Intel's Core i5-12600KF Falls to Its Lowest Price Ever ($217) for Prime Members (UPDATED)

Intel Core i5-12600KF Box
(Image credit: Intel)

Whether you're looking to put together a new gaming rig or a mid-range productivity PC, Intel's Core i5-12600KF is one of the best CPUs you can buy right now. And thanks to Amazon Prime Day, it's down to its lowest price ever of $217for Prime members. That's $47 off Intel's MSRP and $33 lower than it's ever been before.

As a K-series chip, the Core i5-12600KF is unlocked for overclocking, so you can easily push it beyond its 4.9 GHz stock turbo frequency with a good cooler. Just know that the F at the end of this CPU's name means it lacks functioning integrated graphics. So you'll have to provide one of the best graphics cards to connect to your monitor. If you want to build a system with integrated graphics, you'll have to look elsewhere. 

Intel Core i5-12600KF (4.9 GHz, 6P + 4E Cores): was $259, now $217 at Amazon

Intel Core i5-12600KF (4.9 GHz, 6P + 4E Cores): was $259, now $217 at Amazon
The best mid-range CPU for gaming is now at its best price of all-time. This processor offers 6 performance cores, 4 efficiency cores and up a boost clock of up to 4.9 GHz before you overclock it. It also supports DDR5 RAM and PCIe 5.0.

Intel Core i5-12600K Average Game Results Chart

(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

In our testing of the Core i5-12600K (the same CPU as the 12600KF, just with integrated graphics enabled), we saw it run our 11 test games just 8 frames per second (fps) slower than the much pricier Core i9-12900K (both at stock speeds with DDR4 RAM, at 1440p resolution). The only way to get significantly faster gaming performance than this CPU is to buy a top-end Core i9 and overclock the snot out of it. 

So pairing this Core i5-12600KF with some affordable DDR4 RAM and one of the many graphics cards that are finally becoming affordable again (see best Prime Day graphics card deals) is a great way to build a powerful gaming PC.

More Prime Day Deals

Matt Safford

After a rough start with the Mattel Aquarius as a child, Matt built his first PC in the late 1990s and ventured into mild PC modding in the early 2000s. He’s spent the last 15 years covering emerging technology for Smithsonian, Popular Science, and Consumer Reports, while testing components and PCs for Computer Shopper, PCMag and Digital Trends.

  • rtoaht
    Good deal
    Reply
  • King_V
    Yeah, I'm pretty solidly in the Ryzen camp, but this? If I knew someone building a new system today, this is likely what I'd recommend.
    Reply
  • elforeign
    King_V said:
    Yeah, I'm pretty solidly in the Ryzen camp, but this? If I knew someone building a new system today, this is likely what I'd recommend.

    I've been waiting a few years to build a PC since my last build in 2018 with Devil's Canyon 4670K. I was hoping to support AMD, but with the news coming in about the TSMC price hikes, supply chain issues, and the double whammy of a new CPU, Chipset and DDR5 Ram, I opted to instead pull the trigger during these sales with a build centered around this i5 12600KF.

    I've gotten a new, SSD 2TB, CPU, RAM (DDR4 3600 CL16), Case, AIO Cooler, Monitor, Thermal Paste, and SSD Heatsink and saved a whopping $520.70 over MSRP including tax. Now, I will just wait for Nvidia to release the 4080, purchase it and call it a day.

    What a time after all the issues post pandemic in the PC building arena. Thanks Prime Day, sadly i'm supporting another dick rocket.
    Reply