Leaked Alder Lake Core i3 would be first interesting budget CPU in almost 2 years
Enlarge / The new LGA1700 socket used for Alder Lake CPUs is taller than Intel's previous sockets. (credit: Intel)
It's a tough time to build a PC. Graphics cards remain the biggest headache when you're trying to put together a computer, as they have been all year-supply is low and prices are stratospheric. But it has been particularly tough if you're trying to put together a PC on a budget, both because "budget graphics cards" have essentially ceased to exist and because neither Intel nor AMD has released a compelling CPU for under $150 since early 2020.
That streak may end soon, according to a retail leak spotted by Tom's Hardware. DirectDial, a Canadian retailer of PCs and components, listed model numbers and pricing for four lower-end 12th-generation Intel Core processors over the weekend. These prices haven't been confirmed (and have been converted from CAD to USD), but they track closely with retail pricing for previous generations:
| Expected core count | USD pricing (converted) | |
|---|---|---|
| Core i7-12700F | 8 P-cores, 4 E-cores | $366 |
| Core i5-12400 | 6 P-cores | $231 |
| Core i5-12400F | 6 P-cores | $200 |
| Core i3-12100F | 4 P-cores | $119 |
The most interesting of those chips for budget builders is the i3-12100F, a quad-core, 8-thread processor that was listed for around $120. Entry-level quad-core desktop CPUs are an excellent choice for budget desktops-fast enough for all kinds of basic browsing and productivity apps but also able to handle games and heavier apps like Photoshop or Lightroom in a pinch. It was just a few years ago that quad-core processors were the best that most people could get, and most software still runs well on them.
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