Intel plans to release “Raptor Lake Next” CPUs in 2027
Intel plans to push DDR4-based PCs with “Raptor Lake Next” in 2027
Intel is planning to make a new push with its DDR4-based LGA-1700 platform in 2027. Tom’s Hardware has reported that Intel plans to launch “Raptor Lake Next” CPUs in 2027, validating rumours we first reported on in April.
The reasoning behind this new LGA-1700 push isn’t hard to decipher. DDR5 memory pricing remains high, and DDR4 is an affordable memory alternative. Intel’s “Raptor Lake Next” CPUs will serve as a more affordable counterpart to their next-generation “Nova Lake” series, catering to the lower end of the CPU market.
AMD has made similar moves by reviving its Ryzen 7 5800X3D CPU on socket AM4. AMD’s AM4 platform is DDR4-based, and the Ryzen 7 5800X is AMD’s strongest gaming CPU on that platform. Reviving this CPU gives AM4 users a strong upgrade option, and gives anyone who can acquire DDR4 memory a solid CPU opotion for a new gaming PC.
Intel has plans to launch “Raptor Lake Next” CPUs within the first half of 2027. The CPUs would mark the third refresh of Intel’s Raptor Lake range, which first debuted with 13th-Gen chips. The chips will reportedly live alongside Intel’s upcoming Nova Lake range, which the company intends to introduce at CES next year.
Raptor Lake Revivial
Intel’s new Raptor Lake CPUs will reportedly launch with Core Ultra series branding and will be available alongside existing Intel 14th Generation Raptor Lake CPUs. Currently, the hardware configurations of these new CPUs are unknown. However, we expect more information about these CPUs to leak soon.
High DDR5 memory pricing is forcing CPU makers to take desperate measures. Investing in a DDR4-based CPU platform in 2027 would be crazy outside of today’s DDR5 pricing catastrophe. Today, consumer DDR5 memory kit pricing is over 4x higher than they were this time last year. Sadly, DDR5 prices are not expected to lower anytime soon.
If anyone is to blame for this shortage, it’s the AI superscalers. Their greed and ambition to meet AI’s reportedly infinite demand for compute sparked an unprecedented datacenter buildout of impossible scale. As it stands, it is unclear if there is real demand for these newly built datacenters. Furthermore, there are reportedly billions worth of hardware in warehouses with no datacenters to plug them into. Slow/delayed datacenter builds are warehousing an insane amount of memory during a DRAM shortage. It makes you wonder how viable these datacenters are. Will this warehoused hardware be relevant when these datacenters are finally built?
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