AMD launched the popular AMD Ryzen 5000 Series back in early November of 2020, but availability has remained spotty at best until recently. This has been due to a combination of high demand and production limitations caused by the human malware epidemic. We actually found shelves of Ryzen 5000 Series CPUs and even some Radeon 6000 Series graphics cards on Micro Center store shelves back in April. However, we understand that not everyone has these stores near them, and online sales are the only viable option for some. Fortunately, CPU manufacturers appear to be catching up to demand with a few products and there’s now availability at multiple major online retailers. The best part of it all is that prices are beginning to fall.
While the Ryzen 12-core 5900X and 16-core 5950X remain elusive still, these high end models are constantly refreshing on digital shelves. But, if you don’t want to play that game and just want something you can buy on demand, the 6-core 5600X and 8-core 5800X are available now.
Red vs. Blue
There are also some deals to be found for Intel Rocket Lake processors right now, depending on what you want to buy. If you want the best of the best, you’ll generally still need to pay the full $549 price for the i9-11900K unless you have the Micro Center option. Availability for the 11900K was scarce when it launched though, so it’s worth noting that it’s easy to find at any of the aforementioned online retailers.
We’d sooner recommend you go for the i7-11700K this generation. The i7 has the same 8 cores as the i9, and only clocks slightly lower. However, the 11700K only costs $375 via Newegg. The price is even lower at Micro Center.
While GPU prices remain a sore subject, there is some respite for current generation CPU sales. Whether you want a Ryzen 5000 Series or Intel 11th generation, availability options are out there.
Please note that all prices are in USD.
