Intel Considers Refresh Amid High Memory Costs

The current RAM crisis has led to a surge in demand for older hardware, with components from four years ago experiencing a significant increase in sales. This trend has prompted companies like AMD and Nvidia to re-release older chips, and now Intel is considering a similar move.

Intel’s vice president and general manager of enthusiast channel business, Robert Hallock, recently stated that the company plans to continue offering Raptor Lake CPUs, first launched in 2022, for a while longer. This decision is largely driven by the sustained demand for hardware that supports DDR4 RAM.

Raptor Lake Refresh

Hallock‘s comments align with prior rumors that Intel might introduce another refresh for Raptor Lake – the lineup’s third – during the first half of 2027. This rumored refresh, tentatively dubbed Raptor Lake Next, would exist alongside the DDR5-exclusive Nova Lake.

At least two motherboard vendors have confirmed plans to increase production of aging LGA 1700-compatible boards to meet rising demand. They are responding to the surging demand for processors and mainboards that support the supposedly obsolete DDR4 memory.

DDR5 Price Surge

The price of DDR5 RAM has skyrocketed over the past year, driving PC users to either purchase DDR4 memory at much lower prices or hold onto the RAM they already have. Raptor Lake CPUs support both DDR4 and DDR5 memory, giving buyers the opportunity to upgrade without replacing an entire PC.

AMD has already responded to the situation by re-releasing the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, the CPU that introduced 3D V-Cache in 2022. The ongoing crisis has also turned the modest Ryzen 5 5500 into the reigning budget CPU king.

As the RAM crisis continues to affect the market, companies will likely re-release older hardware to meet the demand for affordable options.

Impact on Nvidia GPUs

The trend has even affected Nvidia GPUs, with tightening stocks of GDDR7 VRAM increasing the prices of the company’s latest RTX 5000-series graphics cards and delaying the launch of the RTX 5000 Super cards. Nvidia has revived the 12GB RTX 3060, also from 2022, as a temporary substitute.

Intel is responding to the changing market demands. They will continue to adapt to the ongoing RAM crisis.