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With Intel having had a hard time making up its mind with regards to when to actually launch its upcoming Ivy Bridge processors, we finally have some good news to report just ahead of the actual launch, Intel has decided to sell the new processors for less than initially expected. We've seen recent pricing details with the older prices still mentioned and although the price cuts aren't huge, any saving is a saving, right?

With Intel having had a hard time making up its mind with regards to when to actually launch its upcoming Ivy Bridge processors, we finally have some good news to report just ahead of the actual launch, Intel has decided to sell the new processors for less than initially expected. We've seen recent pricing details with the older prices still mentioned and although the price cuts aren't huge, any saving is a saving, right?

As you can see in the chart below, the average price cuts end up somewhere between US$7-8, not a massive amount, but considering that early price estimates were even higher, this is all good news. Do note that this is Intel's recommended customer pricing for 1,000 units and not the actual retail pricing.

The cost of the Core i7-3770K was expected to be in line with the US$332 Core i7-2700K, but now it looks like we'll see a price point that's US$19 cheaper than this. The same goes for the other models with the Core i7-3770 having an expected price of US$294, the same as the Core i7-2600, but instead we're now looking at a price some US$16 cheaper.

As for the Core i5-3570K we're looking at a price that's US$4 cheaper than the Core i5-2500K and it was initially expected to be priced at US$225, or the same as the fairly recently launched Core i5-2550K which makes it US$13 cheaper than first thought. The lower-end Core i5 parts are priced lower than their equivalent models as well, but here we're looking at roughly $10-11 lower pricing than expected.

As to how these prices transform into retail pricing is a different matter and whatever pricing is floating around on the web for pre-orders are in many cases up to 50 percent higher than Intel's pricing. We found one UK online retailer claiming to have some 580 Core i5-3570K's in stock, but for a massive US$293 a pop. Without VAT (UK sales tax) at a rate of 20 percent, that's roughly US$235 which is closer to what we'd expect these CPU's to retail for. We also found a US company listing the same CPU for a massive US$256 and the Core i7-3770K for no less than US$369, so a word to the wise, don't pre-order these CPU's, as you'll most likely end up getting ripped off.

Source: VR-Zone Chinese