Intel's Core i9 10850K flagship CPU is down to $290 at Newegg

Max out your Intel 10th-gen system with a CPU upgrade.

The Intel Core i9 10850K is the defacto 10th-gen flagship CPU for Intel, and it’s going cheap at Newegg today. It’s been reduced to $290 when you use code4FSBR2Z26at the checkout, compared to a launch price of $450. Not bad for a CPU that launched less than two years ago - and a damn sight cheaper than upgrading to a 12th-gen system that requires a new CPU, motherboard and potentially expensive new DDR5 RAM as well.

So Will, I hear you say, isn’t the 10900K the fastest processor in the 10th-gen lineup? And I’ll say yes, my friend, that is indeed the case. However, the 10850K is so similar to the 10900K that you can make up the difference with a small overclock, assuming your CPU cooler is up to the task, and even if you don’t overclock, you’ll be none the wiser when it comes to real world performance. This 14nm part, by default, has a base clock of 3.6GHz and a boost clock of 5.2GHz (for two cores). By comparison, the 10900K manages to hit… 3.7GHz and a boost clock of 5.3GHz. There’s really so little in it, that you may as well take the 10850K and call it a day. Even upgrading your RAM will have more of an impact to CPU-bound games than opting for the 10900K, so save your budget for the stuff that really matters!

So how good is that $290 price then? Well, it’s a solid $20 lower than thecurrent Amazon price of $310, which itself has been reduced from $350 just a few days prior.

I think that just about covers it for this deal, so thanks for joining me once again and stay tuned for more deals as and when we find them!