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Intel's Arrow Lake refresh CPUs launched just four days ago, but their prices are already seeing increases as all sorts of tech pricing inflates. It's a particularly tumultuous time for gaming hardware. The AI-induced RAM shortages and SSD inflation are raging on, Sony has just introduced price hikes for the PS5, and now, it seems like the best CPUs for gaming are next on the docket.
One of the reasons I was so excited for Intel's new Core Ultra Plus desktop processors was for their value for money, but it seems that their dynamic pricing is already getting the better of them, less than a week into their shelf life. The Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus was pitched at $199 by Intel, but it's seeing a price tag of $219.99 at Newegg and $249 at Amazon.
The faster Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus has it even worse - its MSRP is $299, but it's already sitting at $349 at Newegg, and $357 at Amazon at the time of writing. Based on estimates and rumors I reported on last week, it seems CPU pricing from all brands, and at all ends of the price spectrum, could be about to see price increases, as we've seen already in 2026 with the global RAM shortages.
AI-caused inflation is hardly ideal when a product has just launched, but if you were planning on grabbing one of the new Arrow Lake Refresh processors, I'd do it sooner rather than later to avoid any further price hikes.
Admittedly, it's a terrible time to shop for any gaming hardware. Thanks to AI infrastructure and data center construction, manufacturing demands are through the roof, which means a smaller supply of products for consumers, and pricing increases for all sorts of technology. We've already seen the PS5 getting more expensive in recent days, we've heard from Microsoft that the cost of the Xbox Series consoles is increasing, and even in the PC space, Valve is withholding its new Steam Frame and Steam Machine hardware despite an initial billing for early 2026 launches.
To be fair, it's easy to read into the price increases of these new Intel chips and see the doom of all future PC hardware. Things might not be that bleak in reality, as dynamic pricing is a depressingly standard practice in the PC market.
Intel's new CPUs aren't yet inflated to the same extent that the best graphics cards are this soon after a launch, so we're not in dire straits yet. Either way, if you were about to upgrade your CPU or PC to a new LGA1851-compatible chip anytime soon, now is safer than waiting to see if things get worse.
You can't yet get your hands on the cheapest "KF" (without a performance multiplier and internal graphics) models of Intel's new Core Ultra Plus CPUs, but some are available for pre-order. The Intel Core Ultra 5 250KF Plus is available and is sitting at the "correct" MSRP of $199 at Newegg.
It's also worth mentioning that the older-gen Intel Core Ultra 7 270K from the initial batch of Arrow Lake processors is still $100 more expensive than the newer 270K Plus model - even with these price increases. I haven't managed to test out the Plus variant yet, but by all accounts of early reviews, it offers faster performance for less money, so it's still a pretty good deal.
For more on the best gaming PCs, check out the best RAM for gaming, and the best computer speakers.
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