Intel may refresh Raptor Lake for a third time as high DDR5 prices push buyers toward older hardware

Intel may provide an additional refresh to its Raptor Lake processors in the near future, according to Intel's vice president and general manager of enthusiast channel business, Robert Hallock. The company, similar to AMD, is responding to the persistent demand for hardware that is compatible with DDR4 RAM. During an extensive interview, Hallock confirmed that Intel intends to maintain the supply of 10-nanometer chips that support the LGA 1700 socket for many years to come.

This aligns with earlier rumors suggesting Intel would introduce another refresh for the Raptor Lake lineup, the third in total, during the first half of 2027. Tom's Hardware reported these rumors at Computex this year, where at least two motherboard vendors also revealed plans to boost production of aging LGA 1700-compatible boards to accommodate growing demand.

Intel's rumored refresh, tentatively named Raptor Lake Next, would coexist with the DDR5-exclusive Nova Lake. The surge in demand for processors and motherboard supporting the outdated DDR4 memory is primarily due to RAM shortages caused by AI data centers. The high price of DDR5 RAM has pushed PC users to opt for DDR4 memory at higher prices or retain the RAM they already possess.

Raptor Lake CPUs are compatible with both DDR4 and DDR5 memory, offering users the chance to upgrade without entirely replacing their PCs. AMD has already taken action in response to the situation by reintroducing the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, a CPU that introduced 3D V-Cache in 2022. The ongoing crisis has also influenced the popularity of AMD's Ryzen 5 5500, now recognized as the budget CPU king.

Although AMD offers superior processors at comparable prices, such as the 7500F and 9800X3D, they all require DDR5 RAM. This trend has even impacted Nvidia GPUs. While the scarcity of GDDR7 VRAM has raised the prices of Nvidia's latest RTX 5000-series graphics cards and delayed the RTX 5000 Super cards' launch, Nvidia has revived the 12GB RTX 3060, a 2022 model, as a temporary alternative.