AMD Ryzen 9000 Series Sees Up to 12% Price Drop in the U.S.

AMD Ryzen 9000 Series Sees Up to 12% Price Drop in the U.S.

Following a swift price adjustment in the competitive German market, major U.S. retailers are now following suit. The AMD Ryzen 9000 series, which launched less than a month ago, is already experiencing significant price cuts.

Quick Price Changes

The first SKUs, the Ryzen 5 9600X and Ryzen 7 9700X, were released on August 8th, followed by the Ryzen 9 9950X and 9900X a week later. Now, just two and a half weeks later, the Zen5 for desktops is seeing double-digit price changes.

Historical Context

When the Ryzen 7000 series launched, many users were hesitant to invest due to the high costs of DDR5 memory and the expensive Ryzen lineup. The Zen4 desktop series saw a major price adjustment, driven by cheaper memory. Despite these lessons, AMD launched the Ryzen 7000X3D series at a high price, leading to inevitable price cuts just weeks later.

Strategy Adjustment

AMD adjusted its strategy for the Ryzen 9000 series, making the new SKUs somewhat cheaper. However, this wasn’t enough, especially for mid-range models with their default 65W mode. AMD is reportedly adding a 105W mode through major motherboard vendors, but these models still fall short compared to parts like the 8-core Ryzen 7 7800X3D. Now, retailers are taking matters into their own hands.

Ryzen 9000 Deals

• Ryzen 9 9950X (MSRP: $649)

  • MicroCenter: $619.99
  • Amazon: $623.29
  • Newegg: $623.29
  • BestBuy: $623.99

• Ryzen 9 9900X (MSRP: $499)

  • MicroCenter: $439.99
  • Amazon: $449.99
  • Newegg: $449.00
  • BestBuy: $449.00

• Ryzen 7 9700X (MSRP: $359)

  • MicroCenter: $349.99
  • Antonline (eBay): $349.99
  • Amazon: $359.00
  • Newegg: $359.00

• Ryzen 5 9600X (MSRP: $279)

  • Antonline (eBay): $259.99
  • MicroCenter: $269.99
  • Amazon: $279.00
  • Newegg: $279.00

Speculation and Future Outlook

Why is it always the 12-core CPU that sees the highest price cut? Perhaps if someone is already going to spend a few hundred dollars, they’d opt for the higher-end SKU like the 9950X or go well below that budget. AMD faced a similar issue with the Navi 32-based Radeon RX 7800 XT and RX 7700 XT, with the latter being outsold 10:1 by the full GPU variant.

According to a list compiled by Wccftech, the highest price cut is for the 9900X, now up to 11.8% lower, and the Ryzen 5 9600X, which can be found for 6.8% less. Not much movement has been seen on the 16-core and 8-core parts, which are now 4.5% and 2.5% cheaper, respectively.

Future Releases

According to the latest information, AMD is not set to launch the Ryzen 9000X3D series this year, but there are rumors that at least one SKU could still be considered (hopefully it’s the most anticipated 9800X3D SKU). AMD did launch new AM5 processors, but the just-unveiled 6-core Ryzen 5 7600X3D is a MicroCenter exclusive, so it shouldn’t really affect Zen5 pricing in any significant way.

Current Pricing Breakdown