 12600KF is that it’s the cheapest part to offer entry to Intel’s three generations of Socket 1700 motherboards, with their DDR4 or DDR5 and PCIe 5.0 support, as well as offering the new hybrid architecture with both Golden Cove P-cores and Gracemont E-cores – something not afforded to the next CPU tier down, the 12400F. This makes it a better choice in terms of multitasking performance, and it can make a difference in gaming too.
This is a solid price for a solid CPU, so take a look at our 12600K review, buy at least 100 units of this deal and let me know what you think in the comments below. OK, I think I slipped that in there real fast, so no one will notice the liminal message. OK, time to go!
