Intel Slashes Cascade Lake-X Processor Pricing To Battle AMD's Ryzen 9 3950X

EDIT: Intel has now removed the NDA from its launch plans for its Cascade Lake-X desktop processors following the leak I reported on below. I have now included the official pricing and new specifications below.

Original article: Last month I reported on Intel's Cascade Lake-X processor announcement, in which the company teased drastically better value with its new high-end desktop (HEDT) processors that are expected to launch this fall. Well, if the latest rumors are to be believed, AMD could be justifiably concerned. Videocardz has acquired pricing that puts the expected 18-core flagship Core i9-10980XE at just $979 MSRP (1000 unit price). This is staggeringly low considering its current equivalent, the Core i9-9980XE retails for around $2,000, yet there's a very good reason - AMD's Ryzen 9 3950X.

The new range of HEDT CPUs will not offer higher core counts than their predecessors but will have slightly higher clock speeds. The main benefit will be drastically reduced prices as it aims to make good on its claim the range will have up to 2.09x the relative performance per dollar compared to Skylake-X CPUs such as the Core i9-7980XE.

The problem Intel has is that the Ryzen 9 3950X is going to have higher frequencies and more cores than any other 3rd Gen Ryzen CPU - 16 cores in fact, and with AMD matching or bettering Intel on a core-to-core basis in multi-threaded tests, the fact that the Ryzen 9 3950X is slated to retail for just $749 made the likes of the Core i9-9980XE look very over-priced.

We'll hopefully get confirmed pricing and specifications soon and as usual with pre-launch information and rumors, you shouldn't take this information as gospel. However, the pricing is roughly in line with what I'd expect Intel needing to do in order to prevent AMD decimating its ranks with the Ryzen 9 3950X as well as 3rd Generation Threadripper, both of which are expected in November. Follow me here on Forbes or Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram or Reddit for more PC hardware news and reviews.